Alaska Photojournal – Coral Princess + DIY Land Tour May 28 – June 9, 2014

[AryMay]

On the second attempt Mr. Big Guy actually did make it up onto the buoy...by knocking off the smaller guy.

 

 

His victory was short-lived however...

 

 

But look who is coming now!

 

 

No problem with him finding a spot!

 

 

 

Just another day hanging out together at the buoy in the bay! (And look who made it back up again!!)

 

 

[reney313]

OMGosh! I love the pictures of the Sea Lion with the fish, and the bird taking it and I think he was saying "give me back my fish". He worked for that! And then the fight on the buoy. The little one was saying "you're too big, you'll just fall off like you always do". haha. It's a tough life being a sea lion! What great interactions you experienced and captured on film!

[DavidsNana]

Loving your review and spectacular pictures. It has been a very long time since we did a cruise to Alaska. Thinking of another one and your pictures are making me want to go even more. Thanks. Barbara

[bagluvr]

I love those sea lion pictures and your commentary. What a great experience that must of been! :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

Wonderful and great pictures.

[AryMay]

Very nice. Were the pools heated and/or enclosed? My teenagers will want to swim, and I love the hot tub.

 

Does Princess have an adult only pool area?

 

There are two pools on the Lido deck...one is outdoors and the other is covered. Kent swam for a short time in the covered pool and said it was slightly warm. For a teenager it might be fine! ;)

 

There is no adult-only pool on the Coral like on the Terrace Pools of the larger Princess ships.

 

Since this cruise was all about the "outside" I didn't feel like I really got to know what the inside of the ship was like!

[Grammyluvs]

Can’t wait for the next review. Brings back so many memories. We did a cruise tour then cruised south and then we spent one summer in our RV going up thru Canada, the Yukon and Alaska. I could go back tomorrow. My favorite place on the planet.

[AryMay]

Can’t wait for the next review. Brings back so many memories. We did a cruise tour then cruised south and then we spent one summer in our RV going up thru Canada, the Yukon and Alaska. I could go back tomorrow. My favorite place on the planet.

 

Thanks for reading! I spent hours today going through my photos from our Kenai Fjords cruise out of Seward...I had 800 from there alone...and they are some of the best from the whole trip! Laurel is also getting hers sorted out so I will have even more to choose from when I continue posting! I may even have to go back and slip in one or two from stuff I've already covered.

 

I promise I will be get back to the review soon. Coming up will be the rest of our day in Juneau! :)

[RNGALNG]

I keep going from Facebook to Cruise Critic and get so upset when I can't hit the 'like' button!!!

 

I have two Facebook friends who just got of their cruise to Alaska on Disney. They took over 3000 photos as well! Are you finding, as I did upon our return, that the photos are good, but just don't do justice to what your eyes see when up there? You just don't get the 3D effect or what ever, but man. . .

 

I am loving your photos and report. We too are bike riders and plan on doing one bike excursion on our trip later this summer.

 

Can't wait to see the photos once sorted. . .

[CallieS]

Still loving your review. Your pictures are amazing! Are you sure you're not a professional photographer in disguise? ;):D. We took thousands of pictures, but I haven't had the energy to start going through them yet. It requires a lot of stamina :o

 

I'm glad you mentioned the muster drill. Wasn't that the strangest thing? The patter said it was at 3:45pm, but there were no announcements at all. At 3:50, my husband said, "Uh, it's 3:50, should we go down there?" Some passengers were already there, but it took a long time for everyone to show up. I've never had a muster drill before without a ship-wide announcement. :confused:

 

Regarding Ketchikan and Creek Street. We walked over to Creek Street pretty early in the morning. It was so peaceful and beautiful. Then we went back a few hours later. :eek: it was SO crowded. Definitely not the same vibe. If you don't have early morning excursions, it's probably best to head straight over to Creek Street to avoid the crowds. :)

[AryMay]

Still loving your review. Your pictures are amazing! Are you sure you're not a professional photographer in disguise? ;):D. We took thousands of pictures, but I haven't had the energy to start going through them yet. It requires a lot of stamina :o

 

I'm glad you mentioned the muster drill. Wasn't that the strangest thing? The patter said it was at 3:45pm, but there were no announcements at all. At 3:50, my husband said, "Uh, it's 3:50, should we go down there?" Some passengers were already there, but it took a long time for everyone to show up. I've never had a muster drill before without a ship-wide announcement. :confused:

 

Regarding Ketchikan and Creek Street. We walked over to Creek Street pretty early in the morning. It was so peaceful and beautiful. Then we went back a few hours later. :eek: it was SO crowded. Definitely not the same vibe. If you don't have early morning excursions, it's probably best to head straight over to Creek Street to avoid the crowds. :)

 

Your comment about Creek Street is exactly why two people can have such a different opinion about places! The crowds, the weather, etc. can all play such a huge factor in how you perceive someplace. I hope people remember that when reading different cruise reviews. It would be a shame to miss something just because you read one poor review.

 

I have been working on our photos from the Kenai Fjords cruise in Seward and to me that has got to be one of the most amazing places on earth!!! But...if you did the same tour on a windy, rainy day and ended up sea sick...then I'm sure you would come away with a totally different perspective.

 

Callie...I will encourage you again to jump in if you can answer any of the questions that you see on this report. I have never come home from a cruise and felt like I missed so much ON the ship. I needed another week!

 

Get going on those photos...sorting through mine is how I keep from getting "post-cruise depression"! Any chance you will be posting a review or pictures?

 

Also...did you make it to the Meet & Greet? Although I posted a bit on the roll call I just never felt connected to the group. Hopefully there was a decent turnout.

[AryMay]

After a great morning of whale watching...it was time to move on to the rest of our long day! Thanks to all of you who are still reading. It is so encouraging to me to read all of your comments!

 

Juneau – Part 2

 

While we were out spotting whales that morning, Kent and Laurel were on a glacier helicopter tour. I won’t go into detail, but it was a disappointment to them. Most of the helicopter tours were cancelled that day due to the lousy weather and low cloud ceiling…but not theirs. Because of these conditions the tour did not meet their expectations. I know some people would consider it a plus that the tour was not cancelled, but Kent and Laurel would have rather had the price of the tour refunded instead of having a very expensive tour that was not all that great.

 

One good thing however…after their tour they were able to get dropped off at the Juneau Car Rental facility rather than going back to the ship. Because of where our ship was docked it would have been quite a hike if they would have had to walk all the way. Laurel had checked on renting a car for the afternoon from both Avis and Juneau Car Rental. Avis warned her that they may “run out” of cars by the time she wanted to pick it up so she went with Juneau Car Rental instead (formerly Rent a Wreck.) The price was cheaper there as well. Their facility was in a very industrial part of the port…going in the opposite direction from town.

 

As part of our whale watching tour, Harv and Marv’s included a short stop at the Mendenhall Glacier visitor’s center which is where we planned to meet up with Kent and Laurel. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Just as our shuttle pulled into the parking lot, Kent and Laurel were pulling in. It was easy to spot them in the red PT cruiser!

 

The car had almost 150,000 miles on it, but was clean and served us well. The one strange thing…there was no way to open the windows!! No automatic switch…no handles…nothing. With the cooler temps we didn’t even realize this until evening when we spotted some bears (photos coming!!) and tried to take a photo through the window!

 

 

The fee was $3 each to get into the visitor’s center. Laurel had a national park pass that would have gotten us all in for free…but she forgot it back at the ship. The visitor’s center had a lot of details about glaciers and also huge windows to view Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Falls…without being outside in the rain.

 

 

 

But since we didn’t go all the way to Alaska just to stay dry we left the visitor’s center and hiked the trail that goes right to the base of Nugget Falls. The trail is 2 miles round trip and is fairly steep in places.

 

 

 

[CallieS]

Your comment about Creek Street is exactly why two people can have such a different opinion about places! The crowds, the weather, etc. can all play such a huge factor in how you perceive someplace. I hope people remember that when reading different cruise reviews. It would be a shame to miss something just because you read one poor review.

 

I have been working on our photos from the Kenai Fjords cruise in Seward and to me that has got to be one of the most amazing places on earth!!! But...if you did the same tour on a windy, rainy day and ended up sea sick...then I'm sure you would come away with a totally different perspective.

 

Callie...I will encourage you again to jump in if you can answer any of the questions that you see on this report. I have never come home from a cruise and felt like I missed so much ON the ship. I needed another week!

 

Get going on those photos...sorting through mine is how I keep from getting "post-cruise depression"! Any chance you will be posting a review or pictures?

 

Also...did you make it to the Meet & Greet? Although I posted a bit on the roll call I just never felt connected to the group. Hopefully there was a decent turnout.

 

LOL - I think Alaska cruises are all about being outside. We went to one comedian show, and that was it. We, too, didn't spend much time hanging around the ship. We were either on our balcony or deck 7 promenade mostly.

 

Okay, you've inspired me to start going through pictures tonight! Funny enough, I thought about doing a review, then saw yours. You're really doing a great job conveying the feel of the week. I think I'll just keep adding extra comments to your review. And maybe a picture or two if I can figure out how to upload. :)

 

I didn't make it to the meet and greet. I saw the roll call a long time ago but never posted.

[AryMay]

There is a sandbar at the base of the falls and we hung out there for awhile taking photos of the glacier, the falls, and all of the giant blue icebergs floating in the lake. (It is hard to grasp the scale of these icebergs from a photo.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AryMay]

Both Laurel and I had our underwater cameras along so we didn't have to worry about getting them wet in the rain.

 

 

 

 

I don't think the day could have been any more gloomy and gray.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mapleleaves]

Your thread is getting lots of views so it's definitely successful ! :)

 

Thanks for providing so many details ... they will be very helpful to people who are planning for this year and next.

[Tyskie]

Oh my, your review is getting better and better with each post!!! Love your spirit of adventure - making the most of the weather:)

 

Sent from my XT907 using Forums mobile app

[AryMay]

By the time we walked the mile back to the visitor’s center, Laurel and I felt like we had done enough hiking. The guys still wanted to do more. While Laurel and I relaxed in the warm, dry car…they headed off down the Trail of Time…about a half mile loop. When they got back the first thing they said was “we saw a bear!” And of course...we figured they were lying! But…they had proof. Neither of the guys do much photography, but Kent did have his cell phone and took some photos and a video.

 

The bear was up in the top of a tree, chewing off branches. They would not have seen him except they heard and saw the branches falling. They stood and watched him for some time and even saw him stick out his behind and pee from the top of the tree! I won’t post the photos because the bear doesn't show up well among the leaves...you will just have to take my word for it!

 

Laurel and I were excited and wanted to see the bear. The guys were willing to go back and assured us that the bear was right near the start of the trail…which we found out wasn't true. But...we had been resting so we did the whole trail. A nice hike...but no sign of the bear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 21, 2014 by AryMay

[AryMay]

I now have some of Laurel's photos so before moving on, I will post a few of hers. The kayakers in the picture help to give you a sense of scale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AryMay]

When we left Mendenhall, we drove back in the direction of the marina where we had been that morning. When we were there earlier there had been several eagles…including some young. We checked, but they were gone so we kept on driving.

 

We pulled in at the Shrine of St. Therese. Near the highway is the retreat area that includes a lodge and cabins. We walked from there out to the wooded area on a point where the church is located.

 

There were only a few people at the shrine and they pointed out some whales that they had been watching close to shore.

 

 

They left shortly and it was just the four of us left to enjoy the peaceful and serene setting of the shrine.

 

 

 

Walking back to the car we saw a couple of seals playing in the water…and for the second time that day I got a photo of a seal with a fish in its mouth!

 

 

 

Leaving the shrine we started heading back towards Juneau. You can’t really get lost…or go too far when you rent a car in Juneau. The roads don’t go anywhere and they have signs to prove it! I think it is strange that they chose Juneau to be the capital of Alaska when it is only accessible by boat or by plane!

 

[CallieS]

We booked a whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier excursion through Princess. It was good, however, they only gave a little over an hour at Mendenhall. The hike to the waterfall was advertised to take 45 minutes. That was way too close for us, so we didn't attempt to get to the waterfall. We did walk down some paths and onto the shoreline to get good views of the glacier, but wish we had more time for the hike. I'm not sure if that's the way the excursion is always timed or what. The whale watch was the first part of our excursion. We did spend a lot of time on the whale watch because the whales were lunge feeding which is super impressive, and I'm glad we stayed to watch that.

 

Even though it was a gloomy day, our tour bus driver said the glacier ice looks more blue during cloudy days so it was actually a good thing it was cloudy. He said it's not as impressive in the sun. Who knows if he was just trying to make us feel better or what, but the ice was definitely blue and gorgeous.

[AryMay]

Laurel had printed off info she had found online about Juneau and had read that a short walk down a gravel road would lead to a spot where you could view the Herbert Glacier. I’m pretty sure we had the correct road, but we walked quite a long way and never saw the glacier. (The road was blocked off so we couldn't drive down.)

 

 

The road went alongside a milky-white river which I assume was due to glacial runoff.

 

 

As we were headed back to Juneau we saw a couple of cars pulled over on the side of the road…and sure enough…there were bears! This is when we made the discovery that the car windows wouldn’t go down. LOL! We got out and thanks to the good zoom on the camera we got some photos without putting our life in too much danger.

 

The mother and her two cubs were happily munching on dandelions.

 

 

Like most kids, the curious and rebellious cubs wandered away from mom...and into the road.

 

 

I could almost feel mom’s embarrassment when little Teddy stopped and pooped right in the middle or the road…in front of everyone!!

 

 

I'm sure mom must have been thinking..."if you don't know how to act in public then I'm just taking you home." And she did.

 

Edited June 21, 2014 by AryMay

[Cruise_More_Often]

Ary May, yours has been one of my favorite reviews ever, and your photos make me so glad I have a Canon SX50. :D I don't think I'm nearly as good a photographer though. Thank you so much for taking the time to do such a thorough review of your trip and for including so many wonderful photos. They make me feel like I'm in Alaska again, and really make me anticipate my trip next year.

[marshmellow8619]

My mom and I are going on the Coral to Alaska in August and are loving your posts!

 

We were just wondering what the price was of the rental car in Juneau and how much gas was in Alaska when you went?

[AryMay]

It was getting late enough that we knew we needed to head back and return the car. All aboard time was 8:30 pm which made for a nice long day in Juneau. We drove through the city…which is incredibly small for being the state capital! We decided the capital building itself was not very impressive and looked more like a public library! (Sorry…don’t mean to offend any of you who are Alaskans!)

 

 

We drove by the Russian Orthodox church and then took a walk down main street with a quick stop to peek into the Red Onion Saloon.

 

 

 

 

Initially we had planned to take the tram up Mt. Roberts, but with the dreary weather we were afraid there wouldn't have been much of a view.

 

 

The guys dropped us off at the ship and then went to return the rental car. Bob’s description of the place was it “looked like a parking lot with a tiny garden shed for the office. “ Regardless…we had a car for the day at a pretty good price. Total with taxes and fees added was $63.26. Split two ways, it was cheaper for us than if we had taken the shuttle busses to the glacier…and gave us the flexibility to explore the areas around Juneau. The guy working at Juneau Rental Car gave the Bob and Kent a ride back to the ship.

 

After a long day, the buffet sounded like a quicker…and better option for dinner. Bob was particularly excited over this choice when he realized that the theme was Mongolian BBQ…his absolute favorite! You were able to fill a bowl with the raw ingredients and then hand it over to the crew who would stir fry it all while you waited. Bob had THREE platefuls!