Alaska 2024

 Today on our last day at sea we spent much of the morning & early afternoon watching whales and porpoises from the Lido and deck 15.  In between we attended the meet the captain interview.  Gloeta, on board naturalist, did another excellent presentation, this time on the 3 species of Pacific NW sharks.  She was followed by a final variety show featuring the cast singers and dancers along with Annalyse & Ryan plus Tom Franek.  It was very good.   The ship then entered a picturesque 'dogleg' section of the channel we have sailed through a number of times previously and we went up to deck 15 forward and watched many pods of killer whales and a few humpbacks and sea lions.  It was an imoressive showing!  We then ate a quick dinner in the Lido before watching the presidential debate on our phones as if was blocked on the stateroom tv.  We also completed packing while watching the debate.   Throughout the day we saw several other crui...

 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...

 We woke up early at the Westmark and packed our bags and checked out of our hotel at 8am.  It was about a 4 block walk to the Avis rental car office.  Our car was a Toyota Corolla Cross which we really liked.  I especially liked the adaptive cruise control and the Apple CarPlay. We drove Alaska 1 along Turnigan Arm past the turnoff to Whittier.  The road heads up and through a pass about 1,000 feet in elevation and proceeds through a long flatland.  There were also a number of state parks and lodges and fishing trip opportunities.  At Homer we stopped at the US Fish & Wildlife Marine Refuge Center where we did a quick tour of the curated museum before doing a short walk out in the marshland which is the summer home to sandhill cranes.  None were there. Continuing on, we drove to Homer Spit to find some fish & chips at the Boardwalk cafe.  However it was closed so we went across the street to the Harbor Grill where we enjoyed halibut ...

 Once again I was up early in order to put our checked luggage out for pickup to xe transported  by truck to Anchorage while we do the trip xy train.  We dressed and got ready for the day and caught a shuttle up to the McKinley Chalet which was our meeting point for the HAL bus shuttle to the nearby train depot.  With our food voucher, we purchased some breakfast items and saved one coupon for possible use on the train.   At 8:30am we boarded our shuttle bus to the train depot and boarded the Kenai HAL train car.  The very nice observation cars are owned y HAL and/or Princess. This day we were on a HAL car in seats 11a and b,  It was near freezing when we left and the fall colors were once again on display as we traveled south.  It was also a very clear day and Denali was in full view unlike the previous day where it was clouded over. We sat in our seats and enjoyed the views and the narration by Matt our car guide.  We signed up for a late l...

 It was once again an early day for us as we were on the #2 Tundra tour with a 5:45am report time at the Chalet.  We used our breakfast vouchers to purchase breakfast and snack items.  At 6am our bus which is really school bus with slightly better seats arrived and we boarded and got seats on the right side near the front.   The trip is about 44 miles long up to the point where the road is blocked by a landslide that has been under repair for over 3 years.  We've done this excursion each of the last 2 years.  We headed into Denali and soon spotted three  moose followed shortly by some caribou.  A little farther along  we spotted Dahl sheep, ptarmigan, grouse, and a weasel, but no bears for the 3rd year in a row.  It was cloudy all day, and Denali could not be seen. We drove back to the visitor center where we took the option to get off.  We visited the visitor center and watched a couple of Denali themed movies.  We then got in...

 Once again we were up early to put out our luggage which will be transported to Denali by truck separate from our bus.  About an hour later we had to report to the lobby to board our bus which would take us on the short drive to Dredge #8 for our tour and gold panning activity. At the Dredge, there is a short section of the Alyeska pipline.  There was an introductory presentation about the pipeline and the dredging activity before we boarded a narrow gauge railway tourist train for a loop through the park with various demonstrations of mining activity including how to pan for gold. At the panning location, we were all issued bags of "paydirt", and we sat down with gold pans and panned our paydirt.  I panned $12 worth and Angela panned $13 worth.  We pooled our resources and purchased a locket for her to wear.  The train then took us back to the parking lot but Angela forgot her coat at the panning location.  We phoned our guide, Jen, and she arranged ...

 Today set a record for us in a very unusual way.  We flew on a charter 737 that was put into service on January 25, 1983 making it the oldest 737 we have ever flown on.  It's interesting that the interior is a relatively modern design, but the engines are of the original design and tucked up tight under the wings unlike the more modern versions which have the engines suspended by a pylons under the wing.  Check in for the flight involved a hand sanding of wry passenger and a detailed inspection of every piece of carry on luggage.  Our group which was the first to arrive was assigned to sit on the left side of the aircraft but there weren't enough seats for me to sit with Angela, but they gave me a window seat in the back on the right side which worked for me.   Holland used to take two days to drive to Fairbanks using the Top of the World highway, but has found it more efficient to charter an airplane for a one hour flight.  Our plane was picking up a...

 With a full day to explore Dawson City, we ate some of our snack for breakfast and had some tea in the room.  We then walked to the free ferry while photographing historic buildings and looking for bingo items.  The ferry crosses the Yukon River feeding traffic to/from the Top of the World Highway.  All sizes of vehicles are carried on the ferry from large semi trucks to campers, vehicles with trailers, motorcycles, bicycles, and foot passengers.  The current is pretty strong and it's a fun ride across. On what I'll call the north side of the river we spotted a provincial park and learned of a Sternwheeler graveyard on the other side of the park.  Since we love camping, we walked up to and through the park checking out campsites and  exited the park downriver from the ferry and walked about a 1/4 mile to the Sternwheeler graveyard.  There were at least 8 ruins of Sternwheelers and it was fun to explore them before walking back through the park an...

 It was another early departure as we had to be in the lobby at 7:30am.  We boarded our coach and headed for Dawson City, Yukon Territory.  There were several large lakes along the way, Lake Leberge (pronounced Labarge), and Fox Lake.  We did a rest stop at the Montague Roadhouse historic site which has the remains of a former roadhouse.  Just 20 minutes down the road we stopped at a Carmacks grocery store for something for lunch before proceeding on.  Jen also passed out a travel bingo game and it was really fun trying to fill out the squares with sightings. Along the way, we came across a TESLA electric car charging station out in the middle of nowhere.  A Tesla would be my last choice in vehicles to drive up here.  It's hard enough finding gasoline, let along charging stations. We rolled into Dawson City around 5:30pm and took an abbreviated drive through the town to help us get our bearings, Jen passed out our welcome packets and room keys ...

 We were up early for breakfast and drop our day luggage off at the Half Moon room so we wouldn't have to pack it around during our walk around Skagway.  We then  had a meeting in the Rolling Stone Rock Room to meet our Guide Jen.   We then left the ship to walk around Skagway.  We've been here the previous two years plus I was here in 2009 on a long motorcycle ride.  It was quite windy and 4 cruise ships were in port (SAPPHIRE & Discovery Princess and the Celebrity Edge).  We were able to purchase some snacks at the Alaska Commercial grocery store before heading back to the ship.   Our group formed up and we received information packets and we disembarked the Koningsdam for the final time and boarded a shuttle which would take us a short distance to the train.  This coach would be our coach all the way to Dawson City, but today he would meet us in Fraser, BC which is just over the pass from Skagway.   We sat on the left side of the ...