Tracy Arm Cruise VS Whale Watching (Marv and Harv or such)

[crusinwen]

Ok, a question for the experts. We are currently planning our first trip to Alaska (Northbound on the Diamond Princess) leaving out of Vancouver on May 23. We are also planning our own land portion which is fun to plan but another set of challenges!:rolleyes:

 

Just when we thought we had at least made a decision on going whale watching in Juneau with Marv and Harv I was reading about how wonderful going on the Tracy Arm Cruise was. So, please help us with your opinions on what you think would be better for our first visit? Thanks so much!

 

Wendy:confused:

[Chat Noir]

If your itinerary allows time in Juneau for Tracy Arm, I for one, am all for recommending you take advantage!:) Few cruise itineraries allow time in port, and next time you cruise Alaska your port schedule may not allow you the opportunity.

 

It is a long day on the water, but you'll have trip through Alaskan wilderness that not many see from a small boat perspective. It is a top excursion, my (and my family's) opinion.

[Amy_Hawaii 07]

I'm not an expert, but I was in Juneau two days last month and did both. I would recommend doing the Tracy Arm tour if you have time.

The scenery is beautiful. I enjoyed whale watching too.

Some things to think about - You'll be on a small boat for 8 hours on the Tracy Arm tour and about 4 hours with Harv & Marv. You may not have any time to see the city of Juneau if you do the Tracy Arm. With whale watching, you may go on a day where you see orcas, bubble feedding, and whales jumping out of the water. Or, you may go on a day where you only see about five or six different whales and only see there tails; this is how whale watching was.

[deadzone1003]

Ditto to sym1966's recommendation. If this is your one and only cruise to Alaska, do whatever one that interests you most. If you think there will be more Alaskan cruises in the future, do Tracy Arm as it is not easy to fit it into one's itininery because of the cruiseline schedules.

[Coral]

Ditto on Tracy Arm!

 

And if you are lucky - you may see some whales on that trip also.

[vbmom87]

I originally booked a whale watch tour, but after reading these boards we cancelled it and booked the Adventure Bound Tracy Arm cruise. We had enough time in Juneau to do the trip, so we went for it. As has already been mentioned, even if you do get to Alaska again, you may not have the opportunity to go on a Tracy Arm cruise because most itineraries don't include a stay in Juneau to accomodate this tour.

 

Some NCL cruises do have a jet boat tour of Tracy Arm. You get off the cruise ship and board the jet boat. You then go on and tour Tracy Arm while the ship continues on to Juneau. The jet boat returns you to Juneau. (Or vice versa in the opposite direction.) I understand this excursion sells out fast, so you would need to book it as soon as you could.

 

I have to say that for us the Tracy Arm cruise was the highlight of our trip, and that was cruising it on a rainy, raw day. I would love to see it in the sunshine!!! I know that for us, we made the right decision to do this trip rather than a whale watch. We had been on a whale watch in Nova Scotia and we did see many whales from our cruise ship. We also saw some from the Tracy Arm Cruise and the Northwestern Fjords tour out of Seward. However, none of that excited me like the Tracy Arm Cruise. That said, I will say that some people were bored. With Adventure Bound it takes about 2 1/2 hours to get to the fjord. For some, that was a long time. We still enjoyed the scenery and we did see whales along the way. I guess you have to decide what excites you more: scenery or wildlife. For us it was scenery and we were not disappointed.

[Coral]

 

I have to say that for us the Tracy Arm cruise was the highlight of our trip, and that was cruising it on a rainy, raw day. I would love to see it in the sunshine!!! I know that for us, we made the right decision to do this trip rather than a whale watch. We had been on a whale watch in Nova Scotia and we did see many whales from our cruise ship. We also saw some from the Tracy Arm Cruise and the Northwestern Fjords tour out of Seward. However, none of that excited me like the Tracy Arm Cruise. That said, I will say that some people were bored. With Adventure Bound it takes about 2 1/2 hours to get to the fjord. For some, that was a long time. We still enjoyed the scenery and we did see whales along the way. I guess you have to decide what excites you more: scenery or wildlife. For us it was scenery and we were not disappointed.

 

Most people (everyone but us) were locals on our trip and they all brought books or ipods to consume their time on the way there and the way back. I would recommend anyone who does this trip do the same.

[vbmom87]

Most people (everyone but us) were locals on our trip and they all brought books or ipods to consume their time on the way there and the way back. I would recommend anyone who does this trip do the same.

 

On our trip there was one other couple from a Princess ship. Although stated some were bored, we were not. We enjoyed the scenery along the way even though it was not as dramatic as what you see in the fjord.

[mikaula]

We did the Tracy Arm tour last year and it was fabulous. One of my all time favorite tours and I've been to Alaska 3 times. It was a wonderful day!

[Coral]

On our trip there was one other couple from a Princess ship. Although stated some were bored, we were not. We enjoyed the scenery along the way even though it was not as dramatic as what you see in the fjord.

 

I did too! Though I can see why some brought materials to read or ipod like devices.

[crusinwen]

Thanks to all who responded.:D When I posted I had been to a site which said that the day cruise left at 9:00am but then later I went to another site and it appears that it now leaves at 8:00am:mad: which bummed me out because our ship does not arrive into port until 8:00am so that makes this for us probably not possible. I guess we will end up with our original plans with Marv and Harv. We were disappointed but now after more research have decided that we will be driving to Seward and so we will now be going on the Kenai Fjords day cruise and this looks very similar. Thanks again! Wendy

[Chat Noir]

Thanks to all who responded.:D When I posted I had been to a site which said that the day cruise left at 9:00am but then later I went to another site and it appears that it now leaves at 8:00am:mad: which bummed me out because our ship does not arrive into port until 8:00am so that makes this for us probably not possible. I guess we will end up with our original plans with Marv and Harv. We were disappointed but now after more research have decided that we will be driving to Seward and so we will now be going on the Kenai Fjords day cruise and this looks very similar. Thanks again! Wendy

 

CALL. Adventure Bound does take a boat out at 9am some days in addition to the 8am boat. It is worth checking with them!

 

Some people napped on our return trip to Juneau, and some had books. We had teens (2 sons, 2 nieces) with us and they brought along playing cards. Some also used the time to visit a bit with Steve Weber (owner/captain). Personally, I enjoyed standing out back as it was quite warm inside the cabin where we were seated and enjoying the beautiful Alaskan scenery. I'll take a couple hours of 'so-called' boredom in exchange for one of the most fabulous excursions over all.:)