Whale watching and Mendenhall glacier excursion

[Sonatina1990]

Going on an Alaskan one this July. Looking to do the whale watching and Mendenhall glacier when in Juneau. Has anyone purchased this excursion outside of the cruise line? I know thru the cruise line there is a guarantee of getting back to the ship on time and they tack on a fee for them, so thinking if I book online directly thru them not Princess it's a better deal. Any suggestions on where to purchase?

 

 

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[SiBreeze]

Going on an Alaskan one this July. Looking to do the whale watching and Mendenhall glacier when in Juneau. Has anyone purchased this excursion outside of the cruise line? I know thru the cruise line there is a guarantee of getting back to the ship on time and they tack on a fee for them, so thinking if I book online directly thru them not Princess it's a better deal. Any suggestions on where to purchase?

 

 

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In Juneau, you will see lots of kiosks at the base of the tram. Most any of those will offer whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier trips. They are all very aware of cruise ship times and will get you back in plenty of time.

 

We booked one the day we were in Juneau. Didn't want to be locked into a Princess excursion if it was going to be raining all day. Luckily it was sunny and we saw a couple of whales and lots of sea lions.

[capriccio]

I highly recommend Harv and Marv. You can reserve on line but at this late date you will probably have to hope that someone cancels. They are justifiably popular.

[paulhants]

We also booked with Harv & Marv and had a great day.

The smaller group suited us, and the smaller boat could be more reactive to sightings than the larger boats

[floridalover5623]

Going on an Alaskan one this July. Looking to do the whale watching and Mendenhall glacier when in Juneau. Has anyone purchased this excursion outside of the cruise line? I know thru the cruise line there is a guarantee of getting back to the ship on time and they tack on a fee for them, so thinking if I book online directly thru them not Princess it's a better deal. Any suggestions on where to purchase?

 

 

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It's so easy to use the bus in the ships parking lot to go to the Mendenhall glacier that doing a ships tour is almost pointless- unless you like giving money to Princess.

[msmoger]

Another vote for Harv and Marv. However, as has been said you're probably too late for July 2016, but it never hurts to ask.

 

I suggest heading over to the Alaska Ports of Call Boards for lots of last minute suggestions.

 

As has also been mentioned, the shuttles to Mendenhall Glacier near the docks are a very good and economical option. It also allows you to pace your visit and do what you want to do with very little time restrictions.

 

One last point. If you book a Whale Watching excursion, they will often drop you off at the glacier afterwards and you can use the easily accessible transportation back to the pier.

[moki'smommy]

We also did this privately, booking thru Shore Trips. We've priced the in many ports and found that in Europe they were crazy expensive...but in Alaska they used Harv and Marv and the prices were good.

 

In other ports, we even had a "group" excursion turn into a private tour as no one else booked thru them! That was amazing as the guide customized things to my daughter's interests.

[Swice]

We were there last month and did glacier and whales.

 

Coastal helicopter took us to Herbert Glacier... We chose the combo to step out on the glacier and visit the sled dog camp. Great operation. Van picked us up at the dock and took us to the airport. Our tour was at 9:15. We went back to the ship for lunch.

 

After lunch, we did Harv and marv at 2:30pm. Again, they picked us up at the dock.

 

We saw humpback whales. They typically don't jump out of the water like killer whales (think SeaWorld). Intead, they more or less surface and slowly roll over.

[Kinkacruiser]

We took the Princess tour to Mendenhall Glacier - amazing experience. There is a great add-on with the Glacial Gardens. The salmon hatchery was not so amazing.

As this was going to be our only trip to Alaska, we didn't mind paying the premium price.

[ponstad]

Last year, since there were 6 of us we opted to take a cab to Mendenhall - so we could send as much time as we wanted there. We got there early, ahead of most of the tours. It was a good decision - as many of the tour groups felt they were really rushed through when they went. We had arranged for the cab ahead of time, and also arranged to be picked up so that we could make our next tour.

Edited July 14, 2016 by ponstad
left something out

[TNTLAMB]

Don't forget in regards to mendenhall glacier that it is a Forrest service Site so if you are of a "certain age" your Golden eagle passport gets you into the visitor center which has great viewing as well as access to Photo Point Trail and the salmon viewing area. (we have never failed to see bears on the trail BTW.

 

You can get there by city bus right from the port for a buck or two each way

 

http://www.juneau.org/capitaltransit/documents/LocalScheduleRev12012015.pdf

 

Still gives you plenty of time for whale watching or gold panning (Gold Creek is amazing as its the glacier water) BUT if you are really adventurous and want to see wildlife up close and personal (not to mention the Glacier), you may want to consider a kayak tour of Mendenhall Lake.

 

In SE Alaska, its not a matter IF it will rain or not but rather HOW MUCH, so be prepared.

Edited July 14, 2016 by TNTLAMB

[hpeabody]

Yet another vote for Harv and Marv. But as said it is likely too late, they book up early as they are very popular.

[BigGuy25]

Another Marv and Harv fan here. We used them last September and have booked them again when we return in August!

[notentirelynormal]

Yet another vote for Harv and Marv. But as said it is likely too late, they book up early as they are very popular.

 

Heck, I've already booked them for August 2017! Same with Coastal.

[dogdoc2002]

Harv and Marv all the way if you can- we've used them both times we've been there and LOVED it both times. I think the first time they offered to drop us off at Mendhall (and take the city bus back) if we had wanted

We did a Mendenhall/local tourism trip through Mighty Great Trips that we also enjoyed

dogdoc2002