Whale Watching in Alaska

[Mhazien]

Hello! 

My husband and I are going on the Ruby Princess in May 2019 to Alaska. We have already booked the helicopter tour to Mendenhall Glacier and dog sledding in Juneau, but I am now seeing that Juneau is one of the best places to go whale watching. I don’t think we will have enough time to do both excursions in one day. Does anyone have any recommendations for whale watching at any of the other ports? We would love to do a tour that has a chance of seeing orcas. We were even considering doing it from Seattle (where the cruise is starting and ending). Our other ports are Skagway, Ketchikan, and Victoria. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated :). 

[Glaciers]

Victoria would be your best bet for orcas.  There’s really no better place than Juneau for humpbacks and there are orca sightings in this area as well. If you can squeeze both excursions in Juneau, do.

[naxer]

By coincidence we saw a pod of orcas from the cruise ship off the cost of Washington on our way back.  It was the most memorable sight of our entire Alaska cruise, and perhaps one of the most memorable of my life.  They appeared starboard racing toward the ship, and cut through the wake behind.  Everyone around me watched in silence or with gasps.  

Edited January 9, 2019 by naxer
clarity

[PekingeseLady]

I am going early the end of April, so Ive been doing a lot of research.  Juneau is the best place to see whales and to do a Whale watching excursion.  I would love to do the Adventure Bound excursion, looks like a must do, but they will not be operating yet.  This is where they take you up the Tracy Arm and you get upclose and personal to the glaciers. This is a link to there website, after you check out these pictures click on Home and read about the excursion.  Have a fantastic cruise!