When you cruise to Alaska, there are a lot of fun opportunities to become immersed in the Alaska culture beyond glacier trekking and flightseeing. For guests who really want to see what it’s like to be an Alaskan, Holland America Line offers a diverse selection of active and interesting shore excursions that include adventures such as going to a musher’s camp, panning for gold and seeing what it’s like to be a lumberjack.

On a recent call at Ketchikan, guests got to watch a special version of The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show tour where several of Zaandam’s crew got to participate with the world’s best lumberjacks, after training with them several weeks in advance, to go head-to-head in more than a dozen exciting events such as chopping, sawing, relay races, axe throwing, log rolling and a 50-foot speed climb.

What would you like to do in Alaska that would give you the feeling of being a local?

For those who want to participate in one of the state’s most popular sports, the Sled Dog Discovery and Musher’s Camp tour allows guests to experience an authentic dog sled ride, meet and learn from knowledgeable mushers and dog handlers, and play with the husky puppies.

Photo courtesy of Mike Faust.

Photo courtesy of Becky H.

If you’re looking to step back in time, the Gold Panning Adventure & Alaska Salmon Bake tour relives Juneau’s gold rush history and guests actually get to pan for gold!

Guests Earl and Teresa Trawick panning for gold.