Mendenhall Glacier & Whale Quest AND Tracy Arm Fjord Glacier Explorer - Too Much???

[pmb0602]

We are currently booked on the Mendenhall Glacier & Whale Quest in Juneau. I have been hearing such good things about the Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer excursion that DH and I are thinking about doing both - Mendenhall in the morning and the Explorer excursion in the afternoon. Anyone think that is too much "glacier" for one day? If so, would it be better to stick with Mendenhall and see Tracy Arm (or wherever we end up going) from the ship, or skip Mendenhall in favor of the afternoon Explorer excursion?

 

We are on the Bliss next month.

[erdoran]

DH and I are doing exactly that on the September 1 Bliss cruise. I’m wondering too if it’s too much but they both look awesome

[BirdTravels]

We did the Tracy Arm only. Spent the morning in town. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2641186&page=13

 

See post #243.

[ColinIllinois]

PMB, I think if you are in good physical shape and your enjoy the outdoors, if paying for excursions doesn't kill your budget, do as much as you can. As the old saying goes, you only live once. Live it while you can. :)

[Budget Queen]

Sure, do both, if the time fits, take advantage of every minute. :) I travel in Alaska all the time with packed touring days. :)

[pmb0602]

We did the Tracy Arm only. Spent the morning in town. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2641186&page=13

 

See post #243.

 

Thanks! Actually your review is the main reason I'm thinking about adding the Tracy Arm excursion :D Your pictures are AMAZING!!

[pmb0602]

PMB, I think if you are in good physical shape and your enjoy the outdoors, if paying for excursions doesn't kill your budget, do as much as you can. As the old saying goes, you only live once. Live it while you can. :)

 

That's exactly what I was thinking! Just didn't know how similar the Mendenhall portion would be to what we would see at Tracy Arm.

[pmb0602]

Sure, do both, if the time fits, take advantage of every minute. :) I travel in Alaska all the time with packed touring days. :)

 

So that does bring up a question. The Mendenhall / Whale Watching goes until 12:30 and the Tracy Arm starts at 1:15. Feels like we would have just enough time, right?

[LdyMags]

How often are you going to see a glacier up close again? Do both!

 

 

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[beach Friday]

We are doing both tours but did in fact find a local tour company for whale watch and glacier. This excursion starts with whale watch and the glacier follows. Their are shuttles back every 1/2 hour and so you can go back when you are done at Mendenhall Glacier. We plan on getting back by 11:30 to have time for lunch before we leave for the next excursion( also warm up)

[erdoran]

So that does bring up a question. The Mendenhall / Whale Watching goes until 12:30 and the Tracy Arm starts at 1:15. Feels like we would have just enough time, right?

 

We are doing exactly the same thing. We had booked whalewatch/mendenhall photo safari which ended at 1 and then and wanted Tracy Arm 1:15. NCL said not enough time between, so they moved us to an earlier whalewatch which returns at 12:30, and they said that works, that their minimum between-tour time is 45 minutes. Because we are booking through NCL, if we get back late from the morning excursion and miss the Tracy Arm one, NCL will refund us for it. I'd rather have both excursions though - but if NCL will commit to it, they must know what they are doing because otherwise it costs them!

[Son of a son of a ...]

We did the Mendenhall and whale watch. If you want to walk to the base of the glacier and see the falls up close, the you need to start waking there as soon as you get off the bus. We had to skip the museum/NPS lodge.

 

You will get tired and may be hot. It was nice to stroll town afterward. Trying to cram another excursion on top of it seems too much to do.

[Budget Queen]

Be advised that most of these whale watch/ Mendenhall combo tours- do NOT allow, enough time to walk to Nugget Falls. Worse, as suggested above , is to be on the run to include it. Hardly a nice visit when so short on time.

 

 

More time may be possible just- taking a cab to Mendenhall, right when you clear the ship. Enjoy Mendenhall, and then cab direct- to an independent whale watch vendor- who should then return you to your ship. You can arrange this with a cab- when you get there, having the same driver. You just have to know the exact marina slip.

[Son of a son of a ...]

Be advised that most of these whale watch/ Mendenhall combo tours- do NOT allow, enough time to walk to Nugget Falls. Worse, as suggested above , is to be on the run to include it. Hardly a nice visit when so short on time.

 

 

More time may be possible just- taking a cab to Mendenhall, right when you clear the ship. Enjoy Mendenhall, and then cab direct- to an independent whale watch vendor- who should then return you to your ship. You can arrange this with a cab- when you get there, having the same driver. You just have to know the exact marina slip.

 

Aye ... the “speed walk” is not for the unfit. Not much of an elevation change and the trail can get congested at points. We had a good 10-15 minutes by the falls.

 

BQ makes a good point to add more time. We liked the combo because it was well paced for us (maybe not for all) and gave us enough time in town afterward (DW likes to shop a little).

 

All said, we concluded that we would be back on another Alaskan cruise to see whatever we missed. :)

[pmb0602]

We are doing both tours but did in fact find a local tour company for whale watch and glacier. This excursion starts with whale watch and the glacier follows. Their are shuttles back every 1/2 hour and so you can go back when you are done at Mendenhall Glacier. We plan on getting back by 11:30 to have time for lunch before we leave for the next excursion( also warm up)

 

We also are doing the whale watch / glacier with a local company. I called them and they said the same thing about the shuttle every 1/2 hour. I think we are going to do both excursions as I'm not sure if we will make it back to Alaska anytime soon.

 

Thanks for everyone's input !!