Live? A test of Alaskan Wifi, AKA Our Alaskan Trip Report August 2018

[Grenouille21]

Thanks for posting, love your comments, reviews and photos. Hope for more.

 

Thanks so much! I am thrilled that people are following along!

[erewhon]

Thank you for continuing your reports and sharing your photos.

The fruit crisps are one of my favourite desserts.

[Grenouille21]

Thank you for continuing your reports and sharing your photos.

The fruit crisps are one of my favourite desserts.

It was good!

[Grenouille21]

Cruise Day 1: Day at Sea

 

We woke up to grey skies today as we sailed the Inside Passage. It was foggy and we couldn't see a whole lot.

 

I went to the EXC Lounge for a latte and we went to the buffet for breakfast. I went to the omelette station and had a custom omelette made, with cheese, tomato, and avocado. It was good, not great.

 

The buffet closes at 10:30 and we learned that this is a hard stop. Things get very rushed and then they shut everything down. I get it, people would graze all day if they didn't close at some point. But it was frustrating because if you missed it, there weren't really many options left.

 

I think I also had waffles with berries, and that was good! The hash browns were also really good. I ended up with waffles, berries, and hash browns every day.

 

I took DS to his club, and went to the EXC Lounge where I was lucky to find a seat right at the windows. Now, the windows were nice, but the view was a bit limited as the windows came together right at eye level, which meant you had to look up or down, but couldn't look straight out.

 

 

But these were the most coveted seats in the place. People were stalking these chairs the whole week. I sat and read and enjoyed my latte, and then went to get DS from his club since he wasn't able to sign himself out. We returned to my seat, and soon one opened up for him. We read, and watched the scenery.

 

The skies had cleared up.

 

 

DS decided to go get his camera and binoculars. While I was sitting there, someone announced that a pod of orcas was right off the starboard side of the ship. DS heard it in the stateroom and was able to see it from the verandah. DD apparently also saw them from the teen club. I didn't get a photo because they were on the other side of the ship and I didn't want to abandon our seats to get a photo. Later in the week I would stop caring and leave my stuff on the seat to get a photo.

 

We also saw some cool ships.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Up in the EXC Lounge they had this map of the White Pass Railroad that we would be riding in Skagway. The map was a cool way of seeing the highlights of the train ride.

 

 

Once DD was out of the club, we went to eat lunch. I think the kids ate at the buffet, but I wasn't really interested in anything they were serving so I went to the Dive In. I ordered the chicken breast sandwich, which came with guacamole (have I mentioned how much I love avocado?). You can customize your order there, and have them omit or add things if you prefer.

 

 

It was ready really quickly, and it was really good! The fries were really good, too!

 

The kids went back to their clubs, and I grabbed a drink and went to our CC unofficial Meet and Greet in the EXC Lounge. I had been advised to look for people wearing hats. I had been looking around and did not see anyone with a hat, so I thought maybe no one had showed up. I finally walked around, into one of the areas that was sort of sectioned off as a place for classes/lectures and there they were!

 

We chatted for a bit, then moved back into the main room because I had left some of my belongings on a chair and I didn't want to just leave them there.

 

We talked for a while longer, and then I had to move on to get DS from his club. It was really fun talking to people from different parts of the world! I saw one or two of them the next day but I think they all disembarked the day after that.

 

I headed down to Deck 3 and walked around the promenade deck. I love a good aft view.

 

[Grenouille21]

The shops were open, and DS and I needed hats for Glacier Bay day since we had somehow left ours at home. I also picked up a few other souvenirs. The ship is cashless, so souvenirs are purchased with your room key card. Makes it super easy to shop any time!

 

I think DS was actually still in his club, so I stopped back up at the Lido Deck and had a beer.

 

 

I stopped and took a few more photos before getting ready for dinner.

 

 

 

I apparently did not take photos of dinner, but I did get dessert, which was soooooo good!

 

 

I think this was the photo out the window of the MDR this evening.

 

[Grenouille21]

Oops, I just found the photos from dinner. Tonight was the first Gala Dinner night. There is a lot of talk about the dress code, and what one can or can't or should or shouldn't wear to Gala Night.

 

We hadn't brought fancy clothing. I had black pants, DS had khakis, and DD had nice jeans. I had told her to pack "nice pants" for dinner, and she packed ripped pants (stylishly ripped) and jeans. DD had brought a pair of wedge sandals, and the night before Gala Dinner they broke. These were MY old shoes from when I was in college, and the material that had made the wedge had crumbled. We went to Guest Services, because we were told they had Krazy Glue there, which they did... but it had dried up so we couldn't even try to fix the shoes.

 

The only other shoes DD had were hiking shoes and gym shoes. Those were my only other options, too. There were no shoes to buy on board the ship. So we were left with a dilemma: Should DD wear jeans and gym shoes to dinner, or should we just go to the buffet? DD had pre-ordered her food, due to her allergies. We weren't 100% comfortable with the buffet (DD would only eat pasta), but we were 100% comfortable with the food that was being made for her in the MDR.

 

So I went to the hostess at the MDR and explained the situation and asked if it would be OK for DD to wear her gym shoes and jeans. She said it was absolutely fine, and that their main concern was that men wear a collared shirt. I figured that was good enough for me, and who was going to be looking at our feet when they are under the table anyway. And if some geezer wants to give me side eye or make snide comments about declining standards or respect because my daughter would rather eat safe food on "Gala Night" while wearing jeans and gym shoes, that's their problem. Her life is more important than a dress code. To me, its what's on the inside that matters most, not what's on the outside.

 

This is the nightly photo from the window at dinner:

 

 

Dinner was really good! I had the beef:

 

 

DS had the stuffed shells, and he wasn't thrilled with them.

 

 

I also ordered the truffle risotto because it sounded good.

 

 

 

When I dropped off DS in the club, the counselors recommended that I go to the Tamarind Bar upstairs, so I did! It was really nice up there, though it was dark which made it difficult to take photos.

 

 

[Grenouille21]

The view from the Tamarind was nice, and it stayed fairly light until 10:15pm.

 

 

The Tamarind Bar closes early, and I wanted to check out what was going on downstairs. I stopped and checked in on BB Kings and the Dueling Pianos, but it wasn't really the atmosphere I wanted.

 

Then I found the Gallery Bar and I was in love. Can anyone tell me what this reminds them of?

 

 

I walked in and felt like I was in the Gryffindor Common Room! I actually texted DD that I had found the Gryffindor Common Room, and later I brought DS down here to see it as well.

 

If you have no idea what I am talking about, you haven't read or seen Harry Potter. To make a really long (7 long books or 8 long movies) short, the kids are in a sort of boarding school and sorted into "Houses" and there are lots of portraits on the wall all over the place. I suppose they aren't necessarily in the Common Room, but they are all outside the Common Room.

 

Also, in Harry Potter, the people in the portraits move around as though they are alive. So having TVs mixed in with the portraits made it feel even more Harry Potter-ish.

 

So this became my favorite place at night. I could still hear the music from both bars, plus the music on the speakers in the Gallery Bar, but it all sort of blended together into background noise so I could read. There were sports on the TVs, which I ignored because I am 0% interested in sports.

 

This bar also had my favorite drink, though I had to customize it a bit. This, my friends, is the Strawberries and Bubbles. It is supposed to have champagne, strawberries, and vodka. I had them leave out the vodka and it was divine. The counselors in Club HAL recommended it, and I thanked them profusely.

 

[Alphen]

Thank you so far for your detailed and humorous report of your Alaskan adventure.

[Click.Write.Post.]

The view from the Tamarind was nice, and it stayed fairly light until 10:15pm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Tamarind Bar closes early, and I wanted to check out what was going on downstairs. I stopped and checked in on BB Kings and the Dueling Pianos, but it wasn't really the atmosphere I wanted.

 

 

 

Then I found the Gallery Bar and I was in love. Can anyone tell me what this reminds them of?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I walked in and felt like I was in the Gryffindor Common Room! I actually texted DD that I had found the Gryffindor Common Room, and later I brought DS down here to see it as well.

 

 

 

If you have no idea what I am talking about, you haven't read or seen Harry Potter. To make a really long (7 long books or 8 long movies) short, the kids are in a sort of boarding school and sorted into "Houses" and there are lots of portraits on the wall all over the place. I suppose they aren't necessarily in the Common Room, but they are all outside the Common Room.

 

 

 

Also, in Harry Potter, the people in the portraits move around as though they are alive. So having TVs mixed in with the portraits made it feel even more Harry Potter-ish.

 

 

 

So this became my favorite place at night. I could still hear the music from both bars, plus the music on the speakers in the Gallery Bar, but it all sort of blended together into background noise so I could read. There were sports on the TVs, which I ignored because I am 0% interested in sports.

 

 

 

This bar also had my favorite drink, though I had to customize it a bit. This, my friends, is the Strawberries and Bubbles. It is supposed to have champagne, strawberries, and vodka. I had them leave out the vodka and it was divine. The counselors in Club HAL recommended it, and I thanked them profusely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That drink looks very refreshing. I had the Rossini, Prosecco and Strawberry Puree, in the Canaletto and very much enjoyed it. I will have to try this combo on the next cruise.

 

 

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[dee2673]

Was anyone “brave” enough to try the escargot? It’s one of my favorites on board. Enjoying your report..❤️

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[erewhon]

Thanks for continuing your reports.

[Grenouille21]

Was anyone “brave” enough to try the escargot? It’s one of my favorites on board. Enjoying your report..❤️

 

NO!! We are super picky. We have pet snails, so we don't eat them! :eek::eek::)

 

Thanks for continuing your reports.

 

Thanks for reading!!!

[Grenouille21]

Cruise Day 3: Juneau

 

Today we were arriving in Juneau! We were arriving later in the day, so we slept in a little bit. We had pre-ordered breakfast to be delivered to the room. This was a complimentary service, and there were several options.

 

When we woke up, the boat for the Tracy Arm excursion was pulling up alongside our ship.

 

 

And off they go!

 

 

The kids decided to watch Thor Rangarok in the room while we ate and woke up. Actually I think they had started watching it the night before, and we were continuing it.

 

There were a lot of great movie choices available on the TV in the stateroom. We watched a few movies during our cruise, usually while getting dressed for dinner, while winding down at the end of the day, or while eating breakfast in the room and getting ready.

 

I believe the kids headed to their clubs and I went to the EXC Lounge for a latte and to relax until we arrived in Juneau. It was crowded once again, and seating was difficult to find.

 

It was cloudy and foggy, and I hoped it would clear up. The scenery was looking pretty cool, even in the fog.

 

 

We must have had lunch, and we approached Juneau. We saw some really cool homes!

 

 

[Grenouille21]

The fog did make it look kind of spooky and cool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And there's Juneau!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of different boats out there.

 

 

 

 

[Grenouille21]

Ugh I just had a long post and lost it!

 

Juneau is only accessible by air or sea. You can't drive to Juneau. There is one "highway" but it ends at about 40 miles or so. Then you have to turn around and go back. Everything has to be shipped or flown to Juneau, which means prices are higher than elsewhere in Alaska.

 

Our plan was a combo of whale watching and going to Mendenhall Glacier. It was drizzling and foggy, and cold. Not really ideal weather for whale watching or glacier viewing, but what can you do?

 

As we approached Juneau I took some photos of the port area.

 

 

You can see the tram down low in the above photo. I bet the view is pretty nice from the top! I'm not sure how much you could see on a foggy day, though.

 

[Grenouille21]

We had our first Alaskan bear sighting.

 

 

Welcome to Juneau!

 

 

 

What a nice looking ship! Think I'll take her out for a spin!

 

 

[ozcruizer]

Loving reading about your cruise to Alaska - we were there two years ago.

[Grenouille21]

We drove through Juneau, past the airport, past a marsh and area where there were several bald eagles.

 

We boarded the whale watching boat and it was packed. People were spreading out across the benches, "saving" seats (where were these invisible people who needed room for 1.5 humans?) or laying all of their backpacks and rain gear across the seats. The only place to sit was downstairs, which was entirely inside, at a table in the center of the boat, where you couldn't see out any window. So I said no thanks and decided to stand outside on the top deck. I dragged DD upstairs with me, while DS said he would stay downstairs. He managed to find a seat near a window, on an accessible seat. I told him he HAD to get up if anyone who was in a wheelchair or with other limited abilities boarded, but we had been among the last to board and no one on our bus had needed any accommodations, so I was fairly certain he would be OK sitting there.

 

DD and I went upstairs, and I pretty much forced someone to let her sit at the end of their bench. This caused much heavy sighing and eye rolling, but for real there were three people spread out on a seat that could hold at least four, if not five people. They made minimal space for DD.

 

I wrote a whole thing about entitled behavior and other really unsavory things we encountered on this sailing, but I'll refrain from sharing. Overall it was a great cruise and I'm not going to let the (really) entitled/bad behaviors ruin the experience.

 

Anyway, the cold, wet outside deck on the whale watching boat was awesome. It really was!

 

 

Our tour guide told us to scan the water for a spray, and to yell out where we saw it using clock directions. It wasn't long before we saw a whale! It was sort of far away, but there it was!

 

 

We saw several whales, and learned a bit more about their behavior. When we could see a little of their back, like above, they were breathing and staying close to the surface. It was likely they would blow again, and we would see their back again. Sometimes you could see more of their backs, if they were hanging out at the surface.

 

 

When we saw a huge arch in their backs, that meant they were going down for a terminal dive and you'd see their tail, because they were diving deeper. That meant they were probably going to be down for 30-45 minutes, so we would generally hang out for a few minutes then take off.

 

 

[Grenouille21]

Loving reading about your cruise to Alaska - we were there two years ago.

 

Thanks!!

[Grenouille21]

So it was right about now that my camera froze. As in, the camera was so cold and wet, it wouldn't work. I couldn't get it to turn on, and if I got it to turn on I couldn't take photos. This was horrible! I had no idea if it was "just" frozen or if it was broken, and I was so upset. But I had my phone and I took photos, and made the best of it because what else could I do on a boat in a sound in Alaska?

 

We saw seals, too, not that I have any decent photos of them.

 

So I'll throw in some more scenery photos to make up for it.

 

 

 

So I spent most of my time out on deck, despite the frozen camera. I had moved up toward the front of the boat, and the captain was inside, next to where I was. A man had moved down there as well, and he and his... wife? Female Companion? Not sure the relationship, but they were GREAT at spotting whales and pointing them out to the captain. The man spoke with an accent, it was hard to tell where he was from but maybe Scotland? Anyway, he and I became the Whale Spotters and kept finding whale after whale and yelling and pointing to the captain. He didn't have a camera, and mine was still actually sort of working at this point, and I was desperate to get a good tail photo. We were so far away from every whale that went for a terminal dive, though, and it was so tough. Every time we saw a whale with its back arching he and I would get totally worked up, and then it would dive and I'd miss it, or we were still approaching while it dove.

 

The last whale we watched... well actually it turned out there were several whales and TONS of boats around. Well the whales in that area were blowing and not diving and I was sure I'd get a tail shot. But we had to leave, and the captain announced we could stay for one more minute but then we had to leave. I really REALLY wanted to see something other than a whale's back or tail.

 

Just as we turned to leave, another whale turned on its side and "waved" and then dove. My whale watching friend and I both cheered/yelled in triumph. It was awesome! And of course I have no photo!! But I have the memory. And that's what matters.

[Grenouille21]

When the boat returned to the dock, we got back on the bus and headed to Mendenhall Glacier. We would have time to walk around, but not a ton of time. I think we had a little over an hour. We were told there were three trails we could walk, or we could go to the visitor center.

 

I really wanted to get closer to the glacier. I really wanted to see the waterfall.

 

But it was so. so. SO wet. And my camera was almost completely useless. DS had worked with it and made it work, but it was unpredictable and still mostly frozen, despite the warm bus ride.

 

Back to the three trail choices. We could do the photo trail, which would lead us to a place where we could see the glacier and waterfall from afar, we could hike to the waterfall, or we could go to a completely different area with a creek that had salmon, and the possibility of seeing bears. When we drove in our driver pointed out some people standing and looking at something, and said it was the creek with the salmon.

 

In case you haven't picked up on it, we wanted to see bears. It was sort of a thing. But it was cold. And we were there to see a glacier. The tour guide said the waterfall hike would take a while, and he made it sound challenging. Maybe that's because of who was on the tour? But his "warning" scared my lazy children, and they whined and complained when I suggested it. We actually tried it, at my insistence, but it was raining and I wasn't really sure how long it was (tour guide said one thing, map said another) and I gave up and we backtracked to the photo trail. I figure we will do the longer one next time.

 

The photo op was nice, I will say that.

 

[Grenouille21]

Then we headed back to where the bus would be. The bus wasn't there, and we still had about 20 minutes until it would arrive. We could go up to the Visitor Center and shop, or we could go to the salmon creek. I voted salmon creek, kids voted visitor center. I said there might be bears (I assumed there would not be bears, but I had to try to jolly the kids along) and they grudgingly agreed.

 

I wasn't really sure where we were going. There was a turnabout, and there were some people over there, but it wasn't the place the driver had pointed out so we walked past that. I noticed there were several park rangers around, but didn't think much of it. The park was closing soon and I assumed they were there to get people to leave.

 

As we were walking, there was a ranger stomping on a cloth in the street. We slowed down to watch her, because that is not something you normally see. She approached us and asked if we had a moment. Nothing about this made sense, so I'm not sure what I said to her, but we had stopped so I guess she took that as a yes. She said there was a mama bear there with 2 cubs, and they would need to cross the road soon.

 

My heart stopped, then raced.

 

She said there was a mama bear and 2 cubs, right near us, and they might be making an appearance at any moment.

 

Oh.

 

My.

 

....

 

The ranger walked us over to a fence and pointed out where they were. Really, we could only see movement, but we knew there were bears. DD and DS had a harder time seeing them but they ended up seeing them.

 

Luckily my phone was working, so I took photos.

 

Do you see the bears?

 

 

No? Really? I swear they are there. It was really cool!

 

And then suddenly 3 other rangers appeared and there was a sense of urgency among all of the rangers, including ours. I overheard "She's coming up" and "She's at the fence" and I FREAKED OUT inside.

 

See her?

 

 

No? Come ON!! How much closer does she have to get? I mean she was RIGHT THERE!

 

And then this happened.

 

 

And this.

 

 

Then this.

 

 

 

DS took a video, but I don't know how to share that. I am SO glad he thought to do that, though. As you can see, Mama Bear poked her head out, and all of the rangers formed a human wall in front of us and told everyone to stop. Then she came out and sauntered into the road with Cub 1. Cub 2 came bounding out of the bushed when Mama Bear and Cub 1 were abour halfway across the street. It was SO CUTE!!!! And SO AMAZING!!!

 

All while this was happening people were trying to walk past the rangers, or get closer to the bears. The rangers had to be aggressive and make people stop while keeping an eye on the bears and making sure they weren't feeling threatened. One thing we had learned from our Bear Tour was that Mama Bears who have cubs can be VERY skittish and territorial. Male bears and female bears without cubs can be very casual with humans (that doesn't mean it is OK to be close to them) but Mama Bears with cubs are more likely to feel threatened. Our tour guide had said they usually run away from humans but this Mama Bear 10 feet away from us wasn't afraid at all.

 

This was definitely one of the highlights of our vacation, and it wasn't anything we could have planned. I feel like it always works out that way.

 

We headed back to where the bus should have been, and it wasn't there. I'll spare the details but our driver did finally arrive, the last one to arrive, and off we went. He never took a head count that I was aware of, and he pretty much said he hoped everyone was on board. He did say he had to go back for someone once. Mmmmmmkay.

 

It was too cold and rainy to shop in Juneau. We were heading to Skagway the next day so we would hopefully get to shop there. Right now we just wanted to get back on the ship and get warm and dry.

 

I have no idea what we ate or did that night. If I find the photos, I'll post them next time.

[LadyVol1]

Awesome bear pictures! I’ve been on 4 Alaska cruises, including a land/sea trip, and you’ve seen more bears. Way to go and great trip report!

[Dogstar]

You’re definitely having a WHALE of a time. You can BEAR-ly contain your excitement! [emoji228] [emoji199]

[pmjnh]

Wow, I LOVE reading your detailed review. You are a very talented writer. My travel planning style is a lot like yours. From Costco rental checks to National Parks and beyond. I think I was a travel agent in a former life...and good for you for energizing your kids when needed!

We went on an Alaska cruise in 2012 with Princess . We loved Pan Pacific but Air Canada, not so much. I'm glad you had a great experience. We rented a car after the disembarkation in Whittier and drove around for 10 days and it was fabulous to see the interior, staying in BnB's and self catering cottages, Denali in depth.

 

 

We are returning to Alaska in 2019 on HAL and cant wait. I took note of that fabulous drink...good to see they are serving Alaska Amber, which we cannot get east of the Mississippi. My favorite Princess drink was the Monte Chocso, a hot coffee drink. Addicted, but got the recipe!

 

I am enjoying reading about your excursions, taking notes! Looking forward to reading more!