42trvl Posted May 20, 2004 #1 Share Posted May 20, 2004 We will be on Celebrity Summit in August. Are we better off with the whale wathcing excursion offered through the ship or Captain Larry's? I know many people like Captain Larry's, but has anyone ever done Celebrity's excursion for comparison? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnQ Posted May 21, 2004 #2 Share Posted May 21, 2004 I believe they use Dolphin or Allen Marine which are both good. The advantages or disadvantages of each are in threads thru out this board if you look back for a month or two. It depends on what you like, big boat, smaller one, ship organized or book it yourself. After researching these boards for six months and reading several books on Alaska, I chose Capt Larry and most of our other tours independently and none disappointed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustyroad Posted May 21, 2004 #3 Share Posted May 21, 2004 no contest capt. larry. alot less people on the boat, you are sure too see whales and he is just an all around down to earth naturalist that knows his business and also has a very competitive reasonable price. it is a great tour and i would go with him hands down. have a great time. DUSTY Carnival Spirit, 9/10/03 Alaska glacier bay Carvival Spirit, 5/11/05 Alaska glacier bay again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseIsGood Posted May 21, 2004 #4 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Dusty, Celebrity is offering some with the same small boat as Captain Larry. It's $3 more and they pick up at the pier as opposed to going into town. You're more sure to see whales, becuase the ship tour offers $100 back if you don't, and Captain Larry does not. This isn't really a draw though, because every boat from every tour has seen whales for the last eight years. The whales always come, and everyone always knows where they are. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img] Denise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustyroad Posted May 21, 2004 #5 Share Posted May 21, 2004 that sounds great any tour that you get too see the whales is good. and going with the ship has its advantages. have a great time. DUSTY Carnival Spirit, 9/10/03 Alaska glacier bay Carvival Spirit, 5/11/05 Alaska glacier bay again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budget Queen Posted May 21, 2004 #6 Share Posted May 21, 2004 The ship dock is downtown??? What pier are you referring to?? It is a short walk to Orca's office and they will drop off at the ship if you are close to leaving. there are also shuttles from the far docks. I have gone with Dolphin and Orca Enterprises. Essentially- I like the small boats, go with who fits your schedule best- humpbacks are seen close to 100% of the trips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Coral Posted May 21, 2004 #7 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Capt Larry also provides a refund (50% or a complimentary seat on another time space permitting) if you don't see any whales. Truthfully, this is rarely an issue. There is a 99.9% change that you will see a whale on Capt Larry's boat from May 1 - Oct 15. On my last 2 whale watching trips, I saw between 20-40 whales. Capt Larry's office is right downtown - basically a 2 minute walk from the ships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shookdm Posted May 21, 2004 #8 Share Posted May 21, 2004 DOes Captain Larry have a web site? DMS [img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=00ffff&cdt=2004;9;1;19;0;00&timezone=GMT-1000[/img] Carnival Spirit 9/1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Coral Posted May 21, 2004 #9 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Here is Capt Larry's website: [url="http://www.orcaenterprises.com/index.html"]http://www.orcaenterprises.com/index.html[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseIsGood Posted May 21, 2004 #10 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Coral, Did you sail Princess? I heard they have their own docking space or something. It's much longer than 2 minutes if you're the way-back ship on the main pier. [url="http://www.kroooz-cams.com/ports/juneau.htm"]http://www.kroooz-cams.com/ports/juneau.htm[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Coral Posted May 21, 2004 #11 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Yes - I sailed Princess last year. Their dock is "just around the corner" from the other docks. It probably took 4-5 minutes to get to Awesome Orca's office as opposed to 2 minutes from the other ships. Once you are there - you realize all the ships are very close to each other and the distance between the docks is very minamal. It took me far longer to get off the ship and to the dock when I was on RCCL and we tendered in Juneau. An FYI - Princess uses the other dock to conserve energy (kudos to Princess): [url="http://www.princess.com/news/article.jsp?newsArticleId=na485&submit=pk"]http://www.princess.com/news/article.jsp?newsArticleId=na485&submit=pk[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey12 Posted May 21, 2004 #12 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Have done Celebrity and Princess cruises to Alaska. I agree with Coral, the Princess dock is right there, just an additional 2 minute walk around a corner. We looked at the Celebrity tour and Capt Larry's tour last year and decided on Capt Larry's - it spent an additional 30 minutes on the water compared to Celebrity's tour. Besides, it is not a big deal to be picked up at the dock since you will be downtown anyway before and after the tour walking around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomcarson Posted May 21, 2004 #13 Share Posted May 21, 2004 CruiseIsGood, You seem convinced that your Celebrity tour is superior then Capt Larry's tour. I hope you have a good time. I have done both tours, Celebrity's through Dolphin and Capt Larry and I far enjoyed Capt Larry's tour better. Capt Larry is fantastic, his naturlist was also wonderful and the tour is longer through Capt Larry. I would rather have 30 more minutes of whale watching then be picked up at the pier which is right downtown. It is all in where your priorities are. I agree with the previous posts --the Princess dock is not far away from the other docks. When we sailed Celebrity we had to tender which was not convenient at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sea Turtle Posted May 21, 2004 #14 Share Posted May 21, 2004 42trvl-- While I haven't been on a Celebrity cruise I have booked whale watching through Princess prior to leaving home (who I believe uses Allen Marine) and another time I booked with Orca Enterprises (Capt Larry) at a kiosk on the walk into town upon arrival in Juneau. The Princess trip had more passengers; however, both trips were memorable. In some ways I enjoyed the Princess trip a bit more because I was able to continue sharing the experience with fellow passengers that I met while on board the excursion boat that I later spent time with on the cruise ship. The folks I traveled with while on Orca I never saw again. Enjoy your planning! <img src=http://members.hometown.aol.com/bay2baygal/myhomepage/seaturtle.gif?mtbrand=AOL_US> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42trvl Posted May 22, 2004 Author #15 Share Posted May 22, 2004 Thanks for the thoughts. It seems that so long as we're not on a "huge" boat, they each have positives to consider. Hopefully, we too will have the chance to return and try more than one tour... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markanderinsmom Posted May 24, 2004 #16 Share Posted May 24, 2004 It's interesting because I did research for a year last time I went to Alaska and took everyone's suggestion on Larry and I just don't understand why people think so much of him because he didn't say but maybe two words on our trip and everytime we saw a whale, he wouldn't go near it and we would see the other tour boats right next to them. The best photo we got or video was a tail in the distance. I really think it is just a matter of luck of mother nature because I didn't think it mattered that Larry was the capt of the boat...I was expecting him to talk about the whales and I thought he was supposed to have an underwater microphone....none of that happened and even though it has less people, only 4 people max can go on the observation deck at a time and that is the only way you can really take photos or video so everyone was trying to get up there instead of staying in the cabin...I think I will try it through the ship this time ...maybe we got an off day for Larry but I wasn't impressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisergrandma Posted May 24, 2004 #17 Share Posted May 24, 2004 I just returned from my cruise and we used Capt. Larry. It was wonderful. There were only 15 passengers on the entire boat and the views were great. You could see the office for Orca Enterprises from the ship so, it was a very short walk. I highly recommend Capt. Larry. We saw some other boats while we were out and they are much bigger and much more crowded. You get very personalized service from Capt. Larry. We saw humpback whales, sea lions and a very close view of eagles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseIsGood Posted May 24, 2004 #18 Share Posted May 24, 2004 Tom, I've never once said either is better than the other. I've just tried to correct some misinformation being circulated. Some people are so fanatical about Captain Larry that they exaggerate the benefits of his tour and exaggerate the drawbacks of ship tours, making people feel they will not get a good tour from the ship. I didn't find that to be true at all. Denise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markanderinsmom Posted May 24, 2004 #19 Share Posted May 24, 2004 I agree a lot of the post of Capt Larry are very exagerated...people say it was much more personal which I don't get...it's not like he is doing anything...you are outside watching for whales...it doesn't matter how many people there are...the bigger boats with more people have more space so it really isn't any different. I just thought after reading so much about Capt Larry, that he was going to walk around and talk to the passengers about what we were looking for or explain the behavior...he just stayed up front by an asst who was driving the boat and didn't say much of anything so I don't think any company makes a difference....Mother Nature is the one that makes the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Host Caroline Posted May 25, 2004 #20 Share Posted May 25, 2004 It's unfortunate that "Maui Jim" (I think that was his name) wasn't onboard when you went with Larry. He also does whale watching in Hawaii in the winter and his narration etc. was wonderful. As I've said many times on this board, it's a matter of personal preference. I did a ship-booked wildlife cruise (sea otter wildlife quest) on a larger boat and it was fabulous.. saw lots of "cooperative" wildlife etc. So we've had good experiences on both small and large boats. There are times however when the larger boats are fully booked that folks have had a hard time getting a good viewing spot(maybe too short?) onboard and at least Larry has (or had?) a good indoor area with lots of windows.. several people we were with chose to stay in there and got some great pics. Host Caroline <font SIZE="1">[B]Join me on the beautiful Diamond Princess in July 2005 for Cruise Critic's Awesome Alaskan Adventure --You'll have a whale of a good time![/B] [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] Sept 04-Royal Hounds Mariner of the Seas Feb 05-Partae Pirates Carnival Miracle One can [I]never[/I] have too many days at sea..</font> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dooley123 Posted May 25, 2004 #21 Share Posted May 25, 2004 I just got back from Princess last week. We booked the Mendenhall Glacier/Wildlife quest through Princess. The provider was Allen Marine. It is true that the ship is larger and has more passengers but the ship has multi-tiered platforms so everyone has a clear line of vision. They also gave everyone a really good pair of binoculurs to use. I never once felt hindered in my sightseeing by the number of people on board. Our guide was incredible. I could not believe the animals he spotted. On our tour, we saw 4 bears (1 black and 3 brown), tons of seals, 4-5 bald eagles, at least 8 humpbacks including a mother and calf, and a large pod of orcas. At one point a humpback surfaced right next to our boat -- maybe 6 feet out!!! It was probably dumb luck but absolutely incredible!!! Allen Marine had a naturalist on board who was VERY informative. They also had several staff members in each viewing area to ensure that everyone saw the animals including the bears which were a little hard to pick out of the tree line at times. I can't say enough good things about our trip. I never took Captain Larry's trip so I can't compare. However, I would strongly recommend the trip I took. Having additional passengers was just not a problem at all. I can't imagine anyone providing better guides then we had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budget Queen Posted May 25, 2004 #22 Share Posted May 25, 2004 Maui Jeff. He was not in Alaska last year but is supposed to be there this year. Larry had the Naturalist from Celebrity on board some sailings last season. I am one who greatly enjoys Orca Enterprises- I whale watch in many places and people are just not aware of USUAL sightings- which are blows, backs, tails. Anything more is a bonus. Whale watching is also Not a commentary tour for me- my priority is sightings of which Larry is a master. I am sorry for your disappointment but I take offense at the "exaggeration" comment. My trips (4) have been just excellent and I will continue to go with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustyroad Posted May 25, 2004 #23 Share Posted May 25, 2004 budget queen i totally agree with you. when i went with capt larry he did not talk too much as well . his naturlast on board was very informative and nice. capt larry concentrates on steering the boat and finding the whales for you. if he did not go to a spot where another boat was perhaps he was closer to a different whale or pod at the time and the whales did not cooperate by putting on a show. we had 5 humpbacks around us at one time. and he did use the underwater michrophone when i went. it was so awesome to hear them. im sorry for another persons dissapointment. but each tour is different and the whales are very unpredictable. i will still go with capt larry every time. DUSTY Carnival Spirit, 9/10/03 Alaska glacier bay Carvival Spirit, 5/11/05 Alaska glacier bay again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyQ Posted May 25, 2004 #24 Share Posted May 25, 2004 I booked with Captain Larry for our cruise next month. I actually chose to go with Cpt. Larry because of the number of PAX. After days with thousands of people around - I felt I would enjoy something a little more personal (I do understand that it is a much smaller boat). I don't have unrealistic expectations - and I think those who choose the cruise's tour will love their experience! It is all about choice - and I am thrilled that I had one! Opinions are what this board is all about and as long as ones opinion's/experiences are honest - I welcome them! Tracy [img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff00ff&cdt=2004;6;26;16;0;00&timezone=GMT-0800[/img] DIAMOND ALASKA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markanderinsmom Posted May 25, 2004 #25 Share Posted May 25, 2004 Budget Queen, I actually did Larry's because of reading all you said but Capt. Larry wasn't the one steering the boat...a younger boy in his 20's was and Capt Larry was just sitting there. There wasn't a naturalist on board and no underwater microphone was used and my point is that Capt Larry can obviously have off days too because we unfortunately did have one of his good days....even though we saw whales in the distance, we didn't go anywhere near any of them which confused a lot of us on board...maybe it was because Larry wasn't doing the steering...who knows but none of us on board were thrilled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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