Alaskan whale excursion with 90-year-old mom and extended family

[Nisi T]

My extended family of 13 are scheduled to be in Juneau from 7AM to 1:30 PM on the Norwegian Bliss on July 10, 2024.  Looking to book a whale watching excursion on our own for 13 people.  The tour company will have a person at the end of the gangplank with a sign at 7:30AM to pick us up which is great because we have a 90-yea- old mom on a wheelchair going on the excursion.  The excursion runs from 7:30AM to 11:45AM, which gives our group a half-hour to get off the ship.  NCL excursion dept told me those booking through NCL have priority getting off the ship and it should take my group about an hour to get off the ship.  The NCL group agent, who I booked the group cruise with, said we should be fine and have enough time to get to the tour rep. Based on everyone's experience, do we have enough time to reach the tour rep?  Thanks for your help!

[CruiserBruce]

If the ship is docked on time, you will be fine. The NCL rep was blowing smoke...

[Nisi T]

Thanks Bruce!  I wanted to go with this company because the pick-up was at the ship compared to the other tour companies I looked into where our group would have to take a shuttle to the excursion pick-up point.  Just wanted to make it seamless for Mom.

[mammajamma2013]

The only time I've seen ship excursion passengers given priority is when tenders are being used. Juneau isn't a tender port.

 

Have you checked with your excursion company to be sure a wheelchair is "allowed" on their boat? I ask because there are some excursions that can't accommodate a wheelchair.

[Nisi T]

Yes Mammajamma, the excursion we booked accommodates manual/foldable wheelchair.  Mom is mobile but walks very slowly hence the wheelchair.

[ldubs]

I also think you will be fine.  Enjoy!  

[nolatravelgirl]

The Juneau port is very easy to navigate. I don't recall any bus involved in getting to the excursion pick up point. There are tons of tour providers right at the port. I just did a screen grab from Google and you literally see all the tour buses in front of the ship.

 

Another thing to consider is the whale watching boats were very rocky and i had never been as sea sick in my life. It was rough.

Edited March 29 by nolatravelgirl

[Nisi T]

Hi Nolatravelgirl.  We're on the Norwegian Bliss and the ship will be at the AJ dock, which is approx. 1 mile from town based on what I've read in Cruise Critic. There are other piers closer to town with AJ dock being the furthest away from town.  As for the whale watching excursion, I read that the smaller boats rocked the most.  It's my understanding the boat we're on holds up to 49 people so hopefully it's large enough to be more stable and the weather cooperates for calm waters.  The excursion had great reviews so I'll cross my fingers!

[nolatravelgirl]

5 minutes ago, Nisi T said:

Hi Nolatravelgirl.  We're on the Norwegian Bliss and the ship will be at the AJ dock, which is approx. 1 mile from town based on what I've read in Cruise Critic. There are other piers closer to town with AJ dock being the furthest away from town.  As for the whale watching excursion, I read that the smaller boats rocked the most.  It's my understanding the boat we're on holds up to 49 people so hopefully it's large enough to be more stable and the weather cooperates for calm waters.  The excursion had great reviews so I'll cross my fingers!

Ahh, those mega ships are not ideal for Alaska. There are only so many ports that are big enough to allow them into port. I just checked the NCL website and see that it is a tender port in Juneau for the Bliss so those on cruise sponsored excursions will have priority tenders, you very well could have to wait to get off the ship. 

 

[Nisi T]

Thanks Nolatravelgirl for looking out for my group.  I just called NCL and confirmed there will be no tender ports for our sailing.

[crystalspin]

On 3/26/2024 at 2:47 PM, Nisi T said:

Looking to book a whale watching excursion on our own for 13 people.

Get your mom VERY CLOSE to the windows from the start. I (heart-breakingly) watched ablebodied people WEDGE themselves in front of wheelchairs when the whales began to breach. To the point of hearing one person in a wheelchair say "Well, I guess I can buy the video."

 

It shouldn't be like this.

 

Edited March 30 by crystalspin