7 days DIY on land then Radiance southbound. 6/2/17 - 6/17/17

Day 8 – Seward: We had to wake up fairly early this morning because 6 of us were going to take a tour of Kenai Fjords National Park. We booked the tour through Kenai Fjords Tours. The cost of the tour was $159/pp and the price included lunch on the boat. We needed to be at the pier at 7:30 for the 8:00 departure for our tour. It was a 6 hour tour that took us into the Kenai Fjords National Park with a stop at Holgate Glacier.This was a thrilling adventure where we got to see many different marine animals including sea lions, puffins, orca whales and humpback whales.

Sea otter

Humpback whale

Orca

Orca

Sea lions

Sea lions

Puffin

We saw a group of 5 humpbacks that were “bubble netting” schools of herring. I had no idea what this was until the captain explained it to us. We got to see it in action as the 5 whales rounded up the herring and then all 5 of them broke the surface at the same time to feast on the herring. It happened over and over again.

Humpbacks "bubble netting"

The captain informed us that we had hit the jackpot that day as he hadnever seen anything like it in his 24 years as a captain with Kenai FjordsTours.

Holgate Glacier

One of our views as we headed back into Seward

While the 6 of us were on the National Park tour, DW, DD and one of the other women went on a horseback riding adventure. They booked the ride through Bardy’s Trail Rides. The ride lasted 2 hours and the women all said it was very worthwhile. When we all met up after our respective activities that afternoon, it was time to say goodbye to the children. They drove two of the rental vans back to Anchorage and boarded their flights for home. As the kids were driving away, the adults all headed to the cruise pier to board the Radiance of the Seas.

Radiance of the Seas docked in Seward

you certainly lucked out with the weather and wildlife sightings ! (so far anyway)

I've camped several times at the Seward Waterfront Park .... a little cramped but oh those views across the Bay! And i love walking the waterfront trail watching the otters play.

Oh and a yummy bucket of 'butt from Thorn's. It's a smokey locals place but great food and huge portions. Glad you found it.

you certainly lucked out with the weather and wildlife sightings ! (so far anyway)

I've camped several times at the Seward Waterfront Park .... a little cramped but oh those views across the Bay! And i love walking the waterfront trail watching the otters play.

Oh and a yummy bucket of 'butt from Thorn's. It's a smokey locals place but great food and huge portions. Glad you found it.

Unfortunately, I've shown you the best of our weather. It became overcast on the way to Seward and stayed that way for pretty much the rest of the trip. The picture of the otter was taken right in the bay in town. We had barely left the marina when the captain stopped so we could watch it. The girl that sent us to Thorn's said she stops there every day for an order of tater tots. The décor of the place might be a little outdated but their food is certainly good.

Day 9 – Hubbard Glacier: We arrived at Hubbard Glacier around 2:00 today and were there for about two hours. The captain rotated the ship so that everyone got to have a great view of the glacier. Unfortunately, it was very overcast that day so pictures didn’t come out as well as I wished they would have. On our way into the glacier and again on our way out, we were able to spot sea lions, a few otters and several eagles.

Eagle perched on an iceberg

Sea Lion relaxing on an iceberg

A large piece of the glacier calving

If you don't mind me asking... Was your stateroom port or starboard? And what was your thoughts about your rooms view? Thanks

If you don't mind me asking... Was your stateroom port or starboard? And what was your thoughts about your rooms view? Thanks

We spent a lot of time thinking about this before we booked. We decided we wanted to be on the port side because we would be heading southbound so there would always be land on our side of the ship. We normally don't get balcony cabins but we did for this cruise because we figured we'd be spending a lot of time out there looking at scenery. As it turned out, we hardly spent any time out there. When there was something to look at, we wanted to be on one of the upper decks where we could walk from side to side. If we weren't outside, we were in the Viking Crown Lounge. Bottom line, I now think it doesn't matter where your cabin is. For me at least, I wanted to be out and about so I could see everything.

I'm going towards the end of July and I can't wait. thank you for sharing your review and pictures.

Charlie

Day 10 – Juneau: There were four ships in port today so Juneau was pretty crowded with cruise ship passengers. We didn’t plan any major excursions here. My goal in Juneau was to get to Tracey’s Crab Shack to feast on some Dungeness crab.

I have had Alaskan King crab many times but have never tried Dungeness before. Dungeness crab was supposedly in season so we would be able to eat fresh crab. I looked at Tracey’s menu on their web site and it said they had Dungeness. We didn’t want to get off the ship too early but when we did we headed to the Mount Roberts Tram. We rode the tram to the top to see the sites.

There is a nature center at the top and we visited that. They have a rescued bald eagle there that I believe they said had been shot, was blind in one eye and could no longer fly.

We hiked one of the short trails at the top of Mt. Roberts. After the ride down we headed to our Dungeness crab feast. Tracey’s was not what I had expected. I imagined walking in, being seated, being presented a menu and ordering my Dungeness crab from the menu. Instead, we got in the line that stretched out the door. Once inside you ordered at a counter from a short menu and were told to find a seat anywhere we could. It was very hectic and to me at least, seemed very disorganized. To my disappointment there was no Dungeness crab on the menu. We ordered some King crab and looked for a place to sit. Tracey’s is not very big and seating was limited. We could not find 8 seats next to each other so we had to split up. When we all finished eating we headed out to see the town and to allow DW some time to do a little shopping. I mentioned to one of my friends how disappointed I was not to have been able to try Dungeness crab. He asked why I hadn’t ordered it and I said “because they didn’t have any listed on the menu”. He told me that it wasn’t on the menu but it was on the “Specials” board! As I mentioned, I had found the ordering process hectic and somewhat disorganized and because of that, I had not seen the “Specials” board and no one had mentioned it so I never realized that they did in fact have Dungeness crab. Needless to say, I was not happy.

Terrific report.

Keith

Thanks so much for great review!! When we go in

august ..thanks to you...I'll look at the special board!! So sorry you didn't get any...

Terrific report.

 

Keith

Thank you.

Thanks so much for great review!! When we go in

august ..thanks to you...I'll look at the special board!! So sorry you didn't get any...

Oh, I got some all right. Just not in Juneau. It was early in the season when we were there so I'm guessing that's why it was a special. It sounds like you'll be there in the heart of the season so it will probably be on the regular menu.

Day 11 – Skagway: This was a day spent venturing into the Yukon to Emerald Lake. 4 of us rented a car from Avis and did a self-guided tour. I say self-guided but we actually had help once again from the Mile Post. We had booked the car several months ago so we knew there would be one available for us when we arrived. The cost of the car was $165 for the day.

Some Dall Sheep

Marsh Lake

We drove as far as Emerald Lake so we could get some pictures of the pristine water colors. Unfortunately, once again, the overcast skies kept us from getting the pictures we had hoped for. Seeing it with the naked eye was very good but pictures just couldn’t capture the colors the way the naked eye can.

So are you planning a trip back to Alaska?

On the way back we stopped at the Carcross Desert for a quick look and then stopped in the town of Carcross for some lunch.

There were people trying to ride sleds down the sand dune.

After lunch we headed back to Skagway so DW could do some shopping before heading back to the ship.

Sailing off into the sunset in Skagway.

So are you planning a trip back to Alaska?

Well... we aren't in the planning stages yet but yes, we plan on returning some day. When we planned it we thought we were planning a once in a lifetime trip. We now realize it was a First in a lifetime trip. We traveled over 2,000 miles in Alaska and barely scratched the surface.

Love the review, thanks for taking the time to post it! We will be there in August! I don't think the clouds take anything away from the pictures, it makes the scenery a little more dramatic

Totally enjoying your review, thanks for the camera info.

I take it your DW likes to shop, lol :D Did she get any good bargains? Unique items?

Our DIL is from Webster, beautiful area!

Thanks for taking the time to do your review, it is really great. Your photos are brilliant. If you don't mind me asking, how far in advance did you book your car in Skagway and did you just book it online through the Avis website? Thanks:)

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Totally enjoying your review, thanks for the camera info.

 

I take it your DW likes to shop, lol :D Did she get any good bargains? Unique items?

 

Our DIL is from Webster, beautiful area!

Bargains? I'm not sure about that. Unique items? Definitely yes. When we travel she always tries to find something local. It has to be made by locals, in this case Alaskans. She bought several small souvenirs this trip. For instance, she bought a small, hand-carved totem pole in Ketchikan.

Thanks for taking the time to do your review, it is really great. Your photos are brilliant. If you don't mind me asking, how far in advance did you book your car in Skagway and did you just book it online through the Avis website? Thanks:)

 

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We booked the car on Feb. 15th for a June 12th pickup. I did it online through the Avis website. No money down, we paid at the time of pick up. I would reserve it as soon as you know you're going to need it. I'm guessing there were at least 40 cars in the lot when we picked our car up. There were zero in the lot when we returned. From my research I knew this was a popular choice in Skagway. There were 3 ships in port that day so it's easy to see why all the cars were rented.

We booked the car on Feb. 15th for a June 12th pickup. I did it online through the Avis website. No money down, we paid at the time of pick up. I would reserve it as soon as you know you're going to need it. I'm guessing there were at least 40 cars in the lot when we picked our car up. There were zero in the lot when we returned. From my research I knew this was a popular choice in Skagway. There were 3 ships in port that day so it's easy to see why all the cars were rented.

Thanks, I appreciate the info, that's good to know. [emoji1]

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Day 12 – Icy StraitPoint: We arrived in Icy Strait Point at 7:00 and were scheduled to leave at 2:30 so we didn’t have a lot of time to do things. We chose to take the Wilderness Tour and Brown Bear Search with Hoonah Travel Adventures.The cost of the tour was $89/pp. The tour started at 7:30 and would last three hours so we knew we would be back to the ship with plenty of time to spare. Our guide met us at the pier and the 8 of us loaded into his van for the tour. He took us through the town of Hoonah and into the Tongass National Forest where we hoped to see brown bears. Our guide was a native Tlingit Indian and he told us a lot about his culture. He mentioned at the beginning of the tour that he would take us to where the bears usually are, but he couldn’t make them come out to visit us. We saw lots of bear sign (scat piles and tracks) but unfortunately, after 3 hours of searching, we never saw a bear. Our guide seemed truly disappointed that he was not able to locate some bears for us. We did see a lot of Sitka Black Tailed deer and our guide showed us an Eagle’s nest in town but again, no bears.

Sitka Black Tailed Deer.

If you look closely, you can see an eagle standing in the middle of the nest.

We headed back to the port so DW could some shopping (is anyone noticing a pattern here?) before we got back on the ship.