Overhyped, overpromoted,overpromised, and underdelivered
We were shown pictures of whales breaching and bubble net feeding, none of which transpired. In fact, the naturalist guide said the bubble net feeding should not have been mentioned at all, as a meeting had been held that week to specifically state that was against policy. We saw a few dorsal fins, a couple of tails, several spouts, and one fluke. So not worth the $150 per person we were charged.
I completely understand the whales are wild animals that follow their own agenda and are not employed by the tour operator, but the first line above is an honest account of what we got.
They asked us if we knew how to find whales. One passenger said watch for birds. Another said watch for spouts. The answer given: look for other whale watching boats. Really?!?
The best part of the trip was the bus ride to pick up more passengers at the Mendenhall Glacier. The driver was excellent. Good views of the glacier and he pointed out two young black bears playing in a field beside the road.
They asked us to leave a review if we had a good time and not to do so if we didn't, which I felt was kinda sketchy and disingenuous. I would not take this trip again, and do not recommend it.
Réponse de l'hôte
Aug 2022
Cary, thank you for your response. We would like to hear more about this and please feel free to contact us at (888) 942-5308 or
[email protected]. It sounds like you booked through a brokerage company, separate from Alaska Tales. There are a number of agencies and tour kiosks that sell this excursion and it would be helpful for us to know where you purchased this excursion from if you could please contact us and let us know. We are glad to hear that you saw a bear on tour. We are glad the sales rep you purchased through did not promise bears because that is an extremely unlikely event on this tour that very few people get to see. It sounds like attempts at humor on the tour fell flat for you on the tour and we are sorry about the delivery of those jokes, for example - how to find whales - or only leave a review if you had a good time - are common jokes in the industry. We will speak with the staff on this.