Serenade Multi Glacier May 1 - 8, 2022 RECAP

[twangster]

Whales abound.  

 

The familiar water spout is a dead giveaway.

 

 

 

Not every breath turns into a dive.  They seem to go through a cycle of several breaths before going deep.

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

Top tier was this morning.

 

Gold 337

Platinum 119

Emerald 40

Diamond 86

Diamond Plus 44

Pinnacle 12

 

638 total CAS

Estimated around 1,800 total guests on board.

 

I was #2 top cruiser.  Quite surprising as a junior Pinnacle.

[Jimbo]

Aft cabins facing the wake are king on an Alaska Cruise, no doubt about it. Don't think I would even consider a cruise to Alaska in less it was on the aft.

[twangster]

Cheers with an Officer lunch today.

 

Afternoon progress report:

 

 

Dinner menu.

 

[twangster]

Day Three - Sitka

 

Time change the morning of day three at 2am.  We are now in the Alaska time zone.

 

Arrival scheduled for 8:30am.  MDR breakfast hours are 7am to 8:30am and the WJ opens at 6:30am.  

 

Progress report at 5am:

 

Typical Alaska weather... wet and overcast.  Here at 5am it's bright enough to read a book outside and getting brighter every minute.

 

 

Voom is still pretty slow, that last photo was reduced down to 342kB and took over a minute to upload.

 

As expected there were some seas last night given that weather system Northwest of us.  I woke up to the night table drawer sliding open and closed. The ship is handling it pretty well.

 

Temperature outside is 45°F.  

[twangster]

Not long after turning inland towards Sitka the seas settled down and it was time for breakfast.  

 

One nice attribute of Radiance class is lots of glass such as here in the Schooner Bar where we got our first glimpses of the mountains on the way into Sitka Sound.

 

Still pretty rainy at times and overcast yet still very beautiful.

 

 

During a break in the rain we were treated to some magnificent views.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

One benefit of coming early in the season is lots of snow on the peaks.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Short video of our arrival.

 

 

[twangster]

From my aft balcony I spotted an Eagle in the trees.

 

 

 

[twangster]

The weather radar wasn't friendly today but that's Alaska.

 

The pier is about 5 miles from downtown.  There is a free shuttle that runs every 10-15 minutes.  The shuttle drops off in downtown Sitka.  Last return shuttle is 30 minutes before all aboard time.

 

The Raven is very symbolic in Alaskan native culture.  These two were fighting over a small discarded liquor bottle. 

 

 

In between waves of showers that passed through I managed to take some pictures of "downtown" Sitka and the general area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

My plan was to walk through the National Historical Park lined with totem poles but I kept seeing another line of showers heading our way so I ducked into Bayview Pub right across the street from the shuttle bus stop.

 

 

 

The Beast Burger - Elk, Boar, Buffalo and Wagyu beef topped with wild boar bacon.

 

 

[twangster]

With the next break in the rain I walked past the harbor heading towards the National Park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made it just before more rain came down so I stayed inside for a bit.  The displays do a good job of explaining the various parts found on a totem pole.

 

 

 

[Tree_skier]

47 minutes ago, twangster said:

My tummy was on Eastern time so I ventured out for an early bite of dinner.  

 

After eating I venture down to Canada Place.

 

 

The Canada Line train from the airport ends at Waterfront station which is pretty close to Canada Place.

 

 

There had been three ships in port today, I missed a HAL ship that had just depart.  

Seven Seas Mariner on the left and Royal Princess on the right.

 

 

In Canada they take their social distancing seriously so they have put it out there in common terms any Canadian would understand.

 

 

If curling isn't your thing maybe Maple Syrup is.

 

 

The ramp to reach the cruise terminal where I'll walk down tomorrow. 

 

 

Some additional pictures of the area.

 

 

 

With that I was getting tired so time to start heading towards my hotel a few blocks away.

 

Nice to see pics of my old home town... Thanks for doing this review @twangster I always love your pictures.  

[twangster]

After the next rain break I ventured along the nature trail into the forest.  There are more totem poles spaced out along the trail.

 

 

 

 

Weather radar showed a larger line of showers heading our way so at this point I decided to start heading back.  It was about 20 - 25 minutes to the shuttle bus stop from here.

[twangster]

Near the harbor I spotted some Eagles in the trees so naturally I had to stop and take some photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This stop threw off my timing and it started to rain down pretty good.  Fortunately I had my raincoat on but the last five minutes of this walk was pretty miserable.  Totally worth it to get some nice Eagle photos.

[twangster]

The shuttle bus back to the ship was loading as I walked up so I hopped on.  

 

By this point it was raining pretty hard so a lot of people held back at the cruise terminal.  I took advantage of that to beat the crowds back on to the ship.

 

From my balcony I heard an incoming helicopter.  USCG was checking us out.  The rain had subsided.

 

 

Across the water I could see the occasional water spout indicating whales were in the area.

 

 

Of course Eagles were circling overhead as well.

 

 

I also spotted this Harbor Seal poking around the docks of the local marina.

 

 

 

Juvenile Eagle.

 

 

 

Quite a few Eagles, to the point I stopped taking pictures.

 

 

The seal over by the docks was still hanging around the area.

 

 

The rain passed and the sun tried to poke through briefly.

 

 

However that was short lived and another large wave of heavy rain moved in as we departed.  That pretty much ended any pictures.

[twangster]

Day Four - Tracy Arm/Sawyer Glacier & Juneau

 

Last night the Captain announced we would return to the Pacific briefly before entering the Alaskan Inside Passage on our way to Tracy Arm and after that Juneau. 

 

Our arrival to begin the trip into Tracy Arm would commence at 5am. 

This entrance off the Inside Passage is common to both Tracy Arm and Endicott Arm which is featured on many Seattle based cruises on Quantum and Ovation. 

 

To the right or starboard is the way to Endicott Arm.

 

 

We will be going straight and turning left into Tracy Arm.

 

 

It was of course raining making picture taking not the best.

 

 

As we turned I noted the distinct shape of another Royal Caribbean ship behind us.

 

 

Radiance of the Seas.  I assumed Radiance would be heading into Endicott Arm. 

 

[twangster]

I set my time lapse on my balcony and headed forward to enjoy Tracy Arm

 

 

It started raining pretty good and with the wind channeling down Tracy Arm towards us combined with our forward motion it was raining sideways.  At just 4°C the rain felt like ice pellets which explains the low turn out on the helipad.

 

 

It was pretty miserable and cold.

 

 

Despite that I was determined to photograph the experience. 

 

 

 

 

 

We turned deeper into the arm and continued on our way while the wind and rain was merciless.  

 

[twangster]

The thing about Alaska weather is that it can change in a heartbeat and thankfully today it did.

 

 

 

Plenty of waterfalls on both sides.

 

 

 

 

 

With the improved weather the helipad saw more guests.

 

 

 

Glaciers are cool and all but the sights in these arms is breathtaking.  It's not just about seeing a glacier, the trip up Tracy Arm is worth the price of admission on its own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

More sights from our journey into the Tracy Arm.

 

 

I always find it striking when the ship is in such close proximity to the towering mountains all around us.  This is so different compared to Caribbean cruising.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

Soon enough the Sawyer Glacier appeared in the distance.

 

To be clear, the ship doesn't get very close to the glacier which is beginning to recede into the mountains where the ship can't get into.

 

 

Bring binoculars or a telephoto lens on your camera.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

I headed back to my aft balcony to take in the retreat back down Tracy Arm with an aft view.  I also needed to warm up.  I was chilled to the bone.

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

Much to my surprise Radiance of the Seas appeared and passed us.  You think these channels are very tight but she passed us with ease and well away from us.

It's not too often you get to take close up pictures of a ship in fjord like this. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

The rest of the trip out was pretty spectacular.

 

 

 

As we approached the entrance shared with Endicott Arm heavy rains started again which was pretty fortunate timing.  

[twangster]

Here is the 3 minute time lapse of the trip.

 

[twangster]

Here is a 4K video of our morning in Tracy Arm and seeing Sawyer Glacier.