Best Excursions for animals/wildlife?

[Cozumelted]

Hey everyone! My parents, boyfriend and I will be setting sail on the Carnival Legend in May of this year!

We'll be stopping in Juneau (2pm-11pm), Skagway(7am-9pm), and Ketchikan(7am-1pm).

 

What are the best tours/excursions in these places relating to animals/wildlife? Marine life especially :)

Edited January 8, 2017 by Cozumelted

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We have always enjoyed our whale watches in Juneau, we booked with Harv & Marv twice And Jayleen was the skipper on the last trip. She is the daughter of Harv, or Marv not sure which, now has her own company and we booked with her for our August Cruise. Here's her web site:

 

http://www.jayleensalaska.com/

 

Here's some pictures from our trip in July, of course YMMV.

 

We also did a bear watch in Ketchikan at Neets Bay.

[Jason82]

We did Allen Marine Tours in Sitka. They also operate tours in Ketchikan and Juneau. The staff were great and we saw humpbacks up close in addition to other wildlife.

[TheCalicoCat]

Juneau is the stop for whale watching. 100% guaranteed, but that can be just dorsal fins - no tails, no breaches, no bubble net feeding... (Just to moderate your expectations - not everyone gets a spectacular experience - others are happy just being out there with a chance at seeing something awesome.)

 

You are sailing too early for bears/salmon.

[Budget Queen]

Juneau is the stop for whale watching. 100% guaranteed, but that can be just dorsal fins - no tails, no breaches, no bubble net feeding... (Just to moderate your expectations - not everyone gets a spectacular experience - others are happy just being out there with a chance at seeing something awesome.)

 

You are sailing too early for bears/salmon.

 

It is very common to see humpback tails. Very rare not to. They are a buoyant whale that usually needs to fluke up to dive.

 

The accurate information for what you can expect with Juneau whale watches are humpbacks- blows, backs and tails. Sea lions and eagles are also common sightings.

[Cozumelted]

It is very common to see humpback tails. Very rare not to. They are a buoyant whale that usually needs to fluke up to dive.

 

The accurate information for what you can expect with Juneau whale watches are humpbacks- blows, backs and tails. Sea lions and eagles are also common sightings.

 

Perfect, just what I want!

I've done a bit of studying humpbacks this year (i'm an animal behavior student) and I'm really looking forward to the wildlife on this trip so i'm happy to hear they're common sightings.

[Hawaiian Mongoose]

We did Allen Marine Tours in Sitka. They also operate tours in Ketchikan and Juneau. The staff were great and we saw humpbacks up close in addition to other wildlife.

 

How did you book with Allen Marine? Did they know you were on a cruise? Their web page does not have pricing or booking information. This is what they say for us cruise passengers:

 

If you are visiting Alaska by cruise ship, please use the links below to contact your cruise line to determine tour availability, schedule, and pricing information. You can also use these links to secure your tour reservations. We wish you a great cruise and look forward to seeing you!

 

The links take you to the individual cruise line tours. It appears to me that they do not book direct.

 

Thanks for any help. Patric

[coco33]

I took the Carnival Legend in May of 2015 (:sigh: how time flies) So I took Orca Enterprises and they were phenomenal. I forgot the owners name, but he has been doing this for decades so the whales recognize his boat. Anyway we saw lots of whales, sea lions, eagles. A baby whale came up to the boat.

The lady on the boat was saying the mother recognized the boat, and wanted to "introduce" the baby to the owner.

[donaldsc]

I took the Carnival Legend in May of 2015 (:sigh: how time flies) So I took Orca Enterprises and they were phenomenal. I forgot the owners name, but he has been doing this for decades so the whales recognize his boat. Anyway we saw lots of whales, sea lions, eagles. A baby whale came up to the boat.

The lady on the boat was saying the mother recognized the boat, and wanted to "introduce" the baby to the owner.[/QUOTE]

 

That is ascribing anthropomorphic intent to an animal. I seriously doubt it. Curiosity - maybe. Introducing the kid to the owner of the boat - highly unlikely. A neat experience - certainly regardless of why the baby was really near the boat.

 

DON

[Hawaiian Mongoose]

I took the Carnival Legend in May of 2015 (:sigh: how time flies) So I took Orca Enterprises and they were phenomenal. I forgot the owners name, but he has been doing this for decades so the whales recognize his boat. Anyway we saw lots of whales, sea lions, eagles. A baby whale came up to the boat.

The lady on the boat was saying the mother recognized the boat, and wanted to "introduce" the baby to the owner.

 

Aloha. We used ORCA Enterprises in 2015 as well. We had Captain Larry but no personal encounters like you experienced. I just found out that ORCA Enterprises is now part of Dolphin Jet Boat Tours, per TripAdvisor. I was wondering why I couldn't find a web page. Thanks for your reply.

[nana&poppy2526]

In Ketchikan, I cannot recommend highly enough the Ketchikan Bering Sea Crab Fishermen's Tour. It is offered by our NCL ship, but I saved $100 ($50 each person) by booking our next excursion through

Alaska-shoreexursions.com. We'll be on the same boat/same excursion as the passengers who book through the ship. We did this excursion in 2010 and cannot wait to do it again.

 

Happy cruising!

[WyoLars]

You are sailing too early for bears/salmon.

 

When can you expect to start seeing bears?

[enjoymylife1]

Hey everyone! My parents, boyfriend and I will be setting sail on the Carnival Legend in May of this year!

We'll be stopping in Juneau (2pm-11pm), Skagway(7am-9pm), and Ketchikan(7am-1pm).

 

What are the best tours/excursions in these places relating to animals/wildlife? Marine life especially :)

we r on the legend may 23! good topic!

[Coral]

When can you expect to start seeing bears?

 

Bears can be seen all summer. There just isn't bear watching excursions except for when salmon are running (mid July and on).

 

I have seen many bears in May and June. Just not when I was expecting to. For example, a drive to the Yukon, hiking near Seward, boat rides to Tracy Arm, etc... There are reports at Mendenhall glacier but I have not seen them there.