Allen Marine Tours — Local services in Ketchikan

If you are considering booking a tour through Allen Marine, please read. I believe this to be a civil and factual summary of the events that took place.

We booked the Tracy Arm Fjord tour through a Holland America cruise that took place on May 12, 2025. Two boats from Allen Marine took passengers from our ship, the Holland America Koningsdam. Our group was on the Allen Marine vessel St. Nicholas. We went to Endicott Arm, due to ice conditions in Tracy Arm, which we knew about ahead of the trip.

This vessel experienced a mechanical problem on one of the engines while we were in Endicott Arm per info from the crew. This was not disclosed to the passengers until we were on the return trip to Juneau. Our vessel stayed approx 1 -2 miles away from Dawes Galcer, while the other vessel went up close. We were told repeatedly by the crew that only one vessel at a time went up to the glacier, we would go up when the other vessel returned. While the other vessel was at the glacier, our vessel turned around and started to return to Juneau. It wasn’t until that time when we were informed of the mechanical issue, which resulted in an additional 1.5 hours of return trip time due to slower speeds.

The issue I have with this company was the lack of transparency regarding the issue as we were told repeatedly by the crew we would get close to the glacier. They tried to dismiss our concerns on the return trip to Juneau and passengers on this vessel had to use time on our vacations to individually complain to the ship tour desk. We did receive a condescending letter from the cruise line that told us all the great things we did do and offered a 25% refund as a measure of good will. It may have been different if we had not seen our fellow cruise shipmates get close to Dawes glacier and see it clave twice, while we were well over one mile away, far enough we could barely see the other Allen Marine vessel.

A 25% offer for “good will” does not excuse Allen Marine for operating a poorly maintained vessel as this issue was clearly not...

I participated in the Misty Fjords and Wilderness Explorer on 8/10/23 while on a Royal Caribbean cruise. This excursion was one of the worst I have been on(and this was my 9th cruise). Here is why: late arrival. The tour provided was very disorganized on the dock. There was no company rep. on-site initially and we were all walking around trying to find our meeting location. Once the reps. arrived, they informed us that the ship was late. It ultimately arrived over 30 minutes late. Guests had to stand in the cold rain and wait. The boat itself is cold and hand soap was low in some of the restrooms. The narrator was a young local named something like Aikju, was annoying and fake. He has a good speaking voice, but his commentary was so fake and phoney. He spoke of his dad being a police officer and other details that provided no value. He seemed to just love having the mic and “performing”. Freezing for 5 + hours, and salmon flakes on a cracker does not provide the level of valued expected for an excursion that cost $250. Soup was provided, and that was a nice touch, given how cold it was. Overall, I did not enjoy the tour. I an glad I got to see the Alaskan fjords, but the fjords in Norway are more beautiful. And there was no awkward crew...

Hi, my name's Gary. I've traveled all over the United States as part of my job. I want to take a moment to talk about how cool this tour is. As you can see from the photos, it's so beautiful. The boat is huge and nobody was seasick from our group. The staff was very friendly and very knowledgeable of the environment. The captain took us off the route to watch a Humpback whale breach 3 times before diving. Warning: it is a rainforest and rains 300+ days a year. So be advised that sunny days like my photos aren't always an option. I live here in Ketchikan so I picked a perfect day to go.I want to give an estimate of 4 hours total round trip. On the way home a snack of Clam Crowder was provided and it was delicious. I also noticed that many people on the tour had adult beverages. The concession stand is available. Free coffee, hot chocolate and tea for guests. I brought my own water. Loved this tour and thank you to everyone at Allen Marine Tours for this tour of the...