Alaska 2024

 Our final port stop found us in Ketchikan.  We had a mid morning arrival at 10am, so we enjoyed a nice cruise down the channel past the Alaska Marine Highway repair yard with 3 vessels moored.  We berthed at the southern most berth facing south with the Zaandam slipping in behind us.  Behind the Zaandam was the Viking Orion and a northbound Princess ship.  We watched the docking procedure and we were in no hurry to get off of the ship as we have been to this port many times. After disembarking, we enquired at a local ticket seller booth about a wildlife viewing trip and there was one leaving at 10:45am, so we purchased tickets for it for $75 per person.  Comparable Princess shore excursions were triple that price.  10:45 came and went and finally at 11;12 we departed with 11 in our very nice Ford Transit Van.  Jason, our driver and guide took us first to a viewing spot on Creek Street where we watched the pink salmon spawning run.  It was in...

 Today on this return trip to Juneau, we arrived very early and the ship was cleared around 6:30am, but we didn't get up until 8am.  We met my cousin, Janet,  who took us to her church, Chapel by the Lake.  Afterwards we visited the site where Janet's mom and also her twin sister are interred.  Afterwards we treated her to a COSTCO dog at what is probably the smallest COSTCO we've ever visited.  We were back on the ship by 1:45pm to attend the 2pm presentation by Libby Riddles, the first woman champion of the Iditarod.  She's a polished speaker and good presenter. She also had merchandise for sale which we purchased a couple of items. Afterwards Gloeta gave a terrific presentation on large whales and large bears.  She's a delight to listen to and is very animated in her presentations.  She'll also be doing whale watching commentary after we leave the Gasteneau Channel following our 4pm departure. Before we attended a 6:30pm Captain's Circle c...

 Today we returned to Skagway where we visited a couple of weeks ago on our northbound leg of this trip.  This time we were parked at the railroad dock which required us to take a shuttle to the end of the pier.  This was due to the rock slide that occurred several years ago. We were berthed at this same dock on the Quantum of Seas not long after the slide occurred, but we could still walk the pier.  Further concerns about passenger safety changed all that. We met our contact person, signed the waivers, and were escorted to the Haines Skagway Fast Ferry which takes about 1/2 hour to sail to Haines.  Along the way we saw a number of harbor seals.  At Haines we were greeted by a tour representative and drove about 45 minutes on the highway alongside the Chilkat River.  At the landing, we were served a light lunch, enjoyed a nice wood fire, and were issued heavy coats.  We then boarded two jet boats and headed upriver on two different paths.  Wh...

We were awakened at 7:30am by Angela's alarm and got ready for our long day in Glacier Bay.  When we got an outside view in the Lido we could see that it was quite foggy. Starting at 9:45, the National Park Ranger commentary began.  The clouds were low and slowly rose permitting good lower visibility below the mountain tops.  We were supposed to visit the Marjorie Glacier first, but the Captain elected to visit the John Hopkins Glacier first. And we were among the first to get up close to the glacier as it opened on 9/1 to protective harbor seal breeding area.  We saw a number of seals while approaching the face of the glacier.  besides seeing the glacier up close, the real treat was spotting a mother grizzly and her two cubs moving fast along the beach.  We could also see the Noordam at the inlet entrance as it made its way up to the Marjorie Glacier. As we were leaving the John's Hopkins glacier, it was announced that due to high winds at Marjorie Glacier...

Sometime in the early morning we left Whittier. I recall waking up to slight motions of the ship.  Finally around 8:30 I got up and prepared for the day.  I'd gave to say this first night's sleep on the Grand Princess  was the best of this trip.  The pillows were soft, the comforter enveloping, and the mattress firmness just right. At our Horizon Cafe buffet breakfast we enjoyed conversation with a couple who honeymooned on the Grand 25 years ago.  Afterwards we watched the last of a shore excursion presentation which was followed by Kevin, CD's, presentation to new Princess cruisers.  I then booked a Northern Lights cruise to Norway for September next year.   After rejoining Angela for lunch, we Princess' onboard naturalist, Gloeta, who did an excellent presentation on glaciers.  The game show, Deal or No Deal was next and the first contestant won over $500 which was the largest sum we gave ever seen won.  We ended our afternoon doing laundr...

 My alarm went off at 7:30am as I needed to return the rental car keys to the nearby Avis rental office.  So I prepped for the day and returned them before walking 4 blocks down to the Eagan Convention Center to see if someone could explain the shuttle to Whittier protocol.  Fortunately someone was there and she explained that checkin started at 9am and it was first come first served and that we leave our luggage there for separate transport to the .  So I walked back to the Aviator hotel and woke Angela and explained the process.  She dressed and we checked out of the hotel and walked over to the Eagan Convention Center and joined a line which was already 25 people long.   Promptly at 9 they began processing us.  Our tagged luggage was dropped off and they compared our passports to their manifest.  We were also able to leave our hand carry luggage so we could wander at our leisure but we had to be back by 11:30 for a 12 noon departure.  We s...