Ken the cruiser

This afternoon we went to the “Voyage to the Stars” Planetarium in the Princess theater and had a good time and was worth the effort if you haven’t been to one of these before. As it is “by reservation only” you just need to remember to sign up for it the day before the event. As you can see it’s just a single line item in the Patter. Speaking of the potential for Northern Lights, tonight is looking great IF the clouds go away that is. 😂

Then it was time to head on back out of Glacier Bay, which took about 3 hours. I took various photos on the way out while imagining at the same time how pretty it would be on a clear day! That’s the HAL Zaandam following us out of the park. I believe this is a sea lion just looking for something to eat. OTOH I think these are two sea otters because there was a lot of sea weed in the area where I took this picture. The park ranger had their boat come over to take him back to the Bartlett Cove Seaplane Base.

Here are some photos as we cruised over to the John Hopkins Glacier. Turning from the Tarr Inlet onto the John Hopkins Inlet. If you look real close and see two white specks in the middle of the photo, those are Bald Eagles watching us cruise by. 😁 Lamplugh Glacier We weren’t allowed to go into the bay in front of the John Hopkins Glacier because it’s the time of the year when the harbor seals are having their pups, and apparently they prefer this bay to have them in.

Our morning trek was to visit the Margerie Glacier, also known at the Great Pacific Glacier. Along the way we saw a humpback whale (no picture), some seals off in the distance, mostly swimming around, and a bunch of various gulls and a few Arctic terns! While we were having breakfast, we passed this glacier which I took a picture of. Then for the rest of the morning I hung out on our balcony taking photos while my DW was in the cabin listing to the narration from the bridge by the ranger. It will be interesting to what the scenery will look like, hopefully without the clouds, on our next two visits. 😁 As we started getting closer to the Margerie Glacier, we started seeing a lot more gulls flying around! A sea lion is on the little iceberg with a couple more swimming around on the left side of the photo. Then when the ship stopped at the glacier to make a slow 180 degree about face, most of the gulls took a break. Then off we went back the way we came. Next stop, the John Hopkins Glacier! 😁

Thanks! It looks like it’s going to be even chillier! 😂

We have arrived at Glacier Bay! These photos were taken around 7:45 am and it is definitely overcast! There were also some otters swimming around looking for breakfast. Our plan today is to hang out on the balcony while listening to the GP ranger talk on the TV. This is where having a protected covered balcony is going to come in handy today. 😁 New forecast for today.

Day 6 - May 5 - Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

This evening after another tasty meal in the Reserve Dining Room, we headed first to see the new production show, British Invasion, which was great! 😁 Then we were off to watch the always hilarious Liars Club! 😂 The ship left port around 8:30 pm and is now on the way to Glacier Bay! Luckily, we’ll be going there 3 times on our B2B cruise, as the forecast for Hoohah, which is just south of the entrance to Glacier Bay, isn’t looking too favorable.

Glacier Bay reference material we were given today for tomorrow’s visit scheduled from 6 am to 3 pm, plus a map to help figure where it is actually located.

I would imagine HAL gets that berth at a cheaper rate than Princess is paying for theirs.

When we got back to the pier, we noticed the Zaandam was tendering their guests to the pier, even though they were pretty much right next to it. Now I might also note the Grand is docked right next to the Zaandam, and we had to walk about 3 minutes once we disembarked the ship through the tunnel in the below photo to then take a two minute shuttle bus ride to the port! 😂 I’m pretty sure it has to do with the June 2022 rock slide, as the Zaandam did not have a gangway opened on the pier side. After the first rockslide on June 23, 2022, which caused minor damage to Discovery Princess, an environmental consulting firm was hired to thoroughly examine the slope and recommend mitigation measures and emergency procedures to safeguard cruise ships and guests on other parts of the dock. https://www.cruisehive.com/alaska-port-rockslide-work-to-be-done-by-cruise-season/94215

What an awesome excursion! We took a 45 minute ferry ride from Skagway down to Haines. Right before arriving at Haines, there was this little island loaded with sea lions! Haines, Alaska Here’s our ferry, which we also took back to Skagway after the tour of the wildlife center. It was about a 45 minute drive to the center. Photos of that drive will be after the wildlife pictures, as we had a better position on the bus to take them on the way back. The owner and main tour guide, Steve Kroschel, who truly loves all of the animals you will see and treats them all like pets! Of course, some with a little more respect for obvious reasons. It was truly an amazing experience! 😁 A couple of timber wolves. Red-tailed Owl Snowy Owl Red Fox Silver Fox Arctic Fox Porcupine Mink Moose being fed tree leaves and loving it! Caribou Wolverine who likes eggs! 😂 Pine Martin who likes raspberry jam! Grizzly Bear who likes pie! After a little over an hour and 45 minutes visiting the center, it was time to head back to Haines along the Chilkat River and a beautiful mountain range. A couple of Trumpeter Swans. A glacier off in the distance.

We have arrived in downtown Skagway, Alaska on a beautiful but chilly morning that’s supposed to creep into the low 50s by 10 am! 😁

Had to get up at 5:30 am to get ready for a 7 am Skagway excursion. Opened the curtains and this is what we saw as we cruised up the Taiya Inlet towards Skagway! 😁

Day 5 - May 4 - Skagway, Alaska

And we’re off! Next stop Skagway, Alaska early tomorrow morning!

After another tasty dinner in the Reserve Dining Room, we went to an enrichment lecture presented by Pete Griffin. Then we were off to the theater to watch the evening show entitled My Journey to Broadway with singer Krystal Washington, one of the production cast singers.

Thanks! All I have is an iPhone SE. But I have found if I take a bunch of pictures, I can usually can find a few that will work. On our Otter, Eagle and Whale excursion yesterday, I took over 580 photos! 😂

Just curious, if Skagway was replaced with Sitka on May 1 (according to Cruise Mapper itinerary below), we were wondering why you were still anchored in Sitka the next day as well, May 2, when we arrived on the Grand Princess Wednesday morning at the northern Sitka pier? According to their below posted schedule, which of course could be wrong, you were supposed to be cruising the Tracy Arm Fjord on May 3. I’m just curious. 😁

Here’s our Skagway excursion for tomorrow where we meet in the theater at 7 am tomorrow morning. That means we have to eat breakfast in the buffet! 😱

Had a fun time on our excursion today. First we headed to the Glacier Gardens Rainforest that took about 15 minutes from the ship to drive there. When we got there after a short introduction about their upside down trees, we hopped on a 16-passenger open-air shuttle that took us to the top of the forested garden area. At the top there was a vista viewpoint to take some photos of the surrounding area. Stellar Jay looking out over Gastineau Channel. Then we headed back down the mountain where we spent about 20 minutes relaxing in a greenhouse-like setting. Some folks just hung out and looked at the flowers while others either had a quick snack or checked out the gift shop. Then we headed to Mendenhall Glacier and were given about 90 minutes to check out the area, which worked out just fine. Barclay’s Willow Blossoms While we were waiting for our tour bus to pick us up, a fun thing happened. A Porcupine decided to cross the road near us to have a little bite to eat. As you might imagine, there were quite a few folks including us that wanted to watch! 😁 Then it was time to head back to the ship. After we got back and had an afternoon snack up at the buffet, we headed to the cabin to relax and watch life pass us by for a while. 😁 Black-legged Kittiwaks and Herring Gulls flying around behind the ship.

We have arrived in Juneau!

Thanks! We’re going to go to Guest Relations, thanks to @Nikulai, this evening to get on the notification list. This way we’ll hopefully at least have a better chance of seeing them if they appear again. Update: Just called Guest Relations and we’re on the List! 🕺💃🏻 Tonight and maybe even tomorrow, as we will be farther north in Skagway, is looking pretty good! 🤞

Good morning as we approach Juneau as we enter into Stephen’s Passage! And another pretty day! 😁

Here’s what we will be doing in Juneau!