Best place to see Whales from the ship

[CherylsCaribbeanTravel]

Cheryl - if it's not to much of an imposition, would you bring me a copy of all this info you're putting together please?

 

Thanks! Barb

 

No problem at all :)

[Travel_Maven]

FYI - Just returned from Southbound Princess on July 3. I lost count of the # of whales we saw from the ship...specifically around Pt. Adolphus and the entrance to Glacier Bay. They certainly could have been several of the same groups but neverltheless, they were everywhere. The naturalist on our ship said she'd never seen so many in one trip to Glacer Bay in 20 yrs of being in the area. We don't know why, but everywhere you looked on both sides of the ship, there they were! Some were close to the ship and others farther away. I specifically remember 2 breaches. Got one great photo but missed the other.

 

Also, we saw 2-3 groups from our balcony just by chance. The morning we were heading into Ketchikan, my husband was standing by the balcony door and shouted "Orcas!" We quickly opened the balcony door and sure enough, a pod was right off our balcony. Luckily, we were on the 8th floor so we weren't so high up and got a great look at them. By the time I got the camera, the ship had moved enough that the photos don't do the experience justice. We felt extremely fortunate because our Juneau excursion the day before was a disappointment. Many other tour groups saw Orcas and we had not. Needless to say this morning was such a thrill for us!

 

Keep your eyes peeled! You just never know!! :)

[bottom-dragger]

 

2) petersburg

 

we're keeping it real and living the dream, but we don't have a deepwater port. Unless you are on lindblad, nat'l geographic, or cruisewest you won't get to visit the burg via cruiseship.

3) where stephens passage intersects frederick sound

 

i have an office in kake that has a million dollar view off the back deck of baronof, admirality, and kuiu. Okay, so it's really a 100 million dollar view as kake is in a rain shadow and gets less than half the rain of petersburg. Most evenings we can see a glow of lights as a cruiseship makes the transit between ktn and jnu and pity them for not seeing what we often consider common. I'm afraid that you'll pass through this dynamic area in the night. It only means that you have to come back to see that there is more of southeast than three trinket shop towns.

 

 

 

 

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[CherylsCaribbeanTravel]

Thank you for your input Bottom Dragger. It must be wonderful to have such a view. What a shame I will be traveling through there at night. However, as mentioned above I have only noted the ares that I am more likely to spot whales as we sail past.

 

These are the areas I wish to be most alert as the ship passes in the general area. Who knows, I could be passing during twilight since I do get two chances at passing your lovely town since this is a 14 day itinerary.

 

I am a bit confused though. Do you consider Anchorage, Homer, Kodiak, and Sitka trinket towns? I get the Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway comments but I was hoping that this itinerary would expose me to a bit less touristy towns in Alaska. The last time I was in Anchorage I thought it was a pretty metro town with quite a it to offer and I did not at all feel like it was taken over by tourists. Of course, a lot can change in 20 years.

 

I realize that these are not the authentic fly-in towns of the interior and that they do manage tourists by the mere fact that my ship is landing there; but I was under the impression that Sitka, Homer, and Kodiak have all managed to resist Diamond International and maintain at least an little bit of authenticity??? Am I off base here too?

 

Thanks again for your input. Always helpful to hear from a 'real' Alaskan,

 

Cheryl :)

[CherylsCaribbeanTravel]

FYI - Just returned from Southbound Princess on July 3. I lost count of the # of whales we saw from the ship...specifically around Pt. Adolphus and the entrance to Glacier Bay. They certainly could have been several of the same groups but neverltheless, they were everywhere. The naturalist on our ship said she'd never seen so many in one trip to Glacer Bay in 20 yrs of being in the area. We don't know why, but everywhere you looked on both sides of the ship, there they were! Some were close to the ship and others farther away. I specifically remember 2 breaches. Got one great photo but missed the other.

 

Also, we saw 2-3 groups from our balcony just by chance. The morning we were heading into Ketchikan, my husband was standing by the balcony door and shouted "Orcas!" We quickly opened the balcony door and sure enough, a pod was right off our balcony. Luckily, we were on the 8th floor so we weren't so high up and got a great look at them. By the time I got the camera, the ship had moved enough that the photos don't do the experience justice. We felt extremely fortunate because our Juneau excursion the day before was a disappointment. Many other tour groups saw Orcas and we had not. Needless to say this morning was such a thrill for us!

 

Keep your eyes peeled! You just never know!! :)

 

Thank you for such an encouraging report. I'm glad you were able to spot your whales. Isn't it magical???

 

Cheryl

[Cruisernat]

I just returned from 14 days on the Amsterdam and we saw many whales the night we left Homer going to Kodiak. Around 8 to 9 p.m,. they were all around the ship for about an hour. I think, but I am not certain, the captain might have slowed the ship down for us to take it all in. I was having dinner in the MDR and was able to look both sides and to the back and enjoy the wonderful show they put on for us. Everytime a whale would dive, the dining room would applaud. It was very exciting and a highlight to my trip. Of course I did not have my camera with me at the time. No binoculars were needed, they were so close.

On a separate day ( leaving Glacier bay) I noticed seals were surfing the wake of the ship. That was fun to watch.

So as the others said, just always be ready as you never know when the sea life will appear.

[skierT]

FYI - Just returned from Southbound Princess on July 3. I lost count of the # of whales we saw from the ship...specifically around Pt. Adolphus and the entrance to Glacier Bay. They certainly could have been several of the same groups but neverltheless, they were everywhere. The naturalist on our ship said she'd never seen so many in one trip to Glacer Bay in 20 yrs of being in the area. We don't know why, but everywhere you looked on both sides of the ship, there they were! Some were close to the ship and others farther away. I specifically remember 2 breaches. Got one great photo but missed the other.

 

Also, we saw 2-3 groups from our balcony just by chance. The morning we were heading into Ketchikan, my husband was standing by the balcony door and shouted "Orcas!" We quickly opened the balcony door and sure enough, a pod was right off our balcony. Luckily, we were on the 8th floor so we weren't so high up and got a great look at them. By the time I got the camera, the ship had moved enough that the photos don't do the experience justice. We felt extremely fortunate because our Juneau excursion the day before was a disappointment. Many other tour groups saw Orcas and we had not. Needless to say this morning was such a thrill for us!

 

Keep your eyes peeled! You just never know!! :)

 

I wish I will have the same luck next month too..

[Travel_Maven]

Good luck to everyone! Alaska is still a "wild" place and you just never know what you'll see and when you'll see it. There were several times when I didn't see what I thought I was supposed to see at the time...and then plenty of times when we saw lots more or different things than we were expecting. As I mentioned earlier, just "keep your eyes peeled!" Also, give yourself the opportunity to see as much as you can by spending as much time as you can outside! :D

[skierT]

Good luck to everyone! Alaska is still a "wild" place and you just never know what you'll see and when you'll see it. There were several times when I didn't see what I thought I was supposed to see at the time...and then plenty of times when we saw lots more or different things than we were expecting. As I mentioned earlier, just "keep your eyes peeled!" Also, give yourself the opportunity to see as much as you can by spending as much time as you can outside! :D

 

thanks for the advice. cannot wait...

[streetclem]

We saw many whales both entering and leaving Glacier Bay. Be up on deck near the front of the ship so you can see both sides. The naturalist on Princess made announcements when he saw whales or sea lions and told us which side of the ship to watch. It was great!

[jdsaf]

While traveling north to Juneau we saw DOZENS of whales on the port side of ship starting about 7 am. One was very close. Good luck :) We also saw what we now refer to as "the sea monster" the day we left Sitka on way to Ketchikan, port side while getting ready for dinner. It was very large and had its huge mouth open feeding for an extended period of time ... then thrashed around on top of the water for awhile. Its was a sight to see... no I didnt get pictures :( Spectacular highlight of trip.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We were very fortunate on our cruise last week (R/T Seattle on the Carnival Spirit). We saw more whales than we could count! Most of them were in the Stephens Passage area near Juneau. We saw them coming and going on two different days. There were quite a few very near the ship - no binoculars needed. Others were farther away, but clearly visible. We also saw a pod of Orcas and then Dolphins right next to the ship on our first day out at sea (no visible land). Our Naturalist (Michelle) was wonderful. She would announce when she saw them from the bridge and we had a chance to run to watch for them. Actually, we saw the Orcas before Michelle. They actually just appeared next to where we were seated eating lunch on the Lido Deck!:D

 

Michelle said one of the reasons we were so fortunate was that the sea was very smooth and so they were more clearly visible.

[CherylsCaribbeanTravel]

I'm finally home and catching up on documenting my trip. I thought I would recap my whale experience for you since so many of you were helpful prior to my trip :).

I saw my first whale on the "Sea Otter" Excursion in Sitka. In fact we saw 5 different whales on the afternoon excursion. One humpback, then two different blue whales, than two humpbacks. Of course, we saw lots of sea otter too :). I saw 2 whales from the ship sailing out of Sitka.

From the ship I lost count of the number of Whales I saw. Seriously! I saw my first whales from the ship as we sailed out of Sitka. Our next port was Glacier Bay. I missed the pod of orcas as we sailed into glacier bay, but it was well reported. We did see two Grizzly bear feeding on a whale carcass in Glacier Bay though, and that was interesting.

From Glacier bay we had a day at sea. I saw only two whales on that day at sea but then all hell broke loose. We spent 3 days in water chalk full of whales: Anchorage, Homer, and Kodiak. I saw at least 2-3 dozen whales around Homer and Kodiak and another 3-4 in Cook Inlet. I'm not kidding or exaggerating. I really did loose count. And I did not spend hours outside looking, but I did pause and look every time I was near a window. The binos helped me to get great views of the whales, but my initial spotting was always with my naked eye.

From Kodiak we went to Hubbard glacier (didn't see any whales) and then onto Juneau. Without a doubt, the most awesome whale encounter I had was in Juneau on the photo safari. We stayed with 11 humpback whales who were bubble net feeding. Can't even begin to describe the experience, but that was on a tour and not from the ship.

On our sail out of Juneau the ship became surrounded by numerous humpback whales. The whales were VERY close to the ship. So close you did not need a zoom on the camera to get a good shot. As close as they were when I was on the whale watch. The captain slowed down and actually made an announcement on the PA system. All of the bars/theaters/etc.. emptied out. The ship was surrounded on both sides and one of the whales did an all out breach for those who were on the port side. I didn't see both sides of the ship, but we think there were somewhere near 20 whales putting on a show. It was exhilarating to be on a ship with so many people who had experienced this show in and around Juneau.

I only saw one whale on the 'at sea' day from Juneau to Victoria and none from there on out.

So, in summary........ I had well over 50 or so whale sightings from the ship. I spotted all with my naked eye and then used the bino's for a better look. None of the ship sightings were as amazing as the Whale Watch/Photo Safari, but the whales were cooperating brilliantly for our sailing!!

So in summary, for me personally:

-0 Inside Passage

-0 Ketchikan

-8 Sitka (5 on the tour, 3 from the ship)

-0 Glacier Bay (it was foggy)

-2 At Sea Day from Glacier Bay into Anchorage

-2-3 Dozen Homer, Kodiak, and Anchorage. Too many to count. Morning, day, evening, didn't matter. Whales were there if you looked.

-0 Hubbard Glacier.

11- Juneau Whale Watch/Photo Safari (not from ship)

20 or so reported sailing out of Juneau.

1-the morning after Juneau into Seattle.

I would recommend people purchase the Cruise 2010 book that has a detachable map. The map is marked with likely whale sightings and the areas marked as good whale spots on the map held pretty true on my sailing. I sticky-puttied the map on my cabin wall. It was great to be able to know when to be on higher alert for whale sightings plus the map came in handy as we identified Mount McKinley in Anchorage.

Thanks to all for your help, and I sincerely hope each of you have similar whale sightings!!

Cheryl :)

[ailuro]

I agree, book an excursion in Juneau - when we didn't see any from our trip in Ketchikan we booked for Juneau, if we had seen the full itinerary of tours on one page like we did on board we'd have booked for Juneau in the first place - it's the only destination where they were offering $100 for a whale no-show, out of an excursino price of around $159 per adult.

 

We saw five humpbacks, much closer than we saw them from the ship.

 

The inner passage is the best place to see them, as it narrows on the way up to Juneau, making whale sightings more likely (were told that by the guide in Ketchikan)

[knorrisb07]

On our sail out of Juneau the ship became surrounded by numerous humpback whales. The whales were VERY close to the ship. So close you did not need a zoom on the camera to get a good shot. As close as they were when I was on the whale watch. The captain slowed down and actually made an announcement on the PA system. All of the bars/theaters/etc.. emptied out. The ship was surrounded on both sides and one of the whales did an all out breach for those who were on the port side. I didn't see both sides of the ship, but we think there were somewhere near 20 whales putting on a show. It was exhilarating to be on a ship with so many people who had experienced this show in and around Juneau.

 

We had similar experience too. Always on the look out for whales when arriving or leaving Juneau. You never know.

[Budget Queen]

We had similar experience too. Always on the look out for whales when arriving or leaving Juneau. You never know.

 

Another one of my standard suggestions over many years. :)

 

If arriving Juneau from Ketchikan, and an early port arrival, it is well worth the opportunity to be up extremely early. I am out at least a half hour prior to dawn. Same on the departure, stay out late for some great scenery also.