Juneau suggestions after Tracy Arm small boat excursion

[Loubelou]

We are on the Aug. 1st sailing on Celebrity Solstice. We have already booked the small boat excursion in Tracy Arm & are trying to decide the best way to proceed after this excursion. Since it's such a long excursion we're thinking it would not be wise to book another excursion that begins right away in Juneau (example - one that begins a 2:00 or 2:30 - Solstice arrives in Juneau at 1:30).

 

Or is it better to have something else booked right away in order to tender in a timely manner? We just don't want to be over tired & not enjoy the next excursion. Since we are in Juneau until 10pm, would it be better to have a later excursion booked for Juneau & not worry about trying to be in an early tendering group?

 

Any insight from those that have done the small boat excursion would be appreciated. We are middle-aged & fairly fit, but we also don't like to rush from one activity to another on vacation.

 

 

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[fleckle]

I would wait and play it by ear. See how energetic you are feeling that day after your small boat excursion and what the weather is like that day.

 

You still have time to order a Juneau Visitor Guide and receive it before you go, or just view it online. Here is a link

 

Order Your Juneau Visitor Guide

 

If it is a clear day and you can see the top of the mountain, you may want to take the tram ride up the side of the mountain. You can always decide to do that on the spur of the moment.

 

There are vendor booths at the base of the tram selling tickets for all sorts of excursions, so there is no need to decide in advance unless you want to do something with limited capacity that may sell out, like flightseeing.

 

If you decide you want to go whale watching, you can usually pick up a whale watching tour at the last minute, even though the vendor of your first choice may already be sold out. But they all take you out to see the same whales.

 

The cruise ships often offer their own afternoon whale watching excursion which may be available to book at the last minute.

 

Maybe you will feel like going out to Mendenhall Glacier, and if so you can always take a shuttle bus out there.

 

Or call Avis at the Goldbelt Hotel (1) 907-789-7999 to see if they have any last minute rental cars available.

 

The Solstice is a beautiful ship, but tendering at Juneau is a pain and one of the reasons why many passengers will avoid taking the Solstice for Alaska.

 

A big plus to taking the Solstice though is that Brent Nixon, one of the best cruise ship naturalists, should be on board with you.

Try to speak to him early in the cruise and ask for his suggestions.

[LEtue]

I have been planning for the same situation when I sail on the Ruby Princess next year. Based on what I have been told by other Princess passengers the return to Juneau is approximately 2 pm. Your tour time it probably similar.

 

I corresponded with Harv & Marv's to see if they had a trip time that would give me bit of a break in between. I am now confirmed for a 4:20 pm pick up at the pier so I will have time to grab a late lunch and head out again. I didn't want to leave the rest of the afternoon to chance by not having something planned or looking around at the last minute. Now I can relax for a couple hours in between excursions and still get a whale watch in :)

 

Harv & Marv's has been great to work with and they are accepting reservations for 2015

 

http://www.harvandmarvs.com/

[Eaglecw]

We just got back from the Grand Princess and took the small boat excursion off the Grand Princess up in Tracey Arm. We got back to the ship about 20 or 30 minutes late. Some people were getting a little excited about being late for there next excursion. You'll love the small boat excursion up Tracy Arm, it was awesome. The pilot of the boat we were on was a young lady, Capt. Tully and she was good. A 4:20 excursion with Harv & Marv would be prefect. We've been to Juneau many times so we play it by ear.

[Karysa]

We are on the Aug. 1st sailing on Celebrity Solstice. We have already booked the small boat excursion in Tracy Arm & are trying to decide the best way to proceed after this excursion. Since it's such a long excursion we're thinking it would not be wise to book another excursion that begins right away in Juneau (example - one that begins a 2:00 or 2:30 - Solstice arrives in Juneau at 1:30).

 

Or is it better to have something else booked right away in order to tender in a timely manner? We just don't want to be over tired & not enjoy the next excursion. Since we are in Juneau until 10pm, would it be better to have a later excursion booked for Juneau & not worry about trying to be in an early tendering group?

 

Any insight from those that have done the small boat excursion would be appreciated. We are middle-aged & fairly fit, but we also don't like to rush from one activity to another on vacation.

 

 

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I am on the Solstice in September and would like to hear more about the small boat excursion that you are planning on taking in Tracy Arm. What time does it start? Any details that you can provide is appreciated.

[Loubelou]

Karysa - You have to look under Juneau excursions to find the small boat excursion on the Celebrity website. It's $199 per person, but I've heard it is well worth it since the Solstice is not guaranteed to get all the way to the glacier. From what I understand, Solstice arrives to the entry of Tracy Arm around 5:30-6am. The small boat comes up along side the ship at around 8am and we see the rest of Tracy Arm and the glaciers from the small boat. Then the small boat takes us to Juneau where we meet up with the ship there. It's a 5 - 5.5 hour excursion. Many people say that this is a "must do" excursion and many say it was the highlight of their cruise.

 

Thank you to everyone else for all the tips so far. This really helps.

 

 

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[aussiecruzer]

We are also booked on the small boat excursion in Tracey Arm from the Solstice. Just wondering if after the excursion will we be taken back to the Solstice, or dropped at the dock at Juneau?

[Loubelou]

I read a review recently of someone that did the small boat on Solstice & they were required to get back on the ship and tender in Juneau with everyone else.

 

 

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[aussiecruzer]

I read a review recently of someone that did the small boat on Solstice & they were required to get back on the ship and tender in Juneau with everyone else.

 

 

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Thanks for that information. Much appreciated :)

[Karysa]

Karysa - You have to look under Juneau excursions to find the small boat excursion on the Celebrity website. It's $199 per person, but I've heard it is well worth it since the Solstice is not guaranteed to get all the way to the glacier. From what I understand, Solstice arrives to the entry of Tracy Arm around 5:30-6am. The small boat comes up along side the ship at around 8am and we see the rest of Tracy Arm and the glaciers from the small boat. Then the small boat takes us to Juneau where we meet up with the ship there. It's a 5 - 5.5 hour excursion. Many people say that this is a "must do" excursion and many say it was the highlight of their cruise.

 

Thank you to everyone else for all the tips so far. This really helps.

 

 

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Thank you Loubelou. Is there a better chance in September compared to say May that the ship will be able to get in to view the glacier?

[tangerinebunny]

September and May are both iffy but possible. I think some reports from May of this year said they had a good view.

 

Our last Tracy Arm visit was at the end of May 2013 and we didn't get very far.

 

I never count on it. But glacier day is the highlight of our trip.

[chipmaster]

We are on the Aug. 1st sailing on Celebrity Solstice. We have already booked the small boat excursion in Tracy Arm & are trying to decide the best way to proceed after this excursion. Since it's such a long excursion we're thinking it would not be wise to book another excursion that begins right away in Juneau (example - one that begins a 2:00 or 2:30 - Solstice arrives in Juneau at 1:30).

 

Or is it better to have something else booked right away in order to tender in a timely manner? We just don't want to be over tired & not enjoy the next excursion. Since we are in Juneau until 10pm, would it be better to have a later excursion booked for Juneau & not worry about trying to be in an early tendering group?

 

Any insight from those that have done the small boat excursion would be appreciated. We are middle-aged & fairly fit, but we also don't like to rush from one activity to another on vacation.

 

 

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Call me crazy, but I packed eats, ran off the ship ( ruined a $2000 camera ) and straight into port to do an Orca Enterprise Whale watch / Mendenhal Glacier. Got back to the ship for late dinner around 8am very tired and hungry but no regrets doing the Mendehall late as it was beautiful and deserted as the bus had shut down.

[phabric]

I have been planning for the same situation when I sail on the Ruby Princess next year. Based on what I have been told by other Princess passengers the return to Juneau is approximately 2 pm. Your tour time it probably similar.

 

I corresponded with Harv & Marv's to see if they had a trip time that would give me bit of a break in between. I am now confirmed for a 4:20 pm pick up at the pier so I will have time to grab a late lunch and head out again. I didn't want to leave the rest of the afternoon to chance by not having something planned or looking around at the last minute. Now I can relax for a couple hours in between excursions and still get a whale watch in :)

 

Harv & Marv's has been great to work with and they are accepting reservations for 2015

 

http://www.harvandmarvs.com/

 

 

I am booked on the Ruby for August 2016.

 

I am planning on doing the Tracey Arm excursion.

 

After the excursion, did they drop you off at the Juneau dock?

 

What time did the excursion start/finish?

 

I have done a whale watching tour before with Orca and thinking of doing it again maybe with another company.

 

How was you tour with Harv and Marvs? Did they pick you up at the dock?

[Budget Queen]

I would first suggest, determining IF there is any Juneau priority tours you wish to take? IF so, I would never "play it by ear" with the hope of getting a tour. Book it in advance.

 

There can be some support for booking a ship excursion with this late Juneau arrival and tendering. It can take over an hour to get people off the ship. Your port time is already short, do you want to spend it doing nothing? If you have priority tendering, you still aren't the only one who does want off the ship, and can get into lines with waits. This is a significant problem with tendering and late port arrivals.