Serenade Multi Glacier May 1 - 8, 2022 RECAP

[twangster]

Juneau

 

More rain on and off.  I'll be back next week on a different ship so I decided to make a game day decision and stay on the ship for this visit.  It wasn't conducive to going up the Mt Roberts tramway today or even walking around in the rain.

 

 

To be fair it didn't rain all day so I'm sure fellow guests have some awesome experiences today.

 

 

We docked at the pier that uses shuttle buses for the short trip to the downtown transportation area.  

 

 

 

[Jimbo]

20 minutes ago, twangster said:

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.

Great pics of the Eagles, great weather for them but I bet those people in the Kayaks are regretting that in those temps and overcast skies and rain. That had to be frigid !

[twangster]

Day Five - Hubbard Glacier

 

After departing Juneau at 7:30pm we spent most of our time in the Inside passage in darker hours.  This morning we find ourselves back in the Pacific Ocean on our way North to Hubbard Glacier with an 11am schedule arrival.

 

Our progress:

 

 

Weather report:

Overcast with periods of rain.

 

 

Voom has been pretty slow on this sailings.  Here are some speed tests:

 

May 2

 

 

May 3

 

 

May 5

 

 

Obviously we have something more than zero upstream bandwidth but not much more than zero.  

 

I compress my pictures down to around 300kB-400kB each and if I get greedy by trying to upload more than three at a time they fail.  Sometimes like this morning I can only upload two at a time. 

 

This is normal for Alaska Voom.  The geostationary satellites are positioned over the equator which works okay from the Caribbean but this far North it becomes a challenge.  Combined with rain and overcast conditions makes for a bad satellite internet experience.  

 

We still have several hours until we get to Hubbard Glacier so I'll be off to breakfast soon before gathering my gear to get ready for Hubbard.

[twangster]

Hubbard Glacier

 

As we approached we were treated to increasing blue skies. 

 

 

There were still some lines of rain clouds we had to push through but the approach to Yakutat Bay is slow and takes time so a few lines of rain didn't concern me.

 

 

In the distance i could begin to see Hubbard Glacier.

 

 

 

The blue skies in the distance near Hubbard were a welcome sight.

 

[twangster]

I've always considered Hubbard Glacier to be one the premier tidewater glaciers in Alaska.

 

Once we past the rain the crowds began to form.

 

 

 

The scale of Hubbard Glacier and the mountains behind the glacier make it seem like it takes a long time to approach but that's only because it is pretty massive and farther than it looks.

 

 

On each side of the entrance to Yakutat Bay are soaring mountains.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jimbo]

17 minutes ago, twangster said:

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alaska Cruise is a 1000 times better then any Caribbean sailing.

[twangster]

The face of the glacier soars 350' above the waterline so it's taller than you might think from a distance.

 

 

The entire area beyond the glacier itself is breathtakingly beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On this occasion Captain Stig kept the bow towards the glacier with only small turns to port or starboard.  On other occasions the Captains have done complete circles. 

So if you are thinking about staying in your balcony you might rethink that plan.

 

 

There was minor calving but it wasn't as dramatic as it has been before.

 

 

Nonetheless you could hear the glacier creak and moan with almost a thunder like sound.

 

 

 

 

As we inched closer we sailed through fields of ice from sections of the glacier that have recently broken free.

 

 

Some of the bergy bits are quite large.

 

 

 

[twangster]

I like to move around quite a bit, taking in the sights from different areas of the ship.

 

Another nice feature of Radiance class are the panoramic elevators with fantastic views outside.

 

 

Here are some photos from around the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

One of the peaks near Hubbard.

 

Some glacial close ups.

 

 

 

 

After an hour or so we turned and began our retreat.

 

 

From this point I went down to my aft balcony to watch it from there.

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

Over the sounds of our wake I could hear a group of sea linios making a racket.

 

 

 

Some more non-glacial photos of the area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sea lions were active today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some rather large chunks of glacier floated past.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 9, 2022 by twangster

[twangster]

This corner aft balcony has been a fantastic choice.  The views have been amazing.

 

 

I had my 360 camera set up on a telescoping pole capturing a time lapse that I'll upload once I'm on cellular give the large file size but the balcony has been really nice this trip.

 

[twangster]

Time lapse video from my aft balcony

 

 

Edited May 9, 2022 by twangster

[twangster]

 

A video of our experience at Hubbard Glacier in 4k.

 

 

[twangster]

After our time at Hubbard Glacier we started sailing South down the Alaskan coast towards our next stop in Ketchikan.

 

I've always enjoyed this stretch due to the near continuous mountains that line the coast.  From my first Alaskan cruise I've always had fond memories of this area.

 

It started with a rainbow.

 

 

Continuing down the coast there were some clouds between us and the coast but there were these occasional break in the clouds where you could see the mountain ranges that line the coast.

 

 

 

 

There was some not so fair weather between us and Mount Fairweather.

 

 

 

There were still whales arounds us.  Right after a dinner break I stepped onto my balcony for a crystal clear view of an Orca very close to the ship before I had my camera setup.  It didn't stop with that, there were many all around at times.

 

 

Sunset was just after 8:30pm tonight and here in the open Pacific is was pretty great with some clouds to make it just a little dramatic.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 9, 2022 by twangster

[twangster]

Day Six - Alaska Inside Passage on the Way to Ketchikan for a 2:45pm Arrival

 

I woke to find the ship still in the Pacific Ocean which was remarkably calm today.  Mountain vista on our port side.

 

 

After a few hours in the open Pacific we entered the Alaskan Inside Passage marked by this lighthouse.

 

 

Our calms seas turned into even smoother waters like sailing on a lake.

 

 

I was hoping to spot a bear or a moose on the shore but no such luck today.

 

 

Still it felt like at any moment one might appear.

 

 

[twangster]

The Inside Passage is so beautiful it's hard to capture in simple photos.

 

While there were not any whale sightings, there was plenty of bird and marine wildlife on both sides of the ships.

 

These little heads kept popping up to check us out.

 

 

 

Pretty much sums up how I spent most of my morning:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks like one too many guests wanted to board the buoy and that one sea lion was quite vocal trying to dissuade it. 

 

 

 

After much rain earlier in the cruise the blue skies were a welcome change.

 

 

 

Scenery everywhere.

 

 

 

[twangster]

More friends checking us out:

 

 

There a couple of US flagged cruise lines that operate in Alaska and Unicruise is one of them.

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch break outside in the Windjammer aft seating area of course.

 

 

The State of Alaska operates a set of ferries that has service between most of the coastal towns here in Southeast Alaska.  Absent of roads between communities these ferries are called the Alaska Marine Highway.

 

 

Here is one their ferries.

 

 

 

We did pass through a local rain cloud once or twice but for the most part this was our day.

 

 

Here is one of these errant rain clouds.

 

 

 

[twangster]

As I was taking pictures from my balcony a familiar aft end appeared in my viewfinder.

 

 

 

 

 

It's Quantum of the Seas on her inaugural five night Alaska cruise before she starts her regular seven night Alaska cruise season.

 

 

 

With the town berths filled she is using a new berth just outside of town that just recently became operational.

 

[twangster]

We continued sailing down the channel towards "downtown" Ketchikan.

 

 

It didn't take long for the sound of float planes to fill the air.  Ketchikan is known for them.

 

 

 

 

The Alaska ferry system has a shipyard here. 

 

 

 

Duck boat filled with excited cruise ship passengers.

 

 

 

I spotted two yellow hovercraft docked on the port side.

 

 

This is my excursion today.  The Blackbird Hovercraft Experience.

 

 

I was glad to see them coming to the cruise ship pier so we wouldn't have to take a bus to reach them.

 

[twangster]

Walking right off the ship and down to the excursion is a great way to go.

 

 

 

Our Captain gives us a mandatory USCG safety briefing and explains some of the features of our hovercraft.  

 

 

The skift fills with air and all the water is drained out of the cavity underneath us.  We are now floating on air, no longer a boat but more of a plane.

 

 

We skim across the harbor and into one of the many channels that are found throughout the area.

 

 

After a twenty ride or so we arrive at a black sand beach where our Captain does some fancy show of moves that have us skimming across the bay and sand sideways before we come in for a landing on the beach.

 

 

Here we get off into pouring rain.  It is Ketchikan after all.  There have a shelter near the forest and four mile hiking train for those inclined.

[twangster]

Part of the excursion includes an Eagle event where they throw frozen fish into the water as Eagles swoop down to collect them.

 

Of course the pouring rain was a bit of a damper. 

 

 

Soon enough the passing rain cloud moved on and it was much more enjoyable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were several all around us in the trees but there was definitely some dynamics going on with respect to who gets to eat first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watch and learn little one.  A juvenile Eagle was keeping an eye on me.  

 

 

It takes around five years for them to grow into the adult colors. 

 

 

[twangster]

We boarded the hovercraft to visit a point that is known for seals and while they were there, the seals were keeping their distance and in the water so not the best photo opportunity.

 

 

Instead these birds were a better target.

 

 

 

The ride back to town saw more sideways turns and maneuvering while skimming over water a just a few inches deep where regular boats don't dare sail.

 

 

With that our ride was complete and we returned to the cruise ship pier.

 

 

 

[twangster]

After the excursion I ventured through town over to the Creek Street area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a little shopping it was back to the ship.

 

[twangster]

Sunset while we were still at the pier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sliver of a moon tonight.

 

 

 

At 9:30pm it was time to say farewell to Ketchikan.

 

 

 

 

 

[Jimbo]

14 minutes ago, twangster said:

As I was taking pictures from my balcony a familiar aft end appeared in my viewfinder.

 

 

 

 

 

It's Quantum of the Seas on her inaugural five night Alaska cruise before she starts her regular seven night Alaska cruise season.

 

 

 

With the town berths filled she is using a new berth just outside of town that just recently became operational.

 

Looks so weird and stupid to see a ship that large sailing in Alaska............Almost shows a lack of respect for the Alaska Frontier. I bet the towns people hate to see that.