Calls run 8 to 17 hours on the 2026 schedule, and local tours cost $111 to $184 for 2.5 to 4 hours. Bear sightings on the Chilkoot River climb from under 25% before August 1 to about 80% in September.
Put in your ship's arrival and all-aboard times from your cruise planner. Each tour is checked against the time you have, minus the buffer you choose for getting off the ship and back to the pier.
Example times are filled in. Your cruise line's daily planner has the real ones, and a tender port needs more buffer.
| Operator | What you get | From | Length | Group | Min age | Back-to-ship | Cancellation | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chilkoot Lake Nature and Wildlife Viewing |
$111 per adult |
2.5 hours (4-hour version with lunch also offered) |
2 person minimum; maximum typically 14 (FAQ) |
No age limit (FAQ) | Says it will get guests back in time for their cruise ship departure | Full refund more than seven days ahead, 50% within seven days; full refund if the ship cannot dock or the company cancels. | Check dates | |
Haines Eagle Float |
$150 per person |
0.5 days |
Not stated | Check dates | ||||
Chilkoot Lake Kayak - Haines DepartureIncludes Transport to and from the start, Professional guide, Kayak, paddle and safety equipment, Snacks |
$169 per person |
4 hours total from Haines |
4 to 14 guests |
Not stated | Check dates | |||
Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve RaftingIncludes Lunch |
$184 per adult |
4 hours (Haines departure) |
2 person minimum |
7 | Says it will get guests back in time for their cruise ship departure | Full refund more than seven days ahead, 50% within seven days; full refund if the ship cannot dock or the company cancels. | Check dates |
From each operator's own website, checked October 22, 2026. How we compare.
What the cruise lines list for their own excursions in Haines, from their websites.
| Line | Excursion | From | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
Holland America |
$99 per person |
Approximately 1¼ Hours |
Read on each cruise line's website on October 22, 2026. Lines change these prices often, so check the page before you book.
Ships tie up at the Port Chilkoot Cruise Ship Dock, directly in front of Fort William H. Seward, less than half a mile from downtown Haines, according to Visit Haines. The town takes one large ship at a time, and possibly a small ship as well. A shuttle runs between the dock and town while a ship is in port; the tourism office lists no fare. Tour operators meet their guests at the shore-side end of the pier, and a small kiosk on the dock hands out maps. The Visitors Center is at 122 Second Avenue.
Rainbow Glacier Adventures posts a representative holding a company sign just past security, its FAQ says. Its Skagway departures work differently: guests from the Railroad, Broadway and Ore docks are walked or shuttled to a greeting area, then ride the Haines-Skagway Fast Ferry, which Visit Haines puts at about 45 minutes. SEAK Expeditions meets guests at Port Chilkoot or at their Haines lodging and drives them to the start. Chilkat Guides' Haines Eagle Float lists only Haines, AK as its meeting place, with a Dock filter on the listing but no details.
Fort William H. Seward, the US Army post the dock faces, is a National Historic Landmark; Wikipedia gives both 1972 and 1978 for the designation. The Haines Sheldon Museum and Cultural Center sits on the old Mission grounds downtown. The Hammer Museum opened in 2002 with more than 2,000 hammers on show, and Alaska Arts Confluence runs a sculpture garden on the stone foundation of a Fort Seward barracks. Visit Haines gives no admission prices or hours for any of them.
The 2026 Haines visitor schedule, updated June 17, 2026 by the Haines Visitor Department, lists 130 ship calls carrying 71,960 passengers, from May 3 to September 19. Lindblad's Sea Lion and Sea Bird (26 calls together) and American Cruise Lines' American Constellation and American Constitution (31) make up most of the season. Larger ships are occasional: Seabourn Encore 9 calls, Silver Whisper 7, Queen Elizabeth 5, Riviera 5, Viking Orion 5, Ruby Princess 3, Norwegian Spirit 2, and one each for Noordam, Brilliant Lady and Crystal Symphony.
Call lengths vary more here than in most ports. Sea Lion and Sea Bird are listed from 7 am to 3 pm, 8 hours. Luminara shows 8 am to 7 pm on June 1 and Seabourn Encore 6 am to 6 pm on June 4. Roald Amundsen is down for 8 am to 6 pm on June 5 and Azamara Pursuit for 8 am to 8 pm on June 15. American Constellation's 12:30 am to 5:30 pm on June 2 is the longest pattern, about 17 hours. Haines keeps Alaska time, UTC minus 8 in summer, so confirm whether the ship's all-aboard is in ship time or local time.
Rainbow Glacier Adventures says it will get guests back to Haines or Skagway in time for the ship's departure and schedules its tours around that, though it does not use the word guarantee. A guest who misses the tour because the ship arrived late gets a full refund with documentation. Its 2.5-hour Chilkoot Lake tour runs only when ships are in port. SEAK Expeditions' kayak page ends the itinerary back at the port before the ship sails, and its 4 hours include the drive to Chilkoot Lake, 10 miles northeast of town on Lutak Road.
Chilkoot Lake, 10 miles northeast of town, is the wildlife stop. Visit Haines calls the Chilkoot River one of the easier places in Southeast Alaska to see brown bears, which come for spawning salmon between mid-June and October. Rainbow Glacier Adventures' FAQ gives its own odds of a bear on the tour. They start under 25% before August 1, reach 50% from August 1 to 10, 60% to August 20, 70% to August 30 and 80% in September. Eagles tend nests in May, June and July, and harbor seals follow salmon upriver from late July. The 2.5-hour tour is $111 (2027 price), the 4-hour version with lunch $156.
The Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve covers 48,000 acres of river bottom along the Chilkat, Kleheni and Tsirku rivers, created by the state in June 1982. The main viewing area is the Chilkat River flats between miles 18 and 24 of the Haines Highway. The valley holds 200 to 400 eagles year-round, and more than 3,000 have been counted during the fall gathering from October to February, after the cruise season ends. Rainbow Glacier Adventures' 4-hour raft float costs $184 with lunch; the guide pushes the raft, so nobody paddles, and the drive to the preserve takes about 40 minutes. Chilkat Guides lists a half-day Haines Eagle Float from $150.
SEAK Expeditions' Chilkoot Lake kayak is $169 for 4 hours from Haines, with about 1.5 to 2 hours on the water. The price covers a guide, kayak and safety gear, transport and a charcuterie-style snack, for groups of 4 to 14; guide gratuity is extra. Holland America sells Scenic Haines by Coach from $99 for about 1.25 hours. Rainbow Glacier Adventures' Skagway departures, which add the Fast Ferry, cost $273 for the 6.5-hour Chilkoot Lake tour and $299 for the eagle preserve float.
Rainbow Glacier Adventures is the one Haines operator that spells out its cruise terms. A representative with a company sign waits just past security, groups average 8 and are usually capped at 14, and two guests are needed to run a tour. Cancellations more than seven days out are refunded in full, inside seven days at 50%, and in full if the ship cannot dock or the company cancels. Rafting takes ages 7 and up with a 250 lb limit, and guests must sit unsupported for about 1.5 hours and climb in and out of the raft themselves. Other tours have no age limit; children under 2 pay $20.
SEAK Expeditions meets kayakers at the Port Chilkoot dock or their Haines lodging and needs 4 to 14 guests. Its page gives no cancellation terms, departure times or age limits. The only back-to-ship wording is an itinerary that ends at the port before the ship leaves, and it does not say whether the $169 is per person. Chilkat Guides' listing names Skagway Excursions as operator of the $150 Haines Eagle Float and gives no meeting point, age limit or refund terms. Of the three, only Rainbow Glacier Adventures publishes a refund for a ship that fails to dock, and its vehicles have no wheelchair lift.
from $111 per adult
Chilkoot Lake Nature and Wildlife Viewing and 1 more option
Back to ship: Says it will get guests back in time for their cruise ship departure
Averages 8 guests per tour, per its FAQ
from $150 per person
Haines Eagle Float
No back-to-ship policy stated
Floats the braided channels of the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve; based in Haines and Skagway
from $169 per person
Chilkoot Lake Kayak - Haines Departure
No back-to-ship policy stated
Other Haines day trips: bike and kayak, Day on the Fjord, Klehini River packrafting and day hiking (prices not shown on pages read)
Prices and policies come from each operator's own pages, read on October 22, 2026. Seasons, rules and local details come from the pages below.
