We had wonderful excursion with Captain Mickey, Naturalist Annie and a total of 10 guests. We appreciated the early start because boat traffic did pick up about 2/3rd of the way into our journey. We did see a good number of whales and we appreciated the opportunity to get up and walk around the vessel in order to get the best view. With a small group like ours the view was never blocked. We really appreciated the educational teaching portion. It helped us to understand what to look for and what we were seeing. Annie had a handy guidebook with pictures of the whale's tales so that we could identify them. We just loved that each whale had an identifying 'tale print' and knowing their given name made it much more real and provided a connection to the beautiful creature. The weather was beautiful, and the water was calm. We had a great time, and this was a top notch company to deal with. We'd book again with them in a heartbeat. The ride to/from port and the stop at the Mendenhall Glacier overlook was an added bonus! We all loved it -from the small toddler on the boat to the Grandparents.