MS AMSTERDAM 14 Day Alaska - June 15, 2012 - Endless Daylight!

[MilliesMom]

Amazing photos ... thank you for sharing. Like you, I was disappointed that the 14 day cruise has been discontinued at the end of this year. Would love to do that cruise, especially with different ports and scenery going up north and heading back south.

[nobbync]

Beautiful photography!! I overheard someone on our cruise say he hadn't seen any wild life except for one seagull.... wonder where HE was looking???

 

We heard it on this cruise also on a tbale next to us. Right then a puffin flew right by our window and I pointed it out to them as they were flying all over. They said something like "It's about time some wildlife showed itself."... By this was not even halfway through and by this point we saw eagles, whales, bears, seals, sea lions and many birds... If you look wildlife is all around you but you have to look.

 

I am going to be posting some of my Tracy Arm photos soon as I will not be posting on the 4th so happy ad safe 4th for you all and Happy Birthday to the USA!

 

Nobby

[nobbync]

TRACY ARM FJORD BY CRUISE SHIP

 

This was my second visit into Tracy Arm and it was spectacular again. The first time we had a sunny day but today was overcast so many of the highest peaks could not be seen. Still it was spectacular. Actually got very close to South Sawyer. The Captain did a great job to get as close as a cruise ship gets to it. On this day many from our roll call grabbed a spot on the back of the ship at the aft pool. We had a great spot where we could put all our stuff on and move about as we needed to get the photos and views we wanted. In the back it is less crowded and it blocks the wind. They did not serve pea soup on the aft pool so my friend went to look for it. One of the crew members got a tray and brought enough pea soup out for all of us and it was a delicious and well needed snack on that cool day. Plus we had to eat something instead of only cookies... We had some calving at the glacier but nothing major. Lots and lots of harbor seal moms and pups. At this time of year all the waterfalls were full and just pouring on down which made for some spectacular views but being on a ship like this you really don’t get to see how big they really are. That night we anchored close to Juneau but we went to bed early to get up for a busy day in Juneau.

 

JUNEAU – BACK TO TRACY ARM BY SMALL BOAT

 

This day was one I was really looking forward to. We booked Adventure Bound back to Tracy Arm. The boat leaves at 8:30 am and we docked at 8 am. There have been some warnings about them leaving people behind and even leaving early. Not sure if it is always like that but I can say they try hard to get you on the boat. On the Amsterdam we do dock right next to them. You walk off the ship and right at the bow of the ship is a blue ramp that goes down and their boats are right there. You look up at the bow of the Amsterdam. We had one couple from one of the Princess ships that came in late. We got on the Adventure Bound about 8:05. We were waiting for the couple from the Princess ship and one more group from our ship. We waited till 8:35 and then we got a call from the Princess couple and they just got off the boat. We went to their pier and picked them up. This couple was in contact with the office the entire time so if you want to book this tour go for it and just do what they say and call them as soon as the ship docks. The other group from our ship cancelled. Because we left late the captain said he’d just go a little faster and we’d make up the time and we did. Here is a photo showing their two boats. The Captain Cook is in front and the Adventure Bound is to the right. You can see how close we dock.

 

 

The trip to Tracy Arm was raining off and on with fog and low clouds. Not a good start to the day. On the way the scenery was great and I spent most of the time on deck either in back or right up front. It was awesome!

 

As we got closer to Tracy Arm we started to see icebergs and these bergs look so much bigger at sea level. Some towered way above the boat and were huge. This one reminded me of Wonderland.

 

 

As we approached a big iceberg I ran in to change lenses to my wide angle. Wouldn’t you know it, when I came out there was an eagle sitting on a closer iceberg but I now had a wide angle lens so I had to take the eagle shots with my point and shoot. Light was perfect and everything but I had the wrong lens! Oh well, everything can’t be perfect.

 

Going into the arm in a smaller boat you really get the feel of how big and spectacular the place is. It looks so different from sea level and I just sat outside at the front of the boat in awe of it. Despite being in the Arm twice already on big ships this to me was much more different and it was as if I had a large living painting I was enjoying. It was majestic.

 

Going into the fjord we got more and more icebergs. Saw a few more eagles and then the captain shutoff the engines and we drifted towards a large rock on the shore. On top of that large rock was a huge brown bear. He froze as we got closer and we got very close before he ran into the bushes.

 

 

We backed into a waterfall as well and if you wanted to get wet you were welcome to. I was not brave enough for that. We also went right next to the cliff walls and we can touch them and then look straight up 2000 feet.

As the ice flow got thicker we started to see many seal moms and their babies, many newly born. From the ship they looked very small and anytime we got near them they’d jump into the water. In a small boat they stayed on much longer keeping a close eye on us. This mom jumped in the water and the pup cried so mom came up next to the pup.

 

 

South Sawyer Glacier from a cruise ship does not really look that big. From a small boat it looks massive. We got to within a ¼ mile to us. When we got there the other boat was there, the Captain Cook that left at 8 am. Both boats just drifted back and forth and we spent about 90 minutes or so in front of the glacier. In this time we got lots of smaller calving but then we got a very large and major calving almost in front of us. I missed getting all the shots on that one but the very end. When there is major calving there are some good size waves and our captain told everyone to hold on as the waves came. He said they got to us at about 10 feet but when they started they were 20 feet. Since water is so deep the wave dissipates so fast but it still hit us at 10 feet. Well the Gods were looking after us today as a second major calving occurred and this was bigger! The great thing is my camera was right on it as the large chunk broke off as I saw and heard the huge crack just before the fall.

 

 

Until you see this for yourself it is so hard to imagine the glacier and icebergs being so blue but they are. It is incredible to see on a cloudy day. The trip back we passed the Oosterdam making her way in. It was truly a wonderful day.

 

 

When we got back we still had about 4 hours left in Juneau but we decided to go back to the ship and eat dinner and relax as the next day in Icy Straight was also busy and early as we had both morning and afternoon with FISHES.

 

Nobby

[rajkr74]

Nobbync,

Well you are knocking us over with your great photos. I had a chance to go into your albums after talking to you about your time lapse shots of the HAL ships in San Diego a few months ago. Your photograph is very impressive!

 

Are you shooting raw or jpg on your Nikon D300 to get those crisp clear photos? Joyce wants to know how many shots you took to get that one great flying shot of the immature eagle? She gets mad at me when she wants to stay out somewhere for hours to get a good photo. What size lense are you using to get the telephoto shots of the bears or the seals?

 

Keep them coming we are truely enjoying your photos.

Rick

[Wakepatrol]

Thanks so much for sharing them,nice job:)

[cruisinjudy]

Fantastic!!!

[TiogaCruiser]

Hi Nobby: We're following you July 27. I'm especially interested in how the Adventure Bound trip worked out for you and whether you had too much of Tracy Arm with 2 days in a row.

 

Hi Epixx!

Congratulations on getting this trip again. It sounds like there are a fair number of repeaters- and we wish HAL was not discontinuing this one. We'd love to do it again.

 

To OP:

Thanks for posting about your trip. It's a pleasure to read. We did it in August 2010. It took a few months to organize all the photos and print a book and I still have video I haven't "processed."

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Hi nobby :) as usual your photographs are amazing. Looking forward to hearing and seeing more pics!!

[PathfinderEss]

Awesome photo's nobbync and your report is not bad either :D

[muffin]

We are on the statendam, arriving in Juneau at 8 am, but leave at 6:00 pm.

Were any onboard leaving that early. I see they say they get back about 6:00 pm. We probably have to be onboard by 5:30....do you think this is doable? Thx for all the great review comments and fab photosr

[Assateague Island Princes]

Oh Nobby, you do NOT disappoint! I'm am reliving every moment of my two sailings on this itinerary from your descriptions and gorgeous photos! that one of the iceburgs in TA looking like giant mushrooms is mesmerizing! Thank you, thank you - fantastic job! Keep up the good work and again - MORE PLEASE!!!!:D

[epixx]

Hi Epixx!

Congratulations on getting this trip again. It sounds like there are a fair number of repeaters- and we wish HAL was not discontinuing this one. We'd love to do it again.

 

To OP:

Thanks for posting about your trip. It's a pleasure to read. We did it in August 2010. It took a few months to organize all the photos and print a book and I still have video I haven't "processed."

 

Greetings TC!

 

Yep; we liked it so much in 2010 that we convinced my sister and family to join us this time!

[nobbync]

Nobbync,

Well you are knocking us over with your great photos. I had a chance to go into your albums after talking to you about your time lapse shots of the HAL ships in San Diego a few months ago. Your photograph is very impressive!

 

Are you shooting raw or jpg on your Nikon D300 to get those crisp clear photos? Joyce wants to know how many shots you took to get that one great flying shot of the immature eagle? She gets mad at me when she wants to stay out somewhere for hours to get a good photo. What size lense are you using to get the telephoto shots of the bears or the seals?

 

Keep them coming we are truely enjoying your photos.

Rick

 

Thanks Rick! I can't wait for the ships to return to SD to do more of those time-lapse shots now that I know I can do it.

 

I almost always shoot in jpg fine only. I used to shoot everything raw but if you get the settings right or you do not have harsh lighting it really is not needed. I will shoot raw if it is harsh lighting but none of these I had that problem. I do use a meter and I use EV a lot to get the look I want.

 

As for the eagle shot I took 6 photos of that bird but I tracked it for quite awhile. In this case I saw the eagle flying towards us but I locked in on it from far away hoping it kept flying closer. As it flew towards us I got to where I want and shot a 6 photo continous burst so I got it flying regular and then starting to land and this shot was close to landing. Of the 6 shots only one is slightly off focus. Wait till you see the sequence of photos of an eagle catching a fish in Sitka... :D

 

Nobby

[nobbync]

Thanks everyone for the great comments.

 

We are on the statendam, arriving in Juneau at 8 am, but leave at 6:00 pm.

Were any onboard leaving that early. I see they say they get back about 6:00 pm. We probably have to be onboard by 5:30....do you think this is doable? Thx for all the great review comments and fab photosr

 

We got back after 6 pm so I would say it is not a risk I would take. This is my 3rd trip to Juneau and my first time I had the time to do Adventure Bound. You might want to check Major Marine if they have a boat that runs in your time frame. I contacted them as well and they were contracted out to NCL that day and their tour was a bit shorter but they still said we could join them if it does not work with Adventure Bound.

 

Nobby

[nobbync]

Here are a couple more seal photos from Tracy Arm Fjord. Theblue reflection of the glacier with the ice was breathtaking...

 

 

The reflection on this is from the cliff walls. Mom and baby keeping a close eye on us. When a harbor seal pup is born here he has that fur blanket on the back to keep him warm. This shot really shows it as it looks likea blanket is wrapped around him.

 

 

Nobby

[canadianbear]

Can I just say I am stunned by the absolutely beautiful photos you are sharing with us. WOW.....they are breathtaking. My son is on this cruise right now and I sure hope he is enjoying it as much as you seem to have.

 

Thanks for the review part too but my mouth is still hanging open with the stunning photos you have shared.

[tallcruiser2]

Hi Knobby

 

We are enjoying your posts and great pictures as we relive the 2 wonderful weeks we shared with you and Cindy and many others on the Amsterdam.

I have finally finished my first pass through my pictures, deleting the junk so I can send a copy to DD Alexandra in Calgary (a 32GB flashdrive full).

I will email you soon.

 

Glen

[Bovaking]

Nobby, you rock! Thanks so much for posting all of this information about your cruise. My family is on the Aug 24 trip and we can't wait, and your posts are getting us more and more excited. Keep it coming!!!

[nobbync]

Hi Knobby

 

We are enjoying your posts and great pictures as we relive the 2 wonderful weeks we shared with you and Cindy and many others on the Amsterdam.

I have finally finished my first pass through my pictures, deleting the junk so I can send a copy to DD Alexandra in Calgary (a 32GB flashdrive full).

I will email you soon.

 

Glen

 

Hey Glen,

 

Glad you are enjoying reading this. I am enjoying writing it as I recall the great 2 weeks shared with you, Kathryn and Alexandra. I miss our chats already but so busy just getting back to normal. Well not so normal as next week is Comic Con so I am getting ready for 5 days of that.

 

Whoa! 32GB flashdrive full after deleting the junk? Alexandra will have to take some time off from classes so she can look at em all! :D

 

Once things get settled in I'll email you.

 

Nobby

[nobbync]

Nobby, you rock! Thanks so much for posting all of this information about your cruise. My family is on the Aug 24 trip and we can't wait, and your posts are getting us more and more excited. Keep it coming!!!

 

You ar eso lucky to have this to look forward to. Do you need help carrying your bags or better yet, do you have room in your bags to stuff me in? :D

 

If you have questions feel free to ask... Later today I will post on Icy Straight Point as we spent both morning and afternoon with Floyd from FISHES.

 

Nobby

[startwin]

I've done this trip several times, and I have to say your photos are waaaay better than any I took! Just wonderful, thank you.:)

 

The blue of the glaciers is so hard to capture in a photo, but you did a great job, especially of the calving.

[rajkr74]

Thanks Rick! I can't wait for the ships to return to SD to do more of those time-lapse shots now that I know I can do it.

 

I almost always shoot in jpg fine only. I used to shoot everything raw but if you get the settings right or you do not have harsh lighting it really is not needed. I will shoot raw if it is harsh lighting but none of these I had that problem. I do use a meter and I use EV a lot to get the look I want.

 

As for the eagle shot I took 6 photos of that bird but I tracked it for quite awhile. In this case I saw the eagle flying towards us but I locked in on it from far away hoping it kept flying closer. As it flew towards us I got to where I want and shot a 6 photo continous burst so I got it flying regular and then starting to land and this shot was close to landing. Of the 6 shots only one is slightly off focus. Wait till you see the sequence of photos of an eagle catching a fish in Sitka... :D

 

Nobby

 

Nobby.

Joyce is shooting image quality--Fine and image size-- Medium to Large. Jocye tends to EV to the negative side. The shots tend to come out better underexposed. Seems the metering on the camera tends to overexpose on some shots. I am guessing you did that on the shot of the glacier ice....which I thought was an outstanding shot!

 

Shooting action shots takes some practice and Joyce is still trying to get better on actions shots. We just did not get that many good opportunities to shot eagles like you did on our Alaska cruise. We chased a bunch around Homer AK but not with much success, too far away.

 

Your upcoming eagle shots in Sitka are making joyce a little envious.

 

I think I noticed a picture of you in one of your albums with what looks like a Nikon Nikkor AFS 70-200mm f/2.8 ED VR II lense. Just curious if that is what lense you use? I am going guess that one gets great quality photos if one can afford the professional end of Nikon products. If you say yes to that question I may have to keep my job for a few more year to afford them....lol

[nobbync]

Nobby.

Joyce is shooting image quality--Fine and image size-- Medium to Large. Jocye tends to EV to the negative side. The shots tend to come out better underexposed. Seems the metering on the camera tends to overexpose on some shots. I am guessing you did that on the shot of the glacier ice....which I thought was an outstanding shot!

 

Shooting action shots takes some practice and Joyce is still trying to get better on actions shots. We just did not get that many good opportunities to shot eagles like you did on our Alaska cruise. We chased a bunch around Homer AK but not with much success, too far away.

 

Your upcoming eagle shots in Sitka are making joyce a little envious.

 

I think I noticed a picture of you in one of your albums with what looks like a Nikon Nikkor AFS 70-200mm f/2.8 ED VR II lense. Just curious if that is what lense you use? I am going guess that one gets great quality photos if one can afford the professional end of Nikon products. If you say yes to that question I may have to keep my job for a few more year to afford them....lol

 

Hi Rick,

 

Joyce already learned correctly to use negative EV as I do that a lot to get the darker colors and details. i just like it better that way.

 

I do not have the 70-200 2.8 lens but I have used it and it is a great lens. My main longer lens is the Sigma 120-300 f2.8. Very good lens but not as sharp as a none zoom but very good for this kind of shooting. I also have the Nikkor 300 f4 which is very sharp. I have a lot of fixed lens Nikkor lenses as well and I also use a Sigma 18-50 f2.8 as a travel lens.

 

I am working on my FISHES shots now and will post my next update soon. If you and Joyce want to chat more on photography feel free to email anytime. You can use my user ID here and send to the yahoo.com email.

 

Cheers!

Nobby

[nobbync]

TRACY ARM BY CRUISE SHIP PART 2

 

One thing I forgot on our Tracy Arm day on the ship was we all got out back quite a few hours before going into Tracy Arm. There were lots of whales here to see as I think we saw about 20 whales with a couple fairly close to the ship.

 

ICY STRAIGHT POINT

 

Woke up early to see us coming into Icy Straight Point. It was also cloudy and overcast and some fog. We were booked with F.I.S.H.E.S. for both their morning and afternoon whale watching tour. The boat carries 6 people but only 5 can sit inside the boat. One has to sit outside but I did not mind as I wanted to be out there anyway. Here is a shot of me and Floyd taken when we returned from our afternoon trip as the weather got much better.

 

 

The ship anchors outside but we had no issues getting a tender ticket and being on the first tender. We just went down about 30 minutes before the time and only a few of us were there. Glen also was getting off early so we sat with them. Also met George and Robbie who were on our morning tour as well. As we got to shore we walked outside the Icy Straight complex and Marjorie was waiting outside the gate for us just as she said she would. The drive into Hoonah was short but the ramp going down to the boat was very steep and long. With the tide swings they have up here if you are on a tour like this hope you will be able to make the walk down or up. We met Floyd at the boat and loaded up. He has a big tub on the back that closes tight so if you have any bags you can put it in there. Not long after getting in our seats we were off to look for whales. As we slowly left the harbor there were many eagles lining the breakwater walls and weather was cloudy but not raining. As we picked up speed we started to see lots of fog the way we were heading. We sped by the beautiful scenery and beaches that we could see when Floyd slowed down some. We drifted in towards the beach where a brown bear was walking the beach.

 

 

We hung around there for 10 minutes or so as the bear would lie down and rest and then he saw something and walked fast after it. Next we saw a feeding frenzy of eagles just diving on and catching fish. Unfortunately the light was not good with the fog so I did not get any great pictures but it was really special to just watch. Great start to the tour but we were heading into deep fog. When we got to Point Adolphus where the whales are it was really thick. We could hear whales sometimes but it was hard to see much. So Floyd decided to take us out to sea since the tides were going out anyway the whales would be scattered all over. We got far enough out where the fog was going and two more boats were there. We started to see whale spouts in the distance and we’d move to them when we found a cow and her calf. These were humpback mom and baby and we followed them for quite awhile. We got some fin slapping and just tails but it was fun watching.

 

 

We spent quite awhile out here finding a whale spout and then moving to within range. Just before we were ready to leave mother and baby surfaced right in front of us after a long dive. The baby was playing with a sea lion. I mean this whale and sea lion were 15 feet in front of the boat rolling in circles as they played. So that was a nice treat before we had to head back. On the ride back we saw a few dolphins and porpoise and then Floyd slowed the boat again and we got a eagle swimming! Eagles will swim back to shore if they catch a fish too big to take off. Well, we were expecting him to get a shore with a great big fish and when he came out it was not a very big one. I am sure all his friends were laughing at him and calling him eagle names…

 

We also ran into the Three Amigos, stellers sea lions that came by to say hi.

 

 

We also turned as Floyd saw a sea otter. This sea otter was busy sleeping and as Floyd shut off the engines we drifted right up to him before he realized we were there. He turned his head and a spilt second later he was gone.

 

 

I think we also found a new creature in the fog.. This guy came out of nowhere...

 

 

FISHES part 2 tomorrow...

 

Nobby

[nobbync]

ICY STRAIGHT POINT PART 2 - AFTERNOON FISHES

 

We got back to the doc and since we had about an hour before the next tour we had asked Marjorie by emails if there was anyplace we could eat. She said there wasn’t anything close but offered to bring us lunch when she brings lunch for Floyd. We took her up on her offer as she had homemade blueberry jelly for a PB&J sandwich. It was very nice of her to offer this and as the boat pulled up she was there with the lunch. So we ate lunch with Floyd and had a nice talk with him. We also walked the piers and saw some kids catching fish and very successful at it. They showed us the type fish they caught. I forgot the names of them now but was neat to see. I tried to follow an eagle around to get shots but I did not do very well. By now the next 4 joined us for the afternoon tour. From our CC roll call we had Carol and Ron join us this time and it was a fun trip with them.

 

As we left the pier this eagle greeted us on the jetty as we left Hoonah.

 

 

The afternoon the fog had lifted so it was starting to become a pleasant day. Ride out to Point Adolphus was smooth but this time we pulled into a cove and on the beach were two second year cubs just eating on the beach. Each one looked at us and kept eating.

 

 

We stayed there for about 10 minutes before moving on. This time Floyd said the tide is coming in so all the whales will be around the coast of Point Adolphus and he was right. We had quite a few humback’s around us the entire time. They would go under and another group would come up the other side. We had trouble looking what way they would come up. One of the other boats far off the coast got lucky with some breaching but as Floyd said it is really rare for them to do it more than 2 or 3 times so we stayed put since we had so many around us. We did not get any breaching but we did get a great show of whales all around us and the sun was coming out so we had a fantastic afternoon. Since the skies were clearing up we also got a great view of the entrance to Glacier Bay National Park. It was really a beautiful view with whales all around.

 

 

 

 

 

It was sad when Floyd said it was time to head back. On the way back we saw a few porpoise and humpback’s but nothing much that we stopped for. Floyd drove us back to Icy Straight and another great day of tours was over. We did a little shopping before taking the tender back.

 

Nobby