Just returned from June 7-14 Golden Princess

[cascole]

The following is an excerpt from my review on the Princess board... thought you might like to read the AK specific points.

 

Our first port was Juneau. We woke up around 7am and watched sat on our balcony where we were treated to viewing of Orcas & Dall porpoise. It was a cloudy day with temps in the high 40s. We arrived at noon and did not meet for our Taku Glacier Flight & Feast tour until 2:30. So, we headed into town for a few hours. After walking around town & getting some shopping done, we stopped into the Alaskan Hotel bar the friendly bartender was wonderful & offered samples of his favorites. It was very nice to find a lambic on tap, which is unusual in most places. At 2:30 we met our tour on the pier & headed back to town in the shuttle to catch our float plane at the marina. The flight was magnificent, the views indescribable, and the pilot very experienced. After landing, we had some time before our lunch to walk to the waterfall or explore the property. Mostly, we fought with the mosquitoes. They are no doubt, called the Alaskan state bird for good reason! The meal was fantastic, and I especially enjoyed the salmon & the beans (which were made with molasses.) Toward the end of our meal, the resident black bear made an appearance to clean the grill where the salmon had been cooked. (Her cubs were in a nearby tree.) We had a wonderful time!

 

Our second port day was in Skagway. This was another cloudy day with some sprinkles & temps near the dock around 45. Here, we got up early & I sent the teens boys on a Salmon fishing boat with Dockside charters. They had a great time, enjoyed the captain & other guys who were fishing with them & my son landed a 32” King Salmon; the only one of the day. I had advised the captain that my son had my credit card in hand so he could process & ship anything he caught... evidently the captain gave my son the form but told him not to fill it out with the credit card # because they would call me for that information. ??? This sounded very fishy to me. I have sent the captain an email about this but have yet to hear back – I will update this on the Alaska board once I know any more. While my son & his friend were fishing, my friend & I took the White Pass train to the 14 mile marker & set off on the Laughton Glacier trail hike. We did this as a self guided excursion. We did not make it all the way to the glacier as we ran short of time, but did make it to the lookout. It was a great way to really experience being ‘out’ in Alaska. It was certainly chilly, probably 38 in the mountains and there was some snow here & there left on the ground, but it was not on the trail so didn’t impact our hike. Once our hike was complete, we wandered town in search of a bite to eat. The town itself really is nothing more than a handful of touristy shops.

 

Tracy Arm Fjord was magnificent. We awoke & had the Ultimate Balcony breakfast while viewing the scenery & wildlife. We were able to get within viewing distance of the glaciers, but not all the way in as there was still much ice in the water. The naturalist onboard was wonderful & did a great job pointing out where things were. We were able to see harbor seals & a black bear as we cruised through the fjord. After departing the fjord, we were able to watch some humpback whales from our balcony as well.

 

Our third port was Ketchikan where we did not have much port time. The weather was about 42, windy & rainy! We were among the first off the ship & immediately in a taxi headed for our chartered halibut fishing with Strike Zone. We met our captain, Shayne, and headed out for the fishing grounds. They provided hot coffee & rain gear. Within the first hour, we had landed a couple of small bait fish & a ~20lb halibut. When the weather became too rough to stay where we were, we moved spots – but it seems our luck did not follow us. Our halibut should arrive tomorrow & we look forward to enjoying it! I highly recommend Strike Zone to anyone considering a charter in Ketchikan. I would have preferred to have more time here & less time in Skagway.

 

Our final port was to be Victoria, BC, Canada. Unfortunately due to high winds, we were unable to make the stop. Another ship, HAL Oosterdam, was also unable to safely make this stop – so we continued our journey very slowly back to Seattle. While disappointing, we felt the captain was right & was better safe than sorry as the winds were 40-50mph & blowing the white caps into misty rainbows.

[southrj1]

Thanks for the review. What did you think of the Laughton Glacier hike? Was it hard? You mentioned you didn't have time to finish it. How long were you hiking for?

[themerle]

Thank you for the review. GLad you enjoyed your cruise and excursions. Are you referring to "more time" in Ketchikan for the fishing? I want to do some fishing in Alaska, although we won't be able to this year. Have you fished in other towns?

[cascole]

Thanks for the review. What did you think of the Laughton Glacier hike? Was it hard? You mentioned you didn't have time to finish it. How long were you hiking for?

 

The Laughton hike is not difficult. There are som steep up & down areas, but most are maintained with 'steps'. The train left the depot at 8am an we had to be at the flagstop to greet it again at 10:55am. There is one other (3:00pm) train, but with the chilly air we decided before we left that we'd explore Skagway a bit & make our hike shorter. All in all, I believe we did about 4 miles between 8:30-10:50am.

 

 

Thank you for the review. GLad you enjoyed your cruise and excursions. Are you referring to "more time" in Ketchikan for the fishing? I want to do some fishing in Alaska, although we won't be able to this year. Have you fished in other towns?

 

Of course we would have preferred more time for fishing, 4 hours is not much when looking for Halibut - however I probably would have liked more time in order to be able to both fish & explore the town. The people here were the friendliest we met anywhere; and the town really looked cute. As it was, we had to rush, rush, rush... I heard from many that the time there just wasn't enough for them either. My son fished in Skagway & landed a King Salmon, but I wasn't aboard. I'm sure he'd be happy to post about it if you have questions.

[curry767]

It was very nice to find a lambic on tap,......

 

Your kidding me; really!!

[chaingang]

We are going on the 29th of june and hopefully we won't have all that rain and winds you described. What wasa the cost for the halibut fishing trip ? was it worth to ship the fish home or just the opportunity to eat your catch ?

[cascole]

Your kidding me; really!!

 

Yes - they had several Belguan beers on tap!

 

We are going on the 29th of june and hopefully we won't have all that rain and winds you described. What wasa the cost for the halibut fishing trip ? was it worth to ship the fish home or just the opportunity to eat your catch ?

 

The definition of 'worth'? LOL! I jokingly call this Halibut our thousand dollar fish! (It wasn't quite that much, but pretty close after factoring in the charter, shipping, taxi & tip for the Captain!)

[cascole]

I sent the teens boys on a Salmon fishing boat with Dockside charters. They had a great time, enjoyed the captain & other guys who were fishing with them & my son landed a 32” King Salmon; the only one of the day. I had advised the captain that my son had my credit card in hand so he could process & ship anything he caught... evidently the captain gave my son the form but told him not to fill it out with the credit card # because they would call me for that information. ??? This sounded very fishy to me. I have sent the captain an email about this but have yet to hear back – I will update this on the Alaska board once I know any more.

 

Just an update for anyone considering Dockside charters... I did hear back from the Captain who put me in touch with the processor in Juneau. They did receive his fish & will call me to get payment info & details on whipping within the week. I was very happy to hear back, as the process for shipping was so different from one company to the next.

 

After the great reviews from my son, I'd recomend Dockside in Skagway to anyone here as well. My son, I'm sure, would give it two thumbs up... last night he said it was his favorite 'excursion' overall.

[curry767]

Yes - they had several Belguan beers on tap!

 

Awesome, I'm there!

[dorijo]

Hi, Could you tell me whether your balcony was port or starboard side? We are on Golden July 26 with a port balcony, I was just wondering how much we will see.

Thanks,

[cascole]

We were on the Starboard side... almost all the way aft & felt we had great views the entire trip, but I think everyone on both sides felt that way!

[2Oregonians]

Thanks so much for the review. We have 4 weeks before doing this same trip. We're in a balcony mini-suite on Starboard, so good to hear you had such great views of the fjord from your balcony.

 

How much did it cost to ship your fish home? Hubby will be going on the sportfishing excursion in Ketchikan, and I hope it doesn't cost an arm & a leg to ship his catch home.

[cascole]

Processing & shipping is a min of $80 & we had a small fish... I think I paid $100 for about 8lbs of meat. :eek:

[2Oregonians]

Processing & shipping is a min of $80 & we had a small fish... I think I paid $100 for about 8lbs of meat. :eek:

 

Wow. I think we'll just let the captain keep it. I don't even like fish, and my husband can take it or leave it. He loves to GO fishing though, and that's the whole idea here, isn't it?