Juneau whale watch trip in Stephen's Passage-- need to book in advance of July 18 cruise?<BR><BR>Have just booked a helicopter ride with Temsco at Skagway (Juneau's rides all saved for cruises on our day in port)and White Pass for later that day. <BR><BR>What other trips may be sold out? Salmon bake in Juneau? <BR><BR>I'm posing another-- Does anyone know if ship's tour of Mendenhall Glacier and Salmon Bake are best booked through ship or private? What are logistics of traveling to each place?

Mendenhall Glacier is very easy to do on your own. After you get off the ship in Juneau, there are tons of tour stands right past the dock.<BR><BR>We took a &quot;blue bus&quot; to Mendenhall Glacier for $5 each way. The bus takes people and picks people up every 30 minutes. We did this on our own - if you prefer to do a &quot;tour&quot; - you can also book this from the many vendors at the pier.<BR><BR>We preferred to do this on our own so that we could determine how long we spend at the glacier. In our case - it was pouring that day and we just wanted to see it, take pictures and leave.<BR>

Also - we booked our whale watching in Juneau through Capt. Larry (Awesome Orca) and was very pleased. We only had about 15 people on our boat verses those through the ship which had at least 100 on their boat. We always seemed to be where the whales were and other boats were calling Capt Larry to find out where he was.

Hi Theresa! I was so happy to see a reply--THANK YOU! It is great to hear from someone who has been there. May I ask you more questions?<BR><BR>Did you get bus right at ship dock? Imagine it is there beyond the tour groups. How far from where bus left you off did you need to walk to glacier? Did bus leave you off at visitor center and is this center interesting to see (or bybass and go right to glacier)? I was going to call Visitor Center tomorrow but your reply would be best, especially for last question.<BR><BR>Re: Capt. Larry- Awesome Orca, have read many postings about him and am anxious to contact him. By chance, since I have not seen his name in my travel books, do you have any contact information? Do you think I must book A.S.A.P. as he may fill up the specific time we may need? Celebrity excursion for $109 adult, child $85, shows a jet boat ride w/ 18-30 folks to Stephen's Passage for 3 hours w/ deal of $100 back if no whales cited. Sound like Capt. Larry's tour??? Would like to contact him directly. Best to book now or on cruise ship?<BR><BR>I know I posed many questions and appreciate any advice you give.

Theresa-- just got Capt. Larry's website and toll free #, believe from an old posting of his name in a search with you replying and &quot;JimM&quot;. I appreciate any advice for all else.

Hi,<BR><BR>We called the 800 number with Capt Larry and spoke with Carol who was wonderful and very nice. Their tour was the same price as through the ship. I can't compare the 2 but I did love our tour. We saw maybe a dozen whales - I am not sure if they refund your money or not if you don't see a whale but those that do rarely refund money. I read somewhere last year that one company has never had to refund the money. If you want, I can send you a picture of the boat that we were in - it was very nice.

Sorry - hit reply before I was done.<BR><BR>You will want a small boat (either through the ship or Capt Larry) when you whale watch to make sure you have a great view. Capt Larry's office is very easy to find once you get off the boat. The prices are probably the same between the boat and the ship.<BR><BR>We tendered in Juneau. After we got off the ramp - we immediately turned &quot;left&quot; which is where the town starts. After you walk past Mt. Roberts tram (I believe) there are tons of tour vendors (maybe 15) setup with stands. You literally can't miss them.We went to one that says &quot;Mendenhall $5 each way&quot; - I think we may have asked which one has the blue bus because we had heard about this before. These blue buses are like old school buses but it was fine. It doesn't take that long to get to Mendenhall Glacier. The blue buses are then right past the tour stands. All of this is very easy to find.<BR><BR>They drop you off at the visitor center at Mendenhall. From there, you walk about 5-10 minutes to viewing areas of the glacier. We didn't even go into the Visitor Center (lack of time, so much to do, so little time). When we were in Juneau, it was pouring. <BR><BR>We wanted to see Mendenhall, and then see a little of the town before we hooked up with Capt Larry's tour. Capt Larry's office is right across from Mt Roberts tram. Since our ship tendered there, it took us longer then we expected to get off the ship.<BR><BR>When we left Mendehall, we had to walk about a block to get the bus back. Apparently they can drop people off at the Visitor Center but can't pick them up. They show you where you can catch their bus again and they come every half hour. If you don't go with the &quot;blue buses&quot; - just ask the tour stand how often they pick people up. There were several buses running back and fourth.<BR><BR>Which ever whale watching tour you go with - just book it early. I would expect it to fill up. Your ship excursion does sound fine. We had heard such positive things with Capt Larry and we had no idea how many would be on our boat with the ship's tour, thus we went with Capt Larry.<BR><BR>=========<BR><BR>Some more advice - bring a camera with a good zoom and if your digital camera has a short delay, bring a regular camera. My digital camera doesn't have that great of a zoom and has a 1-2 second delay in taking pictures. I have lots of pictures of the tail of a whale. <BR><BR>I also did White Pass on the train in Skagway. If you have a choice between taking the train up one way and the bus down - I would do that verses taking the train both ways. I was bored on the way back. Also, it was rainy (it rained our entire trip) and windy while we were doing WhitePass. You can go outside of the train to take pictures while the train is moving but it was too cold and windy to do that. I would have preferred a bus ride where they stop at several places for people to take pictures. The train ride one way is awesome but overkill on the way back.<BR><BR>Hope this helps. If you have more questions - you may want to go to WWW.CRUISECRITIC.COM and click on Alaska. The people over there have tons of Alaska advice. They answered a lot of questions for me last year.<BR><BR>I am jealous that you are going! I loved my trip last year and plan on going again next year. I had no idea how much I would love my Alaskan cruise.<BR><BR>Theresa

Jealous, Theresa, you have ALREADY GONE TO ALASKA!!! And, planning another trip? You are fortunate. I am still laughing from what you said. This cruise is a family cruise, decided by my Mom as last family cruise (Princess in Caribbean 2 years ago) my Dad was with us and we celebrated their 50th anniv. He passed on three months after; this Alaska cruise will be bittersweet. I am trying to do all the work for my mother so I appreciate your advice.<BR><BR>I plan to call Capt. Larry's outfit when it opens today. Am on EST. Even if his price same as ship, somehow I think it is easier to do direct. Would love to see picture of boat you went on; just add @aol.com to my author name for e-mail address. My AOL finds opening JPEG endings best if that is at all possible. Thanks. <BR><BR>Your precise location of bus, tours, Capt. Larry and such crystalized all I needed to know from Mendenhall visitor center. Thank you VERY much. Tried various times to register on cruiscritic.com and it would not let me so sent e-mail to them. Capt. Larry actually wrote a post that I wanted to ask how to contact him. That's before I did a search on this site for him. <BR><BR>Was thinking about digital camera but it is new and I am not used to it yet. Good point about delay. It will now stay home.<BR><BR>Bus return from White Pass train going, sounds like good idea but we will be pressed for making our ship departure. White Pass says it guarentees 7:00 PM return with 4:30 train departure,our ship leaves at 8:00. Says it is posted at their office. Our ship, Celebrity Summit, is known for leaving a bit earlier than others. With a Late 10:00 arrival, helicopter flight at noon and then 4:30 train ride is only choice. Believe me, I was happy to hear of the guarantee for the 3-3.5 hr. train trip! <BR><BR>Cruisecritic just e-mailed me so I say thank you for boat picture and go register!