Anyone take spotting scopes?

[michigan tim]

Wondering if there would be too much motion on the ship to be practical? Would also take full size tripod. Planning on renting car in Skagway and Juneau, so would also get use on these side trips. All thoughts appreciated. Thanks

[Yukon]

I'd never consider taking mine - too much weight with extremely few opportunities to use it. On the ship, the motion but also the fact that there's seldom anything worth zooming in on that's close enough and not moving too fast.

[whale-watcher]

We have used our spotting scope frequently...we have watched eagles, mountian goats and black bears from our balcony while docked, and (with difficulty) watched brown bears and other wildlife foraging onshore and puffins and sea otters swimming in the water while cruising slowly in Glacier Bay and elsewhere.

 

We have also used our spotting scopes on land quite a bit...especially if you rent a car a explore on your own...again, really nice for bird/wildlife watching and digiscoping. We are birders, and would hate to miss out on anything because of inadequate optics. If your plans include a land tour, you will probably appreciate having a spotting scope along (if you are used to using one for wildlife watching at home).

 

We purchased a small and lightweight 50mm Nikon ED for travel (at home use larger 65 and 85mm scopes for birding and wildlife watching). An angled scope is a good choice, as you can have a shorter and lighter tripod, and this also allows people of various heights to use the same scope comfortably.

[Putterdude]

Aboard ship a spotting scope would be all but useless with the motion of the ship.