Glaciers

There is just so much to do in Juneau. Do all 12 of you want to do exactly the same things? Consider splitting up and have your group chose the activities they want to do rather than just hanging with the rest of the group.

I used to travel with two bodies and 3 lenses and always had them with me. Packed the tripod in the checked luggage. Get a small camera bag, it will also protect against damage.

Be careful with those small ship lines, many don’t have elevators and have stairs to viewing decks and cabins like UnCruise & Alaskan Dream, although they are exceptional. Good cabin selection will help on any ship. Choose a cabin near the venues you’ll be frequenting more often.

Although Port Valet has received, primarily, exceptional reviews, there are other posts on CC that indicate it’s not available to Oceania passengers.

@eileeshb Yes, the longer the better for a whale watch. Actually, there are several areas that you’ll be sailing through that deserves it as well. If your ship has a naturalist, worth-their-weight, they will be able to tell you potential wildlife hotspots along the way. I always took a 600mm for years but just got rid of it for lighter equipment. I believe I saw a post from @pierces a while back that indicated he used a 200mm. The photos were very nice, even at 200mm.

It really makes no difference when you go out on a whale watch. The whales are active all day long. It can be calmer in the morning though. The first trips out are looking for whales while the later tours have an idea of where they are, usually north of Shelter Island or west of Douglas Island, or anywhere in between. Gastineau guiding gets good reviews. There have been storms and several ships have missed ports due to high winds this month. Several small boat whale watch operators have also been forced to cancel trips. Small boats can be good but during a storm can be miserable.

Most tours aren’t canceled due to rain, it’s the wind associated with storms that can increase after Labor Day can create some pretty rough water. There have been at least a couple ships that couldn’t dock this month due to high winds. Like Coral, we go earlier in the season and enjoy the end of May, first of June as the sweet spot.

The Purple Store next to Pike Place Market has luggage storage. If you’re mobile, it’s a 10-15 walk from the Norwegian cruise terminal. https://www.thepurplestore.com/luggage-storage-seattle.shtml

Agree the Cedarbrook is one of the nicest airport properties. Doesn’t really seem it’s at the airport due to its dandy setting. They also have a good restaurant. Another option is the Radisson. It’s directly across the street from the airport. They have a shuttle although it’s a short walk from the airport baggage area. 13 Coins is next door.

I had read that RCCL/Celebrity were awarded a GB contract but chose not to sign the agreement so they will not be eligible again until 2029. With the popularity of GB you have to wonder why.

@Dopeyjoy The Marriott Waterfront is across the street from the cruise terminal. A very short walk.

I think you may need to let go of something. There are no practical day trips to Sitka or Glacier Bay from other ports while on a cruise. Princess has a dandy 11 night that includes both plus Hubbard Glacier which would be a treat although it’s round trip out of Vancouver. Agree Sitka has been an exceptional port, our favorite. Glad we went several times years ago now. There is a recent thread on Trip Advisor that indicates it is now getting overrun by visitors and just isn’t what it used to be although still a good stop.

I’m partial to south-central Alaska, there is just so much to do. Two of our favorite excursions are the Matanuska Glacier hike and the Spencer Glacier Iceberg Float. A day wildlife/glacier cruise out of Seward and/or Whittier are good. Depending on your itinerary, drive times between Anchorage/Denali/Fairbanks eat up a lot of time that could be spent enjoying other areas rather than sitting in a car/bus/train for many hours.

According to their website FAQs there are no shuttle buses to the Wildlife Conservation Center and it’s a 1.5 mile walk from the Portage Station to the entrance. Not a bad walk but you’d be walking along the highway shoulder much of the way. It’s about 1 mile to complete the loop within the center. You might contact them directly by phone or email for transportation options.

If you won't have time for exploring the area staying at the airport will save some money. You can then use Seattle Express to the port. There are two cruise terminals in Seattle. Knowing which one you'll be departing from may help in recommending a hotel. The Mediterranean Inn is one of the closest to Pier 91. The Belltown Inn is a 4 block walk to Pier 66. Both are reasonable by downtown hotel standards.

Is there any news regarding this? I can find nothing about it.

We drove down from Anchorage and stayed a couple nights there early in the season one year. It was nice to have the car as they didn’t have the shuttle at the time like they do now. The restaurant had just reopened for the season and it was packed with locals. They were so happy that the seasonal restaurants were reopening and were beating the crowds that were to arrive shortly. We would stay there again.

@poohbear8 I’ve driven it twice in about 4 days in the early 80’s before most of it was paved. 8 days is certainly doable although the difficulties are in the details. Are there rentals available? How would you get from Seattle to Vancouver after dropping the car? The drive is nice although not really a good last minute decision. There is a lot of planning involved. There are folks over at Trip Advisor that can give you some better advice regarding this. There are many posts now on Facebook that appear to indicate that RCL is really stepping up to help those affected.

Look at the Windsong Lodge. It’s about 4 miles out of Seward towards Exit Glacier. They do have a shuttle into the downtown area and have a restaurant onsite.

The only practical way would be flying from Anchorage. Even then, depending on schedules, you may need to fly to Seattle and then back up to Vancouver for your cruise. You may be able to rent a vehicle from GoNorth and drive although the problem will be that this may be last minute which may be problem with booking a flight too. Hopefully you purchased insurance. You may have already seen this but there is a thread for others with the same problem.

The two best spots for humpback whale watch tours are Icy Strait Point and Juneau. There are many that guarantee sightings, if not all of them. Early cruise season is good for whale sightings in Sitka although not sure there are any guarantees like Juneau & ICP.

Another option might be to use PJ's Taxi to take all of you from Whittier to Seward. It's easy to do Seward activities without a car. You can always rent one there if needed, if they are available. What's your time worth?

There are several posts in this forum that address that. Try the search function. Also, @martincath is a local who may jump in here and answer your question.

Look at the YWCA Hotel. It gets good reviews and is reasonable by downtown Vancouver standards. https://ywcavan.org/hotel

Harv n Marv, Jayleen’s & Juneau Whale Watch get consistently good reviews. The main differences are the size of the boat and time on the water. Harv n Marv & Jayleen’s spend 3 hours on the water, JWW 2 hours on the water but also have a combo tour where they take you to Mendenhall Glacier after the whale watch and then back to the ship. If motion sickness is an issue, the JWW boats are bigger holding up to about 40 passengers. We have had about 25 passengers on 4 trips out with them. They all go to the same places. If seeing whales is a priority, more time on the water is better.