zogrand Posted April 18, 2018 #1 Share Posted April 18, 2018 We're doing the Southbound cruise in July on the Star. Will we see enough whales from the ship to feel satisfied or should we take a whale watching excursion? There are so many wonderful things to do in Alaska, I don't want to duplicate our experiences if we don't need to. Thanks in advance for your help! Carol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrmende63 Posted April 18, 2018 #2 Share Posted April 18, 2018 In my opinion no. Yes, you may see one or more from the ship, but most whale watching tours guarantee you will see them. I would go with a tour. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diane.in.ny Posted April 18, 2018 #3 Share Posted April 18, 2018 I agree. Go with tour. You can book directly with tour operators in Juneau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKStafford Posted April 18, 2018 #4 Share Posted April 18, 2018 If (and that's if) you see whales from your cruise ship, it'll be like watching a football game sitting at the top of the stadium. A whale watching cruise in Juneau or Icy Straight point will be like watching the football game from the sidelines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT1962 Posted April 18, 2018 #5 Share Posted April 18, 2018 Do a tour and try to get one of the smaller boats. There is no comparison in seeing whales from the ship vs being in a small boat. We used Glacier Wind in Icy Strait Point and loved it. They only take 6 passengers per trip. Similar excursions are available in Juneau as well. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mskaufman Posted April 18, 2018 #6 Share Posted April 18, 2018 We saw a number of whales from the ship but we were pretty far away. You should do a tour if you want to get close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peety3 Posted April 18, 2018 #7 Share Posted April 18, 2018 If your objective is to see whales, I'd say you probably want to take an excursion. If your objective is to get (good) pictures, I'd say you "must" take an excursion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herfnerd Posted April 18, 2018 #8 Share Posted April 18, 2018 No. Any whales you do see will be too far away to see anything even with binoculars. Seeing whales breach or bubble net feeding, etc close up is no comparison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfie11 Posted April 18, 2018 #9 Share Posted April 18, 2018 The captain’s main objective is to stay as far away from whales as possible. You might see some from the ship. If you’re lucky they might be close. But that requires spending all your free time outside looking for them. Whales may or may not be announced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkJedi Posted April 18, 2018 #10 Share Posted April 18, 2018 Do a tour and try to get one of the smaller boats. There is no comparison in seeing whales from the ship vs being in a small boat. We used Glacier Wind in Icy Strait Point and loved it. They only take 6 passengers per trip. Similar excursions are available in Juneau as well. Glad to know you enjoyed, we are booked with them in May, and Major Marine on an 80 passenger in Seward as well. On the small boat how was picture taking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zogrand Posted April 19, 2018 Author #11 Share Posted April 19, 2018 Thanks everyone! Looks as if we’ll be searching for a good whale watch. We’ve been on whale watches before in Mexico, a larger boat and a small one and have been disappointed. We saw whales but not many, and from quite a ways. We saw more from our ship in Hawaii in February. Carol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
land lover Posted April 20, 2018 #12 Share Posted April 20, 2018 If (and that's if) you see whales from your cruise ship, it'll be like watching a football game sitting at the top of the stadium.A whale watching cruise in Juneau or Icy Straight point will be like watching the football game from the sidelines. great comparison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capriccio Posted April 20, 2018 #13 Share Posted April 20, 2018 If (and that's if) you see whales from your cruise ship, it'll be like watching a football game sitting at the top of the stadium.A whale watching cruise in Juneau or Icy Straight point will be like watching the football game from the sidelines. Watching for whales from a cruise ship is even more difficult that watching a football game sitting at the top of the stadium. During the game at least you know to focus your vision at the well defined field area. On the former those whales can be anywhere in your enormous field of vision and by the time an announcement is made that whale has been sighted the ship has moved on and/or the whale has submerged or moved further away and are difficult to find even with binoculars. With a whale excursion (at least those I've done in Juneau, Santa Barbara and Maui) we've been lucky to have them come right up to the excursion boats. On Maui a humpback breached less than 100 feet in front of our boat. The captain yelled 'tell me someone got a photo!' No one had - we were all so shocked (and relieved that it fell away from the boat) - because it happens so quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quack2 Posted April 20, 2018 #14 Share Posted April 20, 2018 Do a tour and try to get one of the smaller boats. There is no comparison in seeing whales from the ship vs being in a small boat. We used Glacier Wind in Icy Strait Point and loved it. They only take 6 passengers per trip. Similar excursions are available in Juneau as well. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Agree with this 100%. I've gone twice with Glacier Wind in Icy Strait and had a great experience. Whale watching excursions sold by cruise ships are typically on bigger boats and you have to fight for photo positions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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