Against my better judgment my wife and I took this tour thinking it would be good to try and get in as much as we could in the short time we were in Juneau. We booked this excursion through Princess Cruise Lines and it is called, “The Best of Juneau.”
The order of events is to whale watch, salmon bake and then Mendenhall Glacier. Once we were on the bus and started on our way we were informed that due to windy conditions the water was too rough to safely get off the boat for the salmon bake and that we would not be doing that. Our accounts would be credited automatically which did in fact happen.
I wasn’t surprised by this, although I was thinking there was even a possibility of the whale watch to be canceled which it wasn’t, so off we went.
Upon arriving at the pier which is literally a large barge I felt they had a somewhat overly complex communications system between buses and where to park. Kind of akin to air traffic control but only being carried out by non experienced people. I’m sure it was due to weight limitations of the barge but it did seem to take more time than needed. Only for the main door of our bus to be blocked by the bus next to us that we couldn’t get out of our bus for a little while.
With that confusion behind us we finally got on the tour boat. The boat was good sized, well constructed and in good shape. You can get some simple snacks and beverages but they are expensive so try planning ahead and bring your own stuff in a backpack. The restrooms were relatively spacious and clean as well.
The water was rough and the boat rocked about quite a bit. We did manage to see several whales but off at a distance. I lay blame on the captains inexperience as when we saw a whale far off he would go full throttle and every time we would overshoot and or cause the whale to veer off. Meanwhile another boat that was sailing about took its time to get near the whale and they were able to get really close. So we did see whales but off at a distance. Luckily when in Ketchikan we got several up close visits with whales.
Then it was off to the Glacier which was not that far of a drive. However the time at the Glacier is so short you really can’t enjoy the wonderful view and only the most athletic will get up close to the Glacier within the allotted time frame.
In conclusion I would suggest you don’t take the Best Of Juneau excursion. Instead take a whale watching tour then get back into town and get on one of the city’s shuttles that takes you to the Glacier which will give you plenty to time to enjoy the Glacier. Then go back to town and either go up on the tram or eat at one of the restaurants.