Juneau Whale Watch and Wildlife Quest

The boat crew were excellent! They did a great job searching for & finding whales for us to see. They were very knowledgeable about whale behavior. We got some great pics. The boat was very comfortable with indoor & outdoor viewing areas. They had a snack bar with food for purchase but they had some free snacks, too, like salmon dip on ritz crackers. They made a mean cup of hot chocolate, too.

Whale watch itself was great. Conflicting pickup info between Viator and Allen Marine resulted in us almost missing the excursion. Only helpful thing Viator said was to look for staff in a green jacket. Viator continue to send us incorrect meeting place up to and including the day of your. I was able to call the operator several days and was told that they could pick us up at Franklin dock. The tour left from AJ dock about a mile walk (all Juneau). When I tried to call operator, they were not open (office opened at 9 ,tour left at 8:45) but the message said it an Allen Marine tour and they had people wearing green Allen Marine jackets. We found a young man on our dock from and he got us to a shuttle bus going to the correct dock. The shuttle left from still another dock about half mile away. Made it to correct tour with four minutes to spare. Very nerve racking. It was an absolutely great trip once . Note to Viator, it would have helped a lot to know the operator was Allen Marine. Note to Allen Marine, the pickup information was woefully inadequate. Might consider having somebody answer the phone when you are collecting people for shore excursions.

Well worth the money, crew is exceptional. We were late catching bus, but the crew was polite and the boat is very clean and good views

You will see whales. But, the meeting place told to us was no where near where we were supposed to meet. Everybody else was from a cruise ship except us. We wandered around for over 30 minutes trying to find you. Just horrible.

We have been to Juneau many times but never took a whale watch there. We booked directly with the operator instead of through the Holland America ship and found ourselves on a predominantly NCL tour so we had to take a shuttle from the main pier to the AJ Dock. From there, a bus picked us up and drove us about 30 minutes out of town past the Mendhall glacier to a small boat marina. It turns out that the body of water where you cruise ship docks is the end of the line as far as navigable water so all whale watches involve this bus trip. The driver was very personable and funny and kept us entertained the whole trip. The boat was large and had lots of inside seating and a small amount of outside standing room on the stern. There was also a stairway to the roof of the main cabin but no seats up there. The crew kept us informed and did a good job of spotting the whales. They were very active and we saw lots of spouts and even some bubble feeding humpbacks. We had a beautiful sunny day but if that had not been the case, the boat had large windows to view from the inside. On the way back to our ship, the driver let us off at the Red Dog Saloon so we did not have to take a shuttle back from the AJ Dock.

The meeting point was NOT clearly explained. We were to meet in front of a mural with not explicit directions. Google shows I believe three. I called Viator and he helped us get there. We were met by a bus without steps or handles to help us get in. I’m under five feet and hurt my knee trying to get in. I’ve got the license plate and will turn in a claim if I need medical attention. We left forty five minutes late which was not fair to the other guests and not to us!!!!! This was the first time we’ve ever had such an experience!!!

Very exciting to see the whales and sea lions. We learned about the bubble feeding which was new to us.

The boat captain and staff were great and we saw a few whales so yeah for that. I just had a different expectation of how the tour would be. Seeing several boats in the same area looking for whales just made we wonder how we might be impacting the whales.

Meeting the bus to travel to boat was a nightmare. There were no clear directions. Luckily Stacy found us at the last minute to board the bus. Not even close to where we were told to meet. When we finally boarded it was a perfect day. The staff were knowledgeable & so friendly. We saw so many whales, birds, seals. It was a fantastic day. We were not with a cruise. Maybe the cruise guests had better direction.

The whale watching experience was great. However we were shuttled by a mini van to the bus, which was unusual at the beginning. We were dropped off at the same place at the end of the tour but there was no shuttle or any other transportation to the original meeting point. The meeting point was a couple of miles from the bus, so we had to fend for ourselves to get back to the ship. The driver of the bus said we were on our own. The tour specifically indicated that we were being picked up and front off at the meeting point which did not happen. We were very disappointed and may not use viator again.