Alaska Cruise - Stop 1: Juneau 🚢🏔️

After a day at sea, our first port of call was Juneau! I had originally booked a helicopter glacier walkaround tour 🚁❄️, but right before disembarking, it was canceled due to heavy rain 🌧️. Since it was too late to book another tour via the app or onboard, I decided to try my luck ashore. It was the first port day, so the crowd was huge—I waited almost an hour to avoid the rush before getting off. At the pier, cruise excursion staff were holding signs 📍. I spotted one for “Glacier Park, Whale Watching & Photo Safari” 🐋📸, asked if there were spots (turned out only 11 people including me!), and booked it on the spot. This tour turned out to be an amazing surprise! Our guide shared fun facts about Juneau and gave photography tips (for both phones and cameras). We started with a relaxed one-hour rainforest hike 🌿🥾—low intensity, lots of plant stories, photo opportunities, and guidance. Then we boarded a boat for whale watching 🚤🌊. The crew communicated with other boats via radio to find whale hotspots. We got lucky and encountered a whole group of whales playing together—even captured two whale tails in one shot! 🐋💥 After that, our guide asked if we wanted to see sea lions 🦭, so we sailed to a rocky area and watched them belly-slapping and lounging. We returned with just enough time to ride the Mount Roberts Tramway 🚠… but my boss scheduled a meeting last minute, so that plan was canceled 😅. Overall, the helicopter tour sounds epic but carries weather risks. Booking last-minute on shore is totally doable! This whale watching trip was fantastic—highly recommend bringing a telephoto lens if you have one! 📷✨ #Cruise #Alaska #TravelTips #WhaleWatching #Juneau #PhotoSafari 🌍🧳