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Product Reviews
Alaska's Whales & Rainforest Trails
Juneau is a spectacular place of diverse, natural habitats from valley glaciers, to temperate forests and natural fjords. This exploratory journey introduces you to this pristine wilderness in an intimate setting with a Certified Naturalist Guide as your leader. Whale sightings are guaranteed on this small group outing combining a marine exploration with a gentle hike at the Mendenhall Glacier on a rain forest trail. Your trip begins with your guide sharing stories and perspectives as you travel out to the Mendenhall Glacier. A short hike takes you along a wooded path once completely covered by the massive glacier. Spend an hour exploring amid forested moraines and sweeping glacial landscapes—even track the glacier's recession over the past 100 years. This small corner of the Tongass National Forest is home to beavers, eagles, salmon, porcupines and black bears. Following a short drive, you'll climb aboard an exploration vessel specifically designed for up-close wildlife viewing. The customized covered watercraft puts you eye-to-eye with the denizens that thrive in these protected waters. Humpback whales, orcas, sea lions, porpoises, seals and sea birds are commonly seen. Keep a camera handy as you travel from place to place or drift quietly to capture the behaviors and antics of these notable marine residents. The small group size of this tour ensures a personal and interactive atmosphere making the most of this authentic Alaska experience.
Note: Participants must be able to walk on their own for over an hour covering a distance up to a mile. Infants must be carried in an infant backpack. We recommend you dress in layers and wear sturdy, comfortable walking shoes. Walking distance is approximately 1.5 miles on an improved level trail. This tour operates in all weather conditions. Liability waiver required to be signed in the presence of the tour operator. Whale sightings are guaranteed or you'll receive $100 cash back as you disembark the whale-watching vessel. All tour participants on this excursion are eligible to enter to win cash prizes in the tour operator's 2012 Capture Juneau Photo Contest. For more details please visit: http://ncl.stepintoalaska.com/
Average:
(10 Reviews) 10
Rating Snapshot (10 reviews)
5 stars
8
4 stars
0
3 stars
1
2 stars
1
1 star
0
8 of 10(80%)customers would recommend this to a friend.
Customer Reviews for Alaska's Whales & Rainforest Trails
Review 1 for Alaska's Whales & Rainforest Trails
Overall:
Wildlife/Scenery:
5
out of
5
Adventurous:
5
out of
5
Family Oriented:
5
out of
5
Cultural/Educational:
5
out of
5
Ohenry
Location:Valparaiso, IN
Party size:2
I traveled with:Family
Cruise Date Month:August
Favorite activities:Adventure
Favorite port:Ketchikan, Alaska
I want to go here next:Hawaii
Date:August 17, 2012
Wow what a view!
Every part of this shore excursion was great.
The bus picked us up right in front of the boat. On the bus ride our tour guide explained what we were looking at all along the way. He was very knowledgable about the terrain and animals.
We then arrived at the dock where we boarded a new boat with great 360 degrees of viewing. The windows opened and closed as needed. It was a little cool and rainy, but the boat kept us dry. We stopped all along the way to admire the wildlife on the way to the whales. We saw bald eagles, sea lions, fish jumping and then the whales - Wow!!!! We had so many of them around us. They were jumping and singing to each other. They even had a microphone in the water so we could hear the whales singing. Make sure to have a great camera and a video recorder. You will not want to miss a minute!!!
After quite some time of whale watching, we went back to the harbor to go to medenhall glacier and rainforest walk. I live in the midwest, so a tempered rainforest is totally new to me. The mosses were so different and beautiful. During our walk around the forest to the glacier, we ran into a black bear and her 2 cubs. They were fishing in the river for samon.
The medenhall glacier is beautiful!
I took 500 pictures during this excursion and wish I had more. What a way to start a vacation, if you love mother nature!!!!
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.
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Review 2 for Alaska's Whales & Rainforest Trails
Overall:
Wildlife/Scenery:
5
out of
5
Adventurous:
4
out of
5
Family Oriented:
5
out of
5
Cultural/Educational:
5
out of
5
Cujoe
Location:Michigan
Party size:6
Cruise Date Month:August
Date:August 14, 2012
Excellent Guide
The guide, Richard, made this an excellent tour. He paid attention to all in the varied group.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Review 3 for Alaska's Whales & Rainforest Trails
Overall:
Wildlife/Scenery:
5
out of
5
Adventurous:
5
out of
5
Family Oriented:
5
out of
5
Cultural/Educational:
5
out of
5
cmee10
Location:Batavia, IL
Party size:3
I traveled with:Family
Cruise Date Month:August
Date:August 14, 2012
Best trip of the cruise!
This excursion was my family's favorite of the entire week. Our guide, Richard, was very knowledgable and did a fantastic job interacting with the entire group and offering information based on people's interests. The small group size (19) allowed everyone to see, ask questions, and feel like it was almost a private tour. The group had a mixture of couples and families with kids ranging from 3 - 14 and everyone had a great time.
The boat was perfect - quick, smooth, nice and cozy inside out of the rain, with windows that opened in seconds when wildlife was spotted or you could stand outside. We saw eagles, otters, sea lions and whales. Our captain (I'm sorry that I don't remember his name) did an amazing job of locating wildlife before all the other boats in the area, so we were the only boat to see the whales jump. He even put a microphone under water so we could hear the whales.
The hike was also very fun. We split into two groups for a portion of it which made it feel even more like a private tour. The glacier was beautiful and we enjoyed the bear viewing platform where we watched a mama bear fish and her two cubs practice climbing trees. The trail was not strenuous, included incredible scenery and Richard did a great job of identifying the plants, animals and bird calls that we heard.
There were plenty of opportunities to use a restroom and they provided a very substantial snack which everyone enjoyed. We would definitely recommend this excursion!!
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Review 4 for Alaska's Whales & Rainforest Trails
Overall:
Rider
Date:June 19, 2012
May want to reconsider
You may want to bring binoculars or zoom lens for your camera on this excursion. Rainforest walk was nice. Took boat ride out to see whales but they said they couldn't get any closer than 100 yards. Couldn't hardly see anything but a black dot in the water. Very dissappointed. Spoke to others about another whale excursion and they said they were able to see them up close. You may want to check into one of those.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Review 5 for Alaska's Whales & Rainforest Trails
Overall:
Wildlife/Scenery:
3
out of
5
Adventurous:
1
out of
5
Family Oriented:
4
out of
5
Cultural/Educational:
2
out of
5
birder400
Date:September 22, 2011
disappointing
Although this excursion was listed as a whalewatching trip, the description also listed seabirds as wildlife to be seen. As I am a birdwatcher, I specifically asked our guide and capt. to point out seabirds. Little or no effort was made to point these out.....I am not sure that the capt. was familiar with the different seabirds. The trail portion was somewhat rushed and not much of a hike.
0 of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Review 6 for Alaska's Whales & Rainforest Trails
Overall:
Wildlife/Scenery:
5
out of
5
Adventurous:
5
out of
5
Family Oriented:
5
out of
5
Cultural/Educational:
5
out of
5
fun4deb
Location:Richlands, NC
Party size:2
I traveled with:Family
Cruise Date Month:September
Cruise Date Year:2011
Favorite activities:Adventure
Date:September 21, 2011
Great Last Minute Choice
This trip was a last minute choice after the floatplane trip was cancelled. GREAT choice. Very informative with two very interesting guides and a fun vessel captain. Learned alot about the area and the whales performed for us that evening. Glad I got on this trip!
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Review 7 for Alaska's Whales & Rainforest Trails
Overall:
Wildlife/Scenery:
5
out of
5
Adventurous:
5
out of
5
Family Oriented:
5
out of
5
Cultural/Educational:
5
out of
5
lovetocruise2011
Date:August 25, 2011
Bext Excursion Ever
This excursion was the best one I have ever been on. We saw a glacier and then went whale watching. We saw Humpback whales. Then we saw Orca whales, including one that went right under our boat. We then saw Humpback whales that were bubblenet feeding, rising out of the water in groups of 8 - 10. Our guides were excellent. Everyone should take this excursion.I will never forget this experience.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Review 8 for Alaska's Whales & Rainforest Trails
Overall:
Wildlife/Scenery:
5
out of
5
Adventurous:
4
out of
5
Family Oriented:
5
out of
5
Cultural/Educational:
5
out of
5
jkotinek
Location:Bryan, TX
Party size:6
I traveled with:Family
Cruise Date Month:June
Cruise Date Year:2011
Favorite port:Juneau, Alaska
Date:August 9, 2011
This Excursion Defined Our Alaskan Vacation
Images for this Review
(click to see full-size image)
Our naturalist, Jane, took special care to show what a unique place Juneau is. She also gave a very informative overview of temperate rainforest ecology and provided us a solid basis for our hike and all other interactions we had with the Tongass National Forest. Her attention to detail, bear safety tips, and obvious love for Juneau made this trip truly shine. The snack after the hike was a very welcome treat!
Once on the boat, Capt. Gary used his expert knowledge to get us to an amazing spot where we saw at least half a dozen humpback whales--including a baby--and a large group of Stellar sea lions.
All of the Gastineau folks went out of their way to make this an extra-special trip for us, including entertaining my two- and four-year-old sons with toy whales on the boat and stopping for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for my father-in-law to add the Alaska state capitol building to his collection of photos from each state.
This excursion is a can't miss!
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Review 9 for Alaska's Whales & Rainforest Trails
Overall:
Wildlife/Scenery:
5
out of
5
Adventurous:
3
out of
5
Family Oriented:
5
out of
5
Cultural/Educational:
3
out of
5
yferrrell
Location:Florida
Party size:3
I traveled with:Family
Cruise Date Month:June
Cruise Date Year:2011
Favorite activities:Adventure
Favorite port:Juneau, Alaska
I want to go here next:Europe
Date:July 9, 2011
Great whale watching experience.
Images for this Review
(click to see full-size image)
This was a wonderful excursion to go on. Just the right amount of people were in our group and the boat we were on was roomy with windows that opened upward for panaramic views. The whales were very active and came up right next to the boat. The guide (John) was very knowledgeable and laced the tour with bits of humor.
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Review 10 for Alaska's Whales & Rainforest Trails
Overall:
Wildlife/Scenery:
5
out of
5
Adventurous:
5
out of
5
Family Oriented:
5
out of
5
Cultural/Educational:
5
out of
5
morton
Location:Cape Girardeau, MO
Party size:4
I traveled with:Friends
Cruise Date Month:June
Cruise Date Year:2011
Favorite activities:Educational
Favorite port:Victoria, British Columbia
I want to go here next:Hawaii
Date:June 28, 2011
Wonderful experience
This is well worth the money to take this excursion. We really liked the smaller tour groups (17 total that was broken into 2 groups). The tour guide was excellent and very knowledgeable as well as entertaining. The hike in the Tongas National Park to Mendenhall glacier was beautiful and the view of the glacier was absolutely breath taking -- and that was only the first half of the tour! When we boarded for the whale watching portion, I just could not imagine it getting any better but it did. You would think that these people trained the hump back whales to appear on que the way they breached the water and frolicked and played by the boat. An added bonus was the sealions we viewed. I would definitely do this again.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.
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