Whale Watching-Value for money?

[lucywestie]

Just wondering if the whale watching trips are worth the expense?

We are on our first cruise in September and just want some ideas/opinions. Has anybody had a bad experience whale watching, or at the other end of the scale, a very happy experience?

How spectacular was it, or disappointing?

Do you see whales from on board the cruise ship?

We are not cheap, just trying to be savvy about where and how we spend our money

Cheers

Pete

[fti]

Seeing whales from your cruise ship is usually from a distance and is really hit and miss. Taking a whale watching excursion from Juneau is one of the best ways to see whales. There are lots of vendors but the one with the best offer right now is Alaskan Marine Adventures for $90 if you mention the Cruise Tax special when you book (they give you $50 off the price). That makes it an incredibly good value since most companies charge $120-$150.

[MercedMike]

Seeing whales from the cruise ship is pretty hit or miss. In six trips to Alaska, we have seen whales twice and orcas once, pretty far off. One night, though, we were in the dining room and somebody yelled, "There's a whale!" and sure enough a whale was cruising by right next to the ship outside the windows. Of course the whole dining room ran over to see it!

 

But if you really want to see whales, the trips are the way to go. The ship offers good ones, and there are several independent companies. We took a ship's tour on Allen Marine out of Juneau. We saw eight whales -- really all you see is the tail, and maybe the spout. We also saw eagles, dolphins, seals and a whole island full of Stellar sea lions. We definitely thought it was worthwhile.

 

You can see our sort of fuzzy and far off pics of the whales tails at

Alaska Cruise

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[Budget Queen]

I always see whales from the cruise ship- BUT, I spend a great deal of time doing so, that few are willing to invest. But you will also always see me on whale watch tours.

 

If of interest priority, a tour is necessary. You will have a dedicated time for just whale watching, with an expert operator. Closer views and extended time.

[Toyz711]

saw only 2 small whales from our ship, right under our balcony. otherwise, nothing but sea otters (very hard to see without binoculars).

 

whale watching was great...something i had really looked forward too.

last year there were many reports of seeing bubble-net feeding. while that would have been something to see, i didn't get that. i did get almost 3 hours of watching several pairs, just 15/20 mins from the harbor the tour boat left from.

saw a one big splash, everyone missed the jump. almost caught the 2nd one with the camera. got several minutes of their flipper dance, way cool to see that flipper sticking up waving around. saw some sea lions trying to play with the humpbacks...the humpbacks don't like that. they were trying everything to get rid of the sea lions..slapping their tails, swishing the tails to the side (whacking the sea lions)..great to watch. had the sea lions off the rear of the boat for several minutes a couple of times.

we could smell the fish on the whale's breath (spout). on the way back a passing humpback tailed us...all of a sudden we saw this big wave of water going over the side of the boat. guess we ticked him off?

this company has 3 or 4 boats, when the other capts aren't busy with their own tours they act as naturalists..watching for the spouts, telling you where to look, answering questions...we got a great lesson on whale life! (did you know there was a female leader of a orca pod around seattle area that is over 90 years old...in capitivity they only live to around 7 years) the trip was outstanding! (can you tell, i still get excited about it)

i was wet (rain and sleet) and waves were getting high, i barely noticed.

http://www.orcaenterprises.com/

orca enterprises - 3 or 4 boats, we had capt larry with capt shaun working as naturalist. the smallest boat holds about 15, the largest can hold 40. the day we went the boat for 40 had only 15, plenty of room to move around. i shared the back viewing deck with capt shaun and 1 other person, 2 people were on the top viewing area (above the cabin). the boat handled the big waves beautifully. (last year- $114.45 with tax) they will know and understand your ship's shedule better then you will. restrooms, snacks

http://www.harvandmarvs.com/aboutus2.html

talked to this guys when i first started thinking about a family group. their boats (2 of them) hold only 6 passenages,each. the 2 families have been in the area forever...1 lives on a island in the area. they are known for eileen (lives with her phone on her hip) and homemade cookies. $120 on their website, special prices for full boat charters. restrooms, cookes

 

a friend, we made on our roll call, went throught the cruiseline. the double-decker (the one mentioned at $150) holds over 100, but has lots of room. it does more viewing then just whales...they loved it, i would have hated leaving the humpbacks...i did hate leaving the humpbacks:)

 

sorry i didn't have better zoom on my digital..you can see the pictures from the link below. the picture just don't capture the fun i had.

[lucywestie]

Ok, thanks so much for all the comments, it gives us something to think on

Pete

[shamrockace]

Merced Mike, I'm picturing the stampede in the dining room and the boat taking a sudden tip. Thanks for the smile.

[Toyz711]

we had a balcony room on deck 10 of the NCL star, the 1st sea day after leaving seattle..we spent most of the day out on the balcony. sometime around noon, we were out on the balcony..just watching life cruise by. my DH pointed and said "what's that". i saw the next spout and said "whale". i didn't yell it. but my nieghbors heard it and yelled for their kids.

(where, where....hurry, they saw a whale..where!)they were heard by everyone on the port side!! as we leaned over the side to watch the little guys go by, every balcony we could see had at least 2 people out, some more. we heard folks up on deck 11.

everytime a tail went up, the ship went "ahhhhh!". it was fun to see a couple of the kids all excited/laughing.

[lucywestie]

we had a balcony room on deck 10 of the NCL star, the 1st sea day after leaving seattle..we spent most of the day out on the balcony. sometime around noon, we were out on the balcony..just watching life cruise by. my DH pointed and said "what's that". i saw the next spout and said "whale". i didn't yell it. but my nieghbors heard it and yelled for their kids.

(where, where....hurry, they saw a whale..where!)they were heard by everyone on the port side!! as we leaned over the side to watch the little guys go by, every balcony we could see had at least 2 people out, some more. we heard folks up on deck 11.

everytime a tail went up, the ship went "ahhhhh!". it was fun to see a couple of the kids all excited/laughing.

I just clicked on your webshots photos and in the Juneau Album picture #20 shows a ship docked but right in the foreground is a tram/gondola type ride heading for the hills. Just wondering what that was and where it went?

Pete

[Toyz711]

juneau, taken from the 2nd floor, in front of orca enterprise's office.

our ship was down the path a ways. we didn't get to get off right in main area. it's the tram you hear about on these boards, mount roberts. if you have enough daylight when you are there, people say the views are great. our day was too short. got there at 2pm, whale watching from 3:30 to almost 7 (by the time we got dropped off). we were there in sept, it was dark before 7pm. FIY...the public restrooms are over by the tram.

[lucywestie]

Ok thanks muchly:)

[Toyz711]

welcome, always:)

[RI-Sailor]

I had a great time on the whale watch I went on out of Cape Cod a couple years ago. We saw 4-5 fin whales and a minkie. We did have some good luck, and the naturalist on board was so excited too because we were really close to a couple and we saw so many different ones (most of them did appear several times).

 

I'll repeat the advice I was given. Look for a tour that has a naturalist on board. You will learn a lot more! He/She can identify each type and point out the differences. Plus, the naturalist fills up some of the time, since you have to get offshore a bit to see the whales anyway. The boat I was on was part of a fleet of several boats and the captains updated each other on where to go and find the whales. I think they had sonar, too. Our captain was following a certain whale (not too closely!) and we saw that one several times.

 

The one problem I had was not having enough film in my 35mm!

[Budget Queen]

juneau, taken from the 2nd floor, in front of orca enterprise's office.

our ship was down the path a ways. we didn't get to get off right in main area. it's the tram you hear about on these boards, mount roberts. if you have enough daylight when you are there, people say the views are great. our day was too short. got there at 2pm, whale watching from 3:30 to almost 7 (by the time we got dropped off). we were there in sept, it was dark before 7pm. FIY...the public restrooms are over by the tram.

 

Actually is an all day pass, and the night time views are better than the daytime, in my opinion. But during the day, there are some nice trails to consider. It is only a 5 min. tram ride, so doesn't take a lot of time. I always recommend going up at night if you have a late departure.

[qiangf2]

It is an awesome experience to take on the whale watching tour. Don't forget to bring your binoculars. Due to federal regulation, the tour boat has to stay in a safe distance from the whale. With binoculars, you will see much more fine details of those great mammals.

[AK Newbie]

Yep, I know it's the alaska board....we are going on an alaska cruise in June-can't wait to go on a whale watching cruise however.....

 

When we lived in Williamsburg, Va several years ago (now in the great white north of WI darn it) We went on a whale watching cruise just outside VA beach.

 

We could not believe our luck...just at the narrarator said you won't see whales breach like on the Discovery channel......after we spotted some fins and a tale......we saw about 20 breaches!!! :D That baby whale was playing so hard!! we just couldn't believe it. the boat captain asked everyone who was taking pictures for copies... of course I had not brought my "good" camera. it was the most awesome experience. We count our lucky stars for being there on that day.

 

so go whale watching-good luck-keep your fingers crossed and enjoy:)

[YooperGale]

Is a whale watch worth it? I suppose one experience might be and another one might not be, but we enjoyed a whale watch excursion so much our first trip to Alaska we are doing it again this trip. The first one ws awesome, spectacular, and breathtaking. We can only hope this will be the same.

We booked through the ship first time and are doing so again now.

Gale