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Whale watching Alaska with Ruby Princess


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We did book a whalewatch through Princess - we could see from the description it was a small boat trip, 14pax, rather than the big monster cats for 150. Price-wise it was pretty much identical to the indy operators, US$149 at the time IIRC, and since we had a bit of OBC and knew we'd also get on a small boat we booked - very happy we did, it was Gastineau Guiding who seem to only sell through the ships not independently on a day with vessels in port.

 

Great experience, and the absolutely perfect boat designed from the keel up for whalewatching. I'd have no hesitation in booking the same tour again - just make sure it does specify the boat size, I believe there's a slightly larger 22pax version that adds a larger outside viewing area too - but the real beauty about this format of boat was the huge windows that fold up and clip to the roof, so every seat has a great big open space next to it. No worries about shooting through dirty glass!

 

If you have a larger group, 5+ people, going indy could save you more money - in general it seems that if you book a whole '6 pack' you pay for 5 of the seats (and if you have kids, booking the whole boat is the only way to get some indy providers to let you onboard). At the end of the day though, it's rare to hear anything bad about any of the companies doing whalewatching out of Juneau or ISP, and every boat from both of these ports sees whales 100% of the time - so whether you book through the line or indy, want a small boat or a big one, you'll definitely see some whales.

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The ship contractor is usually Allen Marine. They use large boats and are well run and long established. Some of thier tours use smaller boats, so read descriptions carefully

 

There are also numerous vendors to consider booking direct.

 

I'd suggest giving a priority to best use of your port time. Determine what you want to see and do, then schedule to have it all fit best.

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:):)[thanks so much. quote=martincath;56564018]We did book a whalewatch through Princess - we could see from the description it was a small boat trip, 14pax, rather than the big monster cats for 150. Price-wise it was pretty much identical to the indy operators, US$149 at the time IIRC, and since we had a bit of OBC and knew we'd also get on a small boat we booked - very happy we did, it was Gastineau Guiding who seem to only sell through the ships not independently on a day with vessels in port.

 

Great experience, and the absolutely perfect boat designed from the keel up for whalewatching. I'd have no hesitation in booking the same tour again - just make sure it does specify the boat size, I believe there's a slightly larger 22pax version that adds a larger outside viewing area too - but the real beauty about this format of boat was the huge windows that fold up and clip to the roof, so every seat has a great big open space next to it. No worries about shooting through dirty glass!

 

If you have a larger group, 5+ people, going indy could save you more money - in general it seems that if you book a whole '6 pack' you pay for 5 of the seats (and if you have kids, booking the whole boat is the only way to get some indy providers to let you onboard). At the end of the day though, it's rare to hear anything bad about any of the companies doing whalewatching out of Juneau or ISP, and every boat from both of these ports sees whales 100% of the time - so whether you book through the line or indy, want a small boat or a big one, you'll definitely see some whales.

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The 14 pax excursion is JNU-700 through Gastineau Guiding. It is our favorite by far, and IMHO is the right choice even if you've got no interest in photography or if you know everything there is to know. Second best is JNU-705, pretty much the same experience but a 20 pax boat (with an aft viewing platform not found on the 14 pax boat; both sizes have a forward viewing platform and amazing windows that swing completely open). Third best is JNU-670, almost the same except there's a brief detour to do some citizen science work.

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