Haines Wildlife Preserve

[ajhunt2]

Carnival offers an excursion thorugh the Eagle preserve and surrounding areas. But it's almost $200. I really want to do this excursion (especially since I hear there are moose in the area) but wondered if anyone had used a Non-Carnival tour company to visit this area

[sherryf]

We did this tour last week through Princess. We saw about 20 eagles, but no moose or other wildlife. The scenery is beautiful. I'm glad we did it through the cruise ship, since we got back right before the ship sailed and they were waiting for our group to get back. I don't know if it's possible to do this trip independently, but I would be careful about your timing. You have to take the ferry back from Haines, and if you went independently, you might not be guaranteed to make it onto the ferry and get back on time. The ferry we took back was jam packed with people from ship-booked excursions.

[wolfie11]

It is very unlikely that you will see moose on this excursion (and you will be there during fall hunting season). The best place to see moose is in Denali, or around Anchorage. You will probably see some eagles, but not the hundreds that gather here in the fall. It's a nice trip on the ferry and a nice raft trip, but you shouldn't expect much more than that and decide if it's worth the $200. As stated above, the ferry is generally packed and you would need to make sure you get back in plenty of time to make your ship if you go independent.

[ajhunt2]

So, thinking we may skip this one. Found a company offering almost exact same thing. $99. Then come to find out through emailing that in order to book we need to go though Carnival. So it's the same one Carnival charges $195 for....

 

Plus most people have said this time of year we're not going to see really any more eagles in the preserve than we would just keeping an eye out for them in all the ports.

 

oh well. Maybe kayaking? LOL