Whale watching in Juneau, cruise excursion

If we whale watch in Juneau, we are leaning towards doing a cruise excursion for a few reasons. I was hoping that you could chime in and let me know if these assumptions are correct or not - thanks!

1. My mother in law has a bad knee and 4 back surgeries, she sometimes uses a motorized scooter. She can walk up and down regular steps. I think she would be more comfortable getting on and off of a big catamaran?

2. My mother in law is worried about a lot of motion because of her back, and my daughter gets sea sick on small boats. I thought the catamaran would have a little less motion for them?

3. Does time of day make a difference for sightings? We have the option of afternoon vs evening (mid-July).

4. My mother in law will probably stay seated for the whole trip, if she gets a window seat, will she be able to see the whales if they show up? Or will the people outside be blocking her view? How hard will it be for her to get a window seat?

Thanks a bunch! (can you tell we are sailing soon....so many questions!)

3. Whales don't care what time it is :)

4. That will depend on which side the whale shows up on. AFAIK, it is Allen Marine who contracts to provide the whale watches though the ships on the big boats. You can google and see pictures of the boats they use. I also found them quite responsive to email inquiries. IIRC the last time I was on one of their boats, as long as you were in a window seat NOT near the front, there were no places for other passengers to stand to obstruct one's view. But it has been a few years, and I am fully mobile, so don't rely on my info :)

Not in your list of questions, but the Allen Marine boats I have been on have had easy-to-access bathrooms, which may be a consideration.

Something else to consider.... have you considered a Mendenhall combo? The whale watches and glaciers are West of Juneau. By going on a combo tour... you make best use of your limited Juneau time.

Thank you! Yes, I think the Mendenhall glacier combo would be great!

This year we are going go out whale watching on a research boat. It’s excursion JNU-670 on the Princess web site. If you go out to Mendenhall be sure to have your mother in law bring her senior citizen National parks pass, it’ll get her and 3 of her best friends into the visitor center at no cost, it’s also good at the Discovery center in Ketchikan.

My Mom is 85. She has bad knees and bad balance. Last year we took the HAL sponsored whale watching trip in Juneau. Allen Marine was the contractor. It was a great choice for us. For one thing, there was a ramp right onto the boat. No steep steps or awkward step off a dock. Not everyone gets right next to a window, but people find a way for everyone to see. Our seats were midway back and the outside deck was not in front of our windows. Being seated inside wasn't ideal for photography but for viewing it could not have been better. The restroom was surprisingly nice for a boat. The contractor can't control the whales, but it was our good fortune that we saw several. They breached several times and pirouetted in the water.

Have a great trip.

Vicki

Just got off the evening whale watch an hour ago. Had a wonderful time and saw many whales and bubblenet feeding with six whales. Buffet was good and plentiful. Lots of room for a wheelchair. I don't know how crowded it would be during the day, but we didn't have more than 50 people on the double deck catamaran this evening.

With regard to motion sickness, the Juneau area (Inside Passage) is protected. I am told the boats do not go out into open sea. Should be relatively smooth. If she's extremely prone, taking meclizine (generic version of Dramamine Less Drowsy) would be a good precaution.

We did the glacier with whale watch. The whale watch was Allen marine. There was a lady on the boat in a wheelchair, they sat her right by the window so she could see. The rest of us could move around but there were plenty of view points. Also I get pretty sea sick but was fine on this. The boats are quite fast so it avoids that gross rocking motion :)

Did the Allen Marine ship excursion a few days ago. Had a great time and there were several people on it with mobility problems. Seemed to be able to handle it very well. Bus even had a lift which apperently was arrangd beforehand. Free coffee, tea, hot chocolate and doughnut holes. They manuvered the ship so all got a chance to see the many sightings we had.

Thank you! The additional information is very helpful.

With the cruise ship excursion you can't be sure who the whale watch will be with. We did a cruise sponsored whale watch/salmon bake two weeks ago on the Ruby Princess, and it was not good. This was our second whale watch/salmon bake with Princess. The first one was great with a large catamaran for the whale watch and an easy embarkation.

This time we arrived at the boatyard to find a very steep and long walk down a gravel/cinder road which lead to a steep boat ramp and a rather rickety dock. This was never addressed in the description of the tour. There was a lady with a walker who had a terrible time. Also there were several older passengers who had a very hard time with the steep walk in both directions.

I think you'd do better with a private tour where you could be sure of which boat you'd be on.