Whales & Waves

By: Samie

Travel Dates: July 13th-25th, 2025

Day 3

(Port Day in Juneau: Whale Watching, Mendenhall Glacier, Tracey’s King Crab Shack)

The morning of July 16th, our 3rd full day of our Alaskan cruise, brought us into port in Alaska’s capital of Juneau! We didn’t dock as early as we did in Ketchikan, so we got a more relaxing morning in our rooms before having to worry about being up and ready to go.

The port didn’t come into view until around 9:00am, but the cruise daily schedule didn’t have us arriving and officially docking until 10:00. This allowed us to casually enjoy another room service breakfast and enjoy the ascending sun from the comfort of our balconies before our scheduled excursion. We enjoyed the gorgeous views and greenery as the large ship docked and anchored.

Also, while relaxing from our patio chairs, we noticed the most adorable and playful little harbor seal! We watched it swirl around the waters, tilt its head back to call out to whoever would listen, and enjoy watching it take in the large ships and fellow wildlife watchers out on their balconies. We could tell this was already a good omen for the day ahead!

Our intentions were to enjoy all the complimentary activities the ship had to offer for the majority of our cruise, but we had planned to splurge on one big excursion, and we had settled on the Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Quest in Juneau.

We wanted to make the most of our time in the city, so we booked for the earliest excursion time we could make work, 10:30am. We once again made our way through the extensive yet efficient and well-oiled process of disembarking and making our way to the crowded pier. The area was filled with not only other cruisers but also a plethora of different excursion guides holding up signs and attempting to herd as many folks in the correct directions as possible.

We eventually were able to successfully locate our proper guides and they steered us to an area we could sit and wait while we waited for our transportation to arrive. We were loaded onto a bus or two before being taken to another, much smaller, boat that would be taking us out to watch for some whales. I could hardly contain my excitement!

We hop on the boat and find good seats inside near some windows to help us get some great views. We were introduced to our staff, who happened to be all J’s and C’s (Jarrod, John, Christian, Chris, and Caitlin) before setting sail into Shelter Islands State Marine Park.

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before we spotted our first spout, signaling a humpback whale visible and feeding at the water’s surface. Another good sign that the spray of water we were seeing from quite a distance was in fact likely a whale and not simply a figment of our imagination or smudge on our binocular lenses was the fact that seagulls were swarming, another good sign of a humpback.

We drew nearer and finally got our first up-close and personal view of one of these absolutely magnificent and majestic creatures! Our boat cut the engines after moving in as close as we were able without disturbing the whale’s feeding or causing it distress. Fortunately, the views from where we floated were perfect! Our windows just so happened to be on the side facing the whale, so we were able to easily gaze at the rolling spine of our new marine friend as it slowly arched up and back down into the frigid waters. As he dove down, he flashed us his signature whale tale and fluke before the submerging fully until his next resurface.

The guides are able to identify different whales based on their individual and unique flukes. After some binoculars and detective work, we were able to help them identify this particular whale as Kelp, a 19-year-old male. Kelp was born in the area to a famous large female humpback whale named Barnacles. What makes this pair so interesting is that they have actually stayed together, even after Kelp grew out of his calf phase!

We contentedly sat and watched Kelp crest and feed for a good half hour before our guides finally made the call that it was time to move on because we still had lots to see, and there were still plenty of other whales out there. It was definitely hard to say goodbye to Kelp, and I would have been content if he had been our only whale sighting the entire time. Witnessing him lit up something in my chest and brought humpback whales toward the top of my list of favorite animals. I couldn’t believe how quickly I found a love and fascination for these animals, even after so little exposure. I can’t help but thank Kelp for that, so he will always hold a special place in my heart as the first whale I’ve seen in person and also the whale that lit a spark for this marine animal in me.

As we made our way over to our next location, we spotted a bald eagle casually perched on a large rock of a little island. This was also very fun to see at the time, but we also didn’t know then that we would be seeing so many more eagles over the next few days of our Alaska adventure. We also spotted a few more spouts and fins along the way but didn’t quite get the same show we had been fortunate enough to have with Kelp.

However, we eventually pulled up on another whale sighting, this time a pair of a mother and her calf! This time we had to stand and walk to the other side as they were on the opposite side of the boat to where we were seated. They weren’t nearly as active as Kelp, but it was still very fun and exciting to see two sets of spines and tales hover around the surface for a while. They also didn’t hang around as long as Kelp, and they retreated beneath the surface after only a matter of minutes. We timed it just right!

Moving forward, we didn’t see any more whales, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t still have some great and exciting marine wildlife that I enjoyed just as much as the whales! Firstly, we came across a buoy that was absolutely packed with a very lethargic group of sea lions. It was so packed, in fact, that there was one poor little buddy that was circling the others on the buoy, unsuccessfully attempting to find one more spot for him to scooch in.

Finally, we made our way past an island where many seals (yes, they are different from sea lions) were straight up lounging. If you ask just about any Alaskan guide, they will refer to seals as sausages. If you are looking out for a seal, look for the round little sea sausages, usually relaxing on a rock or ice chunk. It is obvious why sausage is a perfect reference for this amazingly derpy little creatures. Seals became my third favorite animal after spending some quality time with them at the Winnipeg Zoo, so getting to see them out and about in their natural habitat was an absolute joy to behold.

The second leg of our excursion was the land portion that would bring us to the Mendenhall Glacier. After docking and making our way off the boat, we found our bus number and driver and made our way over to the drop off area near the glacier.

We were first greeted by a large visitor center and also a large group of people also here to see the glacier. We had to ascend a flight of stairs to reach the visitor center, and we spent some time walking around the area first. This is also where we were able to get some information on a few different trails or paths we could take to view the glacier. Some were more like hiking trails that were more of a time commitment than we had available, even if we had been so inclined to put in the work, so we went with the short and sweet path that took us down to a well-manicured outlook that had great views.

It was a slight descent with one or two ramps/stairs. Along the way, we got to see rock formations containing clear markings from the glacier’s travel paths and lots of beautiful wildflowers! We stood and soaked up the gorgeous views of not only the glacier, but all the surrounding natural beauty as well before making the ascent back up to the visitor center for some final gift shop perusal and purchasing before it was time to catch our bus.

After our excursion, we were brought back to the main strip near the pier and docked cruise ships, where we had another extremely important appointment to keep. While the ship offered fantastic food, there was one special meal we just couldn’t bear to leave Juneau without sampling. We got in line to order some famous Alaskan King Crab from Tracey’s King Crab Shack.

The prices were definitely hefty, but we also knew there was no guarantee we would be back here with the same opportunity again, so we knew it would be worth it. We ordered the 4 pound bucket of King Crab, and we can confirm that it is called King Crab for a reason. The most fresh and enormous crab legs were brought out to us!

We had often indulged on big store crab legs as part of our annual Christmas traditional meal, but we weren’t prepared for the feast set down in front of us! One single crab leg was at least twice the size of the ones we usually cracked open for the holidays. Each leg was also almost twice the length of our heads! They were thick, too, and filled with the most succulent and juicy crab we had ever been fortunate enough to chow down on.

There’s a small chance we blacked out while eating because it was all such a glorious and glutenous blur. We ate every last ounce of crab in that bucket until we were all near bursting. I think it was quite possibly the best food coma I’ve ever been in. I can’t recommend getting in on this experience at least once in your lifetime if you are given the chance because it was worth every last cent and calorie that needed to be walked off later. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

After eating, we waddled through and around the shops and area leisurely since all aboard wasn’t until 8:30pm. After a little while, we split off, and Luke and I went one way while the remainder of the family went another. We were all bursting at the seams with contentment and had no qualms about doing our own thing and making our way back to the ship when we were ready.

After some souvenir shopping, Luke and I decided it was time for a caffeine boost and found a quaint little coffee shop called Heritage Coffee Co. and Cafe. We were both nice and toasty from walking around and having to carry around bellies full of crab, so we both opted for cold drinks. When Luke went to give his name, the barista asked, “Milk?” to which he corrected “Luke.” I didn’t want to make the barista feel bad about the mistake, but I gave Luke a look that conveyed that I had every intention of referring to him as Milk later.

We then made our way to a dessert shop we had come across while checking out vlogs on different things to do or see in Juneau. The place was called Jellyfish Donuts, and as you may well have guessed already, they are known for their wide and tasty array of donuts. We were still extremely full from our crab meal, but we figured these would make a great late-night snack or breakfast, so we went with a half dozen of some of the ones we thought looked the tastiest before continuing on our way.

Before making our way back onto the ship, we stopped for one final photo op in front of the capital’s welcome sign and finishing sipping our coffee drinks in the sunshine.

One of the featured desserts on the Lido Deck that evening was opera cake, which is one of my absolute favorite desserts, so once we had made enough room in our tummies from a sweet treat, Luke went with me to grab a slice. It wasn’t until almost 7:30 that evening before we could eat even one small piece of cake, and we had eaten at 4:30, so it took a while to make room.

We still had about an hour before we would be pulling away from Juneau, so this allowed us to enjoy one of the most perfect evenings out on our balconies that we could have possibly asked for. The setting sun cast the most beautiful golden light across the water, trees, and mountains, making everything glow and shimmer. Even the docked boats just resting in the harbor looked like a fairytale brought to life by the magic of the sun’s rays.

It was finally time to set sail again, and we watched with a bitter sweet farewell as Juneau’s boats and buildings grew more miniscule, the stretching mountains became silhouettes, the neon green grass faded to gray, the stark green bristly trees appeared no more than dark fuzz, and the yellow sun burnt all the color from the landscape until we were left with grays, blues, and blacks.

We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day.