Alaska Excursion

[hollon]

I will have lots of obc w/ princess. Does anyone know if Princess use Harv/Marv or Orca Ent. for whale watching in Juneau or dose Princess have their own whale watching tour and is it just as good as the above? Also, same w/ Whitepass RR, are we on the same bus/train as Chilkoot Charters. Thanks

[hpeabody]

I will have lots of obc w/ princess. Does anyone know if Princess use Harv/Marv or Orca Ent. for whale watching in Juneau or dose Princess have their own whale watching tour and is it just as good as the above? Also, same w/ Whitepass RR, are we on the same bus/train as Chilkoot Charters. Thanks

 

 

Highly unlikely Princess could use Harv & Marv as they are a very small outfit with very small boats. Princess uses a pretty large boat. I have done Harv & Marv and I recommend it. You can do the train through Princess check you shore excursions in your personalizer.

Edited January 5, 2016 by hpeabody

[Colo Cruiser]

Could be Allen Marine.

 

 

http://www.allenmarinetours.com/

[Ginnyfyr]

We've booked two whale watching excursions through Princess and both have been with Allan Marine. I highly recommend them - staff knows their stuff, boats are comfortable and well kept; we've seen tons of wildlife and returned with excellent memories on both trips. Wouldn't hesitate to book with them again, either on our own or through Princess.

[hollon]

Thank you! What about the whitepass rr, does anyone know, I'd like to take the train up and shuttle back, does anyone know who princess uses

[LeeW]

Princess definitely does NOT use Orca Enterprises. Orca boats can hold about 40 people and they usually have half that onboard. We saw the cruise ship tours and they were wall-to-wall people both times we were there. We also had naturalists from both the Princess and RCI ships onboard.

 

Seems funny, but you can make reservations any time of year. We called in January for September bookings. Note you will be talking to a family member, be on a bus driven by a family member and on a boat captained and crewed by family members. Really nice folks. Located second floor across the street from the tram.

 

Use your OBC for other tours (like Neets Bay).

[notus]

For the Whitepass RR, Chilkoot uses their own vans (<15 people) and gets their own car on the train. Other cars on the train were filled with folks from the Princess tours (and maybe other tours, too)

[hollon]

Princess definitely does NOT use Orca Enterprises. Orca boats can hold about 40 people and they usually have half that onboard. We saw the cruise ship tours and they were wall-to-wall people both times we were there. We also had naturalists from both the Princess and RCI ships onboard.

 

Seems funny, but you can make reservations any time of year. We called in January for September bookings. Note you will be talking to a family member, be on a bus driven by a family member and on a boat captained and crewed by family members. Really nice folks. Located second floor across the street from the tram.

 

Use your OBC for other tours (like Neets Bay).

 

This seems much nicer, I like the idea of NOT wall to wall people. I'll check out Neets Bay, never heard of it, also like that it's family owned.

[Coral]

They use Allen Marine and very large boats for whale watching.

 

The exception if the Photo Safari tour that combines whale watching and photography. They use smaller boats for this. I don't think this is wheelchair accessible and I think that is a concern of yours- double check on this if you want a smaller trip through Princess.

 

I would encourage a private tour. It is easy in Juneau for whale watching.

Edited January 6, 2016 by Coral

[BigGuy25]

We used Marv & Harv in September '15 and they were GREAT. But, they were not offered by Princess. They can't because they use small boats. We only had six people on ours so we could quickly get to the whales.

 

We also used Chilkoot Charters in Skagway. Their guide was terrific. Like NOTUS said, we had our own car on the train and our own small van to take us up into the Yukon (and back to the pier) after the train ride. The great part about the train was that our car was the last one so we could go out onto the back platform and get fabulous unobstructed shots from the back of the train.

Edited January 6, 2016 by BigGuy25

[DougH]

For the Whitepass RR, Chilkoot uses their own vans (<15 people) and gets their own car on the train. Other cars on the train were filled with folks from the Princess tours (and maybe other tours, too)

 

I agree. I've done this a couple of times with Chilkoot and our train car has been mostly empty while the Princess ones were filled to capacity. Bus was also a smaller 15-20 person one instead of the big ones. Much more personal group. I'd recommend the Lake Bennett journey with Chilkoot as the option with the most scenery.

[Coral]

We used Marv & Harv in September '15 and they were GREAT. But, they were not offered by Princess. They can't because they use small boats. We only had six people on ours so we could quickly get to the whales.

 

We also used Chilkoot Charters in Skagway. Their guide was terrific. Like NOTUS said, we had our own car on the train and our own small van to take us up into the Yukon (and back to the pier) after the train ride. The great part about the train was that our car was the last one so we could go out onto the back platform and get fabulous unobstructed shots from the back of the train.

 

The last time I did the train with Princess - I did get the last car and it was only 1/4 full. Maybe everyone went to one of the earlier cars and those were more crowded but my experience with Princess and the train was exceptional. I also was outside the back the entire time.

[LeeW]

This seems much nicer, I like the idea of NOT wall to wall people. I'll check out Neets Bay, never heard of it, also like that it's family owned.

 

The Neets Bay tour is in Ketchikan, and (usually) is a float plane flight by a company called Promech to a salmon hatchery with lots of bears around. Kind of a family operation, but not to the extent of Orca. Flights are about 12 people each (one in the copilot seat) and quite expensive but worth it. Weather can cancel these fairly easily. Our first trip it was cancelled - after they got a couple of groups up there. Those even had problems getting them back by boat due to the fog. Second was a beautiful hop over the island in great weather. Float plane and helicopter tours are big in Alaska. We just know in advance and save up for them.

 

See the Ketchikan board for more info, or promechair.com for specifics.

[Pushka]

They use Allen Marine and very large boats for whale watching.

 

The exception if the Photo Safari tour that combines whale watching and photography. They use smaller boats for this. I don't think this is wheelchair accessible and I think that is a concern of yours- double check on this if you want a smaller trip through Princess.

 

I would encourage a private tour. It is easy in Juneau for whale watching.

 

 

We have booked the Photo Safari with Princess for exactly this reason.