GG's Jewel Review 5/30-6/6!!!!!!!!!!

[gg_galaxy2002]

Misty Mountains!

 

[gg_galaxy2002]

Day 2 tarts and chocolates!

 

[boopsahoy]

Sounds like a fun cruise! Enjoying your trip report!

Edited June 21, 2015 by boopsahoy

[gg_galaxy2002]

Sounds like a fun cruise! Enjoying your trip report!

 

I'm so glad:) stay tuned for day 3!

[creativemomma]

gg_galaxy2002,

You were in a mini suite on deck 11 right? How was the noise from the Great Outdoors and pool area? Also, you got sweets each night? I thought that was only in full suites! Nice! We are booked for next Sept and prices have dropped so I was thinking of switching to a mini but worried about noise from above.

 

Thanks,

 

Tammy

[gg_galaxy2002]

gg_galaxy2002,

You were in a mini suite on deck 11 right? How was the noise from the Great Outdoors and pool area? Also, you got sweets each night? I thought that was only in full suites! Nice! We are booked for next Sept and prices have dropped so I was thinking of switching to a mini but worried about noise from above.

 

Thanks,

 

Tammy

 

Hi Tammy, we were in 11528, it was quiet as a mouse. No noise from anywhere except for a crying baby for 5 minutes on a balcony above us.

 

The sweets were a gift from a friend on the ship, sorry

 

Hope you have a wonderful trip! We had the best time ever. I'll be posting my day 3 review soon, this weekend was crazy!

[gg_galaxy2002]

Sorry for the delay, I have been so busy! Hope everyone had a great July 4th!

 

On Day 3 we all woke up again earlier than usual, and it was just beautiful coming into Ketchikan. I saw a total of 13 bald Eagles in just one day there, and the first five you could see just from your balcony, unbelievable!

 

We decided to have a nice breakfast at Moderno since we had extra time, I got the banana pancakes with walnut butter and whipped cream, yummy!

 

We got off the ship and since we didn't have a shore excursion planned we did the walking tour of the city. It was really great because right in the midst of the tour we came across Ketchikandies which was a memorable stop for my mom and I. My late uncle just loved this place so it was so wonderful to finally be there and get some yummy treats!

 

Also during the tour I really enjoyed the totem poles all over town, they were really cool. There was also a beautiful garden right in the middle of the city, they had orange rhodendron, pink poppies and purple columbine!

 

We saw Creek Street which was really neat, and the little shops were just darling. Then we also saw the fish ladder which I'm sure would of been super great to see when the salmon were running but it was still cool to see it.

 

After the walking tour we had lunch in town at Alava's Fish and Chowder. Super good seafood chowder and coleslaw!

 

Then it was time to leave Ketchikan so we headed back to the boat, we went to the name that tune event and enjoyed the sail away music with next stage at the pool.

 

For dinner we had to be by a window because it was prime Orca Whale watching time so we ate at Osheehan's. I had the fish and chips which was great:) We saw 13 orca whales while having dinner!

 

After dinner we saw the comedian, David Naster, who was funny till the end but then he said some political stuff I didn't like. Yet besides that he was really good.

 

After the show we enjoyed Fire and Ice at Magnums for a Motown tribute which was amazing. Rosie knew so much history and we personally thanked her after for doing Motown proud.

 

Osheehans special was a striploin roast, and the buffet had a country western theme. They also had a hoe down party and a Neil Diamond tribute.

 

DAY 4 COMING SOON!!!

[gg_galaxy2002]

coming into Ketchikan

 

[gg_galaxy2002]

Ketchikan

 

[gg_galaxy2002]

MODERNO BREAKFAST BUFFET

 

[gg_galaxy2002]

KETCHIKANDIES!

 

[gg_galaxy2002]

Us girls

 

[gg_galaxy2002]

Pink Poppie in a beautiful little city garden!

 

[gg_galaxy2002]

Creek Street

 

[gg_galaxy2002]

Treats!

 

[jenseib]

Great update. I can't wait to see Ketchikan myself!

[gg_galaxy2002]

Great update. I can't wait to see Ketchikan myself!

 

Thanks so much, I hope you enjoy Ketchikan as much as I did:)

[Finn girl]

Can you tell me how much the drinks run? Soda? Beer? Mixed drinks? Trying to decide if we should buy the drink package or not. I read somewhere that the bought water and soda in Seattle and took it onto the ship. Is that allowed? We're on countdown--1week to go!

[gg_galaxy2002]

Can you tell me how much the drinks run? Soda? Beer? Mixed drinks? Trying to decide if we should buy the drink package or not. I read somewhere that the bought water and soda in Seattle and took it onto the ship. Is that allowed? We're on countdown--1week to go!

 

Wow you are going to have so much fun!

 

I would not get the drink package, I dont think its worth it. The prices for soda I'm not sure about or beer because I never got any, but alcoholic drinks were $6 for the drink of the day. 8$ to 11$ For the majority of the rest, but they were made well and worth the money in my opinion. Be sure to get the angel tini at the white hot party, it's outstanding!

 

Yes you can buy any water and soda and bring it on the ship:)

 

Have a wonderful time:)

[qoap24]

DAY 1 SEATTLE/EMBARKATION!!!

 

We went to drop off our carryon luggage in our room, and then we had lunch at Moderno. They had a really nice menu, and I got the hearts of palm salad with coconut dressing and the corn chowder, yummy! It was really nice to eat here and avoid the craziness of the buffet!

 

 

Was breakfast and lunch at Moderno an uncharge? I knew you could have lunch on embarkation day at the MDR, but I didn't know about Moderno. And I didn't know about breakfast there. TIA :)

[jenseib]

Was breakfast and lunch at Moderno an uncharge? I knew you could have lunch on embarkation day at the MDR, but I didn't know about Moderno. And I didn't know about breakfast there. TIA :)

 

 

It's only for suite/Haven and VIP status guest.

[qoap24]

It's only for suite/Haven and VIP status guest.

 

Thank you. That is what I thought, but when she mentioned she was in a mini suite, I thought maybe I was missing something. :(

[gg_galaxy2002]

Thank you. That is what I thought, but when she mentioned she was in a mini suite, I thought maybe I was missing something. :(

 

Sorry for the confusion, we were very lucky on our cruise and got to be VIPs on the ship.

[gg_galaxy2002]

Day 4

 

So sorry for the delay, this summer has been completely insane!

 

Day 4 was our day in Juneau, we were there between 7am and 1 pm, but because we took the Tracey Arm and Fjord Glacier excursion we were actually in the area till 6pm!

 

I started the day right at Moderno having their fabulous buffet and the 2 egg, fried potato and bacon breakfast. It was wonderful!

 

Straight after breakfast we rushed off the ship to see the Mendenhall Glacier. we decided to take a cab as for the 3 of us it was affordable and easy.

 

The drive was about 20 minutes, and when we got there it was amazing just to look at it from the parking lot and visitor center. But I wanted a close up view, so I walked probably faster than I ever have in my entire life (time was short!) to the glacier.

 

It was breathtaking, and I cant believe we saw 4 more after this one!

 

Nugget falls is worth the hike as well, it was so powerful and when you get to the base the mist gets you! Both the glacier and the falls are a must see!

 

Then for lunch we had our cab drop us at Tracey's King Crab Shack. My mom and I split the #1 combo, it was fabulous! The crab bisque was the best I ever had, and the crab cakes had this amazing spicy dipping sauce!

 

Next we grabbed the shuttle back to our boat, it was free so that was awesome.

 

We just had a little time before we had to rush off to the stardust theater for our meetup for our Tracey Arm Fjord and Glacier shore excursion.

 

We were taken down to a boat which we boarded directly from our ship. It was so cool.

 

The excursion was about 5 hours long and to me was a must see.

 

We saw 100's of beautiful mountains, waterfalls, some our captain took us right up to.

 

We saw 4 glaciers during the trip, 2 we saw really close up, the south sawyer glacier and the sawyer glacier. We saw a baby bald eagle, 40 sea lions, 30 harbor seals, including 11 babies!

 

The animals were all awesome to see, but especially the sea lions were something special. The older ones were just sunning themselves on a tiny island, but the younger ones performed a synchronized swimming show Esther Williams would of been proud of. I'm not kidding, we all sat there in disbelief, they all moved the same direction, they all dived down at the same time and they were in this formation! It was really something!

 

The harbor seals were so cute too, the babies were all on their little ice burgs and the moms were hovering close by. One time the mom spotted us too late and her little one was on top of the ice burg and she was in the water. She kept bobbing up and down to check on her baby as we drove by. It was the cutest thing I ever saw!

 

The glaciers were all so beautiful, it so sad they are all disappearing!

 

Then our cruise ship caught up to us and I'm telling you, when our little boat docked to our ship and we all walked on, it was like we were celebrities. All of the people on their balconies were waving at us. It was hilarious.

 

Next it was on to dinner at the Tsars Palace, were I had Steak Diane with fries and broccoli, which was very good.

 

After that we saw the amazing Luminescence Show, wow! Then we caught the Its Broadway show. And then we went to bed because honestly we were totally wiped out!

 

Osheehans had grilled Alaskan salamon and the buffet had Alaskan salmon and seafood chowder!

[gg_galaxy2002]

Nugget falls!