Evening Wildlife Expedition in Haines

[firstalaskatrip]

I went on this excursion through Princess last year in mid-august, but even though we saw a bear, I'm not really sure I could recommend this excursion. I think there are independent companies that do this, and they might be a reasonable option, but we were worried about getting back in time with the evening time and the ferry. The main problem with this excursion through Princess was that there were far too many people and the guide was horrible. We had about 20-30 people on the bus and were in a big school bus so it had no mobility to turn around.

 

The ferry ride over to Haines was pretty. Saw a whale in the distance along the way and the area between Skagway and Haines is really pretty. Then we piled into the school bus. Stopped at one spot along the river and saw some seals, eagles, and salmon. Then we all piled back on the bus. As we drove along, I noticed fisherman were getting out of the river under a bridge and almost said something to the guide, but I figured he knew what he was doing (big mistake). He kept driving, but it turned out they were indeed getting out of the river because of a bear. Found this out from the next bus which he stopped to chat with instead of moving forward to try to see the bear - the area we stopped had shrubbery blocking the view of the river so no chance of viewing there. The bus was too big to turn around, so we kept driving. Then we went on a nature walk which was pretty, but the guide went on an on about plants which none of the tour was interested in (and the end of the group couldn't even hear since it was such a big group). He then failed to head to the bear sighting we heard on the radio, and showed us the salmon ladder but told us he wouldn't have been able to stop if there was a bear there. Really???, by this point we were wondering if he was trying to not have us see a bear. We all understand that wildlife is wildlife and there may be no bears around. That's totally fine. But if there is a bear and we purposely avoid seeing the bear, that's NOT ok.

 

Finally, we drove over the bridge over the river as one last effort. As we stopped on the bridge seeing nothing, I noticed there were a lot of people moving in the parking lot. We asked our driver to move up, and sure enough, there was a bear. Sadly, only the few of us in the front got to see the bear by the time he moved. Then the bear went under the bridge, and there were about 20 people standing on the bridge watching the bear. He wouldn't let anyone out of our bus until he turned around and parked on the bridge. By this point, the bear was in the distance. Then the bear disappeared into the woods, circled back, and charged everyone who was now on the bridge since she was blocked in by 3 different busses. The guide then proceeded to tell us that this bear would likely not survive because she had so many run ins with people and that she had run accross the bridge the day before. If the bear was known to run accross the bridge, then why not get everyone back on the bus as soon as you lose sight of the bear - if she tends to circle back and run accross the bridge, then blocking her in with busses is probably a BAD idea.

 

Overall, it was very neat to see the bear up close, but the whole excursion was very poorly done. A smaller group would allow for safer entry and exit from the bus (one could probably argue that no one should get off the bus regardless, but even with staying in the vehicle, a smaller vehicle would have been much better), and the guide seemed to have no idea of animal or human behavior - ie watch what people are doing for indications of where wildlife is and once you lose sight of the bear they may end up closer than you think.

 

I loved every other excursion I did in Alaska (most independent, one other through the ship), but this one left a lot to be desired. It did make a good story though and everyone on the excursion really bonded over our crazy driver.

[luvSClake]

Thanks for all the information, I had previously decided against this tour, but revisited it yesterday while trying to halfway schedule our day in Skagway. I think we will stick with one of the Chilcoot tours. Now just have to decide whether to do the bus/rail Yukon tour or the Lake Bennet tour, I believe they both include the White Pass Rail trip. This would also give us a little time to look around Skagway. I also noticed that the evening expedition really cut it close for the ship departure time, the last thing I want is to be worrying about getting back in time, even if I am booked through a Princess tour.

[Budget Queen]

A point that is being missed,- a ship excursion will get you back on your ship. In fact there is the ability- in the case of an emergency- for the cruiseship- to come pick you up in Haines. HAL has done this in the past on ships I have been sailing on, with a Skagway port. They just slow down and tour passengers are tendered direct to the ship. So a nonissue, with "missing the ship".

 

 

Both of the train tours mentioned are long tours, which will not have a lot of time left over for "Skagway" touring. Both are with the train. The Lake Bennett is the longest train, going all the way to Carcross, about 75 miles. A regular White Pass train, is about 25 miles. BOTH go to the same end point- Emerald Lake. difference is the mode of transit.

[luvSClake]

The tours are either 7.5 or 8 hours long, train one way and bus return, getting us back to Skagway around 4:30. Our ship isn't scheduled to depart until 8:15. Unless I missed something, it sounded like a couple of hours in Skagway would be enough. Is this correct?

 

I understand about the ship tours and being ok if it's close, but knowing me, I would still be worrying about it and would probably not enjoy the last part of the tour. Think I'd rather not cut it so close, at least for this first cruise. :)

[karatemom2]

We typically prefer independent tours, but when it came to the Haines excursion we booked through the ship specifically because of time concerns. And I was so glad that we were booked through Princess because upon returning from Haines we were the last passengers to board the ship. They literally rolled up the gangway behind our tour group's return! But I was never concerned as I knew that by virtue of being on a Princess excursion, we were virtually guaranteed that the ship would not leave us behind.