QuattroRomeo

Haley in the foreground of fist pic. Scenery stops. Suspension bridge.

The day started out foggy but did clear later in some areas

Skagway. Including the rock slide and the bus.

On to Skagway, where we took a tour that was the highlight of our trip. Last year we took a private mini-bus tour into the Yukon that visited Caribou Crossing, (lunch included there), Emerald Lake, Carcross Desert, and the town of Carcross. It was terrific. They were sold out this year as we booked this cruise rather late. We did manage to get the last 2 spots on the ship version, which did all of those spots plus the Suspension Bridge. It was really good! Highly recommend it- it is called "Experience the Yukon and Suspension Bridge". Our driver and guide, Haley, was just excellent. She now lives in Skagway and is a teacher there. She grew up in Texas, so anytime we parked somewhere that other buses did, she would hang a Texas flag in the front window so we could easily find our bus. The advantage of a bus over the train is you pull over at several photo stops, and as Haley pointed out at the border where the train happened to be sitting, our passport check was much quicker. The border officer doing the train has to go into every train car before it leaves again.

The Dutch Cafe had decent drip coffee and so did the Pinnacle Grill. I brought along a travel mug I got on the Rotterdam earlier this year, as it has really good heat retention. On the Rdam, they also gave you 25% off if you used it! No such luck on K. You're right, such problems we have!!

Some parting shots in Juneau.

Yes, the server I spoke with said she was trying to get the drip coffee up there. The treat selection was definitely pretty sad.

Well that is interesting! I'll remember that for next time.

Across the street there is a gift shop called Taku Trading, that seemed to have a few nicer souvenirs than elsewhere. I often pick up magnets but couldn't find an unusual one. Found this instead at Taku:

I also bought some caramels with birch syrup in them. I had tried the Tortuga cake version on board and it was very good, so something else to try! Hard to describe the taste, "birchy" I guess, which, unless you have chewed a bunch of birch twigs doesn't mean a whole lot! But it is good.

I got some truffles, and a couple of fudge slabs- one of them was called "inside Passage", very apt, and it had a tunnel of peanut butter in chocolate fudge.

it was a very gloomy, rainy day when we arrived in Juneau. At times it absolutely poured. My mission that day was to find the Alaskan Fudge Co. I had read about here on CC and some people raved about the fudge and the huckleberry truffles..so, a food mission! Late in the afternoon it looked like the rain had let up so I made a quick dash to find the store after looking up the directions. It was close by and easy to find.

I think the missing meal name in post #88 was arctic char.

Final dinner in Club Orange: zucchini bisque- surprisingly tasty, coconut shrimp and crab cake appetizers; prime rib and sea bass for the mains.

On Orange Party night there were Dutch dishes on the menu. We both had pea soup, which was good. One appetizer was herring, the other another kind of seafood cocktail,(not as good as the first one I had), and we both had the Special- Lemon Pesto Fettucine. Nicely cooked, could have had a touch more lemon. There were mini-bossche bols on the dessert menu.

Back to Club Orange: Short Ribs (special) they were good and tender; can't remember the next one. Then tiramisu for dessert- very nice.

We went to an afternoon tea in the MDR, that was very crowded.. it was raining and cool that day! After we sat down the waiter poured tea once, and we never saw him again. The treats were completely unremarkable.

The second visit to Pinnacle didn't go as well. We both ordered the salmon, and although it looked very good, it was quite bland. DH had the Berries Sabayon for dessert, which was good.

Yes, but it is only open for lunch on sea days. $15 plus gratuity. A nice little getaway! Some items have a surcharge, like the lobster roll.

The first of 2 Pinnacle lunches: the soup which we love, had it on both visits, the hint of lemongrass is so nice; the spinach and arugula salad, very good, I enjoyed the lobster roll and frites; DH liked the cod burger but found the bun was the wrong type for all of the "squishy" stuff inside; and my strawberry pavlova was yummy both times..

While the Crow's Nest changes were a disappointment, the new library is a great addition! Deck 2, forward starboard.

Of the dishes so far, my favourites were the Alaska crab seafood cocktail (also contained scallops and shrimp and a tasty sauce), crab and artichoke dip, all of the soups (consistently good this cruise), the salmon with amber beer sauce (ask for more sauce!), and the mango mousse. I missed not having my favourite HAL dessert, the English toffee and date pudding, but I guess it is only on longer itineraries.

Thanks for the photo, Fairgarth - illustrates the need perfectly! I may not be the most glamorous travel reviewer, but I try to go for the practical!!

The veal was a chop, not a cutlet. Slip of my typing fingers!