kazda

Fantastic spreadsheet, thank you so much for taking the time to put this together for everybody to utilise. I was tossing up between the Deluxe package or to go it alone :) and it turns out I'll be saving $95.00 by not doing the package.

I tweeked the formulas a bit to incorporate the Deluxe Beverage package pricing when purchased here in Australia prior to cruising as our drink package pricing does not have gratuities charged to the total if purchased prior to sailing. However gratutities will be charged on drinks purchased individually once onboard. :)

Thanks again

Thanks, I just found a blog by RCC which shows their pricing and

Sauvignon Blanc is $13.00 glass, so guessing that won't be included in the 'Select' Package

Not sure if the blog relates to Aus sailings or not, but is was updated as of June 2016

Forgot to ask....with the 'Select' Package is there a maximum price of wine by glass that is included in that package ??.

Hi

Deciding on whether the 'Select' drink package would be suitable for our upcoming November sailing.

Does anybody that has sailed on Voyager ex Sydney know the pricing for wine by glass and also price for soft drink.

Currently the 'Select' drink package is at a 20% discount of $51.79 AUD per day if purchased online before departure.

When purchasing individual drinks onboard I realise the pricing will be in USD, so if anybody has info on wine and softdrink costs that will be appreciated.

A converter, unless you get one that convers the voltage and tend to be heavy and expensive, won't change the voltage.

Yeah, hubbys an electrician so he's on the ball with this. It's easier to buy a hair dryer when we arrive in US.

Thanks for the input.

Thanks for the info.

I'm travelling from Australia with my own pillow, so might as well bring my hairdryer. So glad it's allowed :)

EDIT. Hubby just said as the voltage is different my 240volt won't work as well as it does at home.. So now I'll buy one at Walmart etc when I arrive in US.

Hi

Am I able to take my own hairdryer on the Star Princess or will it be confiscated at a taboo item to take onboard ?

Thanks

Kaz

Dolphin took over the existing reservations from Orca for the 2016 season. If you need to cancel or have questions you need to contact Dolphin at 1-800-719-3422 or mail@dolphintours.com. At the least you should reconfirm your reservation with Dolphin if you still plan to go.

Yes, definitely re-confirm your booking with Dolphin if you originally booked with Orca.

I booked with Orca 14th March and paid in full.

Upon reading that Dolphin had taken over bookings I contacted them and I was I advised they took over Orca on 1st March. (So when I booked and paid when Orca, Larry took my money without any advice of the takeover)

Anyway I contacted Dolphin by email and I received a reply back advising that they were not aware of my booking and for me to email them my booking confirmation I had with Orca.

I was then issued a new booking with Dolphin.

My time slot did change as they did not have a 9am departure that I booked with Orca, but they gave me a choice of departure times and I picked their 10am.

Definately email Robyn at mail@dolphintours.com with your Orca confirmation booking.

Robyn was very prompt in getting back to me with all my queries (2 days at the most)

Karen

Thanks for the replies

We have now decided to hire a car for the day for a bit of sight seeing and head down to Alaska Wildlife centre, so we will now be able to get around to the sports stores easier than getting a cab.

Thanks for the recommendations of stores, we will check out Cabelas and Bass and Pro have.

When I head over to the Orca Enterprises website, the email address noted on their website has been changed to mail.dolphintours.com

As we have a booking paid for with Orca for tour on 28th May, I guess I'll have to contact them to find out where and which company we met up with on the day as I have not received an email from Larry advising of their merger.

When I head over to the Orca Enterprises website, the email address noted on their website has been changed to mail.dolphintours.com

As we have a booking paid for with Orca for tour on 28th May, I guess I'll have to contact them to find out where and which company we met up with on the day as I have not received an email from Larry advising of their merger.

[.deleted as info already provided

you probably can't buy from amazon.com (probably need a US credit card), but if you can, you can do what i did - i ordered our binoculars on amazon and had them shipped to our hotel in anchorage (along with all the cold weather and rain gear that we needed).

 

worked like a charm.

Thanks for the info, however we want to actually try before we buy so online ordering would not work for us.

30 minutes prior to the posted departure time. Orca Enterprises has also shuttled back right to the cruise ships. (Princess sometimes uses the South Franklin Dock)

Thanks BQ

To confirm, So Orca Ent will drop us directly back to the ship by their shuttle ?

And the 3pm tour finish time is the time back to the ship ?

Sorry, your "common" knowledge thinking is faulty. This is a BIG area, with multiple areas the tour boats can go. They do NOT all go to the same places, and some vendor's actually have a policy of finding the nearest whale sightings, instead of basing on activity.

 

The first trip in the morning, is going out, more "blind" but, one trip around Shelter Island, is a very good chance of seeing humpbacks. Later trips can be more selective, on individual whales, and their behaviors. I've gone on trips, where Larry had seen orcas on a prior trip, and knew average speeds and what direction they were heading. His boat is faster than many of the operators, guess what, yep, we found those orcas, and no other boats were there. -too far down the Lynn Canal.

 

I have been in many areas where we've been the only boat, as Orca Enterprises is more the "explorer", perhaps. :) :)

Thanks Budget Queen, I was hoping you were around to offer your knowledge about this.

I haven't submitted our reservation form to Larry yet but was going to do it in a few days. When I spoke with him and I said we were on the Star Princess he immediately said the time the ship arrives and also departs.

After your response I'm now doing a rethink and considering the 11.30 tour.

As this tour arrives back to port at 3pm, do you know what time is usually 'all aboard' because if we book the 11.30-3pm it would be good to know how fine the time we will be when we arrive back to port to ship departing.

Thanks all for the replies

I phoned Orca again and this time I got lucky and Larry answered the phone as he was in the office for a short time before going away for a few days.

After he became used to my Australian accent :), turns out I had a typo in the email address so he didn't receive any of my emails.

Anyway all has worked out and we're in the process of booking with him directly.

Thanks for all replies.

We're booking the 9am tour. Can't wait to see the whales.:)

thanks Coral.

True when you say it can be better in morning or visa versa, impossible to tell.

Larry said he will know where to head to on the 11am tour as he will have some prior knowledge from the 9am tour of where the whales are.

Now I'm just guessing, but I'm thinking with all the different operators out on the water that it would be common 'knowledge' of where some whales are and the operators all head to the same spot regardless of whether a specific operator had an earlier tour or not ?

Thanks Coral

I didn't know about nor have I heard about Libby Riddles. Does she host a talk about Juneau while the ship is in port ???

Also hoping 'Budget Queen' can weigh in and offer her opinion about the 11.30 tour which arrives back to port at 3pm as BD always speaks highly of the Orca whale watching tours.

I contacted Harv and Marv several days ago and received a response within several hours. They also replied to my questions within the hour.

Thanks for your response, but my initial question never mentioned nor was it in relation to Harv and Marv excursions nor their response times

Hi all

Doing a whale watch in Juneau with Orca Enterprises.

For those who read an earlier post of mine, turns out the email address I was sending to had a typo in it so they never received any of my emails, but I just got off the phone with Larry so all good.

Star Princess arrives in port 6am and now I have to decide whether to do either the 9am or 11.30am tour.

The 11.30 departure arrives back at 3pm and the Star Princess departs at 4pm.

Larry did suggest the 11.30 would be his preference as he knows where the whales are located from the earlier 9am tour, but we're just a bit hesisant on getting back to port with only 1 hour to spare, not taking into account a delay of some sorts....

Is the 11.30-3pm tour cutting it too close to 4pm departure as I'm not sure what time is 'all aboard' with Princess.

Thanks

Karen

Thanks Italy52

My preferred operator is Orca, following that I'll go with Princess excursions which has a max of 20 passengers with the tour we will book as a backup incase Orca are full.

Harv and Marv get good reviews but we prefer a slightly bigger boat.

Thanks for the info.

I didn't mention it but I did try phoning Orca last week, got their answer machine and left a message.

I'll try phoning again today.

Would it be possible they attend their office now (feb) or is it still to early being out of season. ?

Also, Is Harv / Marv's company called Gastineau Guiding ?? , due to the 2 replies I received re Harv/Marv.

HI

Will be in port at Juneau on Star Princess on 1st June.

Wanting to do a Whale Watching tour and I contacted Orca via email in late December and again in early February and am yet to receive a reply. I realise they may not be in their office until closer to 2016 season starts.

However, as we don't want to miss out on a tour I thought I would book an excursion through Princess and then cancel before the 30 day cut off IF I hear back from Ocra in time and they have availability for 2.

We only want to do whale watching and not combine with Mendenhall Glacier or anything else.

I found a Princess excursion 'Animal Planet Exclusive: Discover Alaska's Whales JNU-670.

The description states ' this is a genuine research vessel and we will participate in various science activities'

Has anybody that has gone on this tour advise what the science activities are as we only want to watch for whales and not do any 'activities'.

Pretty sure this tour is run by Gastineau Guiding as the description on their website matches the description for Princess excursions.

Any thoughts would be appreciated, just in case we don't have any availability with Orca.

Thanks

Thanks all for the replies, most helpful.

We intend to look what's available here, but if we can't find anything suitable we know we will find something in Anchorage for sure.