NE/Canada cruise- Whale Watching

Hoping to get some feedback for our Sept 28 Anthem of the Seas cruise on whale watching. First, we will end up booking an excursion through the cruise line because my partner/wife is Deaf. The cruise line will provide a sign language interpreter for tours/excursions booked though them. It's really hard to get an interpreter for tours if it's not through the ship unless we pay for it.

With that said, I started looking at some excursions. I noticed some whale watching excursions and maybe they will add more as we get closer to sailing. So far, the only two whale watching excursions seem to be in Halifax, Nova Scotia, "Nature and Whale Watching" excursion. That's pretty cheap at $59 and there's a really expensive one in Saint Johns, New Brunswick for $189 called "Bay of Fundy Whale and Wildlife Watching".

$189 is a lot to spend but I'm assuming that this excursions is much better than the one in Halifax. One of my questions is, do you actually see whales on the Halifax whale watching excursion? Or is the one in Saint Johns MUCH better and worth the extra $130 LOL. I also wonder how many sightings there will be by going in the beginning of October.

I don't see any whale watching tours from Bar Harbor but maybe those will be added later. I don't even see them for Portland or Boston. We already have a couple of things we want to see in Portland and Boston though.

I would love folks experiences on the whale watching tours from Halifax and St. Johns. Thanks!

Halifax is a comparatively poor spot for whale-watching even in season. I would drop that immediately if you actually want to see whales. It's on the wrong side for the good feeding grounds, so while you may be able to chase down some ocean-going species out of Halifax your sighting % is going to drop immensely - I wager there's no 'see whales or get a refund' on that excursion!

The Bay of Fundy is an absolute whale hotspot though - those massive tides churn up the seafloor and make it among the most productive on the planet. Greater price may be partly because you have to drive - most whale cruises go out of St Andrews-by-the-Sea, over an hours drive from Saint John (NB: Saint John singular = New Brunswick; I find it easiest to remember which is which because the plural city is in the plural province, St Johns in Newfoundland & Labrador).

Still the best ever whale experience we've had was here with the now-unfortunately-deceased 'Doctor Chuck' in his speedboat, following a fin whale around for over four hours. At one point we guessed too well where it would resurface and it actually lifted the boat! But all the excursions we took on the mainland side of Nova Scotia were exceptional - being surrounded by hundreds of pilot whales in a dense fog off Cheticamp was pretty darn special too.

I can appreciate you only considering ship excursions with the interpreter issue, but in my experience whale watching is overwhelmingly more about looking than listening - it's only when you're on the way out and back that you tend to get any spiel from the guides unless it's a resident pod and the crew can ID specific whales by tail markings etc. Even in those circumstances, I've never had a tour without a photo guide to the local whales which can be easily pointed at to ID the whales - folks who don't share a common language with the tour operator are not rare, and still seem to have a good time. Basically, don't write off all independent tours without at least checking what they could provide for your wife - you might even find there's a guide who can sign available, and if so they'd be much more useful than an interpreter who knows nothing about whales!

That is a very good point. I would rather get the best experience possible and I think she would probably agree, seeing is more important than hearing the spiel.

I'll do some whale watching research. Would Bar Harbor be a good place to find Whale Watching tours through an independent operator? I'll see if she's open to that. I have noticed on tours, she sometimes doesn't watch the interpreter as it's more about seeing than knowing the exact history.

We are pretty set on visiting the historical stuff in Boston and visiting light houses in Portland. So that leaves Bar Harbor, Halifax, and St. Johns. Would one place be better than the other?

I don't mind the Bay of Fundy whale watching, but for $189 I would absolutely want it to be a awesome experience. I'm assuming for that much, it is. We have never seen whales before :-) Thanks again for your input and insight :)

Independent tours out of St-Andrews-by-the-Sea would be the best bet for % success since it's the closest good harbour to the mouth of the bay (hence the many whalewatch companies that operate), are also about $60pp and priced in CAD, an immediate ~25% saving! Consider a car rental - maybe others on your roll call would also be interested? - for getting there from Saint John.

I've never whale-watched out of Bar Harbor - but they're not too far from the bay of Fundy so logically should have good potential (and I found tours running through the end of October for about $60). I have taken big boats out of Boston for humpback viewing - but a little earlier in the year, and as you say you're giving up a lot of potential other stuff there.

Saint John is, I would say, your best bet as 'big' alternative attractions are minimal (reversing falls are frankly boring, even if you're there at the right time to see them - and otherwise it's Hopewell Rocks for the tide, again assuming the timing is right, and that's a two hour drive the other direction).

Edit - a bit of Googling turned up exactly what that RCCL tour is. It's a bus ride to and from St Andrews, then a CAD$60 whalewatch with Quoddy Link, plus an adoption certificate for your very own North Atlantic Right Whale (CAD$40). They are SERIOUSLY scamming you at US$189pp!!! Arrange it yourself and save buckets of cash...

Independent tours out of St-Andrews-by-the-Sea would be the best bet for % success since it's the closest good harbour to the mouth of the bay (hence the many whalewatch companies that operate), are also about $60pp and priced in CAD, an immediate ~25% saving! Consider a car rental - maybe others on your roll call would also be interested? - for getting there from Saint John.

 

I've never whale-watched out of Bar Harbor - but they're not too far from the bay of Fundy so logically should have good potential (and I found tours running through the end of October for about $60). I have taken big boats out of Boston for humpback viewing - but a little earlier in the year, and as you say you're giving up a lot of potential other stuff there.

 

Saint John is, I would say, your best bet as 'big' alternative attractions are minimal (reversing falls are frankly boring, even if you're there at the right time to see them - and otherwise it's Hopewell Rocks for the tide, again assuming the timing is right, and that's a two hour drive the other direction).

 

Edit - a bit of Googling turned up exactly what that RCCL tour is. It's a bus ride to and from St Andrews, then a CAD$60 whalewatch with Quoddy Link, plus an adoption certificate for your very own North Atlantic Right Whale (CAD$40). They are SERIOUSLY scamming you at US$189pp!!! Arrange it yourself and save buckets of cash...

Wow....thanks for doing that. I'll definitely look into that. Appreciate it!

I just want to agree with MartinCath. You do not need an interpreter. Perhaps have some photos of whale species (should be on the boat). Enjoy!

Thank you...I talked to her over the weekend (well, signed LOL) and she agrees that she is more interested in SEEING whales. We will start looking for some tour operators! Appreciate the feedback!

Anyone have a good Whale Watching company for Saint John (Bay Of Fundy), New Brunswick ?

Google for companies out of St. Andrews, New Brunswick.

You will also probably see lots of them as you sail out of Saint John from your ship, but St Andrew’s (1 hour drive almost to the Maine border) is where most of the whale watching in the area is.

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