Alaska cruise and vancover island- first time to see wildlife

Hi

We are looking to cruise the inside passage. Can anyone recommend cruise lines or routes where you will have the best chance of seeing whales, bears etc.

I know there are some expedition ships.0, but they are too pricey for us.

We are also considering a stop in Vancover Island, if anyone can help with that it would be very helpful.

Thank you

Hi

 

We are looking to cruise the inside passage. Can anyone recommend cruise lines or routes where you will have the best chance of seeing whales, bears etc.

 

I know there are some expedition ships.0, but they are too pricey for us.

 

We are also considering a stop in Vancover Island, if anyone can help with that it would be very helpful.

 

Thank you

To dispel any rumors, the chance of seeing whales or bears from the cruise ship is very remote.

Whales are best seen in Juneau but require a boat/excursion to get to their feeding spots.

Although eagles are everywhere in Alaska if you just look in the trees for what appears to be ice cream cones. For lots of eagles, the Crab Fishing excursion on the Aleution Ballad of TV "Deadliest Catch" fame in Ketchikan goes to an eagle preserve and feeds them. There will be more eagles than you can photograph swooping close to the boat to grab fish.

Bears are most visible in salmon seasons (July - September) but will probably require an excursion to get to their living areas. There is a Fortress of the Bear in Sitka where rescued brown and black bears live in a man-created habitat until new homes can be found for them. It is about a one-mile walk from the port, I think, or can be seen on an excursion.

Since cruise ships come into port in populated areas, most wildlife, with the exception of eagles, require an excursion to see them.

Many cruisers get a lesser category stateroom and splurge on excursions.

What he said^.

If you're planning a mainstream cruise as a vehicle to primarily see wildlife well, you need to rethink. Having said that, even if you add a whale watch and bear flightseeing trip onto a regular Princess/HAL/Carnival/NCL etc, cruise it'll probably still be a lot less than a small-ship coast hugging trip and provide better chances to see the big hit animals.

If you're prepared to get up early and stay outside on the ship a lot, you can see a lot of whales - but they'll generally be much further away than on a small boat tour. Search for BudgetQueen posts about the usual locations for humpbacks to feed - she's almost certainly the most experienced whale spotter on these boards.

There are exceptions of course - we'd just reboarded from Icy Strait Point and found a window seat in the lounge to read for a bit when a whale decided to use the beach as a 'scratching post' for its belly. Basically it swam along only a few yards offshore (the 'beach' is a steep gravel slope) while some really lucky folks who were in the right place on the shore got MUCH closer than any whale watching boat can legally be. We got a good view from the ship but were still envious!

Whistler is an easily-visited spot that gives ridiculously high chances of seeing black bears in and around town - just fire up youtube and search for "whistler bear" and you'll see them robbing pizza stores & candy shops as well as hanging around the streets and trails. Browns/grizzlies are rarer but you can do trips there too - and if you just need to see them but not truly in the wild, Grouse Mountain has a couple of grizzlies in an enclosure.

For lots of eagles, the Crab Fishing excursion on the Aleution Ballad of TV "Deadliest Catch" fame in Ketchikan goes to an eagle preserve and feeds them. There will be more eagles than you can photograph swooping close to the boat to grab fish.

Are you sure about that? I know when we did that excursion it was wild eagles, that had been habituated to expecting food from the crew of the excursion boat. Effectively the boat crew had trained wild animals to perform for tourists. Do you know when they started going to an eagle preserve? One enormous reason we have never done that excursion again is because of the habituated eagles. If in fact they now DO go to an eagle preserve, we might consider going again.

Thanks for any information you can provide.

 

>SNIP<

 

Although eagles are everywhere in Alaska if you just look in the trees for what appears to be ice cream cones. For lots of eagles, the Crab Fishing excursion on the Aleution Ballad of TV "Deadliest Catch" fame in Ketchikan goes to an eagle preserve and feeds them. There will be more eagles than you can photograph swooping close to the boat to grab fish.

 

 

 

 

 

>SNIP<

 

Are you sure about that? I know when we did that excursion it was wild eagles, that had been habituated to expecting food from the crew of the excursion boat. Effectively the boat crew had trained wild animals to perform for tourists. Do you know when they started going to an eagle preserve? One enormous reason we have never done that excursion again is because of the habituated eagles. If in fact they now DO go to an eagle preserve, we might consider going again.

 

Thanks for any information you can provide.

Had coffee with a friend who is planning an Alaska cruise for this summer and we were discussing Ketchikan. Interestingly, she had contacted the Aleutian Ballad people to ask this specific question before they booked the tour. This is part of the reply she received (which she just forwarded to me). I'm sharing it here in case it is of interest to others.

We do not go to an eagle preserve. We go to Annette Island native reserve where there are wild eagles along the coast line. We are able to throw out herring and between 20 and 70 eagles will swarm the side of the boat, depending on the time of year.

So the answer to my question is "no it is not an eagle preserve"

Hi

 

We are looking to cruise the inside passage. Can anyone recommend cruise lines or routes where you will have the best chance of seeing whales, bears etc.

 

I know there are some expedition ships.0, but they are too pricey for us.

 

We are also considering a stop in Vancover Island, if anyone can help with that it would be very helpful.

 

Thank you

With your "inside passage" reference do you mean a round trip cruise? If so, Round trip Vancouver gives you a "chance" to see orcas (northern resident pods) Vancouver Island. There are specific humpback areas that some ships sail through during daytime. You would need to look at each itinerary and determine the route and time. Bears are very rare to see from a cruise ship. My sightings have mostly been in Glacier Bay.

I do spend most of the sailing time out on deck, hours and hours. Very very few people are committed to doing this. :) I know areas and see a lot but there is plenty of "down" time. I am happy being out a few hours with then a 2 minute wildlife view.

IF you cruise during May- round trip Seattle can offer some migrating humpback views.

Frankly- I am ALWAYS on wildlife tours, my priority. My extensive cruise ship viewing is "extra" and never would suffice for my exclusive wildlife viewing.