Bliss - Alaska Excursions/Juneau

[ZsaZsa2019]

We are cruising in June and staring to look at our excursions.

 

Regarding Juneau - 

I've been told that we will "probably" see quite a few whales right from our ship, so I'm wondering if a whale watching tour is even worth it?  The other one we were looking at was the tram.  The rest in our group are kind of looking for relaxing/hanging out things to do (none of us have been to Alaska, so hubby and I kind of would like to experience something).  Am I correct in reading the description of the tram that you buy the excursion and you can use the ticket all day as long as you want?  The time slot comes up at 4:25 for booking, so I'm a bit confused.  We will have at least 6 or 7 ships in port that day for Juneau, so I'm panicking a bit about the number of people that will be out and about.

 

Ideally, we would like to have a shorter excursion, see and experience something, but then maybe find a nice place to have a decent dinner (salmon?), maybe away from some of the crowds, relax...........

 

 

[twoznuff2]

I will be taking my 3rd trip to Alaska this May. In my experience, we didn't really see any whales from the ship, and even though we did see some dolphins from the ship it is nothing like the experience we had from the smaller boat on a whale watching excursion. The tram; you can easily get that yourself when you walk off the ship (if you can tell time for yourself and get back to the ship on time that is) and if I remember corexctly it was a day pass and cheaper then the cruise ship price. The tram takes you, Mt Roberts, where you can hike and possibly see some wildlife. Personally, I preferred the whale excursion. 

Alaska is beautiful, enjoy your trip.

Edited March 1, 2019 by twoznuff2
spelling

[nwcruiselover]

I have been on 6 Alaska cruises so far, and each time I have gone out to the Mendenhall Glacier.  There are buses right by the cruise port that can be taken out to the glacier.  A round trip is about $30.00 per person, and it’s not far out of town.  The glacier itself is amazing, and there is a nice visitor’s center.  Also hiking trails and the possibility of wildlife sightings.  Nothing needs to be arranged in advance, and it’s really beautiful.  The tram is great if it’s a clear day.  If it’s cloudy, you won’t get the great views, but there’s still a few things to do at the top.  The trams leaves right from the cruise port, and it’s $35.00 for an all-day pass.

[kfnesq]

11 minutes ago, twoznuff2 said:

I will be taking my 3rd trip to Alaska this May. In my experience, we didn't really see any whales from the ship, and even though we did see some dolphins from the ship it is nothing like the experience we had from the smaller boat on a whale watching excursion.

We have been to Alaska twice.  The first time we did not do a whale watching excursion because we couldn't fit it in, but we ended up seeing whales off our balcony anyway.  The second time we did do an excursion, and I agree with the above, you get a much more up close and personal experience on the excursion.  So, will you see whales either way?  Quite possible.  But I got some of my best photos from doing the excursion.

[MrsTocko]

8 hours ago, ZsaZsa2019 said:

We are cruising in June and staring to look at our excursions.

 

Regarding Juneau - 

I've been told that we will "probably" see quite a few whales right from our ship, so I'm wondering if a whale watching tour is even worth it?  The other one we were looking at was the tram.  The rest in our group are kind of looking for relaxing/hanging out things to do (none of us have been to Alaska, so hubby and I kind of would like to experience something).  Am I correct in reading the description of the tram that you buy the excursion and you can use the ticket all day as long as you want?  The time slot comes up at 4:25 for booking, so I'm a bit confused.  We will have at least 6 or 7 ships in port that day for Juneau, so I'm panicking a bit about the number of people that will be out and about.

 

Ideally, we would like to have a shorter excursion, see and experience something, but then maybe find a nice place to have a decent dinner (salmon?), maybe away from some of the crowds, relax...........

 

 

We have been twice and saw whales from the ship both times. a couple humpbacks with cruise tracy arm and an orca the first cruise from our balcony and a small pod of orcas from the back of the ship on our second.  Both cruises we took a whale watching excursion, the first cruise, combined with a salmon bake, even though we are not salmon fans - though would love to fish for them someday - and the second with the Mendenhall.  Mendenhall is fantastic.  Our guide was great and informative.  Saw lots of Eagles, whales and a mamma bear and 3 cubs. The name of the excursion we did the second cruise was the Photo Safari.

 

If you are wanting to see whales, do an excursion.  there are many to choose from in many price points.  Pick the one that fits you and your budget. You CAN get lucky and see them from the ship, they are quick, especially the orcas.  we didn't even realize for sure that is what we were seeing, until we zoomed in on the pictures we had taken already.  They are very quick.

 

Good luck, and have fun - Alaska is BEAUTIFUL.  We love it.

 

 

[MrsTocko]

8 hours ago, twoznuff2 said:

I will be taking my 3rd trip to Alaska this May. In my experience, we didn't really see any whales from the ship, and even though we did see some dolphins from the ship it is nothing like the experience we had from the smaller boat on a whale watching excursion. The tram; you can easily get that yourself when you walk off the ship (if you can tell time for yourself and get back to the ship on time that is) and if I remember corexctly it was a day pass and cheaper then the cruise ship price. The tram takes you, Mt Roberts, where you can hike and possibly see some wildlife. Personally, I preferred the whale excursion. 

Alaska is beautiful, enjoy your trip.

We are also taking our third in May.  What is your ship and sail date?  We are the Bliss on May 12.

[twoznuff2]

16 hours ago, MrsTocko said:

We are also taking our third in May.  What is your ship and sail date?  We are the Bliss on May 12.

I am on the May 5th Bliss cruise. You will get on the ship when I am getting off. 

[erdoran]

We did whale watching at Juneau and Tracy Arm, and only saw whales on Juneau - and our next to last day going between Skagway and Victoria at lunchtime.  It is closer from the excursion, but all we saw were whale tails.  You never know what you will see.  However, on the whale watching tour we also saw magnificent scenery from the small boat, and bald eagles at the marina, so it was all good.

[alejorubi]

25 minutes ago, twoznuff2 said:

I am on the May 5th Bliss cruise. You will get on the ship when I am getting off. 

We are in yours.  We are doing whales+glacier with alaskashoretours.com

Edited March 2, 2019 by alejorubi

[ZsaZsa2019]

You guys sold us!  Thanks for all the feedback.  We just booked Whale Watching and Wildlife Quest thru NCL.  Our friends were not interested.  This was only a 4 hour tour, so we get the excitement of whales, and then hoping to meet up with our friends for a nice dinner (salmon!) in town somewhere (hopefully away from some of the crowds).  So any suggestions on dinner are appreciated too.