Captain Larry

[Casey2]

We will be on a round trip cruise from Vancouver on the Radiance of the Seas in September. I am reading alot about Captain Larry's whale watching tour. How does it differ from the ship's whale watching tour? The prices seem fairly comparable. Is it too early to book it for Sept.?

______________________

Star Princess, Nov 2004

Carnival Victory, July 2003

[taxatty]

Larry's boat is much smaller than the ones the cruise lines use--much fewer people onboard and a much more personalized experience.

 

Les

[FreesiaE]

The earlier you book ,the better chance you have of riding in Larry's boat, as opposed to the other one they have.

[stephenandrew]

The previous poster was certainly correct---Larry's boat was quite a bit smaller than the others we saw on the water with us. As I wasn't on the larger ship, I cannot really compare the experiences on the other ship, but I can say we had a good trip with Captain Larry---his company, Orca Enterprises, was really on the ball--well run, helped us plan a Glacier Landing on a Helicopter after the whale watching---very easy to work with. The whale watching itself was great---Captain Larry and the naturalist on board seemed very knowledgeable and did a great job of getting us near a lot of whales. (My guess is that there is a certain amount of luck to this--but we certainly were there on a good day.) Anyway, I would not hesitate to use Captain Larry--I am sure you will have a lot of fun!

[kimbtech]

We booked Captain Larry a few weeks ago for August 05. We've never done this tour, but it comes highly recommended. I wouldn't hesitate to book now. Have a great cruise!

[Host Caroline]

There are so many large ships in Juneau on many days that Larry books up quickly.. if this is something that you want to do I would book it now ... and they can coordinate other activities as the prior post said.. so you can do "one stop shopping" and not worry. .They are in "winter hours" now -- MWF from 9:00-3:00 Alaska time (4 hrs behind east coast).

[pamkev]

What I liked about Captain Larry was that our own Celebritiy cruise this past July the nauralist that was aboard the ship was the one who got off and was the same guide with Captain Larry on our tour with Captain Larry. He told us the best time to see whales in Hawaii was Jan or Feb as that is where he heads after the Alasak season is over and after taking some time off! Pam

[mii]

We will be in Alaska in June and have already reserved our whale watching trip with Capt. Larry. He is highly popular so the sooner the better.

 

Marilyn

[Guest enjoycruises]

Marilyn, what ship will you be sailing on in June? We will be on the Serenade.

[mii]

Sorry Enjoy, we will be on the Celebrity Infinity out of San Francisco but will be in Juneau for Capt Larry's on June 4.

 

Marilyn

[Deb in Cali]

Marilyn,

 

 

Howdy Neighbor, I live in Fresno. We will be sailing out of SF on the Regal Princess on the 7th. Captain Larry is on to do list. I plan on making reservation very shortly.

 

Deb

[mii]

Hi Deb: Boy you are my neighbor. We normally sail Princess but I thought I would try Celebrity this time. This will be our 3rd time to Alaska. At least living in N. Cal we won't have to fly anywhere. We are trying Capt. Larry for the first time, DH always wanted to do a whale watching and Cap. Larry is highly recommended. So we signed up. Talk at you soon.

 

Marilyn

[cappy09]

We are going to be in Juneau on May 12th and have booked Capt. Larry. Because of his popularity it seems as though it is never too early to book this excursion. I have heard only good things about him

[JohnQ]

Sounds like a No. Calif reunion going on here!! We from Sacto area, have done Capt Larry twice and have good luck both times. They bent over backwards to accommodate those of us on the Summit in Sept when we were over 6 hrs late. Capt Larry and Carol made the whole trip happen when they could have easily cancelled. Allen Marine and Dolphin, who the ships book with are both good companies, and you often see the same boats in the same area when you spot whales.

We have had naturalists from Princess, Summit and Mercury with us and I think Capt Larry has an open invitation to most of them to join him when in port.

[orcatek]

Capt Larry's boat is smaller, and he seem to have extra good luck with the whales. Check out the photos on my site to see the amazing shots I got.

 

Worth every penny - awesome tour.

[Deb in Cali]

John,

 

My parents lived in Grass Valley for years. I love Sacramento.

 

Deb

[JohnQ]

orcatek--and where would those photos be?

 

deb--Grass Valley seems really nice. Enjoying their Cornish Xmas right now along with Victorian Xmas in Nevada City.

[orcatek]

Ryndam review.

 

Specifically http://www.orcatekweb.com/Ryndam/tuesday_juneau.htm

[JohnQ]

orcatek,

Nice photos. We didn't see this kind of whale behaviors on our two trips with Capt Larry. We did see more like this at Icy Strait Point. Tails and backs is all you can expect to see but you never know. On our last trip it was dark and rainy and he still found the whales, although we had to run at full speed for at least 30 min to get there. And when we did, we had the other orca boat and one or two others in same area.

[Shebbieal]

How do I get in touch with Captain Larry?

 

Thanks

Sherry

[orcatek]

You can reach him via their site

 

http://www.alaskawhalewatching.com/

[wcal]

I called there a few days ago and the call was returned yesterday. They are in and out fo the office a lot now until after the frist of the year. We booked them for August 7th.

[Cactus]

If you want to see whales - book Capt. Larry. I did a lot of research last year prior to our cruise 6/04 and booked Capt. Larry early. Was I glad we did. The "big" tour boats may have amenities that the "small" Capt Larry boat doesn't have. But - if you want to see whales - take his small - Jet Boat - He kicks that baby in the butt and gets to where the whales are. Not only did we see Humpbacks, we saw Humpbacks bubble feeding - it was unbelievable! Then we saw Orcas, and sea lions, etc. He is in radio contact with the fisherman - when they see whales they call their friend Capt. Larry - he can then kick that jet boat and get you to where they are. That night at dinner, many we met took the "big" boat tours and only saw a couple of Orcas - those who went with Capt. Larry couldn't contain their excitement of what they had seen during the day.

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/164118466/164120623PVapir

 

The Natrualist that we had onboard the Island Princess also commented highly of Capt. Larry.

 

Ed

[diconway]

Since it is a smaller boat than some of the other tour operators, is there a big problem with seasickness? Also, is Captain Larry's boat fine for bringing children along - ages 8 and up? Would like the feedback from those of you who have done the whale watching with Orca Enterprises. Thanks!!!

[Cactus]

I didn't see anyone have a problem with motion sickness - when he is heading to the location where whales are located he goes pretty fast - so you're kinda like in a speedboat on a lake, not much up and down movement. When he spots the whales and throttles back and cuts the engine, you just float and are so enthralled with the whales that you don't even think about any motion. When my wife and I went there were a couple of families on board with young children and they seemed to enjoy it. There is an upper deck observation area you can climb up to when the boat is not moving - it was a great area for 360 views and it seemed the younger children liked it up there. The boat has a covered inside with windows, or you can stand on the open back deck area if you want. So you can always get fresh air if need to- though it may be cold! There is also a small head on board. Capt. Larry and the crew were just great. It's obvious that the boat is meant for "go" not "show" its got a serious engine and its got quite a few electronic gadets and radios for determining where the whales are.