Back from Alaska - Awesome Cruise!

[dazzie25]

I am a bit late getting this done because I wanted to get my pics done so I could add the link to my review. Got all the pics done, then my computer crashed and all I had was the dreaded blue screen! Finally back up and running and thankfully had just finished saving the pics just before the crash!

This was our very first cruise and we LOVED it. Everything went smoothly and I was so thankful for that since we were so far from home. A big THANK YOU to CC and all of you who helped make this first cruise so wonderful. I posted a review on the Princess board and wanted to do one here, too. This was our dream vacation and something we've been waiting 5 yrs for. My going nutso and reading, researching, and planning was all worth it. Everything went smoothly and made for a lovely, very relaxing vacation.

We flew into Anchorage a day early. I was wrecked by the time we arrived at our hotel, 12 hrs after leaving home. Thank goodness the shuttle was already at the airport awaiting crew from another flight. Finally got to bed after making sure we had everything we needed for our train trip, excursion, and embarkation. We got up early the next morning and off to the Alaska RR. Yay, our luggage went on to the ship from the train, we did not have to tote them. The ride from Anchorage to Whittier was rainy, cool, and foggy but it did not detract anything from our experience. In Whittier, we were immediately loaded on the bus and off to the excursion office. Good thing because it was pouring down rain when we came out of the tunnel and into town. Totally loved the PWS excursion. We found a spot outside on the boat where we were protected from the rain and wind but still had great views and photo ops. The spot happened to be next to a vent of some sort so we stayed toasty warm, too. Our first taste of Alaska was thrilling!
College Fjord. The weather was still rainy, foggy, and cool. I cannot describe the feeling of waking up when the alarm went off ( 5:30a) and looking out the balcony and seeing a HUGE glacier right there! Had to take a little nap later that day. LOL
Glacier Bay. We enjoyed most of this day on the forward viewing decks of the Island Princess. Awesome view, awesome day - the weather cleared up by mid morning, awesome folks to share it with! We had folks up there who had cruised Alaska several times and helped us learn how to spot wildlife. I was completely enthralled by the glaciers. It just boggles my mind how old some of the ice must be and what it went through to get to what we see today. We had great naturalists onboard, they answered questions and pointed out wildlife. If you have the chance, you must go where they are on deck and listen to them when they let everyone know where they will be. I was on one side of the boat with a naturalist, R was on the other side with one, too. Between the two of us, we got pics and video we might otherwise have missed. Awesome day, awesome experience and we had the Glacier Bay sunburns to prove it. I had sunscreen for the trip just forgot to put it on till too late. Oooops but a happy ooops.
Skagway. We wandered around town in the am, spent the afternoon on the boat. Our next trip, we definutely plan to rent a car and drive to Emerald Lake.
Juneau. We wandered thru town early am then went on our whale watching excursion at 11a. We went with AK Whale Watching and LOVED it! We had a clear, warm, bright sun shiney day and active whales. They were bubble net feeding. Too cool how in sync they were to get the job of eating as much as possible done. I could have stayed all day and just watched. Of course, I also took hundreds, yes literally, of pics. My wonderful sister loaned me her expensive camera with a wonderful zoom lens. I had it set on the sport setting and held the shutter down. LOL We had to leave that group of whales to go on up the bay. We then watched sea lions. It was a hoot, two were in the water and the others wouldn't let them up on the bouy. One that was in the water was very vocal in his displeasure. We went on up the bay and watched indiviual whales next. There was a baby who thought throwing his tail around was just the best thing ever!! It was having a grand time making big splashes. Then the best thing ever, an adult surfaced not far from our boat. In fact, in some of my pics you can see a gray blur. That is the railing of our boat, it was so close!!! Scared us all to death when he spouted. LOL We have all the shouts and yells on the vid cam. R didn't realize it was still on and pointed at the floor. The crew of the boat was fabulous and very informative. This was the highlight of the cruise for us and what I was most looking forward to. All hopes for this excursion were met and exceeded.
Ketchikan: We wandered around town picking up gifts for everyone back home. That took awhile because there were way too many choices. Big debate over who would like what the best. LOL Of course, it was Ulu's for all the folks who cook. We got one two yrs ago as a gift from my SIL and love it!
Sea day sailing to Vancouver: Spent most of the morning getting things sorted out and packed. In the afternoon, we played putt putt. I was beaten something fierce! No bragging rights at all, R got them all! That evening we saw Orcas. YAY! This was something we discussed hoping to see. I knew we might not but still hoped. The last one we spotted happened to come up right below where we were standing at the rail. It was so close, it was in the wake off the side of the boat! Seeing them was the perfect ending to a wonderful cruise.

Overall it was an awesome cruise. We could not have asked for a better trip our first time out. My bit of advise would be to plan on being out on deck between 6p-8p. We had a port side balcony but most of the wildlife were surfacing on the starboard side. We kept the tv turned to the station we could hear the naturalist during the first part of our cruise. After the first few days, we were already on deck and looking. R got good at spotting wildlife even before the naturalist onboard went over the PA. If we were on one side and wildlife spotted on the other side, the race was on. Totally loved it all. We are already planning our next Alaska Cruise, hopefully next yr.

Here is the link to our pics. http://picasaweb.google.com/OurTripP...kaJuly27ToAug3#

[NancyC]

Thanks for the review. We leave in 3 weeks and your review and pics really put me in the mood. The whale pics are great. Thanks again for posting.

[Telluride]

We leave in 4 weeks on Celebrity....loved reading your review and looking at your photos. Thanks for posting them!!!

-Michelle

[camper49]

Awesome pics!!!! We leave in 7 days on Carnival Spirit....

[LoriPhil]

Wow - spectacular weather when you hit the ports! Wonderful pictures - everyone will be checking out the 2010 availability now ...

[littlebluebook]

thanks for the review it was great! fantastic pictures!
Only question is, doesn't seem like many glaciers in glacier bay? have they erroded that much? I thought the whole thing would be covered in ice!

can't wait for our cruise in a month!

[vegs1]

Originally Posted by camper49

Awesome pics!!!! We leave in 7 days on Carnival Spirit....

Have a great time...we just returned from the Spirit and loved it! I'm sure you will, too.

[georoc01]

Originally Posted by littlebluebook

thanks for the review it was great! fantastic pictures!
Only question is, doesn't seem like many glaciers in glacier bay? have they erroded that much? I thought the whole thing would be covered in ice!

can't wait for our cruise in a month!

While Glacier bay is certainly retreating overall, it has been retreating for over 100 years.

[Ilivetogo]

Wonderful pictures!! (Glad you didn't lose them!)

Thanks!!

[vino100]

Great pictures of the whales. We will be on our cruise this Sept. What tour did you see the whales on?

[Chat Noir]

WOW! R said you had some amazing whale photos!!!

Four trips to Alaska and we've yet to take a whale watching excursion. I think it has just become priority for us next trip. I'm going to pull the photo's up for Larry tonight, I think he'll agree.

Ready to start planning for next year?

[dazzie25]

Originally Posted by Chat Noir

WOW! R said you had some amazing whale photos!!!

Four trips to Alaska and we've yet to take a whale watching excursion. I think it has just become priority for us next trip. I'm going to pull the photo's up for Larry tonight, I think he'll agree.

Ready to start planning for next year?

YES! YES! YES! We loved the one way but with the extra expense, we won't be doing another anytime soon, not to mention the loooooooooong flight! Our next trip will be round trip out of Seattle. Looking at next yr on the Golden to Glacier Bay. Definutely will have whale watching excursion planned in Juneau.

I am glad everyone has enjoyed the whale pics. I was so happy they turned out as well as they did. When I first started opening them, the first series of pics were blurry. I was almost in tears!! Then I got steady on the back of the boat rather than the front and the rest of the pics were thankfully not blurry. YAY!

[dazzie25]

Originally Posted by vino100

Great pictures of the whales. We will be on our cruise this Sept. What tour did you see the whales on?

We went with AK Whale Watching using the 2 for 1 toursaver coupon.

[Chat Noir]

Originally Posted by dazzie25

Looking at next yr on the Golden to Glacier Bay.

I've been looking at that too, or the Sapphire back to Tracy Arm.

[Megnolia]

Stunning! Thanks so much for posting those!

[christee52]

Great review and great pictures. We will be on the Island Princess 24 August....I am packing as I type....can't wait. We are so excited! Do you mind if I ask what cabin you were in? We are on the Cabrie deck. Do you know anything about it?

[dazzie25]

Originally Posted by christee52

Great review and great pictures. We will be on the Island Princess 24 August....I am packing as I type....can't wait. We are so excited! Do you mind if I ask what cabin you were in? We are on the Cabrie deck. Do you know anything about it?

We were on the Emrald deck but we did enjoy the Caribe viewing deck all the way forward on the boat on Glacier Bay day. Fabulous viewing. I needed long sleeves and a jacket in the am but by late morning had changed into a t-shirt. From that day forward I was in either shorts or light pants and t-shirt. Be prepared for all weather, there is just no telling what it will be from one day to the next.

[Wormy53]

Yes! Wonderful Pictures! Thanks so much for sharing. We are going in a week and can't wait. Like you we love the Island Princess. So far that has been our favorite sized ship. We try the Pacific this time!

[gratefulmama]

Fantastic pictures - thank you! Next time we will have to do the whale watching excursion! Trekking the Mendenhall this time around.

Paul McCartney in 3 day and Alaska in 10 days! It don't get much better than that!

~Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right~ Robert Hunter

[krogerlady]

Great pics!! Love love love all your whale shots...they are magnificent creatures, no way to get enough of them!! The pic coming into Canada Place was postcard perfect!! Just gorgeous!