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

[AryMay]

Goodbye to Juneau!

 

 

In looking through the Princess Patter, there were things we probably would have attended if we hadn’t had such a long day. I was sorry to miss these…but you can only cram so much into a day. Here is what caught my eye in the schedule: Iditarod champion, Libby Riddles spoke in the Princess Theater at 4:30 pm. Her talk was replayed on the cabin TV later, but we were just too tired.

 

The production show “On the Bayou” was in the Universe Lounge at 7:45 pm and again at 9:45 pm. We weren't done with dinner in time to make the first showing…and too tired to go to the second. I've read it is a good show and I wish we could have seen it. It did surprise me that this wasn't the entertainment on the second formal night.

 

Our activity was the usual…sitting on the balcony. The beautiful waterfall cascading down the mountain was entertainment enough for us!

 

 

Thanks to the naturalist’s recommendation, we knew that there was the possibility that we would see whales as we sailed out of Juneau…and we did.

 

 

Around 11 pm Bob decided it was time to call it a night…but just had to have one more look from the balcony.

 

 

Laurel was also seeing the last views of the day but was dressed a little more appropriately. (This photo is one of those crazy memories that will always stick with me from the cruise!)

 

 

Still light…and so beautiful…at 11 pm at night!

 

 

Next up...Skagway & driving the Yukon highway.

[AryMay]

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?

 

I was just getting ready to post the car rental cost when I saw your question! If you missed it above...the rental car in Juneau was $63.26 for the day...all taxes and fees included.

 

In Juneau the gas was $3.94/gallon and we used $12 worth for the day.

 

We also rented a car from Avis in Skagway. The price of that car was $125.35 total and gas was $4.73/gallon. It cost $29 to fill up the car after we drove to Emerald Lake.

 

At the end of the cruise we rented the third car of the trip from Budget at the Anchorage airport. Stay tuned for more information on that...you might be surprised!!

[brookeinmn]

Really enjoying your review!

[VermeulT]

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

Maybe so, but looks like you made the best of it, and it certainly created some interesting pictures.

 

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.

Wow... does it ever!!

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.

This made me LOL.

[Eileen G]

I am really enjoying your review. I had to laugh at your not being able to put the car windows down. We had rented a PT Cruiser in Skagway with 150,000 miles on it also. It took us forever to find the window control. It is on the dashboard:).

[AryMay]

I am really enjoying your review. I had to laugh at your not being able to put the car windows down. We had rented a PT Cruiser in Skagway with 150,000 miles on it also. It took us forever to find the window control. It is on the dashboard:).

 

Oh my gosh...this is so funny!

 

We just couldn't imagine that the windows didn't open...but yet the FOUR of us couldn't figure it out! :rolleyes:

 

[themerle]

AryMay, this is a wonderful review. I love going to Alaska! I never will get tired of Alaska. We have gone 4 times now and we know that we will go several more times. We love the wildlife and scenery. I love all of your photos too! I'll be sure to check back in for more of your review. Thanks so much for sharing!

[Cruise_More_Often]

I am really enjoying your review. I had to laugh at your not being able to put the car windows down. We had rented a PT Cruiser in Skagway with 150,000 miles on it also. It took us forever to find the window control. It is on the dashboard:).

You have made a great Public Service Announcement! Anyone reading this thread will now know where to look in the PT Cruiser if we want the windows down.

[AryMay]

Wednesday, June 4 – Skagway

 

Another long port day (7 am to 8:30 pm). Laurel had reserved a rental car for the day from Avis several months prior to the cruise. The two of us had searched for discount codes and special deals, but there just didn't seem to be any for Skagway. I even have a friend that works for Avis and thought maybe she could get us some type of reduced price…but no luck. It was understandable since the business is really only operating a few months out of the year. Cost for the car was $125.36…double what we spent the previous day in Juneau.

 

The Coral Princess was docked at the railroad docks. And as we walked off the ship…the train was waiting to carry passengers up to the Yukon…our destination for the day as well.

 

 

 

 

Getting to the Avis office was a little further walk than we had planned…15 minutes maybe? The office hadn't opened yet when we arrived around 7:50 am, but a line was already forming. The Avis office is located in a motel and Laurel and I found a bench to sit on outside while we waited for Bob and Kent to get the paperwork done.

 

 

It was after 8:30 when they finally came out with the keys to our car located in a small lot across the street. The four of us searched the lot for the Toyota Corolla…but none matched the description or license plate number that Kent was given. Pushing the panic button on the key was no help either…not a sound from any of the cars. An Avis employee walked by (he was getting a car seat for another customer) and I’m pretty sure he thought we were all idiots because we couldn't find our car in such a small lot…but then neither could he. The guys headed back into the office while Laurel and I were watching our precious minutes tick by.

 

Apparently there was a mix up (on their part) and our car was at the Avis facility at the airport. This could have been a disastrous end to our plans…BUT…there was one car left that hadn't been rented. Lucky us…instead of spending the day in a cramped Corolla…we got an SUV for the same price. So much more comfortable for the four of us!

 

I don’t even remember where, but I had found a 2010 version of Murray’s Guide that I had downloaded onto my iPad for free months before I even knew we were going to rent a car. I had planned to pay to download the most current version before we left. The week before our cruise, I went to the website for Murray’s Guide and saw that there was a short 2014 FREE version being offered.

 

Here is the description from the website:

 

As of May 14, 2014, there is a FREE version of the guide, An Explorer's Guide to the South Klondike Highway. Although much shorter than the paid version, it's still more complete and much more current than the other 2 guides to that highway worth noting, Bell's and the one published by the Skagway News.

 

Kent noted the mileage on the odometer as we left town and I started my mile by mile commentary. I ended up using just the shorter guide…the full version was a little too much reading. It was nice to have a description of what we were seeing however.

 

After the rainy day in Juneau, we were lucky to have sunshine and bright blue skies all day. The traffic was fairly heavy for the first hour or so out of Skagway…but then thinned out.

 

 

The William Moore Bridge is a suspension bridge that is only anchored on the downhill side so that it can move freely during earthquakes. It crosses a gorge that is only 110 feet wide, but 180 feet deep! Captain Moore was a famous steamboat captain and the first settler in Skagway.

 

 

Little did we know at the time we were crossing this bridge that a 5.8 magnitude earthquake had just hit a few hours earlier! The ranger that boarded the ship the next day in Glacier Bay announced that the epicenter of the quake was located just a few miles from the Coral Princess. The captain said the quake had shook the Coral enough that he became concerned that there was some type of problem with the ship. Bob and I vaguely remembered waking about the time of the quake, but whether it was the because of that…who knows.

 

Alaska has earthquakes everyday…but this one was sizable enough to be mentioned in local news reports. Folks in Whitehorse (over 200 miles away) reported that they were awakened by the quake!

[donaldsc]

 

So...should I continue? Anyone interested? Be honest!!

 

Here is one photo from our Glacier Bay day. Let me know if you want more!! :)

 

You asked so I will be honest. I find that most of the pictures that people post on CC are pretty awful - badly exposed, badly composed, and who cares what the people who are going on the cruise look like, what the room they stayed in before the cruise looked like, the meals they ate at the precruise city.

 

I looked at the first few pictures you posted and I do have to admit that your pictures are well exposed. However, I am not really interested in pictures of airplanes, railroad ticket sellers, empty waiting areas, etc.

 

To be sure that I was being fair, I did look at some of the pictures on pages 6 and 7 and although there were many that I would have deleted or not posted, you do have some good ones there.

 

I normally would not make comments on this as I have gotten in trouble with CC for some of my comments but you asked.

 

DON

Edited June 23, 2014 by donaldsc

[fishin' musician]

Sheesh, ignore the heckler and keep 'em coming! Your pics seem to be very well received to all but an ardent cork sniffer.

[shanb]

*eye roll* so much effort just to be miserable!

 

Loving the review and pictures! Please keep em coming!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[mapleleaves]

Sheesh' date=' ignore the heckler and keep 'em coming! Your pics seem to be very well received to all but an ardent cork sniffer.[/quote']

 

ya, no kidding!

I mean I understand don's comment to a point ... I don't enjoy blogs with endless photos of each appetizer, main course, dessert, glass of beer and the towel animals every night. But THESE photos are of scenery, wildlife, and sights we've all seen and enjoyed during our trips to Alaska, so it's fun to see them again. And for those who haven't gone yet .. they have something to look forward to.

Keep it coming!

[AryMay]

I looked at the first few pictures you posted and I do have to admit that your pictures are well exposed. However, I am not really interested in pictures of airplanes, railroad ticket sellers, empty waiting areas, etc.

 

To be sure that I was being fair, I did look at some of the pictures on pages 6 and 7 and although there were many that I would have deleted or not posted, you do have some good ones there.

 

I will apologize that the original photo I posted has disappeared...my fault and I can't fix it now. :(

 

And as for the comments above...I will choose to take them as a compliment and continue the review. ;) I am trying to write the type of review that I enjoy reading...one that includes a lot of photos. Hopefully there are those that will enjoy this review and even better...get some information that will help them plan a future cruise.

 

Continuing on with our day in Skagway...

[goblue]

Please continue - I enjoy your posting very much and it brought back so much fond memory I had from my last Alaska cruise (on Coral). It also gave me lots idea what to do this round when I go back in September.

 

Thank you.

[1153rsmith]

AryMay, I am really enjoying your review very much. I am using it as research for our trip Southbound in September. Thanks to you, we are planning on renting a van in Skagway. I think we may go up to Emerald Lake. There will be 8 of us, and I can rent a vehicle a lot cheaper than we can do an excursion.

 

I certainly hope we see at least as much wildlife as you have.

 

Keep it coming.

[AryMay]

Continuing on our drive up the Yukon highway...

 

It is hard for me to come up with just the right adjectives to describe the snow covered mountains that we saw. Laurel decided these looked like they were covered with powdered sugar!

 

 

Bob is a mountain climber and when he saw the following mountain (the one on the right), he spotted what he thought was a climber's trail. (How he can see stuff like that is beyond me!)

 

 

Can you see the zigzag trail on this zoomed in photo?

 

 

At one pullout we encountered a tour bus full of teenagers having a snow ball fight...they were having a great time!

 

 

Murray's Guide came in handy to find pullouts with a bathroom...actually an outhouse...but it was clean and stocked with TP! It looks sort of funny that we parked so far away, but there was a tour bus in front of us when we pulled in.

 

 

This bear made it convenient for us to get photographs...he was eating dandelions at one of the larger pullouts.

 

[AryMay]

I love this photo...the lake was like a mirror.

 

 

Every direction you looked the views were breathtaking!

 

 

 

 

 

The Sawtooth Mountains...

 

 

Early June and there was still a bit of ice on this lake.

 

[AryMay]

A stop for lunch...and a little rock throwing.

 

 

 

 

Bove Island

 

 

Just a little distance past Carcross was Emerald Lake...our turn-around point.

 

 

[AryMay]

As we started the trip back to Skagway, we stopped at the Carcross Desert...

 

 

 

 

...and then pulled into the small town of Carcross.

 

 

 

[AryMay]

We browsed through the visitor's center and then went over to the general store.

 

 

 

It felt like we had stepped back in time!

 

 

There was the most delicious aroma coming from the other side of the store...which turned out to be freshly made waffle cones. We couldn't resist. They had the most interesting flavors of ice cream...one of Bob's scoops was "zebra"...a combination of orange and licorice.

 

 

Some photos I took while sitting in front of the general store eating my ice cream.

 

 

[AryMay]

A couple of different times we saw little tiny white dots on a mountain...

 

 

...that with binculars turned out to be mountain goats.

 

 

These poles alongside the highway serve as guides for snowplows in the winter.

 

 

I think biking in Stanley Park is more my style.

 

 

We passed by one of the railroad bridges and also the train as we neared Skagway.

 

 

[AryMay]

Just outside the city limits of Skagway is the Goldrush Cemetary. Many of the tombstones are not original...but there are a few that date back that time period.

 

 

A path leading up the hill from the cemetery will take you to Reid Falls. With four cruise ships in port, it was a pleasant surprise to be the only ones around.

 

 

 

Back in Skagway I was on a mission. I had found a photo of Skagway taken in 1916 and was just curious to see how much things had changed in 98 years.

 

 

I thought it would be interesting to try and take a similar photo and compare...and was surprised at how much they looked alike!

 

 

 

Edited June 24, 2014 by AryMay

[1153rsmith]

AryMay, first off WOW! If you were using your SX50, it takes great pictures. I may have to rethink my next camera purchase.

 

I do have a couple questions though:

 

1] Do you remember where you were when you got the mountain reflecting in the lake? I have got to take that shot!

 

2] I can't find Emerald Lake on the maps I have. How far past Carcross is the lake, either in time or miles?

 

I know we may not see quite as much snow in September when we go, but I definitely am glad I have reserved a rental car now. Was your round trip 5-6 hours?

 

3] On the way out of Skagway, did you pass some grocery stores or somewhere we might be able to get something to have a picnic with?

 

You have my wife and me SO excited to do our trip. Thank you!

[Jasperdo]

I thought it would be interesting to try and take a similar photo and compare...and was surprised at how much they looked alike!

That was an excellent Then & Now shot you took in Skagway. Taking Then & Now views is sort of a hobby for me. Before our cruise to Alaska a few years ago, I found some historic photos of Skagway. During our day there I went around and took current photos from approx. the same locations. I hope you don't mind if I post a link to it here. I thought you might be interesting in it:

 

I am thoroughly enjoying your review. Your photo and narration are outstanding.