early half of all visitors who come to Alaska arrive on cruise ships, according to research and consulting firm McDowell Group. And when they dock, there are a variety of shore excursions and other services available to enhance the cruise experience. Here’s a rundown on just some of the offerings that make it possible for cruise passengers—as well as independent travelers and others—to enjoy unique attractions at different ports of call in Alaska.

Homer isn’t a huge destination for cruise ships, which dock there only a few times a month. But when ships call, Alaska Coastal Marine Tours/Rainbow Tours have options for passengers wanting to indulge in Homer’s best-known pastime: fishing. Rainbow Tours offers half-day halibut charters on a 50-foot vessel equipped with restrooms and other amenities. “We have two tour boats,” says reservationist Kathy Rider, who books all the tours. “We do an awful lot of fishing.”

The company, which has been in business for about twenty-five years, sees a lot of tourists during the summer, Rider says. However, the bulk of its business is from regularly scheduled tours, not from cruise ship passengers. Whether people are cruise vacationers or regular customers, many of them are attracted to Homer’s beauty and wildlife.

The Kachemak Bay tour gives visitors a chance to indulge in three full hours of wildlife viewing. The tour gives cruise passengers a completely different view from what they would see from a ship. It takes them inside nooks, crannies, and coves, and close to Gull Island seabird rookery. “Our tour boats have knowledgeable people who point out all the attractions,” Rider says. “You see whales, otters, sea birds… It’s a nice little excursion in Homer.”

Last year, Sitka’s Alaska Raptor Center had more than 40,000 people pass through its doors. Many of them were cruise goers eager to get an up-close look at the facility’s 200 or so special residents. The center provides an enriching and relevant experience for guests, especially cruise ship passengers. “Any time you’re cruising through Southeast Alaska, you’ll see thousands of bald eagles,” says Development Specialist Richard Hart. “Bald eagles are our number one patients. So we get a lot of people who feel like they get a lot from visiting the center because they are informed about something they have been seeing or are going to be seeing on their visit to Alaska.”

The Alaska Raptor Center provides medical treatment to any bird in need, not just raptors. Its goal is to heal, rehabilitate, and release all its patients, but some are injured too severely to fully recover and survive in the wild. In such cases, non-releasable birds typically become part of the center’s permanent Raptor-in-Residence team, which includes bald and golden eagles, hawks, falcons, and owls. These creatures are instrumental in teaching the public and school children about the natural history of raptors and their habitats.

Education, rehabilitation, and research are integral to the center’s overall mission. These elements all work together to afford cruise passengers and other guests a rare opportunity to see birds of prey in close proximity, learn more about them, and support the center’s efforts to protect, educate, and rehabilitate these magnificent animals.

“One of the things we’re proud of is providing something that is not only entertaining but also educational,” Hart says.

The Alaska Raptor Center is open for tours May through September from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. There are no organized tours October through April, but guests are welcome to come look around from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays.

Glacier Gardens receives close to 50,000 visitors annually, with cruise ship passengers representing a “nice chunk” of its business, Daris says. Often Glacier Gardens is sold as part of a group tour for cruise passengers, who also visit the attached Macaulay Salmon Hatchery and Mendenhall Glacier, one of about forty large valley glaciers that flow off the Juneau Icefield. One bus takes people to the three destinations, which are all within about a 15-mile radius. “I think we offer a nice variety… something that people who have limited mobility have a chance to go and see,” she says.

Daris says she values the cruise ship industry and its impact on Alaska tourism. She explains: “The cruise ship industry has been so good to us and has helped… the locals to be able to make money. It’s wonderful to have these people who are so happy. Everybody’s happy; they’re on vacation.”

Glacier Gardens opens for walk-in tours starting the first week of May from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

Juneau Tours provides visitors with an exclusive Mendenhall Glacier/whale watching combo tour that gives guests the opportunity to take the Glacier Shuttle to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitors’ Center. From there, they can explore attractions such as Nugget Creek Trails or East Glacier Loop. “It allows them to have a flexible experience at the glacier,” says General Manager Serene Hutchinson. “We’re only one of two companies to offer that [the shuttle] in town.”

The Glacier Shuttle, which is provided under a permit with the USDA Forest Service, is a quick and convenient way for cruise passengers and others to travel to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitors’ Center. The shuttle does pickup and drop off at the cruise ship terminal next to the Goldbelt Mount Roberts Tramway and enhances Juneau Tours’ offerings because guests receive an informative, narrated ride of about twenty minutes each way. At the beginning of the trip, the driver introduces passengers to Juneau history, points out famous sites, and gives tips on how to make the most of a visit to the glacier. On the return trip, the driver answers questions and recommends local places for people to shop, dine, and drink.

The glacier/whale watching tour is very popular with cruise ship passengers, according to Hutchinson, who says cruise goers make up 90 percent of the 100,000 customers Juneau Tours serves each year. The family-owned business says it differentiates its services by offering affordability, quality, and security. “We are not contracted with the cruise lines, so we can set our own rates,” Hutchinson says. “Not only are we cheap, but we can be trusted. Having year after year of never leaving anyone behind, people have learned they can trust us with their vacation.”

Juneau Tours has been providing bus tours for about twenty years and whale watching since 2011. Hutchinson says she values the business generated as a result of the cruise industry. “I would be nowhere without the cruise lines coming to Juneau,” she says. “They sell out, and we are there to take the overflow.”

When cruise passengers disembark in Ketchikan, they’re probably not thinking about security or logistics. But Dave Dixon is. As the port operations coordinator for Ketchikan Port and Harbor, he handles a wide range of duties that facilitate the safe movement of passengers from ship to port. There are numerous tour companies and vendors working directly off the port or immediately adjacent in shops. “We run the security, and we have crossing guards to help the large crowds make it off the port safely and into town,” Dixon says. “We deal with a little bit of everything through the course of a full day.”

Ketchikan is considered to be the beginning of the Last Frontier as it sits at the southernmost entrance to Alaska’s renowned Inside Passage. Situated on the southern part of the Southeast Alaska Panhandle in the Tongass National Forest, Ketchikan has a population of about 14,000 residents. It also has four large cruise ship berths and two additional locations where ships can anchor to the west of the piers. And almost every day during cruise season, there are four ships docked from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the city-owned port. “We have several days where ships are in from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.,” Dixon says. “We have many times throughout the season where we have 12,000 to 14,000 people visiting per day.”

This year, Dixon says he expects the Ketchikan port to receive about 560 cruise ships.

It’s easy to spot M&M Tours’ vehicles around Juneau. The company owns and operates ten M&M-colored busses that conduct ground tours to glaciers and historic sites. M&M Tours also has two distinctive red trolleys that traverse the downtown historic district. “The Mendenhall Glacier is our number one best seller,” says President Mariann Cummings.

Cruise ship passengers are easily 98 percent of M&M Tours’ business, Cummings says. Her company, which sells directly to guests, strives to keep the rates on its tours where they are affordable for a family of four. “We have boots on the dock; it cuts out the middlemen, so we can list our prices less than what the cruise ships offer,” Cummings says. “We offer the same tours that the cruise ships offer but at a family-friendly rate. And we take care of the fees that come with the tour.”

In addition to selling its own services, M&M Tours also acts as a broker for other companies, offering everything from kayaking, canoeing, and flightseeing to dog sled and gold panning tours. “Anything you can do in Alaska, we broker that,” Cummings explains. “But we don’t raise the price for the customer. The vendor pays us to sell for them.”

Cruise shore excursions can be an important part of visiting Alaska, Cummings says. And if cruise passengers are happy with the tours they take, it can give them a more enjoyable vacation experience. “Cruises are the best way to see Alaska,” she says. “You get to sample all the wonderful places in Alaska…You get a little taste of each one.”

M&M Tours’ motto is “Making memories of a lifetime.” But that motto is more than just a nice slogan; it’s something the company practices daily. “There is nothing we enjoy more than sharing our beautiful capital city with guests that come into Juneau,” Cummings says.

Cruise passengers don’t get to really see Alaska unless they get off the ship and do some exploring. At least, that’s the way Kenneth Rear sees it. Rear owns Sitka Alaska Outfitters with his wife, Debbie, and the bulk of their customers are cruise goers.

Sitka Alaska Outfitters offers four different shore excursions through the cruise lines—a volcano coast exploration tour, two fly fishing tours, and a 4×4 nature safari. The company also does a considerable amount of business with tourists staying in area fishing lodges who are particularly interested in the 4×4 nature safari.

The company endeavors to offer shore excursions that are unique to the area. Its volcano coast exploration tour, for example, takes people on an eco-adventure to explore the rugged volcanic coastline of Kruzof Island, home of Mount Edgecumbe volcano. During the trip—which lasts about 150 minutes—tour goers can expect to see towering cliffs, jagged rocky outcrops, and sea caves, as well as whales, sea lions, tufted puffins, and seabirds in a natural setting. Sitka Alaska Outfitters provides the equipment for the $175 excursion, so all guests need to bring is a camera.

Sitka Alaska Outfitters’ excursions complement cruises because they allow people to get outdoors and do something fun and exciting, Rear says. The tours essentially add another dimension to the overall Alaska cruise experience. “When they’re on the ship, they get a good meal, a good place to stay, and a good view from the balcony, but they don’t get a chance to experience and learn about Alaska in depth,” Rear says. “We provide the guides and equipment and expertise to showcase Alaska.”

Although Sitka Alaska Outfitters deals with large populations of people on cruise ships, it is a small-group (typically six people at a time) excursion company.

For visitors who want to make the most of the “Alaska experience”, disembarking from the cruise ship and getting into the great outdoors is paramount. These and other shoreside service providers offer the makings of memories that cannot be replicated anywhere else—from close encounters with wildlife to the feel of the wind whipping off one of Alaska’s many glaciers, participating in the wide range of shoreside excursions is a must-do for cruise goers.