ALASKA BY SEA
Do it , Do it , Do it! Spend the extra money for the balcony cabin. It is the best way to cruise Alaska. It is a bit more expensive for the balcony so start saving your money now. Forget the six packs , skip a meal, sell the stamp collection. Do what it takes to pay the extra for a balcony cabin. Believe me when you are in Glacier Bay you will thank me.
I have to admit I hate standing in lines, so when I we arrived in Whitter (www.bellsalaska.com/alaska.htm) I was not looking forward to the usual slow boarding process of most cruises. To my surprise, I was right. I am not usually. Though they do make a valiant effort it is always too slow of a process for me. After standing in line for an hour we finally are ready to board when two overly chipper photographers want to take our photo. "Here buddy, flash on this!"
The Sapphire Princess is a grand ship. Impressive in all ways. Of course the first test of of cruise line is to test the food. So after checking out our"stateroom" we were off to the meal line. Most of the buffet food was good. There were a large number of Asian travelers and the food selections reflected this. The Sapphire Princess also had several restaurants, but I will talk about them later.
As I stated in part one, Whittier is a very picturesque. As you sail from port you have to think about the few people that stay behind each winter. The dozen or so who do stay behind face months of no sun light, no way in or out of town and extreme winter conditions. Do you think they ever watch the movie " The Shinning"? Even this day in May was cold and rainy. Most of the fishing boats were docked. The sea otters were the only fisherman out that day.
The first two days were scenic cruising. First College Fjord and then Glacier Bay. As we glided through the icy waters of College Fjord a National Parks Ranger echoed over the ships loud speaker system. He described the geographical history that created this unique water system. The sharp rugged mountain peaks stood above moving ice during the Ice Age while the rounded peaks were shaved off by the moving ice 10,000 years ago. It appeared that the bare rocky cliffs and snow packed mountains were within arms reach. When landmarks were described as five miles away it was hard to believe. We passed mountains of mountains and icebergs with harbor seals, sea gulls and eagles hitching rides. Through a narrow pass ( still miles wide) we could see Dall sheep, on the hill sides.
Glacier Bay
Day two. We woke up at 6:00 Am. This is when you appreciate the balcony cabin the most because all you have to do is open the curtains. You don't even have to get out of bed to witness truly one of the worlds greatest treasures, Glacier Bay National Park
(www.adventure-crew.com/parks/glacierbay.asp). Once the teeth were brushed and several layers of cloths were donned we ventured on to the balcony where I took another 300 or so photos. The views from the balcony were so great that we had breakfast and lunch in the room for fear of missing some fantastic sight. No photo or words can truly give honor to the panoramic views we saw that day. The multitude of up close encounters with glaciers was fantastic. Their blue ice, explosive sounds of ice cracking and the calving of ice walls as large sections crashed into the frigged water was surreal. What a whimsical day. As we traveled a Naturalist gave a lecture over the ships loud speakers. She described life growing up in this part of Alaska. Her father was a Bush Pilot. She explained the formation of glaciers and what caused that beautiful blue color. And not long after she described the various wildlife in the area we caught sight of three Grizzly bears just to our right. The three were foraging along an embankment 100 feet off of the waters edge. One was a light cinnamon in color the other two were dark brown. The scenic views continued the entire day.
That evening we had dinner in one of the ships showcase restaurants with new friends from Florida. As I sat in this elegant old world Italian restaurant I was trying to figure out how our meals were already included with the cruise , yet, here we were ready to pay for a meal just to be in a different dinning room. Yes, the food was good and the service was impeccable but so it was in the community dining room. My hat is off to the cruise line. We, and many others, paid double for our meal and didn't even complain. Well I did, but my wife stopped listening after the first five minutes. As for the food on the Sapphire Princess, you will certainly not go without on this cruise. I liked the buffet and the dining room food. After the first night we changed our dining arrangement from the 8:00 PM seating to anytime seating. This is a more relaxed way to have meals rather than having to fit into a pre-determined schedule. It's your vacation, do it the way you want.
Skagway
Day three we awoke to the the sound of train cars next to the dock. The White Pass Scenic Railroad was preparing for the day. Skagway is usually a drier area of Alaska but on this day there was a slight drizzle falling on the frontier-style store fronts. In 1898 there was a gold rush. Many of hardy soles made their way from Skagway to the Klondike. Few made their fortunes but many lost their lives trying.
We took a bus to the Yukon territory of Canada. The day was filled with unexpected sights. Going over the mountains through White pass was an experience all it's own. A forbidding place with the strong winds , snow and little else. As you come to the Canadian side it opens to a wide open tundra. Permafrost has stunted the growth of the vegetation. There was a slight haze and no wildlife was seen. It was as I expected from movies and TV. I was excited to be there.
Just as we thought this would be the scenery all day, things began to change. The sun was shinning and the ground was no longer covered in snow. To our surprise we drove into a desert.
Carcross Desert was formed from a sandy lake bed. Strong prevailing winds have stopped vegetation from taking root. It's name is a nick name for the town of Caribou Crossing. The small town of Caribou Crossing still appears as a rugged frontier town. Touristy shops line the main street. On the way back to the Alaska border we stopped at a small lake that looks like it belongs in the Caribbean islands. Dark blue water with coral green at it's edges. It was carved out by a glaciers thousands of years ago as so much of this part of the world was shaped.
Juneau
No roads lead to Juneau. Permafrost prevents any roads from being constructed into the capital city. This has not prevented Juneau from becoming a thriving metropolitan city
(http://www.traveljuneau.com/ ). When you are in Juneau do not miss seeing Mendenhall Glacier. You can get a very up close encounter with this 1.5 mile wide glacier. The glacier is large enough that it actually influences the weather around this part of Jun
eau. What we enjoyed most was whale watching. We went out on a boat at Gastineau Channel. Earlier that mourning a pod of Orcas had passed though. Although we missed them we did get to see six Humpback Whales. Two had calfs at their sides. Bring your own binoculars. The boat crew will provide a pair but the pair I was provide had so many scratches I couldn't tell whales from white caps. Luckily we brought our own. The captain also brought the boat to several sea lion rockeries. Fifty or sixty sea lions were lounging on the rocks and m
any more were in the water forming little islands of sea lions.
Shopping in Juneau? Sorry you are asking the wrong guy. Here's the deal, there have been actual studies showing that men who go shopping with their wives have a greater risk of heart attacks. I am only trying to save my life. Don't ask me about shopping.
Ketchikan
If you can, don't miss Ketchikan. The highlight for us was the Alaska Rain Forest Sanctuary. Yes, this entire area is actually a rain forest. Hiking the trails of this unique area revealed green dense forest with ferns and moss laden trees. The trees are noticeably taller than we had seen in other areas of the state. Many trees showed signs of bears sharpening their claws. This is home to a large population of Alaskan Black Bear which left there calling card of large amounts of bear scat ( poop) along the trails. Each trail guide kept a can of bear mase in hand just in case of a close encounter. Along the trail I caught sight of the Zip Line. It was promoted as
" Rain Forest Zipline, See the tree tops". Well after watching several people sliding upside down at a very high speed toward the ground, I do not believe they were actually seeing the top of the trees. There was probably some people "scat" below that Zipline.
The city of Ketchikan is a picturesque fishing village. It proudly states on it's city gate that it is the Salmon Capital of the World. The main street is a revitalized area of shops and restaurants that overlook a bay of fishing boats.
Long Day At Sea
As we left Ketchikan I was skeptical of the day to come. A dreaded day at sea. The weather was too cold for the ship's swimming pools to be open. Only a few dared to get into the outdoor hot tubs. So we ate and drank. Ate again and drank some more. There were still mountains with tips of snow at a distance and there was ice and water and more ice and more water and... well you get the picture . By this time I was getting a bit tired of ship life. Boring, boring, boring. Luckily I brought my lap top so I downloaded photos, savored the good ones and delete the bad . The night life on this particular cruise is hopping. Well actually "sock hopping". The most up to date music heard in the lounges was 1955. We watched as a group of senior citizens battled it out for the title of " Name That Old Singer". A fist fight almost broke out with competing tables as one man pushed ahead of an other man's wife to give an answer. Now I understand why they have AA meetings on ships.
Vancouver
Huge! Although I have been to Vancouver before I had not seen it from this vantage point. As the ship sailed into port we were entertained by the city's towering mass of buildings. Many were architecturally impressive. Most were very modern in design. The waterway was very active and many boats and ships were passing as they headed out. The cruise line offers additional nights stay in Vancouver. If you have the time it is a fun thing to do. Vancouver offers most of what any big city can with museums, history, shopping and fine dinning. It also has it's own unique flavor ( http://www.vancouver.com/ ).
SEE YOU ON THE ROAD!
Do it , Do it , Do it! Spend the extra money for the balcony cabin. It is the best way to cruise Alaska. It is a bit more expensive for the balcony so start saving your money now. Forget the six packs , skip a meal, sell the stamp collection. Do what it takes to pay the extra for a balcony cabin. Believe me when you are in Glacier Bay you will thank me.
I have to admit I hate standing in lines, so when I we arrived in Whitter (www.bellsalaska.com/alaska.htm) I was not looking forward to the usual slow boarding process of most cruises. To my surprise, I was right. I am not usually. Though they do make a valiant effort it is always too slow of a process for me. After standing in line for an hour we finally are ready to board when two overly chipper photographers want to take our photo. "Here buddy, flash on this!"
The Sapphire Princess is a grand ship. Impressive in all ways. Of course the first test of of cruise line is to test the food. So after checking out our"stateroom" we were off to the meal line. Most of the buffet food was good. There were a large number of Asian travelers and the food selections reflected this. The Sapphire Princess also had several restaurants, but I will talk about them later.
As I stated in part one, Whittier is a very picturesque. As you sail from port you have to think about the few people that stay behind each winter. The dozen or so who do stay behind face months of no sun light, no way in or out of town and extreme winter conditions. Do you think they ever watch the movie " The Shinning"? Even this day in May was cold and rainy. Most of the fishing boats were docked. The sea otters were the only fisherman out that day.
The first two days were scenic cruising. First College Fjord and then Glacier Bay. As we glided through the icy waters of College Fjord a National Parks Ranger echoed over the ships loud speaker system. He described the geographical history that created this unique water system. The sharp rugged mountain peaks stood above moving ice during the Ice Age while the rounded peaks were shaved off by the moving ice 10,000 years ago. It appeared that the bare rocky cliffs and snow packed mountains were within arms reach. When landmarks were described as five miles away it was hard to believe. We passed mountains of mountains and icebergs with harbor seals, sea gulls and eagles hitching rides. Through a narrow pass ( still miles wide) we could see Dall sheep, on the hill sides.
Glacier Bay
Day two. We woke up at 6:00 Am. This is when you appreciate the balcony cabin the most because all you have to do is open the curtains. You don't even have to get out of bed to witness truly one of the worlds greatest treasures, Glacier Bay National Park
(www.adventure-crew.com/parks/glacierbay.asp). Once the teeth were brushed and several layers of cloths were donned we ventured on to the balcony where I took another 300 or so photos. The views from the balcony were so great that we had breakfast and lunch in the room for fear of missing some fantastic sight. No photo or words can truly give honor to the panoramic views we saw that day. The multitude of up close encounters with glaciers was fantastic. Their blue ice, explosive sounds of ice cracking and the calving of ice walls as large sections crashed into the frigged water was surreal. What a whimsical day. As we traveled a Naturalist gave a lecture over the ships loud speakers. She described life growing up in this part of Alaska. Her father was a Bush Pilot. She explained the formation of glaciers and what caused that beautiful blue color. And not long after she described the various wildlife in the area we caught sight of three Grizzly bears just to our right. The three were foraging along an embankment 100 feet off of the waters edge. One was a light cinnamon in color the other two were dark brown. The scenic views continued the entire day.
That evening we had dinner in one of the ships showcase restaurants with new friends from Florida. As I sat in this elegant old world Italian restaurant I was trying to figure out how our meals were already included with the cruise , yet, here we were ready to pay for a meal just to be in a different dinning room. Yes, the food was good and the service was impeccable but so it was in the community dining room. My hat is off to the cruise line. We, and many others, paid double for our meal and didn't even complain. Well I did, but my wife stopped listening after the first five minutes. As for the food on the Sapphire Princess, you will certainly not go without on this cruise. I liked the buffet and the dining room food. After the first night we changed our dining arrangement from the 8:00 PM seating to anytime seating. This is a more relaxed way to have meals rather than having to fit into a pre-determined schedule. It's your vacation, do it the way you want.
Skagway
Day three we awoke to the the sound of train cars next to the dock. The White Pass Scenic Railroad was preparing for the day. Skagway is usually a drier area of Alaska but on this day there was a slight drizzle falling on the frontier-style store fronts. In 1898 there was a gold rush. Many of hardy soles made their way from Skagway to the Klondike. Few made their fortunes but many lost their lives trying.
We took a bus to the Yukon territory of Canada. The day was filled with unexpected sights. Going over the mountains through White pass was an experience all it's own. A forbidding place with the strong winds , snow and little else. As you come to the Canadian side it opens to a wide open tundra. Permafrost has stunted the growth of the vegetation. There was a slight haze and no wildlife was seen. It was as I expected from movies and TV. I was excited to be there.
Just as we thought this would be the scenery all day, things began to change. The sun was shinning and the ground was no longer covered in snow. To our surprise we drove into a desert.
Carcross Desert was formed from a sandy lake bed. Strong prevailing winds have stopped vegetation from taking root. It's name is a nick name for the town of Caribou Crossing. The small town of Caribou Crossing still appears as a rugged frontier town. Touristy shops line the main street. On the way back to the Alaska border we stopped at a small lake that looks like it belongs in the Caribbean islands. Dark blue water with coral green at it's edges. It was carved out by a glaciers thousands of years ago as so much of this part of the world was shaped.
Juneau
No roads lead to Juneau. Permafrost prevents any roads from being constructed into the capital city. This has not prevented Juneau from becoming a thriving metropolitan city
(http://www.traveljuneau.com/ ). When you are in Juneau do not miss seeing Mendenhall Glacier. You can get a very up close encounter with this 1.5 mile wide glacier. The glacier is large enough that it actually influences the weather around this part of Jun
eau. What we enjoyed most was whale watching. We went out on a boat at Gastineau Channel. Earlier that mourning a pod of Orcas had passed though. Although we missed them we did get to see six Humpback Whales. Two had calfs at their sides. Bring your own binoculars. The boat crew will provide a pair but the pair I was provide had so many scratches I couldn't tell whales from white caps. Luckily we brought our own. The captain also brought the boat to several sea lion rockeries. Fifty or sixty sea lions were lounging on the rocks and m
any more were in the water forming little islands of sea lions. Shopping in Juneau? Sorry you are asking the wrong guy. Here's the deal, there have been actual studies showing that men who go shopping with their wives have a greater risk of heart attacks. I am only trying to save my life. Don't ask me about shopping.
Ketchikan
If you can, don't miss Ketchikan. The highlight for us was the Alaska Rain Forest Sanctuary. Yes, this entire area is actually a rain forest. Hiking the trails of this unique area revealed green dense forest with ferns and moss laden trees. The trees are noticeably taller than we had seen in other areas of the state. Many trees showed signs of bears sharpening their claws. This is home to a large population of Alaskan Black Bear which left there calling card of large amounts of bear scat ( poop) along the trails. Each trail guide kept a can of bear mase in hand just in case of a close encounter. Along the trail I caught sight of the Zip Line. It was promoted as
" Rain Forest Zipline, See the tree tops". Well after watching several people sliding upside down at a very high speed toward the ground, I do not believe they were actually seeing the top of the trees. There was probably some people "scat" below that Zipline.
The city of Ketchikan is a picturesque fishing village. It proudly states on it's city gate that it is the Salmon Capital of the World. The main street is a revitalized area of shops and restaurants that overlook a bay of fishing boats.
Long Day At Sea
As we left Ketchikan I was skeptical of the day to come. A dreaded day at sea. The weather was too cold for the ship's swimming pools to be open. Only a few dared to get into the outdoor hot tubs. So we ate and drank. Ate again and drank some more. There were still mountains with tips of snow at a distance and there was ice and water and more ice and more water and... well you get the picture . By this time I was getting a bit tired of ship life. Boring, boring, boring. Luckily I brought my lap top so I downloaded photos, savored the good ones and delete the bad . The night life on this particular cruise is hopping. Well actually "sock hopping". The most up to date music heard in the lounges was 1955. We watched as a group of senior citizens battled it out for the title of " Name That Old Singer". A fist fight almost broke out with competing tables as one man pushed ahead of an other man's wife to give an answer. Now I understand why they have AA meetings on ships.
Vancouver
Huge! Although I have been to Vancouver before I had not seen it from this vantage point. As the ship sailed into port we were entertained by the city's towering mass of buildings. Many were architecturally impressive. Most were very modern in design. The waterway was very active and many boats and ships were passing as they headed out. The cruise line offers additional nights stay in Vancouver. If you have the time it is a fun thing to do. Vancouver offers most of what any big city can with museums, history, shopping and fine dinning. It also has it's own unique flavor ( http://www.vancouver.com/ ).
SEE YOU ON THE ROAD!
