Sharing the adventures from cruising around the world
Friday, September 20, 2024
Report #16 Thursday September 19, 2024 Sea Day Enroute To Juneau, Alaska Cloudy With Rain Showers And Some Sun Cooler-- Temperatures 48 Degrees---Dressy Night
Thursday, September 19, 2024
Report #15 September 18, 2024 Vancouver, British Columbia 7am-4pm Docked Starboard Side To Pier Turnaround Day Sunny And Warmer 65 Degrees ---Casual Dress
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Report #14 Tuesday September 17, 2024 Scenic Cruising The Inside Passage 4pm-7pm Cloudy With Overcast Skies And Warmer 62 Degrees Seas: Flat With Slight Swell---Casual Dress
Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Report #13 Monday September 16, 2024 Ketchikan, Alaska Docked Port Side To Pier-11am-7pm Heavy Fog With Rain Mist All Day 52 Degrees---Dressy Night
Monday, September 16, 2024
Report #12 Sunday September 15, 2024 Cruising Glacier Bay National Park 7am-4pm Rainy And Cool All Day 48 Degrees And 20mph Winds
Report #11 Saturday September 14, 2024 Skagway, Alaska Docked Starboard Side To Pier Cloudy And Cool No Rain Sunny In The Afternoon 52 Degrees----Casual Dress
Well today is Saturday, so it must be Skagway. Again. The ship was already docked at the Broadway pier by the time we woke up. However the weather looked better than last week. It was a cool 50 degrees with very cloudy skies, no wind to speak of, but best of all….no rain. Later in the afternoon, we even saw the sun peeking through the clouds. There were two ships here as well…… the Grand Princess and the smaller Regent Explorer.
Sunday, September 15, 2024
Report #10 Friday September 13, 2024 Tracy Arm Drop Off And Juneau, Alaska Docked Starboard Side To Pier Overcast With Rain And More Rain 52 Degrees ---Casual Dress
Friday, September 13, 2024
Report #9 September 12, 2024 Sea Day Enroute To Tracy Arm And Juneau, Alaska Overcast With Some Rain 59 Degrees Seas Mostly Flat With A Following Wind ----Dressy Night
Thursday, September 12, 2024
Report #8 September 11, 2024 Vancouver, Canada, British Columbia Turn Around Day Cloudy With Heavy Overcast Clearing In The Afternoon 59 Degrees---Casual Dress
Report #7 September 10, 2024 Sea Day Cruising The Inside Passage Cloudy And Overcast With Cooling Temperatures-- Flat Seas
Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Report #6 Monday September 9, 2024 Ketchikan, Alaska Docked Port Side To Pier 11am-7pm Mostly Sunny And Warm 70 Degrees---Dressy Night
Monday, September 9, 2024
Report #5 Sunday September 8, 2024 Scenic Cruising Glacier Bay, Alaska 7:30am-3:30pm Heavy Fog Clearing To Sunny Skies Cool---Casual Dress
The Glacier Bay Park Rangers, Alaska Native Voices Cultural Ambassador and Alaska Geographic Representatives had joined the ship at 6:30am at Bartlett Cove. The rangers opened a desk in the Crow's Nest and the Geographic Reps open a small store. Their narration began about 8am and it could be heard in the Crow's Nest as well as the outside decks.
Breakfast was in order by 8:45am, and so were several cups of hot coffee. Our meal seemed to taste even better today after being out in the refreshing air for a few hours. Tina had worried about us being late, which was thoughtful, but we reassured her that all was well. We thanked her for her concern and said that when we are in Glacier Bay next week, we shall also be missing until later. There were other guests that arrived even later than we did, and it was fine.
On the way towards the first set of glaciers, we saw several sea otters on both sides of the ship. We do not recall seeing them this deep into the bay. The otters must have had a record year, because we never saw so many. Nice to see their antics as we slowly sailed among them. Many were taking a ride on the small icebergs floating by. They could easily be mistaken for harbor seals, but when we blew up the photos, they were definitely otters of all sizes.
The ship was as far as Jaw Point into the John's Hopkins Inlet, but turned around before we were able to see the actual glacier. Sometimes this glacier is off limits if the seals are pupping. Usually this is the only glacier that calves regularly. The ship headed north towards the Tarr Inlet and Margerie Glacier, situated near the US and Canada border. We lingered for quite a while near the face of the glacier, waiting for the Crown Princess to leave. The bow had been opened by now, and it filled with guests, adding a lot of color to our photos. Dutch pea soup was served on the outside decks as well as a coffee set-up where one could spike it with a variety of liqueur. It was very busy today. It would have been nice if we saw some calving, but it was not to be. The Captain spent about an hour at this point, then turned the ship and sailed slowly out of the inlet.
We needed to go back to the room to defrost and start sorting through the photos. Since we had missed lunch, we went to the Dive-In Grill and ordered one hot dog and one Cannonball burger. No fries. They were good and hot and we dined in our room. It would hold us until dinner at 7:30pm.
About the time we were passing by North and South Marble Islands, we went back outside in hopes of seeing more otters, the Stellar sea lions, and possibly whales. As it turned out, we were too far away to see any wildlife on these strips of islands. Scanning with powerful binoculars, it appeared the sea lions were not there anyway. There was a record number of otters once again. At 3:30pm, the rangers and reps were picked up by boat and headed back to their headquarters at Bartlett Cove. The ship headed south past Hoonah and the Inside Passage. We should arrive to Ketchikan tomorrow before 11am.
Dinnertime was casual attire with a splash of orange. And the theme was Dutch Dinner featuring the flavors of Holland. One of us ordered a bay shrimp cocktail and the other Dutch pea soup. Salads were West highlands with mustard dressing. Mains were bami goreng, a Holland/Indonesian dish and pork cordon bleu. Both were tasty. We are finding the cuisine very good on this trip. Later during our dessert of Boshe bols (chocolate eclairs), Presty stopped by for a chat. He agreed that the food is better than even the food on the world cruise mainly because all of the shipments are coming from the USA and Canada. It is fresh and of high quality and replaced every 7 days. It does make a difference. We complimented the bakers on their skill of producing breads that are tender and stay fresh. Presty totally agreed.
Entertainment this evening was a singer by the name of Chris Bannister performing hits from the now bit older crowd such as Dylan, Taylor, Simon, Croce and many more. The Call of the Wild (new version) was in the Wajang. Then at 9pm, there was the Orange Party in the Crow's Nest. Many folks were dressed for the occasion. It was a long day for us, so we called it a night.
Bill & Mary Ann
PS Thank you for all of the nice comments on Cruise Critic. We are also sorry we did not follow up on the "24 GWV, but life hit us with "fires" to put out. Not literally thank goodness.
We are currently in a very comfortable outside room, but will move to deck six on September 25th. We have access to the Pinnacle Grill for breakfast due to being President's Club members. And worth mentioning, we turned in the first laundry bag this morning. It was returned by 4:30pm. Can't get much better than that. By the way, laundry by the bag is $25 or 7 days unlimited for $59.50.
Sunday, September 8, 2024
Report #4 Saturday September 7, 2024 Skagway, Alaska Docked Starboard Side To Pier 6:30AM-9PM Overcast With Sun And Rain Cool Wind 52 Degrees ---Casual Dress
By the time we woke up, we were already on our way to docking in Skagway. It appeared that the weather was going to be OK today, although it was chilly with drippy skies, we also had periods of sun here and there. We were not alone today as there were two Princess ships here…..the Crown and the Grand. A whole lot of people for sure, but we suspect many of them would take the tours on the White Pass and Yukon Route railroad.
Luckily we were docked in the center at Broadway Dock. Last year, one time we were near the side of the rock slide, and we had to tender 200 yards to the small boat marina as we were not allowed to walk in that danger zone at all. Bizarre. Today we left the ship around 10am, right in the middle of a crew drill. Looking outside after breakfast, we almost went out with just sweatshirts. Even though the sun was out, the chill was in the wind. In fact, the name Skagway loosely translates to windy place in the Tlingit language. We know that the winds can be fierce enough to prevent docking. That occurred last year when this port had to be cancelled with Haines being substituted. That was fine and dandy for us since we have only been to Haines once in the past. It was a tender port and a rainy one at that, but we really enjoyed it.
Hoping to see some spawning salmon coming up Pullen Creek, we were disappointed to see none. From the info we read later on, the pink salmon run here is later in September. We will be back the next two Saturdays, so there is still a chance to see the fish. If not, the run in Ketchikan seems to be always good.
We took our usual path following the creek to the Pullen Pond, reading the signage along the way. The well-done signs are all about the flora and fauna of this area of Alaska. Making our way up Spring Street, the crowd of tourists had thinned out because we had left the shopping area. We would do that on the way back. There were some historical areas in this area that are worthwhile touring starting with the Mollie Walsh Park. Created for the little ones, there is also a very nice restroom stop which is used by the bus tours. This is a very people-friendly town as far as amenities go.
The Moore house and cabin are located here. The oldest structure in Skagway, this homestead was built by Captain William Moore in 1887 just prior to the gold boom that happened here. He prospered with building a dock, warehouse, and a sawmill. He and his family watched this area become a major port and railroad hub. Even though the gold rush did not last for long, he still made his fortune. It is always a pleasure to tour the cozy house and try to imagine what life was like back then. It was not all rosy however, since his wife often traveled back home and eventually left for good at one point. We see this part of Alaska during the summer/fall season. Being here in the darkness of the harsh winters must have been something else.
Continuing on, we spotted an old train engine that you can explore. It was located right next to the nicest building in town….McCabe College 1899. Built with native granite stones imported on the railroad, it was a short-lived college-prep school. For the following 55 years, it served as a US Courthouse, the Marshall's office and a jail. These days, it is a museum as well as the City Hall.
From here, we headed to the Klondike Highway, passing the railroad work yards as well as the trail that leads to the famous Gold Rush Cemetery and Lower Reid Falls. We decided to save that hike for the next two stops here. Crossing over the Skagway River on the Pat Moore Bridge was dicey. The brisk wind was quite strong blowing up the canyon, living up to its reputation. A nice spacious park called Seven Pastures is located on the left with Dedman Stage right in the center. Since there were few people there today, we took advantage of the stage to rest up for a bit. A pair of husky cross-bred dogs came along to check us out. Lucky for us they were friendly. Their owner appeared and the dogs ran off to his vehicle. This was a good turn-around point.
According to the weather report, there was supposed to be heavy showers by 1 or 2pm. If we headed back to town, we might miss the showers. It was constantly sprinkling, but when we reached the homes that were surrounded with large trees, we were sheltered somewhat. Taking Alaska Street back, we watched as planes landed at their small airport that paralleled the Skagway River. Directly across from this halfway point of the road was the settlement of Dyea, which was once larger than Skagway. It was also the start of the Chilkoot Trail and the way to the gold fields. Lots of history there, although most of the town is gone now we read.
The best part of the day was looking forward to lunch at the Station Bar and Grill on 4th Street. Located off the main streets, this restaurant is usually not crowded. Today was a different story. We arrived by 1pm and learned we would have a 20 to 30 minute wait for a table. Not a problem…it would be worth the wait for the best pizza in town. Eventually we were seated at a nice table where we ordered a Hawaiian pizza and two Amber gold draft beers. The pizza was every bit as large and tasty as we remembered…glad we waited. An hour went by quickly, and we still wanted to explore some of the stores before heading back to the ship.
One of those stores was the place that sold Alaskan Fry Bread. The best way to describe this sweet treat is that it's like a large round flat donut, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Too bad we were so filled with our pizza lunch, we decided to pass this time. It was interesting to see the jars of jams and pickled things such as pickled kelp. Really? We also located the spruce tip jam and jelly. Now that's a different twist with jams. Huckleberry looked the best.
The shops were over-loaded with shoppers looking for sales. We saw little in the sales department this time and we swear all of the prices have gone up since last year. Not that we really need anything, but one of us likes the Lazy One sleep T's. We saw very few of them today, but we still have Ketchikan to shop as well as two more trips this way. We arrived at the gangway by 3pm where we were greeted with an official using a facial recognition device. One of the trains had just let people off, so the line was long and s-l-o-w. We were well-chilled by the time we entered the ship as the winds seemed to have increased during the afternoon. By the way, the afternoon rains never happened.
The remainder of the day was spent working on photos and the report. At the visitor's center located in the Arctic Brotherhood Hall, we had found a treasure trove of brochures for not only Skagway, but for all of the ports we visit on these back-to-back cruises. We both agree that the history in this part of Alaska is most intriguing with really infamous characters and events.
Dinnertime arrived by 7:30pm with some good choices for appetizers and mains. For a while we were about the only ones in the upper dining room, but eventually, the tables filled with folks from the open seating group. And the all aboard time was 8:30pm, so there may be some guests that went to town for dinner. Anyway, we both enjoyed shrimp tacos (tasty, but messy) and Caesar salads for starters. Our mains were rigatoni with chicken meatballs and a turkey dinner…..both excellent. We shared one of the new desserts – a stroopwafel cheesecake (without the wafel). For a change it wasn't overly-sweet.
The entertainment in the Main Stage was a performance with the Step One Dance Company. We have seen the show several times on past trips, so it was off to bed for us. It had been an invigorating day with about 8 miles of walking in the fresh brisk wind. Needless to say, we looked forward to a good night's rest.
The ship left the dock after 11pm, after the Crown Princess pulled out. Tomorrow's itinerary includes a trek into Glacier Bay, which is always a treat for both of us.
Bill & Mary Ann