2012 July 6-20 Alaska Land and Cruise Adventure Review with LOTS of photos!

We loved the Serenade! It was probably our favorite RCI ship ever! We didn't love the bigger ships! We're really looking forward to going back on another Radiance class ship!

Well, she's the original of the class:). I'm not sure if RCI has upgraded Serenade the way they did Radiance. If not, you'll discover some neat new things/spots/restaurants!!!

L.J.

Well, she's the original of the class:). I'm not sure if RCI has upgraded Serenade the way they did Radiance. If not, you'll discover some neat new things/spots/restaurants!!!

L.J.

Yeah, we've experienced those restaurants etc. on other ships, such as Oasis. We're excited to experience them on Radiance.

Once we had cleared Creek Street, my parents took a few minutes to rest on one of the benches right next to the bridge that spans the creek and divides it from the main Small Boat Harbor. I took a bunch more photos of Dolly's House and spots along the Creek from our location on the other side, but I won't post any more on here as the spots weren't different, just the perspective. One thing that was cool was this sign right next to the bridge which not only shows the species of Pacific Salmon found in the area, but also has a live viewing camera under the bridge so that you can see the salmon when they are making their runs up the Creek - very cool when the fish are in!

The group refreshed, when continued back towards where we got off the bus to complete the loop - plus we weren't sure where the next closest bus stop was besides that one! It turned out to be right behind us across the bridge and just past the start of the Creek Street boardwalk entrance, but we didn't know that at the time! While on our way to the stop, I spied this gentleman ahead of us, walking along with his fresh catch...

The bus stop was across the street where the fisherman was walking, but before I crossed over, I went to grab another shot of the tall totem pole that was near the north start to Creek Street since the sun was out and the skies were a bit clearer than when we first went by.

I went scouting to look for another bus stop on the other side of the road, but missed it by a block. So, after a few minutes we headed back to our original goal, the stop we got off at, since we knew it would come by there again, and my parents weren't up for the walk back to the ship. I stopped and got some ice cream, so I was lagging behind a bit, but it allowed me to get a shot of our bus stop to show how close it was to the big totem pole, the north entrance to Creek Street, and the Cape Fox funicular on the hill beyond.

Bev & Mom in the lower right-hand corner at the bus stop...

The totem pole & funicular

A few short minutes later, the bus came along and we hooped on board. We ended up passing the south end of Creek Street again and taking a left and running up the hillside to Totem Heritage Center where the route ended and headed back down to Creek Street and then back to the ship. We hopped off the bus and got my parents pointed back towards the ship (pretty easy as you can see!), while we planned on exploring the downtown waterfront and shops before we finished up our last port of call.

L.J.

Thanks for the recent posts about Ketchikan LJ. My goal this trip was to visit Creek Street but alas, we're booked with Island Wings for the whole day.

A question for you if I may. What time of the year did you book with Fat Salmon Charters for fishing in Skagway. We haven't heard back from them yet and I'm curious as to how long it took for you. Thanks!

Thanks for the recent posts about Ketchikan LJ. My goal this trip was to visit Creek Street but alas, we're booked with Island Wings for the whole day.

 

A question for you if I may. What time of the year did you book with Fat Salmon Charters for fishing in Skagway. We haven't heard back from them yet and I'm curious as to how long it took for you. Thanks!

Hey Sue,

I booked with them the end of August, and we were going the following July. Capt Joe no longer lives in Skagway year round (I think he did for 16 years or so), so I think he's wintering somewhere warm (Hawaii maybe?), but he should be back for next summer. I did have a hard time getting any contact during the winter months last year, so hopefully it'll just taek abit longer.

L.J.

LJ Thanks again for all the info I do have battery packs on both of my cameras so that will be good. Just still working on a new fun lense.. I have some great ideas for the go pro and the time lapse we shall see.....

I got a few good pics the other day of a fire and did sell one to the local paper woo hoo. A few dollars for some new toys..

The planning is almost complete for the Alaska fun in July.. So much to do I am taking a Cruise for 5 days in May lol/

Thanks again

JD

As we wrapped up our evening we headed back to the Rangeview B&B, our home for the next three nights. In this case, B&D would be a better description. Unlike a regular B&B, at the Rangeview, instead of breakfast it's a bed and dessert! While there were bagels and fresh melon for the morning, the evening treat was AWESOME! Chocolate covered strawberries greeted us the first night, followed by homemade rhubarb crisps and chocolate chip cookies. The accommodations were great as well. Unlike a traditional B&B, instead of a room within the home, we actually had our own little apartment adjacent to the main home, with a private deck & entrance.

 

Was wondering how you researched finding your B&B places to stay? Thanks so much for this great posting. ;)

LJ Thanks again for all the info I do have battery packs on both of my cameras so that will be good. Just still working on a new fun lense.. I have some great ideas for the go pro and the time lapse we shall see.....

 

I got a few good pics the other day of a fire and did sell one to the local paper woo hoo. A few dollars for some new toys..

 

The planning is almost complete for the Alaska fun in July.. So much to do I am taking a Cruise for 5 days in May lol/

 

Thanks again

JD

LOL - you should skip May and do a B2B in Alaska - then you can fit in even MORE excursions!

L.J.

As we wrapped up our evening we headed back to the Rangeview B&B, our home for the next three nights. In this case, B&D would be a better description. Unlike a regular B&B, at the Rangeview, instead of breakfast it's a bed and dessert! While there were bagels and fresh melon for the morning, the evening treat was AWESOME! Chocolate covered strawberries greeted us the first night, followed by homemade rhubarb crisps and chocolate chip cookies. The accommodations were great as well. Unlike a traditional B&B, instead of a room within the home, we actually had our own little apartment adjacent to the main home, with a private deck & entrance.

 

Was wondering how you researched finding your B&B places to stay? Thanks so much for this great posting. ;)

 

Hey Allz!

Well, I started out here, then moved to Trip Advisor. There is some good info on here, but it was MUCH faster to research a given town on TA. It's nice that CC and TA are sister sites:). Even then, though, the options may be limited. For instance, Rangeview won't qualify for reviews on TA because they only have a single room/aprtment to rent. TA requires a minimum of two or more spaces to stay to allow for reviews - which we didn't find out until Bev wrote a nice one up and it got rejected!

My next and final phase of research was looking at the various Chamber of Commerce/Visitor's Bureau sites for the Kenai and the towns we were going to visit. I order each of their visotr's guides, and then checked the B&B links on each Chamber/VB site. If I remember correctly that's how I found Rangeview. The B&Bs/independent accomodations on the land portion were the hardest thing/most time consuming part to plan. Finding the fun stuff to do was the easy part!!!

L.J.

Hey Sue,

 

I booked with them the end of August, and we were going the following July. Capt Joe no longer lives in Skagway year round (I think he did for 16 years or so), so I think he's wintering somewhere warm (Hawaii maybe?), but he should be back for next summer. I did have a hard time getting any contact during the winter months last year, so hopefully it'll just taek abit longer.

 

L.J.

Thank you LJ.

My hubby actually talked to possibly Capt. Joe today and we're all set for August. :)

Thank you LJ.

 

My hubby actually talked to possibly Capt. Joe today and we're all set for August. :)

Good deal - may the Fish Be With You!!!:D

L.J.

Heading off to the Carolina Nature Photography Association Annual Conference tomorrow. I'll get back to posting when we return. Here's to hoping one of the photos from this trip does well in the photo contest!

L.J.

Thanks MSM!

 

The questions has been asked but I'll be glad to answer. My primary camera is a Canon 7D (it shoots 8 frames per second - key for the upcoming eagle phots in Ketchikan), with a Canon 50D as back up/alternate (if I was using both at the same time for wildlife and scenic shots). The wildlife photos were shot with either a Sigma 150-500mm OS (optically stablized) or a Canon 70-200, f/2.8 IS (image stablized) lens. The mid to wide angle shots were primarily a Canon 18-200mm IS, often with a circular polarizer attached, and I also rented a Canon 17-40mm f/4 for the trip.

 

Renting is a nice way to go to bring some nice lenses without putting out a ton of money for one, if you at least have a DSLR body. You can even rent those if you need to but they do take a little time to get use to all the functions (unlike renting just lenses).

 

Nikon, Sony, Sigma and Olympus all offer good to great systems, both cameras and lens, if you aren't a Canon person. I happen to be, so that's what I know best. If you have any other questions, please let me know and I will do my best to answer them!

 

L.J.

L.J. & Bev thank you for sharing your trip with us--Great review! I know you are a cannon fan--have you used the rebel T4? I am Looking at buying a new camera and have narrowed my choices to the Rebel T4 or the cannon 60. I know their is a huge difference in price between these two models. Any comments?

Heading off to the Carolina Nature Photography Association Annual Conference tomorrow. I'll get back to posting when we return. Here's to hoping one of the photos from this trip does well in the photo contest!

 

L.J.

Good Luck LJ! :)

L.J. Good luck & best wishes at the nature conference!

Have a great time!

This was truely an amazing review. Pics were totally awesome. I am so excited to see Alaska. I want to "learn" my camera before I go. Thinking about taking a class at the local college. You should really think about photography as a profession...:)

L.J. & Bev thank you for sharing your trip with us--Great review! I know you are a cannon fan--have you used the rebel T4? I am Looking at buying a new camera and have narrowed my choices to the Rebel T4 or the cannon 60. I know their is a huge difference in price between these two models. Any comments?

Hey world traveler et,

If you have ANY interest in video, I'd go with the t4i. One of the nice advantages is the continous autofocus. I don't have that on my 7D (and the 60D doesn't either), which can be annoying if you're used to digital video cameras of even the video functions on a lot of non-DSLR cameras. The t4i also has a higher top end ISO/"film" speed, and a the newest generation DIGIC processor (5 vs 4 in the 60D). The 60D is slightly faster in high speed shooting, but barely at .3 frames per second. Hope that helps!

L.J.

This was truely an amazing review. Pics were totally awesome. I am so excited to see Alaska. I want to "learn" my camera before I go. Thinking about taking a class at the local college. You should really think about photography as a profession...:)

Kayehall,

Thanks so much! I don't know if I'll ever be able to quit my day job, but I do enjoy dreaming about it sometimes:D. Your plan to get use to your camera is spot on - you don't want to be wondering if/how your camera can do something you want it to while your whale watching or bear viewing. Learning how to change ISO, shooting speed, multi-shot/burst mode, white balance or image stabalization on the fly (or even worse - after you get home!) is the worst.

If you can't find a class, or one that works in your schedule, reading a couple of basic how to books can help you a ton (single greatest tip - look up the Rule of Thirds if you do nothing else). Another option would be to see if there is a book or video about your exact make and model of camera. Odds are that there is, and that can really help speeding up the learning/familiarization process for you verusus hunting around on your own, depending on how complicated your camera is.

Have fun learning - pretty much all I've learned is self taught from books and shooting a few hundred thousand photos over the last 8 years:D!

L.J.

Hey world traveler et,

 

If you have ANY interest in video, I'd go with the t4i. One of the nice advantages is the continous autofocus. I don't have that on my 7D (and the 60D doesn't either), which can be annoying if you're used to digital video cameras of even the video functions on a lot of non-DSLR cameras. The t4i also has a higher top end ISO/"film" speed, and a the newest generation DIGIC processor (5 vs 4 in the 60D). The 60D is slightly faster in high speed shooting, but barely at .3 frames per second. Hope that helps!

 

L.J.

L.J. Thanks for the info---how was the nature conference? I hope one of your awesome photo's won a prize!

I really enjoyed your review and the your photo's. Cruise Critic is great. I have been reviewing many guide books on Alaska but your review with photos has been great in helping me narrow down what I wanted to do on our upcoming trip to Alaska. I finally booked my last tour with Michelle at Island Wings. We are doing the Misty Fjords tour with the landing---any photo tips for this excursion?

Front Street is the main street that runs from Berth #3 (where it meets Water Street) down along the wooden dock to Berth #1. There are a lot of shops/shopping along this area, albeit a lot of them owned by the cruise lines. The walking is easy and the options many, with a Tongass Trading Post seemingly everywhere you turn! But more on that later... IN the mean time, here are a couple of views along Front Street looking down towards Berth #1 and the main Small Boat Harbor:

The long view along Front Street

One of the Tongass Trading Posts (left corner)

One of the really cool, fun things to see along the waterfront is the Ketchikan rain gauge. It's located right in front of Berth #2, right on the side wall of the visitor's center. This is also a common pick up location for excursions (it's where we meet Shona from Islands Wings in 2009).

The rain gauge - check out the data!

There are also a number of maps located along the waterfront as well to help you figure out where you are, and where you're going...

One of the other first timer things to check out is the "Welcome to Ketchikan - Salmon Capital of the World" sign that spans the width of Mission Street, which is located almost directly across the street from the rain gauge. It's also the street that will bring you right down to where our bus stop was and the giant totem pole marking the north entrance to Creek Street!

L.J.

L.J. Thanks for the info---how was the nature conference? I hope one of your awesome photo's won a prize!

 

I really enjoyed your review and the your photo's. Cruise Critic is great. I have been reviewing many guide books on Alaska but your review with photos has been great in helping me narrow down what I wanted to do on our upcoming trip to Alaska. I finally booked my last tour with Michelle at Island Wings. We are doing the Misty Fjords tour with the landing---any photo tips for this excursion?

Ahhh... the conference was good. I didn't place in the contest, but I was competing against full time professional photographers, so...I'll just have to try again next year!

As for flying with Michelle, I would let her know in advance that your are a photographer and would like a good spot on the plane for that. She told me the seat in the back was best, but I was too large in terms of weight to sit back there (sigh...:)), so she had me sit in the next best spot - the co-pilot's seat! If you're right handed, it would be easiest to sit on Michelle's side of the plane so that you can naturally rotate to your left to take photos.

The other thing is that she is very specific about not having the front of camera lenses touch or rest against the windows as they can easily scratch the plexiglass. Too much of that and no one gets to take any photos:eek:, so that's understandable. One good idea to make sure if you make accidental contact that you don't damage the window or your camera is to get a rubberized screw on lens hood that will help provide a protective barrier - plus it will help minimize the interior glare off the windows that can really wreck a great photo. You should be able to find one for less than $20, maybe even around $10.

Last but not least, a circular polarizer will also help minimize the interior window reflections, and glare off of water, and will help give your photos more saturated colors that are often masked by the glare. If can be tricky to work with the ribberized lens hood, but you can roll the hood back, rotate the polarizer until you like what you see, and then roll the hood back out.

Hope that helps!!!

L.J.

I just spent hours going through your review- your pictures are BREATHTAKING; thanks SO much for taking the time to post.

I just spent hours going through your review- your pictures are BREATHTAKING; thanks SO much for taking the time to post.

It's been my pleasure - and a lot of fun! Whenever I finally finish this epic, I'll get to part 2 - aka 2009:D. Are you going to Alaska soon? If you've ever thought about it - just do it!!!!!

L.J.

Ahhh... the conference was good. I didn't place in the contest, but I was competing against full time professional photographers, so...I'll just have to try again next year!

 

As for flying with Michelle, I would let her know in advance that your are a photographer and would like a good spot on the plane for that. She told me the seat in the back was best, but I was too large in terms of weight to sit back there (sigh...:)), so she had me sit in the next best spot - the co-pilot's seat! If you're right handed, it would be easiest to sit on Michelle's side of the plane so that you can naturally rotate to your left to take photos.

 

The other thing is that she is very specific about not having the front of camera lenses touch or rest against the windows as they can easily scratch the plexiglass. Too much of that and no one gets to take any photos:eek:, so that's understandable. One good idea to make sure if you make accidental contact that you don't damage the window or your camera is to get a rubberized screw on lens hood that will help provide a protective barrier - plus it will help minimize the interior glare off the windows that can really wreck a great photo. You should be able to find one for less than $20, maybe even around $10.

 

Last but not least, a circular polarizer will also help minimize the interior window reflections, and glare off of water, and will help give your photos more saturated colors that are often masked by the glare. If can be tricky to work with the ribberized lens hood, but you can roll the hood back, rotate the polarizer until you like what you see, and then roll the hood back out.

 

Hope that helps!!!

 

L.J.

Thanks for your tips!