Whale watching with kids

[rarintugo]

Greetings,
My family and I will be heading to Alaska this summer for our first cruise on Celebrity's Summit from Seward to Vancouver and we are SO excited. We have two kids joining us ages 7 & 9 and have some trepidation regarding a Juneau excursion of whale watching with Captain Larry Dupler's Orca Enterprises that my wife and I would love to do. From everything we've read this sounds like a wonderful excursion that we would love to take but are not certain our kids will be able to last for 2 1/2 hours. We're concerned things may be a little too cerebral and slow paced. Any other parents out there with young kids who have been brave enough to try this particular excursion? Your experience? Suggestions?
Thanks


BTW, I can't say enough good things about this website! What a find!

[Kuki]

I honestly wouldn't worry about the kids at all. We took ours when the youngest was 9 and the oldest 12. They loved all the excursions we did, including a whale watching excursion.
Indeed the liked Alaska better than the Caribbean. Think it felt like more of an adventure for them.

[Donna]

I would also agree with Kuki, we did the whale watching in Juneau with Capt. Larry last Sept. Part of the 2-1/2 hours is first off a bus ride to the dock, its not the same one where the cruiseships are, then at least another 1/2 hour to get to the "right" spot to see the whales and a good hour at least out there. He may move around some to get you as close to them as possible, but at any point they could come right by the boat. YOu can go up-top, which is great and just be amazed when you spot them, or hear them.

I think the kids would love it, you'll be suprised at how fast the time goes by, not enough time to be bored and Capt. Larry is very imformative, just make sure when you book that you ask to be on his boat, they have I think 3 different ones, depending on how many bookings.

Have Fun, its definitely worth it to do this in Juneau :-)
Pic taken while on Capt. Larry's whalte watching boat:

[Davida]

My kids 5 & 9 went last week with Capt Larry and they loved it. You will see eagles, sea lions, and whales. They both liked the boat. Be sure to bring a few snacks since the ones on board are not that great.

We went whale watching in San Diego - not the same place, but we took our 4 year old - she loved the idea! Unfortunately unlike Alaska I see - we only saw water spouts - so it was disappointing for us and hard for her to see anything. She still had fun on the boat, and we were glad we had a nice outing so she learned more about whales. I would go especially if you know you can see the heads! Just be ready with the cameras!