Carnival Spirit Alaska Cruise Aug 31, 2010

[Bunkie103]

At least it was only a dry run.

[SeeJennyCruise]

It was another early morning for me as we approached Juneau before sunrise.

 

 

I booked our tour privately with Harv and Marv. We were scheduled to meet at 9:00 a.m. , not too far from where the Spirit docks at the pier. That meant we had time for breakfast so we were in the MDR about 7:30. I had some standard like fruit and a croissant. Terry shocked me and ordered Eggs Benedict, with tomato juice and Tabasco, of course. He also ordered sausage which gave me a little more confidence that life had not changed too dramatically :p

 

At the beginning of this review I mentioned my two main goals for our Alaskan Cruise were to see whales and a bald eagle. Our tour in Juneau met both of those objectives. It was also a spectacularly beautiful day and we were reminded of this fact several times.

 

There was a little golf cart like shuttle that would run people from the bottom of the ship stairs to the pier exit. We hoofed it and made it to the parking lot just before 9:00 a.m. to meet are fellow CC’ers who were also cruising with Harv and Marv.

 

 

 

Harv and Marv had two boats going out that morning and both passenger groups were on the bus. I was surprised that of all the passengers on both tour groups were connected to our CC roll call. Do you see a connection developing? The six passengers on our boat included the same two couples we were with on the Tracy Arm Fjord and White Pass train excursions. They were great couples so we were happy to have found our way to the same tours. It also gives you a bit of confidence that you are making some good shore excursion choices.

After meeting with our driver from Harv and Marv, we headed into Juneau. Our driver pointed out notable sights as we passed through Juneau headed to Auke Bay.

Alright everyone, what is the capital of Alaska? Only a few on our bus gave the correct answer. No, it’s not Anchorage, although, we heard there have been efforts to move the capital there. We were told that Juneau is often cold and rainy. We were so blessed to have gorgeous weather for early September in Juneau.

[SeeJennyCruise]

Our first stop was a roadside access point with parking overlooking a field and hiking trails that lead up toward Mendenhall Glacier. When the driver asked if anyone wanted to get out and take a few pictures, I hopped up to exit the bus and our new friend Will from Oregon laughed and said, “She would take a picture of a rock.” :) If it is an Alaskan rock, he is absolutely correct! :D

 

Isn’t that pretty? Here is a close up of the flowers.

 

 

 

Information on Mendenhall Glacier in the distance. We visited the park closer to Mendenhall after our whale watching tour.

 

 

 

Trivia: Mendenall is not this glacier’s first name. What was the first name of the Mendenhall glacier?

 

[5waldos]

Auk Glacier.

 

 

(ok- I cheated and read it).

[ChefSusan]

We were scheduled to meet our tour group at 7:30 a.m. so we were waiting in the line to disembark at 7:00 a.m. There was a bit of a wait before we were allowed to leave the ship, but we made the ¼ mile or so walk in short time and met our fellow passengers in a parking lot to meet our driver for Chilkoot tour. The driver asked to see our passports before we boarded the bus. Evidently, they have had problems in the past when passengers said they had their passports, but had left them on the ship.

 

Chilkoot is the tour company, the tour we booked was called White Pass Summit Rail and Bus Excursion. I booked directly with Chilkoot, originally because I wanted to go on the seven hour Carcross tour. It was not available after Sept 1 and we ended up on the three hour train / bus combination. The train ride up to Fraser is the same for everyone, it is what you do after that which makes for the different tour combinations. Other CC friends took the longer tour with stops at Emerald Lake and to see the huskys. For our first visit (hopefully, not the last) visit to Skagway, I am happy with the length of our tour which allowed ample time for wandering around Skagway.

 

We took a short bus ride in a decent 24 passenger van to the train and we boarded with other passengers who were also booked with Chilkoot. Here is our bus driver waving goodbye to us. He will now drive up to Fraser B.C. to pick us up in a little less than two hours.

 

 

I loved the flowers on the carts as decoration. A great solution when the ground will be covered in snow in a couple of months.

 

I had a problem with my picture upload for Skagway and Juneau. I will have to stop now to upload those photos again. I have over 700MB of pictures for Skagway alone so it may take a little while. I'll be back later. Now is probably a good time to get some more laundry done. :rolleyes:

We also booked our Skagway White Pass and Yukon plus Dog Sled excursion with Chillkoot, and Terry was our driver too! Did he do all of the crazy stuff to entertain you guys between stops?

 

I can relate to having 700mb of pictures - I think I shot off something like 2gb between pictures and video!

[happylady]

Oh...boy!!:eek: I guess I'd better start looking for more memory for my camera!! :D

[SeeJennyCruise]

I took over 700 pictures during this tour. In person you are strapped to your chair while I click through all of the photos, here I will limit myself some :p

 

 

 

 

The majority of our whale watching was a splash with countless blows from the humpback whales. At times I had to choose between watching and taking a picture. The lungs on a humpback are about the size of a Volkswagon bug and they can stay under for 45 minutes. You need a good bit of time, at least a couple of hours, to have an opportunity to see the whales.

 

Four blow holes in chorus in the picture above.

[SeeJennyCruise]

Auk Glacier.

 

 

(ok- I cheated and read it).

 

Reading is within the rules ;)

 

<<<drumroll>>> Congratulations! You have won a ship on the stick.

 

 

 

Fine print

Tax and license not included. No liability for paper cuts received after printing out ship on a stick award picture.

[SeeJennyCruise]

We also booked our Skagway White Pass and Yukon plus Dog Sled excursion with Chillkoot, and Terry was our driver too! Did he do all of the crazy stuff to entertain you guys between stops?

 

I can relate to having 700mb of pictures - I think I shot off something like 2gb between pictures and video!

 

I forgot the driver's name, is it Terry? Yes, he did the funny stuff at each stop.

 

 

I have almost 4GB worth of pictures and video after deleting hundreds of pictures. I need to take more time to clean up the extra shots.

[SeeJennyCruise]

Oh...boy!!:eek: I guess I'd better start looking for more memory for my camera!! :D

 

Perhaps a camera drive? Or a camerathon? :p

[5waldos]

Reading is within the rules ;)

 

<<<drumroll>>> Congratulations! You have won a ship on the stick.

 

 

 

Fine print

Tax and license not included. No liability for paper cuts received after printing out ship on a stick award picture.

 

OHOHOHOHOH- I am so excited! I never win anything- thank you thank you thank you!!!

 

Oops- printer out of pink ink. :rolleyes:

[5waldos]

I have sent my sister a link to your review- she is coming with me on her first cruise next spring- HI SIS- and this was so lovely I thought she should see your review and pictures. Thanks for doing it-

 

And of course my SHIP ON A STICK. My very first one.

[SeeJennyCruise]

The whale watching tour operators stay in touch over the radio so that when a pod is spotted, the other boats can head that way or go another direction if there are already too many boats in that area. One of the larger double deck boats was next to an active pod of whales, so that option allows a greater number of people to have a view. The smaller boats can maneuver better and cover more ground in a shorter period of time affording a greater opportunity to see more than one active pod of whales in an area.

 

 

Look at the smaller boat on the far left in the picture above. You can see the humpback's pectoral fin in the air just left of the boat. The pectoral fin on a humpback is longer than that of all other species of whales, measuring one-third the whale's body length, or approximately twelve to fifteen feet.

 

We were never able to get close to the pod of whales in the picture above because there were already several boats watching. We did use binoculars and our zoom lenses to watch for awhile before moving on.

 

Regardless of which whale tour option you may choose, the NOAA regulations are the same. There is a maximum of two vessels allowed in the 300- to 600-foot Stand-by zone at any one time. Only one vessel at a time may be within 100 to 300 feet of the whale. When one vessel is within 300 feet of a whale, up to 2 other vessels can be in the Stand-by Zone at least 300 feet from the whale; any additional vessels should remain outside the Stand-by Zone. If more than one vessel is within 600 feet, the vessel within 300 feet should limit its time to 15 minutes in close approach to whales. The boats are not allowed to approach within 100 feet of whales. If whales approach within 100 feet of your vessel, the engines are put in neutral and are not re-engaged until the whales are a safe distance.

Humpbacks will often roll onto their side or back and slowly slap the water's surface with one fin or both fins simultaneously. We saw this behavior quite a bit on our whale watching tour. Below it just looks like a big splash and that is what we saw sometimes.

 

[SeeJennyCruise]

I have sent my sister a link to your review- she is coming with me on her first cruise next spring- HI SIS- and this was so lovely I thought she should see your review and pictures. Thanks for doing it-

 

And of course my SHIP ON A STICK. My very first one.

 

We should take a picture of you two holding your Ship on a Stick :rolleyes: Well, maybe you should wait until you win your second one your cruise with your sister. How fun to go with your sister on her first cruise. I have been with several family members on their first cruise and it was great time for all.

[SeeJennyCruise]

It’s not just any fluke. Whale flukes are unique like fingerprints. Here are some photos taken by me and a Will, a fellow CC’er on the tour with us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jay Beedle write a weekly whale feature for the Juneau Empire newspaper. He has named many of the whales that frequent Auke Bay and working with the NOAA has connected his personal names for the whales with the Seak #. He has a wealth of information about the specific whales we saw on our tour.

[happylady]

Perhaps a camera drive? Or a camerathon? :p

 

I have 1GB in my Olympus. After reading your review, I went online and found a 2GB at Walmart online for $14.00. I'll probably get 2 just to be sure. LOL

 

Just made my DH come in and look at your pictures. He is getting more and more excited about the trip. Whale watching is a definite excursion.

[SeeJennyCruise]

I have 1GB in my Olympus. After reading your review, I went online and found a 2GB at Walmart online for $14.00. I'll probably get 2 just to be sure. LOL

 

Just made my DH come in and look at your pictures. He is getting more and more excited about the trip. Whale watching is a definite excursion.

 

Will you have a way to download your pictures (like a laptop) at night? At Costco I bought two 8GB cards for less than $50 before tax. I know you can't use 8GB cards in all camera models, but it works in the digital camcorder and the Nikon camera I was using so I can interchange them. I actually used up the 8GB on one of the tours. I would not have had room for more pictures without the ability to download to the laptop and then delete the pictures from the 8GB memory card I was using in the camera.

 

You are going to love the Alaskan cruise. I'm glad you are enjoying the pictures. :)

[happylady]

Will you have a way to download your pictures (like a laptop) at night?

 

Our DS never leaves home with out his laptop! We were trying to talk him out of taking it, but now we might change our mind. It'd also be nice to work on a review "as we go"....at least type up our notes for when we get home. :rolleyes:

 

Did you also use a camcorder? I just found an awesome deal at Wal-mart for a Sony from $398 to $150. The current models were on clearance to make room for the new models for Christmas. Not sure if we'll really use it on the cruise.

[SeeJennyCruise]

I have dozens of shots of almost seeing a whale and blows from the whale’s spouts. I have already posted most of my better whale pictures, so I will move on to some of the wildlife we saw in Auke Bay.

I could not figure out what was on this buoy from a distance. These are two of my favorite pictures.

 

 

 

You can also see a glacier in the distance in the picture above. I don’t recall the name, but it’s not Mendenhall.

 

 

Do you see the little guy in the bottom right asking for the group to move over so he can hop on?

[SeeJennyCruise]

Our DS never leaves home with out his laptop! We were trying to talk him out of taking it, but now we might change our mind. It'd also be nice to work on a review "as we go"....at least type up our notes for when we get home. :rolleyes:

 

Did you also use a camcorder? I just found an awesome deal at Wal-mart for a Sony from $398 to $150. The current models were on clearance to make room for the new models for Christmas. Not sure if we'll really use it on the cruise.

 

We used a digital camcorder. The video is pretty rough from the whale watching because of the boat movement, but there are a couple of seconds of film that we are really happy with. The camcorder was particularly good for the White Pass train excursion.

[SeeJennyCruise]

We also saw a sea lion eating a fish with sea gulls all around. Here is the picture of the large double deck whale watching boat we were near at one point.

 

This is not wildlife, but I do like lighthouses and this is a nice one.

 

 

[SeeJennyCruise]

I know the following are not good shots, but they give you an idea of why you will need to binoculars and/or a zoom camera. Harv and Marv offer the use of nice binoculars on their tour.

 

Find the bald eagles

 

 

 

Almost impossible to see on beach:

 

 

 

There were actually two eagles on the beach. The one above is in the middle of the beach just next to the water. I had the opportunity to see one fly off. There will be a better shot of a bald eagle at the end of this review.

[SeeJennyCruise]

It was a wonderful day in creation. I wanted to see whales and eagles and I saw both on this tour. Captain Jay repeatedly told us that our experience was not typical of Juneau weather. The fabulous weather combined with numerous whale sightings is not a guarantee. I was so thrilled with the experience, I want to go back to Juneau and take this tour again, expanded if possible.

 

After more than two hours on the water, it was time to head back to the marina.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would have loved more time, but we had to be back on the ship by 2:30. With our wonderful Captain Jay (Marv) and the incredible weather, this was (with close competition) my favorite to tour of our Alaskan cruise.

[SeeJennyCruise]

Our driver gave our bus, now the two tour groups combined again, the option of stopping at Mendenhall, going to town, or going back to the shop. Our group agreed to stop at Mendenhall for 30 minutes and then half of us were dropped off by the shopping in town and the rest went to the pier.

 

There was not much time at Mendenhall and our group all went different ways. Some went on the 10 minute walk that might have bears, we took pictures, and some went to the visitor center.

 

 

 

 

 

[SeeJennyCruise]

I understand the falls are about a 15 -20 minute walk away. We decided not to try it round trip in 30 minutes.

 

 

Walking back to the parking lot, I saw a park ranger pointing out something in the trees. Due to the distance, I barely saw something the size of baseball in the top of a tree that is set back into the forest past the white canopy tents near the parking lot.