Alaska Evening Whale Watch

[DreamBoatAnnie]

Does anyone know what time the evening whale watch excursion is in Juneau? Also, how many people are on the whale watch boat; is it crowded or is there elbow room?

 

Thanks to all in advance!

[GATKLT]

We're on the June 20 sailing, and are also curious about the time of the Juneau evening whale watching. Like many lines, the RSSC shore excursion descriptions don't give a time - only "AM" or "PM." The three excursions we most want are on the same day - Tracy Arm in the morning, the helicopter dog sled trip in the afternoon, and the whale watching in the evening. We've internet registered our interest in all three, and have no idea if the scheduling of two or all three fit together. Aside from the issue of whether all three would be exhausting, posts I've seen suggest that doing the dog sled trip and an evening whale watch privately can be easily coordinated. No info though on whether it's possible going through RSSC.

 

Would also love to hear what RSSC Alaska excursions have been deemed "hits" and which are "miss!" Have heard great things about Tracy Arm, Juneau whale watching, the dog sledding (but that it's frequently cancelled due to weather), and the Skagway Whitehorse Railroad. Mixed reviews of the Sitka raptor center/Russian dancer/walking tour, and poor reviews of the Lumberjack show.

 

Any advice is appreciated!

[MamaQuack]

We did the Regent whale watch in '05. I am sorry I can't remember the exact time but I do know we missed dinner and ordered room service when we returned. It was a nice boat with plenty of room, lots of seating and good rail space on the outside deck. We saw lots of whales and were glad we did it. However, this past July we opted to do a private tour, just us on a smaller boat and it was truly amazing.

 

Other excursions: we did the Skagway RR because at the time our son was only 6 and too small or too young to do much else. It was alright going up but very boring on the way back. This past summer we opted for another private tour - had a guide and did a float - it was beautiful and we were very pleased.

 

We have never done the dog sledding although 10 from our family group in July did. They loved it and were very happy. We all did the Tracy Arm. We were blessed with one of those crystal clear days which are rare. Blue skies and bright sunshine. Despite the early wake up and departure it was by far one of the best excursions we have ever done on any of our 20 cruises. The excursion boat is nice, comfy, warm, and they feed you. Because of its size you can get so close to the glaciers. Our captain also backed us up in a cove under a waterfall - people were taking all kinds of Christmas card pics! This year in Sitka we did a private salmon fishing trip which our son will tell you was and remains one of the happiest and best days of his life. He is a nature kid and really wanted to see the raptors too but our incredible captain had the fish biting and we spent our day enjoying a whole new part of Alaska. Next time we will see the raptors. One other excursion we did and would do again is the flight plane out of Juneau - it was breathtaking and we could see the dog sledders too! We also did the Misty Fiords flight excursion and did not enjoy it as much and would not do it again. Hope this helps.

[DreamBoatAnnie]

MamaQuack:

 

Thank you for your reply. We're planning on doing the Tracy Arm excursion and were thinking of booking an evening whale watch (we'll probably go independently; just read your post about your whale watch). I know it's a long day, but we really want to do both. Our daughter wants to see as much nature as she can, and my mother would love to see a whale up close. We might try for 4:30 or 5:00pm so we can order room service when we return.

 

Thanks again for your help!

[JunaluskaLady]

How did those of you who went on private whale watching trips arrange them? Did you do that before you left home? I'm wondering how to accomplish this.

[OrpingtonT]

How did those of you who went on private whale watching trips arrange them? Did you do that before you left home? I'm wondering how to accomplish this.

 

Just one of the companies which do whale watching is Capt Larry and the e-mail address is orca@alaska.com tel: toll-free 1888-733-6722.

 

I made enquiries but decided to take the Regent tour which started about 4pm. we returned in good time for dinner.

 

I guess if you googled "whale watching Juneau" you would get several contacts.

[MamaQuack]

We usually find our private tours either here on the boards or by doing a search - in Juneau we used Harv & Marv with Alaska Whale Watch - it is a family biz with someone's retired dad picking you up at the pier and delivering you to the harbor where one of the guys takes you out - we went on a Saturday evening, the owner's wife kayaked out to us with a platter of warm chocolate chip cookies and off we went - we were able to sight several pods - our captain killed the engines and we drifted for over 30 minutes just listening to the whales - it is something I will never forget

[DreamBoatAnnie]

MamaQuack:

 

Did you feel you had enough down time between the Tracy Arm excursion and your whale watch? We're going to book with Harv & Marv but not sure what time to book. We'll have my mother and our daughter with us.

 

Thanks!

[MamaQuack]

Yes, we did have down time. We came back to the ship and had a leisurely lunch, showered and went out with Harv & Marv around 5:30. It was so nice because he took us to a place where there were absolutely no other boats - no excursions, nobody - he knew right where to go. It was incredible sitting there in silence and hearing the whales. I think you will like them and your daughter will be enchanted. The cookies are yummy too! You can ask them what a good time would be - they are very, very nice folks:)