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Captain Larry

Casey2

By Casey2,
in Alaska

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JohnQ

JohnQ

Posted
Posted
Rita
From the cruise ship, you can expect to maybe see a blow from a mile or 1/2mile away or maybe spot a tail or back from the ship. If you see whales right next to ship at a time when you happen to be out there with your camera and binoculars, you are extremely lucky. Also, the captain will not change directions or slow down to observe the whales. If you truely want to experience whales and their behaviors, you need to go on a whalewatching tour with experts who know where to go and have three hours to do so. We have been on five cruises and at least five whalewatching tours. While we saw whales from almost every cruise that were visable with binoculars if you wanted to stay out on deck all the time or watch from lounge windows, they were not extended,close up type views. Every whalewatching tour we have been on in Maui, Juneau, ISP, Cabo, were all better than our best sightings from the ship. So if you are into whales, take the tour, it will not be duplicative.
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Budget Queen

Budget Queen

Posted
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[quote name='ritajmae']I was given the impression that you see whales from the cruise ship. Why do you need to do so for a shore excursion? Aren't you limiting your Alaskan experience by duplicating your viewing of the same thing?[/QUOTE]


WRONG impression. For any significant viewing you need a tour. From the ship you will MAYBE have a brief glimpse IF THAT. It also requires a significant amount of time invested at the front of the ship- proper attire and having a good pair of wide angle binoculars. Very very few passengers are willing to do this. I DO and know of likely area- but clearly spend all my sailing time out there. BUT I always go on the whale watching out of Juneau- and will be doing a double in May. There is no comparism to the close up extended viewing and priority for the whales. Cruise brochures are GREATLY enhanced. If you want to SEE whales- this is the only way.
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GottoCruise

GottoCruise

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Thanks for all the information - I have booked Capt. Larry for May 9 - We will be the first ship (Sapphire) into Juneau for the Season..........and Capt. Larry will be our skipper! Horray!
We got a little discount if we are able to have 10 passengers from our ship book together - I don't see that as a problem with a 3,000 passenger ship? How exciting! GotToCruise (aka Renee)
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  • 4 weeks later...
jdach

jdach

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[quote name='Cactus']I didn't see anyone have a problem with motion sickness - when he is heading to the location where whales are located he goes pretty fast - so you're kinda like in a speedboat on a lake, not much up and down movement. When he spots the whales and throttles back and cuts the engine, you just float and are so enthralled with the whales that you don't even think about any motion. When my wife and I went there were a couple of families on board with young children and they seemed to enjoy it. There is an upper deck observation area you can climb up to when the boat is not moving - it was a great area for 360 views and it seemed the younger children liked it up there. The boat has a covered inside with windows, or you can stand on the open back deck area if you want. So you can always get fresh air if need to- though it may be cold! There is also a small head on board. Capt. Larry and the crew were just great. It's obvious that the boat is meant for "go" not "show" its got a serious engine and its got quite a few electronic gadets and radios for determining where the whales are.[/QUOTE]

Cactus - your pictures are awesome! I am heading to Alaska May 9 - 16 on the Sun princess and then on our own for additional days. When were you there?
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Bamagirl

Bamagirl

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We have booked Captain Larry in Juneau and looking forward to it. Everyone sure speaks highly of him. This is our first trip. We have two girls (age 8 and 12) that will love this trip. I think we will all enjoy. They were super nice when we called to make reservations.

Bamagirl
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desilu

desilu

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I'm already booked for his whale watching tour and am thinking about adding on the heliocoper glacier tour. Has anyone done this? It does seem like an easy way to do it but is it the best way economically and with a good, off the beaten path glacier landing?

Other than this I have gotten all my other excursions confirmed and mostly paid for! Now what will I do until May?.........Perhaps shop for layers?
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Time2sail

Time2sail

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Orca Enterprises booked me with Captain Larry, Coastal helicopter and Southeast kayaking in Ketchikan. One stop shopping for many excursions. They make it easy and are very helpful--call them and they will answer so many of your questions plus save time and arrange for your pickup to get you where you need to be. I will be on the whale watch on Wednesday, June 1, at 11:30 am and the Coastal helicopter at 3 pm. :)
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calee

calee

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I emailed Capt.Larry and told him that our port arrival time was 9am on 5/22 and asked what tour to take, he replied 10:30, and we're booked. His on-line schedule doesn't indicate a trip at that time so I'm guessing that he adjusts to suit the ship schedules.
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jukeboxy

jukeboxy

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[size=3][font=Garamond]Last year we did the[/font][/size] helicopter[size=3][font=Garamond] to Mendenhall and it was exciting to me but my wife was disipointed. She expected too much and got stuck in the middle seat and couldn't take good pictures. But once she was walking around and drinking glacier water it overwhelmed her as much as me.
My regret was that the 20 minutes or so walking around was too short but I think two hours would have been too short also. I did get some great pictures. Don't expect too much and take in the whole event rather than try to focus on just a single part. Worth the time and money to me.
[/font][/size]
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Budget Queen

Budget Queen

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[QUOTE=max'smom]We don't dock in Juneau until noon. If we take the 1:00 whale watching with Capt. Larry and then follow up with the helicopter trip with Coastal (the $185 deal), what time should we expect to get back to the ship? Any ideas?[/QUOTE]


You need to inquire directly from the vender for this information. It all depends on scheduling.
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Host Caroline

Host Caroline

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[QUOTE=max'smom]We don't dock in Juneau until noon. If we take the 1:00 whale watching with Capt. Larry and then follow up with the helicopter trip with Coastal (the $185 deal), what time should we expect to get back to the ship? Any ideas?[/QUOTE]

Our group has similar timing *depending on actual arrival in port) and were told probably back downtown by 5:30 but give Larry's office a call or shoot them an email if you need more specifics... they are well aware of the port call schedules and will have you back in plenty of time if you are concerned about that.
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maxs mom

maxs mom

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Well I called last night and booked the whale watching tour and then the helicopter glacier landing back to back on June 27th. They were [i]so [/i]nice and helpful. Since we dock so late (12:00 noon) it won't be until 7:00 or so before we are done and that doesn't give us much time to do anything else. But that's OK. I think these will be great experiences. We've been to Juneau before, but this is our first time booking independently from the ship, so I hope it works out. If it doesn't....you know who will get the blame!
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fshnwdw

fshnwdw

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Desilu:
What time are you doing the whale watch with Capt. Larry? We are going at 9:30am. They are dropping us off at the Mendenhall Glacier for about an hour afterwards and then I am doing the hour glacier walk with NorthStar. Capt. Larry's people booked it all; they are really nice.

Also doing the Fjords with Michelle at Ketchikan, May 11 also at 9:30am, I think. Should be great trips!!
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Cherylc2

Cherylc2

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Hi

Our arrival time in Juneau on the Mercury is scheduled for one o'clock, and Captain Larry has an opening on a 2:00 boat. Would reserving this be cutting it too close?

Being in a sky suite, I think we get disembarkation priority, but, not having cruised before, I have no clue how long getting off takes.

Thanks!

CC
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Kreuser

Kreuser

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Cherylc2- You shouldn't have any problem getting to Capt. Larry's in time. Have you called them yet? I'm sure they will allay your fears. They know as soon as the ship is cleared because they are located directly across the street from the pier.

This whalewatching cruise is not to be missed! We did it 3-years ago, and we had such a great time we are doing it again!

Vada
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