Alaskan Southbound on Sapphire-Wildlife viewing?

[Staying Focused]

Ok guys--hear me out-- there are so many excursions for whale/wildlife viewing but, is it realistic to see wildlife and whales directly from the ship? I know it's definitely possible (wildlife is obviously on their own schedule and never a guarantee) but, we have a balcony room and binoculars.  We are spending a couple days prior to departure sight seeing (including a kenai fjords boat tour so, hopefully whales then too). We are wanting to be very particular on what we do in ports. On our other, more tropical adventures, we have almost always done stuff on our own.  Just trying to be realistic and logical.  Sailing end of June 2025.

[Paula_MacFan]

We did a Southbound on Sapphire this past end of May/first week of June after an 8-day land tour.  From our balcony we saw wildlife during our Glacier Bay day, some humpbacks breaching as we left Whittier, and several humpbacks the last day at sea while sailing towards Vancouver, so I would say you have pretty good chances.  However, I really want to say our all-day Kenai boat tour was hands down the best wildlife day we had, so I'm glad you're doing that!  We saw a huge amount of orcas, several humpbacks with babies, seals, sea lions, birds, and gorgeous scenery.  Of course Alaska as a whole is so scenic, and every day/excursion we did was wonderful, but the Kenai day really stands out.  Hopefully you'll have good luck too!

 

[XBGuy]

We've never taken an Alaska cruise in which we haven't seen wildlife from our balcony.  By late June, migrating whales will have all arrived.  So, whales, otters and seals are almost guaranteed.  Binoculars will be most helpful.  As you stated in your OP, the wildlife are on their own schedule, and they may be close to the ship, but, more likely, they will be a bit distant.  We have found that when leaving Ketchikan, it is easy to spot bald eagles--look for the "golf balls" in the trees that you are passing.  I have read multiple reports here on Cruise Critics of cruisers spotting bears on shore from their balcony, but we have never been so lucky.

Edited 21 hours ago by XBGuy

[rcprncss]

We cruised to Alaska this year on the Sapphire for the first time. If you put the work in, you can see wild life from the bow of the ship. Sandra was the naturalist and she had a map of the times of the hotspots for wildlife. She stands out there with you. She told us she will be on the Sapphire next year. (If you are really interested in wildlife, go to all of her presentations.) We cruised four weeks, last week of May and the first three weeks of June. (Two 14 day round trips from Vancouver). We saw everything. But it takes work and many hours of standing around but it was well worth it. You need patience, warm clothes and binoculars.

[curlymason]

My very first cruise was an Alaskan cruise when I was 18. We saw orcas and humpbacks and a distant bear from our cabin. It’s totally possible. It’s also incredibly beautiful even without the wildlife. It’s hard to go to sleep when you know you’re missing the scenery! That said, my favorite day was when we went whale watching from Juneau and had humpbacks breaching right next to our boat…we were close enough to see the barnacles on his flippers!  

[JimmyVWine]

Water-based wildlife? Sure. Whales. Dahl porpoises. Otters. Maybe orcas. Also bald eagles for sure. But if you are thinking: “We don’t need to do an excursion for whale watching because we will see plenty of whales while we sail”, I can’t say that this is a winning strategy. It’s not the same. Even at the relatively slow pace at which the ship travels, it still goes faster than you think. If someone yells: “Whales off the starboard side”, by the time you get there, the whales are far behind the ship. If I made up a wildlife BINGO card and filled it out, being honest I would say that 70% of our squares were filled out while on land. We didn’t take any expensive helicopter or seaplane excursions. Just some basic ones through private operators with 15 or so people that were affordable. Other than bald eagles, all of our best wildlife viewing (whales, bears, moose) were on these trips. 

[Donwoods123]

We have been to Alaska on Princess many times.  Sometimes we see whales from the ship and sometimes we don't.  Two years ago, we saw several near Juneau, but they were pretty far away.  Last year, also near Juneau, we saw 3 whales pretty close to the ship.  Although these sightings were nice, the experience on the  whale watching tours  we have been on were much better.