Timing advice needed please

[ingy79]

We are on Celebrity Solstice departing on 1st September. We will be in Juneau on 4th September from 1.30pm to 10pm. We would really love to be able to do a whale-watching and Mendenhall Glacier combo but I'm a little nervous about timing. The combos that we were looking at are 5 hours long and departure times from Juneau are 2.30pm or 3.30pm. Would we have time to get to the 2.30pm excursion if we are not docking until 1.30pm? I am a bit afraid to go for the 3.30pm excursion as I think it might leave it very tight for the all aboard time when we are departing at 10pm.

 

Alternatively should we wait until we dock and then see if there is anything suitable on arrival? (Not really keen on this in case we are left with nothing).

 

Has anybody done these before? What would anyone recommend? Any advice would be very gratefully received.

 

Thanks

[Herfnerd]

We were in the same quandary. Wanted to book a whale watching/Mendenhall combo through Juneau Whale Watch and emailed to ask if we would be better off with the 2:30 tour - our ship docks at 1pm and didn't know if we would make the 1:30 tour. They responded that the 1:30 was doable and on the HAL board, we were told that we would be docked and disembarking by 1pm.

 

If you are booking third party, I would contact the vendor and ask - I would imagine they would know best......

 

PS - we will be in Juneau on 4 September as well!

[Budget Queen]

If you are ready to go and in line, you will have NO problem. But I'd also suggest you may want to just consider booking the whale watch at 2:30p then leaving the glacier open. Simply take a cab direct to Mendenhall from the whale watch. Call a cab 30 minutes prior to getting back to the dock or prearrange pick up. Then same thing when you want to leave. Have phone numbers with you and use the same 30 minutes guidelines. This is your most efficient method, that saves you valuable time and gives you the most freedom.

I would not book this with a combo. It is significant to be open ended and not having you do a marathon visit because you have to be back for the return.

[ingy79]

Many thanks Budget Queen. I think that is really good advice. And HerfNerd, we may see you in Juneau!! Have a good trip :-)