Alaska Whale Watching

We're booked on HAL's Ms. Zaandam for an Inside Passage Cruise in June. We stop in Juneau and were wondering if anyone has been on the HAL-sponsored Whale Watching excursion. The brochure describes a short motorcoach ride to Auke Bay and boarding on a catamaran desgned for wildlife viewing with a "warm cabin". There will be 4 couples/4 wheelchairs and we would appreciate any info about this shore excursion. This will be our first cruise to Alaska and the other ports of call are Skagway (where we'll do the White Pass Train Ride) and Ketchikan. Any and all information you may have re. favorite shore excursions, overall accessibility in these ports, etc. would be really appreciated. Thanks a lot!

We did not go whale watching. We took an accessible tour (van with lift) booked through Princess in Juneau. We went to the Alaska State Museum (could have spent 1/2 day here), to the Mendenhall Glacier (visitor's center fully accessible), to the salmon fishery (not much to see in May), and to a botanical garden. The latter was not accessible along the trail. A very nice trip.

I have heard others say to avoid the cable car in Juneau (right near the cruise terminal). While you can get on in a wheelchair, the sides of the car are so high you cannot see out while seated. Most of the tourist type shops near the cruise terminal were accessible and there are curb cuts.

HA Constitution 1986

NCL Skyward 1988

Crystal Harmony 1992

Dawn Princess 1994

HA Independence 1995

Celebrity Zenith 1997

Grand Princess 1999

Regal Princess 2000

Crystal Harmony 2000

HAL Ryndam 2001

HAL Statendam 2003

RCI Vision of the Seas 2003

HAL Ryndam 2004

Check out Capt Larry with Awesome Orca for whale watching - they are handicapped accessible:

http://www.orcaenterprises.com/1-Our%20Tour.htm

If you are booked on an Alaskan Holland America cruise and wish to go whalewatching in Juneau, by all means book directly through Captain Larry! There were eight on us on the Ms Zaandam (4 in wheelchairs); we were all in W/C accessible cabins and had all prebooked the Evening Whalewatch excursion. When we arrived at the departure area, the tour director advised us that she didn't realize that we would also need accessible transportation to Auk Bay!! At this point, we said we would all take cabs to Auk Bay and they said that would be against their policy!! Arrangements were then made with Capt. Larry. His friendly and entertaining van driver arrived at the dock promptly and transported us to Auk Bay where we boarded with Captain Larry and enjoyed a wonderful evening. In the end, we decided we were lucky to have missed Holland America's tour.

If you do decided to go the Holland America route, by all means, go to the Tour Director's office several times and remind them of your needs.

Hi,

I just wrote a short review of our trip with our mom on the Infinity. While in Juneau, we went on the ship's excursion for an evening whale watching trip. Here's a quote from what I wrote - "We went on the evening whale quest through Celebrity's excursions and the captain of the St. Gregory brought mom onto the ship in their wheelchair. They have several benches reserved for people with disabilities. They also provide binoculars and a wonderful meal."

My sister went with Captain Larry's excursion last year and said that while it was good, she felt that this excurwsion was better.