Review - a month in Alaska with a B2B on Celebrity Millennium

[BrusselsGirl07]

We flew back a different way over the glaciers and the views were so incredible. It is something that everyone should experience if they can. We really loved this adventure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BrusselsGirl07]

This looks like a huge boot print in the snow!

 

 

A glacier research station:

 

 

Mountain goats dotted on the hillside:

 

 

 

This was such a fantastic excursion. We just loved our first helicopter ride, and the scenery was spectacular!

[BrusselsGirl07]

Can you let me know if you think the photos are too big? Thanks, Yvette

[Barwick Cruiser]

Can you let me know if you think the photos are too big? Thanks, Yvette

 

Def not...at least for me...I'm really loving the photos and the details are so much better in a larger pic!! Keep up the good work, I'm so excited for our trip next September!

Cathy

[BrusselsGirl07]

Thanks Cathy - on with the story!

[BrusselsGirl07]

As Bill and I had to go out to the Juneau airport for our next excursion, we asked our driver if she could drop us out there. She readily agreed, and it ended up being quite a way out of her normal route, so we thanked her and gave her a big tip. At the airport we had some spare time, so we went to a cafe where they had Alaskan beer on tap, so Bill was happy. I ordered a coffee, and we both had a snack.

 

Our next stop was Admiralty Island (part of the Tongass National Forest) to hopefully see bears! http://www.recreation.gov/permits/Pack_Creek_Bear_Viewing_Area/r/wildernessAreaDetails.do?page=details&contractCode=NRSO&parkId=72356 We would be visiting the Pack Creek Bear viewing area on the island. Admiralty Island has one of the healthiest bear populations in the world and is home to around 1,500 bears. In peak season they only give out 24 passes per day - 12 can be booked through the site linked above, and 12 can be booked though tour guides such as Pack Creek Bear Tours.

 

At 12 noon we went to the airline counter where our Pack Creek Bear Tours guide, Heather, was waiting for us http://packcreekbeartours.com/about-the-trip/. There was 2 other ladies on our trip, one from a Princess Ship also in Port and one who had flown in from Sitka to do this excursion.

 

Our guide finalised the paperwork, then walked us through the airport and out into a shed where we where fitted with rubber boots, and also thigh high waders. They also had hats, binoculars, raincoats and walking sticks which you could use. Anything you did not want to take could be left behind in the shed, and absolutely no food was allowed to be taken, apart from the food that our guide provided, which she would lock in the bear proof containers on our arrival.

 

We left our normal shoes behind and wearing our thigh high waders, climbed into a van to be driven to the seaplane takeoff lake. We boarded the plane and had a beautiful 40 minute flight to Admiralty island. We saw some whales diving, and our pilot circled to see if they would come back up, but they did not. As we flew over Admiralty Island, I saw a big Grizzly jumping in a stream catching fish!

 

Bill standing in the airside shed where we where fitted out with our boots:

 

 

Me and my big boots!

 

 

Our seaplane at the watery runway. I had never seen an airport that also had liquid runways for seaplane use!

 

 

Hubbard Glacier!

 

 

[BrusselsGirl07]

When we landed on the island, we stepped from the floats on the seaplane into knee high water. (which was why we needed the waders!). We waded to the shore, and then replaced our waders with our rubber boots. A ranger greeted us on the beach and gave us a short briefing. I was surprised that she was an Australian!

 

Heather then gave us a safety talk and locked all of our lunch and other bags into the bear proof lockers, and off we went to the viewing area. There are no toilets on Admiralty Island, and if you do need to use the bathroom, there is a small pile of rocks on the beach that you can crouch behind, and this is the only place you can go to the bathroom. You have to take any paper with you. None of us used the bathroom.

 

We walked along the beach and it was low tide, so there were jelly fish everywhere. After 10 minutes walking along the beach, we walked up into a clearing and found a small group of people sitting on logs in front of a river with a park ranger. These people had their own yacht and so had purchased some of the 12 passes for independent travellers.

 

We had been there a few minutes and I saw a bear walk out of the trees in the distance and out on the beach. I got Bill’s attention to show him, and alerted everyone else to the bear. It was quite a way away, but gradually it made its way along the beach and up into the river in front of us. It did not stay for long and ambled up into the trees.

 

At the beach upon arrival:

 

 

The first bear!

 

 

 

 

A Kingfisher:

 

 

[BrusselsGirl07]

That was all of the action we saw for a really long time, and the group from the yacht had left to go to the other viewing area. Finally Heather said we should walk back to the beach and have some lunch. Then we could decide if we wanted to stay in the same lookout area or walk to another viewing area. There are only the two viewing areas on Admiralty Island.

 

We had a sandwich and a muesli bar and then the park ranger on the beach told us that the other park ranger had been calling and had finally gotten through to her (she was having trouble with her walkie talkie) and just after we left a mother bear and a yearling had arrived! We quickly packed everything up, stored it in the locker, and walked back to the lookout area.

 

We watched an adorable yearling and his mother fish. She was in the river catching the fish, and the baby was bouncing along the side of the river like a big, bouncy puppy. He was really cute. They worked their way up the river, and eventually were quite a distance from us, but we could still see them fishing and eating their fish.

 

Mother Bear hunting fish:

 

 

Baby bear bouncing along the shore staying dry:

 

 

 

The baby had a play and tussle with some grass and nearly fell in!

 

 

[BrusselsGirl07]

Our seaplane was coming to pick us up at 7pm, and I knew we had to be back on the ship by 8.15pm. With the 30 minute flight, the time to drive from the seaplane lake to the airport, change our shoes and then the taxi ride back to Juneau, we would be cutting it fine.

 

The park rangers had told us about a new mother bear with triplets, who was a little bit nervous and so could be unpredictable and potentially aggressive. We could not believe it when at 6.10pm she came out of the trees with her 3 adorable baby cubs!

 

They were about 6 months old, and were so much smaller than the yearling we had seen earlier. She came right to the water, and the park ranger told us to be very quiet and not to stand up. Having to stay seated was a pain, as there was some long grass in front of us, but I understood why and we still got some amazing photos.

 

We were concerned as the other mother and her yearling came back towards the mother and cubs. I was worried that something awful was going to happen in front of us! But the mother with the triplets charged the other mother and cub, and made them keep their distance.

 

I was already nervous about the timing of the trip, and I was nervous for what could potentially happen between the bears. Sitting on the logs in the viewing area and watching nature was thrilling and nerve-wracking at the same time!! It had started to lightly rain, so I was glad I had packed my light, fold up raincoat.

 

The baby cubs were so cute, standing on their back legs and watching their mother. She caught a fish and ate it with them, and one of the babies kept standing up with a bit of fish hanging out of his mouth!

 

The park rangers did not want us to leave, as they did not want the mother to see us moving and be alarmed. She was really thin and needed every bit of fish she could get without us disturbing her. I heard our sea plane arrive so new it was around 7pm. Eventually we all bent right over and made our way out of the clearing and down to the beach. The mother did see us, and she ran off into the trees with her 3 babies. I am hoping that she came back out again, and while I know that the odds of all three babies surviving is very slim, I hope they are still doing OK.

 

 

 

 

The original mother coming back towards the cubs:

 

 

The yearling:

 

 

Bears meeting:

 

[BrusselsGirl07]

Baby bears watching the other mother approach. My heart was pounding!!

 

 

The mother of the triplets approaches the duo:

 

 

 

 

 

[BrusselsGirl07]

 

 

 

[BrusselsGirl07]

After we left the bears behind and got down to the beach, Bill and I walked really quickly with the park ranger back to the arrivals beach. I was so aware of the time!! Heather walked more slowly with the other two ladies. The guide cleared the area around the bear proof box to make sure we did not get an unwelcome surprise, and Bill and I took all of our stuff our of the boxes and took it over to our seaplane.

 

The ranger told us that the group who had gone to the other viewing area (which we never made it to) did not have any further bear sightings, and only saw that one bear that we all originally saw walking up the beach. So we felt very lucky that we had seen so much. It really is the luck of the draw as to what you see in the wild.

 

We took all of the waders out ready for the others, and put our waders on. We passed all of the bags to the pilot, who stored them in the floats, and we then waited for the others to get to the beach and put their waders on. It was a little stressful, as I thought we might miss the ship, but it all worked out.

 

When we landed, Heather phoned for the bus to come and pick us up from the float plane and take us to the airport, and asked them to call a taxi for us. We arrived at the shed, and the 3 of us on the cruise ships quickly threw off our waders and put our shoes on, said thank you to Heather, and then sprinted through the airport and out to the taxi. The other lady on our trip was catching a plane later that night so was not in any rush. We told the taxi where we were going and that we were in a rush and he did an excellent job of getting us back to our ship at 8.05pm with 10 minutes to spare!!!

 

We showered and as it was so late and we were pretty tired from an amazing day, we just had dinner in the buffet, and sat with the naturalist, the ship’s doctor and his wife, who we often saw having dinner in the buffet.

[CruisermanVA]

Superb stuff. You ought to publish it.

[5soccer9]

WOW WOW great review. We are doing the land tour and cruise on the Coral next July. Great pictures. The highlight of our trip is going to be the Island Wing tour as well. I love bears and have enjoyed your bear pictures so much. You seem yo have seen them everywhere on your trip. Thanks so much for taking the time to post all of this.

[BrusselsGirl07]

Superb stuff. You ought to publish it.

 

Thanks cruisernewbieman! People tell me I should be a travel agent or write a book!

[BrusselsGirl07]

WOW WOW great review. We are doing the land tour and cruise on the Coral next July. Great pictures. The highlight of our trip is going to be the Island Wing tour as well. I love bears and have enjoyed your bear pictures so much. You seem yo have seen them everywhere on your trip. Thanks so much for taking the time to post all of this.

 

Hi 5Soccer9 - thanks for taking the time to write a response, it is very much appreciated. I hope you have a fantastic time with Island Wings at Anan Creek!

[BrusselsGirl07]

Wednesday 6 August - Today we were in Skagway, arriving at 7am and having to be back on board at 3.45pm. We had booked the Chilkoot Lake Nature and Bear Viewing Tour with Rainbow Glacier Adventures http://joeordonez.com/tours/bear-viewing/. We got off the ship at 7.30am and following the instructions emailed to us from Rainbow Glacier, we easily found the Fast Ferry to Haines which left at 8am.

 

The Fast Ferry transits the Taiya Inlet of Lynn Canal, the longest and deepest fjord of North America. The trip between Haines and Skagway takes 45 minutes, and is the quickest way to get between the towns. If you go by road, you have to go all the way into the Yukon and it takes 3 1/2 hours! It is 14 miles by ferry or 350 miles by highway.

 

The ferry ride is very scenic. You can sit inside or upstairs on the open deck. It was overcast and cool, so we sat inside. A man narrated and told stories the entire way and pointed out things of interest.

 

 

This was one of the waterfalls we saw on the way to Haines. You can see a small ship just under it to show the scale:

 

Edited September 22, 2014 by BrusselsGirl07

[BrusselsGirl07]

Our guide was waiting for us in Haines and we had a full bus of 14 people. While we saw a little of the town of Haines, and some nice scenery. We did briefly see a seal hunting for Salmon.

 

We stopped at Chilkoot Lake and watched an Eagle sitting in a tree for quite a while, and we stopped to watch an Eagle’s nest but did not see any action in the nest. We saw some ducks, and people fishing for salmon. We stopped to drink some fresh spring water and we had a boxed lunch, and then went back to Haines for the 1pm ferry back to Skagway. I thought this was quite an expensive excursion in relation to where you went and what we saw, but I think the ferry is quite expensive too, and this was included in the price. And I guess if we had seen some other animals I would have been more impressed.

 

Back in Skagway, we walked back to the Skagway Brewing Company, and Bill tried some more beers while I went to look at some of the shops. We walked back to the ship and boarded at 3pm.

 

As it was a formal night, we had 3 drink vouchers each instead of the Captain’s Club cocktail hour, so we enjoyed some glasses of wine in Cellar Masters and then went to formal night dinner in the main dining room.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the Seal we saw!

 

 

[BrusselsGirl07]

 

 

 

 

 

[BrusselsGirl07]

We ate lunch while looking at this hanging glacier:

 

 

The Millennium dwarfing Skagway:

 

 

After leaving Skagway, we noticed the water change colour where the glacial silt and the open ocean were mixing.

 

 

Views from the ship

 

 

It is a tough life, but happy to volunteer!!

 

 

A little island we passed.

 

Edited September 22, 2014 by BrusselsGirl07

[micruiser12]

Yvette,

 

This is the second time I am replying back to you. I thought all of your other pictures have been terrific, but the ones of the bears are priceless! What wonderful first hand experiences you have had! I was nervous just looking at the pictures of the two mothers meeting up with their cubs nearby! We are signed up for next August to go with Island Wings on a bear viewing excursion. We can only hope we get as lucky as you have been to see similar bear sightings.

 

Thanks again for all of your work posting the pictures and commentary!

[Haysiedaze]

Thanks for writing this review. It is one of the best I have read here. Your bear encounter is just incredible. It's like living a "National Geographic" moment.

 

Steve

[BrusselsGirl07]

Yvette,

 

This is the second time I am replying back to you. I thought all of your other pictures have been terrific, but the ones of the bears are priceless! What wonderful first hand experiences you have had! I was nervous just looking at the pictures of the two mothers meeting up with their cubs nearby! We are signed up for next August to go with Island Wings on a bear viewing excursion. We can only hope we get as lucky as you have been to see similar bear sightings.

 

Thanks again for all of your work posting the pictures and commentary!

 

Hi micruiser12, and thanks for your comments again! It is encouraging when people come back to say they are enjoying the review. I am glad you are still reading along and enjoying the story!

 

Anan Creek and Admiralty Island were quite similar in some ways but very different as well in relation to what you might see.

 

At Anan Creek, there were so many bears the entire time. The river was full of salmon and it is a perfect place for them to come and catch them, lots of rocks by the shore and shallow water. I think if the salmon are running, you will be guaranteed bears. It was fantastic and I hope you have a great time.

 

But I think you could go to Pack Creek viewing area and not see one bear. We were lucky that we saw the 3 sightings - the first lone bear, the mother and the yearling, and the mother and the triplets.

 

I hope you have a fantastic time when you go to Alaska. Yvette

[BrusselsGirl07]

Thanks for writing this review. It is one of the best I have read here. Your bear encounter is just incredible. It's like living a "National Geographic" moment.

 

Steve

 

Thanks Steve, I appreciate your feedback. I am glad you have enjoyed the review, although it is nearly at an end! We had such a wonderful time in Alaska, all of the prior planning and research paid off, and mother nature was very kind to us. Yvette

[April7901]

I'm loving this, too. I cannot wait to go in May :)