Well, we got up early before 6:15am to watch for the pilot's arrival as well as search for more whales, as the Captain had suggested yesterday during his noontime talk. However, it turned out the best sightings were yesterday when we saw them, and not today. Lucky for us, they were most active on the port side of the ship and we did get plenty of photos from the comfort of our veranda.
The weather was dismal with damp, misty fog and high overcast. It sure did not look promising that we might see sun and blue sky, but you ever know. One thing for sure, it was really cold. The best remedy for that was an early morning breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill. Arsa, the manager, greeted us, followed by waiters Andy, Violet, and Yoga….all of whom waited on us. The hot coffee never tasted so good. Once again, the restaurant was not full, mostly due to the fact that we would not dock in Juneau until 1:30pm. No need to get up super early.
The plan was to go into Tracy Arm, drop off a tour group, then head slowly into Gastineau Channel to Juneau. Speaking of shore excursions, there were many of them today. The Tracy Arm Fjord and Glacier Explorer was $310 for 6 hours. We watched from deck six forward while the guests filed onto the tour boat that went to Twin Sawyer Glaciers where wildlife sightings may possibly be viewed. That included pigeon guillemots, eagles, harbor seals, mountain goats and bears. There was a notice regarding this tour that stated there had been a significant landslide in August 2025, so during the remainder of August and September, the tour would explore Endicott Arm. Now if this tour had been amended, we do not know since we don't know anyone that went on it.
The nearby Mendenhall Glacier had several options that included hiking, kayaking, canoeing, and a helicopter ride to trek the glacier. Prices ranged from $80 to $585 with the tours lasting from 3 hours to 5 ½ hours. Two popular excursions included the sled dog discovery and musher's camp with a mile long trail of spruce and hemlocks. There was an opportunity to see puppies as well. The other tour was a seaplane ride to the Taku Lodge Feast for $485 and 3 ½ hours. It was on that excursion that friends of ours witnessed black bears licking the grills that the salmon had been cooked on. In the distance of course. On past trips, we have taken the Goldbelt Tram to the top of Mt. Roberts, and also the whale watch and wildlife boat ride. We have visited Mendenhall Glacier and the salmon hatchery several times. Now we prefer to do our own thing at our own pace.
We discovered that our TV was not working again. Even last night, we had lost the reception. Gosh, we sure do not remember these problems on last year's Alaska trips. We were on the same ship in the same ports, but seldom had any problems like this. It remains a mystery. Oh well, better to go outside and get some walking in. On the promenade deck, we did see some whales blowing in the distance, so all was not lost for some sightings. By 11:30am, we made our way back to deck six forward to watch the sailing into the Gastineau Channel and eventually Juneau. Much to our surprise, Captain Smit came down from the bridge, joined us, while welcoming us back onboard. We met him last year while doing these same 7 day runs. He is very personable and friendly, and we will probably be seeing him at some events as we sail towards the South Pacific. He informed us that there were three other ships already in the port. They were the NCL Joy, the Disney Wonder, and the RCI Quantum. Since the Zaandam was the last ship to arrive, we lost our usual slip and had to dock at the "B" position or Franklin Dock. The Disney ship was in our spot. The NCL ship was the furthest away, but the locals did provide a shuttle for them to downtown.
At exactly 1:30pm, the cruise director announced that the ship had been cleared, and we would need to get off at deck two forward. However the only access to that deck was by taking the center elevators and walking the hallway towards the front. We waited for 45 minutes while the ship emptied, then left without much of a hold up. There were no greeters for any of the excursion folks getting off, like we always see on the grand voyages. But we did see a "wolf" and an "eagle" (costumes of course) for the photo stop. Very few folks stopped for a picture, as most of the buses were there to load up.
We did our usual walk through the downtown area and found it very crowded with cruise ship guests. One of us had forgotten some necessary items at home, so we needed to locate the drug store. Naturally, this pharmacy was really jammed full of people doing the same thing. The bad news was that most of them were coughing and sneezing while blocking the narrow aisles looking for remedies. We exited "stage left" quickly after finding that the shelves were already depleted of many products….namely the one we were searching for. We'll have to look in Skagway tomorrow.
From there, we hiked to the Hangar on the Wharf for a late lunch. Of course, it was full of customers as well as groups waiting outside with beepers. It was only a 15-minute wait, but well worth it. Ordering two blonde Alaskan draft beers, we relaxed and enjoyed sharing cheese nachos with ground beef. The best treat was splitting a slice of whipped cream, chocolate-drizzled mud pie. It was the first dessert we have had since we left the Zuiderdam in May. And boy…..was it good or what?
Making our way back, we stopped at the Alaskan Fudge Company to purchase a small bag of peanut brittle. The final stop was at Monarch Jewels for a complimentary tiny pink-stone pendant representing the Alaska state flower of forget-me-nots. Of course, I could have purchased a matching set of earrings for $20 (credit card) or $10 (cash). I passed on it. Maybe next time since we will be back. Then we made a quick sweep through one shop that had everything. A favorite item one of us likes to buy are the Lazy One sleep t-shirts. Since last year, at least four new ones were there. Most of the popular size were gone, so we will continue to search in Skagway or Ketchikan in a few days.
After passing the facial recognition check, we were back on the ship by 5:45pm. Yesterday we made reservations in the Pinnacle Grill for dinner tonight at 8pm. Although we were not starving (we are never starving on the ship), we kept the meal simple. Wedge salads and a shared candied bacon platter were our starters. Halibut and the 8 ounce filet mignon with a side of French fries was ample for the two of us. Dessert was one serving of a bread pudding and the three macaroon cookies they serve these days. Tonight was not supposed to be crowded, but it turned out Arsa had well over 100 customers – a record he said.
We finished by 9:30pm and were happy to call it a night. There was a magic person, Nick Paul, as the entertainer in the World Stage this evening. He has performed on Penn and Teller Fool Us as well as Conan and Netflix magic for humans. Movies in the Wajang were the Big Miracle and Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
The ship quietly pulled away from the dock shortly after 9:30pm. We could hear the foghorn blasting again as we left the area. We were the last ship to arrive here, and the last one to leave.
Bill & Mary Ann
