whale watching in alaska
 

we are going on a Holland American inside passage cruise departing from Vancouver on May 5th, 2013.Wondering if it is worthwhile to book a whale watching cruise in Juneau (looking at Harv and Marv)or if we are likely to see lots of whales from the cruise boat itself. We are going into Glacier Bay. Any other suggestions re side trips in Juneau, Skagway and Ketchican would also be appreciated. Thanks. ( we are taking the train trip from Skagway)

Ive never gone that early in the season, but Juneau Whale Watching is not to be missed in good weather. Its difficult to spot whales from cruise ships, but the whale watch tours are small boats that take you to a calm inlets where the whales are feeding.

-You dont have to prebook. You can wait till you disembark and decide if you want to signup with the many vendors waiting at the dock

You are taking one of our favorite cruises ever! We loved the helicopter flight out of Juneau with landing and walking on Herbert Glacier!!! It was with Coastal Helecopters and I booked it before hand. It is not cheap but we will forever remember a glacier landing. Also we had time to do the Whale watching trip with Capt Larry in Jeneau. He couldn't get real close to the whales, there are restrictions, but if the whales come close to you it's ok. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed it but mostly we enjoyed the Bald Eagles that they fed fish to and they came almost close enought to eat out of your hand.
In Ketchikan we took the Misty Fjords sea plane that had a wilderness Landing. Alsolutely great! That was with Southeast Aviation and I also booked that ahead of time. To take off on water and land on water was an adventure!
Have a great trip!

I'm wondering if you would get more responses if you posted on "cruises". Also Cruise Critic is a good site to become familiar with.

I did Harv and Marv and they are quite a good company to go with. My only disappointment was the regulations that make them stay so far away from the whales, while some boats are allowed closer. I do not quite get that, but it is just that way, I very much enjoyed the other part of the day, Mendenhall Glacier.

We are doing the same cruise but a different date - in June.
cd, how early did you book the Misty Fjord sea plane?
Also, our ship offers a Tracy Arm excursion up into the Fjord. Did the ship itself go up actually into the Tracy Arm Fjord? There is a conflicting opinion of a couple friends on this one.

If so, then one friend says the TA excursion may be unnecessary?

We did the same as cd...the helicopter flight with Coastal, and the whalewatch with Captain Larry, and it was a fantastic combo. DO NOT miss a helicopter glacier landing if you can afford the splurge.

we saw a few whales from the ship, but I would not have skipped the whale watch for that. It's completely different when you are down low in a smaller boat. And sure, you can't get super close, but they can get close to you...we had an orca come up and swim under our boat. It sprayed on me before it dove.

We did the train/van combo in Skagway. In Ketchikan we hired taxicab tours to just do a tour of the totem poles and the see the area. The best part about this was he picked us up early and took us down to an inlet to see eagles. there were lots of eagles flying around for me to photograph, and no people. While we were standing there, a bear walked up behind us! The driver/guide said he was glad he could show us a bear, he couldn't guarantee it. Unless we were in port on a Tuesday. He can always find bears on Tuesdays...because its trash day :)

For any one who hasn't booked their cruise already, we saw whales constantly from our small Lindblad expedition ship in SE Alaska and even followed them in small zodiacs, If whale watching is important to you, go on a smaller boat.

Olesouthernbelle, I'm sorry but I do not remember how far ahead I booked out tours. Knowing me, probably as soon as we decided what we really wanted to do. Then I feel organized and how much money I need to account for.

Thank you, cd. That's the little bit of encouragement I needed to book our last excursion.