HAL Alaska Help Please

[twoatsea]

I posted this on the Alaska board, but possibly no one there has taken these HAL excursions. Anyone who knows anything about them, I would appreciate your info. (Westerdam Alaska cruise roundtrip Seattle, Hubbard Glacier, from 7/9-16/06)

Rain Forest Wildlife Santuary & Photo Safari Tours
Ketchikan, Wildlife Sanctuary -
1. In July, what wildlife season is it? I know sightings are not guaranteed, but wonder if the bears might be around? :cool:

2. Any comments on this tour, the sanctuary?

3. Is visiting the sanctuary something we could do on our own, rather than a HAL tour? If so, how do we get there & how far away is it & what would the cost be (HAL is $79pp)?

Juneau Photo Safari by Land & Sea - This is a new tour offered by HAL. Anyone been on it; if so, opinions? The description states "professional photography coach", part walking, part boat, Juneau's Channel Islands. It is 4 1/2 hours. Obviously, we are interested because of the photography angle, rather than just taking a wildlife tour.

Thanks in advance.

[sondrad]

Well, I'm going on the photography tour on July 4th, but I'll be returning as you're leaving. Here's a helpful review . . . http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=330500

[luckygirl59]

We did the rainforest zipline last week. We saw no wildlife from the towers. I don't know if the folks on the ground saw any, but we were warned not to scream on the zipline because there were people hiking below looking for wildlife. Then again, we never saw the people either.

Have fun! Oh, I think if you are on a cruise, the rainforest people insist that you book through the cruiseline. At least it was true for Ketchikan and the canopy tour (same company).

[kwahl1]

Having spent a week in Ketch on non cruise business, the santuary tour I'm not familiar with. There is fish ladder and hatchery up stream a few blocks, quite a walk, and they have a couple of injuried eagles that you can see up close, <10 ft. Lots of dead salmon in the creek. Fourth of July they have the lil rubber ducky race down the creek for charity. Big event for the locals, along with their parade during the day, fire works at dusk. I think the cruise ships have all pulled out by the time the duckys race. Then there is a native center right next to it, some totems there. To get to Saxman, hop on the muni bus. It turns around at Saxman. Hop off the bus and blend in with the tourists. Then 1 hour later catch the Northbound bus back to town, 10 minute ride. Or stay on the bus and it ends at Walmart on the North, for sovenier shopping. The blocks around the dock is very touristy, "tanzinite, tanzinite, tanzinite, get your tanzinite", SourDough Bar a must. Nothing other than that. Unless you want to spend some bucks to fly out or go fishing

[Tinknock50]

We did the rainforest zipline last week. We saw no wildlife from the towers. I don't know if the folks on the ground saw any, but we were warned not to scream on the zipline because there were people hiking below looking for wildlife. Then again, we never saw the people either.

Have fun! Oh, I think if you are on a cruise, the rainforest people insist that you book through the cruiseline. At least it was true for Ketchikan and the canopy tour (same company).

That sounds like the excursion I was on. I did the zipline in the spring and then the walk in September.
We didn't see any bear on the walk, because as the guide explained, it was a bright sunny day and they are less likely to come out in the open then.
Still I enjoyed the walk and it was fun feeding the reindeer at the end.

[maxout]

Old Thread Alert! :)

Original post is from June 2006