Review of Golden Princess Cruise to Inside Passage-Alaska, May, 2013

[mimi01]

Thanks for sharing your review and pictures. I just found it yesterday and I couldn't wait to get home from work to read your next post. I leave on this cruise on the 9th so this is getting me through the wait time. It's really entertaining. It looks like you are having pretty good weather. I ran into someone today that just got off of this cruise last week. They had great weather. Can't wait to hear what you have to say next. Thanks again.

Mimi

[lovelearnteach]

Thanks for sharing your review and pictures. I just found it yesterday and I couldn't wait to get home from work to read your next post. I leave on this cruise on the 9th so this is getting me through the wait time. It's really entertaining. It looks like you are having pretty good weather. I ran into someone today that just got off of this cruise last week. They had great weather. Can't wait to hear what you have to say next. Thanks again.

Mimi

Thank-you so much for the support, and telling me what I love to hear. That's exactly why I write these reviews this way, because I enjoyed reading reviews in this style :).

 

We did have really good weather for every port except Ketchikan, where it was rainy and cold in the morning, but even there it did stop raining by the afternoon and warmed up a bit.

[Woobstr112G]

So after it's time to leave Sawyer Glacier, we go to see the naturalist Kathy Slamp. Let me tell you if your lucky enough to get her, the amount of knowledge she has is astonishing. I really liked her style and voice tone also. We go to lunch in the dinning room and I get to gabbin with our tablemates so much that I didn't take any pix of lunch. We arrive in Juneau on time, we have several other ships in port with us today. Our plan is to go to Mendenhall Glacier so when we got off the ship we went to the first stand and we got the $8pp each way shuttle. It was a little confusing on where exactly to go to get on the shuttle, but we managed to stumble onto it :D.

 

Nice pictures. Thanks for taking the time to post.....:):):)

Bob

[RM]

Loving your review! Can't wait for more!

[lovelearnteach]

We get our first glimpse of MG from the bus. We arrive at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center Tongass National Forest, and I have to say everything is very well laid out and marked. There are 2 trails by the visitor center a short one to a Glacier view spot and another to Nugget Falls. We decide to go the short path to the view spot, a very easy and beautiful walk. I just had to stick my hand in Mendenhall Lake, not as cold as I thought it would be :rolleyes::D. Again another awesome experience being so close to a Glacier and the area surrounding it, so beautiful. If your a hiker then this is the place for you. There were lots of trails around the area, with expert advice right there from the park service employee's. We then went to the Visitor's Center which it does cost to get in, but I figured it goes to a good cause. There's not a whole lot to see in the VC, but there are telescopes. Well there was a ranger pointing out a mama mountain goat and it's baby to a lady using a telescope. I had my binoculars and just followed where he said and I saw them to, so that was awesome. Then one of the employee's got on a little raised platform and talked on a head mike. He talked about glaciers and in particular MG. We got to touch a piece of ice from the glacier. Since we don't have a tour today we had the time to take our time which was nice to not feel a time constraint.

[lovelearnteach]

Nice pictures. Thanks for taking the time to post.....:):):)

 

Bob

Thank-you so much for the support :)!

[lovelearnteach]

Loving your review! Can't wait for more!

Thank-you so much for the support :)!

[culvercitycruiser]

We get our first glimpse of MG from the bus. We arrive at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center Tongass National Forest, and I have to say everything is very well laid out and marked. There are 2 trails by the visitor center a short one to a Glacier view spot and another to Nugget Falls. We decide to go the short path to the view spot, a very easy and beautiful walk. I just had to stick my hand in Mendenhall Lake, not as cold as I thought it would be :rolleyes::D. Again another awesome experience being so close to a Glacier and the area surrounding it, so beautiful. If your a hiker then this is the place for you. There were lots of trails around the area, with expert advice right there from the park service employee's. We then went to the Visitor's Center which it does cost to get in, but I figured it goes to a good cause. There's not a whole lot to see in the VC, but there are telescopes. Well there was a ranger pointing out a mama mountain goat and it's baby to a lady using a telescope. I had my binoculars and just followed where he said and I saw them to, so that was awesome. Then one of the employee's got on a little raised platform and talked on a head mike. He talked about glaciers and in particular MG. We got to touch a piece of ice from the glacier. Since we don't have a tour today we had the time to take our time which was nice to not feel a time constraint.

 

I love reading your review and looking at the photos. Is there anyway you can load the photos so that they do not show up as thumbnails? It makes it hard for me to see them larger.

Keep on posting!

[cvpends]

I love your attention to detail, Ken! Thank you so much for all the time you have taken to share your experience with us :)

[lovelearnteach]

I love reading your review and looking at the photos. Is there anyway you can load the photos so that they do not show up as thumbnails? It makes it hard for me to see them larger.

Keep on posting!

Thank-you for the support :)! Gosh I'm sure there is but I'm unsure how, sorry :o. I'll try to play with it next pic posting :eek::D:rolleyes::).

[lovelearnteach]

I love your attention to detail, Ken! Thank you so much for all the time you have taken to share your experience with us :)

Thank-you for the support :)! I love to share, maybe to much :eek::D.

[sassyredhat]

Nice review and great pix. Thanks. :)

Pat

[lovelearnteach]

In retrospect I wish we would have walked to Nugget Falls. We went to the pick-up area and got the next shuttle back to Juneau, which dropped us off right by the famous Red Dog Saloon. The driver was a real hoot, he was from 'Jersey, and had the accent and swagger to go along with it :D. I rode in the front seat next to him so I got the full treatment. This area is where all the shopping is. We didn't go in the RDS, just took pix, it was packed though. Walked around and shopped and got my free stuff :D. It was getting close to 6p.m., so we headed back to the ship to start getting ready for dinner.

[lovelearnteach]

Sorry I tried, I forget how to do it with bigger pix, I'm not very techy :o:rolleyes::D:).

[lovelearnteach]

Nice review and great pix. Thanks. :)

 

Pat

Thank-you so much for the support :)!

[lovelearnteach]

To start off dinner I got Provencale-Style King Crab Legs, ate 'em so fast didn't get a pic, so yeah they were very good :D. Then I got Seasonal Field Greens with Shredded Carrots and Cherry Tomatoes with Ranch Dressing, very good. For my main course I got the Surf and Turf, very yummy! To finish I got the Apple And Walnut Spring Rolls, not my favorite, but not bad.

[lovelearnteach]

This is the first night, of the rest, that our Head Waiter does magic tricks for us. He is quite good and this is such an unexpected bonus. So if you get Elvin Ching for your HW, ask him to do some magic. Well I could barely keep my eyes open during dinner, so it was straight to bed for me. We have Skagway tomorrow, we have the early train, so we have to be out early. We had the most awesome day today, not one but two Glaciers, incredible! I can't believe all we're getting for the ridiculously low price we got this cruise for. Even though I'm a tropical guy, I'm loving every minute of our Alaskan Vacation. Juneau another wonderful city full of things to see and do and a gateway to an endless list of activities and adventures.

[southpawsdakota]

Thank you for doing this review, it is really good. 8 of our family will be on the Golden in Sept, 3rd time for Alaska for DH and myself. New for all our adult "kids".

[lovelearnteach]

Thur, May 16th, today we are in Skagway, Alaska. We have to be on the train at 8a.m. so we got up early and were the first in line waiting for the dinning room to open at 7a.m. Sorry no pic of the menu I just got my usual of poached eggs on wheat toast, bacon and hash browns, all well as some seasonal melon to start, all very good. We got on the train at 7:45a.m. and it finally took off at 8:20a.m. Of course there were stragglers :mad:, we booked the White Pass and Yukon Route Train Ride through Princess. You can save a few bucks and book it there, but you have to walk into town and wait for one scheduled to stop there. We got to get on right outside the ship, and we did not stop to pick-up anyone in town. Everyone says this is a must do if you've never done it, and I have to say I ........................................................................................................... agree :rolleyes::p:D. Post card views, you can go outside on the balconies and take pix the whole time. They provide bottle water also, which is nice being a 3-hour long tour. We did the cheapest one that just went to the Canadian-American border and turned around and came back.

[lovelearnteach]

Thank you for doing this review, it is really good. 8 of our family will be on the Golden in Sept, 3rd time for Alaska for DH and myself. New for all our adult "kids".

Thank-you for the support, enjoy your family cruise :)!

[lovelearnteach]

A few more White pass pix, :).

[lovelearnteach]

We saw 2 wolverines, most likely a mother and it's older offspring. We turned around and headed back with the option of getting off in town or going back to the ship, we went downtown. This is where we had our first negative experience in Alaska. We start off walking around shopping and getting my free stuff, looking for a place to have lunch also. We can't seem to agree on what/where to eat. We pass the famous Red Onion, where there is a 20 min. wait, keep looking. We pass a BBQ place, no Terry doesn't want that. He wants pizza, uuuggg are you kidding me. We pass a pizza place that sells by the slice and Terry gets a slice and says it is good. We come to the end of town basically and the last restaurant is Skagway Brewing Company. Fine he says let's eat here, we get a table right away. I get a beer, it is a blonde ale made with spruce tips. It was picked by a top beer magazine, picking a beer to represent each state, as the beer to best represent Alaska. I'm not a big beer drinker, but wanted to at least try a local brew. It was good and even better after a long week so far with all the walking. When we ordered Terry wanted the kid's meal portion of the chicken strips, as he had already had a slice of pizza. The waitress completely transformed and started to act as if my uncle was trying to commit the crime of the century. No way absolutely not she said, you have to order the adult portion. We should have gotten up and left right then but it took me a minute to process how she just talked to us. So next time I saw her I motioned for her to come over. We then had a back and forth "conversation" on customer service which ended with I could talk to the manger, who never came to our table. Again we should have gotten up and left, but I figured karma would do it's job, thankfully the food was awesome. I got the salmon sandwich with a horseradish/dill sauce that was killer! I only tipped 8% of the bill and we left. I would never go back, but not much of a threat as I may never be back to Skagway period :D.

[dforeigner]

Awesome review, thank you!

[lovelearnteach]

After lunch we walk the town and shop some more, then head back to the ship, which is quite a walk, not the worst, but a good long walk nonetheless. There are different ships painted on the rock wall by the port area, so I snapped a pic of the Carnival Tropicale. We go sit by the International Cafe and have a couple of Coke's, I get a couple of sweet goodies and we just people watch for awhile. It feels good to just sit and relax for awhile, thank goodness tomorrow is a sea day. We eventually head back to the cabin and chillax and lazily get ready for dinner.

[lovelearnteach]

Awesome review, thank you!

Thank-you for the support :)!