Alaskan Review with PICS!

[BeachBum1007]

We had an afternoon flight with Island Wings for a floatplane to see Misty Fjords. This was absolutely amazing and this company is highly recommended. Unlike most of the tour companies, IW allows you to get OUT of the plane and explore the banks of the water for about 15 minutes. This is not common, so make sure you ask if this is a priority to you.

 

Ketchikan is just filled with cute friends. This one is helping us at the plane dock.

 

Me in the back of the plane. It allowed me to see out both sides of the windows!

 

Note: these are all out of the plane window, so don't worry about them not turning out through glass.

 

Waterfall

 

So mysterious looking

 

This is the lake in Misty Fjords you land on

[BeachBum1007]

Our plane on the lake

 

What a view

 

 

As you can tell by our hair, it rained on us a little in Ketchikan! Nonetheless, you still get some great family photos.

 

Love this one of my dad and then my mom being adventurous

 

[BeachBum1007]

The plane ride back

 

A lake on top of a mountain!

 

 

 

The Volendam is the smaller one!

[BeachBum1007]

Float Plane: Absolutely breathtaking experience. It's like another world and almost completely untouched nature. This excursion was somewhat expensive, $239 each, but well worth it.

 

Part 3 of Ketchikan (or "Catch a can", or "Catch me if you can, Alaska", if you're my family. hehe), coming soon!

[CocaCola19]

It has been reported MANY TIMES on this forum that you are not allowed to bring food off the ship unless it is is packaged, like the cereal boxes you mentioned.

 

Not everyone reads every post on this website. If you or any other member of the frequent poster club notice any conflicts with the rules maybe you inform people NICELY.

[erewhon]

Thank you for your interesting review and fantastic photos.

[Silvertrees]

Great pics :)

 

After seeing these I can't wait for our trip in September

[Nelie]

Loved the pics with people in them sometimes it looks like people have just gone to google images :D lol

[mickeysgal]

We had an afternoon flight with Island Wings for a floatplane to see Misty Fjords. This was absolutely amazing and this company is highly recommended. Unlike most of the tour companies, IW allows you to get OUT of the plane and explore the banks of the water for about 15 minutes. This is not common, so make sure you ask if this is a priority to you.

 

 

We also had a flight with Michelle from Island Wings. Hands down our best excursion from our trip. Absolutely amazing. We had a clear day and it was simply enchanting. Our flight was mid-morning and we had no cloud cover. Loved every minute of it. Thank you for posting the pictures...makes me want to go again!!

[BeachBum1007]

The rest of the afternoon we walked around Creek Street, did some shopping, and went back to the ship relatively early.

 

 

Very cute area, a lush and picturesque Alaskan town.

 

 

Salmon in the river

 

Totem pole details

 

Eagle

 

Weather report: I was a little cold in light shirt, but my rain jacket made it perfect. It started to sprinkle for a bit, so I was glad I had it.

[BeachBum1007]

This is by far the best review I've ever read! Straight and to the point about what you see; not about the food or the ship. Love your photos. Like you, I like to see and do as much as I can on excursions. I'm am so jealous. One day it will be my turn.

 

Wow! What a compliment. You will get there one day, it's definitely worth the wait.

 

Everybody has been so nice, it makes me want to do a review for all of my other trips. I'm going to be sad when I'm done writing it!

[belkin]

Thanks for the awesome review and photos!! Looks like you had a great time and made a lot of memories. We are headed to Alaska in August and also booked a whale watch trip with Harv and Marv. We rented a car in Skagway and bought the Murrays guide, thanks for the warning about the mixup with the mile markers.

[celestialcruiser]

Thanks for the info on the lenses. I have a 15-135 and just bought a 75-300. I figured that one would be best for wildlife. Was worried about the changing back and forth too, but worth it to get the best shots. I am also going to bring a P&S which actually does take good pics )sometimes I can't tell the difference if I take the same pic with both of them) for when I need a quick shot without having to change out the lens.

[hockeygal54]

I spent lots of time researching cameras as I decided the upcoming AK trip (6wks from today leave for Fairbanks!!) warranted something better than the Panasonic PS. I had decided on Nikon DSLR 3100 I believe it was but in the end just decided I couldn't deal with all that lens switching so opted out for the "bridge" version and purchased Nikon p510. So far I've been happy with what I've shot. Nice zoom and other features and can focus on putting the picture together and not on switching lenses! :)

 

We have booked Harv/Marv also and floatplane with SEAWIND aviation. Renting a jeep in Skagway.

 

Thoroughly enjoyed your pics and reviews. We're from TX too but Dallas area so long flites coming and going!!

[gymjudge55]

Wish I was more of a photographer, I will be using a Nikon 900 with 18 zoom, hope that will get me some decent pictures. Yours are really beautiful.

[Tweedy]

I will admit that I didn't read any of your review as I was too mesmerized by your photos!! They are absolutely stunning and breathtaking.

[irisheileen]

OK...did you HAVE to include such awesome pics? Now my heart is pumping to return to Alaska next summer!! I'm getting ready to cruise to Bermuda this August, but tonight I'm going to pull out our photo album from our trip to Alaska years ago. I'll get DH excited and then book Alaska while on board the Veendam:D

[Putterdude]

Great review and wonderful pictures, thanks for taking the time to put it all together and sharing it with us.

[BeachBum1007]

This was a much needed sea day that we used to relax and do the activities that we did on the other chill day ☺

 

I agree, but you would be surprised how many are more interested in the ship than they are in what there is to see outside the ship.

 

Since it was mentioned by a fellow CC, I'll use this as an opportunity to talk about the ship.

 

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I didn't take a lot of pictures while we were actually on the ship. My family and I choose our cruises based on itineraries rather than brand name or ship review, therefore, I am much more excited to talk to everyone about the ports rather than the ship. I could go on and on about the ports if you would let me!

 

However, we do try to take advantage of all of the amazing opportunities that the cruise provides, so I'll give you what I've got! As I mentioned, we were on HAL's Volendam. A pretty small ship in comparison to some of the others. Here is a pic of it in Tracy Arm.

 

 

With the extra long hours in port and multiple excursion, we were way too tired to go to a lot of the shows most nights. We were able to go to a few comedians that we enjoyed, however. We always made it a priority to do all the different trivia games with the cruise director! We were pretty competitive. Oh and karaoke is always fun to watch! Most of this took place in "The Crow's Nest," which was deemed our hangout spot throughout the entire cruise. If we couldn't find a place in the awesome library I was telling you about, we'd go up there, play games, and watch the amazing scenery go by.

 

I'm not sure if it was us being in Alaska, this particular ship, or HAL in general (this was my first HAL), but they didn't have as much of the "fun stuff" that I've seen in other cruises, especially on sea days.

 

The food was pretty average, nothing extraordinary. I love going to the dining room every night, but we weren't able to take advantage of it as much this time around. I am usually better at taking food pictures too, I was so caught up in browsing my images from the day instead! Here are some of my foodie pictures.

 

Shrimp cocktail, yummy!

 

Steak

 

Dessert

 

More dessert. You can tell what I'm interested in, as far as food goes!

 

The family and I on the first formal night

[vbmom87]

Wish I was more of a photographer, I will be using a Nikon 900 with 18 zoom, hope that will get me some decent pictures. Yours are really beautiful.

 

You should be quite happy with it. Yes, I love the photos people take with their fancy cameras, but my point and shoot camera (Panasonic DMC- ZS10 16x optical zoom) took some darn good photos. When I posted some, people asked me what kind of camera I had used. I just don't like to be bogged down with all that equipment. We did that on our first trip and between the big camera and binoculars it was just too much for us. The ability to reach into a pocket for our camera was the way to go for us. Photos are all about memories, and I am sure the photos you take with your camera will provide some remarkable memories.

[BeachBum1007]

We always opt to do the self carry-off so that we can leave when we want and not have to wait around on the ship. We had a rental car to grab!

 

We rented a car in Vancouver and drove back down to Washington so that we could start our mini- trip to Olympic National Park. Did I mention we like to cram as much as we can into a trip?

 

We are big national park people so we couldn’t miss the opportunity to see it while we were in Washington. We only stayed one night in the park, but we definitely got all of the must-sees into the trip.

 

 

Fawn in a meadow

 

"Hurricane Ridge"

 

Winter wonderland in July

 

Don't see much of this in Houston

 

Love this one

[libtrek]

LOL. Glad to see another National Park person. My personal goal is to hit every NP in my lifetime. Hoping to get a few more Alaska NP on our trip next year.

Lib

[mr.jdm]

loving your review can't wait till we leave!

 

when was formal night? was it during sea days?

[BeachBum1007]

Thanks for the info on the lenses. I have a 15-135 and just bought a 75-300. I figured that one would be best for wildlife. Was worried about the changing back and forth too, but worth it to get the best shots. I am also going to bring a P&S which actually does take good pics )sometimes I can't tell the difference if I take the same pic with both of them) for when I need a quick shot without having to change out the lens.

 

Yes! Those sound like great lenses for wildlife. The switching became habitual, and like I said, I kept the other lens in my jacket pocket ready to go! The easiest way is to really think about what you're going to be doing next (wildlife, or just scenery and portraits) and have that lens ready with the cap off and settings adjusted. And yes! I brought my P&S as well and had my family take back ups in case I had my zoom on and didn't feel it was wise to switch at that point. They really do take great shots as well. Don't forget to enjoy the scenery too, we can get so caught up in getting that perfect shot that we can forget to take it all in. Good luck and enjoy! :)

 

I spent lots of time researching cameras as I decided the upcoming AK trip (6wks from today leave for Fairbanks!!) warranted something better than the Panasonic PS. I had decided on Nikon DSLR 3100 I believe it was but in the end just decided I couldn't deal with all that lens switching so opted out for the "bridge" version and purchased Nikon p510. So far I've been happy with what I've shot. Nice zoom and other features and can focus on putting the picture together and not on switching lenses! :)

 

We have booked Harv/Marv also and floatplane with SEAWIND aviation. Renting a jeep in Skagway.

 

Thoroughly enjoyed your pics and reviews. We're from TX too but Dallas area so long flites coming and going!!

 

I've heard really great things about the fixed lenses, so I'm sure it is going to do a great job for you. Those were awesome excursions, you are going to have such a great time!!

 

Wish I was more of a photographer, I will be using a Nikon 900 with 18 zoom, hope that will get me some decent pictures. Yours are really beautiful.

 

Thank you! If you understand your camera, you will be amazed in the pictures it can give you! A fancy camera does not equal amazing photos. Also, if you spend the time to edit your photos (Picasa by Google is free!) it can really enhance your straight out of the camera images. No need to spend hundreds/ thousands of dollars on something you don't want to pursue on a regular basis. Yours will be great! Enjoy your trip!!

[BeachBum1007]

OK...did you HAVE to include such awesome pics? Now my heart is pumping to return to Alaska next summer!! I'm getting ready to cruise to Bermuda this August, but tonight I'm going to pull out our photo album from our trip to Alaska years ago. I'll get DH excited and then book Alaska while on board the Veendam:D

 

Haha thank you! You should be so pumped about Bermuda, that is on our list and I would love to know what you ended up doing there and how it was!!

 

LOL. Glad to see another National Park person. My personal goal is to hit every NP in my lifetime. Hoping to get a few more Alaska NP on our trip next year.

Lib

 

That is an amazing goal!! And yes, we feel the same way!! We hit as many as we can in one trip. We leave a week from today to Yellowstone, Tetons, and Glacier NP! And then in two years we're planning on Zion and Arches. Can't get enough!

 

loving your review can't wait till we leave!

 

when was formal night? was it during sea days?

 

Yes! Our first was the second night of the cruise on our first sea day and I want to say the second one was Glacier Bay day.