Likelihood of seeing Whales

[flamomo]

I have done a whale watching excursion, and also saw them from the deck of the ship, in Hawaii, so it's not a concern to me as to whether I take that type of tour in Alaska.

But my adult DD will be cruising the Inside Passage with me in Alaska in September, and she has never had the opportunity to see whales in the wild.

I'm wondering what chances are that we might see whales from our balcony in AK. Or maybe it would be good to book a whale watching excursion?

[Budget Queen]

You need to be committing of a significant amount of TIME. And side viewing from a balcony has already cut your chances by 50%. A good pair of WIDE angle binoculars are necessary. Front viewing is necessary in my opinion. I never consider side.

 

I wildlife search most of the sailing time, but I am in a class by myself. :) Most people do not invest anywhere near the time I do. I also have the advantage of knowing areas and having done this for many years. You also most always see me on whale watches as this is in no way any substitute. With viewing from the cruiseship- you must be accepting of 2 minutes of view for being out several hours. Cruiseships do not usually stop or detour. The size alone is a negative for your viewing is distant and brief. Sightings will more likely be humpbacks, slow moving and easy to track and see. Orcas are far more rare and tougher to see, smaller, less surface views and faster swimmers. If your ship has a naturalist, key is to ask them what and where whales were seen the week prior.

 

Only you can decide if this is enough??

[qiangf2]

Like BQ said, you need to invest your time out on the deck. The reward will be tremendous. Or, booking a whale watching tour will typically guarantee you to see some whales without much effort. Either way, bring a wide ange binoculars with you.

[Yukon]

Like BQ said, you need to invest your time out on the deck. The reward will be tremendous.

 

You've apparently had FAR better luck than we have. With one 10-minute exception (near the mouth of Glacier Bay in 2007) during our 4 cruises, whales sightings from the ship have been extremely poor. If you really want to see whales, book an excursion.

[intopuffins]

This is our third cruise to Alaska. Each time we went with captain Paul in Sitka. We saw puffins and whales right at the boat. We're going again in July and are so excited. Captain Paul said the whales are already in at Sitka because of the herring spawn. I cant wait!

http://www.sitkacharter.com

[flamomo]

Thanks all. I will look into whale watching excursions.

Plus, I will check in with the onboard naturalist to find out what our chances are of sighting any from the decks.

The binoculars are always on my packing list for cruises.

[Putterdude]

The sighting of whales from a cruise ship is a by chance occurance. Yes if you work at it like BQ does you may see some but for the most part they will be off in the distance and even at that with bincoulars you may just see a tail or a splash way off in the distance. Cruise ships will not alter course so that pax can see them.

[Tweedy]

On our cruise to Alaska last September, we did see hump backs and orcas. They were spotted either early in the morning (hump backs) or in the evening (orcas). Is was truly the luck of being in the right place at the right time.

[Disneyworld]

This is our third cruise to Alaska. Each time we went with captain Paul in Sitka. We saw puffins and whales right at the boat. We're going again in July and are so excited. Captain Paul said the whales are already in at Sitka because of the herring spawn. I cant wait!

www.sitkacharter.com

We are doing b2b cruises in July in the Carnival Spirit. Because we already have 2 long excursions booked each way, we thought we wouldn't have time to a do a whale watch tour. We always thought the main place to see whales was Juneau. We did call and speak with Paul after reading your post, seems like he knows his stuff and very energetic. Not that I don't appreciate your opinion, but would like some input from others as well as to sightings in Sitka.

Thanks

[Yukon]

We always thought the main place to see whales was Juneau. ..... but would like some input from others as well as to sightings in Sitka.

 

We've done back-to-back whale excursions in Juneau and Sitka on 2 cruises - Juneau was MUCH better both times.

[Budget Queen]

It isn't "whale watching" out of Sitka, it's varied wildlife, with humpback sightings. Humpbacks are "new" to Sitka, in season. They have had Whalefest over many years, because the humpbacks used to stop there end of season, for their last days of power feeding, begining of November. You rarely saw any 10 years ago.

 

Humpback Whale watching is superior in Juneau and Hoonah, for numbers, extended time and closeness.

[qiangf2]

You've apparently had FAR better luck than we have. With one 10-minute exception (near the mouth of Glacier Bay in 2007) during our 4 cruises, whales sightings from the ship have been extremely poor. If you really want to see whales, book an excursion.

 

 

Yes, my second trip was not as lucky. The first one out of Tracy's arm, the whales were just everywhere, some of them were right next the ship.