I want to see Bears. Alaska - Early planning 2019

[STLDisney_Freak]

We are in the early planning and schedule watch for summer of 2019. My mother wants to see the whales and I want to see the bears. When would be the best time to sail for us if those are our two must see items? And to just throw it in what would be the best port of calls for those?

 

[Quellman]

Not early may. We cruised then, and it was too early for the whales to be up so far. We did see some, but not lots and lots.

I suspect that you are going to be looking at June. Or whenever fish spawning season is.

 

[jdb in AZ]

The salmon spawn late July-August and the bears love to go fishing.

When we were in Icy Strait Point we did a shore excursion that included a whale-watching cruise on a small boat, then a bus trip to see bears in the wild. The guard was armed "just in case" and we did see bears, tho they were off in the distance.

 

[Pens Fan]

While there is always a possibility of seeing whales from the ship, your best bet is taking an excursion out of Juneau or Icy Strait. I really don't know the best times for spotting whales, but we have done this twice in the past - once in late July and once in late August and saw tons of whales both times. I'd recommend finding a small boat excursion for this. The larger boats are packed with people. We have gone through DCL once (it was their Whales and Science excursion), an independent company 20 or so years ago (don't recall the name) and are using Rum Runners this summer for their photo and fishing safari.

As for bears, the best port for this is Ketchikan. You will want to wait until late July or even August when the salmon spawn, as a lot of the bear watching excursions are not even available before that. We did the Neet's Bay float plane excursion through DCL and it was terrific. We saw several bears fishing in the creek. This summer we are going to Anan Creek flying on Island Wings.

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/juneau-alaska-whales-science-adventure/
https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/...an-alaska-neets-bay-bear-watch-by-floatplane/
http://www.rumrunnercharters.net
http://www.islandwings.com

 

[Geomom]

July/August is when the salmon runs. We did the 8/8/16 cruise--saw the water spout/back/tail of a humpback whale on the last day at sea. There were bears at Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau. We heard 'big' noises in the woods next to the Nugget Falls trail and did see some fur. Later found out that a mother bear had recently sent the 3 cubs off on their own--and that's what we heard/slightly saw. When we were about to leave the park, we found out the bears were over at Steep Creek which is a trail right near the parking lot. They close off most of the trail because of bears that time of year, but you can view them catching salmon from the part that IS open. We did not go over to see them as we had been there for a long time and were trying to catch the glacier shuttle back and didn't want to wait another 1/2 hour for the next one. (My kids were starving as you're not allowed to have food there due to the bears.) Juneau is also the place to take whale watches from. I believe some other ports advertise excursions with bears--they only have those in late July/August timeframe.

 

[xlxo]

Plan for extra days in Vancouver.... Grouse offers a bear breakfast at your bonus port.
https://www.grousemountain.com/products/breakfast-with-the-bears

Why wait until 2019? The glaciers are not getting bigger.

Things to also consider on month....

• May offers dry savings
• June offers daylight
• July offers warmth
• August starts the wet season
• September offers storm discounts

 

[Ware Bears]

Late July and August are best for bears - apart from our first trip which was during a heatwave and they hadn't come down from the mountains (we were lucky enough to see two). Made up for it with our second though, lost count of how many we saw that trip. Those months are also good for whales.

 

[mrp4352]

The Enchanted Taku Lodge excursion in Juneau! The flight is beautiful, the food is great - and each time I've been (three so far), bears have made an appearance outside while we were in eating. The local bears have figured out that there is fish oil in the bottom of the grill pit, so once we go in to eat, they come out to eat the sand and get the oil. I've got some pictures on page three of my Alaska trip report below.

 

[RedSox68]

We sailed early May -- and we saw humpback, grizzly (with cubs) and all other wildlife. We took a whale watching and the guide was saying Orcas don't come into the area until July -- and lo and behold we came upon TWO pods of them with babies! We were very lucky that year.

 

[Pooh2]

 

[STLDisney_Freak]

Plan for extra days in Vancouver.... Grouse offers a bear breakfast at your bonus port.
https://www.grousemountain.com/products/breakfast-with-the-bears

Why wait until 2019? The glaciers are not getting bigger.

Things to also consider on month....

• May offers dry savings
• June offers daylight
• July offers warmth
• August starts the wet season
• September offers storm discounts

We have to save money for respite care for my father. He is disable and ill so he needs care. Unfortunately that care isn't cheap so along with travel expenses, cost of the cruise we have to add that in. It is my mom's dream trip. She has had it booked twice now. Both times she has had to cancel because my dad got sick and was in the hospital. I am determined to book this trip and get her to Alaska. Thank you everyone for your replies.

 

[Pooh2]

The bear photo that I posted above was taken in Skagway on one of the excursion buses.
The excursion was driving up the Klondike highway with a stop at the touristy gold panning place that included a bbq lunch.
It was one of the less expensive excursions but was a nice overview of the area outside the strip in Skagway near the ship.
Our cruise was the first DCL Alaska cruise of the season last May.

 

[xlxo]

We have to save money for respite care for my father.

If cost is a concern. Do compare the Alaskan cruise rates for HAL and Princess for the same week for significant discounts compared to DCL. HAL/Princess replaces pixie dust with Glacier Bay opportunities for glacier seekers.

 

[RedSox68]

If cost is a concern. Do compare the Alaskan cruise rates for HAL and Princess for the same week for significant discounts compared to DCL. HAL/Princess replaces pixie dust with Glacier Bay opportunities for glacier seekers.

I strongly back this recommendation -- we did Alaska with HAL and the price difference between Disney and HAL was thousands -- plus our one priority was to see Glacier Bay, which Disney didn't do -- and it's so worth it!