what do you see the first day of inside passage cruising?

[phubli]

Greetings!

 

We are on Dawn Princess out of Vancouver this July and the first day after we leave Vancouver is just marked as "at sea" on the itenarary. Are we really OUT AT SEA hoping to see whales or are we moving more or less close to shore and can see other wild life? Basically, what is there to see and do this very first "at sea" day on our itenaray? Appreciate your comments!

[EPD]

You will see lots and lots of trees and if you sit on the deck with Binoc's you will probably see wildlife on the shore. But mostly trees and water...its beautiful!!

 

Erin & Brent

"Friends are the family that you choose for yourself"

[phubli]

thanks! what about whales? can we see whales?

[jennb]

Probably not. In order to really see whales you'll need to book a whale watching excursion.

 

Monarch 11/97

Elation 8/98

Mercury 8/00

Maasdam 7/02

Grand Princess 7/03

Island Princess 7/04

[Budget Queen]

I have sailed northbound twice and last was 9-03. Unfortunately a lot of the sailing is out to sea on the second day. Much more so then when I first started sailing Alaska- more outside sailing overall. I strongly recommend you be up at dawn- you should still be inside Vancouver Island- this may be an area for orcas??? As for whale watching- yes you need the tours. It requires a great deal of time invested at the front of the ship with a good pair of wide angle binoculars. Your view will be brief and distant.

[grouchy]

You may see some Orcas around the top of Vancouver Island,but chances are slim.That pod is know for noshows. You will see trees! Maybe some Dolphins.

 

Time for another Cruise!

[mbisson]

As noted, it's a long shot (seeing whales from ship on first day/evening).

 

BUT-the absolute best whale watching I've had in Alaska was one day on an RCCL ship when we couldn't dock in Skagway, due to wind. The Cpt. took the ship out to where he thought we might see whales. Just prior to dark, we were in the Windjammer (at the very front of the ship & up a few decks) when we came upon a pod of humpback whales. They came to within about 30 ft or so of the ship. We were able to look almost directly down on them. And they were around us for probably 20/30 minutes.

 

-Monte

 

some of my cruising photos:

http://community.webshots.com/user/m1bisson

A bad day cruising is better than a good day at work.

 

The worst cruise I ever took was pretty damned good.

 

Platinum with RCI, a couple cruises with NCL and 1 with CCL

 

Clock remove but cruise in Dec