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I will be aboard the Koningsdam B2B the middle of May next year and again whale watching in Juneau the first week. Perhaps our paths will cross.

A review of my favorite whale photos and my experience shows that May is both the most whales spotted and the most active month for Alaska. I think that since whales do not feed while away from Alaska, their first few months (April and May) back to their Alaska feeding grounds make them the most active. That means more bubble feeding and more visible tails from their deep diving for food.

An aft stateroom balcony allows views of both sides of the ship while wearing your pajamas, great photo ops, no wind while the ship is moving, three minutes from both the Lido Market and MDR, hot Room Service food, and the sound of the wake for a very restful sleep. In many aft stateroom cruises, soot has not been an issue for me. Another recommendation of a Deck 7 aft stateroom.

Out of many whale watching excursions in Victoria, Dominica, Santa Barbara, Mexico, Sitka, Prince Rupert, Juneau, and Icy Strait Point, my experience is that Icy Strait Point is by far the most photographic with numerous bubble-feeding events just a short boat ride from the pier.

This by-deck boarding notice is also applicable to the Nieuw Amsterdam on May 5. Much as happened in Fort Lauderdale over the past three years, if there is nobody in line to check-in, the HAL reps will let passengers continue with check-in. I will experience two of these new Vancouver procedures over the next two weeks, discuss the subject in two Meet & Greets, and will report back.

I have enjoyed taking Glacier Bay photos from the Promenade Deck (Deck 3). Surprisingly, last year there were only about 20 passengers with me for the entire length of the deck.

Viewing miles-wide glaciers is an awesome experience but walking on a glacier lets you feel a part of a glacier. One of my favorite excursions in Juneau has been walking on Mendenhall Glacier after a helicopter landing. Wearing crampons to maintain footing in the constant flowing water on top of the ice was interesting and filling a small cup to taste with the flowing water was a highlight. The views of the deep blue crevasses were awesome and quite different from looking at the glacier faces in Glacier Bay.

Here is a price table for updating HIA Surf Plans to higher plans once you are aboard: Internet HIA Update Price List

Welcome to Cruise Critic. This will be truly an amazing event for you. My photos are from Skagway but your experience in Juneau will be similar. Don't be surprised when you see that all of the dogs do not look like the ones in the movies. Very few blue-eyed huskies and dogs of different sizes. Big dogs are in the back for pulling and the smaller dogs in the front for steering. If possible, use a polarizing filter on your camera as the snow is very bright and to reduce the glare through the helicopter windows. Seating on the helicopter is assigned by weight to balance the craft, so hope for an outside seat to get photos in flight. Enjoy your first cruise to Alaska. Many return for more.

Sounded good to me. It is served in approximately 4 inches of very hot liquid. I would consider it "seafood soup" eaten with your fingers and quite a messy process. Ask for extra napkins.

Interesting. Same as my HAL PCC's birthday.

I will post links to the new menus and daily programs starting on April 27th

FWIW HAL has now actively advertised "Steak Night" in the Lido Market on Embarkation Day to relieve the stress on the MDR. In actuality, the menus are the same in both venues but the Lido Market is packed on the first night. This means that the first MDR night is not that bad. The Tamarind is a good choice for Embarkation Day.

Sounds like a good plan to me. If you are staying in either hotel, I recommend visiting the food court in the basement of the Fairmont Hotel for breakfast/lunch or for things you forgot to pack before your cruise. From the Pan Pacific Hotel, there is a down escalator in the Convention Center lobby that goes under the street to get to the Fairmont Hotel Food Court. Of course you can use the crosswalk in front of the Convention Center. It must be noted that there are onboard lunch places to eat no matter what time you board. Street entrance to Fairmont Hotel Food Court

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Successful whale watching in Juneau is a collective effort of the excursion boat operators who alert other boats when whales are spotted. Early in the Alaska season, their are fewer boats to spot whales and alert others. I agree with Coral that Icy Strait Point (ISP) whales are the most actively feeding that I have ever experienced. ISP is a small port so few Alaska visitors have the opportunity to experience the frantic bubble feeding.

May was the only month that I have seen frisky calves in my many whale watching excursions in Juneau.

The flight over the Juneau ice field was amazing and the locally caught king salmon was delicious. The iced tea is chilled with fresh glacier ice floating in front of the lodge. There are a very limited number of planes allowed and not a lot of seating in the dining room. I enjoyed the excursion and the photo ops were incredible. The bears that normally come to look for leftovers were on Spring Break when I was there.

The HAL normal North America boarding pass time pre-COVID was 1:00 PM. Experienced cruisers chose to check-in either early or later which left new cruisers to arrive at the terminal around 12:30 PM to begin their check-in process. All worked well from my experience as the boarding process was spread over about four hours. With many ships now sailing at 3:00 PM, passengers disembarking at the same time (NLT 9:30 AM), and Room Stewards still having to prepare rooms, the available check-in and boarding processes are compressed. My advice on another thread was to arrive early if you have priority boarding (mobility challenged with families members, Pinnacle/Neptune suite guests, or 4/5* Mariners). If you do not have priority boarding and have no desire to sit, arrive at the terminal for check-in after the assigned boarding time.

To update, check-in times are no longer assigned for Vancouver passengers rather all passenger are given a "boarding time" of noon. This could translate into a big surge around 11:00 AM. For those without "priority boarding," it means more sitting until those with priority boarding finish boarding (estimated 12:30 PM). Since boarding continues for several hours after noon and to avoid sitting in the terminal, an informed choice would be to begin the HAL check-in process at 1:00 PM. You should be able to just walk onboard after that time. Of course, you may turn in your luggage starting around 10:00 AM at the cruise terminal entrance. For those boarding after 1:00 PM, there will be access to all of the same dining venues as those boarding at noon, since HAL has closed the MDR for Embarkation Day lunch.

The Tundra Wilderness Tour is included. Here is a link to HAL's Alaska Tour Tips to help in your planning: Alaska Tour Tips 2024

Agree with layers but bring a backpack to store each layer as you remove them during an excursion. Keep a poncho in your backpack if you want to keep your camera dry between shots in the rain.

Just for clarification, plastic water bottles, both disposable and non-disposable, are permitted at the cruise terminal if they are EMPTY. When returning to the ship after an excursion, you will not be asked to empty any plastic, disposable or non-disposable, plastic container.

Club Orange has a restricted number of members for each cruise. Book as soon as you have a cruise booking number. If you are booking to take advantage of a free stateroom upgrade, contact Ships Inventory at 1-888-628-8107 or 206-626-7381. Before calling have your booking number, credit card, and deck plan that shows your preferred stateroom in the same category as you have booked.

In July and September during salmon runs, the eagles are not very hungry. May and June are my favorite eagle feeding month excursions. Remember my tip of sitting above the life preserver on the Aleutian Ballad for great eagle photos next month.

Give my website Contact Form another try (links in my signature). I will be in Alaska late this month and then two additional weeks in May. My opinions are based on my desire to capture wildlife/scenery with my camera and not necessarily cultural stimulation. As for photo excursions, I have tried two photo excursions in my many cruises. Both were committed to "rookie" camera users learning to set the dials on their cameras. The one plus for my Skagway photo excursion was spotting ptarmigans in the bushes while others were learning how to attach cameras to tripods. I have not been to the Haines Wildlife Center but the other excursions have not been fulfilling to me. The Skagway train to Lake Bennett is one notch behind dogsledding in the snow for photos. Tracy Arm is my favorite Juneau excursion with amazing photo ops followed by whale watching. Ketchikan will always have Bering Sea Crab Fishing at the top of my excursion list because of the eagle feeding photo ops. Another favorite is the Silverking Lodge for eagle feeding, whales, sea lions, Sitka deer, and great seafood feast. For Sitka, any boat excursion to capture wildlife is on my photo list. Let me know if you have other ports on your cruise that I have not addressed.