Mendanhall and whale watching excursion for Princess?

[cmhighto]

Does anyone have one they can recommend? Don't want too large of a crowd. Proncess offers one that has 14 people and one that has 20 people. There is another one that shows a double decker boat and does not mention a tour size limit, so I'm assuming we need to stay away from that one.

[Budget Queen]

I suggest you determine, what you want to see and do at Mendenhall first. Combo tours are going to be limited with time, and most will not allow you enough time, if you want to include Nugget Falls.

 

There have been some combo changes with some independent vendors, but, ideal is just a direct whale watch/Mendenhall transfer and the Mendenhall portion being open, with either a shuttle bus or taxi, to/from there. (depending on order)

 

If you are ok with the short combo tour, and want a ship contracted tour- the vendors are Dolphin and Allen Marine.

 

There are numerous independent vendors, with usually descriptive websites about the boats they use.

[BoopTennis]

what is the best way to get from the dock/end of the whale watch tour to travel to Mendenhall glacier on your own (then taxi or shuttle back to cruise ship), if not doing a combo tour? Seems a waste of time to go from the whale watching site all the way back to the cruise port before heading back out to Mendenhall.

[peety3]

I suspect the 14 pax (JNU-700) and 20 pax (JNU-705) are operated by Gastineau Guiding. Both are fantastic. We've done -700 three times and love it. The -700 involves walking the Trail of Time, which means less time at the viewing area.

[xlxo]

I did the DCL photo tour which was operated by Gastineau. http://www.stepintoalaska.com/excursions/whale-watching-mendenhall-glacier-photo-safari

• if you enjoy photography and don't mind seeing expensive cameras on a whale watch.... this is it.
  
• The Trail of time is facinating looking at Mendenhall's retreat
  
• it was raining hard on my excursion day, so I was happy to return to the docks after 15 minutes at the visitor center. If the day was dryer, this tour itinerary would have allowed me to abandon the photo tour at the visitor center and to explore other trails (Nugget Falls?) and then return via shuttle at my own expense.
  

 

It's unclear to me if this is the 20 passenger tour and what Mendenhall trails they explore.

http://www.stepintoalaska.com/excursions/alaskas-whales-glaciers-rainforest-trails