Alaska Island Princess Northbound May 27th review.

[TravelRookie]

College Fjord:

 

 

Knowing we were only going to be at our destination later in the day, we actually slept in a bit that morning. We weren't having much luck in weather as again it was overcast and drizzly. Good thing I had brought some warm clothes! We trucked around the Promenade deck and found a few warm places to stand for a while. Must be where an outside fan blowing hot air was located. While standing there looking out, we saw fish jumping out of the water. There was one that was jumping out quite a bit, then we saw the back of something bigger appear for a brief minute so figured it was being chased by something. Again we saw some porpoises in the water.

 

 

As we continued to sail on, it got really foggy and the visibility dropped and the ship started periodically blowing its horn. We were to enter College Fjord at 5:30 and seriously doubted that would happen as the captain had reduced the speed and we still had a ways to go (Rob's GPS would show us where we were and a map of the area so we could see where we still had to go, and it also calculated the speed. He tested it with the information found on one of the TV stations that gave coordinates and speed and they matched).

 

 

After a while we decided to head up for a coffee in the Horizon Court and sat close to the front windows along with other people. We were having a pleasant time when we heard the ship blow a short horn blast.

 

 

Then another.

 

 

Then another.

 

 

Then another.

 

 

I looked at Rob wondering if we'd need to head to our cabin to get our life vests if the end result was 7 horn blows followed by 1 long one.

 

 

Another short horn blast.

 

 

And we felt the ship turn, harder then anything on the trip so far.

 

 

I was getting a bit worried by that point but no other horn blows came. Just as I started to relax, someone closer to the windows at the front hollered that there were ships in front of us. We jumped up and went towards the window and sure enough, 3 small fishing vessels were straight ahead of us. The cruise ship had turned to try to maneuver around them since the horn blows obviously didn't work. It would have been pretty hard to figure out from which direction the horn blows were coming from. The fog was that thick.

 

 

Two of the vessels quickly moved away but one didn't seem to be doing anything. Then, one of the vessels came barreling back, almost like it was heading to the other ship that wasn't moving. It didn't look like it was going to make it to the other ship before we'd collide, but it stopped and grabbed a net it had in the water, then put the afterburners on to get out of our way. It disappeared from our sight, but another passenger who went outside to see, said we just past it by and one of the fishing crew was out on the deck watching us go by with a slack jaw saying “Holy ****!”

 

 

So that was our excitement for the day before reaching College Fjord!

 

 

Luckily we sailed out of the fog shortly thereafter and although it was quite overcast, we were able to see all the glaciers along the narrations of Dr. Thomas Ryan. We couldn't get close to the ones at the end of the inlet due to too much ice, but it was still a pretty spectacular sight to see.

[TravelRookie]

College Fjord continued . . .

[TravelRookie]

Whittier:

 

 

I think Whittier was by far the coldest day; a mere 37 F. Brrr! And of course, it was raining. Lol. In any case, we had a transfer company set to come pick us up. In our reservation documents it indicated we should be out of the ship no later then 8:15am. When we got our disembarkation information, it indicated we would be getting off at 8:30am. Uh-oh. We went down to the desk the day we got our papers and asked if we can be bumped up with another group that was leaving earlier. Olga at the desk checked and said it should be fine. She even indicated that we could bring our own luggage if we could manage it. Since all we had was the 1 big suitcase and the 2 carry-on, all that rolled very easily we decided to keep our luggage instead of putting it outside our door. Just in case.

 

 

Since we had no idea how it all worked, I decided we should head out with the group that was disembarking at 7:15am. That morning we trucked down to the area and a Princess employee asked us what color our tag was. We explained how we needed to make sure we were off by a certain time, so we kept our luggage and was told by Olga at the front desk that we could jump in with this group. The employee indicated that as we had all our luggage, we could actually get off the ship now if we wished. Huh. Ok, that was fine but wow, we now had at least an hour to wait for our pick up in the terminal. Oh well. I'd rather be waiting then rushing so we got off the boat and went to find our seats by the name of the company we used. They actually were delayed due to the train going through the tunnels and having to wait for the smoke to clear so they only got there very close to 9:00am. Myself, Rob and another two passengers were going on the straight transfer, while the rest going with the same company were doing the sightseeing version (3 hours as opposed to our 1 ½ hour). Our driver Payuk was awesome! Although we weren't on the official sightseeing tour, he certainly pointed out things for us and held a conversation the entire way, which was great. Since we were all heading to the airport, we got dropped off there with no fuss and no muss. There, we picked up our car rental and found the closest McDonald's since we were pretty positive they'd have free Wi-Fi as our families hadn't heard from us since Juneau.

 

 

Sure enough, I had a message from Rob's mom saying she hadn't heard from us in a bit and hoped all was well. I quickly sent her an update, then sent one to my mother and had a few messages back and forth before we hit the road again heading up to Denali National Park.

[TravelRookie]

Denali:

 

 

The drive to Denali wasn't too bad, other then the 7 mile section where they only allowed one side of traffic going at a time so that was a bit of a wait but we made it through and continued to truck on. We stopped in Wasilla to grab a Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino that I had tried (and got hooked on) at the airport in Toronto. If that sounds good, it's because it is! We had a few of those when we were in civilization enough to have a Starbucks (ha, ha!).

 

 

Back on the road we went. It was funny because there was a section of road that could have been from anywhere USA or anywhere Canada. You couldn't see the mountains, and all the trees and surrounding marsh areas were very similar to what we have down here. We did a quick video about it for laughs.

 

 

We finally got to the area that showed a lot of mountains and tundra-like scenery and we made sure to keep our eyes open for moose and other critters (just like the 126 going to Miramichi!). Sure enough, up ahead a travel trailer was pulled over the side of the road and when we got closer, there were caribou eating on the side of the road. We pulled over too and took both pictures and video. Then we continued on.

 

 

We eventually got to our lodgings; McKinley Creekside Cabins. They were clean and comfortable, if a little slanty. Lol, they must have had issues with flooding that possibly moved the foundation. Still, it was not far from the part entrance, the view of the mountains was great, you were right by a creek and the cabins had all you needed for a comfortable stay (minus a TV, refrigerator and microwave but that was fine with us). Once we checked in, we sent a brief update to the families with the cabin's free Wi-Fi and headed down to the park to check things out before our tour the next morning. They have a little town not far from the Princess owned hotel affectionately (or unaffectionately) called “Glitter Gulch”. They have shops, a couple of excursion shops and restaurants. We ate at Subway that night and stopped at the local grocery store to pick up some snacks on the 8 hour tour we would be taking the next morning. By then it was late so we returned to the cabins to head to bed.

[TravelRookie]

Eielson Visitor Center Shuttle Bus tour:

 

 

The next morning we headed back to Glitter Gulch to see about getting some food for the bus. Subway was packed and the other little places all had some sandwiches with funky cheeses etc that just weren't appealing to me and I wasn't going to pay the money for something I might like. So we kept with our snacks (water, chips, granola bars) and headed into the park at the Wilderness Access Center to hop on our bus. And by bus, I really do mean bus!

 

 

The first 17 miles are paved, and you can bring your own vehicle up to that point. Past that, and you need to either be in on a tour like we were, or have a special permit to drive further in. Truthfully, after the tour and seeing the roads, I wouldn't take my personal vehicle in there! After mile 17, it turns into a gravel road with some switchback turns and hair-raising heights. I think I'd lose my nerves driving it. Our driver, Barr, was awesome. She was very informative and clearly loved both her job, and the park.

 

 

We weren't even that far into the park when we saw our first animal; a snowshoe hair. Apparently their numbers are down as they're on their overpopulation part of their cycle and the numbers start dropping off.

 

 

Our next animal was, of course, the moose. No calves for either of the moose we saw (one on both sides of the road). We then saw some caribou, but funny enough, the ones we saw on the drive to Denali were closer to the road then these ones were. We then saw some Dall sheep, a bachelor group that hangs out in the same area of the part pretty close to the road.

 

 

We were almost about 4 hours in, very near Eielson when I spotted what we came to see; a grizzly bear. Myself and another passenger shouted at the same time and hollered at Barr to stop. We were lucky that it was on our side of the road. We stayed by him for a while, and even reversed on the road to keep him in sight. I got a lot of pictures of him and he was pretty close to us up on the hill.

 

 

We then continued on our way to Eielson. Unfortunately, we weren't in the lucky 30% who get to see Mt. McKinley (also known as Denali) as it was covered in clouds. Possibly if we would have taken a later tour, we may have seen it as the weather cleared in the afternoon on our drive out, but even that was no guarantee as the other mountains can be visible but McKinley still shrouded in clouds.

 

 

We saw the Dall sheep, caribou and another (same?) grizzly on our drive out. We also saw ground squirrels that Barr calls “Grizzly Granola Bars” which I found hilarious. Could have been me being overtired.

 

 

The scenery was truly magnificent and the vastness of it was completely awe-inspiring.

 

 

When we got back to the Wilderness Access Center and got in our car to drive out, we saw a moose with her calf along the side of the road. The cars ahead were stopped so I took a quick picture with my cell phone to give as an update to the family once we got back to the cabins.

 

 

Rob ate at Subway again but I wanted to try some fish and chips. Holy heck the prices! Still, I got a 2 piece cod fish and chips. It was good, but nothing to brag home about, really. Oh well, at least I can say I sampled the local cuisine. ;-)

[TravelRookie]

Eielson Visitor Center Shuttle Bus tour continued. . .

[TravelRookie]

some more of the Eielson Visitor Center Shuttle Bus tour. . .

[TravelRookie]

The next morning, we checked out of our cabins and then headed back to Denali. Our tour price included the park entrance good for either 5 or 7 days, can't remember now. When we were coming back from our shuttle tour, a few people wanted to be let out at the Park Visitor Center where they have the sled dog demonstration 3 times a day. Since we were starving that day and were hot and dusty from the trip, we didn't go see the demonstration that same day (not that Rob would want to see it anyways) so I left it to today.

 

 

We parked in the parking lot and walked the little trail in the woods to the kennels. Rob stayed for about 5 minutes, then indicated he'd head out and come back in the hour to pick me up. The demonstration was really neat! The ranger spoke of the history of the park, using the dogs and what they've done etc. Then they brought out a sled and harnesses and the dogs went crazy! They hooked up 5 dogs and then let them run! They ran around a little track and then stopped right in front of where all us visitors were sitting in the stands. They stayed there for a Q&A session and then for photo ops, although one of the dogs had to go back right away as she eats rocks.

 

 

Most of the people there were heading out on buses so they left soon after. I visited with the dogs a bit longer, there was one dog I'd seen earlier that was simply gorgeous but could tell he was nervous but I really wanted to see him and figured they wouldn't have him out if he was a potential danger. Opus was on his hut and when I came closer and took pictures, started to look worried and jumped down and started pacing. I crouched down, sideways to him so as not to make him feel challenged and simply waited. He came over and gave me a sniff then backed away, then came over again. He would quickly retreat if I would move but would come back so I extended my hand, knowing he'd smell the other doges I patted. He let me rub him under his chin, and was really interested in my charm bracelet (apparently, they get really fascinated with anything dangling), and then started acting like he wanted to play. Too bad they had a rope in the way to keep people from getting right up to the dog, but he did seem to be happy with me being there.

 

 

I also went inside of the musher lodge to see some of the paraphernalia used, and the history of the people and the dogs. I was asked if I came by bus and said no so they asked if I could go back to the stands because they were going to bring the dogs back. So myself and a couple of other people moved over to the stands. They unhooked the dogs and then one by one, let them run to their respective kennels/huts. Then the humans pushed the musher sled back to it's place. By that point, everything was pretty much done so I figured I'd head back through the path to the parking lot and wait for Rob there. As I turned to do so, I saw the hindquarters of a moose disappearing into the trees. I wisely chose to wait a bit longer before heading out!

 

 

Walking the path by myself with no one else around was a bit different. Down here I wouldn't think twice about it, but seeing the wildlife the previous day, then not 5 minutes before, the moose so close made it a different experience. When I got to the parking lot, still no Rob but I knew he wouldn't be much longer.

 

 

Right ahead of me was the parking lot with an entrance to my right, and one to my left, with a group of trees separating the two. The main road is beyond that. To my left is a paved road leading to another parking lot. To my right is also a paved road heading down to the kennels that is used by park staff.

 

 

I didn't realize a park ranger was walking up the road to my right (as he was hidden by some signs and the garbage bins) until I heard him exclaim “Hey whoa!” I looked at him first because he startled me, then I looked where he was looking and caught sight of a moose walking down the main road. I took my camera out of my pocket and looked back at the ranger to see him quickly jump off the road into the woods. I look back at the moose and notice she has a calf with her. . . and she was headed right for me! I quickly jumped behind the garbage bins and turned on the video and caught her and her calf run by right in front of me and down the road to the left towards the other parking lot further into the woods. Talk about a close encounter!

 

 

There was an RV that had seen the moose and the idiot was videotaping while driving and so had stopped just before the entrance of the parking lot to the left (I have him on video too as I followed the moose) and 3 cars behind him is Rob. He didn't even see the moose, he was more concerned about what the idiot in the RV was doing! I showed him the video and he couldn't believe how close she was to me.

 

 

We got back into the car and headed back towards Anchorage. I swear we saw more moose (and one was a bull due to the antlers that were starting to sprout along his head) along that road leaving Denali then we saw in Denali. Whichever way to chose to visit, I'm certain you'll be seeing some sort of wildlife!

[TravelRookie]

Anchorage:

 

 

On our way back to Anchorage from Denali, we stopped for lunch in Wasilla. Rob stated pre-trip, once he found out that there were Carl's Jr in Alaska that we had to stop at a Carl's Jr. He hadn't had it since he lived and worked in the US, which was quite a few years ago. So we had lunch at Carl's Jr. Tastes like Burger King but better. We then stopped at Starbucks for a Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino and made our way to the Best Western Golden Lion in Anchorage. Couldn't get over the size of the room! Clean and comfortable, I have to give it to them, I have no complaints with Best Western.

 

 

Knowing we were leaving the following night, we properly packed the checked luggage and the two carry-ons and laid out our clothes for the next day. Wouldn't you know it, the last day of our stay in Alaska dawned bright and beautiful??? Blue sky and not a cloud in the sky. Ha, ha. Oh well.

 

 

We drove around looking for an IHop to eat breakfast and found one. I had never eaten there before. Very yummy!

 

 

We drove around Anchorage visiting areas that had peaked our curiosity on our drive from Whittier, and on our drive to Denali. Cook Inlet was at low tide on our drive from Whittier, and again when we visited it earlier but I wanted to see it with the tide up. So around 7:00pm we made our way to Beluga Point. There were quite a few people there and one person indicated she had seen a whale. I looked out where she was pointing and am pretty sure I saw a blow cloud the same time she exclaimed “There's another one!” but didn't see anything further after that. We stayed there for a while, then figured we should head towards the airport to return the rental and make our way to our gate.

 

 

But first, a final stop at Starbucks! Where, with the free Wi-Fi, we got the unfortunate news that our flight was delayed. It was due to leave at 12:30am the morning of Friday June 7 and it was delayed to about 2:20am. Then we got another notice saying it was delayed until 3:40am. We then got another delay update indicating it was only going to leave at 4:25am. But it still said to make your way to the airport for your original scheduled flight time. So that's what we did.

 

 

We returned the car and then made our way to the gate in order to get our tickets. The counter was very busy as there was a flight leaving for Chicago very shortly so they were getting all the passengers for Chicago to make their way to the front of the line so they could be passed first. Which was fine, we weren't in a rush, we knew our flight had gotten delayed.

 

 

When all the Chicago clients had made it through, it was our turn. I went to the counter and the lady pointed to the computer screen in front of me to do it there. Not thinking anything of it, I went through the process and got my tickets. We then eventually made our way to the security check in and to our gate to wait. Flights came and left and there we waited. We met up with our cruise friends Jim and Ronnie again, as they were on our same flight. Imagine that! It was close to 2:30am by that point and I had expressed to Ronnie that I was concerned about all of our connecting flights because none of our tickets showed any updates. She said there really should be and that I should go back to the counter and get that. I left all my stuff with Rob, grabbed our passports and tickets and ran back to the counter. Thankfully, they weren't closed and I explained my situation with, what happened to be the manager. At no point was there anyone at the counter at our gate where we could have asked questions, and I indicated when it was our turn in line, the lady at the counter made us go through the kiosk. I probably should have mentioned something at that time, but it was only my second time flying so how was I to know? We were just concerned due to the fact there is only 1 plane from Newark to home that happens once a day and if we miss that connection, we'll be stuck for another day and we really didn't want that to happen.

 

 

The manager was clicking away on her computer and going “Oh we should have put you on the San Francisco flight, or the one to Denver (could have been Dallas, I can't remember exactly)” and I started getting a sinking feeling in my stomach. We were doing so good up until that point! Everything had gone smoothly in regards to transfers and excursions and everything.

 

 

She finally said she could put us on an Air Canada flight from Seattle to Toronto and from Toronto to home arriving after Midnight. I said that was fine, it was only an extra hour between our original arrival home to the new one. So long as we got home in this trip, I would be good with it. So that's what she did. I do have to give them kudos; yes I probably should have asked a question about the delay when I first got the tickets, but when it got down to the wire, United was still able to help me out.

 

 

So our flight finally arrived, the passengers were unloaded and after the security checks and whatever else they need to do to get a flight ready, we were off!

 

 

Although I was sad for vacation to end, I was ready to head home and be with family. Alaska is a truly beautiful place that I wouldn't hesitate to visit again. Especially on a cruise ship! I think I may have gotten the cruise bug. Until next time.

[TravelRookie]

Bye, bye Alaska!

[RM]

What a great review. You reallybgot to see a lot of wildlife. Can't wait for my turn. Thanks

[ucfalli]

Enjoyed your review. Thanks for taking the time to write!

[mom2sage]

Skagway cont.

 

And picture spoiler alert for geocashers!

 

HA! It didn't occur to me do try geocaching on my cruise. I might have to upload some to my phone.

Thanks for mentioning the charm bracelet. I usually don't wear jewelry, but my mom and I enjoyed collecting charms on our Mexican Riviera trip. I will add it to next weeks to-do list for my cruise.

[TravelRookie]

What a great review. You reallybgot to see a lot of wildlife. Can't wait for my turn. Thanks

 

Yes we did, it was great! Hope you have a great time on your trip!

[TravelRookie]

HA! It didn't occur to me do try geocaching on my cruise. I might have to upload some to my phone.

Thanks for mentioning the charm bracelet. I usually don't wear jewelry, but my mom and I enjoyed collecting charms on our Mexican Riviera trip. I will add it to next weeks to-do list for my cruise.

 

My sister's big into geocashing. Me? Not so much, but one day while Rob was testing out his GPS thing-y he bought for his iPod, he went walking along the river by our house and he happened to find one so he looked up any possible ones in Alaska. Skagway was really the only one we looked for as our trip around town to see the sights went by so quickly and we still had a while to wait before our excursion. So it gave us something else to do while waiting. :)

 

I wear jewelry (a couple of rings and a necklace) but never got into wearing bracelets. But I figured the charm bracelet would be something cute to have, even if the charms turned out to be tacky. But they aren't and I. LOVE. THIS. BRACELET! I wear it all the time and I've actually added a new charm to it (not trip related). Love it! So glad I saw that when I looked through that coupon book and decided to go for it.

[TravelRookie]

Thanks everyone, glad you liked the review and the pictures. Feel free to ask any questions!

[margob111]

What a great review. We are on the Coral Princess next May, doing the cruise tour first. Can't wait to go and am even more excited after seeing your photos.