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Star Princess North to Alaska! Sept 10 2016


Bimmer09
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Wonderful photo of the Point Betsie Lighthouse. My wife is a huge lighthouse fan, and we try to catch as many as we can on our road trips. We got to see a lot of Great Lakes Lighthouses a few years ago, including a few on the Lake Huron side of Michigan. We need to go back someday and travel the Lake Michigan side of the state.

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We enjoyed the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center and our next stop after driving up the coast was here...

 

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Its prime function is as a ski resort but of course there is no snow here today.

Part of our tour is an aerial tram ride up to where the slopes begin. We have 90 minutes here and as there are bars and restaurants above and below you can easily fill that time. We will eat in Anchorage so are just here for the scenery.

 

We're going up there

 

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The bus remains down below

 

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The driver goes to get our tickets and hands them out to each of us which means we can travel up independently now. We let the rest go together and hang back to use the facilities which are representative of a good hotel.

 

The bear is here to deter shoplifters in the gift shop

 

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After a quad espresso from the lobby Starbucks I joined Carol to wait for a tram

 

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We love pretty much all forms of transportation with maybe the exception being donkey rides down into the Grand Canyon as we feel for the poor gentle animals that have to do the dirty work. I can ride machine-driven things all day. The gondolas we ride today are Swiss and the Swiss know a thing or two about getting up mountains. And cheese. They are assembled on site.

 

As one is going up another is coming down

 

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It takes 6 minutes to get to the top

 

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There's also a chair lift for people wearing skis

 

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There are a lot of runs available in season

 

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love the lighting on the brown bear pictures.

 

Ah-a new face/screen name. Welcome!

 

Glad you liked the bear pics! The lighting was natural morning light.

 

Norris

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It's a long way down. There were actually people who eschewed the tram in favor of hiking up the mountain. Not something I would attempt.

 

There were many who neither took the tram nor hiked up-the swarms of midges or no-see-ums on the summit. Each person could have their own busy cloud of nuisances circling their head. I thought lighting a cigarette would keep them at bay but no.

 

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The chair-lift winch

 

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We never have, and it's doubtful we ever will, disembarked a ship and gone straight to an airport to fly home. Although we'll be on a plane 12 hours after leaving the Star, this excursion is our buffer, delaying the harsh reality of leaving Alaska behind, once again.

 

And vistas like this reinforced our decision

 

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Far below, the Resort

 

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Norris, Norris, Norris

 

My new CC friend. I just wanted you know how much I enjoyed your wonderful review, the beautiful pictures you so carefully took that they could take my breath away just "breathing in the cool air."

Really, you are a great story teller and I appreciate that.

 

I will continue to follow you and Carol in your cruise review journeys.

 

Until we meet again...

Sandra

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Wonderful photo of the Point Betsie Lighthouse. My wife is a huge lighthouse fan, and we try to catch as many as we can on our road trips. We got to see a lot of Great Lakes Lighthouses a few years ago, including a few on the Lake Huron side of Michigan. We need to go back someday and travel the Lake Michigan side of the state.

 

Jasperdo, Michigan holds the title of State with Most Lighthouses and we were staying 5 miles from the Old Mission Lighthouse which sits on the 45th Parallel.

As we visit the Mission Peninsula each year we always drive over there, rain or shine. No rain when we went on Wednesday morning.

 

You can see the pale sun trying to peek through the overcast sky...

 

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Many we visit offer self guided tours for a few dollars and the rooms are set as they would have been in the late 1800's and early 20th century. I am always fascinated by their kitchens and parlors. Some feature mannequins in period costumes for the wives and lighthouse keeper uniforms. The light has been removed from the Old Mission one but you can climb up into the turret.

 

Norris

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Norris, Norris, Norris

 

My new CC friend. I just wanted you know how much I enjoyed your wonderful review, the beautiful pictures you so carefully took that they could take my breath away just "breathing in the cool air."

Really, you are a great story teller and I appreciate that.

 

I will continue to follow you and Carol in your cruise review journeys.

 

Until we meet again...

Sandra

 

Sandra, thanks for all the kind comments!

 

We can "meet again" in January on board the Celebrity Reflection. January 14 to 21.

 

I'm glad you followed this all the way. Many thanks.

 

Norris

 

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The round turret building you may have seen in some photos is the gift shop and I paid it a visit looking for a fridge magnet. I left empty handed.

 

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Across the way, a restaurant

 

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Two ladies have hiked up from the hotel

 

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Gift shop

 

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What goes up must come down and we wanted to spend some time sitting in the grounds by the hotel.

 

Meantime here is a video of the tram ride



 

[YOUTUBE]vMo7Gi4cqGU[/YOUTUBE]

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Down below, having left the no see ums far above, we were able to enjoy our peaceful surroundings.

 

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Nice fire pit

 

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I'd been keeping an eye on the time and it was time to head back to the bus for our drive to Anchorage....

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Hi Norris!

 

I just wanted to say thank you for your great review I have enjoyed it very much. I also loved your review of Celebrity Silhouette and I can’t wait for your hopefully up coming review of Celebrity Reflection. Your reviews are best substitute for be on cruise :D

 

Tiina

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Norris,

 

After 10 days away I'm now all caught up. As usual your photos are superb, almost 3D and making me feel like I'm right in them.. Good work.

 

Please carry on, don't stop.

 

Judy

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Hi Norris!

 

I just wanted to say thank you for your great review I have enjoyed it very much. I also loved your review of Celebrity Silhouette and I can’t wait for your hopefully up coming review of Celebrity Reflection. Your reviews are best substitute for be on cruise :D

 

Tiina

 

Tiina, you are my first correspondent from Finland! I have a Finnish CC friend called Sinppu who writes fun reviews on some of the other boards.

 

I'm glad you enjoyed the reviews and hope you pop in to say "Hi" in January when I write about the Reflection.

 

Thanks for the compliments!

 

Norris

Edited by Bimmer09
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Norris,

 

After 10 days away I'm now all caught up. As usual your photos are superb, almost 3D and making me feel like I'm right in them.. Good work.

 

Please carry on, don't stop.

 

Judy

 

Judy, glad you are all caught up!

 

I have just 30 photos left.

 

Thanks for reading this.

 

Norris

 

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Back again , Norris, from Rome and Celebrity Silhouette Western Med.Don't know if I can comment on this board but it was great, no surprise there.

 

How I have enjoyed catching up with your great review and pictures.

Thank you. It feels like another cruise!

 

Sandra

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Hi Norris,

I just completed my 3 nights of reading your wonderful review. I loved the detail and your photography. I have just started researching for our first cruise to Alaska and will consider the Star. Thanks for sharing.

Tim

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Norris, I am all caught up after a week away (had to take the man child to Denver so he could explore various zoo's and attend a reptile convention!). What a delight to return to such exquisite photos, especially the critters of Alaska... whets the appetite for our trip next August! We are busily planning a fishing excursion at one stop, but hope to get plenty of time to see various animals at other stops along the way. Thank you so much for sharing your insights, your photos, and especially your delightful descriptions and sense of humor! Blessings to you and yours, and I need to go check out some of your other trip reports!

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Back again , Norris, from Rome and Celebrity Silhouette Western Med.Don't know if I can comment on this board but it was great, no surprise there.

 

How I have enjoyed catching up with your great review and pictures.

Thank you. It feels like another cruise!

 

Sandra

 

 

Sandra, no there is no surprise that the combination of Silhouette and Med was great. I'd love to sail her out of Barcelona.

 

Yes you can comment on this board-it's all CC, just divided by cruise lines for our convenience. I certainly drop the name Celebrity often here and of course within my review anything goes-hijacking I don't mind as it's cruise people talking.

 

I hope you read my Reflection review and pop in with comments. It's 10 weeks away and we can't wait. Carol liked the Silhouette. I loved it, but she is less ship-centric than I and would compare it to Princess while we were on board-which I didn't as I thought it was just "different but really worthwhile". She was certainly a fan of Blu, Michaels Club concierge, Murano and Lawn Club Grill and she loved the live shows, which were bands and singers and a great comedian. That was different from the singing and dancing shows on Princess, which are very impressive. She was blown away by the art around the ship.

 

She is looking forward to three new islands (for her, not for me as I've been to them all 44 times)and for the Suite Experience.

 

Thanks for reading along on this long ramble!

 

Norris

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Hi Norris,

I just completed my 3 nights of reading your wonderful review. I loved the detail and your photography. I have just started researching for our first cruise to Alaska and will consider the Star. Thanks for sharing.

Tim

 

Tim, thanks for stopping by and for the compliments! I am glad you have been reading along.

 

Although I am not the only one to review Alaskan cruises, if you read my other two I cover a range of excursions that might interest you and help in your planning.

 

Cheers!

 

Norris

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Norris, I am all caught up after a week away (had to take the man child to Denver so he could explore various zoo's and attend a reptile convention!). What a delight to return to such exquisite photos, especially the critters of Alaska... whets the appetite for our trip next August! We are busily planning a fishing excursion at one stop, but hope to get plenty of time to see various animals at other stops along the way. Thank you so much for sharing your insights, your photos, and especially your delightful descriptions and sense of humor! Blessings to you and yours, and I need to go check out some of your other trip reports!

 

A fishing excursion sounds like a great idea as no matter where you fish the scenery will be beautiful and you'll be outdoors breathing that fresh air.

 

We do the Princess excursions mainly but I am sure that with the amount of time you have to plan you can pick and choose from the Alaskan operators and really tailor to your needs.

 

I'm glad you followed this along and thanks for the kind comments along the way!

 

Norris

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We are heading back along the coast to Anchorage and even though shooting through a moving bus window isn't ideal, it's that or nothing and I don't know when we'll be back again.

 

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You can see the train tracks hugging the coastline

 

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As we approach the outskirts of Anchorage the driver asks if anyone needs to go to the airport before we go downtown to the Egan Center, the hub of Princess Operations in the city. One couple does so we drive over there.

 

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The Egan Center was another 20 minutes away in Saturday traffic. Our plan once there was to leave our hand luggage with Princess and find lunch.

 

We had hoped to eat at Simon and Seafort's a restaurant with views over the water but it closed at 2.30 p.m and we arrived at the Egan at....2.30!

 

So Carol got on her phone and did some research and came up with a name. It was a very short walk away. When I heard "fish and chips" my feet automatically started moving...

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Humpy's is a big, long saloon with good bar food and patio dining outside the back door.

 

We seated ourselves and immediately a friendly waitress was taking orders. We hadn't eaten in over 7 hours and in my case it had been one croissant (spoon buttered) in the IC on the Star.

 

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First up Carol's salmon chowder

 

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My choice was the Halibut and Chips washed down by Draught Guinness

 

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At $24 it was more than I usually pay for fish and chips but so worth it!

 

Suitably fueled we were now free to roam the streets nearby. Princess runs a shuttle to the airport every hour on the hour. We would take the 5 p.m for our 8 p.m flight direct to Chicago. We like to get to airports early and be relaxed waiting for our flight.

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Anchorage is a beautiful small city with big wide streets. Oil company office towers stand next to single family homes and small businesses. There is a small park near the Egan Center. We like parks.

 

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