Alaska Southbound on the NCL Sun - August 2017 Trip Report!

[tatibus0913]

The Red Dog Saloon was very unique, with the waitresses dressed up in costumes and saw dust on the floor. We ordered Icy Bay IPA's, and relaxed for a while.

 

 

 

 

 

We made a quick detour on our way back to the shuttle to get some fudge.

 

 

These were outside one of the stores!

 

 

We went back to the Mount Roberts Tram to catch the shuttle around 12:15pm. There was a long line but it moved fairly quickly as there were multiple buses. Once we got back to the ship, there was another line to board.

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After we were back on the ship, we decided to head up to the Observation lounge to have a drink and check out the views since it was a gorgeous day. We started with mudslides, and watched the scenery as we left Juneau.

 

 

 

 

 

Then, we decided to try new drinks - Mr. Worlwide and Rebellious fish. Both were great!

 

 

 

Once we were further away from land, we decided to head to back to our room for a nap so that we'd be refreshed for Tracy Arm!

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We headed outside to deck 6 around 4:00pm. Unfortunately, the lounge chairs weren't setup like they were for Hubbard Glacier. As we sailed through the fjord, we went back and forth on deck six so that we could see both sides. It was amazing to sail through!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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More photos from Tracy Arm!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We eventually reached Sawyer Glacier, where the ship turned around. We were pretty far from the glacier, but it was still very pretty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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After the glacier, we went to the first Pure Variety show in the Stardust. It was again a lot of older music, and I only knew half of the songs, but the performers were amazing.

 

After that, we went the Movie Sketch Comedy Show in Dazzles. This was so funny, with the staff acting out scenes from different movies. The only downside to Dazzles was that there didn't seem to be enough seating, so try to get there about 15 minutes early.

 

Finally, it was time for dinner! We had reservations at Teppanyaki. On the Sun, you can't reserve Teppanyaki until you're on the ship. I made the reservation through the NCL app within an hour of us boarding the ship on the first day, and 9:30pm was the only time slot left.

 

The Teppanyaki room is very small, and only seats 12 people. It was Justine and I with a family of 10, who were very nice!

 

 

 

 

We started by ordering a Wasabi Cocktail, which was really good!

 

 

Every meal comes with miso soup and sald, both of which were tasty.

 



 

[tatibus0913]

We both ordered the Asuka combo, which was filet mignon and shrimp. The chefs were great, and were really entertaining while they cooked.

 

 

 

First, we were given the fried rice and vegetables. And then, we recieved our steak and shrimp with the dipping sauces. Everything was delicious!

 

 

 

For dessert, I ordered the Green Tea Cake. I wasn't a fan but I was so full that it didn't really matter anyways.

 

 

It was right around 11:00pm when we were done, so we just went back to our room to relax a bit before bed.

 

[Orygungirl]

The logging roads were up above the river/valley area. As we were looking around, Justine goes "oh my god, are those bears!?" and sure enough, there were! We were definitely at a safe distance from them, but our camera has an awesome zoom!

 

Love the bears!!!!!!!!!!!

[tatibus0913]

The logging roads were up above the river/valley area. As we were looking around, Justine goes "oh my god, are those bears!?" and sure enough, there were! We were definitely at a safe distance from them, but our camera has an awesome zoom!

 

Love the bears!!!!!!!!!!!

 

It was the highlight of my day, for sure! :D

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Friday, August 11th: Skagway [7:00am-5:00pm]

 

Here are the dailies!

 

 

 

 

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Another early day for us! We got off the ship a little after 7:00am so that we could walk around for a bit before our tour.

 

 

There were a ton of fish right off the docks.

 

We were also docked near the train.

 

It was about a 10 minute walk to town from the dock.

 

 

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We walked around a bit and popped into the stores that were open. It was still really quiet on the street.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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After walking around for a while, we headed back to the cruise ship dock where we were meeting our tour. We had booked a 6 hour Yukon excursion with Frontier Excursions. We met them at 8:45am and were settled on mini-bus with about 10 or so others.

 

 

Before we left, our guide, Tyler, handed out maps so that we could see the route we we'd be taking.

 

 

We headed out of Skagway, and were on our way to the Yukon!

 

 

 

The first stop was at Pitchfork Falls and Goat Lake Hydro Pipeline.

 

 

The next stop was at the Moore Bridge Overlook - you can see the construction going on behind us!

 

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Next, we stopped at the Welcome to Alaska sign. Technically, we were leaving Alaska but there weren't any other people at the sign so it was a good time to take pictures!

 

 

 

 

Our next stop was at Bernard Lake.

 

 

 

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Next was a quick stop at Lake Tutshi.

 

 

Then, we were at the Welcome to the Yukon sign!

 

 

As we were driving, we saw some goats up in the mountains.

 

 

The next stop was at Carcross Desert.

 

 

 

Our last stop before lunch was Emerald lake.

 

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Lunch was at Caribou Crossing. Caribou crossing had a variety of activities, most of which were included with our tour.

 

 

The food was good, and lunch consisted of bbq chicken, coleslaw, a potato and rolls. There were also fresh donuts, which were amazing!

 

 

 

There were some farm animals that you could pet and feed.

 

 

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One of the main draws of this tour was to see the sled dogs. There was the option to upgrade the tour to do a ride with them, but we were happy to just visit the puppies!

 

There were some newborn puppies that were only a couple weeks old.

 

 

 

There were some older puppies, I believe they were about a year old and we were able to hold them!

 

 

 

And finally, there were a few older dogs that had retired.

 

 

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There was also a taxidermy museum that we walked through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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After our time at Caribou Crossing, we met back up with Tyler and the group. Before we left the area, Tyler made an extra stop at the Visitor's Center so that everyone could get their passports unofficially stamped. Then, we headed back down the highway and enjoyed the views.

 

 

 

 

 

Our final stop on the tour was at Bridal Veil falls.

 

 

 

Once we were back in Skagway, we had the option of being dropped off in town or at the cruise ship. We decided to get off in town so we would walk around a bit more.

 

Overall, this was a great our and our guide was excellent!

[tatibus0913]

We had about 45 minutes in Skagway before we had to walk back to the cruise ship, so we did some shopping and took more pictures!

 

 

 

 

We headed back to the ship, where we waited in line for a bit. It seemed all of the excursions were returning at the same time!

 

Once back on the ship, we decided to change for dinner and go to the Champagne Bar for pre-dinner drinks. I believe these are the Raspberry Kiss and Citrust Gem martinis.

 

 

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We had dinner reservations in the Four Seasons dining room. They have a model of the Sun in the entryway!

 

 

Here are the menus for that evening.

 

 

 

 

For starters, I had the Italian meatball soup and Justine had the Smoked Salmon Tartare.

 

 

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For our entrees, I had the Basil Chicken and Justine had the Cajun Shrimp and Short Ribs.

 

 

 

Dessert menu

 

 

I ordered the Chocolate Mouse and Justine ordered the Boston Cream pie.

 

 

 

Both meals were great, and the service was as well!

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After dinner, we went to Dazzles to see Battle of the Sexes. This was a lot of fun!

 

 

 

After Battle of Sexes, we went to see the Remembering Whitney show in the Stardust. It was incredible. The singer had an amazing voice.

 

After the shows, we went back to Dazzles since we didn't have to be up too early the next day! We danced for a while and then went to the Sports Bar for a late night snack.

 

 

 

After a burger and chicken tenders, we called it a night!

[Orygungirl]

Love your review and pictures. Thanks for taking the time to write and post. I've been to Skagway 4 times and I always find something interesting to do. I love seeing the salmon trying to head upriver.

[tatibus0913]

Love your review and pictures. Thanks for taking the time to write and post. I've been to Skagway 4 times and I always find something interesting to do. I love seeing the salmon trying to head upriver.

 

Thanks for reading! Skagway was really interesting. I do wish we had a little more time there since our tour took up most of the day. But that just leaves us with another reason to go back :)