Excursion and Hotel Review for our 9/3 Spirit SB Cruise (Long)

[1dondino]

Just thought I would do a write up on where we stayed during our cruise and what excursions we did on the trip. I made our own arrangements for the excursions and hotels (thanks to Cruise Critic members) and nothing through the cruise ship.

 

Hotel: Ramada Anchorage Downtown, 115 East 3rd Avenue

Cost $125 per night 2 people, $140 per night 4 people

This was your normal Ramada, nothing special or fancy. It was just a good, clean, basic room. The breakfast was good with pastries, waffles, and biscuits with sausage gravy. The location was well within walking distance of downtown, and we walked around with no problems or worries. If there was a train that night, we didn’t hear it. The clientele was mixed, with tour groups and foreign visitors making up a large portion. The hotel had two computers available for client use, and had a printer available also. The van service was prompt and the driver was entertaining. We even had one of Anchorage’s finest stop by for a chat while we were waiting for the van to go to the train station when he saw my Sun Devil Sweatshirt. It turns out he had spent some time in Phoenix going to school! I made the reservations on line with the national site, and used the local website to arrange for the pick up at the airport and the drop-off to the train station.I would recommend staying there. Just remember it is nothing fancy.

 

Anchorage: Segtours of Anchorage, 325 E St.

Cost: $65 for a 90-120 minute tour

This was a totally great way to see Anchorage! Alan is a school teacher who does this during the vacation season. He was a fabulous tour guide, and a great Segway instructor. My wife and I had ridden before, but the other two with us that took the tour hadn’t, but they caught on quick. We had two more in our party for a total of six. Alan’s instruction made everyone feel at ease, and soon we were off around town. We went all over, and Alan pointed out lots of neat stuff along the way.

I highly recommend this tour, especially if you have never been to Anchorage before.

 

Sitka: Sitka Secret, Wildlife boat tour

Cost: $120 for a 3 hour tour, limited to 6 people

This was a great tour. I arranged for the tour off of their website, and sent in a $100 deposit to hold the tour. Beverly met us at the dock at the specified location and walked us over to the boat location. There we met Kent, and boarded the boat to go to St. Lazaria Island, about 15 miles from Sitka. We had soda and water available on the boat. We couldn’t have asked for any better weather. It was a smooth ride all the way to the island, only interrupted by numerous humpback sightings and sea otter sightings. We got some fantastic pictures of the humpbacks, but the sea otters tended to shy away quite a bit. We also got some pictures of the Mercury as she left Sitka. Once at the island we saw bald eagles, lots of murres, and 1 lone puffin. But at least we saw a puffin! Kent is quite a knowledgeable biologist and gave us interesting information about the island and the surrounding area. On the way back to port we saw more humpbacks and 2 groups of about 50 sea otters forming a “raft” and floating as a group. They were in shallow water and would not allow us to get too close for great pictures. But, we did find one that was very photogenic, and we enjoyed him giving us a show! Credit card arrangements were completed on the boat. As Kent had to get gas, he dropped us off at the fuel station, which was a very short walk back to the tender pier. I would very much recommend this excursion, as we had a great time and saw lots of wildlife.

 

Juneau: Harv and Marv, Whale Watching Tour

Cost: $151.20 per person for a 4 hour tour, with 6 people booked (10% discount)

What can I say about these guys that hasn’t already been said? This was one of the highlights of our cruise. It was the major highlight for wildlife sighting! I booked off of their website early, as they tend to get booked up early and for good reason. Working with Eileen before and after the trip was great. Eileen’s father picked us up at the pier and drove us the short trip to the boat location at Auke Bay. He made the drive very enjoyable with the color commentary along the way. This guy is a hoot! At the harbor we met Pete (Harv) and boarded the Haarvedam. What a sight as we headed out and looked back to see the harbor and Mendenhall Glacier right behind it. The weather was perfect and the photo ops were plentiful! Soda, water and snacks are available on the boat. Pete told us of a pod of Orca that was in the area, and that they had killed a minke whale that had strayed into the bay. It was the first minke that anyone had seen in years, but it didn’t last too long. After attempting to find the remains of the minke, we decided to take off after the pod, with a few stops for humpback pictures along the way. We found the Orcas, and followed them for a good while, getting great pictures along the way. The pod consisted of 5 individuals and they were very active. After the Orcas, we went back to looking for humpbacks and found plenty. The highlight of this trip happened when we had shut the boat down to listen and look for some whales we knew were close. While we were sitting there, two humpbacks surfaced about 100 ft from the boat and were coming right for us. They got so close I had to change the lens on the camera! They ended up diving under us when they got about 20-30 feet away. Our eyes were as big as saucer plates! But it wasn’t over. On the left, two more surfaced and headed towards the boat again. They mimicked the first two, diving just feet from the boat. I never knew whale “noses” were so big. My wife commented that from the side they don’t seem so big, but see one straight on, well that was different. A black school bus comes to mind. We headed back in awe of what we had seen. Credit card arrangements were done on a phone during the trip back to the harbor. Eileen’s father picked us back up and we stopped at Mendenhall Glacier for about 15 minutes of viewing. That was a great way to end the trip. This excursion is highly recommended! But remember to book early!

 

Skagway: Skagway Floats, river raft tour

Cost: $75 per person for a 2-3 hour trip with 45 minutes on the water.

This was an excursion I booked when our group made it clear that none of us wanted to do the train ride. I found them on the web and booked with their form. I received a call a few days’ later and formalized things then. Our guide picked us up at the parking lot, and we headed off for the Taiya River. We passed through Skagway and headed for the hills, with our guide giving us interesting commentary along the way. We passed the location of the old gold mining town of Dyea, and went up the river a few miles from its location. We got on our provided waterproof boots on and headed down the river. Although it was overcast, the rain held off during the tour. I have to say that this was the calmest and quietest of all the excursions we had. It was very relaxing, and very enjoyable. We saw numerous bald eagle nests and lots of bear tracks, but no live sightings. There were no real rapids, and no one got wet. When we reached the end, we pulled the raft on land, and then watched a harbor seal swim up river looking for fish. After a snack of smoked salmon, crackers, and cookies, we headed back to town. Along the way we stopped to take pictures of two bald eagles perched in the trees. They were very close, and I got some great shots. Credit card transactions were completed in the van. We were dropped off in town by request. I recommend this excursion, especially if you want some down time to relax and take in the scenery. For the more adventurous, there is a hike/raft ride available.

 

Ketchikan: Island Wings, Misty Fiord and Glacier Flight Seeing Tour.

Cost: $360 per person for the Misty Fiord and Glacier tour, $229 for the Misty Fiord tour only. 50% is due as a deposit.

This was our other really standout excursion. Michelle and another pilot took our group of 6 and 4 others in two planes. We headed out and the weather at the pass dictated that we could not go to the glaciers. Our tour was adjusted from the Fiord/Glacier tour to the Fiord tour with no problems. The scenery was unbelievable! Michelle knows the area well and her commentary was insightful and informative. It was a real pleasure flying with her. And what a pilot! I never felt either of the landings. We toured the Fiords and landed on a lake with the other plane. We got great pictures of both planes in flight. The lake was very quiet and very beautiful. We watched a seal that had set up residence in the fiord, and was impatiently waiting for us to leave so it could reclaim the platform. The area was so quiet, with the slight breeze and the small water falls making the only noise. After about 35-40 minutes we were back in the air headed home from the other direction. The sun broke out and made for some great shots from the plane. We passed over the Ryndam as she was leaving port and flew over the Spirit as she was docked. The van picked us up and returned us to the ship’s pier. Credit card transactions were completed at the Island Wings office before we headed back to the pier. This is another highly recommended excursion. Well worth the money!

 

Vancouver Hotel: Balfour Inn, bed and breakfast

Cost: Varies with season, but for us was $110 for private bathroom, and $90 for a shared bathroom.

I found this place on line, and what a find! This is an absolutely beautiful location in the Shaughnessy neighborhood of Vancouver. The house was built in 1902, and the grounds are gorgeous. The rooms are normal size for a bed and breakfast, and are basic in their amenities. The breakfast was very good. The staff is very friendly, and the neighborhood is quiet. I was very glad they had off street parking, as parking there would have been an adventure at best. The street was lined with cars from the main street, and was very narrow. The location is near Queen Elizabeth Garden, which was very beautiful and worth the visit. I would recommend this location, but beware there are stairs to manage, and no elevator.

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. We had a great time!

[vegs1]

Thanks for the great review.

 

We, too, will be doing shore excursions with Harv & Marv and also Island Wings. We were looking forward to it before but are even more excited now after reading your reviews.

 

Thanks again!

[Podie]

Thanks for a great review! We are northbound on the Spirit on 5/27/09 and I'm trying to get all my reservations made by the end of this month. I have already booked Harv and Marv and am wrestling with myself over two other trips - Michelle's Island Wings (my husband really didn't like the last seaplane we were on) and Captain Davey's cruise in Sitka.

 

How different was Harv and Marv's cruise from the one in Sitka? Captain Davey gets GREAT reviews but we'd have to pay the whole charter fee and then hope we can find three other people to go with us. Otherwise we're paying about $270 per person. I know many people have said the cruises in Juneau and Sitka are completely different, so I wonder what you thought? Did you do the Sitka cruise through the ship or independently?

 

Thanks again for your review!

[1dondino]

Podie,

Harv and Marv focus mainly on the whales. Sitka Secrets was more of a wildlife tour to the island. But we knew that when we booked it. Seeing the whales was a bonus! The Haarvendam was a bit larger then the Sitka Secret boat, but not by much.

The cruise with Harv and Marv was was very much different then with Sitka. There were alot more whales, and the scenery was different too.

All of my excursions were booked independently. I was looking for the smaller numbers and the longer tours.

I had looked into Capt Davey first, but Sitka Secrets answered first. Capt Davey apparently was gone when I asked, but he did contact us later. The write ups for him are all positive and I sure it would be a good trip.

[Sumy]

We were on the same cruise as 1dondino but we did Capt Davey in Sitka. I would have no qualms about booking with him. By the time your cruise rolls around I'm sure there will be more than enough people booking with him to fill up your particular excursion and save you some $$ ;)

 

We did Harv and Marv in Juneau and saw plenty of whales, but with Capt Davey in Sitka, we saw just as many humpbacks. We also saw a puffin and he took us in close to some rocky outcroppings in the water and we saw about 20 harbor seals too. It was a highly enjoyable trip.

 

If you want to see what we saw on our Capt Davey trip check out my gallery for that day here:

 

http://coldfyre.zenfolio.com/p72124015

[vegs1]

"How different was Harv and Marv's cruise from the one in Sitka? Captain Davey gets GREAT reviews but we'd have to pay the whole charter fee and then hope we can find three other people to go with us. Otherwise we're paying about $270 per person. I know many people have said the cruises in Juneau and Sitka are completely different, so I wonder what you thought? Did you do the Sitka cruise through the ship or independently"

 

 

Podie - You may want to get back in touch with Captain Davey. I don't believe you have to pay for the whole charter. You just pay for how many people in your party and if you're willing for more to join you, then he'll book them if he gets people interested. Now, I may be wrong on this but we weren't asked to find 3 more people to fill the boat and it wasn't that much money.

[Podie]

To make reservations now I have to reserve the whole boat at $810 plus tax. Then I am free to find three others to recoup some of my cost. If I don't make reservations now, I can (and did) ask him to let me know if he has a slot for three people on one of his boats when we're in Sitka on June 1st. But to make reservations now, it has to be the whole boat. So hopefully we'll be able to join another party but we won't know that until we get a lot closer to our cruise.