Alaska - HAL Volendam Review with pictures

[kristinp36]

 

 

 

[kristinp36]

They had a small section of sugar-free

 

 

Another sad....small towel animal

 

 

Tomorrow.....Ketchikan and my float plane tour!

[canadianbear]

Am loving your review and photos. I bet you are SO glad you rented a big lens! Especially liked the orca and her young one.

 

I am even more excited reading your review because we just booked an Alaskan cruise (again) on the Zuiderdam for September. Just can't get enough of the beauty. I love traveling with family (honestly) but this upcoming cruise will just be myself and my husband this time.

 

Waiting patiently for more of your review. Hope you enjoyed my lovely home town, Vancouver.

[JamesEM]

Thanks for sharing.

[legalslave]

Your photos are absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for sharing them with us. What week did you sail?

 

Diane

[startwin]

Love your review and your photos are amazing. You are a very talented photographer. These are some of the best photos of Alaska I have seen.

[kristinp36]

Thank you all for the compliments about my photography....it is a big hobby for me and I have spent years understanding aperture, light, shutter speed, etc. Alaska to me was a photographers dream and I took too many photographs to count! :D I am also a huge critic of my own work and often think of better ways I could have captured the scene instead of just looking at the beauty of the photograph...this is something I am trying to break myself of.

 

Ketchikan.....we awoke to another amazing day of weather

 

 

 

[kristinp36]

 

 

[kristinp36]

In Ketchikan the ship literally docked RIGHT DOWN TOWN.....it was a few steps to all the shopping and a short walk to some of the sites you read about on CC. I was up early as usual....I had a Misty Fjord Float Plane tour pre-booked with Island Wings. Super excited! We docked at 10 am and my flight wasn't until 12:30 so I had some time to wander around town before I met my shuttle. When you get off the ship there is a visitor center with lots of tour vendors looking for same day bookings. This was our busiest port....there were 3 or 4 ships in port that day.

 

Sailing into Ketchikan....a few photos before I met our group for breakfast

 

 

 

 

 

[kristinp36]

We meet an Island Wings rep outside of the visitor center.....quick and easy shuttle to their dock about 10 minutes away. Driver was nice and friendly.

 

Gasing up the plane between flights

 

 

For the first half of the flight I was able to ride in the co-pilot seat. It was really neat to be in front but I think the photo ops would have been better from the back. The plane was a 7 seater including pilot. It was a beautiful De Havilland plane....I think Michelle, the pilot, said it was a 1950 ish. I did find there was a really bad glare in most of my pictures from the orange jacket I was wearing. But the experience was amazing I just don't have the best photos from it.

 

 

 

 

[kristinp36]

Flying over the end of Ketchikan

 

 

Four ships in port

 

 

 

 

[kristinp36]

 

 

 

[kristinp36]

 

 

[kristinp36]

After flying for a while Island Wings lands within the Misty Fjord National Park and taxi's to shore where we able to get out and spend about 30 minutes taking in the silence and grandeur of Alaska. According to Michelle she is one of the only tour guides that does this....others land but only let you out on the plane floats or a dock not on land. She has to pay the park service for every person she flies to provide this service.

 

Landing

 

 

 

[Ty85]

Wow, your photography is breath taking! Alaska is on my bucket list to cruise and just go on my own. Such breath taking beauty!. Thanks for sharing your review and pictures.

[cruisinjudy]

Love your photographs! And isn't that float plane trip just the best!!

[Victress2007]

Great Pictures! We're headed out next week and I hope to get some good ones too. I'll have to meet up with your photography group this fall. Can you tell me how?

 

Vic

[kristinp36]

Your photos are absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for sharing them with us. What week did you sail?

 

Diane

 

We sailed May 22, 2013

[kristinp36]

Great Pictures! We're headed out next week and I hope to get some good ones too. I'll have to meet up with your photography group this fall. Can you tell me how?

 

Vic

 

I would love for you to join our group...I have not been too active this summer due to work but should be doing more in the fall.

 

http://www.meetup.com

 

Search Portland for Women Learning Photography Together

 

Have a great cruise....it was amazing and I am already thinking of taking another!

[kristinp36]

Back to your previously scheduled review.....Float Plane Tour

 

Some things to note about Island Wings.....Michelle is the owner and only pilot. She has been flying in Alaska for 17 years (pretty sure this is what she said). She went for 1 season and has been there every sense! When taking off you do hear all the conversations with the pilots and the air traffic tower. The water way that runs through Ketchikan is considered a runway. It was fun to listen to the tower. Most of the planes flown were Beavers and Otters....so imagine a Beaver coming inbound from the South and an Otter waiting to take-off from near such and such point. Kinda funny to listen to! After take off and about 5 minutes of flight time Michelle turns off the tower and turns on some music....we all had headphones and mics where we could ask all the questions we wanted and Michelle answered them.

 

After landing up in Misty Fjords National Park Michelle took pictures of everyone with the plane and scenery. She did this with our own camera and cell phones....which was great because I could post to Facebook about my ride as soon as we got back to town! She was funny she took pictures close up and far far away so you could get an idea of how majestic the area was.

 

 

 

Several of us also wanted a picture with Michelle

 

 

There were wild flowers and seaweed....it was a really beautiful spot

 

 

[kristinp36]

This picture gives you an idea of how "small" you can feel in this environment....this was one of the people on my flight. Look at how open and big everything was. Took your breath away and was incredibly peaceful.

 

[kristinp36]

I really thought her plane was beautiful so I took some shots.....the plane is named after her grandmother.

 

 

 

 

[kristinp36]

On the way back to Ketchikan I sat in one of the middle row seats

 

 

 

 

Buzzing the ship....lol

 

 

What an amazing day.....and I still had hours before we sailed!

[Lady Anna & Sir Troy]

Amazing scenery this whole trip....tons of waterfalls.

 

 

 

 

Hi -

 

I have really enjoyed your trip report. One of the questions I have is where did you take these waterfall pictures? Were they taken from the ship? I LOVE them!

 

L.A.S.T.

[AlohaPride]

It's soooo beautiful. Thank you for the pictures!