North to Alaska on the Amsterdam with Bill & May Ann - 14 days - 7-3-17

[boards]

We will not ever be doing a cruise to Alaska, so we are looking forward to travelling with you through your blog. Thank you very much.

[wander]

As always, I love your reports and do so enjoy "going with you" on your cruises. Your time and effort with your reports is certainly appreciated!!!!

 

I know that Bob was looking forward to joining you table for dinner. We had a wonderful time and meal with him the Sunday before you left Seattle - at Place Pigalle in the always interesting Pike Place Market.

[WCB]

Report #3 Ketchikan,Alaska July 5, 2017 Wednesday Partly cloudy & 64 degrees Part #1 Of 3 86 Pictures

 

Today’s port of call was Ketchikan, with a population of8050 hardy folks. At least, that is thenumber in the summer months. The wintertime? Who really knows. With up to 162 inches of rain a year,Ketchikan is considered the wettest community in North America. We all know that the islands of Hawaii getthe most rainfall, perhaps in the world. Considered the salmon capital of the world, it is no wonder thatfishing, canning, and cold storage operations are tops on the jobs list. Also mineral exploration, logging, andtourism keep the locals busy during the summer season. There are three major native culturesconcentrated in this area. That isprobably why totem pole designs are the most numerous here.

 

We have had the pleasure of visiting here many times overthe years. We have to admit that we havetaken many of the 34 tours that HAL offer here. They range from 1 ¼ hours to 6 hours and cost from $30 to $1900……thelatter being a private plane ride. Sincetoday’s weather was just about perfect, it was a great one for hiking throughthe city and hillsides. Boy, did we getlucky. Captain Fred had told us thatmost of the ports had been mostly rainy and overcast all season, so we expectedrain today. We have been here duringnice days, and also downpours. So it ispure luck if the sun is out. That wastoday.

 

The Amsterdam sailed into the center of downtown, and dockedby 8am. Shortly afterward, the NorwegianSun and the Celebrity Millenium docked, one in front, and one in back. We had anice breakfast, although fairly light, then did some internet work until10am. Most all of the tours had gone offof the ship by then, so getting off was easy.

 

All we needed were lightweight jackets and umbrellas toinsure that it would not rain at all. Itworked. No rain. One of the nicest places to check out is theCreek Street walk. Picking up a localwalking map, we followed the path to the major sites. These maps are great, because you can putnames and history to the photos we take along the hike.

 

Creek Street begins after crossing a small bridge over theriver. It was the rough and tumbledistrict with a colorful past. Back inthe early 1900’s, there were about 30 bawdy houses built on stilts overKetchikan Creek. It became a thrivingred light district, even sneaking forbidden alcohol through trap doors from theriver during Prohibition. Eventually,all of the houses became galleries, shops, boutiques, and museums. There are a few pubs and bars along the creekside as well.

 

What makes this even more famous are the salmon that come upthis creek to spawn. In fact, we wouldlearn much more from a local expert a bit later on.

 

Climbing up the wooden stairs and muddy pathway, we followedthe road and creek to the old hatchery. The hillsides were covered with what we think to be salmonberry bushes,Sitka spruce, and hemlock trees. Flowersof a types were in full bloom, especially the rhododendrons. We know for a fact that the dense bushesalong the creek can hide black bears when the salmon come up to spawn. Back in 2014, we came here in late September,during one of the last runs. The creekand banks were littered with dead and dying salmon, having completed theircycle of spawning, then dying. The odorof decaying fish bring the bears, so you had to be on watch all of thetime. We were sorry not to see the runof fish going up the creek, but we sure did not miss that awful smell.

 

We made it to the hatchery, but found it was stillclosed. It has been for a few years now,but it appeared that work was being done behind the closed doors. There is a nice park located there, CityPark, with small ponds that date back to the early 1900’s. They used to be holding ponds for the firsthatchery built here. In the center,there is a unique fountain that was built in 1930, recently restored byvolunteers in 1989.

 

Across the foot bridge, is the Totem Heritage Center, wherewe saw examples of totem pole art. Thereis much to see on the outside, without going in the building for a fee and aself-guided tour. As well asdescriptions of artistic totem poles, there are signs identifying Sitka spruceand hemlock trees, which happen to be poisonous if memory serves us correct.

 

It was getting close to lunchtime, so we back-trackedtowards town. On the way back, we raninto buddies Leta and Bill, and stopped to chat for a bit. They were following the same map we had, butwere searching for local shopping places such as grocery or pharmacystores. There were none in this area.

 

Trekking onward, we must have looked lost. A local Inuit asked if we neededdirections. We noticed that this fellowwas on his way to go fishing somewhere up the creek, so we inquired about thesalmon run. Assuming we were either tooearly or too late to see the fish, he told us that the king salmon were juststarting to come up the creek. These arethe big guys, weighing in around 35 to 40 pounds. There was hope yet that wewould see some swimming up to spawn.

 

Going back down the wooden stairway on Creek Street, we didstop along the way to watch for wildlife. You had to be patient, and be looking in theright spot. That’s when we saw them……atleast four monster-sized kings, swimming rapidly in the deepest part of thecreek. It was only a few seconds atmost, but we did see them as they headed towards the rapids and fish ladder. According to the native fellow, he wasallowed to snag them, forbidden by others, but legal for him, we believe. Besides a few small fish and some floatingjellyfish, we never saw another salmon.

 

Time for lunch. Wedid locate pizza, but it was more fast-food style. So we ended up going to Dwyer’s Crab & Fish Company, located on the thirdlevel on Front Street, right across from the cruise ships. We ordered Alaska White Ale beers and split acheeseburger, as well as a cheesecake. Surewas good to relax and enjoy listening to entertainer Sitka Tex singing to thetunes of Johnny Cash and Elvis among others. With three cruise ships in port, about every seat in the restaurant wasfilled.

 

Picking up a few coupon booklets, we visited some of themajor shops for bargains. There are somereally excellent buys in Alaska…….but food is not one of them. It is expensive. But the clothing can be good. Things like all-weather jackets, sweatshirts,gloves, and woolen hats are a good deal. Many typical souvenir items are cheap, drawing shoppers into all of thestores. Giving out large reusableshopping bags for free is also a good incentive. By the way, we did get one (only one)medium-size Alaska shopping bag on the ship on day two. One of us did find a good buy with a longshort-sleeve night t-shirt with a chocolate “moose” on the front.

 

We walked up as far as the Norwegian Sun, then headed backpast the First Lutheran Church built in 1925 and Casey Moran Harbor, where theworld’s largest fleet of halibut boats are moored. We passed by the Tunnel (1954), which is inRipley’s Believe It or Not as being the only tunnel in the world you can drivethrough, drive around, and also over.

 

Closer to the Amsterdam, we took photos of the Rock, asculpture of Ketchikan’s first people and pioneers. Across the street is Ketchikan’s famous sign,a welcome arch, originally installed to welcome passengers visiting onsteamships.

 

It was getting very close to the all aboard time, which was4:30pm, so we headed back home. The sailout of Ketchikan was going to be wonderful, with the sun out, and the breezecool, but not cold. The ropes weredropped, and we were on our way, waving goodbye to some folks on the aft verandarooms on the Millenium.

 

Keeping a sharp lookout for wildlife, we did see some baldeagles, either perched in the conifers, or flying. Since the salmon are not running quite yet,there are not a lot of eagles hunting at the moment. In another week, that willchange. Photographing them was achallenge, due to the distance away from the ship.

 

Because there were no whale-watching tours out of Ketchikan,we assume there are few in this area. But we did spot some small porpoise while out on deck 6 forward. They are also so fast, if you blink, you missthem. Later, during dinnertime, we weresailing in more open waters, and some whales did appear. People were jumping up from their seats inthe dining room, and clapping happily after seeing whales breaching and divingin our wake.

 

Speaking of dinner, it has been very good. On the world cruise, we were not entirelyimpressed with the prime rib. So when wesaw it on tonight’s menu, we were not sure if we would order it. However, if we did not try it, we might neverknow if it was better. Turned out, itwas good. One of our tablemates hasindulged in ordering several appetizers and entrees every evening. She has become our taste-tester, so to speak.

 

A new lady joined our table by the name of Joan. Originally assigned to this table, she hasbeen missing for two days. Now we have atable of eight, and that wraps it up for future hosts on gala nights. Unless some of us are going to the PinnacleGrill, and make room for two more to take our place. One thing we have noticed is that with thenew and larger plate ware, this is little room to spare between placesettings. Even worse, when someoneorders an entrée on the rectangular dishes. Guess we have to adapt, because it is obvious that the new dishes are goingnowhere.

 

The show this evening was a fellow by the name of LiamRyder, a vocalist and pianist playing rock and roll and jazz. Little chance we would have of seeing it,because we seem to be maintaining dinnertime from 8pm to well after10:30pm. Would you believe, the sunsetis still on the horizon at the end of our dinner?

 

Tomorrow we will be sailing into Tracy Arm if conditionsallow it. Looking forward to the day atsea.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[TheCalicoCat]

Keeping a sharp lookout for wildlife, we did see some baldeagles, either perched in the conifers, or flying. Since the salmon are not running quite yet,there are not a lot of eagles hunting at the moment. In another week, that will change.

 

I hope you are right. We are on the next Amsterdam sailing... (Booked a flight in Ketchikan to see the bears & salmon at Anan Creek.)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Loving your review.

Brings back memories of when we did out first Alaskan cruise and visited Ketchikan -- did a tour of everything for 6 hours -- including watching the salmon run at Creek Street and visiting Dolly's House.

[USN59-79]

I have been enjoying your review. One note: Hemlock trees are not poisonous. You are thinking of a noxious weed related to wild carrots and the famous poison that killed Socrates that is also called hemlock.

[Overtime4me2]

I'm enjoying your previews for my cruise on Amsterdam on July 17th. Looking forward to it!

 

Thanks for sharing :D

[Augie's mom]

Report #3 Ketchikan,Alaska July 5, 2017 Wednesday Partly cloudy & 64 degrees Part #1 Of 3 86 Pictures

 

Today’s port of call was Ketchikan, with a population of8050 hardy folks. At least, that is thenumber in the summer months. The wintertime? Who really knows. With up to 162 inches of rain a year,Ketchikan is considered the wettest community in North America. We all know that the islands of Hawaii getthe most rainfall, perhaps in the world. Considered the salmon capital of the world, it is no wonder thatfishing, canning, and cold storage operations are tops on the jobs list. Also mineral exploration, logging, andtourism keep the locals busy during the summer season. There are three major native culturesconcentrated in this area. That isprobably why totem pole designs are the most numerous here.

 

We have had the pleasure of visiting here many times overthe years. We have to admit that we havetaken many of the 34 tours that HAL offer here. They range from 1 ¼ hours to 6 hours and cost from $30 to $1900……thelatter being a private plane ride. Sincetoday’s weather was just about perfect, it was a great one for hiking throughthe city and hillsides. Boy, did we getlucky. Captain Fred had told us thatmost of the ports had been mostly rainy and overcast all season, so we expectedrain today. We have been here duringnice days, and also downpours. So it ispure luck if the sun is out. That wastoday.

 

The Amsterdam sailed into the center of downtown, and dockedby 8am. Shortly afterward, the NorwegianSun and the Celebrity Millenium docked, one in front, and one in back. We had anice breakfast, although fairly light, then did some internet work until10am. Most all of the tours had gone offof the ship by then, so getting off was easy.

 

All we needed were lightweight jackets and umbrellas toinsure that it would not rain at all. Itworked. No rain. One of the nicest places to check out is theCreek Street walk. Picking up a localwalking map, we followed the path to the major sites. These maps are great, because you can putnames and history to the photos we take along the hike.

 

Creek Street begins after crossing a small bridge over theriver. It was the rough and tumbledistrict with a colorful past. Back inthe early 1900’s, there were about 30 bawdy houses built on stilts overKetchikan Creek. It became a thrivingred light district, even sneaking forbidden alcohol through trap doors from theriver during Prohibition. Eventually,all of the houses became galleries, shops, boutiques, and museums. There are a few pubs and bars along the creekside as well.

 

What makes this even more famous are the salmon that come upthis creek to spawn. In fact, we wouldlearn much more from a local expert a bit later on.

 

Climbing up the wooden stairs and muddy pathway, we followedthe road and creek to the old hatchery. The hillsides were covered with what we think to be salmonberry bushes,Sitka spruce, and hemlock trees. Flowersof a types were in full bloom, especially the rhododendrons. We know for a fact that the dense bushesalong the creek can hide black bears when the salmon come up to spawn. Back in 2014, we came here in late September,during one of the last runs. The creekand banks were littered with dead and dying salmon, having completed theircycle of spawning, then dying. The odorof decaying fish bring the bears, so you had to be on watch all of thetime. We were sorry not to see the runof fish going up the creek, but we sure did not miss that awful smell.

 

We made it to the hatchery, but found it was stillclosed. It has been for a few years now,but it appeared that work was being done behind the closed doors. There is a nice park located there, CityPark, with small ponds that date back to the early 1900’s. They used to be holding ponds for the firsthatchery built here. In the center,there is a unique fountain that was built in 1930, recently restored byvolunteers in 1989.

 

Across the foot bridge, is the Totem Heritage Center, wherewe saw examples of totem pole art. Thereis much to see on the outside, without going in the building for a fee and aself-guided tour. As well asdescriptions of artistic totem poles, there are signs identifying Sitka spruceand hemlock trees, which happen to be poisonous if memory serves us correct.

 

It was getting close to lunchtime, so we back-trackedtowards town. On the way back, we raninto buddies Leta and Bill, and stopped to chat for a bit. They were following the same map we had, butwere searching for local shopping places such as grocery or pharmacystores. There were none in this area.

 

Trekking onward, we must have looked lost. A local Inuit asked if we neededdirections. We noticed that this fellowwas on his way to go fishing somewhere up the creek, so we inquired about thesalmon run. Assuming we were either tooearly or too late to see the fish, he told us that the king salmon were juststarting to come up the creek. These arethe big guys, weighing in around 35 to 40 pounds. There was hope yet that wewould see some swimming up to spawn.

 

Going back down the wooden stairway on Creek Street, we didstop along the way to watch for wildlife. You had to be patient, and be looking in theright spot. That’s when we saw them……atleast four monster-sized kings, swimming rapidly in the deepest part of thecreek. It was only a few seconds atmost, but we did see them as they headed towards the rapids and fish ladder. According to the native fellow, he wasallowed to snag them, forbidden by others, but legal for him, we believe. Besides a few small fish and some floatingjellyfish, we never saw another salmon.

 

Time for lunch. Wedid locate pizza, but it was more fast-food style. So we ended up going to Dwyer’s Crab & Fish Company, located on the thirdlevel on Front Street, right across from the cruise ships. We ordered Alaska White Ale beers and split acheeseburger, as well as a cheesecake. Surewas good to relax and enjoy listening to entertainer Sitka Tex singing to thetunes of Johnny Cash and Elvis among others. With three cruise ships in port, about every seat in the restaurant wasfilled.

 

Picking up a few coupon booklets, we visited some of themajor shops for bargains. There are somereally excellent buys in Alaska…….but food is not one of them. It is expensive. But the clothing can be good. Things like all-weather jackets, sweatshirts,gloves, and woolen hats are a good deal. Many typical souvenir items are cheap, drawing shoppers into all of thestores. Giving out large reusableshopping bags for free is also a good incentive. By the way, we did get one (only one)medium-size Alaska shopping bag on the ship on day two. One of us did find a good buy with a longshort-sleeve night t-shirt with a chocolate “moose” on the front.

 

We walked up as far as the Norwegian Sun, then headed backpast the First Lutheran Church built in 1925 and Casey Moran Harbor, where theworld’s largest fleet of halibut boats are moored. We passed by the Tunnel (1954), which is inRipley’s Believe It or Not as being the only tunnel in the world you can drivethrough, drive around, and also over.

 

Closer to the Amsterdam, we took photos of the Rock, asculpture of Ketchikan’s first people and pioneers. Across the street is Ketchikan’s famous sign,a welcome arch, originally installed to welcome passengers visiting onsteamships.

 

It was getting very close to the all aboard time, which was4:30pm, so we headed back home. The sailout of Ketchikan was going to be wonderful, with the sun out, and the breezecool, but not cold. The ropes weredropped, and we were on our way, waving goodbye to some folks on the aft verandarooms on the Millenium.

 

Keeping a sharp lookout for wildlife, we did see some baldeagles, either perched in the conifers, or flying. Since the salmon are not running quite yet,there are not a lot of eagles hunting at the moment. In another week, that willchange. Photographing them was achallenge, due to the distance away from the ship.

 

Because there were no whale-watching tours out of Ketchikan,we assume there are few in this area. But we did spot some small porpoise while out on deck 6 forward. They are also so fast, if you blink, you missthem. Later, during dinnertime, we weresailing in more open waters, and some whales did appear. People were jumping up from their seats inthe dining room, and clapping happily after seeing whales breaching and divingin our wake.

 

Speaking of dinner, it has been very good. On the world cruise, we were not entirelyimpressed with the prime rib. So when wesaw it on tonight’s menu, we were not sure if we would order it. However, if we did not try it, we might neverknow if it was better. Turned out, itwas good. One of our tablemates hasindulged in ordering several appetizers and entrees every evening. She has become our taste-tester, so to speak.

 

A new lady joined our table by the name of Joan. Originally assigned to this table, she hasbeen missing for two days. Now we have atable of eight, and that wraps it up for future hosts on gala nights. Unless some of us are going to the PinnacleGrill, and make room for two more to take our place. One thing we have noticed is that with thenew and larger plate ware, this is little room to spare between placesettings. Even worse, when someoneorders an entrée on the rectangular dishes. Guess we have to adapt, because it is obvious that the new dishes are goingnowhere.

 

The show this evening was a fellow by the name of LiamRyder, a vocalist and pianist playing rock and roll and jazz. Little chance we would have of seeing it,because we seem to be maintaining dinnertime from 8pm to well after10:30pm. Would you believe, the sunsetis still on the horizon at the end of our dinner?

 

Tomorrow we will be sailing into Tracy Arm if conditionsallow it. Looking forward to the day atsea.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

We fly out next weekend to start this route on the 17th, your reviews are wonderful. I can hardly wait. I am taking notes from your recommendations, so thanks so very much

 

Augie's mom aka Terri

[WCB]

Report # 4 Tracy Arm& Sawyer Glacier, Alaska July 6,2017 Friday Cloudy & 68 degrees Part #1 Of 3 70 Pictures

 

Tracy Arm is actually the name of a fjord. On previous Alaskan cruises, we have beenslated to sail there, but many times it was cancelled. They blamed ice conditions, fog, or anothership up there. So a substitute was made,like Endicott Arm, which is nearby. Today the conditions must have been good, and it was a go.

 

The nice thing about scenic cruising is that we did notenter the fjord until 10:30am. No needto get up really early, which works at least for one of us. Of course, breakfast is served from 8 to9:30, so we never miss that in the dining room.

 

It seems that every day on a shorter cruise is concentratedwith things to do. For that reason, wehave had trouble keeping up with photo down-loading and reports. Fewer days at sea makes the difference. One important project was filling out theCanadian custom’s form. Yes,already. We don’t arrive to Victoriauntil the 16th, but all must be in order for the officials weguess. Another form to fill out was ourflight info for disembarkation day on the 17th. Perhaps it is better to do this now, and notwait until the last few days. One thingthat was missing was the Port Valet form. Doing some research prior to this trip, we found out that this luggageservice was available to us for this trip out of Seattle. We also picked up on some good info whilereading Cruise Critic blogs recently. Formerly, this service was called by a different name. It worked by putting our luggage outside ourroom the night before, like always. Butonce it is picked up, we don’t see them until we arrived at our destinationairport. Back then, we paid a fee on theship, but not the airline charge per bag. Now the delivery service is free, but you pay the airline fee for thebags. Unless you have a higher statuswith a certain qualifying airline, then it is totally free. Our boarding passes will be printed, and wewill not have to check in at the airport……just go directly through the securityline to the proper terminal. The airlinebaggage fee will be applied to our shipboard account. Easy. So we hope it works.

 

Back to the scenic sailing. We joined many passengers on the bow to watch the sail into thefjord. The clue that we were headedtowards a glacier, were the few icebergs we encountered at the mouth. There was intermittent commentary from theEXC (Explorations Central, formerly Location Guide). This job has been handed to Jessica, who happenedto be the Culinary Arts Program manager on the world cruise this year. Barbara H left at the end of that voyage, andJessica took over for her.

 

Intermittent meant that in certain areas of the fjord, shewas not allowed to broadcast to the outside decks. Quite clearly, there are no villages, orsigns of any wildlife, so we really do not understand the rules. The only company we had in this fjord wereseveral smaller boats, that probably came from Juneau on a day trip.

 

The cliffs of granite were laced with thin waterfalls fromsnow and ice on the top of the peaks and valleys. The most wildlife we spotted were variousbirds. We did look hard for black bearsor mountain goats, but saw none. Theyvery well could have been hiding in the dense growth. We had been told that harbor seals often cometo the glacier, so we hoped to see some of them. Closer to the glacier, we did see one harborseal, laying on the ice, like it was sunning itself. It was all alone, at least from what we saw.

 

Guess we got lucky that it was not raining once again. The best way to experience this sceniccruising is being outside, up close as we could get. Glad we brought our arctic down coats, wewere very comfortable staying outside until 2pm. By the time we got to the Sawyer Glacier,many more guests came out on the bow to get some great photos. Not everyone was dressed for theweather. Saw some people in shorts andsandals. They had to be chilled to the bone,so they did not last long outside.

 

The security guards were busy out here. Most people do not read the signs that say donot sit or stand on the ledges. So theguards had to remind the folks to get off of the bow walls. There was even a couple that climbed on thepontoon, to see over everyone’s heads. Have to admit, there is no sign telling people not to do that. It is simply common sense, but not toeveryone.

 

After the ship turned around and headed back out of thefjord, we eventually went back to our room. Chicken soup, salad, and a split club sandwich sounded so good. It only took about 25 minutes to arrive, andor order was complete, delivered with a smile.

 

Back outside on deck six forward, we found that the bow hadonly one person left there. A securityguard came outside and asked her to leave. They were closing the doors on deck three. It was around then that we began seeing someeagles flying. Good way to end the dayof photos.

 

Since today was a non-port day, many activities took placeall day. There were two talks in theQueen’s Lounge from EXC or shore excursions. The Microsoft Digital Workshop had several classes today, and a daycannot go by without deck sales, or gemstone presentations.

 

Dinner for us was in the Pinnacle Grill Restaurant thisevening. Even though we came on time,our regular table was not ready yet, as there were guests still chatting awaythere. We opted for the larger cornertable, which was fine. One of us haddelicious lamb chops, and the other had the 10 oz filet mignon. Equally as good. Dessert was “naked” Cherry Garcia ice cream. That means we had ice cream with no cake,cherry compote, or whipped cream. Justthe ice cream. We left by 9:45pm, butwere so tired and full, we opted not to see the show. It was performed by Rob Watkins, a comedyventriloquist, promising to be heart- warming and hilarious.

 

Captain Fred had brought the ship close to Juneau, thendropped anchor a few miles away for the night. Then tomorrow, the ship would resume sailing to Juneau, with a plannedarrival of 8am. Looking forward to it.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[travelhelp]

Glad to be following your travels to Alaska! Have a great cruise! Thank you for sharing!

 

 

 

Thx

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[ztu]

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[erewhon]

Enjoying reading your reports.

Thank you.

[TheCalicoCat]

How close did you get to South Sawyer Glacier?

[pegpowell]

Nice to follow along. We are doing this itinerary on July 31.

 

You missed the Clayton Fourth of July parade. Wonder how many tricycles this time?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Love detailed reports.

[Karen604]

I so love reading your logs of this cruise. My husband and I are on the 9/11 voyage. We have been attempting to figure out just where the ship docks in Homer. Your assistance would be appreciated. Thank you.

[WCB]

Report # 5 Juneau,Alaska July 7, 2017 Friday Cloudy & 68 degrees Part #1Of 2 81 Pictures

 

Our Alaskan port of call today was the city of Juneau. The largest settlement in Alaska, it has apopulation of 31,275 people. Once aseasonal native fishing camp, it has come a long way since it became thecapital of Alaska. Originally, Sitka hadthat honor, but in 1906, the seat of the government was moved to Juneau. We understand that the main reason for thechange was the fact that Juneau is one of the few Alaskan cities accessible byair and water year round.

 

Juneau is located at the foot of Mt. Roberts and Mt. Juneauin the Gastineau Channel. The borough is3,108 square miles and consists of towering mountains, islands, saltwater bays,forested valleys, and residential flatlands.

 

One thing changed this region forever…….the discovery ofgold in 1880. The famous gold rushlasted until 1944 when the cost of extraction exceeded the price of gold. The rush was over, although some mining stillexists today.

 

Alaska was granted statehood in 1959, and we remember itwell, even as young kids. It was quite aproud day when the “land of the midnight sun”, an area that contains 3 millionlakes, 3000 rivers, 1800 islands, and 100,000 glaciers became a state of theUSA.

 

Commercial fishing and mining still are the number oneindustries. Tourism, transportation,medical services, education, government services, and retail trade keep manylocals busy. The Tongass National Forestdraws many visitors, and with 17 million acres, hiking can go on forever. In Juneau alone, there are 262 square milesof hiking trails. What is funny is thatthere are only 45 miles of roads in and out of the city. The forest consists mainly of spruce andhemlock conifers that have been estimated at between 200 to 700 years old.

 

As far as wildlife in this area, the number one sighting hasto be eagles. Harbor seals numbers havebeen figured to be 155,000. Also seenare black bears, marmots, and porcupines.

 

We know the weather can turn on a dime, but it appeared thatif rain was in the forecast, it might hold off until later. The temperature was in the high 60’s with aslight breeze, which turned out to hold all day. Once again…..lucky.

 

And once again, we have been here many times over the years,and have taken excellent tours to see whales, glaciers, and a fishhatchery. The plan was to take a walkfrom one end of town to the other, mixing with the locals, and seeking theperfect place for lunch.

 

Much of the dock area looked different to us. At the container port, the Disney Wondersat. Later in the day, HAL’s Volendamdocked right behind us. Probably not thecorrect term, we were at a new floating dock, that rises with the tide. The good thing is that the gangway is able tostay more level, not rising or falling steeply.

 

Leaving the ship, we encountered several stalls of tourvendors, enticing all to book excursions through them. They did have many takers. We may have mentioned earlier, that ticketssold for the Mt. Roberts Tramway were cheaper than if you purchased them at theride itself. They add tax to theirprice. Also, ship ticketed folks coulduse an express line. For this reason,these tickets were available onboard until 9:30am.

 

Other tours available included flights to see Taku Glacier,fishing, or bear-watching. Helicoptertrips took the folks over Mendenhall Glacier or landed to take a dog sleddingride. These tours ranged from $320 to$650. There were a total of 13 of thesetype of tours. Whale-watching by boathad 7 excursions ( $160 to $210 ), while adventure tours offered 9 of those for$100 to $340. Sight-seeing had 13 tours from $50 to $130, and there was onethat had a private limo for $900 for 8 people.

 

All of the typical high-end jewelry stores were in downtown,which was something we never expected to see in Alaska 20 years ago. Obviously, they are doing well, because theyare still here plus more. Furs are a bigitem here, even alpaca items from Peru, go figure. Russian souvenirs are abundant, especiallythings to do with Christmas. Particularly nice are the carvings by the locals using bone, antlers,and soapstone. The most popular item hasto do with salmon….smoked, dried, or canned.

 

A neat place to visit is Taku Smokeries & Store, whereyou can buy a variety of fish, mostly salmon, and also ship it anywhere in the US. There is a viewing window where you can watchfillets being created from the whole salmon. It is quite an art to get it right, and having the proper knives is amust.

 

Built next to the smoker is a restaurant called TwistedFish. It did serve a lot of fishentrees, but they also had pizza. Wejust might have to come back here for lunch. But first, we wanted to take a walk aroundtown, and check things out. Since wewere down this end of town, we wandered over to the boats to watch the processof unloading salmon into the smokery.

 

A couple of new stores were here, so we went in to find agood bargain for a fleece vest. Onlybrought one on this 2 week trip, so now a nice red one with Juneau on it willbe a nice souvenir.

 

We watched the tram for a few minutes. It climbs 1800 feet to Mt. Roberts, rightabove town. We have been up therebefore, taking in the views and hiking trails. There is also a restaurant up there, as well as a gift shop. Oh, what a surprise. By the way, the ride takes about 5 minutes upand the same coming down.

 

You have to make a stop in the Red Dog Saloon, founded inthe mid- 20th century. It hasa sawdust floor and walls and ceiling decorated with Alaskan critters. And naturally, there is a large store nextdoor, selling Red Dog everything. With threeships here (the Volendam sailed in around noon), this place will be busting atthe seams later.

 

Continuing past many shops, we walked past a place called Rendezvous. It appeared to be a bar and billiardplace. Noticing that the door lookedscratched deeply on the inside, a local fellow told us the story about a bearwalking inside, then panicking to get back outside. He did a whole lot ofdamage, especially to the doors, trying to escape. This man said the whole incident was capturedon a cellphone and was put on utube. It’sstill there to see he said.

 

From here, we headed down to the water and the closest placeyou could call a mall. It really is along shed that houses some restaurants and shops. There was one pizza place, but it was sold bythe slice, and had no tables left.

 

So we back-tracked through park along the water, passinggrassy areas with any benches, a bronze sculpture and Patsy Ann’s story, allabout a little famous dog that lived here in the past.

 

Ending up back where we began, we had a wonderful lunch atTwisted Fish. It was not as crowded as wethought it might be. Margherita pizzawas very good, as was the strawberry shortcake dessert we split. Today we tried the amber beer, and found itdelicious with the pizza. We lingeredfor a while, since the ship was not leaving until 10pm.

 

Later in the afternoon, we spent some time out on the outerdecks watching thee float planes take off, as well as spotting some eaglesflying over the channel, hunting for fish. Got some good photos of both.

 

Dinner was fun because we all shared our day’sexcursions. Bob and Dave happened to beon the same float plane for a dinner at Taku Lodge with views of the glacierbelow. They both had a great bear story,when this stray bear came to the BBQ pit area after their salmon had beencooked. They watched with amusement whenthis bear actually licked the steaming grate while they all ate dinner in thenearby lodge. Bet they got some goodpictures of that.

 

The ship left the port shortly after the Volendam left. Instead of a show in the Queen’s Lounge,there was a video of sorts with Alaska in Concert. Might have been nice to go, but once again,we lingered over dinner and got out late.

 

Tomorrow will be a short stop in Icy Strait Point, a placewe visited almost 10 years ago. Wonderif it has changed?

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[Copper10-8]

I so love reading your logs of this cruise. My husband and I are on the 9/11 voyage. We have been attempting to figure out just where the ship docks in Homer. Your assistance would be appreciated. Thank you.

There is only one berth in Homer, AK where a large cruise ship can dock and that is at the Deep Water/Cargo dock, also the home of hundreds of seagulls ;)

[WCB]

Report #6 Icy StraitPoint, Alaska July 8, 2017 Saturday Chance of rain & 56 degrees Part#1 Of 2 73 Pictures

 

Originally built in 1912 as a salmon cannery, Icy StraitPoint is a pleasant spot to see in this area of Alaska. Back in the old days, the cannery was namedthe Hoonah Packing Company, and was operated by natives that lived in nearbyHoonah 1 ½ miles away. By 1914, the canneryboasted a production of 2,367,072 cans of salmon. It is no surprise that by 1953, the fish runsbecame depleted, and the cannery was forced to close. Besides, there were many more canneries thatgave them stiff competition. Eventually,the facility was converted into a fishing fleet support and maintenancehub. The current owners of the canneryproperty is the Huna Totem Corporation since 1996. Locals were employed by the logging and timberindustry that became major exports during 1980 to 2000.

 

In 2004, the Celebrity Mercury made its inaugural call atIcy Strait Point. In that same year, asmany as 32 ships visited. However, theonly way to get to shore was by tenderboat. Last year, in 2016, the number of ships increased to 69 ships, mostly dueto the fact a new floating dock had been installed. No more tenderboats were needed.

 

Ship tours included one exciting one…..a Ziprider Adventure,the world’s longest zipline beginning at 5330 feet elevation with over a 1300foot vertical drop to the bottom. Speedsup to 60 MPH can be reached, promising breathtaking views of the forest and baysif you are not screaming all the way down. The price for this adventure was $140 for 1 ½ hours.

 

There were a surprising number of tours, considering thatour stay was only from 7am to 2pm. Sixadventure tours for 1 ½ to 5 ½ hours cost from $100 to $160, which you could choosefrom whale watching, bear searches, kayaking, and ATV driving. Four sightseeing excursions from 1 ½ to 2 ¾ hoursfor $55 to $80 gave you the opportunity to see forests, Hoonah, nature walks,and tribal dances. If cooking is yourpassion, there was one session for 1 ½ hours for $80. Finally, you could try your luck at fishingfor 3 ½ hours for $230 to $290 with a day license for $25 cash.

 

Having been here once on a celebrity ship, we opted to hikethe area and explore on our own. Starting at the Adventure Center, we found there were a few shops, freewifi, and a chance to book tours there. Don’t know how they compared in price to the ship’s tours, but it was aconvenience. You could buy a ticket for$3 for a mile ½ ride to nearby Hoonah. Large umbrellas were available for use while here. Also, modern and very well-maintained restroomswere in this building. In fact,restrooms were numerous in this area.

 

Close by, was a newly-built restaurant the Duck Point Smokehouse. You can order smoked salmon, pizza, burgers,beers and sodas. It appeared that it wasfast-food style like in McDonalds. Therewere a number of indoor booths and outdoor seating as well.

 

Other eateries included the Cookhouse with burgers, fries,chili, and chowders. The ravens thathung around there on the railings were free of charge. The Crab Station served steamed king, snow,and Dungeness crab with a special Alaskan Crabby Bloody Mary. Lastly, there was a Fish House and Snack Bar.

 

Along the shoreline, we walked past some private residences,a cemetery, and the highlight of the village….the Warehouse and CanneryComplex. Half of the warehousecontained shops and boutiques, while the other half was a museum of theoriginal cannery. The butchery table wasdisplayed as it would have looked in the old days, complete with fish bodiesguts, and blood. Only thing missing wasthe smell, which must have been overpowering. Photos of the actual process and machinery lined the walls. Good display of history.

 

Outside there was a Cultural Heritage & Tribal DanceTheater, a bike rental, and a kayak dock. A busy place was a tiny kiosk where you could buy donuts, that werebeing made right on the spot. The donutswere the tiny ones, and served plain or with a dusting of sugar.

 

At the end of the property was a seating area where youcould wait for the shuttle to Hoonah. Oryou could walk the mile ½ for about 30 minutes. Since it looked like rain was coming, weopted not to walk to town. We had beenthrough Hoonah several years ago, and recalled that there was not too much tosee there.

 

On our way back to the walking trail, we passed by the WoodChip Fire, where as part of Tlingit tradition, you would throw a woodchip onthe fire for good luck. Brooke, theCaptain’s lady, and her friends were using thee fire to make s’mores, cookingthe marshmallows on long sticks. Suredid smell good…..

 

The forest hike took us along the rocky beach across fromthe ship. It began to drizzle now, andwe knew that rain was on the way. Goodthing we were dressed for it, and also thought to bring umbrellas. By 11:30am, the rain came down really hard,but we kept hiking up the trail, which was well graveled. A single elderly lady told us that she justsaw an LBJ off of the trail. OK, we hadto know what she meant. And, of course,she was baiting us to respond. Anyway,LBJ stands for “little brown job”, as in a mouse, mole, or possibly asquirrel. We promised her we would lookfor them as we hiked higher into the woods.

 

On the top in the dense forest of extremely tall conifers,we looked for the LBJ’s and eagles, that we knew were there. Eventually, we did see a very fast-runningsquirrel, smaller than the ones we have at home in California. The side trail we took brought us to two pondsand the road where the ATV’s were touring. By now the rain was falling steadily, and we knew the eagles would notbe flying in the rain. Taking shelter inthe Adventure Center was a good idea until the rain let up. Lunch would be better on the ship, wedecided.

 

Luckily, the rain stopped by the sail away time at 2pm. We went back to the Seaview Pool, and gotsome great photos of a hunting eagle, one we had spotted early on. One of the pair was perched high in a tree,while the other got lucky and scooped a fish out of the water below. He had a hard time dragging his catch overthe rocks. His best bet was to drag itaway from the water’s edge, and eat it. Both birds stayed there well after the ship left.

 

Later in the afternoon, around 4pm, we went to deck sixforward to watch for any sign of sealife. We only saw some gulls and small sea birds. It was pretty cold out there with the windblowing strong. With our arctic coatsand hoods, we were comfortable. CaptainFred even waved from the navigation deck. Shortly afterwards, we were out of the islands, and sailing into theGulf of Alaska, heading towards Anchorage. We will have a most welcomed day at sea on the way there.

 

At 7:15pm, we were invited to the Crow’s Nest for an officer’sreception. We believe it was attended by5 star Mariner members and President’s Club members….a total of about 90 peoplewe were told. We joined friends for apleasant conversation until 8pm. Drinksof our choice were offered, and kept coming, compliments of Manny, one of ourfavorite bartenders.

 

Dinner was supposed to be in the Pinnacle Grill for us, butwe changed our minds, and went to the dining room. Hard to pass by the turkey dinner they had onthe menu, we were welcomed by our tablemates. It was as good as always.

 

There was a variety show in the Queen’s Lounge, but onceagain, we stayed in the dining room until 10:30pm.

 

Looking forward to a day at sea for sure.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[Mtn2Sea]

Really enjoying your reports. We board the Amsterdam in three weeks and all your details are getting us excited. If you can, please let us know when they have the Master Chefs dinner (we prefer the Pinnacle that night).

[dchip]

Enjoying your posts! It's helping to keep us cool. It's been 105 here for the past couple of days!!

 

Cheers,

Denise and Howie

[MMDown Under]

I enjoyed your detailed description of icy Strait Point. When we visited Alaska in 2003 there was much discussion by locals who couldn't imagine what ships would do there. Now 69 ships visited in 2016!

[TheCalicoCat]

I'm glad to hear that you are getting good use out of your coats.

 

It felt weird packing mine for next week, when we are about to hit the 90's again...

[WCB]

Report # 7 SailingTowards Anchorage, Alaska July 9,2017 Sunday Partly cloudy & 52 degrees

 

Today was easy, as are most days at sea. We like that. Not having to be anywhere in particular, except for meals. Never miss those.

 

The staff onboard knows that these days will give passengersthe opportunity to part with some cash while enjoying being pampered. Besides a series of exercise classes, thereare also chances to get spa treatments. Good time to get updated on the current trends in the jewelrydepartment. On this cruise we havenoticed that ammolite is promoted. Wedid not know that this stone is one of the oldest gemstones dating back 70million years. We also were surprised tolearn that ammolite is only found in Canada, and it is rare these days. Another stone that was featured today was theopal. They come in shades from white topeacock, or harlequin rainbow. This maybe an old wife’s tale, but we always believe that only those born in the monthof October should wear opals, or they were bad luck. Amusing fact: the shop’s ad in today’s newsletter said that opals have been known asthe lucky gem since the 1880’s. Now wedon’t know what to believe.

 

The day began with the sun shining, but later turned mostlycloudy. By the way, the sun rose at5:01am. Sunset tonight will be after11pm. No wonder Alaska is called theland of the midnight sun. It is strange,but sleep does not come easy with the room lit up like daytime. Of course, we do have blackout curtains, but seldomshut them. Never know when a whale mightappear, so we are always on the lookout.

 

One highlight of the day was the virtual tour of the bridgeas narrated by Captain Eversen. He wasavailable for questions following the presentation. We missed his talk today, but we haveattended on past cruises.

 

What is different about a shorter cruise, compared to aworld cruise, is that we have no guest lecturers. Understandable, since in two weeks, there areonly a few sea days. So the talks thattake place in the show lounge are usually the port talks. Today was all you needed to know aboutAnchorage, Homer, and Kodiak.

 

Between walks outside, visiting with friends, and enjoyingthe cuisine in the dining room, we spentmuch of the day working on photos and catching up on reports. With three ports in a row coming up, it’salways a good idea to gather the information ahead of time.

 

Tonight was a gala evening, but we did not join our table,since we had been invited to a President’s Club dinner with Captain Fred, Bart,the hotel director, and Maja, the guest relations manager. Brooke joined Captain Fred in welcoming sixof us members to the back room of the Pinnacle Grill. It began at 6:30pm. One couple we recognized from previouscruises, and the second couple were newly-inducted. The staff even brought out the good plate ware……Versacefrom Rosenthal with Medusa the central focal point. Bart said that the service settings of theseplates are limited, so they are only used for a small group now. TheCaptain mentioned that it was a possibility that the complete set of dishescost somewhere in the area of $50,000. Or maybe he was kidding. Each ofthe seven courses was served on a plate with a different design. And each one had plenty of gold leaf woven inthe pattern.

 

What was over-the-top was the food served on them. Beginning with course one, we enjoyed a duckravioli with Asian pear, and watercress. There was a dash of BBQ sauce underneath, giving it all the flavor. This was served with Dom Perignonchampagne. Seared scallops with cornpuree were topped with braised pork belly, although one of us had fish instead,due to a shellfish allergy. The staff ismost accommodating in here. The thirdcourse was Maine lobster salad with mango. Everyone raved about the lime panna cotta on the side, although one ofus passed on the lobster, and had salmon.

 

Green asparagus soup followed with tiny chicken dumplings onthe bottom of the fancy bowl. This bowlwas outfitted with golden wings for handles, in keeping with the Medusa theme. Whitewine from New Zealand was poured, then later a red cabernet sauvignonaccompanied the main entrée. That was abeef tenderloin with sliced portabella mushrooms and a potato gallette. Totally delicious.

 

Dessert was number six course. It consisted of an Australian pavlova,actually small dollups of whipped cream covered with a white meringue. Surrounding these little peaks werestrawberries, raspberries, and a huge blackberry. A strip of fruit leather wove through thecenter like a red ribbon, and one scoop of mango sorbet added to the flavors.

 

Coffee was served, then came course number seven….artisancheese with dried fruit, nuts, and crackers. And they were not done yet. Awaiter came to each of us offering the sweet chocolate candies we always haveat the end of a meal. OK, now we werestuffed. We had figured we would haveended dinner by 8pm, but as it turned out, we left the room after 9:30pm. Thanking our hosts, we headed outside, butonly briefly, for a quick walk. We forgothow cold it is here without heavy coats on. Captain Fred admitted that we have been most lucky on this trip sofar. Having rain in icy Strait was notso bad. He checked the forecast for Anchoragetomorrow, and he found it was still going to be mostly sunny. Good for all of us.

 

The entertainment this evening was performed by the singersand dancers. The theme was rockin’roadhouse, but by the time we got there, it was about over. Maybe next time…..

 

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I always enjoy your posts and have been following you for years. I do appreciate your description and where you walked at Icy Straight Point as I will be there in a couple of weeks on a Celebrity Ship. And now I will have something to do since I have done the tours of interest there. Thank you.