Live (well, not so) and Life from a combo land and sea Alaskan tour

[Copper10-8]

On 10/6/2023 at 3:51 PM, slavetoabunny said:

I am enjoying your review of this trip!  Hubby and I have the same itinerary planned for next August, except out of Anchorage instead of Fairbanks and on the Noordam.  Your trip looks fabulous and makes me even more excited for our trip.

 

It looks like you are in a Neptune Suite??  We have a Neptune booked on Noordam.

 

Good eye! Yes, that's a Neptune suite 😉

[Copper10-8]

Day 4 - 08/07/2023; Scenic cruising Hubbard Glacier

 

Woke up to pretty smooth seas (just a bit of gentle motion) as we’re making our way southeast in the Gulf of Alaska. The rain from last night was outtahere!

 

After Nieuw Amsterdam left Whittier on Wednesday, a south-easterly course was set in the Prince William Sound, after which we entered the Gulf of Alaska proper from in between Montaque Island and Hinchinbrook Island. Nieuw A has a nice gym up top and we took advantage of it, as dis several other pax

 

One of the perks of a Neptune Suite is the ability to have breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill Restaurant on Deck 2 midships, so that’s what we did. On sea days, the PG is open for breakfast until 0930 hours. The new manager in there is Omar from Turkey. One of our waiters from our May cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam, Edy, is still here. Maria had scrambled eggs, while I had Eggs Benedict. After breakfast, we walked over to the Music Walk where there was a 11;00 AM suite welcome gathering. There, we ran into Twinkle, the asst. beverage manager, a former shipmate of mine when I was working for a living, and a real nice lady.

 

Lunch was inside the Lido Market where they were serving an Indonesian lunch of, among other items, fried rice, beef Sumatra, chicken sate with peanut sauce, krupuk (shrimp crackers), etc.

 

Around 2:00 pm today (Monday), we picked up our pilot, Captain Gary, from his boat “Ocean Cape” at the, believe it or not, Ocean Cape pilot station inside Yakutat Bay. We then proceeded into Disenchantment Bay at Point Latouche, sailed another ten nautical miles up the Bay of Disenchantment, where one reaches the mouth of Russel Fjord and Hubbard Glacier.

 

Hubbard Glacier, a tidewater glacier, is physically located in both Alaska and in the Yukon Territory, Canada, off the coast of Yakutat, some 200 miles northwest of Juneau. Hubbard is certainly gigantic: it's more than six miles wide where it meets the ocean. It is named after Gardiner Greene Hubbard (August 25, 1822 – December 11, 1897), an American lawyer, financier, and community leader. He was a founder and first president of the National Geographic Society; a founder and the first president of the Bell Telephone Company which later evolved into AT&T, at times the world's largest telephone company; a founder of the journal ‘Science’, and an advocate of oral speech education for the deaf. In 1890, Mount Hubbard (and subsequently Hubbard Glacier) on the Alaska-Yukon border was named in his honor by an expedition co-sponsored by the National Geographic Society while he was president.

 

The longest source for Hubbard Glacier originates 76 miles from its snout and is located at approximately 5 miles west of Mount Walsh with an elevation of around 11,000 feet. A shorter tributary glacier begins at the easternmost summit on the Mount Logan ridge at about 18,300 feet.

 

To be con't

[Copper10-8]

Day 4 - 08/07/2023; Scenic cruising Hubbard Glacier

 

Only one cruise ship at a time is allowed near the glacier’s mouth. Captain Jeroen B. got us as close as possible to Hubbard turning his ship so that both port and starboard cabins/balconies got a good look at her. We encountered a fair amount of floating ice. From a distance, the glacial path looks like a long, gentle ski slope. We left Yakutat Bay around 6:00 pm and headed south for our next destination, Glacier Bay National Park.

 

To be con't

Edited October 9, 2023 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

Day 4 - 08/07/2023; Scenic cruising Hubbard Glacier (con't)

 

Dinner at 7:30 on what HAL now calls a “Dressy” night was yet another specialty restaurant, this one known as the Asian Fusion Tamarind restaurant all the way up on Deck 11 midships. If you’ve never been to Tamarind on the five Holland America Line ships which have one, you’re missing out! The service is gracious and the food delicious! Our server was Dayanti from Indonesia. The Tamarind manager is Eka and the host Sareat, both also from Indonesia.

 

We started out with the Satay (Sate) sampler (Thai chicken, Malaysian lamb, Chinese Beef, Indonesian pork, and Vietnamese shrimp that come with green mango, yuzu kosho and black bean powder), followed by Wasabi and Soy crusted beef tenderloin and Mongolian Barbecue Lamb Chops with Jasmin rice on the side as the main. Desert for this one with Passion Fruit Cloud and a selection of ice cream for dessert. Lilly, another Tamarind waitress from our May Nieuw A cruise, and who we had run into this morning at the PG, had ordered a small anniversary cake for us. A very nice gesture!

 

Post-dinner, we did a fast walk from Deck 10 aft to Deck 2 all the way forward where the six dancers from the Step One Dance Co. were performing in one of their brand-new shows “Move”, a wave of sight, sound and motion, and a really good one. Great move by HAL to start replacing the older shows by the Step One dancers who were getting a bit long in the tooth.

 

We finished up this first full day on Nieuw A by going to the BB King’s Blues Club where we watched the last set of the BB King’s All-Star Band and burned some calories on the dance floor. They were without their horn (trumpet) player who had been the subject of last night’s “medical response” call. Hope he’s doing better!

 

As stated, tomorrow (Tuesday) is more scenic cruising, this time inside Glacier National Bay and Preserve. See ya then!

[Caribbean Chris]

Beautiful wedding photos - thanks for posting (and those from your cruise, of course, too)!

[Avery's Gram]

Your post #10 mentioned Kantishna, which reminded me of our first ever cruise in 2002, on Princess.  We figured we might never get back to Alaska so we went for an extended tour and spent 2 or 3 nights at the Kantishna Roadhouse at mile 91 in Denali.  It was a mixed group there from several cruise lines, and we were impressed with what the HAL passengers told us about their trip.  So our next trip was on HAL, and the rest is history (we’re now 5star) and have done many nights in Alaska and loved them all.

 

The Kantishna experience was something special, though…..a great start to our time as cruisers.

 

Barbara M. In NH

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Happy Anniversary and many more!!

[maggiev]

On 10/2/2023 at 1:51 AM, Copper10-8 said:

Day 4 - 08/06/2023; Enroute Whittier, AK

 

Sunday, once again, started bright and early! We are used to it by now! 0500 hrs. wakeup call for the child bride and 0545 hours for me. First order of business was to get the luggage positioned outside the door for pickup. The only bag tags that now have to be on it are the HAL ship tags with your room # and ship’s name on them. We decided to go sans breakfast and purchase it on the train. So, the buses taking folks to us to the Denali train depot actually arrived early around 0710 hours and started loading up.

 

The front desk area of the McKinley Chalet was zoo-like with lots of people congregating but everyone seemed to be on their best behavior. The little coffee bar in the lobby was humming like those little birds with spinning wings and was doing one heck of a business this morning selling coffee, muffins and scones. We wound up being the last two on the nus for the very short ride to the depot where our train was already patiently waiting.

 

You are pre-assigned your particular car as well as seating assignment. Ours turned out to be the caboose which today was a car with the name of “Kobuk”. "Kobuk" is an Inupiaq Eskimo word meaning "big river." It is sometimes spelled "Kowak" or "Kowuk." The car in front of us was named "Chena" which in the Tanana Athabascan language Ch'eno', literally translates to “river of something (game).” This is a reference to the importance of the land surrounding the water and how beneficial this location is for large game hunting.

 

These cars are all double-deckers with us passengers sitting on top, and the lower level reserved for dining, the restrooms, the kitchen/galley, a small lounge and an aft viewing platform. Our seats were 1C and 1D all the way up front by the bar. For our particular train, there would be six cars and one big locomotive pulling the parade.

 

Our assigned crew for the Kobuk car was Julia from Alabama, our very energetic guide and an aspiring radio broadcaster at home during the winter, Sam from Ohio, our bartender, and Marco, from Croatia, as well as Genevieve, our restaurant waiters. Seating is comfy on the train, but they don’t recline manually. They appeared to have been pre-positioned at a slight reclining angle but not by much.

 

Each passenger section has side-by-side seating for 88 guests (dining capacity is for 44 seats.) The top portion of the passenger section, except for a center strip with airliner-type lighting and speakers, is “all glass” for exceptional viewing of the exterior scenery. Each car has a covered outdoor viewing platform.

 

There is no overhead luggage compartment because of the glass dome, a nice trade! Your carry-ons/hand luggage has to fit under your seats and, oh yeah, no internet on the train unfortunately! We pulled out of the Denali Depot at 0810 hours to start our trek south.

 

The ride was a comfortable one while seated. Walking felt a bit like too many Wang Wangs due to the back and forth motion of the car, hence the warning by Julia to maintain a “three-point contact” (two feet and one hand) while walking during her safety brief. It didn’t take long to get used to.

A bit after departing Denali Park, we passed though Broad Pass, the highest point on the Alaska Railroad at 2,363 feet. The train makes many stops on the way for various reasons; some are to allow another train going the opposite way on a single track; some are for provisions, others are for crew changeover, etc. Most, if not all, turned out to be for short duration. The first such stop was at Cantwell, AK.

 

Right after the Cantwell stop, we were invited down for brekkie. If you are a party of two, you sit opposite someone you’ve probably never seen before with a table in between you. That was the case with us with a nice couple from Wisconsin. Breakfast was scrambled eggs, potatoes, Rudolf the reindeer sausage and toast. Tasty!

 

So, as already stated, this would be a looong ride so what does one do? Well, you read, listen to music on your iPad, work on your travel blog on your laptop, look at the scenery, take a nap, listen to your very good guide tell you about Alaska, get up to stretch your legs and go downstairs where there is a commercial aircraft-type moving map letting you know where in Alaska the train is, you name it! It was a relatively comfy ride with just enough motion to realize you’re on a moving train and, of course, the scenery is intriguing.

 

To be con't

Are meals included on the train or extra?

[Copper10-8]

46 minutes ago, maggiev said:

Are meals included on the train or extra?

 

Extra! Nothing is free on the train except the incredible view

[Copper10-8]

Day 5 - 08/08/2023; Scenic cruising Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

 

After departing Hubbard Glacier yesterday, Nieuw Amsterdam has basically been following the Alaska coast line, about 50 miles off, in a south-easterly direction. This morning, she entered Cross Sound, in between Cape Spencer and Cape Bingham, changing course to the east. Cross Sound leads into Icy Strait where we made a ‘left turn’ into Sitakaday Narrows and up to Point Gustavus and Bartlett Cove. There, Captain Baijens slowed his ship down in order to pick up two U.S. Park Rangers and one Naturalist, arriving via small boat from their Headquarters at Glacier Bay Lodge, who would be with us pretty much the entire day until 7:30 pm. One ranger goes up to the bridge to provide play-by-play commentary while the other, plus the naturalist, set up shop in the Crow’s Nest.

 

The National Park regulations allow for two large cruise ships in the Bay and they are required to have park rangers on board. They are on board both for the education of the guests, as well for ensuring that the ships keep to the rules of the road and do not go sightseeing where it is not allowed. There was a much smaller explorer ship, the 84-guest Safari Endeavour from UnCruise Adventures inside the bay with us.

 

Glacier Bay runs north northwest to south south-east for about 65 miles between two pinchets of Alaska. It ranges from 3-20 miles wide. Glacier Bay and the surrounding land is the site of the Glacier Bay National Park. The explorer Captain George Vancouver found Icy Strait, at the south end of Glacier Bay, choked with ice in 1794. Glacier Bay itself was almost entirely iced over. In 1879 naturalist John Muir found that the ice had retreated almost all the way up the bay. By 1916 Grand Pacific Glacier was at the head of Tarr Inlet, about 65 miles from Glacier Bay's mouth. Glacier Bay contains sixteen glaciers, twelve of which reach shorelines and calved to produce icebergs. The area around Glacier Bay was first proclaimed a U.S. National Monument on 25 February 1925. It was changed to Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, a United States National Park, on 2 December 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act. The park covers 5,130 miles and most of it (4,164 miles of the park) is a designated wilderness area. Despite the lack of roads, there are over 300,000 visitors per year to the park, mostly on cruise ships.

 

Today, Nieuw A’s older sibling, m/s Eurodam, under the command of Captain Joost Eldering would be ahead of us. She was up Tarr Inlet viewing Marjerie Glacier, while we would first go ‘next door’ into Johns Hopkins Inlet viewing the glacier of the same name as well as Gilman, Hoonah and Lamplugh Glaciers. Glaciers descending from high snowcapped mountains into the bay create spectacular displays of ice and iceberg formation by ‘calving’. With that said, we proceeded northbound into the Bay, passing Strawberry Island, Willoughby Island, Francis Island, Drake Island, and Queen Inlet. Next up was our first look at Lamplugh Glacier. Lamplugh is eight miles long and is named for English geologist George William Lamplugh who visited Glacier Bay in 1884. Thirty minutes later, we were at Johns Hopkins inlet for a look at Johns Hopkins Glacier.

 

Johns Hopkins (don’t forget the first “s”) fills the end of the fjord, stretching about 1-mile wide and reaching 250 feet high above the waterline. The ice front extends under sea level, to a depth of approximately 200 feet, where an underwater moraine protects the deepest extent of the glacial ice like armor against the warm ocean water. Formed from numerous tributary glaciers, the length of Johns Hopkins glacier is about 12 miles from the source in the Fairweather Mountain peaks.

 

While this was all happening, we had a lunch reservation inside the Pinnacle Grill at 12:45 and we had invited Susan (poster AV8rix), an aeronautical engineer and licensed pilot to join us. We had met Susan on Koningsdam for the 2022-2023 new year’s cruise. We were once again served by Edy. Maria chose the Spinach Arugula Salad: Avocado orange, organic seeds, creamy lemon dressing, Gorgonzola, air-dried apples, Roasted Jidori Chicken with Porcini Mushrooms: Cider vinegar jus, quinoa-forbidden rice cake, mâché salad, toasted pistachios; and Strawberry Pavlova: Strawberry consommé, basil, while I had the Tomato Broth with Spicy Lemongrass Chicken: Kaffir lime, cilantro; Pinnacle Burger: Bacon jam, garlic chipotle aioli, Beecher’s cheddar cheese, cabernet red onions, avocado, French fries; and premium ice cream.

 

At around 1:00 PM, we swapped placed with Eurodam and proceeded up Tarr Inlet and the majestic Marjerie and smaller Grand Pacific Glaciers, where we arrived around 1:30 PM. Marjerie Glacier is a 21-mile-long glacier. It begins on the south slope of Mount Root, at the Alaskan-Canada border, and flows southeast and northeast to Tarr Inlet, one mile north of the terminus of Grand Pacific Glacier and 87 miles northwest of Hoonah. It was named for famed French geographer and geologist Emmanuel de Marjerie, who visited Glacier Bay in 1913. Access to Nieuw A’s bow was once again provided, allowing all of us to witness several ‘calving’ occurrences from Marjerie, both small and larger, accompanied by lots of cracking and splashing, always an awesome experience!

 

The park ranger from his position on the bridge provided play-by-play of what we were seeing as well as historical and general information while the captain maneuvered his ship in close proximity to the big glacier so that those with cabins on both port and starboard side could get a good view. After a good hour of viewing Marjerie, Captain Baijens at about 2;30 PM or so, back-tracked Nieuw Amsterdam’s earlier course through Tarr Inlet.

 

When we got back to our room, we found a box of goodies, courtesy of Nieuw A's executive chef Bitta Kuravilla, someone who I have worked with in the past on different dam ships, a very nice and much appreciated gesture!

 

So, basically if you find yourselves “doing” Glacier Bay National Park, count on a full day of looking in awe at these natural wonders. What’s nice is that you don’t have to spend the entire day outside because it can get cold out there. Like they say, dress I layers! You have plenty of time to have a lunch, hang out somewhere, take it easy, jell, you name it. Cruising at its very best!

 

To be con't

Edited October 12, 2023 by Copper10-8

[oakridger]

Hi John.  As always, I'm enjoying your report with all the info and pictures.  Always something new to learn from you!

 

I keep thinking I will not cruise to Alaska again, but I sure do love it up there.  Maybe the Alaska Marine Highway Ferry is in my future for something different???  Hmmmmm..................

 

~Nancy

[Copper10-8]

13 minutes ago, oakridger said:

Hi John.  As always, I'm enjoying your report with all the info and pictures.  Always something new to learn from you!

 

I keep thinking I will not cruise to Alaska again, but I sure do love it up there.  Maybe the Alaska Marine Highway Ferry is in my future for something different???  Hmmmmm..................

 

~Nancy

 

Hi Nancy; if I'm not mistaken, Roy / poster rafinmd is the man / your contact for the ferries of the Alaska Marine Highway. He has sailed them and, I'm sure, can tell you all about that experioence

[Copper10-8]

    Day 5 - 08/08/2023; Scenic cruising Glacier Bay (con't)

 

As stated, the park rangers left the ship around 7:30 pm, the same way they came on so via Jacob’s ladder (always an interesting way!) into their small boat which would take them back to their HQ near Bartlett Cove. We spent some time in the still new Nieuw Amsterdam library on Deck 3 forward, starboard side which, prior to its current transformation, used to be the Tasman general purpose room and, prior to that, the 36-seat Screening Room movie theater. The powers to be in Seattle apparently listened to the folks asking for the return of a full-size library and did a nice job with this new one!

 

For us, dinner was inside the main dining room on Deck 3 aft. The dining room manager gave us a nice window seat on the starboard side where we partook in grazing time. Maria had salmon and I chose the Wiener Schnitzel, a no brainer for me because I love that national dish of Oesterreich!

 

The major entertainment inside the Mainstage was a new one for us, a singing quartet known as Major Fourth. This turned out to be three male vocalists and one female vocalist with excellent harmony. Their show was upbeat with a lot of movement and tunes ranging from doo-whop to Taylor Swift. They were very good and energetic with outstanding voices and we enjoyed their performance! We finished up the evening inside the BB Kings Blues Club with the band of the same name; simply outstanding!

 

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is our first port; Skagway! See ya then!

Edited October 12, 2023 by Copper10-8

[SilvertoGold]

Chef Bitta is the best! So nice of him to send up that lovely plate of goodies. Thaks for the photos!  We have loved his Indian meals for many cruises, starting with the Westerdam and onward.

[Copper10-8]

8 hours ago, SilvertoGold said:

Chef Bitta is the best! So nice of him to send up that lovely plate of goodies. Thaks for the photos!  We have loved his Indian meals for many cruises, starting with the Westerdam and onward.

 

 

Pic of Bitta is about five years old - his "stache" is a handlebar now 

 

[Copper10-8]

Day 6 - 08/09/2023; Skagway, AK

 

So, after having dropped off the park rangers at Bartlett Cove yesterday evening, we rounded Point Couverden (not named after former HAL Captain Jack van Coevorden 😉) and once again entered Icy Straight (thus named when the entire Glacier Bay was a glacier with its calving ice drifting via this “icy strait” into the open sea) and passed Pleasant Island on our port side. In the early morning hours Nieuw Amsterdam, having entered the Lynn Canal, at 2,000 feet, North America’s longest fjord, made her way towards the town and port of Skagway, Alaska. . Lynn Canal was explored by Joseph Whidbey in 1794 and named by George Vancouver for his birthplace, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, England. 

 

We were going to the Broadway Dock for our berth with a 0700 hrs. arrival. There were three other cruise ships in town today; Celebrity Millennium at the Ore Dock since at 0700 hours; and Majestic Princess and Norwegian Encore at the Railroad Dock, forward and aft respectively.

 

Our shore excursion today was the “White Pass Summit Scenic Railway” departing at 0730 hours from the depot, and we would be taking that train all the way to Carcross, Yukon Territory in Canada! The WP&YR is a Canadian and U.S. Class II narrow gauge railroad linking the port of Skagway with Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon, Canada. An isolated system, it has no direct connection to any other railroad. Equipment, freight and passengers are ferried by ship through the Port of Skagway, and via road through a few of the stops along its route. The line was born of the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897 but is now in operation purely for the tourist trade and runs throughout the summer months.

 

After a quick and early breakfast at 0625 hrs. inside the Lido Market, we disembarked our ship and walked down the Broadway Dock for our 0715 hrs. meeting time at our waiting bus and guide/driver Lucy who, after departure, promptly gave us a very quick tour of Skagway before dropping us off at the nearby Skagway Railroad Depot.

 

At the Depot, we were broken up into different groups based on the occupancy level of the train cars, as well as our destination, with some folks leaving the train at Fraser, BC in Canada. Our train, pulled by two green & yellow-colored locomotives/engines, was waiting for us and we were seated in a car by the name of Lake Hutshi, car number 538. All 80 of the restored and replica rail passenger coaches/cars are named after lakes and rivers in Alaska, the Yukon Territory and the Province of British Columbia.

 

The ride/climb up to the White Pass summit and the U.S.-Canadian border took 20.4 miles and lasted about an hour. Along the way, we passed the WP&YR shops, the Gold Rush Cemetery (the final resting place of the infamous “Soapy” Smith), Buchanan Rock (with the “On to Alaska with Buchanan” sign), Bridal Veil Falls, Tunnel Mountain, Inspiration Point, the 1901-built Steel Bridge (the tallest cantilever bridge in the world) and then the White Pass Summit at 2,865 feet, followed by the U.S. – Canadian border crossing between the U.S.A. and Canada is marked by a total of five flagpoles, flying the national colors of both countries plus the state/province/territory flags of Alaska, British Columbia, and the Yukon.

 

To be con't

 

Edited October 15, 2023 by Copper10-8

[Hogladyrider]

On 10/9/2023 at 6:29 AM, Avery's Gram said:

Your post #10 mentioned Kantishna, which reminded me of our first ever cruise in 2002, on Princess.  We figured we might never get back to Alaska so we went for an extended tour and spent 2 or 3 nights at the Kantishna Roadhouse at mile 91 in Denali.  It was a mixed group there from several cruise lines, and we were impressed with what the HAL passengers told us about their trip.  So our next trip was on HAL, and the rest is history (we’re now 5star) and have done many nights in Alaska and loved them all.

 

The Kantishna experience was something special, though…..a great start to our time as cruisers.

 

Barbara M. In NH

We stayed at Kantishna Roadhouse in 2014 it was AMAZING!

[Copper10-8]

Day 6 - 08/09/2023; Skagway, AK

 

The next stop, and a chance to stretch our legs was at Bennett, still in British Columbia, and an abandoned town next to Bennett Lake. The townsite is now part of the Chilkoot Trail National Historic Site of Canada, managed by Parks Canada. Crossing the tracks and a little bit of an uphill hike will take you to St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, a simple rectangular wood frame structure with a steeply pitched gable roof and an adjoining tower with a steep spire. Surrounded by trees and mountains, it is the only building left in the once-thriving community of Bennet Lake. They gave us 45 minutes there to take in the quiet nature of a once thriving community

 

Back on the White Pass and Yukon Railway, we had one stop left and that was our final destination, Carcross in the Yukon Territory. But first, it was lunch time on the train with the conductors and our guide quite busy handing out lunch boxes to everyone, one per passenger. They contained a selection of cheese & grapes, a mini brownie bar, bag of Lays potato crisps, and a turkey sandwich with mayo or mustard. Not a gourmet meal but it was tasty and hit the proverbial spot The crew had earlier handed out bottles of H2O. Our final stop was reached in an other 45 minutes.

 

Carcross, originally known as Caribou Crossing, is a community in Yukon, Canada located on both Bennett Lake and Nares Lake, divided by a natural land bridge. It is home to the Carcross/Tagish First Nation and is approx. 46 miles south-southeast via the Alaska Highway and the Klondike Highway from the much larger City of Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon. Carcross is mainly known for its world class mountain biking on the near-by Montana Mountain, and for the nearby Carcross Desert, often referred to as the "world's smallest desert. The community has a population of 317 residing in 168 of its 229 total private dwellings, It relies on tourism and the place pretty much dies out in the winter.

 

Btw, the major difference between a Canadian Province such as British Columbia and a Territory like the Yukon has to do with the Canadian Constitution. A province is a creation of the Constitution Act, while a territory is created by federal law. Thus, the federal government has more direct control over the territories, while provincial governments have many more competences and rights.

 

After disembarking the train, we found Lucy, our bus driver from this morning in Skagway waiting for her passengers. She subsequently gave us roughly 45 minutes to do some Carcross exploring before heading back to Skagway and the Nieuw Amsterdam. First order of business was to head for the “pink store” aka the Matthew Watson General store, one part of it formerly known as the Vendome Hotel and the oldest still operating store in the Yukon, albeit only in the summer season! It is famous for two things; their ice cream waffle cones and the ability to get a Carcross destination stamp in your passport. The stamp is self-service and chained to a wooden table, the waffle cones are not!

 

So, after consuming said frozen desert, typically made from milk or cream that has been flavored with a sweetener, we took a stroll over to the Carcross Commons, a collection of separate buildings that have the front painted in different 1st nation/native styles. The plan was to grab a cup of Java for the bus ride back however, due to a massive que at that only coffee shop, that plan went nowhere. The drive out of Carcross took us past the community’s entrance sign, a larger-than-life size sculpture of an anatomically correct bull caribou with his plumbing hanging out for anyone to see. Those crazy Canadians, eh

 

To be con't

[Copper10-8]

Day 6 - 08/09/2023; Skagway, AK (con't)

 

Upon departing Carcross, Lucy hit the Klondike Highway, known as Yukon Highway 2 in both the Yukon Territory and British Columbia, and in Alaska officially as Alaska Route 98, and made stops on the shore of Tagish Lake on the border between BC and the Yukon for a photo op of the two border signs, once again at the Fraser CBSA port of entry inspection station for a comfort break, at the Welcome to Alaska and gateway to the Klondike sign at the Fraser-Skagway border, and the last one, a mandatory stop at the United States Customs and Border Protection point of entry at the Skagway-Frazer border crossing (actually 7.9 miles south of the border; the Canadian facility is 7.6 miles northeast of the border) where Lucy had to ‘splain how both her U.S. passport and passenger load tally sheet had fallen in between the windshield and instrument panel of her bus on her northbound ride – They let us through and back in the good ol' USA!

 

Back onboard Nieuw A, we had a 7:00 PM dinner reservation at Canaletto, HAL’s Italian restaurant inside the Lido Market. Joining us were Chelly, the police dispatcher at my old department, and her husband Steve, also a former employee of the city we live in, and all four of us worked in. It was really good to catch up! Our restaurant waiter in Canaletto was Yugo Putranto, you know from the 1980 Yugoslav shortened variant of the Fiat 128 fame. From its inception Canaletto has always promoted plate sharing, so that’s exactly what we did with an Antipasto plate, the Veal and Sage meatballs, Minestrone soup, Spaghetti Alle Volone, Braised Beef short rib Gnocchi, Lasagna Bolognese, and Gelato for dessert.

 

We concluded on time to go see the main entertainment in the Main Stage, that being stand-up comedian Ken Boyd at 9:00 PM, so that’s what we decided to do. The big room was packed, and Mr. Boyd turned out to be hilarious. From his Curriculum Vitae; “Mr. Ken Boyd is the perfect combination of high energy intelligence and pure nonsense. Or as he likes to call it "sophisticated ignorance." Apparently, there were lots of folks from the 7:00 PM show that returned to see him again. The four of us finished up the night by partaking in some adult beverages inside the Ocean Bar.

 

Tomorrow (Thursday) is Juneau, the state capital of Alaska – See ya then

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Day 7 - 08/10/2023; Juneau, AK

 

After having departed Skagway via the Lynn Canal yesterday, Nieuw Amsterdam entered the Stephens Passage during the early morning hours and continued on a southerly direction, rounding Douglas Island. This was followed by a “left turn” into Gastineau Channel northbound which would lead us straight into Juneau, the capital of Alaska. Nieuw A was the first one in at 0645 hours and berthed at the Cruise Ship Terminal. The big shore-side gangway was attached to Deck 2 via a forklift and Juneau long time HAL Port Agent Ryan came onboard and cleared the ship for all pax and crew, meaning we were good to go

 

We were followed in by Ruby Princess who was assigned the S. Franklin Street Dock. Next up at 0730 hours was Celebrity Eclipse assigned the Alaska Steamship Dock in downtown, adjacent to the Juneau Memorial Library. Approx. 30 minutes later, the fourth cruise ship to pay a visit to Juneau today, Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth, had apparently drawn the short stick, and would be tendering today to the interior portion of the Alaska Cruise Terminal, right smack behind the Mount Roberts tramway terminal. But wait, we’re not done yet! The No. 5 cruise ship arriving at 1100 hrs. was Norwegian Jewel going to the AJ Dock. That, my friends, are a lot of cruise ship pax in Juneau today!

 

Juneau is the capital city of Alaska. It is a unified municipality located on the Gastineau Channel in the Alaskan panhandle and is the second largest city in the United States by area. It has been the capital of Alaska since 1906, when the government of the then District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900. The municipality unified on July 1, 1970, when the city of Juneau merged with the city of Douglas and the surrounding Greater Juneau Borough to form the current home rule municipality. The area of Juneau is larger than that of Rhode Island and Delaware individually and almost as large as the two states combined. Downtown Juneau is nestled at the base of Mount Juneau and across from Douglas Island. The city is rather unusual among U.S. capitals in that there are no roads connecting Juneau to the rest of Alaska or the rest of North America (though ferry service is available for cars).

 

Juneau is named after gold prospector Joe Juneau, though the place was for a time called Rockwell and then Harrisburg (after Juneau's co-prospector, Richard Harris). The Tlingit name of the town is Dzántik'i Héeni ("Base of the Flounder’s River"), and Auke Bay just north of Juneau proper is called Áak'w ("Little lake") in Tlingit. The Taku River, just south of Juneau, was named after the cold t'aakh wind, which occasionally blows down from the mountains.

 

Went up to Nieuw A’s gym for a 0800 hours bicycle exercise class to get the blood flowing. This was followed by breakfast, back in the Pinnacle where Violet from Zimbabwe was our server. We had first met her on Nieuw A back in May when she had just joined the ship on her first contract, somewhat frightening no doubt. She is now a seasoned employee who is very professional as well as comfortable inside the PG.

 

Our excursion today in Juneau was called Dog Sled Summer Camp whose van driver/guide met on the top of the Cruise Ship Dock at 10:10 AM, Two Dodge 4x4 vans met 14 of us in front of the Mount Roberts tramway terminal. It was an approx. 25-minute drive to Sheep Creek, located some four miles southeast of Juneau. Besides being site of the now inactive AJ gold mine with some of the old mining buildings barely standing, Gold Rush Dog kennel and tours are located here.

 

On the climb up the rain forest’s dirt road to get us to the camp, we drove smack past a pretty good size deer taking a break on the side of the road, yep, we’re still in Alaska!. Upon arrival at the camp where up to 158 sled dogs are housed, we first had to sign the proverbial waivers and then received a briefing on the goings on at the camp, the dogs, all Alaskan Huskies, and the six-nine person aluminum wheeled conveyance, much like a large golf cart, we’d soon be riding in pulled by a team of sled dogs. We soon met our musher, Julie, a participant and successful finisher of the 2019 938-mile Iditarod trail sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome, AK.

 

To be con't

[erewhon]

Thanks for your posts. 

Enjoying following your Alaskan adventure.  

[Copper10-8]

Day 7 - 08/10/2023; Juneau, AK (con't)

 

We were then introduced to the true athletes of the world’s greatest race, a team of twelve huskie sled dogs who, as they were being hooked up to the wheeled cart, let us know without a doubt their enthusiasm and eagerness to go to work by a loud barking concert. It reminded me a lot of my own police K-9 who would go crazy when he saw me put my uniform followed by putting his collar on. Time to go to work!

 

Julie took her standing position on the back of the cart (we were all seated), gave a quick command, and the team took off with power and agility pulling us along for the ride. That ride down the 1.5-mile-long trail took approx. twenty minutes with some stops as directed by Julie. This dog team loved to run through large water puddles and, on one of the stops, Julie had them take a break in one such puddle to cool off.

 

Julie uses commands such as “Hike” (get moving), “Gee” (turn to the right) and Haw (turn to the left) and the two lead dogs on her team were female Iditarod veterans. Very impressive to watch them operate!

 

After returning to our starting point, we were given time to socialize with our team after Julie introduced us to all twelve of them by their names. Lots of petting, hugging and kisses followed. Julie then led us to one of several small buildings with a wood burning stove, an Iditarod sleigh/sled, race artifacts, and pictures inside. We spent the next 20-25 minutes inside listening to Julie talk about sled dog racing, the dogs, the equipment, the food, the course, the weather, etc. Very informative! She then opened it up to a question-answer period.

 

Following this, we were led to a covered pen area where we got to meet the puppies, well one in particular who went from arms to arms, taking it all in stride like a 3-month old Alaskan Huskie pup would. Very fun! On the descent from the mountain, back in the 4x4 van, the same Sitka black-tailed deer was still right off the road and was joined by a second one. Our driver stopped for picture time. All in all, an informative tour, especially if you are a dog lover!

 

All aboard today in Juneau was at 4:00 pm so that left us plentong (a word used by HAL’s Indonesian crew meaning plenty) of time to partake in a bit of lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Juneau, El Sombrero on Franklin Street, just a little trek uphill from the Red Dog Saloon. As stated, with five large cruise ships in town, Juneau was a busy place today. We had an approx. 20 minute wait and were then seated by the hostess. La comida of Arroz con pollo and chicken enchiladas hit the spot, as did the excellent chips and salsa and a cerveza or coke! We like El Sombrero. After lunch, we mozied back to the Cruise Ship Dock and Nieuw A. and did absolutely nothing/nada/zilch for the remaining part of the afternoon.

 

Juneau is one of those places in Alaska from where you can see float planes take off and land all day long. They do this right outside the ships on Gastineau Channel and then water taxi into or out of Seaplane Dock located just off the Alaska Cruise Terminal dock where Celebrity Eclipse was berthed. Great sight! At around 4:25 pm or so, Nieuw A dropped her lines, Capt. Baijens moved her off the dock and with a slight turn to starboard pointed her towards the Gastineau Channel, and we sailed back down that same waterway, this time in a southerly direction, heading for Ketchikan, our next and last Alaskan port on this seven-dayer. They go fast!

 

We chose a dinner option around 7:30 pm we had not yet tried before and that was to get some hand-made pizza from New York Pizza located outside on Lido Deck/Deck 9 aft. Just like the Dive-In, they hand you a pager after you place your order. We used that prep time to get a couple of salads at the Lido Market Salad Bar and located an empty window seat on the starboard side. The buzzer went off and a medium size peperoni-cheese pizza was waiting. Good and tasty dinner.

 

To be con't

[julia]

Great thread, as usual!  I'd like to share a story about El Sombrero....

 

I've struck up many friendships on Cruise Critic over the 22 years since joining.  One was with Cruisekitty, aka Debbie.  We had not met "in person", but two years ago, we were to be in Juneau on the same day.... us on Nieuw Amsterdam, and she & Steve on Celebrity Millennium.  We made plans to meet up at the El Sombrero (based on your recent postings).  We had a great time together, laughing, drinking, and sharing cruise stories. Hours later, we all walked back to our ships in a cold, dark rain. Hugs all around, with hopes of sailing together soon. I remember texting them a beautiful pic of their ship as it sailed past our verandah.  Debbie and I texted for over a year, but couldn't seem to get our sailings coordinated.  Last spring, while waiting for our luggage at SAN for the K'dam South Pacific, my phone pinged a text from her.  But shockingly, it was from Steve, who was letting me know that Debbie had passed away from lung cancer. We texted him our sad condolences and boarded with a heavy heart.  She was a prolific and helpful poster here on Cruise Critic, and I miss her.  So, thanks for helping us meet up at El Sombrero, and creating some lasting memories.

[Copper10-8]

36 minutes ago, julia said:

Great thread, as usual!  I'd like to share a story about El Sombrero....

 

I've struck up many friendships on Cruise Critic over the 22 years since joining.  One was with Cruisekitty, aka Debbie.  We had not met "in person", but two years ago, we were to be in Juneau on the same day.... us on Nieuw Amsterdam, and she & Steve on Celebrity Millennium.  We made plans to meet up at the El Sombrero (based on your recent postings).  We had a great time together, laughing, drinking, and sharing cruise stories. Hours later, we all walked back to our ships in a cold, dark rain. Hugs all around, with hopes of sailing together soon. I remember texting them a beautiful pic of their ship as it sailed past our verandah.  Debbie and I texted for over a year, but couldn't seem to get our sailings coordinated.  Last spring, while waiting for our luggage at SAN for the K'dam South Pacific, my phone pinged a text from her.  But shockingly, it was from Steve, who was letting me know that Debbie had passed away from lung cancer. We texted him our sad condolences and boarded with a heavy heart.  She was a prolific and helpful poster here on Cruise Critic, and I miss her.  So, thanks for helping us meet up at El Sombrero, and creating some lasting memories.

 

May Debbie rest in eternal peace! 😔 Thanks for sharing your memories of her with us here! 

[Copper10-8]

Day 7 - 08/10/2023; Juneau, AK (con't)

 

The main entertainment tonite at 7:00 and 9:30 PM, besides the three other venues that have music (BB Kings, Billboard onboard and the Third Avenue West trio in the Ocean Bar), was the second performance by the Step One Dance Company (sthree female/three male dancers) in “Humanity”. We have seen this show several times now as it is one of their older shows and it remains one of our favorites. Great music/Great Dancing and Great special effects projected on the walls of the World Stage by her tech staff using the large room to its advantage. We enjoyed it once again - the one act that always really stands out for us is one of the female dancers in the red dress in a modern dance number - and so, it appears from the standing ovation the cast received from most of the audience, did they, the latter.

 

At 9:30 pm. So during the second show by Step One, they had the “Orange Party” going on inside the BB King’s Lounge. This used to be a “ho hum” affair but this one was packed/standing room only. We finished off our day in Juneau by listening to the BB King All-Star band during their final set at 11:00 pm. As stated, tomorrow (Friday) is our stop in Ketchikan.

 

See ya then!