I wonder if that excursion is taking place this year? See the Tokyo Disneyland 40th Anniversary Treats in Japan! Alaska gets 80-200 inches of rain a year. All in all we were on the boat closer to six hours and we approached the Quantum in Juneau right as it was docking at 1:00. We had plenty of options, including recent releases Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, and Beauty and the Beast. It sounds like it was amazing and I can not wait to go in September! Even if we hadn't seen a whale they tour company was fantastic. Not even Gold was able to get it at their time of booking. Your link has been automatically embedded. Disney Parks Reveals New Tiana's Bayou Adventure Character Costume. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Did the Wonder leave the glacier area while you were there? You are using an out of date browser. There is an inside seating area, so you use that as an option as well, but youll get much better views of the glacier and wildlife, if youre outside. In some ways, I'm glad we moved our whale watch to 3:30. At the head of the fjord, tidewater glaciers, such as the Dawes Glacier, regularly expel enormous chunks of ice into the waters below in a magnificent process known as calving. It seemed that it kind of hung out there for a few minutes because we were able to get those great photos. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. We watched seals make their home on a buoy and one fend off seagulls for a meal. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. When are you sailing? I imagine since the tour companies are promoted through the cruise lines websites, they don't work very hard to impress their customers. I'm not really sure. Dawes Glacier- Glacier Explorer | The DIS Disney Discussion Forums The cruise ship turned around after 30 minutes so that both sides of the ship could enjoy the scenery and the glacier. Review tags are currently only available for English language reviews. Southeast Alaska is 80% is forest service land; 10% of which is in Glacier Bay National Park. Several years ago I had booked one of these where the excursion boat meets the ship and you embark the smaller excursion boat for a closer look at a glacier. Your email address will not be published. I had a whale watch for Juneau and cancelled and booked this one. My question is simple: "Is this small boat excursion 'worth it' given that the ship itself will be in Endicott Arm, and FROM WHAT I HAVE READ it appears to get much closer to Dawes glacier than ships often do in Tracy Arm with Sawyer glacier as the path is shorter, wider, straighter, etc.?" It's a lot of money, but is it worth it? Exceptional service and an incredible experience across the board! I think when we get on the ship we'll check with the excursion desk and confirm everything about the Endicott Arm and then see how we are with timing. This was a great experience and well worth the expense. Learn more. ICYMI: New to Exposition Park, Cilantro Eatery Now Open at Disney Springs! Much to my surprise, when we stepped out onto the small boat we were already at the glacier and the ship's aft (rear) was facing the glacier. This was the freshest salmon I've had possibly ever. At the head of the fjord, tidewater glaciers, such as the Dawes Glacier, regularly expel enormous chunks of ice into the waters below in a magnificent process known as calving. @ChanaCgave a great description which pretty much mirrored our Ovation experience. Not many people can say that they are able to get 1/4 mile away from a glacier, or even see the glacier calving in! We do have a combo whale watch and glacier tour, so I was considering canceling the combo tour and just the whale watch, since Mendenhall Glacier does seem a little redundant. We booked our whale watching tour via our cruise line (Royal Caribbean) and this was a great experienceAllen Marine Service: All the crew at each point of contact was fantastic. Best restaurants and sites to add to our trip. We were able to book it for our June cruise. Then, we also booked the Alaska whales, glaciers and rainforest trails from 130-630. {"version":"20211209","show_thumbnails":true,"show_date":false,"show_context":true,"layout":"grid","headline":"Related","items":[{"id":7345,"url":"https . The entrance for Tracy Arm and Endicott Arm are the same. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies. Did it. I signed up for the closer up/small boat excursion off Celebrity Solstice into Endicott Arm, but our cruise isn't for a couple weeks yet. Here is a link to the YouTube video I made of the experience if it helps you decide if it is for you. We saw what had to be the most beautiful landscape with glaciers in the distance over the bridge and eagles feeding on remnants during low tide. Catered to their guests totally. Definitely something to experience once! Everyone was professional, courteous and helpful. Theme Design by Rakshi Creations. medianet_width = "300"; read more. Being so close to the water you could see how crystal clear it was, and you could really see the chunks of ice up close. So heres the tail of my excursion:I booked on board my NCL Cruise and was blessed with Allen Marine Tours for my whale watching experience. Would definitely recommend and go again. This was a unique tour because we got off the cruise ship Celebrity Solstice onto this smaller (140-person) enclosed catamaran right in front of the Dawes Glacier. I did respond to the email for some more clarification. But if you don't do Dawes, you will save a lot of money, you wouldn't be cooped up on a small boat for 5.5 hours, and you wouldn't be as rushed as we were once we got to Juneau. And, of course - best part - saw a dam of 9-10 humpbacks bubble feeding 4 times! The naturalist on board provided in-depth commentary regarding history, glacier features, and marine life. Review tags are currently only available for English language reviews. Add Cruise Critic's Community Forums to your iPhone's Home Screen! We had the opportunity to get any and all of them if we chose to. If characters in their Alaskan wear with the glacier in the background are important the second slot may be better for you. The cruise ship will get as close as possible (depending on icebergs and weather visibility) to Dawes Glacier, but because our ship was so big, we were still about 4 miles away from the glacier. 8 Do's and 1 Don't for Your Alaska Cruise June 26, 2017 by Sherry Boswell So, you've decided to do a cruise to Alaska? The scenery on this excursion is just amazing! Problems Getting Required Disclosure Docs. Watch our experience on the Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier Explorer here: @media(min-width:0px){#div-gpt-ad-fittwotravel_com-box-3-0-asloaded{max-width:320px!important;max-height:100px!important;}}if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[320,100],'fittwotravel_com-box-3','ezslot_2',109,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-fittwotravel_com-box-3-0'); If you book an Alaskan cruise, youll most likely cruise through the Endicott Arm or Tracy Arm. On our Carnival cruise, the ship didn't get super close to the glacier, so it was totally worth it. Booked on our sailing at our window opening but since upgrade cannot access page to update time selection or view if still available- like everyone else, it errors out in app or give the dwarfs on desktop. Hubbard Glacier vs. Glacier Bay vs. Endicott Arm & Dawes Glacier 140 134 Dawes Glacier Viewing in Endicott Arm (Cruise Ship Excursion) Review of Allen Marine Tours Reviewed August 19, 2018 This was a unique tour because we got off the cruise ship Celebrity Solstice onto this smaller (140-person) enclosed catamaran right in front of the Dawes Glacier. At the opening of the fjord we say a small group of humpbacks feeding so they stopped the boat for about 30 minutes so we could watch. Saw several whales, eagles and sea lions. Also looking at Sitka. We were very lucky as we saw several humpback whales including two sets of mother and calf as well as several orcas (at least 6 total in two different groups.) This cute guy kept coming up to our boat! Hopefully this is helpful for anyone else who has the same questions I do or are looking to book this excursion. dcassetta DIS Veteran Joined It looks like when the ship approaches the glacier (in this case Dawes Glacier), instead of viewing it from the ship you get in a smaller boat and get closer to it. Clear editor. We had booked Palo for dinner this evening because it was the Frozen night menu, if I remember correctly. It would be better if you explain further what precisely, you are looking at. My Mom, on her first cruise ever was able to book this as well. I looked at booking it for my parents and I know it was available for a while after our silver booking window opened. We went into Endicott Arm on Emerald Princess last August and took this excursion. This was our first excursion on our first Cruise and we couldn't have been more pleased. But with a HS kid in private school right now, that limits some of the funds, as well as time. We are supposed to sail through the Endicott Arm and to the Dawes Glacier from 6:30-11:00am (or 5:00-10:00am depending which part of the website you are looking at), and later in the day we dock in Juneau at either 2:00pm or 1:00pm. Upon arrival to the dock we boarded a vessel name St. Phillip. My suggestion is that the company provide a better description of this tour to the cruise line, because we weren't given any details about the tour. It really was worth it, when I saw where our ship got. We didnt back to the ship in Juneau until almost 2. , 8 Do's and 1 Don't for Your Alaska Cruise, 5 Things I Learned on Our First Catamaran Charter, Ultimate Guide to Jackson Hole & Grand Teton National Park. From this boat, we spent 20-25 minutes very close to the glacier and saw it calving many times! ChanaC DIS Veteran Joined Apr 25, 2014 Mar 16, 2022 #1 Has anyone booked an up close glacier tour in Alaska, on DCL or on another line? Also just for fun, I thought I would also post some pictures from my excursion! This was a great experience and well worth the expense. Mickey and Minnie were no longer meeting by the time we got back. Breathtaking Endicott Arm extends over 30 miles long, with nearly one-fifth of its area covered in ice. They may predict there is too much ice, or they get college students as seasonal employees but the students aren't available yet. Last year my family and I wenton a round trip Alaskan cruise on HAL out of Vancouver. While you dont get off the boat at anytime, you do need to be able negotiate transit of a narrow, moderately-steep gangway with only minor assistance to embark the tour vessel.