First Time Cruiser - Help

[NM2020]

Hi all

 

We are booked on the Eclipse at the beginning of August in 2020.

 

Haven't got a clue where to start on booking shore excursions and to be honest it is totally phasing me right now.

 

Pots of call are:

Icy Strait Point

Hubbard Glacier

Juneau, and

Ketchikan.

 

First question:

 

Is it best to book thru the cruise line or from an independent?

 

Second question:

 

What excursions are recommended? We want scenery and wildlife (bears, whales, huskies) as opposed to cultural.

 

Please be patient. Never been on a cruise before!!

 

NM

Edited December 31, 2019 by NM2020

[martincath]

Scenery - just walk the decks between ports and on the glacier day 😉

 

ISP and Juneau are your whalewatch options; ISP & Ketchikan are your bear tour options (the former on land, the latter by floatplane); by August the odds of getting a sled dog tour is much reduced, so hopefully you just want to see them not get dragged around on snow by huskies. I think Juneau would be your only 'take a chopper to a glacier and do a sled dog ride' option, but weather conditions and temperature means that's still a slim chance of it all working out for you on your specific date.

 

So already, depending whether your group is happy in a small plane or chopper, you can potentially cut down your excursion choices to very few (no plane? ISP is only bear tour option), and depending how long you're in port for you may have to choose a whalewatch OR a glacier chopper in Juneau rather than being able to do both.

 

As to cruise excursions - by all means check them, but they're usually pricier, impossible to check exactly who runs them (i.e. to get a review on the captains, tour guides) and use bigger buses, bigger boats which means more wasted time getting on and off and less rail space per passenger -  so independents are the better way to go in general. Some exceptions exist - IMO the best whalewatching boats in Juneau are Gastineau Guiding, and they only sell through the lines. As long as you see the tour is 14/22 pax, rather than 75/150, it'll be a Gastineau boat - and the other nice thing they do is if you book a 'photosafari' tour with time on land and on the boat, there's a professional photographer with you to explain how to best use your camera (even phones or 'point & shoots') for the different elements (best settings for whales/water, for glaciers, or shadowy forest).

 

[LadyMac72]

Obviously not an endorsement as we haven't traveled yet, but right now our plans are:

 

Juneau - whale watching (small boat - 6 passengers) 

ISP - halibut fishing

Ketchikan - bear trip to Traitors Cove (via float plane)

 

I booked all of these through independent companies.  My times in port are about 10-12 hours each.  If you check out Tripadvisor they give you some good reviews of excursions and companies (if you're inclined to do independent).  

[AKStafford]

Here's the local provides in Hoonah, which is where Icy Strait Point is located: https://www.visithoonah.com/tours.html

[Northern Aurora]

NM2020:  Please read all of the trip reports (organized by year) which are at at the top of this forum index page.  Many of the trip reports have photos, and if they booked a private excursion will name the tour operator and list the company website.   It won't take that much time, and will help you determine and prioritize what you want to do and see.  The poster may rave about their experience on a particular excursion, but you may look at at their photos and determine that it is something that doesn't interest you at all.  

[Italy52]

Juneau and Icy Strait are our two favorite places to do whale watching.  In Juneau, we really like Jayleen's Alaska and in Icy Strait, we like Glacier Wind.  In Ketchikan, we did a bear watching tour with Island Wings.  All three vendors are well organized and provide an excellent experience.  Here are the links so you can see reviews.  Other reviews can be found in this Alaska thread and in TripAdvisor.

 

https://jayleensalaska.com/

https://www.g-wind.com/

http://www.islandwings.com/

 

 

 

[Coral]

If you are interested in bear watching and Island Wings, I would sign up ASAP as that company books up very quickly.

[NM2020]

Happy New Year all and thank you!

 

Will do some more research based on the clear guidance given.

[LadyMac72]

13 hours ago, Coral said:

If you are interested in bear watching and Island Wings, I would sign up ASAP as that company books up very quickly.

We have reservations with Island Wings for Traitor's Cove.... they are going to invoice for a deposit in January so they will be hard at work very soon.