Ketchikan Coastal Wildlife Cruise

[meh56]

We are sailing on Princess in August and are interested in taking the Ketchikan Coastal Wildlife Tour...Has anyone done this and can give me some feedback

[Alaska0799]

We are sailing on Princess in August and are interested in taking the Ketchikan Coastal Wildlife Tour...Has anyone done this and can give me some feedback

 

 

 

 

 

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[Alaska0799]

We are sailing on Princess in August and are interested in taking the Ketchikan Coastal Wildlife Tour...Has anyone done this and can give me some feedback

 

 

We enjoyed that excursion a few years ago. Comfortable boat and lots of wildlife--orcas, harbor seals, sea lions, Sitka black-tail deer, bald eagles, including a nesting pair, mink, starfish and various birds. Plenty of opportunities for photos along the way. Definitely an enjoyable few hours!

 

 

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[Eaglecw]

I can tell one excursion to not go on out of Ketchikan and that’s “Lighthouse, Totems & Eagles Excursion” It ranks right up there with one of the worse excursions we’ve ever been on. Old boat, stunk/smelled like mildew, etc.

[Paula_MacFan]

We're scheduled to take this excursion next week while on the Golden. It's been sold out for quite awhile. I'll report back when we return!

 

I had a hard time finding reviews too. If you do a search you might find 3 or 4 positive reviews here on CC.

[Paula_MacFan]

I didn't have the links handy when I posted earlier. Here's the vendor's website for more info:

 

http://www.snowscove.com/Bear%20Tour%20Photo%20Album/%20Coastal%20Wildlife%20Cruise.html

 

And a small review I found when I was doing my research:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=799725&highlight=photo+safari+stay+at+mendenhall+glacier+longer+

[meh56]

Thank you for your responses. Would love to hear from you when you come back about the trip and the Golden.

[Paula_MacFan]

We are just back from our Golden cruise. We decided to cancel the Coastal Wildlife Cruise tour so I'm sorry I don't have any info for you on that. We saw so much wildlife from our balcony that we decided the extra $358 just wasn't worth the expense. Here's what we did see from our balcony (keeping in mind we had a fully covered mini-suite, great weather, and spent a lot of time out there):

 

humpback whales (multiple days)

orcas (near Victoria)

grizzly bear (on way into Glacier Bay, pointed out by National Park Service ranger)

sea otters (Glacier Bay)

sea lions (Glacier Bay)

harbor seals (Glacier Bay)

eagles (Ketchikan area)

mountain goats (Juneau)

many birds - puffins, seagulls, etc (everywhere!)

 

The cruise overall was wonderful, we had great weather, and I plan to post a full review in the next couple days.

Edited June 2, 2014 by Paula_MacFan

[tgmg00a]

My DW and I just did this in mid June. While it rained for most of the outing we say a bear, several pods of Orca, a seal rookery, a deer, that our boat pilot was able to whistle down to the waters edge and lots and lots of bald eagles. I would do the tour again given a return at a different time of year.

 

 

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[Suzanne123]

Bumping this thread to the top to get some info. Was the tour in fairly calm water? Or do they go out into open ocean? Thanks.