My Solstice Trip to Alaska May 6, 2016

[BigB0882]

Your pics are stunning. What kind of camera and lens were you using?

[misha1]

Our first Alaskan cruise was a Hubbard Glacier cruise, so when I booked our first Tracy Arm Fjord cruise, I also did not know what to expect...but I was sure it could not be as spectacular as Hubbard Glacier...Whooooo Boy, was I wrong. Gorgeous scenery awaits for everyone. DH and I sail Tracy Arm again in September and are looking forward to it's beauty and awe. Your photos capture it very well.

[rnrcruzin]

Please forgive me as I may have missed it, but what camera are you using for your photo's.

[JimHam4]

Your pics are stunning. What kind of camera and lens were you using?

 

My primary camera for this trip was a Nikon D7000 with a Nikkor 80-200 2.8 lens D lens and a 35-70 2.8 Nikkor lens. I also brought a Nikon J1 camera that I used when I didn't want to carry the big camera or wanted a wide angle shot. My super wide Tokina lens never made it out of my bag because the J1 worked so well.

[G&S2C]

Your pictures are amazing! Would you mind sharing what type of camera you are using as well as lenses. Thank you

[JimHam4]

Day 4 continued - Juneau

 

The Solstice docks about 1pm in Juneau and we’re cleared to leave the ship about 1:30. At the port talk we were told it is about a mile (20 minute) walk to town from where we are docked and there will be shuttles available for $4 roundtrip. Our tour today is going to pick us up dockside and drop us off in town after our whale watch so we go to see about purchasing a return trip ticket on the dock. We are told we don’t need to purchase anything as no one is checking tickets on the return trip and all we have to do is jump on the bus. The busses were shuttling between our berth and the Mt. Robert’s tramway.

 

We booked our tour today with Jayleene’s Alaska for six of us. The tour includes pick up at the dock, about three hours on the boat for whale watching, and a return drop off wherever we wish. We had looked at several different tours to go whale watching, both with and without a visit to Mendenhall, but decided to not push our limited time by just doing a whale watch. I looked at both Gastineau tours offered by Celebrity (the photo tour and regular wildlife/whales tour) and was told by the Gastineau people they were basically the same tour except the photo tour brought along a photo expert to help you setup your camera and shots. We decided we didn’t need to pay the extra for photo help and that freed us up to look outside Celebrity.

 

I looked at several companies and they all had something different to offer but I liked the small boat and personal choices Jayleene was offering. This is Jayleene’s first year in operation but some of you may know her from her time with Harv and Marv; her dad is Marv. Jayleene and her business partner Emily decided to strike out and start their own tour company. Their brand new boat holds up to six passengers and since we booked all six spots we were able to make our own choices of what we wanted the tour to cover. Jayleene has extensive knowledge growing in the area and Emily has a degree in Marine Biology so was a great source for the wildlife we were seeing. Needless to say our group was impressed with the accomplishments of these two young ladies.

 

Emily picked us up at the cruise ship dock about 2pm and we all loaded into her minivan for our trip to Auke Bay to get on the boat. On our way to the dock Emily showed us the downtown shopping area and we passed the Mendenhall Glacier. We saw several Bald Eagles and Emily pointed out we were close to the town dump and the “sky rats” would be everywhere. It took us about 20 minutes to get out to the marina at Auke.

 

Jayleene greeted us at the docks and we all clambered aboard her boat. Don’t remember the exact size of the boat but there was plenty of room for us all to sit inside the cabin if we wished and plenty of room outside on the stern to go out and look around or take photos. The boat also has a small open bow that you can go up into when the boat is stopped. They offered blankets, snacks and drinks if we wanted them,

 

We head out of the bay and right away spot some seals and bald eagles. Before long we spot the blow of a whale and head off it’s direction to get a closer view. We get some great views of a whale making his (her?) way around the bay but notice a whale behind us starting some breeching activity. We head in that direction and get a real treat. A baby whale has grown bored waiting around while his mother feeds and has decided to put on a show for us. Repeatedly he (she?) leaps out of the water and falls back with a thundering splash. Occasionally it lays across the surface slapping it fins on the water. This goes on for awhile until his Mama comes back and tells him to fall into line.

 

 

 

We go back to cruising the bay and have several encounters with whales both near and far. We head out a little further and Jayleene shows us the island her family lives on just outside the entrance to the bay. Our time up, Jayleene turns the boat around and we head back to shore.

 

We load back into the van and with Jayleene and Emily’s recommendation we are dropped off near “The Hangar”. A small shopping center with a restaurant inside. Many locals are eating here and I can understand why; the prices aren’t too bad and the food is great. Highly recommend the seafood chowder and the Halibut and chips. After dinner we head out and do some shopping as we walk back toward the tramway to catch the shuttle. It’s still pretty early in the evening and the town is pretty dead except for the Red Dog Saloon and a few other restaurants. The shuttles are loading and leaving every few minutes and we are quickly back on the Solstice. I thought about going on the tramway but the clouds had come in very thick and you couldn’t even see the top of the hill.

 

 

The rest of the night is uneventful and we’re in bed before sailaway since we will be up early in the morning for Skagway.

[JimHam4]

A few more from Juneau

 

 

 

[mom02]

Your photos are truly amazing with fantastic composition! And I loved your narrative on the baby whale activity :)

Looking forward to reading and seeing more from your trip

[bucky1]

My wife and I are loving your photos. Well Done!

[TeaBag]

I am really enjoying your review and agree with others that your photography is amazing. That one of the Agile is like a painting.

 

Sorry to tell you but I think the tableside Meusli is another thing of the past on Celebrity. It was a favorite of mine too! We were on Millennium nowhere near Alaska and it was not to be had. It was already made up and they had grapes with seeds in it and had not bothered to seed them. Why not use seedless? I HATE crunching down on grape seeds, so I never ordered it again.

[JimHam4]

I am really enjoying your review and agree with others that your photography is amazing. That one of the Agile is like a painting.

 

Sorry to tell you but I think the tableside Meusli is another thing of the past on Celebrity. It was a favorite of mine too! We were on Millennium nowhere near Alaska and it was not to be had. It was already made up and they had grapes with seeds in it and had not bothered to seed them. Why not use seedless? I HATE crunching down on grape seeds, so I never ordered it again.

 

Thank-you all for the photo compliments, Alaska made it easy to find subjects and I'm enjoying seeing what I can do with my shots.

 

Sad to hear about the muesli. Luckily my pre-made stuff didn't have any seed grapes in it but overall it just didn't have the flavors of the stuff made tableside.

 

Apologies to any waiting for me to wrap this up. I'm going to try to finish and post the rest of the cruise this weekend.

[VPKara]

Your journal and pictures are incredible! You truly show Alaska's beauty!

[Jdpapillion]

Wonderful review. We did this cruise last year in July. Supposed to be the best weather month, but yours was much better. The errie marine layer we had out of Seattle up to Ketchikan was actually spectacular. We get plenty of sun/blue skies in Florida. To all those heading out. Prepare for rain and enjoy whatever you get. So spectacular.

 

"This...is Tracy Arm". Brent Nixon is a treat and I can't imagine experiencing TA without him. My BIL repeated the mantra for the rest of the cruise.

 

DId you make any of his naturalist talks? We enjoyed them all. HIs wife's were a bit hokey on the ports of call history, but I always picked up an interesting bit of local knowledge.

 

In Ketchikan - if not doing any tours head up to Creek Street and take the funicular ride up to the lodge for lunch with a view. We enjoyed King Crab legs and a nice Sauvignon Blanc then walked back down to town on a nice (slippery, yes) trail and learned all about the salmon runs and ladders.

 

We will be going back to Alaska for sure. thinking about the Millennium which does a one way. Probably Southbound for us. You can't be further away than S. FLorida, yikes! Your Vancover port experience scares me. I have read other reviews of issues there. Seattle was a breeze. Cab dropped us off 11:30 is and all four of us on board in less than 30 min!

 

Is the Aussie Exec Chief still on board? Last year was his first. Loved him.

 

Thanks for your great review and looking forward to the rest!

 

BTW - Constellation is our fav, too! Doesn't look like she is coming back to states for awhile.

[riclop]

Thanks for the journal.

[JimHam4]

Wonderful review. We did this cruise last year in July. Supposed to be the best weather month, but yours was much better. The errie marine layer we had out of Seattle up to Ketchikan was actually spectacular. We get plenty of sun/blue skies in Florida. To all those heading out. Prepare for rain and enjoy whatever you get. So spectacular.

 

"This...is Tracy Arm". Brent Nixon is a treat and I can't imagine experiencing TA without him. My BIL repeated the mantra for the rest of the cruise.

 

DId you make any of his naturalist talks? We enjoyed them all. HIs wife's were a bit hokey on the ports of call history, but I always picked up an interesting bit of local knowledge.

 

In Ketchikan - if not doing any tours head up to Creek Street and take the funicular ride up to the lodge for lunch with a view. We enjoyed King Crab legs and a nice Sauvignon Blanc then walked back down to town on a nice (slippery, yes) trail and learned all about the salmon runs and ladders.

 

We will be going back to Alaska for sure. thinking about the Millennium which does a one way. Probably Southbound for us. You can't be further away than S. FLorida, yikes! Your Vancover port experience scares me. I have read other reviews of issues there. Seattle was a breeze. Cab dropped us off 11:30 is and all four of us on board in less than 30 min!

 

Is the Aussie Exec Chief still on board? Last year was his first. Loved him.

 

Thanks for your great review and looking forward to the rest!

 

BTW - Constellation is our fav, too! Doesn't look like she is coming back to states for awhile.

 

 

Loved Mr. Nixon's whale talk. His enthusiasm was obvious throughout his time on stage. My degree is in Environmental Science and as a Californian (probably like you Floridians) I've always had a deep love for the ocean so it was neat to share in his experiences. I'd agree with you about Miss Amanda's talks too, I liked them but not as much; my FIL loved Miss Amanda.

 

Weather wise we were way over prepared. Since we had no rain we didn't need any extra dry clothes and it wasn't cold enough for a heavy jacket. I wouldn't leave them behind though as it could have just as easily swung the other way.

 

Don't know much about the staff, I don't pay much attention to who's in charge and just trust them to get us where we need to be and yes I fear us here in the States may have seen the last of the Constellation.

[JimHam4]

Day 5 - Skagway

 

I’m really looking forward to Skagway; our group has a trip planned on the White Pass Railroad and afterward my wife and I are going to learn how to blow glass and make our own ornaments.

 

We booked our White Pass Railroad tour through Chilkoot Tours doing the bus one way and the train the other. We booked the 8:30 tour since we wanted to be done as early as possible to leave us time to do more in Skagway when we were through. To be honest though I wasn’t sure until our tour started whether or not we were doing bus or train first; turns out we were bus first.

 

We get off the ship about 8:00 and head out to find our tour; our instructions say to ignore the train by the boat and go to the end of the dock. Turns out there are several trains that do this tour and pretty much each dock/ship has their own train and there is another one for the independent tours. We walk to the end of the dock and find Chilkoot Tours pretty easily. After checking in we are told our guide will be Mike and we pile into his bus for the drive up the mountain. The bus is the smaller box type that holds maybe 25 people and is newer and very comfortable. Some companies were running these types of busses, some had vans and I think I saw a large bus also.

 

After everyone is boarded we head out of town and start our drive to Fraser. Mike is VERY entertaining with lots of information on the town and the surrounding area, recommend taking his tour if you can. As we make our way up the hill we have several stops for pictures and non-stop narration. Mike is very good at timing our stops so we are always in place for pictures of the train and the first ones to some of the better pictures spots. We were told to feel free to ask to stop anytime we saw something we would like to see closer but I never felt the need as it seemed with his experience Mike was stopping at all the highlights already. The drive up is gorgeous as we move through the different climate zones and we are soon at the Canadian border. PASSPORTS up next to your face and we quickly clear the border checkpoint to go take a few pictures further on as we wait for the train to arrive; maybe 15 minutes. Mike takes us back to the station and we wait for the train to be cleared for us to board.

 

We are assigned to what was the last car on the way up, but will be the first car on the way down; another group is loaded on with us so whoever had the last car coming up is not making the trip back down on the train. Our car has a fire going in a stove at the back and to be honest while others found it comfortable in the car I thought it was a bit stuffy. I spent most of the ride down out on the platform but there were only a couple of us out there.

 

 

 

 

Not the tracks we took

 

Our Engineer

 

 

 

The old train is neat and a nice ride. The scenery is beautiful and a little different than the bus up since we are on the other side of the canyon. We are given a pamphlet that shows our path down the hill and are told there will be a guide on board but there is very little narration, almost none. Thankfully, with the bus first we knew where we were and what we were looking at; if I had done the train both ways I would have been disappointed. Afterward, everyone in our group felt riding the train in both directions would have been too long and liked having the trip split between the train and bus

[JimHam4]

Day 5 - Skagway (cont)

 

Back in town we disembark and find Chilkoot Tours again for a bus ride back into town. Chilkoot told us they would drop us anywhere we wanted to go so we opt to be let off downtown to grab a bite to eat before our afternoon tours. We’re right next to the Sweet Tooth Cafe, one of the places recommended by Mike so we decide to eat there. It’s crowded but we are given seats pretty quickly. As we eat they turn the tables and the line disappears and there are empty spots to be found by the time we leave (about 12:45). The food is good and varied with burgers, fish, salads, etc.

 

Stepping out of the cafe my wife and go across the street to catch the city bus that is headed out to Jewell Gardens for our glass blowing tour. The rest of our group is going on the Good TIme GIrls tour through the ship. You can buy a single ride on the bus (I think $2) or an all day pass for $5 (they just ink stamp your wrist). The busses are constant around town but only run every half hour out to the gardens.

 

The Jewel Gardens are known for the varied flowers and plants they have on premises, but they also have a glass blowing operation they give tours and lessons at. Celebrity wanted $199 for the tour, I booked independently for $99 (admittedly Celebrity included transportation and lunch). The tour will take up to six people and you are shown how the studio works and then blow (with a lot of help) your own glass ornament. We are a few minutes early and pick out some souvenirs to ship home to our kids while we wait to go. The store clerk tells us there will be four in our group but the other two haven’t shown yet so we may be on our own. We meet our instructor (I’m feeling horrible that his name is slipping my mind as we really enjoyed him) and are taken out back to the studio.

 

As we are just starting the second couple arrives and turns out we have some common ties in Southern California. Two more ladies arrive and our group turns out to be the full six allowed, but the studio is large and this is a very personal experience. We learn the ins and outs of glass blowing and then individually make our choices about colors and design for our ornaments. We are taken individually up to the ovens and we work with him to roll and blow our glass. A lot of handholding, but since none of us have ever done something like this before it was perfect. The ornaments have to cool overnight so the Gardens will ship them home for us in the morning. One of my favorite tours of this trip but I guess if I’m being truthful every experience on this trip was great and I would do them all again if we make it back to Alaska.

 

 

[JimHam4]

Day 5 - Skagway (cont)

 

We catch the bus back to town and have her let us off at the beginning of the shops. Skagway has the usual cruise stores you’ll see in the Caribbean, but there are some that carry Alaska only items. We’re not really interested in buying anything but do pick up some fry bread (in Washington it’s called an Elephant Ear) to munch on on the way back to the ship. Takes maybe 15 minutes to cruise through town and we pick up the bus again for a ride back to the dock itself. The walk to the dock would not have been too far but we do see people confused about which way to go and the bus driver stops to give them directions. Some people try to wave us down and the driver blows past them saying she can’t stop anywhere except at the designated stops.

 

Back on the ship we have a relaxing sail away as Skagway and the Holland America boat fade into the distance. The evening has nothing eventful except we do find a letter from the Guest Services telling us everyone is getting $50OBC for the problems in Vancouver.

 

 

 

[misha1]

Day 5 - Skagway (cont)

 

We catch the bus back to town and have her let us off at the beginning of the shops. Skagway has the usual cruise stores you’ll see in the Caribbean, but there are some that carry Alaska only items. We’re not really interested in buying anything but do pick up some fry bread (in Washington it’s called an Elephant Ear) to munch on on the way back to the ship. Takes maybe 15 minutes to cruise through town and we pick up the bus again for a ride back to the dock itself. The walk to the dock would not have been too far but we do see people confused about which way to go and the bus driver stops to give them directions. Some people try to wave us down and the driver blows past them saying she can’t stop anywhere except at the designated stops.

 

Back on the ship we have a relaxing sail away as Skagway and the Holland America boat fade into the distance. The evening has nothing eventful except we do find a letter from the Guest Services telling us everyone is getting $50OBC for the problems in Vancouver.

 

 

 

 

LOL...I first read that OBC to be 500 and I thought I could put up with alot of issues for a 500 dollar OBC. We are doing the 8 hour Chilkoot Tour in September and are excited to see the lay of the land. I recall the walk back to the ship from the end of the dock to be quite long. Did you say there were shuttles taking people back and forth? This will be our first time traveling that DH may need to use a walker for his bad knees (he is reluctant to have them replaced due to recent heart surgery complications) So, I am looking for any assistance available so he does not have to walk so far. Thanks again for your marvelous review...both words and photos. Julie

Edited May 29, 2016 by misha1

[JimHam4]

LOL...I first read that OBC to be 500 and I thought I could put up with alot of issues for a 500 dollar OBC. We are doing the 8 hour Chilkoot Tour in September and are excited to see the lay of the land. I recall the walk back to the ship from the end of the dock to be quite long. Did you say there were shuttles taking people back and forth? This will be our first time traveling that DH may need to use a walker for his bad knees (he is reluctant to have them replaced due to recent heart surgery complications) So, I am looking for any assistance available so he does not have to walk so far. Thanks again for your marvelous review...both words and photos. Julie

 

$500 would have been pretty nice! As it was I felt $50 was excessive for us but not enough for those who got really stuck. I don't think Celebrity needed to do anything (not really their fault in my opinion) but once they did the amount becomes critiqued.

 

There were different kinds of shuttles. Within the dock area to our berth there were a couple of couple of golf cart type vehicles to get those who needed it back and forth from the ship to the beginning of the dock.

 

At the beginning of the dock the city bus system started that cost money and ran on a set route throughout town.

 

 

Chilkoot Tours was set up at the entrance to the dock area where you would use the golf carts to get to them (or back to the ship).

[jimbri]

Your photos are fantastic!!

[JimHam4]

My wife just reminded be our glass blowing instructor's name was Travis. Great guy and a lot of fun to learn from.

[Barwick Cruiser]

We did the Solstice to Alaska last September and also booked with Chilkoot in Skagway. We also had Mike as our guide and agree that he was great. Not sure if he told you but he has a degree in photography and at each scenic stop he'd take all our cameras and take our pics in front of the scenery. Must say they are some of the best pics I have from our trip! Also, his wife last year was one of the border guards who came on our mini bus to check our passports! Would def go with Chilkoot and ask for Mike again.

 

Just a note, difference from last year I guess, when we did the train southbound there was a running commentary but you could only hear it inside...they don't like to interfere with the surroundings so it's not audible when you're outside. Perhaps they're not even doing that now or did you miss it because you were outside most of the time?

 

Really enjoying all your pics and this review. I can see that we need to revisit Alaska earlier in the year so we can see more of the snow-capped mountaintops. Wasn't much there last September.

[JimHam4]

We did the Solstice to Alaska last September and also booked with Chilkoot in Skagway. We also had Mike as our guide and agree that he was great. Not sure if he told you but he has a degree in photography and at each scenic stop he'd take all our cameras and take our pics in front of the scenery. Must say they are some of the best pics I have from our trip! Also, his wife last year was one of the border guards who came on our mini bus to check our passports! Would def go with Chilkoot and ask for Mike again.

 

Just a note, difference from last year I guess, when we did the train southbound there was a running commentary but you could only hear it inside...they don't like to interfere with the surroundings so it's not audible when you're outside. Perhaps they're not even doing that now or did you miss it because you were outside most of the time?

 

Really enjoying all your pics and this review. I can see that we need to revisit Alaska earlier in the year so we can see more of the snow-capped mountaintops. Wasn't much there last September.

 

That's funny about Mike. He did take our picture at some points but never told us he knew what he was doing and the CBP did seem very comfortable around him.

 

My family inside the train said they heard very little narration. Maybe it varies train to train too, it was live and not a recording.

 

Loved the snow everywhere, wondered if it stayed year round. I would book May again in a heartbeat.

[JimHam4]

Day 6 & 7 - At Sea and Victoria

 

Day six finds us sailing south again toward Victoria and the end of our cruise. Going south we take a route outside the protection of the inside passage and you can feel it a bit as you walk around the ship. The movement’s not terrible but since we only had one other day where we felt any movement you can feel the difference in the way the boat is moving today.

 

It’s a beautiful day outside, almost too warm for the clothes I’ve brought along this trip. For the next day and a half (we dock in Victoria at 5:30pm) we enjoy sitting out in loungers by the pool, trivia contests and last minute onboard shopping. We attend talks by Miss Amanda and one about Steve Irwin, a friend to our Cruise Director. We try the casino and have middling luck, walking away just a bit poorer than when we started. The evening show is a mash-up of dancing and acrobatics set to a pop song/Mozart mash-up and is pretty good. Mind you this isn’t LA/NY/Vegas show quality but it’s good enough to keep everyone entertained and gets a standing ovation at the end.

 

Thursday we aren’t set to dock in Victoria til 5:30pm so we decide to have a last dinner in Blu before the heading ashore. We have no plans for Victoria except to catch the shuttle into town and walk around a bit. We’re in no hurry to leave the ship and it’s a good thing; sitting at dinner we hear several calls for certain passengers to report to the lounge to be checked by Customs. This goes on for a while and the announcement that we can leave the ship is delayed about an hour.

 

Leaving the ship we find plenty of transportation and options and figure with four of us it is far cheaper to hire a cab than take the shuttle (about $12 to Chinatown for all of us). Our cab driver is great and give a great commentary on the city as he drives us through town to the gates of Chinatown. The weather is perfect and we decide to just walk up and down the streets heading back toward the docks.

 

Victoria is a beautiful city with a variety of shops and restaurants. There are street performers and quite a few homeless but they aren’t aggressive like you’ll find in the states; in fact this attitude prompted me to give more than I would at home. It’s obvious though that it doesn’t really matter to Victoria if the ship was in town or not. Don’t get me wrong there was a lot of tours and such being offered, but many shops were closed and many others were not of the “touristy” type. We enjoyed a leisurely walk, some food cart poutine (a disgusting but delicious Canadian staple) and snapped a few pictures before heading back to the ship. We catch a cab at the Hotel Grand Pacific (next to the Parliament Building) and it only costs $7 for the ride back to the dock.

 

 

 

 

All in all I very much enjoyed Victoria, even with the short time we had in port. Next time Butchart Gardens will be on the list and we won’t eat beforehand as I saw plenty of restaurants I would enjoy hanging out at their outside tables watching the people go by.

 

Next up - Debarkation and a few thoughts about what I would do different next time.