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  #1  
Old December 19th, 2012, 01:13 PM
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Default whale Watch in Juneau or Icy Straight?
I understand the whale watch is great at both of these ports but if you were only choosing to go on a whale watch at one port which port would you choose and why? Thanks.
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  #2  
Old December 19th, 2012, 02:50 PM
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I understand the whale watch is great at both of these ports but if you were only choosing to go on a whale watch at one port which port would you choose and why? Thanks.
This question has been asked many times before on this board. Because we are at the mercy of the whales, you will get a variety of answers as to port preferences. For example, we have done a few whale watching excursions in Juneau and Icy Strait Point -- we would give the edge to Icy Strait Point. Why, because we have consistently had our best breaching and overall whale watching experiences there. Other cruisers might have had a better experience in Juneau as opposed to ISP. We absolutely love whale watching excursions and would rather do that whenever we can as opposed to other excursions.
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Old December 19th, 2012, 04:38 PM
DragonOfTheSeas DragonOfTheSeas is online now
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I can not tell you which is better. But, I can tell you why we selected ISP. We did a whale watch at ISP in September. It was great!!

We decided to do it there rather than Juneau [both have a 100% chance of observing whales] because there were so many other things to do in Juneau. We took a city tour, visited the Mendenhall glacier, walked around town, visited the Alaska state capitol, Russian Orthodox Church, and shopped.

ISP is more remote with not too many other things to do--we are not into zip lines.
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Old December 20th, 2012, 09:23 AM
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Thanks for posting your thoughts and experiences. I really do appreciate it. If we decide to do the Whale Watch, I think we will porbably do so in ISP because there are so many more options in Juneau as stated by other poster.
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Old December 20th, 2012, 11:53 AM
frugaltravel frugaltravel is offline
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I have done whale watching in both places, and my experience was better in Juneau than Icy Strait. But that can and will vary - one day might be better one place, another day better the other place. The main reason to go whale watching in Icy Strait is because there aren't as many varied options for excursions and things to do in Icy Strait as there are in Juneau.
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Old December 20th, 2012, 03:46 PM
RichYak RichYak is offline
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...If we decide to do the Whale Watch, I think we will porbably do so in ISP because there are so many more options in Juneau as stated by other poster.
This was my reasoning this past summer. With so much to see in Juneau, our time was better served doing the whale watch in ISP.
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Old December 21st, 2012, 08:59 AM
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I understand the whale watch is great at both of these ports but if you were only choosing to go on a whale watch at one port which port would you choose and why? Thanks.
I completely agree with Italy52 and also because to be honest there are lots of other things to do in Juneau and not so much in Icy Straight Point.
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Old December 21st, 2012, 10:59 AM
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I completely agree with Italy52 and also because to be honest there are lots of other things to do in Juneau and not so much in Icy Straight Point.
I considered that, too, but I decided to go with Harv and Marv's in Juneau because of the great reviews, and more importantly because we are at Juneau 9-9, and at ISP 7-4. I have ISP as our "walk around, take the nature trail, just chill" port!

But I'm sure it will be fun from either port!
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Old January 1st, 2013, 05:46 PM
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Thanks for posting your thoughts and experiences. I really do appreciate it. If we decide to do the Whale Watch, I think we will porbably do so in ISP because there are so many more options in Juneau as stated by other poster.
I agree completely.
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Old January 3rd, 2013, 09:20 AM
vermonter16 vermonter16 is offline
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DH and I are booked with Harv and Marv in Juneau and with Honnah in Icy Strait....I'll let you know after May which one did better, lol !
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Old January 5th, 2013, 08:18 PM
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Icy Straight.. I used the Misty Bay Lodge whale watch. Its wonderful. Small boat 5 or six people. You can get closeer to whales and to shore. Saw a few bears as well as lots of whales.. You can even hear them singing. You do not want to be on a big boat where you can't see because too many people.



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Old January 6th, 2013, 01:30 PM
frugaltravel frugaltravel is offline
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DH and I are booked with Harv and Marv in Juneau and with Honnah in Icy Strait....I'll let you know after May which one did better, lol !
Just don't base "better" on the quantity of whales you saw. Expect blows & tails and nothing more in either place.
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Old January 6th, 2013, 02:19 PM
vermonter16 vermonter16 is offline
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I was just being sarcastic! I think they'll both be great in different ways! I hope to see blows and tails!
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Old January 6th, 2013, 05:35 PM
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Just don't base "better" on the quantity of whales you saw. Expect blows & tails and nothing more in either place.
Absolutely agree. Anything more than blows & tails is a true blessing in my opinion.
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