Help choosing Juneau excursion

[misslyss1220]

Hi everyone! I'll be sailing on the NCL Pearl in early July with DH, MIL, FIL, SIL, two aunts, and an uncle. None of them have been to Alaska except me (I've been three times, this will be my fourth). We'll be in Juneau from 2 pm - 10 pm.

 

Originally we were going to do the Whale Watching & Wildlife Quest offered through NCL, which I have done before. This goes to Auke Bay and specifically looks for whales and wildlife (as the title claims :) )

 

However, then we saw the Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer excursion, also through NCL. I've been to Tracy Arm on the NCL Sky but this would be a great opportunity to get close to the glacier.

 

We're having a hard time choosing now, since no one has been to Alaska except me. Which would be better for first timers? They want to see it all - whales, wildlife, glaciers...

 

Would we see whales on the way to Tracy Arm? Other wildlife? Since that tour is not specific to those things, I'm not sure that is the best route. Then again, Sawyer Glacier is pretty amazing.

 

Any suggestions are most appreciated! :)

[Coral]

I would do Tracy Arm in a heart beat.

 

I have always seen wildlife but nothing is guarranted.

[xlxo]

Thoughts....

• if you want to see glaciers.... book a ship with Glacier Bay as an itinerary. Some HAL/Princess ships offer a small boat mid-cruise to Tracy Arm. This is the preferred way to visit Tracy Arm (while going to Glacier Bay) as it does not burn up your Juneau time.
  http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-destinations/ExcursionDetails.action?excursionCode=100030935
  http://www.princess.com/excursion/exDetails.do?t=A&exType=S&tourCode=TA1-660
  
• while there are boats that leave Juneau for Tracy Arm, you loose a lot of hours in your Juneau time as you must retrace 50 miles of water between Juneau and the Tracy Arm entrance. The mid-cruise boats travel 110 miles of water. The Juneau return boats must travel 160 miles of water.
  
• Tracy arm is warmer.... so YES you do see more wildlife.... but you also see less glaciers. The Sawyer glaciers has melted so much that boats need to travel 31 miles inland to find it's extinction.

 

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Edited April 4, 2016 by xlxo

[K.T.B.]

Hi everyone! I'll be sailing on the NCL Pearl in early July with DH, MIL, FIL, SIL, two aunts, and an uncle. None of them have been to Alaska except me (I've been three times, this will be my fourth). We'll be in Juneau from 2 pm - 10 pm.

 

Originally we were going to do the Whale Watching & Wildlife Quest offered through NCL, which I have done before. This goes to Auke Bay and specifically looks for whales and wildlife (as the title claims :) )

 

However, then we saw the Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer excursion, also through NCL. I've been to Tracy Arm on the NCL Sky but this would be a great opportunity to get close to the glacier.

 

We're having a hard time choosing now, since no one has been to Alaska except me. Which would be better for first timers? They want to see it all - whales, wildlife, glaciers...

 

Would we see whales on the way to Tracy Arm? Other wildlife? Since that tour is not specific to those things, I'm not sure that is the best route. Then again, Sawyer Glacier is pretty amazing.

 

Any suggestions are most appreciated! :)

 

I'd do it. Odds are always iffy when it comes to see whales, etc., because you never know when they'll appear. :) There's a possibility of it, but never a guarantee. I will say I've always seen whales and seals in the two I took. A lot of it luck when looking though.

 

And as xlxo pointed out, you may want to look into a Glacier Bay cruise as well, but only if the dates and prices work for you.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

I would go with Tracy Arm without hesitation. The small-boat excursion I did there a few years ago is one of the highlights of all my trips to Alaska. :D

[misslyss1220]

Thanks everyone for the replies! Our cruise itinerary does go to Glacier Bay (which was a deciding factor in how we chose, since I've been there and know how breathtaking it is).

 

This will probably be the only time my husband's family will go to Alaska. It's so hard to choose!

[misslyss1220]

I'd do it. Odds are always iffy when it comes to see whales, etc., because you never know when they'll appear. :) There's a possibility of it, but never a guarantee. I will say I've always seen whales and seals in the two I took. A lot of it luck when looking though.

 

And as xlxo pointed out, you may want to look into a Glacier Bay cruise as well, but only if the dates and prices work for you.

 

Hi Kevin, can you clarify which excursion you would do? I assume Tracy Arm but I can't 100% tell from your reply. Thanks :)

[fivesenuff]

Hi everyone! I'll be sailing on the NCL Pearl in early July with DH, MIL, FIL, SIL, two aunts, and an uncle. None of them have been to Alaska except me (I've been three times, this will be my fourth). We'll be in Juneau from 2 pm - 10 pm.

 

Originally we were going to do the Whale Watching & Wildlife Quest offered through NCL, which I have done before. This goes to Auke Bay and specifically looks for whales and wildlife (as the title claims :) )

 

However, then we saw the Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer excursion, also through NCL. I've been to Tracy Arm on the NCL Sky but this would be a great opportunity to get close to the glacier.

 

We're having a hard time choosing now, since no one has been to Alaska except me. Which would be better for first timers? They want to see it all - whales, wildlife, glaciers...

 

Would we see whales on the way to Tracy Arm? Other wildlife? Since that tour is not specific to those things, I'm not sure that is the best route. Then again, Sawyer Glacier is pretty amazing.

 

Any suggestions are most appreciated! :)

 

I asked questions about the Whale Watching Photo Safari about a week or so ago (maybe you can search for it) because we are also on the Pearl in July and have shore excursion credit that we must use. I was wondering whether to use my credit for this excursion or the train in Skagway. We ultimately decided to use it for the whale watching.

 

A few replied that they had been on this excursion and that it is indeed limited to 14 passengers and everyone that replied said they would highly recommend it. We usually book independent excursions because we like the smaller groups so this fit the bill. We will now take the train up and an independent tour back to Skagway....now just to decide between Chilkoot and Dyea Dave...

[Wishing on a star]

Just looking at your Juneau arrival at 2:00p.m. I am thinking that the Tracy Arm excursion is the type where you board the tour boat directly from your cruise ship, and then you would rejoin your cruise ship at Juneau?

 

I believe that Allen Marine is the operator for these excursions. But, I am not familiar with the NCL cruises at all. You might check.

 

Even if it were possible to do both Tracy Arm and a late afternoon whale watching excursion, the would really be pushing it, and would be a LOT of time spent out on the water in smaller tour boats.

 

So, it looks like it would either be Tracy Arm (and the possibility of getting up to Sawyer Glacier) or whale watching.

 

That is a tough call!

 

While I would LOVE to be able to cruise Tracy Arm, and see that gorgeous blue scenic glacier in that narrow gorge/fjord, since you will be cruising Glacier Bay, maybe I would lean towards whale watching?

 

With a group like yours, there are very much recommended whale watch tour operators who operator smaller boats, so if you were to book far enough in advance, it would be like a private tour for your family group. It is not necessary to book thru the cruise ship.

 

For this summer, I am not sure if you would find openings for your entire party (10?) on one of these boats. But just throwing the idea out there.

Edited April 5, 2016 by Wishing on a star

[K.T.B.]

Hi Kevin, can you clarify which excursion you would do? I assume Tracy Arm but I can't 100% tell from your reply. Thanks :)

 

I'd do Tracy Arm Fjord. Along the way there's always a chance to see whales. When I did the off-ship excursion with Carnival, we saw whales as we traveled to Sawyer Glacier.

 

Again, it's mostly luck in seeing them. :) Though odds are usually good.

[misslyss1220]

Just looking at your Juneau arrival at 2:00p.m. I am thinking that the Tracy Arm excursion is the type where you board the tour boat directly from your cruise ship, and then you would rejoin your cruise ship at Juneau?

 

I believe that Allen Marine is the operator for these excursions. But, I am not familiar with the NCL cruises at all. You might check.

 

Even if it were possible to do both Tracy Arm and a late afternoon whale watching excursion, the would really be pushing it, and would be a LOT of time spent out on the water in smaller tour boats.

 

So, it looks like it would either be Tracy Arm (and the possibility of getting up to Sawyer Glacier) or whale watching.

 

That is a tough call!

 

While I would LOVE to be able to cruise Tracy Arm, and see that gorgeous blue scenic glacier in that narrow gorge/fjord, since you will be cruising Glacier Bay, maybe I would lean towards whale watching?

 

With a group like yours, there are very much recommended whale watch tour operators who operator smaller boats, so if you were to book far enough in advance, it would be like a private tour for your family group. It is not necessary to book thru the cruise ship.

 

For this summer, I am not sure if you would find openings for your entire party (10?) on one of these boats. But just throwing the idea out there.

 

 

I didn't even think that we might leave right from the ship and meet back in Juneau. I'll have to look, thanks for pointing that out!

 

We're a party of 8 but we might not all do the same thing ;) I am leaning towards whale watching for the exact reason that we'll see glaciers in Glacier Bay. I know you basically always see whales in Auke Bay.

 

EDIT: The Tracy Arm tour leaves at 2:15 pm and has approx. a 7 hour duration. So I think it is leaving and returning to Juneau. That's a long time to be on an excursion!

Edited April 5, 2016 by misslyss1220

[misslyss1220]

I'd do Tracy Arm Fjord. Along the way there's always a chance to see whales. When I did the off-ship excursion with Carnival, we saw whales as we traveled to Sawyer Glacier.

 

Again, it's mostly luck in seeing them. :) Though odds are usually good.

 

Thank you! More to think about lol.

[mskaufman]

I would do Tracy Arm in a heart beat.

 

I have always seen wildlife but nothing is guarranted.

 

Agree - Would do this in a heart beat

[GeezerCouple]

We'd definitely do the Tracy Arm excursion if it were offered.

We're on the Sun, and chose it for Glacier Bay; Tracy Arm isn't offered.

 

We're doing the relatively new Taku Glacier Hovercraft excursion instead.

 

We have NOT been on it yet, so have no personal recommendation.

But it's a small group, and seems to have a good chance of getting a close look at the scenery, including some glaciers.

 

(It seems to be new last summer, and there aren't a lot of reviews. Not sure we like being early guinea pigs, but this seems worth taking a chance.)