Review - a month in Alaska with a B2B on Celebrity Millennium

We had a fantastic time on the water with Harv and Marv and could not have hoped for better whale watching. Back on the bus, we requested that our bus driver drop us off at the Mendenhall Visitor’s Centre. It had started to rain lightly, so most people stayed on the bus to go back to town.

We bypassed the visitor’s centre as it was so full of people and just walked out to the glacier and the waterfall. There was no chance of seeing any wildlife as there were so many visitors, but the walk was really nice, and we even managed to get some photos of the glacier with no other people in the frame! It was a really pretty area, and the waterfall coming down by the glacier made for some nice photos. We walked back to the entrance and walked on the boardwalk to see if we could see any bears, but there were none to be seen. We did see some big red salmon swimming up the stream though.

Walking on the track between the visitor's centre and the glacier

A view from the walking track

When we were ready to leave Mendanhall, we went and found the line for the shuttle bus. There were a lot of people waiting, probably because of the rain. We saw a Harv and Marv bus coming down the road, so ran over and flagged him down. He was really nice and opened the doors and let us on, and we gave him a nice tip. He gave a great commentary on the drive into town, and even pulled over by the side of the road so we could see all of the salmon swimming from the sea up into the mouth of the stream. There were so many eagles sitting on the sandbars at low tide, feasting on the salmon that did not make it.

Back in town, we decided to go to the Red Dog Saloon for lunch http://www.reddogsaloon.com/index.php/about-us. It was really crowded, but we did not mind sitting at the bar. I had my second pulled pork sandwich of the trip (and in my life!) and it was really yummy. Bill had the same, and tried some new beers.

An old guy started on a very well rehearsed singing and comedy routine which was quite entertaining and funny. He would be singing a song, accompanying himself on the piano, and in the chorus the entire staff would sing out their own version, or he would tell a joke and the staff would yell out the punchline. He asked if their were any Aussies in the bar. Of course Bill yelled out yes, and it turns out of all the people in there, we were the only two! He said ‘what is the difference between an Aussie and a canoe?’ The staff all yelled out really loudly ‘A canoe tips!’. Everyone laughed and it was all in good fun.

While on the topic of tipping, I just want to say that when we travel in the US and on cruise ships, we always tip. We prepay our gratuities, and always give our room steward, dining staff, bar staff and captain’s club servers extra tips at the end. We are a bit paranoid about being seen as stingy , so I think we end up over tipping! We tipped our bar server at the red dog, as well as the comedian as we left. It was a fun place for lunch.

We went for a big walk around town and bought some yummy Sea Otter Paws (cashews and caramel rounds coated in chocolate) at the Alaska Fudge Factory shop. We came across a life sized bronze statue of a bear and took photos with him. We went to a pub that offered free internet with your purchase of a drink, so we took advantage of the fast internet and checked our emails and posted a lot of photos for our friends and family to see.

I wanted to find the bronze statue of Patsy Ann, an English Bull Terrier that could sense when a steam ship was coming into port and would run down to greet the passengers in the 1930s. She was a well loved dog until she died in 1942. We found her bronze life-sized statue at the dock and read her story on the information boards nearby.

We boarded the ship at 7.30pm and took some photos of the town from the ship, and watched some sea planes arrive and take off. As we were still full from lunch, we did not go to dinner. We went to the Senior Officer’s Cocktail Party and then went along to the 9pm show which was a juggling comedian Ivan Pecel. He was fantastic, and in all of our 10 previous cruises, he was the best entertainment we had seen. He had the whole audience laughing the entire time.

He was a little rude, and at one stage when he had a bowling pin on his forehead, said something along the lines of he hoped a unicorn did not sneak up on him from behind and take advantage of him. He noticed the actions of the deaf translator, and walked over to where she stood at the side of the stage and said it again, and then again. She good naturedly repeated her actions which where quite unmistakable.

Later on in the show he said wedgie, and again made the translator spell out wedgie a couple of times. It was very good natured, and very, very funny. Not only was he a great comedian, he was also a very talented juggler. The translators had a very good sense of humour and made fun of him in return.

I really hope my review is enjoyable and useful to anyone planning, or bringing back memories for people who have done the same trip. OK, on with the review...

Monday 28 July - today we were in Skagway. The weather started off a little overcast, but brightened as the day went on. We got off the ship at 7am and had to be back on by 8.15pm. We had booked with Chilkoot Charters to do their Yukon Bus and Rail trip, train up and bus back http://www.chilkootcharters.com. Once off the ship, we identified our guide easily. We climbed aboard a small bus for the very short drive to the train (probably would have only taken less than 10 minutes to walk), and were shown into our own carriage which happened to be the last carriage of the train. Our guide for the day, James, told us all to sit on the left as the views were better on that side.

SAILING INTO SKAGWAY:

A SHIP FOLLOWING ALONG BEHIND US:

SKAGWAY:

TRAIN CARRIAGES SEEN FROM THE SHIP. These were not the ones we went on, but I think were for people booked on ship shore excursions, not sure where to:

The train ride was enjoyable and very scenic, Bill sat inside and listened to the commentary, and I spent most of the time standing out on the back open area taking photos. I was very mindful of hogging the small outdoor area, but most people did not seem to want to come out. There were 3 other people that would come in and out, and I would move out of their way while they were out there. It was nice to be able to see the scenery from behind the train as well, as we had no carriage blocking our views.

OUR CARRIAGE - IT WAS NICE BEING AT THE VERY END.

FLEETING GLIMPSE OF SKAGWAY AND THE CRUISE SHIPS FROM THE TRAIN

Scenes from the train:

We arrived in Fraser and after having our passports checked by Canadian customs, got on the bus with our guide. Our next stop was going through the Canadian customs, which was quick, and then we stopped at a lovely lake for a photo stop and to stretch our legs. Back on the bus, we were very excited to see a big black bear munching on berries right on the side of the road, and we stopped and watched him for 10 minutes before he ambled off. That was so cool, and I got some great photos of him.

Carcross Dessert was the next stop and while I had read about it, it was still a surprise to see a little dessert in this part of the world!

Caribou Crossing was our next destination. We had lunch here, and had grilled chicken, coleslaw, corn and bread rolls, with donuts for dessert.

After lunch we walked through the outdoor animal enclosure and fed the goats with food that was $1 per bag. There was a very adorable baby goat! They had pigs and husky dogs and puppies to pat. We watched some people go for a husky ride, and then walked though the amazing taxidermy museum. I am not usually a fan of taxidermy, but some of the examples in the museum are pretty awesome.

We walked through the gift shop then went out to the cafe for ice-cream. They were very generous scoops, I wished I had only asked for 1 as I only ate half of it.

It was time to get back on the bus and drive to Emerald Lake. The lake was very pretty, especially with the pink fireweed everywhere. We stopped for about 10 minutes while everyone took photos. The beautiful emerald colour of the lake is due to the glacial flour buildup in the water and the way the sunlight reflects off the flour (glacial flour is rock that has been ground so finely by the movement of the glacier that it is really light and will float suspended in the water).

OK, I have to get to work! Hopefully I will post some more tonight. Resizing the photos takes up so much time!!

I really hope my review is enjoyable and useful to anyone planning, or bringing back memories for people who have done the same trip........

Great photos!

Looking at your review makes me want to go back and do it all again.

Thanks for taking the time to post.

Thanks Fleckle, it is really nice to get some feedback in between posts! I really appreciate your post. Yvette :)

We stopped at the town of Carcross for 10 minutes for people to use the restroom and look in the couple of shops. We then stopped at the Yukon sign, and across the road was the welcome to British Columbia sign. After everyone took their photos, we continued on. We stopped to see two big black bears, but they were spooked and ran away. Not long after that we came across another very relaxed black bear eating berries on the side of the road, and there was some discussion as to whether it was the same bear we had seen earlier that day. We watched him for 10 minutes and got some more great photos.

Our driver next pulled up by the side of the road to show us a multitude of rock formations - people had piled up rocks to resemble human figures. These stone figurines are called Inukshuks, apparently meaning "likeness of a person" in the Inuit language. Bill and I made our own figure to add to the collection.

Our next and last stop was at the wooden Welcome to Alaska sign. There is also a large Inukshuk marking the official unfortified boundary between Canada and the US, and Bill and I took photos at both.

One that we built!!

Back in Skagway, we boarded our bus again, and our driver dropped those interested into town, and took the rest of the people back to the dock. We still had a few hours before we had to be back on board, so we stopped at the local library where there was free, but slow, wifi. We sat for half an hour and checked our mails and posted some photos of our adventures.

We then went to the Skagway Brewing Company, and Bill really enjoyed trying some of their beers http://www.skagwaybrewing.com/pub.html.

We spent the rest of our time walking around the town, looking in a couple of shops, and gradually making our way back to the ship. We boarded at about 7.15pm. That night we went to the show ‘Simply Ballroom’, and had dinner in the main dining room before heading to bed.

The train and bus trip into the Yukon was a really good choice for the day, we saw lots of interesting scenery and I loved seeing the bears!

Yvette

I found out what you and Bill love. You it fudge, and Bill's it is beer. Many of your and Bill's pictures have fudge and beer in the back ground. I love that you try new food s. Pulled pork is a stable food, here in the south.

Love your pictures of the Yukon. We were at Emerald Lake and the beauty of it is amazing. The desert was something else. Who would have thought about a desert in the middle of Alaska.

You pictures of the Orca's are amazing. We saw Hump Back whales in Icy Point, but they were not feeding.

Looking forward to more pictures and fond thoughts of our trip

Ben

Hi Ben - you are right, I am the sweet tooth and Bill does loves beer. He is a brewer and has a small brewery that he built, so he is very interested in trying new flavours. The only fudge I bought was in Whittier though! I did look longingly at the fudge in other places, but resisted the temptation.

Glad you are enjoying my review!

I've really enjoyed your trip report and the wonderful photos. This will be a great resource for next years group of travellers.

Your report has already had 7400 views so there are plenty of us enjoying it ! And I bet you're enjoying this opportunity to re-live the trip Thanks for posting it!

Loving your review Yvette! Thanks so much for taking the time to do it. I log in every day hoping for the next instalment. There are many reviews out there, but yours is so comprehensive, and being from Aussie as well, and going on the same ship, it's that much more relevant for me.

We are doing Northbound on Millennium in May, with 3 nights post cruise somewhere Seward/Kenai/Anchorage, haven't gotten that far in the planning yet, but you are a mine of great information. Then 4 nights in Honolulu on the way home for some warm weather before getting back into the Melbourne winter.

I've really enjoyed your trip report and the wonderful photos. This will be a great resource for next years group of travellers.

 

Your report has already had 7400 views so there are plenty of us enjoying it ! And I bet you're enjoying this opportunity to re-live the trip Thanks for posting it!

Thank you! I have never done a review like this before and did not know the amount of time it would take! I am resizing photos in the evenings after work and trying to post in the mornings before I head off. Plus I did not realise I would have to pay for the subscription to photo bucket. But still, it is fun and I really enjoy getting responses from people who are reading along, so your response is much appreciated.

Loving your review Yvette! Thanks so much for taking the time to do it. I log in every day hoping for the next instalment. There are many reviews out there, but yours is so comprehensive, and being from Aussie as well, and going on the same ship, it's that much more relevant for me.

 

We are doing Northbound on Millennium in May, with 3 nights post cruise somewhere Seward/Kenai/Anchorage, haven't gotten that far in the planning yet, but you are a mine of great information. Then 4 nights in Honolulu on the way home for some warm weather before getting back into the Melbourne winter.

Hi Cassicruiser, you are in for a treat, Alaska is so beautiful! I am just resizing the next lot of photos, and then will probably post again in the morning. Thanks for your comments, they are appreciated. Yvette

:)

Thank you! I have never done a review like this before and did not know the amount of time it would take! I am resizing photos in the evenings after work and trying to post in the mornings before I head off. Plus I did not realise I would have to pay for the subscription to photo bucket. But still, it is fun and I really enjoy getting responses from people who are reading along, so your response is much appreciated.

Yvette you are doing a magnificent job ! I 'only' did the Inside Passage cruise so while I went to some of the same places as you, much of your review is new to me, but I almost feel I went there too. I can only imagine how long doing something like this takes, and is still taking but it's greatly appreciated by many many of us. On my whale watch in Juneau a couple of Orcas went by but I was faffing around trying to find my camera and missed seeing them. But you took then photos I didn't manage to :D

Hi Cornishpastyman1 - I love the word 'faffing'!!

Thank you for your very kind words, you have made me smile, and I am encouraged to keep on going. I just finished resizing the photos for the next instalment, so will do another port! Yvette :)

Tuesday 29 July - Today we were in Icy Strait Point/Hoonah. It was overcast and cool, but we had no rain. The ship was tendered but there was no need for tender tickets as we arrived so early. We got off the ship at 7am and the last tender was at 3.30pm. Icy Strait Point is an attraction consisting of shops, restaurants, museums, walks and a zipline which is owned by a native corporation and is open when cruise ships are in port. Hoonah is the nearby town.

I had booked a combination Whale Watch and Bear Viewing trip with Misty Bay Lodge, a cafe/hotel which also runs excursions http://www.mistybaylodge.com. We were picked up from Icy Strait Point by Hope, one of the owners of the Lodge, and driven the short distance into Hoonah.

We then set out with Hope’s Husband Captain Dan for our whale watch excursion. 4 other people were on the boat with us, a lovely couple from our roll call that we had spent time with onboard, and two sisters travelling together.

It was incredibly foggy out on the water and I was not sure if we would see anything at all. But the fog cleared and we came across one whale. But he was a very, very active whale, leaping right out of the water multiple times, doing lots of tail slaps and waving his flippers around in the air. We stayed and watched him until it was time to head back to Hoonah and go on our bear search.

A Juvenile Bald Eagle on the nest:

This is the boat we went out on:

Hoonah:

Millennium dwarfing Icy Strait Point:

Seals!!

It was so thrilling to see the whale breaching!