Juneau Whale Watching Tour

[Rambler5678]

Has anyone every went with Orca in Juneau? How many were on the boat? Would you recommend for kids ages 6 and 13?

 

[Heard02]

Yes! There were about 50-60 on our boat. The 6 year old will love it! Not sure about 13? There were several kids on our boat as well.

 

[sdjen]

I would recommend Rum Runner Charters. Can take up to 6 guests but a much more personal experience. It was just my daughter and me and we loved it!

 

[GatorMomInNC]

We did private tour with Harv and Marv, just 5 of us on the boat. My 2 boys are 8 and 11 and loved it. Best. Excursion. Ever!

 

[Rambler5678]

Harv and Marv want $900 for a private tour

 

[linetbo]

If you want a Disney excursion do this one
https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/juneau-alaska-whales-science-adventure/

We did it in July, only 10 in the boat and we learned so much. My daughter its 15 and another family with two 14yo and one 5 and one 6yo.

 

[RedHatDisney]

The age of the youngest is key, not all tours will take someone that young. We did Rum Runners, too. EXCELLENT!

 

[Pens Fan]

If you want a Disney excursion do this one
https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/juneau-alaska-whales-science-adventure/

We did it in July, only 10 in the boat and we learned so much. My daughter its 15 and another family with two 14yo and one 5 and one 6yo.

Another vote for this one if you go the DCL route. To begin with, it is a much smaller vessel and there will be considerably less people on board jockeying for position. Our son was 14 when we did it and he had a ball. He was the oldest on board at that time and he got to do all of the "dirty work". He loved it. We saw so many larger boats crammed to the gills people and we were very pleased to be on ours instead. Our guide was terrific (this was 3 1/2 years ago). She was a middle school science teacher and was great with the kids.

 

[niccikatie]

We used Adventures in Alaska for a private tour. It was an exceptional experience and it was not that much more than the Disney excursion. Captain Alan was amazing!

 

[Rambler5678]

Anyone else use Rum Runners? They have a great price for a private tour.

 

[RedHatDisney]

I highly recommend Run Runners.

 

[Rambler5678]

.

 

[emilyann415]

Harv and Marv want $900 for a private tour

But you don't have to do private do you? I thought I remembered when we booked it, if we didn't indicate private that another family could be put in the boat with us. It's just with these smaller boats (8-10 people) you have the opportunity to literally get up close and personal with the whales. On those larger boats it's just harder to do so especially with 50-100 of your closest friends trying to see what you are looking at. Maybe Harv and Marv don't let you split the boat anymore but I would have to concur with the PP that it was the BEST excursion we ever took EVER. We had a pod of whales come up for air mere feet from our boat and we saw 4 grown whales and a baby whale. It was amazing. My DD was 7 and she STILL talks about it 3 1/2 years later. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Aby]

We took the DCL Tour Alaska Whales and Glacier Photo Safari - which is the same group as the one linetbo mentioned above. The nicer thing about this one was that they limited the boat to 14 participants instead of the usual 20, so we had a more empty boat. We plan on taking this tour again next year.

Aby

 

[Rambler5678]

With Harv and Marv, Due to our girls ages 13 and 6 they only offer a private tour.

 

[sdjen]

Anyone else use Rum Runners? They have a great price for a private tour.

Yes - I would highly recommend them!

 

[emilyann415]

With Harv and Marv, Due to our girls ages 13 and 6 they only offer a private tour.

Oh that's right.....sorry....I forgot. It is an issue with kids. We went with a big family so that wasn't an issue for us. Maybe it's too much work for you but you could always see if you could find another family on your meet group who was interested. I guess I have nothing to compare to and can't answer your original question but I had such an amazing experience with them....I'd hate for you to miss out if there was a way to make it work. Alaska is AMAZING. You will have a great time no matter what!

 

[Rambler5678]

Rum Runners offer a 2.5/hr and 3.5/hr private tour that's reasonable.

 

[RKKUNK]

We used Rum Runners when we went in 2013. At that time Capt. Chris only had the one boat and Josh was there as a First Mate/helper. We had an awesome time! It was so worth it! It was just my family of 3 with Chris driving the boat and Josh helping out and giving us info. on the whales and of course Moon, Chris' yellow lab. at the time. My son asked if we could do it again the next day. Lol! He was 11 at the time and still thinks that was one of the best excursions ever! (#1 being the helicopter ride to the glacier to go dog sledding!) We would recommend!

 

[anricat]

We used Adventures in Alaska for a private tour. It was an exceptional experience and it was not that much more than the Disney excursion. Captain Alan was amazing!

I looked into this but the tours are LOOOOONG. 3.5 hours? Yipes! I'm not sure my 8 year old as a 3.5 hour attention span for anything at this point in her life. Did you have kids with you? Thoughts on the length?