Orca Enterprises

As cruise passengers my family had a terrible experience with Orca Enterprises in August 2009. The office staff who handled our tour was very dishonest and even overcharged us for the fare, which she later admitted. A couple of minutes before we walked into their office from the cruise pier, I called them via my cell phone to make sure that we would take the captain Larry's tour. And she said yes. Until boarding onto a shuttle bus, we didn't realize that instead of putting us on the boat we requested, they sent us to a smaller boat operated by a different captain for a much shorter tour without any advanced notice. On its own website they stated "We operate three tours daily, approximately 2 1/2 hours on the water, total duration 3 1/2 hours." We actually only had about 1 1/2 hour on the water. We got onto a shuttle bus around 9:30 AM and arrived at the docking port at about 10:00 AM to board, and then back to the dock at 11:30 AM. Compared to the whale watching tours offered on the same day by other companies, we only saw much fewer whales from a very far distance. It is very likely we would have seen more whales if they didn't cut back time and rush back. During the tour they were also supposed to provide some Alaskan special snack food and beverages which was also stated on their website, but they didn't offer anything. After we were back from the cruise, I called Orca and tried to share our experience with its owner Carol, but she has never called me back. Given the amount of money they charged us, we felt it was a complete rip-off. If anyone really has to use them, please make sure to take the longer tour. Otherwise you will be very disappointed for sure.