enough time at mendenhall glacier

[margaritagirl424]

Trying to pick a tour to Mendenhall Glacier. Will be doing whale watching and then to the glacier. One tour offers a visit for an hour. Is that enough time to take a few pics of the glacier and be able to walk to Nugget Falls for pics there too? I have called the visitor center there and they say an hour is enough but you have to watch your time. Will not be able to hang out. Has anyone done the whale watching and glacier excursion when on Celebrity? Their excursion is more money but may give us a little more time.

thanks

[queenteacher]

We are docked from 1 to 10pm. Our plan is to take the Blue Shuttle to the Visitor Center and see that on our own. We have a Whale Watching Tour with Marv & Harv at 4:20 to 9:00. They have a great reputation and we will get a more personalized tour than the ship's tours.

 

BTW, we are on the Celebrity Solstice stopping there June 16th.

Edited February 28, 2014 by queenteacher

[Paula_MacFan]

I believe most of the whale watching tours will leave you at Mendenhall and you can get back to the ship on your own, if you desire. Of course that's assuming your whale watch is first followed by the stop at Mendenhall. We're going on a whale watch tour with Mendenhall in May, and our tour operator said they do it all the time, they just ask you to sign a release or something saying you take responsibility for getting back to the ship yourself. That's what we plan to do.....just take the MGT bus back to the pier.

 

I've read many reviews from these excursions and the one theme seems to be 'it was great but wish we had more time at the glacier'. I figure we've come all that way, there's no reason not to stay as long as we want and enjoy our time there.

 

Not sure that answers your question:) I'm basing my decision on many trip reports here as well as Tripadvisor reviews.

[margaritagirl424]

Do you know how long does it take to get there from the ship? I have heard that we will tender in Juneau, so that is a much longer process to get off the ship. We will not get there until 1:30. I wish there was an excursion that left at 6pm, then there would be plenty of time!:)

[margaritagirl424]

I hear the last bus back to town is at 6pm. With a whale watching tour at 3:30 or 4:30 we could not make that bus.

[queenteacher]

Take the 4:30 whale tour and see the glacier beforehand. When are you there?

[margaritagirl424]

We will be there on June 2. Marv & Harv is one of the tours we are considering. That's why I wondered how long the bus ride is to the glacier. Then if we tender that will take even longer unless we are lucky enough to be one of the first ones off. If I remember correctly, the tour operator I spoke to said that one of the four docks in Juneau is not being used, so someone will have to tender. I guess we will find out when we get there.

[My Lady Sydney]

I read on one of these boards just this morning that the Solstice tenders every other week. Also the visitors center told me that they do not have the dock schedule up for 2014 yet so there isn't anyway to tell if you will tender or dock just yet

[Halehuaka_i]

You can check dock schedules here:

 

http://www.claalaska.com/schedules.html

 

It helps to know how many other ships will be in port at the same time!