Whale watching...is Juneau the only place?? Skagway?

[sarahjane]

HELP! We've booked our first choice excursions for our morning in Juneau -- helicopter/glacier trek for me & the 2 teens, fishing for DH. Problem is, based on the times we'll be done with those, we can't possibly make it to the whale-watching tour in Juneau. Captain Larry goes out at 12:00 and the RCI info says 11:40. Since our ship (Serenade) leaves port at 4 p.m. we can't do a later one.

So, is Juneau really the only place? We'll have LOTS of time in Skagway (7:30 am to 8:30 pm), but I don't see any whale-watching tours there?? Does anyone have any advice or ideas about this situation? It does seem rather SAD to go all the way to Alaska and not see the whales! Who knows when we'll get to go back. What a lousy choice to have to make.

hope someone can help me!

sarahjane

 

Serenade to Alaska 7/25/04!!!

 

Serenade 7/04

Enchantment 1/04

Voyager 7/02

Majesty 2/01

[Yukon]

Whales in the Skagway area are a pretty rare occurrence. You can, though, do things the other way around - Skagway offers very good heli and fishing opportunities.

 

Murray

[Coral]

Hi Sarah,

 

Can't help you either but I can tell you that I only went to Alaska the first time because the trip was "free". I never thought I would "pay to go" there. It rained most of the time but I couldn't wait to get back when it wasn't raining. I went back the following year and I can't wait to go again!

 

So, if you can't make it this time - you may just fall in love with Alaska and want to return again. Have a great cruise.

[Budget Queen]

I don't see any way you can do both in Juneau. I replied elsewhere with possible ship sighting information.

[sboh]

We're doing as Yukon suggests. Whale watching (and visiting Mendenhall Glacier) in Juneau and helicopter with TEMSCO in Skagway. Since we have a longer day in Skagway we will also spend some time in town and ride the White Pass & Yukon RR in the late afternoon. Trying to get in as much as possible!

[Cartib]

Sarahjane, there are no whale watching tours in Ketchikan - the reason being that whales migrate through the area, but don't stay around longer that is necessary to feed and rest. Tour operators cannot (by law) advertise a Whale Watching tour unless they can guarantee that you will see whiles. In the past, there have been many incidental sightings on some of the other tours (kayaking, jet boating, etc)

 

You may be lucky enough to see whales during your cruise without having to pay for an extra tour.

[CruiseIsGood]

Honestly...if you miss whale watching, it really won't be the end of the world. We were lucky enough to see the bubble-net feeding, where they crash out of the water. But if they're not doing that, you'll see some humps, some tails, some spray. Wait a while while they're down below. Then some humps, some tails, some spray. The orcas we saw were pretty entertaining.

 

I did the trip twice, so I thought it was worth it obviously. But if you can't switch around and do the helicopter and fishing in another port, you shouldn't feel bad about it.

[Karen and Mark]

SaraJane,

 

Do you travel to Hoonah or Seward?

 

Karen

 

Summit 9/3/04 Alaska Southbound

[sarahjane]

No Hoohah or Seward for us. We go to Skagway, Juneau & Ketchikan. I'm beginning to consider a whale-watching tour out of the Vancouver area, as we are arriving there the day before our cruise. Does anyone have any thoughts on that??

thanks again for all the info/advice!

sarahjane

 

Serenade to Alaska 7/25/04!!!

 

Serenade 7/04

Enchantment 1/04

Voyager 7/02

Majesty 2/01

[Budget Queen]

There was one poster who had a good whale watch out of Vancouver last year??? Those will be orcas where Juneau will be more humpbacks- mostly.

[sarahjane]

I have been speaking with Carol at Orca, and she and her staff are trying very hard to work out a schedule that we can handle. Apparently they have a smaller boat (not the Awesome Orca) that only seats 12. She called it the "express boat." It is more flexible in it's timing. She has talked to the people at Northstar Trekking, and they are working out a way to "hand us off" from our helicopter set-down to the whale-watching boat directly!! Wow, if it works out, that's GREAT service!! My husband will be fishing all morning with an Orca fishing boat, and they will transfer him to the express boat as well! The only problem is that we will not see one bit of Juneau except from the air! But these are the two excursions that we didn't want to miss. Will it be terribly frantic?? Is it wise to trust Carol when she says that they will get us from Northstar? before I finalize the reservation and PAY, anyone who think this is a bad idea please let me know NOW!

thanks!

sarahjane

 

Serenade to Alaska 7/25/04!!!

 

Serenade 7/04

Enchantment 1/04

Voyager 7/02

Majesty 2/01

[Lou33]

Do you have an outside cabin? From our ship we were able to see humpback whales, orcas, and dolphins on several occasions. I haven't been on a whale watching tour, but I can't see paying for a tour when you will see whales from the ship anyway. I understand that the tours in Alaska are required to keep a distance from the whales. In Mexico, the boats can sail right next to them.

 

Splendour of the Seas, 11/17/00

Summit, 10/28/02

Mercury, 5/05/04

[sarahjane]

Yes, Lou, we do have a balcony. It is on the starboard side, which I guess will be toward the land on the way up and toward the sea on the way back. I don't know how far out from the shore the ship stays while cruising. I have heard other people say that it is very hard to see any whales from the ship. Where did you cruise to when you saw them? I'm bringing binoculars just in case!!

sarahjane

 

Serenade to Alaska 7/25/04!!!

 

Serenade 7/04

Enchantment 1/04

Voyager 7/02

Majesty 2/01

[Coral]

Sarah,

 

Carol is very good and does a great job of organizing between Awesome Orca and other tour vendors. I wouldn't worry about it. She seems to go the extra mile to arrange things.

[Budget Queen]

Whale watching from your ship is rare and requires a great deal of time invested at the front of your ship- the above poster's sighings were highly unusual. My opinion only- you are cutting scheduling too close- all you need is one delay. Carol is extremely competent but things happen. I would see some of Juneau and plan on a repeat trip.

[sarahjane]

BudgetQueen,

I was afraid you were going to say that! I do value your opinion, and am seriously thinking of dropping my efforts to fit in the whale watching in the afternoon. My husband is always expecting the worst to happen whenever the situation looks tight, and I don't want to get blamed if something happens and we miss either the tour or the ship leaving! Plus, it's a lot of money to risk losing. I know we wouldn't get a refund if we missed due to poor scheduling. I'm afraid Carol will be mad at me after trying so hard to figure it all out! It's a hard thing for me to let go of. Stubborn I guess

thanks for your help. If you think of anything else on this subject, please let me know. I will continue to check for this thread.

sarahjane

 

Serenade to Alaska 7/25/04!!!

 

Serenade 7/04

Enchantment 1/04

Voyager 7/02

Majesty 2/01

[Melissa_A]

sarahjane, is it too late to change your excursions? If not, I'd consider moving DH's fishing to Ketchikan and your helicopter/glacier trek excursions to Skagway. That would leave Juneau open to do whale watching AND Mendenhall.

 

...until Alaska, Radiance Of The Seas

 

[sarahjane]

I don't think they have the glacier trekking in Skagway. All I could find were helicopter and dog sled or heli-hike (not on glacier). In Juneau we get 2 hours of trekking on the glacier. My teens really wanted to do that. Also, we ARE already fishing in Ketchikan, too. My DH actually wants to fish in every port if I let him get away with it (and it looks like that will probably be happening!).

thanks for the input, though!

sarahjane

 

Serenade to Alaska 7/25/04!!!

 

Serenade 7/04

Enchantment 1/04

Voyager 7/02

Majesty 2/01

[Melissa_A]

sarahjane, your DH must be in heaven. i'm going fishing in Ketchikan as well, and doing a heli glacier landing (no hike) in Skagway.

 

...until Alaska, Radiance Of The Seas

 

[sarahjane]

HELP!!!!

I hate to bring this up again, but I'm hoping for someone who can convince me one way or the other what I should do here.

As stated previously, 2 kids & I are firmly booked on a glacier trek in the morning, while hubby hopes to be fishing.

The last time I spoke to Carol at Orca Ent was late May. At that time she said she was going to talk to the Northstar people and MAKE SURE that the connection could be made to get us from the heli to the Orca boat. She said she would call me back and confirm with me before she did anything with my credit card to set the reservation. Never heard back from her.

MEANWHILE...I read Budget Queen's advice here that we were cutting it too close, and also was advised by others and my DH's paranoia that we should not try this. (...then out of town for a week...)

Got back and had still not heard from Carol to confirm information.

Called Orca today to verify that we DID NOT have a reservation, and to tell them we decided not to try squeezing it all in. Got a message back from Carol informing me that we DID have a reservation, and she had already run my credit card! I have tried to call her back, but "she is busy with customers" and has not returned my call.

Someone please advise me if I should just stick with the reservations and hope we make all the connections, or continue with trying to cancel this and get the refund to my credit card. I really can't believe she already charged me even though we did not agree to make the final confirmation!

HELP

thanks!

sarahjane

 

Serenade to Alaska 7/25/04!!!

 

Serenade 7/04

Enchantment 1/04

Voyager 7/02

Majesty 2/01

[Melissa_A]

sarahjane, ouch! the one thing i cannot stand for is bad customer service. I can't help you with your timeline, but if you decide not to do it, and she still hasn't called you back by tomorrow. I'd call your credit card company to dispute the charges. Orca can easily issue a credit to your card. They most likely just got confused with all the reservations they have coming in and didn't realize they were supposed to hold yours until you reconfirmed. I can't image they will refuse to credit you.

 

...until Alaska, Radiance Of The Seas

 

[Budget Queen]

I would assume Carol has made special arrangements for you with Northstar?? Send an email inquiring this to both Coastal and Northstar. Print them out and take them with you in case you have to cancel last minute because of a delay?

[sarahjane]

Budget Queen,

Am I understanding that you think I should stick with the reservations and hope for the best as far as the timing is concerned?

If something goes wrong, will it do me any good to have copies of correspondence? I am really inclined to cancel the reservation with Orca completely considering the riskiness of it. There is nothing on the Orca website regarding cancellation policy. But I would think this far out (we're not there until 7/29) they would still owe me a FULL refund. Things like this are exasperating!

thanks for all the advice!

sarahjane

 

Serenade to Alaska 7/25/04!!!

 

Serenade 7/04

Enchantment 1/04

Voyager 7/02

Majesty 2/01

[Melissa_A]

sarahjane, Orca does have a cancellation fee. It's either $25 or $50 per person. I have excursions in Sept and it would have applied to me if i were to cancel.

 

...until Alaska, Radiance Of The Seas

 

[sarahjane]

Melissa_A,

How did you find out about the cancellation policy? It is not anywhere on their website, and she did not mention it to me BEFORE she charged my credit card without confirming it with me first!

It seems that without notifying a person about the cancellation policy, they could not apply it. What would you do in my place?

thanks!

sarahjane

 

Serenade to Alaska 7/25/04!!!

 

Serenade 7/04

Enchantment 1/04

Voyager 7/02

Majesty 2/01