NCL cancelled tracy arm excursion

[DALLIEDOG]

Received an e-mail from NCL yesterday cancing this excursion on the 8/23 Star sailing ---anybody know why ???????

[Bigdog49]

Received an e-mail from NCL yesterday cancing this excursion on the 8/23 Star sailing ---anybody know why ???????

 

The last sailing is always in August as the contractor moves the vessel south for the winter. Looks like they are leaving that week. I did that tour on the Sun a few years ago and our Aug 15th cruise was the last one that year.

[Sunshine4061]

Mine was cancelled too, for the the week of 05-10-08 I thought it was due to weather but maybe something else is going on?:confused:

[CC Help Michell]

Mine was cancelled too, for the the week of 05-10-08 I thought it was due to weather but maybe something else is going on?:confused:

 

Here's a link to a thread from the Alaska boards about the same situation -- http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=760799

 

Since this is an excursion NCL offers via a third party, whether it's available is dependent on the third party. Perhaps the Alaska season for this vendor is shorter than NCL's? The cruiselines keep pressing the envelope on this -- some "Alaska cruises" are being offered in April this year (five days ago Juneau had a six inch snowfall!).

[ute_fan]

This excursion is a favorite of mine, but it's success rate has been rather "iffy", especially early or late in the season. There have been several posts over the years where even the catamaran couldn't get within viewing distance of the glaciers, and I'm sure that doesn't make for happy passengers.

 

Basically, the conditions have to be almost perfect in order for either this excursion or the cruise ship to get far enough up Tracy Fjord to see the glaciers. I'd always assumed that the problems were due to icy conditions, but I read something last year where the captain had explained that it's also due to the length of daylight, as the ships have to be out of the fjord by dusk. One of the Alaskan residents posted an explanation over on the Alaska board about the fact that the Sawyer Glaciers are retreating very rapidly, which is causing them to calve frequently and thus the fjord often has too much ice.

 

I noticed that there is now an explanation on the excursion description that the itinerary may be switched from Tracy Arm/Sawyer Glaciers to Endicott Arm/Dawes Glacier, which apparently doesn't have as much trouble with ice. In any case, I wouldn't be too surprised to see those of you traveling at the ends of the season to be diverted to Endicott Arm instead. If you are, we had friends who had that happen last year, and they thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact, their ship Captain stated that he thinks they should just change the itinerary permanently as he thinks the scenery is just as good.

[FLNY]

Our Tracy Arm excursion for the Star 5/10 was canceled also - called NCL the rep didn't know why - said to call back tomorrow for more information. Does anybody have a good alternate excursion for Juneau? We were really looking forward to this one but are open to other ideas.

[Toyz711]

if you had been on the alaska boards, last year..you would be relieved to know one way or the other. the 1st of the season, many were coming back complaing..for one reason or the other, they were either detoured to the other glacier area or the ship tried to enter tracy arms and were turned back WWWAAYYYY before sight of the glaciers.

i do agree with the cancelling of the last of the season, also..it's starts to get dark early and they need the daylight to sail the arms.

wish i could help with another plan...

[ute_fan]

Our Tracy Arm excursion for the Star 5/10 was canceled also - called NCL the rep didn't know why - said to call back tomorrow for more information. Does anybody have a good alternate excursion for Juneau? We were really looking forward to this one but are open to other ideas.

 

Do you have anything booked yet for the morning in Juneau? Whale watching is always a popular option. If your budget allows, the Taku Lodge flight is supposed to be spectacular.

[FLNY]

We had looked at the Taku Lodge Flight tour, but already have the flight tour to George Inlet Lodge Ketchikan booked - so not sure if we want to do two flight tours. I see where there is a Whale Watch and "also" a Whale Watch & Wildlife tour in Juneau - has anybody been on either of these? What is the differnece between the two? Thanks!

[Toyz711]

friends did the NCL whale watching in '06...after about an hour of whale watching, the double-decker boats went over to another area for some other wildlife, in this case eagles and sea lions.

the local vendors i used, orca enterprises, the whole time was out with the humpbacks. others perfer harv & marv for only taking 6 passengers.

[akwaaba]

We had looked at the Taku Lodge Flight tour, but already have the flight tour to George Inlet Lodge Ketchikan booked - so not sure if we want to do two flight tours. I see where there is a Whale Watch and "also" a Whale Watch & Wildlife tour in Juneau - has anybody been on either of these? What is the differnece between the two? Thanks!

I'm taking the Whale Watch & Wildlife tour and asked NCL what's the difference and they said the Wildlife tour takes you up the coast for about an hour so you can see other animals before heading out to sea to watch the whales; the Whale Watch heads straight out to sea. Whale Watch is 3 hours and Whale Watch & Wildlife is 4 hours; difference in price is $1.

 

Sheila

[Ms belp]

I knew there were previous posts so I wanted to tell the mother of five, cruising with 2 of her children for her daughter's graduation, what she might expect. She was trying to decide.

[FLNY]

I'm taking the Whale Watch & Wildlife tour and asked NCL what's the difference and they said the Wildlife tour takes you up the coast for about an hour so you can see other animals before heading out to sea to watch the whales; the Whale Watch heads straight out to sea. Whale Watch is 3 hours and Whale Watch & Wildlife is 4 hours; difference in price is $1.

 

Sheila

 

 

 

Sheila ~ Thank you for the information - the Whale Watch & Wildlife tour sounds great plus since it's only $1 more than the WW it seems like the better value :p