do we need to book a whale watching tour??

Hi there

My wife and I are taking an alaska cruise in early June and are trying to sort out our excursions. The ship stops at Juneau, Skagway and Tracy Arm Fjord. There are several things we would love to do but time is limited. My wife wants to go whale watching, but I have been told by a friend that we will see whales all the time from the cruise ship, so there is no need to book a seperate excursion (we have a balcony room). Could anybody tell us if this is the case?? or would you recommend we take a tour at one of the destinations above??

There seems to be lots of excellent trips to go on and so little time at each stop, so we want to make the most of our visit.

Thanks for your help.

do we need to book a whale watching tour??

';My wife wants to go whale watching, but I have been told by a friend that we will see whales all the time from the cruise ship, so there is no need to book a seperate excursion';

If your friend was truly that lucky, have him buy some lottery tickets for you.

Most people might see a couple of whales from the cruise ship, unless they spend hours out on deck watching for them (as some of us do). Even then, all we usually see are fleeting glimpses as the ship passes by them. The ship does not slow down or stop to let you watch them for a while.

OTOH, a whale-watching boat tour goes where the whales are and DOES sit and watch for an hour or more. Most of what you%26#39;ll see are just blows as the whales breathe, and tails when they dive. If you%26#39;re really lucky, you might get to see other behaviors such as breaching (jumping out of the water), but don%26#39;t expect that.

Juneau is the best place to see humpbacks, with virtually 100% success. You might try the small independent boat Harv %26amp; Marv if they still have room, and there is a thread about that also on the front page in which local expert Case lists a few other options. If you want a slightly larger boat, try Orca Enterprises. No need to book through the cruiseship; most of us prefer the smaller boats anyway for better viewing (not crowded).

BTW, if you want to see Orcas, the best place for that is out of Victoria, where there are 3 resident pods. You might see orcas out of Juneau, about a 25% chance.

do we need to book a whale watching tour??

it depends on how important whale watching is and what kind of experience you want.

Watching a whale from several stories up on a cruise ship isn%26#39;t the same as being on a small boat bobbing on the water a few hundred yards away and actually hearing the blow or hear them hit the water after breaching. Then again if you%26#39;ve never seen a whale, a sighting is a sighting and it%26#39;s awesome.

I%26#39;m fortunate to live in Seattle so I take a trip every summer to watch orcas off Vancouver Island. I need an annual fix! BTW, the news reported last week that 2 newborns were sighted in the resident pods.

I guess you could take your chances and if you don%26#39;t see any whales by the time you get to Juneau, hope there%26#39;s space available on a small excursion. Or maybe you%26#39;ll be lucky and see one from the ship and that will be your fix.

And here are my 2 cents.

I think this is no brainer since your wife wants to go whale watching. She should book herself toady on a trip with Marv and Harv www.harvandmarvs.com Don%26#39;t be surprised if on the day you are in Juneau they are already fully booked. If your wife gets a seat then they are going to pick her up in a company van and bring her back. If you don%26#39;t feel like going at least she should go. If there are whales visible from your cruise ship consider yourself lucky and she is going to be extra happy about it. Imagine if she won%26#39;t go on a whale watching tour and won%26#39;t see any whales while cruising. I don%26#39;t think I would want to walk in your shoes.

Perhaps your friend had a dream about seeing whales all the time from the cruise ship.

Just as a note on Harv and Marv, when I emailed about booking in early June they emailed back that they were already full. They said they were thinking of adding another boat to their fleet. They emailed a few days later that they had indeed added another boat, but by this time I had already booked with another tour.

They were very responsive with replies and I felt bad that I had already booked but didn%26#39;t feel right about cancelling as the other tour seems very good as well.

Steve

We have decided to book a tour after all, as it sounds like it would be too much of a risk otherwise. I have e-mailed Harv %26amp; Marv to check on avalability. If, as you say Steve, they are fully booked, could anybody please recommend another excellent tour company??

thanks all for your replies, they are very much appreciated.

sorry Manitoba Maple, just read your reply again. You mention Orca Enterprises as a possible option. Are the boats much larger than Hav %26amp; Marv%26#39;s?? you also mention that Victoria is another option for Whale Watching. Would you say that Victoria is better than Juneau for whale watching??

thanks again

Steve H

Hi Steve. Here are some other small boat operators recommended by the local expert Case:

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g31020-i1190-k2567鈥?/a>

Orca Ent. isn%26#39;t a huge boat like you%26#39;d get with the whale-watching booked through the cruiseship, and carries a couple of dozen passengers. I went with Capt. Larry (Orca Ent) in 2006, was a nice enough trip, nothing special. Saw several humpbacks, but nothing close-up (the boats aren%26#39;t allowed to go too close to the whales, but the whales can come up to the boats if they want to--on other trips I%26#39;ve had these gigantic creatures as close as 50 feet from the boat! That%26#39;s just luck of the draw.) Next time I%26#39;ll be going with Harv %26amp; Marv, which carries only 6 passengers.

If you want to see humpbacks, Juneau and Icy Strait Point are the places to go. As I said before, 100% success with humpbacks. Maybe 25% of the time they also see Orcas (killer whales).

Victoria is better for Orcas, with up to 95% success for those whales depending on the month. Less chance of seeing humpbacks (I don%26#39;t know the percentage). If you can do both tours, great. If you can do only one, most people are more excited about humpbacks, which are twice the length and 4 times the size of Orcas. Here is more info: enchantedlearning.com/subjects/whales/alphaw鈥?/a>

b-i-f,

Check out the post from Case on this thread yesterday:

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g31020-i1190-k2567鈥?/a>

Whoops. M_M already beat me to it. You are up early M_M.

thanks again for your replies. If we have no luck with Harv and Marv we shall try some of the companies mentioned by Case.

I forgot to mention, Yescanada, I know i%26#39;m deviating away from my original question here, but we will be spending 4 nights in Seattle after our cruise, so if you have any tips on places to visit they will be very much appreciated. We have a friend, who lives just outside Seattle, helping us with our itinerary but maybe you are aware of a few things to see or do that are not so well advertised.

Please feel free to list the things you like, as our interests cover anything and everything.

And while I%26#39;m on the subject, if anybody can advise us on things to do or see in Juneau, Skagway and Victoria (apart from whale watching) please do so. We are considering a helicopter ride and glacier walk in Skagway (is Skagway a good place to do this?? and if so, is it something we should do??) We have no plans for Victoria.

right, i think I%26#39;ve wrote enough now!!

thanks again

Steve