Alaska0799

Just what we were hoping for! Thank you, Princess:hearteyes:

July 11 NB Vancouver to Whittier--booked directly with Princess--platinum (11th Alaska cruise)

4/15 Booked BE Balcony (aft, covered) for $1599 (happy with that rate, which was very good); paid in full by 4/27

5/23 Fares dropped (watched them daily), called Princess to inquire if our booking qualified and they re-fared us at $1029!

6/11 Received Upsell Offer via email with phone # and extension to call--$129pp to upgrade to MD Minisuite. Left message within 10 minutes of receiving email. Agent returned call within one hour, listed the available minisuites and asked for decision right then. We're now confirmed in aft, covered minisuite!

Will be difficult to stay focused on work for the next four weeks!!

We are going to Alaska in a few weeks. I booked our Juneau whale watch with Alaska Humpback Adventures. He used to capt for Harv and Marv and has great reviews. I believe he has only one small boat which is set for 6ppl.

He will pick us up at port and drop us off at the glacier, we will then taxi back to ship

You can try contacting him

By all means, contact Captain Steve with Alaska Humpback Adventures (if you would enjoy a more intimate, smaller boat trip). In our opinion, he's the absolute best whale and wildlife watch captain in Juneau. We have him booked twice in July, for our back-to-back cruises. He's lived in Juneau for decades and is very knowledgeable about all the wildlife you may see on the excursion. His enthusiasm and appreciation for wildlife is contagious! If you're fortunate enough to be there when the humpbacks are bubble-net feeding, you're in for a treat because Captain Steve's boat, the Merlin, has a hydrophone. You'll be able to hear the signal the whales give just before they all propel themselves upward toward the water's surface, capturing their tiny prey in their gigantic mouths. It's an unforgettable wildlife experience!

You can schlep it through with you if you like, but what 99.9% of people do is to drop it with the longshoremen yourself - you'll see signs indicating which side of the pier your ship is on (assuming there's more than one), and you can actually walk up to the guy who loads the conveyor belt that takes the luggage down to that berth. Leave it with him and you have zero chance of it getting put on the wrong ship!

Such helpful information! Will inquire about the berth and head to the conveyor belt :D

It's been many years since we cruised out of Vancouver and I'm assuming procedures may have changed since then. If we opt for independent transfer from hotel to ship terminal the day of departure, will Princess relieve us of our checked luggage upon arrival at the terminal? Or does it have to accompany us through immigration process? We're hoping to arrive before 11am.

We'll appreciate any input that is offered!

Thanks to everyone for such helpful information and suggestions!

Thanks. :)

Amazing, Pam--so very helpful! Thank you so much. Answered questions I didn't even know I had!

We'll be taking our first B2B cruises this July and will likely need to use the laundry facilities--we have a few questions. Does the charge for machine use go on your cruise card? Is there a detergent dispenser in the facilities? We don't care for pods and need mild detergent for sensitive skin. Should we plan to bring our own?

Any suggestions will be appreciated!

Well, I guess we just "upsold" ourselves :D Noticed nice fare drop on our departure yesterday and chose to upgrade from Obstructed OV to OV for $48 total rather than receive a refund from Princess on the fare difference. It pays to watch the fares daily!

Thank you for the input and good food for thought for the future! Turns out there was a very nice fare drop so we were able to upgrade to an Oceanview for $48 total! That was a no-brainer for us ;)

We are currently booked in E311 Obstructed Oceanview cabin on Island Princess SB Voyage of the Glaciers on July 18. We like the proximity to the front decks and Promenade deck but are wondering if we may hear noise from the Wheelhouse Bar. We're considering paying to upgrade to standard Oceanview today-tomorrow. Any input will be greatly appreciated!

I couldn't tell you where we were the second night. Sorry! If you want a certain time for the Bayou, book ahead. We went in the first day to book the first or second formal night and there were only very late times left. We decided to go on a non-formal night so we could earlier.

 

I will post the Captain's Log at the end.

 

Mark Harris is the naturalist and he's good. We’ve sailed with him before. He not only does bridge commentary but also does multiple presentations in the theater throughout the cruise. On some ships we’ve had someone coming on anytime there have been pods of whales around the ship but we didn’t get that yet. We did see more orcas so far on this trip than I think we’ve ever seen in our last 13 Alaska cruises combined. The waters have been super smooth so it certainly made it easier to spot them. Plus I'm spending a lot of time on a lounger in the covered pool area writing so my eyes are always glancing up.

 

Thanks for following along. And enjoy your trip!

Good suggestion about pre-booking the Bayou, thanks!

We agree Mark is good. He spends more time out on deck than any other naturalist we've seen and he's got a microphone with him when in good waters for spotting wildlife, which benefits everyone (at least those who are interested ;))! Will be watching for the Orcas, too.

Thanks in advance for posting the log! Looking forward to your daily updates!

Excuse me. How many captain Steve are there for whale watching?

As I searched, I found captain Steve in many web sites. i am confused.

 

Thank you

 

 

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Yes, I've noticed that, too! The Captain Steve we are recommending is Captain Steve Olmstead, with www.alaskahumpbackadventures.com.

Happy planning!

Thank you so much for posting the Patters and providing the link to your blog! Really enjoying reading it. We're on the July 11 departure (which will be the first leg of our first B2B, our 11th and 12th Alaska cruises).

Do you know the approximate location of the ship on the second evening? We're planning to dine at the Bayou that night (we don't "participate" in formal nights, either!) but are always hesitant to dine indoors when cruising through good whale waters.

Will you also post the Captain's Log at the end? We are keenly interested in the coordinates along the route, as we have a log of areas where we've repeatedly seen whales. We love the humpback whales and always book a whale watch excursion when in Juneau. We'd lost track of the best whale watch captain we've ever had (Steve Olmstead) then recently found him! Turns out he's just started his own company (Alaska Humpback Adventures). Can't wait to go out with him twice this year!

Is there a good naturalist on the Island this season?

May i ask what tour company did you book for whale watch in Juneau?

Thanks

 

 

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Chiming in with our recommendations for whale watching company in Juneau! We've just booked Captain Steve, with Alaska Humpback Adventures for our two Juneau visits during our first ever B2B Alaska cruises in July. He's the absolute best whale watch captain (out of approx. 7 captains) we've had in over a dozen excursions out of Juneau. Lost track of him after he left Harv & Marv and were thrilled to discover he started his own company this year! We have complete confidence in his competence as a captain. He's lived and captained in Juneau for decades and knows those waters intimately. On his trips, not only will you see whales but he also will point out all the other wildlife you observe along the way. His love and enthusiasm for wildlife is contagious!

His 6-passenger boat, the Merlin, has a hydrophone, which means you may be able to hear the whales communicating with each other. One year when the Auke Bay area humpbacks were in a bubble-net feeding period, we knew when they were about to surface because we could actually hear the "signal" via the hydrophone. Spectacular wildlife experience!

For anyone who wants the intimate whale watching experience of a 6-passenger boat, in our opinion, there is no reason to go with anyone but Captain Steve. While on his site, check out the breathtaking photos in the Gallery. www.alaskahumpbackadventures.com.

Does GPS work when in airplane mode (which is essential to avoid huge roaming charges on the ship), or is there a different way to get the cellular features disabled that keeps GPS on? And for those who used an iPad, was it a cellular-enabled iPad? I was under the impression that the Wifi-only iPads didn't have GPS receivers inside.

Not sure about the roaming and other concerns. What we do know is we had cellular data turned off on our 2018 GPS-enabled iPad and it worked beautifully.

About all we can suggest is just to research the device you want to use.

I concur completely with the reviews of Captain Steve (Alaska Humpback Adventures)! Hubby and I have booked with him on our two Juneau visits during our first ever B2B Alaska cruises in July. Lost track of him after he left Harv & Marv and were thrilled to discover he started his own company this year! He's the absolute best whale watch captain (out of approx. 7 captains) we've had in over a dozen excursions out of Juneau. We have complete confidence in his competence as a captain. He's lived and captained in Juneau for decades and knows those waters intimately. On his trips, you not only see whales but he also will point out all the other wildlife you observe along the way. His boat, the Merlin, has a hydrophone, which means you may be able to hear the whales communicating with each other. One year when the Auke Bay area humpbacks were in a bubble-net feeding period, we knew when they were about to surface because we could actually hear the "signal" via the hydrophone. Spectacular wildlife experience!

There is no mention of minimum age requirements on his website www.alaskahumpbackadventures.com. If you want the intimate whale watching experience of a 6-passenger boat, there is no reason to go with anyone but Captain Steve. While on his site, check out the breathtaking photos in the Gallery.

Great input! We loaded the app ($14.99) on our iPad and used it driving from Dallas to east Texas for Mother's Day weekend. We are VERY pleased! Love the feature that allows you to snap a still or video then automatically adds a marker. You can then get the coordinates of each marker! Will make marking the locations of whale and other wildlife sightings very quick as we're cruising.

Will be loading on our iPhones and second iPad, too! Can load up to 6 devices.

Thank you, CC members for taking the time to share your experiences!

We're looking to replace our old Garmin and Navionics has been recommended. Will primarily use it to track our location and show locations where we often see whales. Any input will be appreciated!

Just had a suggestion to check out a Navionics app. Does anyone have experience with Navionics or insight to offer? All input is appreciated! Thanks so much.

Great suggestions! Thank you all!

We'd like to upgrade from our dated Garmin with an iPad app. We enjoy tracking areas of previous whale sightings along our cruise route. All suggestions appreciated!

Thanks to all for the very helpful input. Think we'll play it safe and stay in port this time! It's fun to walk around the harbor and watch anglers bring in their catch. Sounds like we need to check out the Swiftwater Café, too! We've enjoyed the Blackstone and 26 Glaciers sightseeing cruises in the past. May see if any of the water taxi services have an short trip planned, just to take a look around!

We're taking our first b2b cruises Vancouver-Whittier-Vancouver, starting July 11. Will have a very long day in Whittier on the 18th before the SB cruise leaves that evening. We've cruised Blackstone Bay and done the glacier cruise in previous years. Would love to rent car in Whittier and take the scenic drive to Seward. Wondering if we can do that comfortably with plenty of time for stops before we board the Island Princess that evening.

All input and suggestions will be appreciated!

We are returning to Alaska on Princess for the 10th time in late July, booking our first-ever B2B. An extra week of vacation has prompted us to move forward to check this off our bucket list! We're holding PR718 on the NB out of Vancouver (with Icy Strait!). Hoping to verify the balcony is fully covered before we pay deposit tomorrow.

Any input on the balcony, the cabin or others in that section on Promenade deck will be greatly appreciated!

My daughter sent me this link. It is through Shutterfly. Hope it works for you. pix.sfly.com/xZWreMyX

Thank you so much for sharing; however, I cannot get it to work, even after joining Shutterfly :(

Was so hoping to obtain enough information about the route of the cruise that would help me make suggestions to friends who will be on July 1 departure of the approx. times and locations they should be sure to be watching for whales. Perhaps they'll just have to discover that for themselves, just as we have over the years! Thank you, again, for sharing the link!