Whale watch & Mendenhall Glacier 2P dock time?

Hello! I just have a few .. many questions :p

I'm torn between doing a whale watch excursion with harv & marv or orca enterprise AND going to the Mendenhall glacier .. the only problem is we dock in Juneau at 2PM :(

Has anyone been able to do both when you dock at such a late hour? Harv & Marv can drop us off after the whale tour is over, which would be around 6:30P .. is that still a good time to go to glacier (they close at 7:30P)? And I read somewhere the blue bus stops at 4:30 .. so would taxi be our own return route to port? Does anyone know how easy and much it would be for taxi at such a late hour?

Orca Enterprise is saying they can drop us off after we get off the ship at Mendenhall and come back to pick us up at 3:45 .. which roughly giving us an hour there and then they pick us up for the whale tour .. this seems like the timing might be better, but I've been reading their whale watch boats are a lot more packed? is that true?

If the times don't really work, I might have to give up the whale watch and just spend the day at Mendenhall :o

Oh side note! Has anyone gotten sea sick on Harv & Marv? Since the boat is so small, I was a bit worried about my mom getting sea sick on it.

Thanks for all the help!! :D

I went whale watching with Orca on June 6th and the boat didn't feel crowded to me. I would say there were btn 20-30 people on board. My family of 3 sat at a table for 6 by ourselves. There was at least one other table with only 2 people. There is also bench seating which I think was full. When we were with the whales they opened the top and I think 12 people were allowed up at a time. I think they only switched once so maybe there were 24 of us. I have no idea if it was a full boat. There was never any jockying for space, even the teenage boys were happy to stand behind shorter people like myself and DD.

We also booked the 1 hr at Mendenhall ahead do time. I was torn that it wouldn't be enough time, but we made out just fine. We did check our watches constantly though. I wish we had gotten to Nugget Falls, but as my DH said we can't do everything.

I think the glacier shuttle runs until 6pm and believe there are taxis you can call to pick you up, but you have to take #'s with you. Orca will give you a shuttle pass rather than pick you up if you ask ahead of time.

If I had to choose btn whale watching and Mendenhall glacier, I would take whale watching without hesitation. But we LOVED seeing all the animals and our whale watch was awesome.

Hope this helps!

Laura

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Orca Enterprises have extremely comfortable boats with excellent viewing, including upper available. Cpt Larry is a real treat to experience. I have never been on any "packed" boats.

You are at a disadvantage with your port time for extended time at Mendenhall unless you get the drop off after a whale watch. You would need to call a cab yourself about 30 minutes prior to needing it. Mendenhall does not "Close". Budget $35/40++ for a cab.

Ok a major problem you didn't disclose? Your cruise is mid Sept? Sorry, it is going to be dark by 7pm, so likely you won't have time for any Mendenhall visit except prior to your boat tour. An option, would be to just take a cab direct to Mendenhall, being in line early for getting off your cruise ship. Then see if the whale watch vendor can pick you up. IF not, then take a cab to the marina- getting the exact location from the vendor. OR rent a car and drive yourself.

Oh thank you all for all your help!! That really helps my decision :)

We just got back from Alaska today, and we did something similar to what you are planning. Our ship was scheduled to arrive at 2 PM, but was cleared by 1:45 and we got off ASAP. We were at the AJ Dock, so we had a long walk to the Orca Enterprises office. We were there to check in by 2:15 and I had plenty of time to walk up to Glacier Smoothie to buy my favorite soaps before meeting for our tour at 2:50. We had a great whale watch with tons of bubble net feeding. Afterwards they dropped us at the glacier for one hour. We had time for a quick walk to Nugget Falls, spent 5 minutes taking photos, and walked back with 10 minutes to spare. They gladly dropped us back at our ship afterwards so we didn't have to make the long walk back.

Due to daylight hours, you'd have to do the whale watch and glacier in the opposite order, but it can be done!

We just got back from Alaska today, and we did something similar to what you are planning. Our ship was scheduled to arrive at 2 PM, but was cleared by 1:45 and we got off ASAP. We were at the AJ Dock, so we had a long walk to the Orca Enterprises office. We were there to check in by 2:15 and I had plenty of time to walk up to Glacier Smoothie to buy my favorite soaps before meeting for our tour at 2:50. We had a great whale watch with tons of bubble net feeding. Afterwards they dropped us at the glacier for one hour. We had time for a quick walk to Nugget Falls, spent 5 minutes taking photos, and walked back with 10 minutes to spare. They gladly dropped us back at our ship afterwards so we didn't have to make the long walk back.

 

Due to daylight hours, you'd have to do the whale watch and glacier in the opposite order, but it can be done!

 

Oh thanks so much for reassuring me .. I kept feeling like I was being overly ambitious going to nugget falls/glacier prior to the whale watch

I hope you enjoyed your tour!

Oh thanks so much for reassuring me .. I kept feeling like I was being overly ambitious going to nugget falls/glacier prior to the whale watch

 

I hope you enjoyed your tour!

We had a fantastic time!

I will warn you that getting to the falls and back in an hour requires a bit of a brisk walk and not much time for photos. We made a quick bathroom stop, walked straight to the falls, 5 minutes for photos and walked back. If we'd done a leisurely stroll and taken lots of photos, we might have been late getting back.

We had a fantastic time!

 

I will warn you that getting to the falls and back in an hour requires a bit of a brisk walk and not much time for photos. We made a quick bathroom stop, walked straight to the falls, 5 minutes for photos and walked back. If we'd done a leisurely stroll and taken lots of photos, we might have been late getting back.

Oh good to know! How long did it take you to get to nugget falls and back? Orca was telling us it would be wise to not go to Nugget Fall for time sake but I figured it I'm a fast walker ... :p

We were just there the other day and only had 70 or so minutes at Mendenhall. Two things that may help -- we (with another company) saw the glacier from a distance and got great photos in front of it from the whale watching boat, so if you don't make it to the falls, you can still have photos in front of the glacier. (Obviously not the same, but it's something.) We also just bought the 20 minute video from the visitor center since we didn't have time to watch it at the center. (I believe it was a $5 or $10 suggested donation but saving the 20 minutes was worth it.)

We stopped at the photo stop between the visitor center and the falls (don't do it! better views from the falls and it took several minutes), walked to the falls, took photos, speed walked back to the visitor center, went to the bathroom, touched the glacier ice, bought the video and some postcards, and speed walked back to the bus. We made it within our 70 minutes but it was tight. It would've been much better if we had skipped the photo spot and just headed to the falls.

I second the taxi number suggestion -- I added taxi numbers for all of our port stops to the itinerary I made for us and ended up using the numbers a couple of times in various ports so I was glad I had them. Enjoy!

We were just there the other day and only had 70 or so minutes at Mendenhall. Two things that may help -- we (with another company) saw the glacier from a distance and got great photos in front of it from the whale watching boat, so if you don't make it to the falls, you can still have photos in front of the glacier. (Obviously not the same, but it's something.) We also just bought the 20 minute video from the visitor center since we didn't have time to watch it at the center. (I believe it was a $5 or $10 suggested donation but saving the 20 minutes was worth it.)

 

We stopped at the photo stop between the visitor center and the falls (don't do it! better views from the falls and it took several minutes), walked to the falls, took photos, speed walked back to the visitor center, went to the bathroom, touched the glacier ice, bought the video and some postcards, and speed walked back to the bus. We made it within our 70 minutes but it was tight. It would've been much better if we had skipped the photo spot and just headed to the falls.

 

I second the taxi number suggestion -- I added taxi numbers for all of our port stops to the itinerary I made for us and ended up using the numbers a couple of times in various ports so I was glad I had them. Enjoy!

Oh wow thanks for the detailed trip .. I think I will have to skip the whale watch b/c your trip sounded like you made it just on time with 70 minutes .. and I don't think we'll have that much time .. Orca said we'd maybe have 45 minutes ish :( guess I'll have to go visit alaska another time :)

I wouldn't skip the whale watching -- it was the highlight of the trip for many of the people in our group. I'd just plan to see what you can at the glacier and if it's just seeing it from the visitor center, that's still amazing.

Are you sailing this September? Do you already have reservations with a whale watching service? I would think it would be hard to get reservations at this late date.

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Are you sailing this September? Do you already have reservations with a whale watching service? I would think it would be hard to get reservations at this late date.

 

 

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Orca said they still have availability :) thanks for watching out

I wouldn't skip the whale watching -- it was the highlight of the trip for many of the people in our group. I'd just plan to see what you can at the glacier and if it's just seeing it from the visitor center, that's still amazing.

Oh okayyy... Thanks for letting me knoww! I will check with my group and see what is priority :)

If your choice is whale watching or having time to walk to Nugget Falls, choose the whale watching!!! You can still see the glacier and, although the hike is nice, it's not worth missing out on whales.

If your choice is whale watching or having time to walk to Nugget Falls, choose the whale watching!!! You can still see the glacier and, although the hike is nice, it's not worth missing out on whales.

Okay thank you EVERYONE so much. i have OFFICIALLY decided I will be doing both :D lol

You have ALL convinced me :p & I thank you I'm sure it will be very worth it!

Good decision, we did both with a 2pm docking, but earlier in the season. It should be a fun filled day!

Okay thank you EVERYONE so much. i have OFFICIALLY decided I will be doing both :D lol

 

You have ALL convinced me :p & I thank you I'm sure it will be very worth it!