Discovery Princess - September Excursion Input

[Anarken]

Hi All!  First post here, and what a world of information!  My wife, parents and brother/sister in-law are all going on the Alaska cruise in September.  Ports of call are Juneau (9hrs), Skagway (13.5hrs), and Ketchikan (6hrs).  We would love recommendations on what excursions are recommended for us (approximately 40 years old), relatively fit.  We are completely fine going outside of the Princess line and booking private excursions, we may honestly actually prefer that method.  While we understand ports of call are often inherently touristy in their own right, we'd like to break away from that if possible to smaller groups.  We are both photographers (one of us professionally) as well so have the zoom lenses and gear to get some great wildlife photos.

 

• We want to do whale watching - tentatively planned for Juneau.  Most likely the Local Connection: Whale Watching / Wildlife Quest by Allen Family.
• We want to hike the glacier (seems the helicopter + glacier hiking in Juneau is sold out) if possible.  Tentatively planned for Skagway along with the train tour.
• We want to photograph bears, preferably brown or grizzly (have seen black bears, but unsure we will be able to get the brown/grizzly). This is a big one for us as we are photographers.  We want to be eye level with the bears, not elevated pavilions or through a bus window.  We would like a few hours on site with a guide.  We cannot seem to find an actual tour that gets us in this type of setup.  We certainly wouldn't want a close encounter, but are not opposed to it with the right field guides.  Willing to take a bush plane or whatever is required to get there.  Willing to do this at any port of call.  Black bear, wilidlife and nature walk tentatively planned for Ketchikan if we can't find an alternative.

 

If anyone can recommend either guides you have personal experience with to accomplish these things, or the excursions you booked through Princess that accomplished these, I would be forever grateful.  The most important experience for us is the bears that we are trying to find.  If we can't, we understand and will likely go back and drive Alaska and the Yukon ourselves with a camper in the future.

 

Thank you in advance!

Edited March 24 by Anarken

[Aquahound]

Good luck on your quest.  For brown bears, your itinerary isn't the greatest.  Black bears are aplenty in those areas but not so much brownies.  Maybe, in Juneau, see if there are any guides that take you to Admiralty Island which, last I heard, has the highest concentration in the world.  

 

Maybe Dyea Flats in Skagway?

[Anarken]

13 minutes ago, Aquahound said:

Good luck on your quest.  For brown bears, your itinerary isn't the greatest.  Black bears are aplenty in those areas but not so much brownies.  Maybe, in Juneau, see if there are any guides that take you to Admiralty Island which, last I heard, has the highest concentration in the world.  

 

Maybe Dyea Flats in Skagway?

Thank you very much for the reply and insight!  I did find one company offering a float plane from Juneau into Admiralty Island for bear observing.  Bit pricey as expected, but seems to be a full 8 hour excursion.  I will also look into the Dyea Flats.

 

Thank you again!

[wolfie11]

In Skagway best recommendation is the Bennett Lake train trip.  Depending on when you go in September you should hit peak fall foliage.  Also a slim chance of a moose.  For brown bears you want the Chilkat Guides Wildlife tour and bear search.  About 80% success rate when the salmon are running.  Whales in Juneau. Also a possibility in Ketchikan on the Bering Sea Fisherman’s tour along with great eagles.