Whale watching and Mendenhall recommendations

[NitaO]

sailing with Princess in July , I need some good recommendations for whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier, want enough time to walk down to falls in Juneau. We will be in port from 6:30-4:00

[Budget Queen]

I would suggest scheduling a whale watch either early or late in your port time. Then transit direct between the whale watch and Mendenhall either by taxi or rental car. This saves considerable time. Then spend the time you want for your hiking.

[NitaO]

I would suggest scheduling a whale watch either early or late in your port time. Then transit direct between the whale watch and Mendenhall either by taxi or rental car. This saves considerable time. Then spend the time you want for your hiking.

Thanks! We have booked whale watching earlier that day , now I just need a good taxi company, any suggestions?

[sonoma03]

I'm wanting to do something similar on my cruise in June. I know there are buses that run from Mendenhall to downtown and the tour companies show only round-trip prices on their Web sites. Does anyone know if you can just take the bus one-way from Mendenhall back to downtown? Can you pay cash on the bus? I am not talking about the public city bus.

[mapleleaves]

I'm wanting to do something similar on my cruise in June. I know there are buses that run from Mendenhall to downtown and the tour companies show only round-trip prices on their Web sites. Does anyone know if you can just take the bus one-way from Mendenhall back to downtown? Can you pay cash on the bus? I am not talking about the public city bus.

 

Things have changed each yr for the past few yrs regarding transportation to Mendenhall. You might want to call both companies about their current yr's policies. Please report back on what you learn.

It may be cheaper to take a 20 minute cab ride.

 

Transportation numbers in this link:

 

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/tongass/about-forest/offices/?cid=fseprd495443

[hubofhockey]

For two people, the shuttle would be $90 and taxi round trip would be $84 ($35 each way and $7 per person extra for admission). I would think a taxi would make sense even if there are only two going. We have four and it's $98 round trip all in (as opposed to $180 for shuttle for four people).

[sonoma03]

Princess and third-parties have whale watching tours that include a stop at Mendenhall Glacier. Most give you 45-60 minutes at the glacier, which is enough time to hike to Nugget Falls if you don't spend too much time stopping. If you stay longer, Juneau Tours (which runs the white shuttle buses) told me you can pay $20 cash to the driver for a one-way ride back to town from Mendenhall, space permitting. They also have a whale watching tour with a stop at Mendenhall for $135 that allows you to stay as long as you want and take one of the scheduled white buses back; I'm thinking of booking that for my June cruise.

[mapleleaves]

Juneau Tours (which runs the white shuttle buses) told me you can pay $20 cash to the driver for a one-way ride back to town from Mendenhall, space permitting.

 

Thank you for following up about the one-way shuttle fare. Good information for others travelling this summer.

[TheSecondSister]

Princess and third-parties have whale watching tours that include a stop at Mendenhall Glacier. Most give you 45-60 minutes at the glacier, which is enough time to hike to Nugget Falls if you don't spend too much time stopping. If you stay longer, Juneau Tours (which runs the white shuttle buses) told me you can pay $20 cash to the driver for a one-way ride back to town from Mendenhall, space permitting. They also have a whale watching tour with a stop at Mendenhall for $135 that allows you to stay as long as you want and take one of the scheduled white buses back; I'm thinking of booking that for my June cruise.

Just an FYI, the Nugget Falls trail is 2 miles round trip, so plan accordingly. I'm a ... leisurely walker [emoji28] .. and stop to take photos, so 60 minutes would be pushing it for me. There is also the Photo Point Trail which is less than half a mile round trip along a paved path and is super easy.

 

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[rubyreader]

sailing with Princess in July , I need some good recommendations for whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier, want enough time to walk down to falls in Juneau. We will be in port from 6:30-4:00

We used Juneau Whale Watch for our day in Juneau last week. They run shuttles every 30 minutes from Mendenhall back to the ship, so they had us do the whale watch first, and then spend as long as we wanted at the glacier. When I booked they had me put "request extra time at glacier" in the notes field. Our time in port was different (1-10), but we were on the 1:30 whale watch, had time to do the Nugget Falls walk and a few others, and took the 6 or 6:30 shuttle back). The whole experience was excellent, and we had enough time at each stop without feeling rushed. The shuttle drivers were very entertaining, and pointed out things along the way, too.