Live Mariner Tokyo to Vancouver April 27 to May16 2019

[UUNetBill]

It's funny how your take on things changes throughout a cruise - when we first went to Alaska I was shooting bald eagle photos with my long lens when they were so far out of range they looked like little brown and white dots even when fully zoomed...but by the end of the week, you'd seen so many of them so close it was like, "Hey, another bald eagle.  Huh."

 

Majestic birds, and nice shots!

[chuckw]

Also known as white headed vultures.

[Hambagahle]

Our very first cruise with Regent (then Radisson) was on the Mariner from Seward to Vancouver in 2004.  it was wonderful  -  though in Seward it was pissing down with rain.  When we boarded, the person who checked us in said "it always rains in Seward"  -- I am glad it didn't for you!!  that was also the cruise on which the Mariner hit a "growler" or mini iceberg.  I hope that DOESN'T happen to you...

 

Your photos of the sea otters are just wonderful!

[crusin7]

Hubbard Glacier

Unfortunately we encountered fog.  We saw ice in the water but not the glacier.  The ship did a  360° turn and we are leaving. It is also raining.  That is disappointing but we tried.  Instead of the viewing there will be a documentary in the theater featuring Alaska! Ha!

 

 

 

 

 

[rcandkc]

2 hours ago, crusin7 said:

Hubbard Glacier

Unfortunately we encountered fog.  We saw ice in the water but not the glacier.  The ship did a  360° turn and we are leaving. It is also raining.  That is disappointing but we tried.  Instead of the viewing there will be a documentary in the theater featuring Alaska! Ha!

 

 

 

 

 

Oh...this is disappointing!  We have seen some great calving at Hubbard BUT I’ve never seen a bald eagle a foot from me except in captivity/rehab.  We take what we can get 😀.

[crusin7]

The wildlife has been spectacular.  If I had to choose I would take wildlife (especially whales) over the glacier.  We are headed to Sitka. We are feeling the rolling motion of the ship.  My experience is that the inside passage is usually calm.  Not this time.  

 

[DaveFr]

37 minutes ago, crusin7 said:

The wildlife has been spectacular.  If I had to choose I would take wildlife (especially whales) over the glacier.  We are headed to Sitka. We are feeling the rolling motion of the ship.  My experience is that the inside passage is usually calm.  Not this time.  

 

Crisy,  I have really enjoyed your blog and accompanying photos.  Are you really in the inside passage? Looking at the map of your cruise, it appears that the journey from the Hubbard Glacier to Sitka takes place in the Gulf of Alaska which is open ocean. Is the map wrong? 

 

Dave

Edited May 11, 2019 by DaveFr

[crusin7]

Holy Smokes Dave!  You are correct.  I will blame my confusion on my seasickness meds!  No wonder we are rolling. Thank you for clearing that up.  

[Hambagahle]

Sitka is a lot of fun!   Hope it makes up for the disappointment re the Hubbard.  there will be other glaciers though.  Do you go to the Tracy Arm ??  That is very impressive.

[crusin7]

Hi Hambagahle. No we do not go to Tracy Arm.  We had no internet while in Sitka.  We went on the 10:10  3 hour Sea Otter Quest and Wildlife excursion.   I think the only thing that was wild was the captain of the ship driving us at high-speed for hours with water coming up over the windows.  I think we raced around for at least 2 hours.  I have been on this excursion before and it has been wonderful.  This time we were bouncing around and some people were very seasick. Beside that the PA system did not work.    We saw total of three sea otters, seal, 2 eagles and a humpback whale.  

Our view most of the time.  This is before the speed racing.

 

Sitka Sunset

 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Crisy, too bad about the otters--when we did this excursions back in '12, there were plenty, my favourite excursion in Alaska.

 

Oh, and for the record, chuckw, eagles are not just white-headed vultures. Both eagles and turkey vultures are raptors, as are hawks and ospreys.  But I'm sure you know that 😉

Edited May 12, 2019 by Wendy The Wanderer

[crusin7]

We arrived in Juneau this morning and it is a gorgeous day.  The sun is out and the snow-capped mountains are sparkling.  

We went on the Salmon Bake excursion. The setting is beautiful.  They even have a waterfall. The clam chowder was delicious.  The salmon was very good.

 

[Gilly]

How sweet are Regent CC  friends?  We just got back from lunch and I find treasure on my door!  Thank you Chrisy and Cathy - I appreciate that additional journal ephemera xx

 

What a brilliant morning in Skagway we've had.  We did the Chilcot Trail Hike and Float and must say, the tour description in the brochure could be strengthened to four walking men.  Anyone else who has done that tour have any thoughts?  The tour itself is magnificent and we were blessed with an excellent guide, but the steep hike is not for the weak of limb for sure.  If you are fit and able though, I highly recommend it!

 

Edited May 13, 2019 by Gilly

[chuckw]

Wendy -Having lived in Alaska and currently have eagles in my back yard, they will just as soon eat something pre-killed as hunt for them selves, hope to meet you some time - Chuck

[crusin7]

You’re very welcome Gilly.  But unfortunately we missed the stamp at the museum.  They were at lunch until 2:15 and we were all aboard at 2:30 so we didn’t chance it.  

The weather was picture perfect.  We did the Scenic White Pass Railway. We spotted a brown bear...no picture though.  The train was nice and relaxing. 

 

[crusin7]

We haven’t had internet all evening.  Will try and send more pictures tomorrow.

Downtown 

 

[Travelcat2]

I do think that it important for posters to pay attention to the places that you have had not internet.  This has been our experience in Alaska more than once and, for some posters, it is important to know ...... in case they depend upon the internet for work, etc.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

14 hours ago, chuckw said:

Wendy -Having lived in Alaska and currently have eagles in my back yard, they will just as soon eat something pre-killed as hunt for them selves, hope to meet you some time - Chuck

 

Sure.  I was just being literal, a fault of mine! Cheers.

[crusin7]

En route to Ketchikan and internet had been nonexistent. We braved the cold and sat on our balcony this morning to whale watch.  Yippppeeee we found some! Raining now.  Will try and send pics later.

 

[Gilly]

@liptastic would you like to drop me an email/get in touch via my blog before you sail, please?

G x

[crusin7]

At least you can tell it is some kind of marine life.

 

 

[crusin7]

We just arrived in Ketchikan.  It is chilly with scattered showers.  We heard about the float planes colliding here yesterday.  Poor people.  

We have a great spot!  In the center of town.

[LynnRuns]

22 hours ago, Gilly said:

How sweet are Regent CC  friends?  We just got back from lunch and I find treasure on my door!  Thank you Chrisy and Cathy - I appreciate that additional journal ephemera xx

 

What a brilliant morning in Skagway we've had.  We did the Chilcot Trail Hike and Float and must say, the tour description in the brochure could be strengthened to four walking men.  Anyone else who has done that tour have any thoughts?  The tour itself is magnificent and we were blessed with an excellent guide, but the steep hike is not for the weak of limb for sure.  If you are fit and able though, I highly recommend it!

 

I would agree that the hike descriptions need to better indicate the terrain. We did that very hike and float in Skagway and while it was totally easy to us, there were a couple of participants who could not handle the terrain very well. I ended up many times offering a hand to help some tentative hikers on some rocky portions or steep portions. Interestingly, the guides offered no such help. There would often be a large gap between the guide and the slowest hiker.

[Travelcat2]

3 hours ago, crusin7 said:

We just arrived in Ketchikan.  It is chilly with scattered showers.  We heard about the float planes colliding here yesterday.  Poor people.  

We have a great spot!  In the center of town.

 

Yes, our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families.  Such a tragic thing

[crusin7]

We decided to ditch our crab feast excursion and just walk and shop this very picturesque town.  The locals could not have been nicer.

Cherry Blossoms 

The Creek