Whale Watching in Juneau on NCL Suugestions

[pajazz28]

MY DW and I are taking a 10 Day Cruise Tour on NCL (Jewel) in June. Juneau has a large amount of whale watching excursions and we have no idea which one to take. If anyone has taken any of the excursion in the past either on NCL or another cruiseline. We would really appreciate any suggestion or comments about your experiences positive or negative. Thank you. 

[CCJack]

My experience with Whale watching has been that all tour operators will go to where the whales are and sometimes the competing companies communicate with each other to find whales.  This is a good thing to make everyone's experience better.  So you may be very close to other boats - and you likely will see the same whales no matter what company you choose.  I think this comes down to boat size and what your preference is.  Smaller boats (likely independent excursions) may be rougher ride but better view in that you are not competing with so many people for a "front row view".   Our independent excursion had about 12 people on board, I have also been on the larger boats and I much prefer the smaller boats.   Have fun !

 

[Glaciers]

There are a few operators who spend 3 hours on the water like Harv n Marv & Jayleen’s which is a bonus.  The boats are smaller and prone to movement more than the larger boats so if motion sickness is an issue it might be better to go with the larger boats. Juneau Whale Watch has 2 hours on the water on a larger catamaran type vessel. Our trips with them had about 25 passengers with plenty of room at the rail for viewing. They also have a combo tour that can take you to Mendenhall Glacier after the whale watch and then back to the ship. They have buses back every 30 minutes or so.  

[Italy52]

A lot of us that have cruised to Juneau multiple times will have our favorites. We have been on the bigger boat (Allen Marine), Harv and Marv (smaller boat), Jayleen's Alaska (smaller boat) and a couple of other small boat vendors that are no longer in business.  For us, we enjoy the personal touch that Jayleen has to offer.  Here is her website information:  https://jayleensalaska.com/.  You can also look her up on TripAdvisor.  My advice, take in all the information, do your research and then decide which vendor is a good match for you. 

[peety3]

Highly recommend Gastineau Guiding (http://stepintoalaska.com). Small yet stable boats - 14 pax for the photo safari, 20 pax for the others. Huge windows that the crew will lift in/up out of the way so PLENTY of room to see and take pictures, plus a bow platform when stopped (and stern on the 20pax boats). We've toured with them five times with fantastic results.

[SkeeterPilot]

There is one whale watching excursion through NCL that my wife and I did in 2021 and we are doing the same one this June as well.  It is call Discover Alaska Whales.  What I liked about this one is the naturalist onboard knew a lot about the local whale population.  I got several pictures of the under side of the whales tails as the began their dive.  She went through the book she had onboard and was able to identify 2 of the whales.  She had a lot of their life history and even their offspring.  There were 2 whales that she did not have in her book.  When I got home I emailed her the pictures and she was able to identify them and emailed me back with info on those as well.

[eileeshb]

On 3/21/2023 at 10:24 PM, SkeeterPilot said:

There is one whale watching excursion through NCL that my wife and I did in 2021 and we are doing the same one this June as well.  It is call Discover Alaska Whales.  What I liked about this one is the naturalist onboard knew a lot about the local whale population.  I got several pictures of the under side of the whales tails as the began their dive.  She went through the book she had onboard and was able to identify 2 of the whales.  She had a lot of their life history and even their offspring.  There were 2 whales that she did not have in her book.  When I got home I emailed her the pictures and she was able to identify them and emailed me back with info on those as well.

That’s run by Gastineau guiding and at the moment it’s the one I’m probably going to book via NCL for October but I will be keeping a close eye on the weather models in the couple of weeks prior to the cruise date in case I need to switch to Allen Marine’s Whale watching & wildlife quest. There are far, far fewer options available in October. 

[majmaj4]

6 minutes ago, eileeshb said:

That’s run by Gastineau guiding and at the moment it’s the one I’m probably going to book via NCL for October but I will be keeping a close eye on the weather models in the couple of weeks prior to the cruise date in case I need to switch to Allen Marine’s Whale watching & wildlife quest. There are far, far fewer options available in October. 

Just curious why would the weather make you switch to the Allen Marine vs NCL.

 

[eileeshb]

3 minutes ago, majmaj4 said:

Just curious why would the weather make you switch to the Allen Marine vs NCL.

 

Their boats are bigger so wouldn’t be as likely cancel if it looks like heavy seas. I’m hoping the area the boats go to is reasonably sheltered and extreme weather holds off so I can stick with Gastineau.  I’m used to very exposed coastal conditions, the waves were hitting my shop today without any weather warning in place so I’m not as good at predicting inlet areas or a place like the inside passage,