Any recent experience with this excursion? Disney Exclusive: Bering Sea Crab Fishermen's Tour and Dinner with Crew (KE29)

[bobbiwoz]

A friend is thinking about it, and I thought I would ask here.

 

[Calantha]

A friend is thinking about it, and I thought I would ask here.

We did the first part of the tour, we did not have dinner with the crew (because we didn’t book through Disney). That being said, the crew were wonderful and the tour was amazing. I would 100% go again. The ship does get a little crowded, but there are seats for everyone that give you great views of their ‘show’, for lack of a better word.

 

[soniam]

I wanted to do this but got out voted by the family. They kept saying they didn't want to be on Deadliest Catch or smell like fish I think we are doing the hovercraft excursion instead.

 

[Sykes]

We did it in 2019, so it's not super recent but might still be relevant. We had a fantastic time, but there were parts that weren't exactly a home run.

The tour itself felt pretty staged. The crew had filled some crab pots with various wildlife (crabs, octopus, etc.) and placed them along the tour route so that we'd have something to hook and pull up. It felt like a good example of what crab fishermen do, but it was also clear that they were doing the same demonstration every day. They also had a number of sea creatures in their tanks for viewing on-board. The boat had been permanently modified to support these kinds of tours. That means more comfortable seats, nicer bathrooms, super clean ship (didn't smell like fish), etc., but it's another bit of a hit to the authenticity of the tour.

Having said that, the areas the tour visits were truly stunning. It's really hard to overstate how beautiful Alaska is. The crew knew exactly where along the route we were likely to see nesting bald eagles, etc., and I'd say that the eagles were probably the highlight of the tour itself--there were a ton of them. My guess, though, is that you'd get this part with any boat tour of the area. The crew was also fantastic. Derrick Ray was the captain for our tour in 2019. People that watch Deadliest Catch might recognize him as the relief captain that took over the Cornelia Marie for a short period of time when Captain Phil Harris passed away in 2010. He was super friendly and had a lot of excellent stories.

For dinner, everyone who booked the tour without dinner got off the boat at the dock while we remained on-board (but still docked). They handed out styrofoam trays with crab and sides in them, then we sat around, ate, and talked to the crew for about an hour after everyone else left. Again, because the crew was great this was fun too, but the dinner itself wasn't particularly exciting (you're really paying for the bonus time with the crew).

Overall I thought it was great, but not necessarily for the reasons I expected--the crew and the scenery was great, but the crab fishing aspect was a bit too staged. (My expectations might have been unreasonable--I'm not sure how you do it without it feeling staged.) If I was doing it again I'd probably do the $209 version that they sell directly without dinner (no idea if Disney also sells that version) rather than the $389 version with dinner.

 

[bobbiwoz]

@Calantha and @Sykes , those are exactly what my friend needed to hear to make a decision!

Thank you!

 

[Snowwhyt]

I did it in 2016 with my parents. I would do it again. But warning if you are not a fast walker, Disney walked them so fast they are not helpful to elderly or any with a disability.
I would do it again but bring a wheelchair.