The first half of the Alaskan Adventure came to conclusion this morning as we bid goodbye to the Celebrity Millennium and our home for the last week, Stateroom 8045. We LOVE cruising Alaska, and I continue to look for cruises longer than a week, but it's just hard to find such a thing. We are already looking forward to our next Alaskan cruise in the summer of 2019. We always try to do something a little different on our cruises to Alaska, and this next one - assuming all goes according to plan - will be on an American Cruises ship, which is a river vessel with only a capacity of about 250 people. We believe this will provide us a more unique, up-close & personal look at Alaska. Want to come along? Contact me via Facebook or email!
So we docked in Vancouver about 7:00 am and after a light breakfast our group was called to disembark about 8:30 am. Gathered our luggage and immediately met our contact for the land cruise. There are thirteen of us travelling together for the next week. We were all given a personalized packet with all our information, vouchers, and transfer tickets and boarded the bus for a tour of Vancouver. We hit all the highlights of the Vancouver metropolitan area, with the first stop being the Vancouver Lookout Tower. The lookout itself reminded us of Seattle's Needle, but the glass elevator up on the OUTSIDE of the building was more visual than we needed as it was an all glass elevator (much better coming down). We posed for a photo op and I took a couple of panoramic pictures of the Vancouver area.
We then drove through Chinatown and out to Stanley Park where we saw some totem poles. We drove to Prospect Point in Stanley Park and got a photo op with the Lions Gate Bridge over our shoulder and then headed to the Granville Public Market for a lunch stop. It was close to 2 pm and we were dropped off at the hotel, the downtown Fairmont and we checked into our very luxurious room on the 12th floor. Tomorrow we have a full day tour which includes a ferry ride to Victoria Island....see you then!
We left Ketchikan yesterday just as dinner was being served at 6 pm and today at about 3:30 pm we arrived at the "Inside Passage" which features more remarkable scenery and often times some of the best wildlife watching in the state. We had gone to the matinee show in the Celebrity Theatre which brought back all of the major acts from the week and enjoyed that show....although it had been advertised as a 1:45 start time and at 1:50 the halls and stairs were packed with people because the doors were not open. Never got a reason, just a "thanks for being patient" comment as they started the show.....but it was entertaining. Then we headed up to the Cosmos Lounge on the top level which has a panoramic view out the front of the ship to (a) enjoy the cruise through the Inside Passage and visit with our friends from 30 years ago whom we ran into on our excursion yesterday.
Tom & Sonia Tirb had been close friends and teaching colleagues on the west coast of Florida and we'd not seen them since we moved to the east coast. We had SUCH an enjoyable afternoon sharing the sights of the Inside Passage and catching up. Even got to see a whale!
We were two hours late behind our scheduled dinner time, but like every other evening we had great dinner company. The only "issue" from our packed day was we got back to the room at 9:30 and our fully packed bags were due outside our stateroom at 10 pm.....and we hadn't even started yet! YIKES! By 10:04 they were outside and ready to be taken - whew! Tomorrow morning we leave the Millennium as our cruise ends - BUT the Alaskan Cruisetour continues as we will be spending the first two nights in Vancouver before heading east through the Canadian Rocky Mountains. We've already tentatively circled the summer of 2019 to return for our fifth Alaskan cruise, this time with a smaller ship experience on American Cruise Lines.
The Alaskan Cruisetour adventure continues on land tomorrow - we'll be back Alaska!
We LOVE the Crab Fest excursion! We discovered the George Inlet Lodge on our second trip to Alaska. Since then it is a regular stop, but like everything else on this trip we wanted to do it "with a twist." And so instead of taking a boat ride on the water we booked the crab fest with a Seaplane Flightseeing adventure. When we got up this morning it was misty, in the 50s, and gloomy outside. We walked into town (literally right across the street) and it was chilly and wet. Not an ideal day for flying I thought.....but like all weather in Alaska, just wait a bit...... We came back to the pier at 11:45 and caught the bus to the George Inlet for the lunch. The first unique part to this part of our visit came when - because there were six of us scheduled for the flight following lunch - we were seated in a small dining area building instead of the main restaurant. We enjoyed this because it was much more intimate. The crab legs, oh my they did NOT disappoint.
After eating we had about twenty minutes before the plane arrived so we went outside to enjoy the now sunny and cool weather. Kim filmed me introducing the day's adventure and as we stood there she suddenly whirled around and said, "That's Tom Tirb's voice!" Tom & Sonia Tirb were our best friends when we taught in Port Charlotte thirty years ago. I knew at this point Kim is definitely aging and losing her mind. I looked around and no Tom, but wait, there was Sonia! OH MY GOODNESS........hugs all around, Tom joined us and we said, "are you on a cruise?" The reply, "Yes, we're on the Millennium!" OUR SHIP! You've got to be kidding! How much of a coincidence that (a) we'd both pick this summer for Alaska, (b) these dates, (c) on THIS ship, AND then (d) book this excursion at this time slot! WOW. We will get together with them on this final day and a half of the trip. Just as they were heading up to their bus back to the ship our plane was landing.
Our pilot, Luke, got us on board and I was allowed to take the co-pilot's seat while Kim got the entire back seat to herself. And off we went!
A very smooth take-off, in fact I could hardly tell we'd take off the water initially. We flew for about 40 minutes over the mountains, through the valleys, and back down into town. It was very interesting that we've seen this scenery twice now from the inlet on the boat, but it was so unique to see it today from above. As Luke said, the only way to truly appreciate the beauty of Ketchikan is from the air.
All too soon we were flying over the ship and the channel and making one final turn before landing on the water and floating up to the dock. Another truly amazing day, and AGAIN we had the best weather. Everyone tells us, on all four trips, that Alaska is typically very rainy, but we've had beautiful weather nearly every day on every trip. Tomorrow is our final day of the cruise as we will be sailing the Inside Passage all the way down to Vancouver, British Columbia. We disembark the ship on Friday morning and then begin our land tour with two days in Vancouver before heading east through the Canadian Rocky Mountains!
Well, I'll apologize for those of you following along who were waiting to see what next big adventure came today. We sailed into Icy Strait this morning early and frankly there isn't much to do here.....you could go out whale watching, but we did that in Juneau and that was a big success. But here "in town," well, check the map below and you'll see how "big" Icy Strait is.......
To be fair, it is very "traditional Alaska," and it is the "real Alaska" - that is the goal of the local population who are largely Native Americans. In fact, the port is such that only one cruise ship can dock at a time here. We didn't book an excursion in advance and planned to use today as a day to recuperate after the long travel day and then back-to-back-to-back-to-back big adventures. And tomorrow we are back at it again with a sea-plane flight-seeing excursion which takes us to our favorite stop in Alaska, the George Inlet Lodge where we will be treated to all you can eat Dungeness Crab Legs!
When we woke up this morning we were greeted with 50 degree temps and a thick blanket of fog. Kim worked out in the gym and I walked four miles around the top deck - you can see how isolated Icy Strait Point is as I took photos looking in all four directions.......
We left the ship for about an hour and walked the "Nature Trail" which looped us through the forest, and the trees were gigantic. We also stopped and watched people come down the largest zipline in North America - not for either of us!
Finally, since there wasn't much to report on today's activities I thought some might find it interesting to see the very cool balcony stateroom we have. We are located at an area of the ship where our balcony, unlike everyone else's which looks straight out, is at a triangular angle so we can see down the length of the ship in one direction and a near 180 degree panoramic view when sitting on the balcony!
Today was THE DAY we've been waiting for. Not only since we were last in Alaska, but since the very first time we visited Alaska in 2004. On that trip we brought the entire family and were (a) on a budget and (b) didn't know what Alaska offered. As soon as we had visited this great state we KNEW we had to someday go for a dogsled ride. Who knew that when we would finally reach that goal we'd actually DRIVE the sled! Just let me say it's a good thing that there wasn't much traffic! The excursion today was a dual one - the first part was about a 45 minute helicopter ride from Skagway up into the mountains and over the glaciers - the scenery was absolutely breathtaking....especially with a 360 degree panoramic view like you see above. Here are some photos from that first segment of the day's adventure.
It was very interesting throughout the ride as the pilot gave us a "guided tour" of the area. Two statistics which caught my attention was that we were flying at 10,000 feet - you'd never have guessed we were that high - and he said we were flying along at about 120 mph - and that you'd NEVER have guessed! We went very, VERY high up the sides of several mountains and then would dip down into the valleys. Finally as we came into the final valley we saw a glacier and then around the bend, there was the dog camp waiting for our next adventure!
When we landed we were delighted to discover that the surface was covered in snow (we'd read about one dog-sled excursion that you "drive" over gravel and another over the iced surface of a glacier). We made our way to the guides and were sorted into three different teams of four people.
As we walked along it was explained that the humans in camp stay up here all summer with very few trips "back to the real world." They have their barracks, kitchen, dining area and an entertainment area. There are 240 dogs that stay up here all summer. At the end of the season in September they are all - humans & dogs - transported via helicopter - back to Skagway and the place is completely emptied so there is nothing but snow left behind on the glacier! Each team was led to a driver and he introduced us to the team of dogs that would be our transportation for the afternoon.
As soon as we approached the "musher" and his team of dogs they perked up and were anxious to meet us. We were introduced to each dog individually and they seemed genuinely happy to be petted and talked to. But as soon as the first dog was hooked to the sled the entire camp of 240 dogs went berserk! It was a dog version of "Take me, take me! PLEASE let me run.....pick me!" We had a tandem sled where one couple would take the back sled and another couple the front sled. We were promised that we'd stop four times so everyone got an opportunity to ride in both sleds and to drive the sled.
And so we boarded our dog sled and away we went! Yes, it was cold, but not so cold for example that I minded taking my gloves off to film. Our guide, the musher, explained at one stop that sometimes it was in the upper 70s or 80s but today was one of the few times this season he'd worn a coat. He also said that we had picked the perfect day to do this! The only thing I can put down in words about the experience is this......you can look at the photos, and yes, it looks p-r-e-t-t-y cool; and you can watch the video, and THAT looks even MORE COOL. But truly, none of it in any way, shape, or fashion comes even remotely close to what it was really like. We have crossed off one of the big "bucket list items" today and it did not disappoint.
After making the trip, and the four stops to switch positions, we returned to the camp and got to meet some of the newborn pups. They were adorable.
We had been told prior to leaving camp that one of the members of the team would be positioned to take an "action shot" of us on the sled, so she now had the photographs available for purchase. Well worth the price for this once-in-a-lifetime event! Moments later the helicopters returned and our time in the dog camp had come to an end. The flight back was only about ten minutes and there was very little sight-seeing but everyone was grinning from ear-to-ear with the thrill of the day's excursion.
As we left Hubbard Glacier last night we saw these "floating mountains" on the horizon - pretty cool, eh? We sailed all evening and through the night arriving in Juneau, the capital of Alaska around 8:30 am. We've visited here several times on our four previous trips to Alaska, and our most memorable experience came three years ago when we went whale watching with our good pals Sue & Dan Reynolds. A MOST amazing day to say the least and we KNEW it couldn't be that good, could it? The whale watching was to be followed with a visit to Mendenhall Glacier which we visited on our first trip to Alaska in 2004, and then we flew up in a helicopter to hike on that glacier in 2009.
Whale Watching
We set out on our bus to the dock and boarded our viewing ship. As we boarded I greeted the captain and asked if we'd see whales. His reply was "I've not been out yet today, I hope so!" Not the most encouraging of signs. But by the time we'd been out about 20 minutes we began to see the whales. Not quite as phenomenal as three years ago, but in terms of what you "usually" or can "expect to see" - far, FAR beyond those expectations. MULTIPLE times the whales would leap out of the water. Lots of tail fins, lots of surfacing and then submerging. The photos don't do the experience justice.....I highly encourage you to watch the video when I get it loaded later. Most of the whale photos are screen shots from those video clips. Just amazing.....
Day 3 Video Highlights
Mendenhall Glacier
Our second stop of the day was the Mendenhall Glacier. When we went to the naturalist's talk yesterday he talked briefly about this glacier and mentioned just how much it has receded, unlike the Hubbard Glacier. Here is the first amazing fact about that.....check out the photo below. It is taken from the gift shop and observation center. Well, in 1935 if you stood where this structure is today you could have reached down and touched the glacier! Look how far it's retreated in just 75 years!
Here's the next interesting fact......the two photos below of the Mendenhall Glacier. The top photo I took in 2004 when we first visited Alaska; the following photo is from today's visit. You can see much less ice today than just 12 years ago!
We had a great visit to the glacier, but to be honest, it was far less impressive than the first time we visited in 2004. The main reason is because on that day it was the first time we were ever that close to a glacier. But since then we've helicoptered and walked on a glacier - twice; landed on a snow-covered glacier in Denali National Park; and paddled a canoe right up to the edge of a glacier. So to "just see" the glacier was far less impressive in comparison. Have to say though, this glacier holds special memories because it was on this very glacier in 2009 that we went for our first glacier hike with Kim's twin sister Karrie and her husband Randy.
