Trip Report: 6 day DIY, Island Princess Southbound, 6/29-7/11/18, Patters & Menus

After the best vacation of my life, and having taken lots of advice given on these boards, I wanted to do my part to give back what I can. I'm not the best writer or photographer (even for a great photographer, pictures will never be able to do Alaska justice), but I will do my best to give a good review and include some pictures along the way. I'm not even sure how to post pictures yet, so it might take me a few days to get the full review posted. In my next post I'll start with some general thoughts, then give some details for each day of the trip and include a few pictures, and of course the patters and MDR dinner menus

My sisters and I, for my Mom's 60th birthday present, decided to get her the vacation she'd always dreamed of - an Alaska cruise. One sister just got back from a 2-week honeymoon, one thinks it's cold when it's 80 and thus wasn't interested in Alaska, so it was just me and my Mom. I am 31 and live in Charlotte, North Carolina, and she lives in Raleigh NC. I'm between jobs so I did all the planning while she was busy at work. Neither of us get to travel much - for both of us, this was our first trip to Alaska and our first cruise - so we decided this was truly a once in a lifetime trip and added 5-6 DIY days before the cruise.

(Note: I am already having trouble figuring out how to attach my pictures. It appears the files are too big? But I've seen some great photos posted on this board that have to be similar size to what I'm trying to post. If you have any advice about how to post them please message me!)

Day 1: Flight arrives in Anchorage at 3:15AM. Drive to Denali. Check in to Princess Lodge

Day 2: Denali shuttle bus

Day 3: Drive from Denali to Talkeetna, Flight w/ Glacier Landing, Drive to Anchorage. Check in to Clarion Suites Downtown

Day 4: Turnagin Arm, Girdwood

Day 5: Train to Seward, Kenai Fjords, Train Back to Anchorage

Day 6: Check out of Clarion Suites. Bus to Whittier, 26 Glacier Cruise, Board Island Princess

Day 7: Hubbard Glacier

Day 8: Glacier Bay

Day 9: Skagway

Day 10: Juneau

Day 11: Ketchikan

Day 12: Sea Day

Day 13: Disembark, Vancouver

Weather

It was warmer than average every day, we got one rain shower one evening in Denali, a few sprinkles on the drive out of Denali, and besides that we stayed dry and mostly sunny (although a bunch of cruise days started off overcast – the clouds usually burned off very quickly). The weather in Kenai Fjords and Vancouver was really warm and completely sunny. The glacier viewing days of our cruise, at Hubbard and Glacier Bay, were perfect. Even in Ketchikan, it was warm and mostly sunny. We were prepared for a rainy and cold trip, but got really, really lucky.

Favorites

We both agreed that our favorite parts of the trip were the K2 Aviation flight with glacier landing, and the Major Marine Kenai Fjords 6-hour cruise. Pretty much everything we did was “good”, but these two were exceptional and truly unforgettable. If I ever visit Alaska again, which I’d definitely like to do, Kenai Fjords and a flight with a glacier landing are definitely at the top of the to-do list.

What I’d do differently

I’d pack a little less. It seemed like I overpacked by alot, but mostly because we got so lucky with the weather, with It being consistently warmer and drier than average. I took the common advice to pack less, and wasn’t too far off the mark, but I would bring 1-2 fewer dress shirts,1 less pair of jeans, and 1 less hoodie.

As far as excursions and activities, the only thing I’d definitely do differently was in Ketchikan: a guided tour of Saxman or Totem Bight instead of the Taxi Cab Tour we did.

Part of me wants to say I’d avoid the redeye flights, because we were pretty exhausted at times, but if I’m being honest, I think I’d schedule the same flights. We couldn’t manage any more time added to the trip, and changing our flights to allow for more sleep would’ve meant making alot of cuts to activities and sightseeing. For a likely once in a lifetime trip to Alaska, I think being tired in exchange for time to see and do more was a worthy tradeoff.

Cruise

Food

I thought the food was phenomenal. The breakfast buffet, which we went to every morning, had much more variety than I expected, and was really good. The MDR service was great and the food was even better. My only problem was making choices about what to eat! I enjoyed that the menus were definitely seafood-heavy and seemed to reflect the fact that we were in Alaska. The only food I didn’t thoroughly enjoy was a sugar-free dessert I tried at the buffet one night.

MDR Dress

Dress on formal nights was definitely 90% + formal. I did see men without suits, but not many. On the regular nights, most people were very casual. Lots of jeans, lots of t-shirts, and even a few people with ball caps. I didn’t see anyone turned away at the door.

MDR Ordering

Not many people we ate with ordered multiple dishes, or dishes out of order (main courses as appetizers, etc.) … But I certainly did. I thank everyone here for advising that this is perfectly okay, because I really took advantage. On crab legs night, I ordered them as dessert. On several occasions, I ordered two appetizers, or two main courses, or two desserts. One night the people we sat with got a good laugh because I ordered a main dish (scallops) for my appetizer, then two main courses, then two desserts… and I am a really skinny guy. Now that I’ve been there and done that, I can confidently say: ORDER WHAT YOU WANT, AS MUCH AS YOU WANT!!! No one cares, and if they do, you shouldn’t! As one experienced cruiser told us within our first hour on the cruise, “You already paid for it. Take advantage!”

Anytime Dining

I would definitely do anytime dining again. On 5 of the nights, we had no wait at all, with at least 3 of those nights being at times you’d expect to be busy. One night we had a 5-minute wait, and one night at 7:15 the line looked really long, so we came back 30 minutes later to find zero wait. We enjoyed our table mates each night we were sat with others. One night we asked for a table for two because we were in a hurry to get to a show, and we were able to be sat immediately and get in and out of the MDR in about an hour. Most nights we stayed and chatted with tablemates and were at the table for about 2 hours.

Shows

I only went to two, but Mom went to 4. She enjoyed them all, but especially liked the New Orleans-themed show and the comedy show. Keep in mind we have nothing to compare them to because this was our first cruise.

Cabin

We had an inside cabin on deck 7, Promenade Deck. The cabin was about as big as I expected, but the layout was great. We both slightly overpacked and still had more than enough room to put away all our clothes and bathroom items, with a lot of space to spare. A balcony would’ve been nice, but I am perfectly okay saving the money, and being inside encouraged us to get out of the room more. Maybe I would’ve felt differently and wanted to spend more time inside with a balcony if I’d been with a girlfriend or wife instead of my Mom, but for us, it was the right decision to get an inside cabin.

Travel Info

June 28th

Depart Raleigh: 5:40PM Eastern

Arrive in Seattle: 8:30PM (11:30PM Eastern)

Depart Seattle: 12:45AM (3:45AM Eastern)

Arrive in Anchorage: 3:15AM (6:15AM Eastern), Friday June 29th

Day 1: Friday June 29th

After uneventful (but very scenic, especially going over the Chugach Mountains right before getting into Anchorage) flights with little to no sleep, we arrived in Anchorage, got our luggage, picked up our rental car at the airport and were on the road to Denali by 5AM. On our way, we stopped at Reflections Lake and walked the trail, stopped at the Walmart in Wasilla to pick up a few supplies and eat breakfast at the McDonald’s there, and also stopped at the Denali South and North viewpoints (but were unable to see the mountain due to clouds).

We had a very easy drive without much traffic, only one 20-minute construction delay, and arrived at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge at 11:45AM. We were happily surprised that our room was already ready, so we got to check in, unpacked the car, got a quick lunch across the street at Denali Doghouse (the reindeer dog was delicious) and then drove over to the park. Today we did some “entrance activities”, including the 2PM dog sled demonstration, the bookstore, Visitor Center, and then the Wilderness Access Center to pick up our tickets for tomorrow’s shuttle bus. On our way out of the park, we had our first wildlife encounter – a mama moose and her baby, no more than 15 feet off the road. We joined a few other cars pulled off to the side so we could take some picturesand watch them for a few minutes.

Back at the lodge, we pre-ordered our boxed lunch for tomorrow, then got ready for the 7:30PM Cabin Night Dinner Theatre. We really enjoyed the show. It was fun and the servers/musicians/actors were great. Food was okay. All in all, it was a very good experience.

By 10 oclock, we were back at the lodge, and after more than 40 hours with basically no sleep, and a very early day coming tomorrow, we were ready for bed.

Day 2: Saturday June 30th

We were scheduled for the 6AM Eielson shuttle bus, we arrived about 25 minutes early ,and were first in line. Per advice on the board, we picked the seats on the left side right behind the driver. Our driver’s name was Chavez, and he was awesome. It’s hard to believe how good he was at spotting wildlife in the distance, while driving on very slim, winding, gravel roads, while providing great narration too.

The first hour or two, we saw no wildlife, and I realized why everyone advises against the 4-hour Natural History Tour that comes standard if you book the land portion through the cruise lines. The rest of the tour, we saw lots of caribou and Dall sheep, a fox, snowshoe hares, several falcons in a nest, a hawk, and had 5 separate grizzly sightings. We didn’t join the “30% club” because Denali was not visible, but the scenery and wildlife was amazing.

On our wayback to the park entrance, we got dropped off and did the Savage River Loop Trail, then had no issue getting on the first bus we saw to take us back to the Wilderness Access Center. The rest of the day we got a few souvenirs at some of the stores across the street from the Princess Lodge, and then had a very good dinner at Denali Salmon Bake.

Day 3: Sunday July 1st

Today we had to wake up very early (again) and check out of the Princess Lodge. We had a 9AM flight tour and glacier landing in Talkeetna with K2 Aviation. On our way to Talkeetna, we had to stop for a moose and her baby casually crossing the road, which we thought was really cool. We stopped, again, at the Denali North and South viewpoints, but again, had no luck seeing the mountain. Once we arrived in Talkeetna, we were almost an hour early, so we stopped for some bagels at Talkeetna Roadhouse (bagels were not very good, and the cream cheese was from a package).

Once at K2,we were informed that weather was forcing them to change our scheduled Denali Grand Tour to the shorter Denali Flyer, and that the glacier landing was 50/50 and would be determined after takeoff. Lucky for us, the overcast skies that had been clearing all morning, continued to clear quickly, and we had an absolutely amazing flight with mostly clear skies. We were able to see Denali from the air, and then again once we landed on Ruth Glacier. On a scale from 1-10 this flight and glacier experience would get an enthusiastic 11.

After the flight, we continued our drive south to Anchorage. We arrived at the Clarion Suites downtown at about 1:30PM, and couldn’t check in early, so we got an Uber over to the Anchorage Market. They had a wide variety of local-made souvenirs for sale, and lots of food trucks. We had some salmon tacos, chicken dumplings, and blueberry ice cream, all of which were delicious. After that, we walked to the Anchorage Museum. We started at the top, but the 4th and 3rd floors were, in my opinion, a waste of time. We did enjoy the 2nd and 1st floors quite a bit. In retrospect I'd definitely still go, but only do the 1st and 2nd floors. Our final activity today was the Anchorage Trolley. We were running ahead of schedule today and they let us change our 7:15 ticket for 6PM. It was an hour long tour, and the guide was a very knowledgeable and funny college kid. Since we were doing this portion of the trip DIY, it was good to have a guide offer some interesting facts and info about Anchorage, and take us to see some parts of the city we otherwise wouldn’t have seen.

Before dinner, Mom went to a gift shop, and I went to Great Northern Cannabis. It was…. interesting. We had dinner at 49th State Brewing Company, but not before waiting almost an hour to be seated. The food was really good, but the service could’ve been better. We waited more than half an hour for our check after we had finished eating. We then went back to the hotel and got a much-needed good sleep.

Day 4: Monday July 2nd

We started today with breakfast at the hotel (pretty good for a hotel breakfast), and then went to the Native Heritage Museum. We really enjoyed this museum and spent alittle over 3 hours there. Next, we stopped at a post office to mail home some souvenirs we'd already bought and lighten our load, then spent the rest of the day exploring the Turnagin Arm. We made short, scenic stops at Beluga Point and Bird Point, and then stopped in Girdwood to do the Alyeska Tram. It’s a short ride, but the views at the top are worth it. We ate lunch at Bore Tide Deli (Reuben was delicious but it was packed and service was slooow), then took the tram back down and drove over to the Wildlife Conservation Center. We didn’t visit the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage so I can’t directly compare, but we definitely liked the Conservation Center better than a typical zoo.

On our way back to Anchorage, we made a slight detour drove up to the Flat Top Mountain Overlook Trail. The views up there were incredible and it was cool seeing the city from such a different vantage point. Once back in Anchorage, we stopped at a couple more shops for souvenirs, the Captain Cook Monument at Resolution Park for another scenic viewpoint, and then went back to the hotel and ordered Benihana (same parking lot as the hotel) to go. It was good food but took forever (a common theme for Alaska restaurants, apparently).

We had to return the rental car back to the airport tonight, and on our way, decided to stop at Point Woronzof Park to catch the sunset. With dozens of other cars pulling up at about 11:30PM, we weren’t the only ones with that idea. It was worth it. We then returned the car, and the hotel’s shuttle picked us up to take us back to Clarion Suites for the night.

Day 5: Tuesday July 3rd

At 5:45AM, we got an Uber to the anchorage railroad depot for our 6:45AM train to Seward. It was narrated by high school kids who did a great job, and we saw Dall sheep, moose, waterfalls and glaciers. The seats were really comfortable and the scenery was great.

We arrived in Seward and couldn’t find the Major Marine rep we were scheduled to meet, so we walked over to their check-in location. The 6-hour Kenai Fjords tour was running late, and didn’t start until about 40 minutes later than it was scheduled. We were kind of annoyed, since the 5-hour tour was significantly cheaper, but within 2 minutes of leaving the dock, we saw a few otters and it only got better from there. We saw humpbacks, orcas, puffins, bald eagles, seals, and lots and lots of sea lions and sea otters. We got to see amazing calving at Aialik Glacier. It was an incredible day and, with the glacier landing flight, tied at the top for our favorite, most memorable part of the trip.

We took the train back to Anchorage, arrived at about 10:30, and were really tired, so we ordered a pizza and wings to the hotel, then went to sleep.

Day 6: Wednesday July 4th

Today we began the 2nd part of our trip: the cruise! We woke up, got breakfast at the hotel, then checked out and Uber’d over to the Captain Cook Hotel, where we got picked up by the Magic Bus that would take us to Whittier. Our driver was Gary, and before we stepped on the bus he offered to take our luggage to the cruise ship for us so it would be waiting for us in our room after the Phillips 26 Glacier Cruise. He provided excellent commentary on the way to Whittier, with stops at Alpine Bakery in Girdwood (delicious pastries) and Explorer Glacier (beautiful glacier and lake).

Once we got to Whittier we hopped on the boat for the Phillips 26 Glacier Cruise. It was very enjoyable with beautiful scenery. We got to see Surprise Glacier calve a few times, and saw tons of sea otters, some in groups of 20+, and the salmon chowder was the best I had in Alaska. It was a great tour, and the boarding process was far superior to our Major Marine tour in Seward the previous day, but as a whole, yesterday’s Kenai Fjords tour was pretty much impossible to match and Kenai Fjords was our clear favorite between the two.

After the 26 Glacier Cruise, at 5:30, we immediately got in line to board the Island Princess. There were more people in line than we’d anticipated, but it moved really quickly and we were on board and in our room by 6. They’d mistakenly set our beds up as 1, so we had to have our steward come and separate them into two twins, which they did before we got back from dinner that night. After checking out the room and cruise ship a bit, we went to the muster drill at 7:45, then to dinner right afterwards.

After dinner, we went to the “4th of July Celebration”. The musicians were very talented, but the atmosphere here and on the rest of the ship was kind of dead. I guess everyone went to sleep relatively early, so we ended up doing the same by about 10:30. Once I got back to the room, I could really feel the boat swaying and began to feel really sea sick (or maybe just nauseous fromsomething else- who knows), took a couple Dramamine, and went to sleep. Thankfully, it was the only time I felt sick during the cruise.

Day 7: Thursday July 5th

After waking up and going to the breakfast buffet, we explored the ship for a while, Mom went to a digital camera demonstration, and then we attended the onboard naturalist’s presentation. He mostly talked about the ports we’d be going to later in the cruise, but did give us a good tip: go to the front of the ship on 10th and 11th decks for a great spot to watch the glaciers on our first two sea days. After his presentation, I got some sushi at the lunch buffet, then we took his advice and, from his “secret spot” on the 11th deck, watched Hubbard Glacier calving and a bunch of seals floating on icebergs for most of the rest of the day. We were very pleasantly surprised about how close the ship got to the massive glacier. The only disappointment today was that we heard there was a pod of up to 80 whales the ship passed by early in the morning, which we missed out on seeing.

Tonight was the first formal night, and most people did comply. I would’ve felt out of place had I not worn a suit. After dinner, we went to the night’s show, which I wasn’t a big fan of, but Mom enjoyed. The entertainers were very talented, but the songs (especially some opera) were not the type I enjoy. After the show, we got a late-night snack at the buffet, then went to bed.

Day 8: Friday July 6th

Today was our day going into Glacier Bay, and the naturalist had told us yesterday that early morning we’d be passing by an area known for great wildlife viewing. We got an early breakfast at the buffet, then went out to our spot in the front of the ship on the 11th deck by about 8AM. We saw lots of whales blowing, but no tails or breaching, and did pass by a sea lion rookery, but everything was very distant and we didn’t see as much as the naturalist had gotten our hopes up for.

By 10AM, it was time for Mom’s manicure and massage at the spa, and while she did that, I went to the presentation by the Park Ranger who’d hopped on board. It was very good in the beginning, but then turned towards a personal story about her camping trip, so I left and went back to the 11th deck to watch the scenery as we continued into Glacier Bay. We spent a lot of time at Marjerie Glacier, which wasn’t as big as Hubbard the previous day, but did give us just as much impressive calving. Mom got tired and went to “The Grill” for lunch, and I eventually went to the buffet (really good seafood there today). Eventually we met back up and watched the scenery as we began to make our way out of Glacier Bay.

Tonight was the only time “Anytime Dining” didn’t work out as we had hoped. The line was really long at 7:15, but by 7:45 we tried again and didn’t have any wait at all. The New Orleans themed show tonight was much more to my liking, and Mom really enjoyed it too.

Day 9: Saturday July 7th

We arrived at Skagway sometime overnight and were docked by the time we got up. We got breakfast at the buffet very early because our excursion with Chilkoot Charters began at 7:30. We got off the ship just after 7 and were greeted by our tour guide, Morgan. He drove us over to the railroad where we boarded and train to Frasier. There were very low clouds today, which definitely blocked some of the views, but it was a good ride nonetheless. In Frasier, they checked our passports, then we got off the train where Morgan met us to begin the driving portion of the tour. He drove us to Carcross, making several stops at scenic places for photos, and at Carcross we got the BBQ chicken lunch (better than I expected) and did the dog cart ride. It was really fun and the people on our tour who hadn’t done it seemed to wish they had signed up for it. After Carcross, Morgan took us to Emerald Lake, and then on our way back to Skagway we made a few more scenic stops, and also spotted two moose. Morgan was great and I’d definitely recommend this tour.

Back in Skagway, we had 4 hours before we had to be back on the ship. We got some wings and a beer at Skagway Brewing Co., which had great reviews, but what we had wasn’t all that impressive. Next, we stopped at a few stores for souvenirs and made our way back to the ship.

With many passengers still out and about in Skagway, and with us being tired from the early start today, we figured it was a good night for an early dinner. It was a seafood-heavy menu tonight, which I loved, but Mom doesn’t eat any seafood, so we went to the buffet after dinner so she could find something she liked better. Having already eaten a lot of seafood at dinner, I couldn’t resist some of the desserts on the buffet, and ate myself into a 'food coma'. I was overly full and really tired, and I ended up being in bed fast asleep by 7:30. Mom ended up going to the comedy show that night, which she loved, and then to the library for a bit before she went to bed.

Day 10: Sunday July 8th

We were at the breakfast buffet by 6 today so we could get off the ship early and check infor our whale watching tour with Harv & Marv by 7. When we walked off the ship they had 2 reps waiting for us, and after gathering the group, drove us down to the harbor where their boats were. Our captain, Josh, and his assistant, Megan, got us going right on time (7:30) with our group of 12. Josh and Megan were great, and we saw whales within just a few minutes. I would estimate we had about 10-15 sightings during the 3-hour tour. We also saw a bunch of bald eagles. We had high expectations for this tour, and they were met. Later that day we learned that the tour after ours saw lots of whales breaching and bubble net feeding. We had thought we were lucky to see a few tails. Darn! We still had a very good time.

While on the tour, we met a couple who was also on the Island Princess, and had the same plans as us after the tour (Mendenhall Glacier), so we offered them to share our reserved cab (Evergreen Taxis). The four of us went to the glacier and walked the Nugget Falls trail. It was shorter than I expected, which for us was a good thing. We spent some time at the waterfall and taking pictures of the glacier, then walked back to the visitor center, looked at the exhibits and watched the video, then got our taxi back downtown at 1PM.

We had planned to do the tram if the weather cooperated, but the cloud layer covered the mountain all day, so we decided against that. We walked around downtown and visited a few gift shops before getting back on the ship at about 3.

Tonight was the second and final formal night. After dinner, Mom went to the show and I took a seat in comfortable chairs on deck 6 overlooking the water, got a drink and read a book before bed.

Day 11: Monday July 9th

Today we arrived in Ketchikan and it was our last port day. We got to the buffet at about 8:30 and off the ship at 9:30. We were met by Lisa from Ketchikan Taxi Cab Tours, and we were the only people in the tour today. It was nice to get a personalized tour, but that did raise the cost, and we thought we’d be sharing. Lisa was incredibly nice, and was a Ketchikan native with one Tlingit parent and one Haida parent, so she was able to give us lots of info on the native tribes and Ketchikan. First, she took us searching for bears, but we couldn’t find any. She did point out the salmonberries that they used for food, and picked some we could eat right off the bushes, which we thought was very cool. They were tasty. Then she took us to Saxman Village, followed by Potlatch and Totem Bight Parks. Unfortunately she wasn’t permitted to tour us around Saxman and Totem Bight, which was a surprise and disappointment to us, but rules are rules, and it wasn’t her fault. The Taxi Cab Tour was the only thing we did all trip that I thought wasn’t worth the money or time.

At the end of the tour, she dropped us off at Creek Street. We explored that area for a bit, then walked back to near the ship to wait for our next excursion- a flight-seeing seaplane tour with Taquan Air. They were ready and waiting for us early, and drove usabout 10 minutes down to their location where we watched a safety video and waited for the rest of our group to arrive.

This was a really cool experience, as neither of us had ever been on a seaplane before. Misty Fjords was beautiful and our pilot, Adam, gave great commentary over the headsets. We didn’t expect to see any wildlife, but from the air, we spotted a big group of Dall sheep or mountain goats.

Taquan Air had a shuttle take us back downtown, and we shopped around at a few of the stores before getting back on the ship. Tonight we got to dinner earlier than we had most nights, at about 6:15. After that we spent some time outside on the decks watching the sun go down and I enjoyed a couple drinks. Then we got our usual late-night snack at the buffet before bed.

Day 12: Tuesday July 10th

The last full day of our cruise. The Cruise Companion book we had bought and the onboard naturalist both said we’d be going through prime whale watching area this morning, so after the breakfast buffet we spent a good chunk of the day out on the decks watching for them. We saw a few blows and the tops of a few humpbacks, but that was it.

Throughout the day we watched the “egg drop” event in the atrium, and “The Voice” finale. It’s amazing how talented some of our fellow cruise passengers were! Mom picked up some brochures to look for some future cruises, and ended up putting down a small deposit to get the refundable bonus credit. We ate a light, late lunch at the buffet, then started packing some things since we’d have to put our suitcases out later that night. Packing everything while trying to keep clothes for dinner and for tomorrow, and getting everything we’d bought along the way into the suitcases, all proved to be a challenge. Eventually we took a break for our last dinner, and got sat right in time to see the Baked Alaska Parade, which was fun (and really delicious). We came back to our room, finished packing and put our suitcases out. We reminisced about our favorite parts of the trip, then went to sleep for the last time in our cabin. Vacation went by way too fast!

Day 13: Wednesday July 11th

This morning was the busiest we’d seen the breakfast buffet, but we were still able to find a table without having to wait. After breakfast we got back to the room to pack the final few things in our daypacks, then went to the dining room to meet our disembarkation group at 8:10. They were running a little behind and we didn’t leave with our group until about 8:45. After we started moving, disembarkation was really quick and easy. We were asked what food we were bringing off the ship (since we’d marked that on our customs declaration), they scanned our card, and we were off the Island Princess.

It didn’t take long at all to find our luggage, and once we got it, we walked it over to CDS Baggage where, for $50, they would take our 5 bags to the airport and hold them all day for us until our 11PM flight.

When we walked out of Canada Place, we were right in time to catch the shuttle to Capilano Suspension Bridge. When we arrived, we were glad we had pre-purchased tickets online because there were already a lot of people waiting in line. We had a very good time there walking the bridge and the other trails, and we did one of the free, short tours they offer (I forget which one). The tour guide was a young girl who was really passionate about the park and made it really interesting. We spent about 2 and a half hours at Capilano, then took the shuttle back to Canada Place.

Next, we got a taxi over to Stanley Park. We looked around at the Totems for a while, then walked along the sea wall on our way to the aquarium. On our way we saw a bunch of birds feeding during low tide. The aquarium was absolutely packed with groups of kids, but we still enjoyed our time there and watched some of the shows. It was really cool seeing some of the animals we’d seen throughout our trip (sea otters, sea lions, seals) up close and personal. The sea otters are hilarious and during this trip became one of my favorite animals.

After 3 hours at the aquarium, we walked outside to get a cab back downtown. We waited. And waited. And waited some more. More than an hour later and after 6 phone calls to the 3-4 different cab services listed on the sign, we walked back to near the Totems, where they had a small information center kiosk, and from there we got a cab within minutes. The cab companies had all told us to stay at the aquarium, but the cabs all stopped to pick people up from near this information center. I don’t remember the names of the taxi services but will try to find them so I can leave bad reviews and warn you all about them.

Once we got back downtown, which took a while because traffic was really bad, we went to Vancouver Lookout. From the top, you could see the whole city, and I had no idea Vancouver was so big. There are at least 3 separate skylines! The sun was going down and gleaming nicely off the water and the city looked beautiful.

Our next and last stop was about a 10-minute walk away: Flyover Canada. This ended up being a great experience, much better than I had expected. It also acted as a sort of recap of our vacation – with the mountains, oceans, glaciers, etc. Really cool. Mom especially loved it.

We were tired at this point, so instead of going to Granville Island, we got a cab straight to the airport and planned to eat dinner there while waiting for our flight. The airport seemed understaffed and everything was taking way longer than it should have. For some reason at YVR you have to check in at one location, then walk down a ways to check your bags at another location. Both lines moved slowly, but not as slowly as security, which didn’t have even half the lanes open, I guess because it was too late? (about 8:30). We did not leave with a good impression of the Vancouver Airport.

Once we got through security, we realized we wouldn’t have to go through customs here because they were already closed. This kind of sucked because we realized we’d have to go through customs in Chicago, where we only had a layover of about 70 minutes, and would be landing in the terminal furthest from where our nextflight was taking off.

Customs at 5AM in Chicago ended up being a breeze, as was rechecking our bag to our final destination (Raleigh). We got on the shuttle to get to the right terminal and made it to our next and last flight in plenty of time. We got back to NC right on time at 9:30AM. Unfortunately, our bags did not make it because of the short layover in Chicago and the bags having to be rechecked after customs. Mom ended up getting her luggage delivered to her house in Raleigh later that day, but mine took an extra day and a half to get to me in Charlotte.

I think I finally figured out how to upload my pictures so here is Reflections Lake and the moose we saw near the entrance to Denali

Reflections Lake .pdf

Denali Moose2.pdf

Denali Moose .pdf

Pictures attached of some of the wildlife we saw in Denali, the moose crossing the road on our drive to Talkeetna, and from our glacier landing flight

Bear Cubs and Mama.pdf

Bears Playing.pdf

Caribou2.pdf

Dall Sheep .pdf

Fox.pdf

Denali Flight.pdf

Glacial Pools.pdf

K2.pdf

Ruth Glacier Landing.pdf

The Great One.pdf

Moose Crossing Road.pdf

Here are the rest of our pre-cruise pics, from Anchorage, Girdwood, Seward and Whittier

Turnagin Arm .pdf

Alyeska Tram.pdf

Point Woronzof Sunset.pdf

Point Woronzof Sunset2.pdf

Train to Seward.pdf

Aialik Glacier - Kenai Fjords .pdf

Otter @ Kenai Fjords .pdf

Orca @ Kenai Fjords.pdf

Sea Lions @ Kenai Fjords .pdf

3 Glaciers .pdf

Blue Glacier .pdf

Otters - 26 Glacier Cruise .pdf

Sea Lions - 26 Glacier Cruise .pdf

Island Princess.pdf

Here are the rest of the pics, from our Island Princess Cruise and Vancouver. They are in order of our journey (Hubbard, Glacier Bay, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, Vancouver)

Hubbard.pdf

Hubbard2.pdf

Seal .pdf

Seal on Iceberg.pdf

Marjerie Calving.pdf

Marjerie Glacier.pdf

Emerald Lake.pdf

White Pass Railroad.pdf

Whale Tail.pdf

Juneau Bald Eagle.pdf

Mendenhall Glacier.pdf

Nugget Falls.pdf

Misty.pdf

Misty Fjords.pdf

SeaPlane.pdf

Totems.pdf

Capilano.pdf

Stanley Park Bird.pdf

Vancouver Totems.pdf

That's it for now. It takes me a while to get the pictures reformatted so that I'm able to post them here, but I'll try to post all the patters and dinner menus over the weekend

Loving your trip report, and your pictures are amazing! Thank you!

What a gift you gave your mother. Thank you for sharing it.

Great travel report!!! Enjoying all the pics too!!!

Here are the Princess Patters...

Embarkation Patter.pdf

Embarkation Patter 2.pdf

Embarkation Patter 3.pdf

Embarkation Patter 4.pdf

Day 2 Hubbard Glacier.pdf

Day 2 Hubbard Glacier 2 .pdf

Day 2 Hubbard Glacier 3.pdf

Day 2 Hubbard Glacier 4.pdf

Day 3 Glacier Bay .pdf

Day 3 Glacier Bay 2.pdf

Day 3 Glacier Bay 3.pdf

Day 3 Glacier Bay 4.pdf

Day 4 Skagway.pdf

Day 4 Skagway 2.pdf

Day 4 Skagway 3.pdf

Day 4 Skagway 4 .pdf

Day 5 Juneau .pdf

Day 5 Juneau 2.pdf

Day 5 Juneau 3.pdf

Day 5 Juneau 4.pdf

Day 6 Ketchikan .pdf

Day 6 Ketchikan 2.pdf

Day 6 Ketchikan 3.pdf

Day 6 Ketchikan 4.pdf

Day 7 Sea Day .pdf

Day 7 Sea Day 2.pdf

Day 7 Sea Day 3.pdf

Day 7 Sea Day 4.pdf

Disembarkation Groups & Times.pdf

I plan to do a similar 7 day self pre cruise tour similar to yours. I wonder if it was worth doing both the Seward day cruise and the Whittier day cruise. Were they fairly the same or unique experiences? If you only were to pick one, which did you prefer?