Norwegian Sun northbound Vancouver to Seward, 4 day cruisetour: Denali Alyeska explor

[skierjj]

Eagles everywhere

 

 

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[skierjj]

More Ketchikan afternoon, more inside passage, moon

 

 

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[skierjj]

Next up: Juneau

So on our first trip to Alaska we booked the Taku Glacier flight seeing and salmon bake, but the weather did not cooperate on that trip. (So back in 2008 we saw the great Mendenhall Glacier. It was spectacular, don't miss it if it's your first time to Alaska).

So I booked the Taku Glacier flight seeing and Salmon bake again this time. We had no problems with weather this time.

These were bigger planes and a lot more people. They split us up in groups.

Here we are getting in our seats etc.

 

 

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[skierjj]

We flew over the Juneau ice field. Amazing!

 

 

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[skierjj]

Landing on Taku river and pictures of the Taku Glacier:

 

 

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[skierjj]

Taku Glacier lodge:

 

 

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[skierjj]

Just around lunch, a beautiful healthy bear showed up:

The bear apparently is a resident bear who frequently visits the grill after the salmon is done grilling.

But still, it was thrilling being this close to the wild animal. To see it's shiny coat, to see it climb a tree! Pretty amazing.

 

 

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[skierjj]

More of the bear:

 

 

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[skierjj]

Taku Glacier lodge grounds:

 

 

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[skierjj]

Leaving Taku Glacier Lodge, flying back to Juneau. This day was one of my favorite memories from this Alaskan trip. So glad we went here. The food was really yummy too. We also hiked a little into the forest. Beautiful scenery!

 

 

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[skierjj]

After dropping the boys off at the ship, Glenna and I walked back to downtown Juneau to the red dog saloon for drinks and music. We were introduced to a duck fart shot, we were hooked. It's Kailua, bailey's and crown royal. Yummy! We ordered these back at the ship too, fun. We met people at the ship bar and decided to all eat together that night! Great Fun! Great day.

 

 

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[skierjj]

The next day was Skagway. We had taken the white pass train on our first trip to Alaska, this time we wanted to do something off the beaten path. We chose the Glacier wilderness Safari. You can book this through the ship or go directly to their website and save $50, (which is what we did).

They drive you to the ferry which takes you out to a remote island where our terrific guides and naturalists live off the grid so that we could experience the beautiful Davidson Glacier.

So the ride out was beautiful, they pull up to the sand and take us by bus to the area where we change into rubber boots, life vests etc. (Bring mosquito repellent for this part). We then hiked through the forest on an easy trail to our waiting canoes. We paddled a little then they switched on the engines to take us out on a beautiful glacier fed river to the foot of the Davidson Glacier. We then got out of our canoes and walked in the shallow icy river, ( it was not uncomfortably cold however), picked up icebergs, breathed in the fresh air, enjoyed nature in its glory.

We went back in reverse to the changing area, put on our shoes, we had sandwiches for lunch, then back on the ferry to Skagway, stopping to see a sea lion rookery on the way back. Fantastic day!

 

 

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[skierjj]

More from Glacier wilderness safari

 

 

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[OhJinkies]

Thanks for all of the info and photos! I am booked on an aft facing balcony for a northbound cruise on the Sun in early June! I have already booked all of my excursions, including a flightseeing tour of Misty Fjords with Michelle from Island Wings. This will be my first trip to Alaska, and I'm spending some time touring on land after my cruise. I'm so excited!

 

 

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[skierjj]

Glacier Bay National Park

The beauty is indescribable, the most serene and awe inspiring place, the reflections on the still water, the history and geology of the area, the moving forces, the fast pace at which the glaciers are retreating, go see it!

The national park rangers bump up in their boat with the moving cruise ship in a purposeful "accident" and climb up a ladder, while the ship is moving and they bring a book store on board with them!

They give a little lecture and give commentary of the glaciers over the sound system most of the day, awesome!

Then they give a little lecture in the theater about the day later in the day.

We had an unusually clear sunny day, which was spectacular. No fog, mist or rain on that day, perfect.

We have hundreds of pictures of the day. This is one of the places where our aft balcony was just the best for viewing glaciers.

 

 

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[skierjj]

The next day was Hubbard Glacier day, up to this point we had fantastic sunny weather. Then a huge angry looking fog bank enveloped our ship on the afternoon of the glacier bay day. We sailed into the fjord of the big Glacier, there were icebergs all around and thick fog, I was out in the observation deck when the captain announced that due to safety reasons he made the decision to turn around. We were so disappointed.

It was our last day of the cruise, time to pack up and get ready for the cruisetour part of our vacation.

 

 

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[skierjj]

I am going to add some of the behind the scenes kitchen tour here. (You can skip this if this doesn't interest you).

I found it interesting how they process and produce so much food everyday! Making their own breads, pastries, sauces, preparing meats and roasts etc.

Everything was spotlessly clean too. And friendly, happy people cleaning our dishes, packing up cardboard boxes for recycling.

I was glad we were on the first leg of 2 week trip. (They get fresh food in Vancouver).

 

 

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[wnycruisefam66]

I'm following along! I've booked an aft balcony on the Sun for June 2018 + doing a 7 day DIY land trip afterward.

 

Great pictures!

[skierjj]

Thanks for following, you'll love your aft balcony for Alaska.

[skierjj]

So the next part our trip is the cruisetour portion.

Honestly I had pretty low expectations for the next 4 days, but as it turned out, this was a great introduction to the land portion of our trip.

One of the best parts was just the fact that they shlepped your bags for you at every stop and transfer. That was very nice since we had such big bags and I overpacked as usual.

So I'll give you a little overview of our next 4 days:

Day 1:

Transfer from ship to a nice bus in Seward

Time on your own in Seward: we chose sea life center about 1 1/2 hours. Glenna and Dave hung out in town

Wildlife conservation center: about 1 1/2 hours here: got to see all sorts of Alaskan wildlife up close

Bus to Girdwood to our hotel at Alyeska, the best hotel in the whole state

Time on our own, dinner on our own. Mike and I had made dinner reservations months ago at 7 glaciers 5 star restaurant, at the top of the tram, only about 6 tables big.

One tram ride included per person per stay

Best indoor pool and huge jacuzzi with a panoramic view

Day 2

bus to Anchorage, city tour

Stop at Iditarod champion, Martin Ruser, and his family for a sled dog demonstration and puppy encounter

Drive to Denali, pick up snacks and beer at grocery store on the way to Denali, check into our hotel room, time on our own, dinner on our own

Day 3

Denali tundra wilderness tour 8 hour tour into the national park, time on our own

Day 4

Bus to Talkeetna (I think). Alaska Railroad in observation car and dining car to Anchorage.

Transfer to Sheraton hotel, dinner on our own

Day 5

Transfer to airport (most people flew home, we rented a car)

 

There will be lots of animal pictures next:

 

 

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[skierjj]

Sea life center: lots of beautiful birds, fish and sea life. It's a fairly small aquarium but really interesting, I thought.

 

 

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[skierjj]

More sea life center:

 

 

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[skierjj]

Next beautiful Alaskan scenery on our way to wildlife conservation center:

 

 

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[skierjj]

Wildlife conservation center. They rehabilitate injured or sick animals here. Great way to introduce visitors to Alaska to what you may see in the wild.

 

 

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[skierjj]

A few more from wildlife conservation center:

Next is Girdwood and the Hotel Alyeska:

 

 

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