Pre cruise Wild Bear watching in Alaska

[casperthecat]

We are very close to booking our first Alaska cruise for early June 2011 and this extra trip has caught our eye. But I can't find any reviews of it - apologies if it is right in front of me but I have tried searching and found nothing. Has anyone done it and is it worth over £1100 pp ? What are the transfer times like? We will have had a long flight from the UK and our flight arrives in Anchorage after midnight so I don't fancy a 6am start but I can't find any timing details. Any personal experiences, good or bad, will be gratefully received. Thanks.

[RachelG]

I can't see the details of this tour on the Regent site--I am guessing that it is listed in a brochure that you have received since it is a pre-cruise offering. So I am thinking that this is one of those things where they take you to an area that bears are known to be abundant to spot them..

 

I have never taken a bear watching tour per se. I have been to Alaska and British Columbia many times, and I have seen MANY bears. But it was never on an organized tour. The price they are quoting seems pretty high. Your odds of seeing a bear are quite dependent on time of year, weather, and location. If they are taking you to a salmon river when the salmon are running and where bears are known to eat, you would probably see a lot of bears. But since bears are wild animals, their presence can't be guaranteed.

 

Personally, 1100 pounds per person sounds like a lot to me. I would save my money and do something else. If I wanted a guaranteed bear sighting, I would go to the animal rehab place that is just outside Anchorage. They have lots of bears as well as other animals.

[colomom]

The description is here:

 

http://www.rssc.com/cruises/landhotelprograms.aspx?VoyageId=NAV110615&DisplayType=Program&Id=ANCL25|True&TimeType=PR

[Eager2Travel]

We just returned from a cruise in Alaska, not on Regent. We took a private tour in Icy Strait with a very experienced Alaskan guide. Our sightings of bears were very fleeting. Our guide went to extreme effort to try and find us bears. He stayed out with us an extra 2 hours and took us to several remote areas. It was an amazing experience walking in the forest next to streams teeming with salmon. I loved every minute of it however we were much closes to bears while walking around the Mendinhal Glacier in Junea. I hope this is helpful to you in making your decision.

[chuckw]

Having lived in Alaska, I wouldn't pay $11 to see a bear, they are everywhere. I would take a trip to Denali where you'll see bear, wolf, moose and many other criters some of wich will be eating each other.

[OrpingtonT]

From the description it looks to me as though you are being offered a three day trip, including float plane flight, accommodation meals and transport. The cost of around £1100 does not seem excessive to me havind travelled halfway round the world to get there.

 

 

 

Of course if you have lived in Alaska you would be expected to be blase about these things but as you don't get many grizzlies in London or Manchester or even Orpington, we have a different perspective.

[casperthecat]

Thanks for your prompt replies. As this is our first Alaskan trip, I'm not confident enough to book trips independentlyas I have no idea about distances and reputable companies etc. We have decided to do the trip but fly in a day earlier so that we have a day in Anchorage to get our bearings, recover from jetlag and generally prepare for our adventure.

 

We are booking the last portside cabin available (in any Cat D or below) and embark on June 1st. Here's hoping for good weather, lots of sightings and our expectations met by all aspects of the holiday. We are very excited, but not as excited as we would be if we saw a bear in Orpington!!!

[verdl]

We are very close to booking our first Alaska cruise for early June 2011 and this extra trip has caught our eye. But I can't find any reviews of it - apologies if it is right in front of me but I have tried searching and found nothing. Has anyone done it and is it worth over £1100 pp ? What are the transfer times like? We will have had a long flight from the UK and our flight arrives in Anchorage after midnight so I don't fancy a 6am start but I can't find any timing details. Any personal experiences, good or bad, will be gratefully received. Thanks.

 

We cruised on the Mariner last August. We selected the Neets Bay excursion option one day and it was fantastic. Bears galore.

 

We arrived in Anchorage 4 days before embarkation. Had dinner that night LATE at Marx Brothers -- we enjoyed it!!

 

The first morning we drove to Talkeetna for a glacier flight/walk (TAT - Talkeetna Air Taxi) on the Mt McKinley Glacier. Then had lunch at a wonderful little spot. It was the MOST FANTASTIC day. It's quite a drive -- but more than worth it. We barely remember the drive back --- we were on "cloud nine"! You might want to consider that as a pre-cruise option..............they have a website, check it out.

 

The next day we rented bikes and rode the Tony Knowles trail......really a great day.

 

We picked up a rent car when we arrived at the Anchorage Airport so we drove to Seward the next day. We stopped in Girdwood for dinner at Alyeska Lodge: Seven Glaciers Restaurant - it's gorgeous and food was really great ... loved the tram ride up also. Views unbelievable! We spent the night in Seward. We drove to and climbed Exit Glacier the next morning and then boarded the ship in the afternoon. These four days were almost as fantastic as the cruise itself!!

 

If you have the time forge out on your own -- it's amazing what you can organize yourself with just a little research before you go (and luck).

 

Have a wonderful time, whatever you decide to do.

 

verdl

[RachelG]

Had to actually work today, so took me a bit to get back to this. They are taking you by float plane to a place where bears are known to congregate. So you will probably see some bears. The place they take you the next day is the rehab center outside Anchorage that I was referring to in my earlier post.

 

You could probably do this on your own, including booking the float plane excursion, for about 1/2 the price they are asking. The question is do you want to do that or do you want the convenience of having it all arranged for you? I would do it myself and save the money, but you have to decide that for yourselves.