Halp!!! Need Juneau Whale Watching Help Asap!!

[usnavywife]

this is quoted from another poster:

We ended up booking through Harv & Marv's because we weren't able to get hold of anyone at Orca Enterprises. I sent a couple of different emails and left a message and never heard back from them. The first email I sent to Harv & Marv was answered within about 4 hours, so I went with the operator that appeared to want my business.

__________________

 

I too have called Orcas several times. I get the same girl who is "new" she says. She was to give Capt Larry my email and have him email me some insightful info as I had seen their site and they were recommended.

Any way that has been about a month ago and I have not gotten an email nor phone call. Customer Service means a lot to me. So where can I check out Marvs site?

TIA

[heyitsmejudy]

So where can I check out Marvs site?

TIA

put dot com at the end of harv and marv and www in front of it. Not trying to be a smartie pants, just trying to get you the info without being poofed.

I booked through them for the same reason... hadn't heard from Capt. Larry who I'm certain is a whale God but I've seen and heard great things about Harv and Marv (and Eileen's cookies) as well.

I don't think you can say any one's better than the next guy unless you've tried all of them... you might be able to say the ONE you've done does a great job but the absolute BEST? Not until you've tried 'em all.

[ute_fan]

Here's Harv & Marv's website: http://www.harvandmarvs.com/index.html

 

I sent them an email, and Eileen, who is the wife of one of them, responded almost immediately. We ended up on a boat with 2 of the other couples from our roll-call, and are really looking forward to the experience.

 

I would actually have preferred the slightly larger boats of Orca, but wasn't about to waste any more time trying to contact them.

[heyitsmejudy]

Or just follow Susan's link!!!!!

[ute_fan]

Hey Judy -- fancy meeting up with you here :D ! You beat me to it by about 2 minutes. I would have been quicker if I hadn't been doublechecking their website....

[heyitsmejudy]

Hey Judy -- fancy meeting up with you here :D ! You beat me to it by about 2 minutes. I would have been quicker if I hadn't been doublechecking their website....

 

And I would have been slower if I was actually editing these reporters' stories like I'm supposed to be doing!

See you in 37 days!

[KnoxvilleSam]

but there is one operator who helps name the whales, who works year round to track and protect them. they work with naturalist around the world. follows the humpbacks all year, going from alaska to hawaii and back. yes, because of this, they are not always right at the computer to answer emails, or phone calls. that's true. people who are interested need to check out their page on their research / non-profit website

http://www.mersea.com/

 

take my word for it...you are all going to see humpbacks...some of you will learn about humpbacks.

personally, i hope all you get hooked. they are exciting creatures to see.

 

Toyz711 - I checked out the website for mersea (ORCA's non-profit foundation - Marine Education and Research of South East Alaska) but couldn't really find out much. For instance, (1) the foundation's news page hasn't been updated since November 19, 2000; (2) no new whale ID numbers/photos since 2001 (of course they may not have seen or photographed any new ones since then); (3) the info link on the home page tells you about different kinds of membership (and that you get a certificate, an annual newsletter, and information about whales and the progress being made), how you can adopt a whale (and what that costs and what you get - a one-year membership, an adoption certificate, a picture of "your" whale's flukes, and life history of your whale); and how to make even larger donations.

 

What I don't find are references to any publications by MERSEA staff, documentation of how the money is spent for research, or other organization activities. Also, just as a side note, my experience (I teach and do research on interest groups in American government) is that non-profits and interest groups usually have "dot org" rather than "dot com" as the suffix of their URL - but I admit that's not always the case.

 

Do you have additional information about MERSEA?

 

Thanks,

 

Sam

[fti]

but there is one operator who helps name the whales, who works year round to track and protect them. they work with naturalist around the world. follows the humpbacks all year, going from alaska to hawaii and back. yes, because of this, they are not always right at the computer to answer emails, or phone calls. that's true. people who are interested need to check out their page on their research / non-profit website http://www.mersea.com/

 

I appreciate your thoughts. My only questions would be if this other enterprise takes up that much time, perhaps he should give up the whale watching tours. It has been posted here repeatedly that Capt Larry's office does not respond to EMails in a timely manner. Last month he posted that it was due to being gone and they were just about caught up. But then I see another post today from someone who says the same thing.

 

My family went with Orca Enterprises last year and enjoyed it. But it did take a lot of work last year too to get Orca Enterprises to respond. If I go in the future (which I am sure I will) I will first look to other companies.

[SakeDad]

I had heard people complaining about Capt Larry's communication but I must say in their defense that when I booked a little over a month ago they responded IMMEDIATELY to my email and called me as well. I also got the email confirmation very quickly as well. Just adding another side of the story. I am booked with him in May so I'll let you all know how it was.:D

[usnavywife]

put dot com at the end of harv and marv and www in front of it. Not trying to be a smartie pants, just trying to get you the info without being poofed.

I booked through them for the same reason... hadn't heard from Capt. Larry who I'm certain is a whale God but I've seen and heard great things about Harv and Marv (and Eileen's cookies) as well.

I don't think you can say any one's better than the next guy unless you've tried all of them... you might be able to say the ONE you've done does a great job but the absolute BEST? Not until you've tried 'em all.

Thanks I didn't realize we weren't supposed to post links. I appreciate it :D

[usnavywife]

Just sent an email so hopefully I hear something soon :D

Thanks again

BTW am I missing something or are the prices not listed?

Never mind I found the prices lol. I am such a dork

[ute_fan]

Orcafan -- thank you so much for you information on the various cruises. It's great to hear from someone who has done several of them and can give a first hand comparison. I'm feeling even better about our trip with Harv & Marv.

 

Judy and USnavywife -- as far as posting the link for Harv & Marv's, my understanding is that it's OK as long as it's in direct response to a request, according to one of the "stickies" at the top of the Alaska page. Since USnavywife asked for information, I was responding to her request.

[qiangf2]

put dot com at the end of harv and marv and www in front of it. Not trying to be a smartie pants, just trying to get you the info without being poofed.

 

That's funny...:) :D

[ADPeterson]

When I was out with Orca Enterprises, I was very impressed with the level of knowledge about the whales.

 

This is why on my second trip to Alaska I am excited that I will be going with Captain Larry. He was also very prompt in getting back to me.

 

I have only been on one whale excursion in Juneau and personally I think the only really bad choice you can make is to not do a whale excursion in Juneau.

 

I remember reading these posts last year and Captain Larry and Harv & Marv seemed to be the names everyone recommended. I booked last minute so I went with the tour offered through the ship. It was amazing but I did not really get much of a history lesson on the whales. So for me, this time I wanted to book with someone that was respected for his or her whale knowledge and that is why I chose Captain Larry.

[heyitsmejudy]

Judy and USnavywife -- as far as posting the link for Harv & Marv's, my understanding is that it's OK as long as it's in direct response to a request, according to one of the "stickies" at the top of the Alaska page. Since USnavywife asked for information, I was responding to her request.

Cool, Susan. I got "yelled" at once for posting such information on another CC board. Perhaps the cops on that one are more strict.?.

As long as navywife got the info, and doesn't eat all Eileen's cookies...

[usnavywife]

Definately checking out maritime :D

Thanks for all of the info guys

[cruiseknotter]

I have 13 people in my group and will be in Alaska (Juneau, Ketchikan, Icy Strait Point) in mid July. All are new to Alaska.

We like to do excursions together, and I figure because it's 13 people, it would be better to book directly with private tour companies instead of booking through cruise?? Because I kind of doubt booking through cruise would give us a group discount. Maybe I'm wrong..

I like to do a whale watching tour all together. But, looks like private tours are on a small boat. If I book through cruise, would all of us be able to go on the same boat? but if smaller boats are better (like they can go closer), we'll be okay to split into 2 separate boats as long as we'll do it at the same time.

I really like to do the helicopter glacier tour, but very expensive..

Any recommendations would be very much appreciated.

[Toyz711]

http://www.orcaenterprises.com/

one of their boats holds 20? the others hold between 20 to about 40.

long time whale watching company, offices right at the docks in juneau.

just bare in mind the time difference if you call.

i went on newest boat...had a GREAT time!! (still get goosebumps)

[usnavywife]

Alaska Marine Adventure offered to buddy up with another company so that all 8 of us could go out at the same time. And we got an AWESOME deal to charter the whole boat.

Good luck

[qiangf2]

Alaska Marine Adventure offered to buddy up with another company so that all 8 of us could go out at the same time. And we got an AWESOME deal to charter the whole boat.

Good luck

 

How many people can Alaska Marine Adventure take on their boats? thx

[jspirit]

How many people can Alaska Marine Adventure take on their boats? thx

 

 

The CanCan can hold 6 passengers, I was told by Case.

And many pairs of binoculars.

[JohnQ]

I would suggest calling Orca Enterprises and requesting the small boat just for your group. They don't try to fill their boats to limits anyway so your group should be right size. That would be same as chartering a boat.

[Toyz711]

i was on their newest boat last sept...it was in great shape.

ran great, seats were comfortable, everything very clean.

have some pictures of the exterior in my photo link below. (under juneau)

had a great time...would recommend them any time.

[qiangf2]

The CanCan can hold 6 passengers, I was told by Case.

And many pairs of binoculars.

 

hehe.. That sounds a good size for our small group. I think I will stick with the binoculars I have.. :D Thanks, jspirit

[ADPeterson]

My opinion only, so flame away if necessary (I can handle it), but I was on Orca's small boat 2 seasons ago and just didn't care for it. Everything looked "patched" together...(open wiring, duct tape on seats, sloppy paint job, mildew in the head and storage lockers, etc.) There have been several articles in the Juneau paper about accidents Orca has had involving their small and medium boats. Some of the articles are a bit old (2003-2004) and some are more recent (2006-2007). I'm sure their new boat is much nicer, but personally, a bad first (and second) impression was enough to steer me away for subsequint tours.

 

Just my opinion, but I have been reading these threads for the past two years with my second trip to Alaska coming up this May. All last summer all I heard was great things about Orca Enterprise's. We all know BQ is a repeat customer and if you do a search I think you will find it very hard to find someone that took her advice with Captain Larry and didn't like it.

 

In an earlier post you took the time to do a review of 4 whale operations in Juneau and the only thing you mentioned that you didn't like was Captain Larry's knowledge of Alaska. Why not mention then that you thought everything looked "patched" together? A "patched" together boat certainly would factor into someone's decision more than not knowing "how much a business license cost".

 

The thing is, I agree with fti in finding it hard to imagine not enjoying this trip regardless of who you take. You seem to be saying I don't care who you take as long as it is not Orca Enterprises. Now people are going to have to decide, do they put faith in those who have been posting on these boards for years? or do they put faith in someone who has done all the tours but just joined the boards this month?

 

 

For the record, when I booked my tour this year it came down to Harv & Marv and Captain Larry. I think I would have been happy with either. I based this decision on what others said last year.