Alaska Day 1 Cruised out of Vancouver. The port was unique, herding passengers from 3 different cruise lines into 1 large building but surprisingly it was actually quite smooth and efficient. Brilliance of the Seas a smaller ship than the Oasis class from last year with far less amenities but still a VERY nice ship. Departed around 5pm heading to the inside passage.
Day 2 Woke up quite early due to the time difference in the inside passage. Quite beautiful seeing the mountainous terrain on either side of the ship. Snow capped mountains on either side. Very frontier. Amazingly there were little coastline villages and cabins in the middle of nowhere. Other passengers reported seeing whales off in the distance west.
Alaska Day3 Again, early morning wake up. Bright at 3:30am. Dozed back off until 5:00 got up to get coffee. Topside quite chilly. Sitka today around noon. Spotted several humpback whale spouts for about an hour off the stern of the ship. Arrived in Sitka. Quite picturesque though it was a small village/town. Sitka national park. Totem poles dating back some 300 years. Spotted 2 bald eagles nesting. Attended Tlingit native dance. Still no northern lights but still not dark dark until 11pm or so
When I did this cruise we would sit outside and saw bears on the beach and whales. I would take the blankets and pile them on to be able to sit outside.
When I did that cruise we did a rafting trip through the bald eagle preserve in Haines. Eagles everywhere - it was amazing. Saw a mama bear and cubs from my balcony on the last day - the captain slowed the ship so more people could see them. He also got so close to one of the glaciers that crew members were coming up on deck to see because they hadn’t been that close before. Great trip.
When we went by the Mendenhall Glacier, we hurried into the spa and sat on the stone loungers with cocktails as it floated by. Best seat in the house.
My only experience in Alaska was in 1998 during joint training with my FAST Marines in Ketchikan… it sucked balls. Lol
Alaska Day 4 Arrived Juneau early in the morning. Had a couple of hours before excursion. Jewelry stores out the wazoo! Red Dog Saloon, Wyatt Earp’s pistol on display. Confiscated when he was passing through. Whale watching was incredible. Followed a calf and cow for about a half hours. So cool. Sea lions but no orcas. Bummer Mendenhall glacier was incredible. The various colors of blues was astounding. Only wish we had more time there. Haines, Skagway and Canadian Yukon tomorrow.
Alaska Day 5 Arrives in Haines early morning. Drizzling and raining. Mustered in the theater with all of the tour groups before disembarking. Took a ferry across the fjord to Skagway. Boarded bus to the Yukon. Tour driver was great. Yukon suspension bridge for lunch. Great chili! Lots of history on the Yukon gold rush. Very cool. Tomorrow start heading back going through the Tracy Arm Fjord and glaciers.
DK I’m sure someone here could walk you through posting pics I got back from New Zealand about a month ago and if I could figure it out I would post some pics too.
No port call in the fjord. Ship going to sit there for a while, supposedly slowly rotating 360 for a bit. Hope to get some great shots. Don’t worry, once I get back home, I’ll figure out pix.
Myrtle beach is fine, I've had a lot goot family vacations there, but lets not pretend its not the walmart of the beach community North myrtle is a bit nicer. And nobody wants to see pictures of that... unless maybe if it's inside one of DJ's strip clubs
In the late 90s my ship was sent to Ketchikan for a exercise where Jarheads got (lucky them) to practice pier security vs Navy EOD divers and they needed a target to guard. This was just after cruise ship season, so it was snowing off and on, and since they only needed the ship to be a target, the sailors got to go into town every day to do drunk sailor things. I found out later a group of chiefs and junior officers borrowed a Coast Guard van that they drove to a beach when the tide was out, and then float tested it when the tide came in. They hung a picture memorializing the moment in supply. Anyway, the poor grunts got to eat MRE's and sleep in tents while checking us on and off the ship. The EOD divers blew us up every night too, and we would see them after their "missions" at the various bars. Good guys. I always think about that time when I hear about Alaskan cruises and think to myself, "HAHAHA stupid Marines, have fun being the men's department."
My wife is an elopement photographer and had a gig in Auckland so we made it a two week trip to the north and south. Such an interesting different place in the world, one side is like Hawaii and the other Alaska..no predators on the island nothing, not even a snake. Food is incredible cause they just use what the island provides I can’t figure out how to post a video yet
Alaska Day 6 Woke up early entering the Tracy Arm Fjord. Beautiful scenery! Started seeing floating icebergs, small at first then kept getting larger. Saw a single humpback whale out our balcony. Captain had to turn around prior to entering final channel to Sawyer glacier. Too much ice in the channel to safely navigate. BUMMER!! Sailing back to Vancouver. Formal night tonight. Heavy seas. Ship’s rolling pretty well. Yeehaw!
Alaska Day 7 Still at sea, saw a humpback whale actually breach about a half mile off the port side of the ship. Learned that whales breaching are actually an alarm being set off by the adults. It was pretty cool. Not much to journal today. Slowly packing for disembarking and having a few adult beverages.
Damn it, I hate technology sometimes. Tried uploading some photos but of course, too large. Finally made is back home yesterday afternoon. Had quite the scare in Toronto. Deplaning to make a connection, mom had a misstep and fell in the airport…and fell HARD!! Thought for sure we were going to the hospital. If you want to know where I get my stubbornness, look no further than her! Paramedics put a sling on her and we flew home. Went to the ER for x-rays. Thank God they were negative so she probably has just a sprained shoulder and wrist. Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend.
