I’ve never been a great fan of cruises although our European river cruise of 2017 was great fun. Our first “ocean cruise” was a necessity in some ways in order to take in some of the iconic sights of Alaska – and a National Park – and I figured the 7 days of this particular cruise would provide a significant amount of “land time”.
Here is our itinerary –
Day 1 – Getting Underway
Weather again warm – mid 20’s – but again a lot of smoke haze.
We had been designated “Group A” for our boarding so we had to be at the terminal by 10am. So after a leisurely breakfast at our hotel, we rolled down the hill to the cruise terminal. It was buzzing, with police directing lines of traffic – taxis and cars bringing people in – and other “crowd control” directing people with stop/go signs across pedestrian crossings to keep things flowing.
We dropped our luggage at the assigned location (we would next see it in our cabin) and then moved to the check-in process. Holland Amercia have an app – “Navigator” – which co-ordinates much of the cruise, from pre-boarding to check-in to daily activities. This was all pretty smooth and then we moved on to the customs/immigration stage – the cruise essentially has us leaving Canada and sailing into the USA. Queues were quite long but moving steadily. Through customs we then moved through a couple of “holding areas” until the ship was ready to board.
It was probably about 11.30 when we eventually made it on board. Adrienne’s research was pretty spot on as the main buffet area was being inundated with people starting with lunch whilst they waited for the announcement that cabins were ready. However, we made our way to the back of the Lido deck – and outside pool area with seating areas and a bar.
So, a table on the deck, a couple of bubblies and a nice pizza later, our cabin was ready.
We have a Signature Suite on level 6 with a nice verandah on the starboard side of the ship. Heading north, this makes the “land side” view right off our verandah. Unfortunately the smoke haze has been a constant which has affected those views.
We did our “safety check-in” – finding our muster station where we would assemble in case of an emergency and watching the onboard safety video and the rest of the day was ours.
For the remainder of the afternoon we did a lot of exploring up and down the decks, stopping for the occasional refreshment, and then had our first dinner at the “Pinnacle Grill” – one of the fine dining options. The food was excellent – I had crab cakes for starters and a delicious piece of Alaskan Halibut for main – and a little cheese selection to finish. Adrienne had mushroom soup for starters, a steak for main and finished with a Creme Brulee .
A quiet nightcap to finish off our first day !
Day 2 – Cruising the Inside Passage
We started with a light breakfast in the Explorations Cafe toward the top of the ship.
Weather was again overcast / smoke hazy as we sailed the “Inside Passage” between various islands along the Canadian coastline, north to Alaska.
We decided to get a bit of exercise and did a number of laps walking around the ship – 3 laps around the deck covered 1.6km. There were a number with the same idea and it became a bit of an obstacle course at times – some slow, others quicker, some going the opposite direction ! Although it was billed as “scenic cruising” it was very hazy and overcast so not the best views today. However there was always something going on to put your attention to.
We had an early dinner in the main dining room – food again excellent. Adrienne had a Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail followed by a rack of lamb and dutch apple pie, and for me a delicious artichoke dip, the rack of lamb also and even the apple pie !
We then wandered the show options for a bit and settled on the “Ocean Bar” where a trio – piano, cello and guitar – called Third Avenue West, were playing a great blend of jazz & modern music . They even managed a good rendition of “Play That Funky Music, White Boy” thrown out as a request from one of the audience !
Day 3 – Ketchikan, AK
Weather today a bit overcast, a few minor spots of rain, about 15C.
Our first port, and of course the gateway to State No. 50 for us, is Ketchikan, Alaska.
We had an early arrival – about 7 am – and we were up to see the docking in port. Up very early in fact – the clocks went back an hour from “Canadian” (Vancouver) time to “USA” time and unfortunately our phone clocks didn’t “adjust” quick enough. So our 6 am alarm was actually 5 am and it wasnt until we had already showered and got ready that we registered our room service breakfast was “late” – no, we were an hour early ! Oh well …
A big “plus” though with Holland America Line is they have priority in the ports so we get prime docking locations in each location – basically a short walk into the town for each stop.
Our program for the day was firstly a visit to the first show of the day at the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show. Very entertaining, basically 2 teams of 2 lumberjacks – USA v Canada – representing the competition between 2 lumberjack teams – Dawson Creek Camp (Canada) and Spruce Mill Camp (USA) from the early logging camp days.
Very fast paced and entertaining as the teams carried out about 10 lumberjack “activities” – from wood chop, to saw teams, to tree climbing and log rolling. A good start to the day.
We then wandered into town to Creek Street. Creek Street was the original “seedy end” of town in the gold mining days – bars & brothels. The creek is now full of salmon returning upstream for the season to spawn. Along the salmon walk is now a “Salmon Lock” where the fish battle the current “upstairs” to make their way up the river.
In the lower part of the river were a couple of fat seals who had obviously taken residence to feed on the abundant menu available. It was quite amazing as we walked along the creek to see – and smell ! – how many dead salmon there were.
We then headed for the Totem Heritage Centre where there are exhibits of various totem poles and then made our way back toward the dock area. We walked the main streets, through various shops and eventually back to the ship.
Just a short land stop today as “all aboard” was 2.30pm to setoff for the next port. We had a late lunch on the Lido deck – very tasty bread rolls before a little blogging and a snooze – didn’t sleep well as, for me, the low “hum” from the ships engines / airconditioning system made the environment similar to that of being on a plane.
We had dinner again in the dining room. Today was “Orange Day” – a tradition on dutch cruises – and “dressy night”. So we donned a bit of orange and enjoyed another great meal. Adrienne had a bacon and cheese soup, followed by salmon in a honey mustard sauce and a mango tart. I had salmon & shrimp devilled eggs, followed by a tasty pock schnitzel and cheese selection.
We then went to the top deck where there was a bit of “wildlife spotting” going on. We managed to catch a glimpse of some whales breaching as the darkness and mist settled on the calm seas. Cruising close to shore has been a great option for me as the landscape, even with the average weather, has been constantly changing.
We than decided on B B Kings Blues Bar where it was “Games Night” – Dancing through the Decades. It was a bit of a laugh and then we sat out the evening with Third Avenue West again in the Ocean Bar – it seems to be a bit quieter than some of the other areas.
A good day !
Day 4 – Juneau, AK
Weather today, similar to yesterday – overcast, cool, before rain later in the day. Low teens temps.
Arrival in Juneau was a bit later this morning – 10am – so we had a leisurely breakfast in the dining room before watching our arrival in Juneau from our verandah. Juneau is the capital of Alaska and as a “location” a bit more “mundane” compared to the other ports.
Juneau is also unique in that it is inaccessible by road – the only way in or out is by sea or air. It does have a road system of sorts – getting around locally and out to the glacier etc – although the main road apparently extends north and south for about 20 miles or so before you hit a “road ends” sign and you have to turn back !
The main attraction in Juneau is Mendenhall Glacier, about 20 minutes bus ride from downtown. It was one of about 38 glaciers in the Juneau Ice Fields, an area of about 1,500 square miles and a remnant of the last ice age. Unfortunately, like many, it is receding – about 1.75 miles since 1929.
Glaciers are an amazing sight and the lake at the base has a few small “icebergs” floating in it. We took a trail out and back to Nugget Falls near the glacier and took in an interested film at the visitor centre. Our bus driver collected us again after about 2 hours to take us back to downtown.
We wandered around the town a bit then back to the ship for a very late lunch – this time tasty hot dogs from the eatery onboard called “Dive In – Burgers, Hotdogs & Fries”.
We were nearly from one meal to the next as we had an early dinner booking at another “fine dining” option called “Tamarind” – serving Pan-Asian cuisine. It was excellent – a satay sampler for starters and Thai Basil Szechuan Shrimp for me, “Jewels of the Sea” (shrimp wontons, bok choy and lemongrass sesami broth) and Panang Red Curry Coconut Chicken for Adrienne.
Tonight’s entertainment was in the “Billboard” Bar – it had been packed on previous nights however we managed to find a seat tonight. 2 guys playing pianos and tonight it was the 60’s and 80’s selection. They were pretty good, especially the 60’s set, despite what I would call an odd selection of 80’s hits for most of the audience on hand.
Day 5 – Skagway, AK
Weather today varied greatly depending on where we were – read on.
We arrived in Skagway early again – around 7am. We hadn’t booked any cruise tours today, instead deciding to hire a car ourselves. The ship was not leaving until about 9pm so we had plenty of time to do our own thing.
Skagway is billed as the “Gateway to the Klondike”. At the peak of the gold rush days it was the largest city in Alaska and had about 10 times the number of residents it has today.
After a quick (and light !) breakfast in the bistro, we disembarked to collect our car in the nearby parking lot and we were on our way. It was misty grey and quite cool and as the town sits at the bottom of a mountainside on the water, as we drove out and higher it got mistier and started to rain. We drove up and up – very slowly really as the road was full of bus tours heading out for the day also. The main attraction here is to do a White Pass Summit Scenic Railway tour which can involve a train both ways or alternatively a bus one way – hence the traffic !
We are also close to the Canadian border here so about 14km away we went through border control into “Yukon Territory”. First stop was Yukon Suspension Bridge, situated on the South Klondike Highway in the White Mountains. It spans the Tutshi River about 65 metres above the white water flow of the river. It is quite a complex somewhat out in the wilderness – with a visitor centre, cafe, restaurant amongst raised walkways on the cliff tops. Well worth a visit !
By now the weather had lifted to largely blue skies and we drove on through some beautiful scenery. Eventually we came to Carcross. It is not much of a town but a stop on the White Pass and Yukon railway route. Just further on from the town is the Carcross Desert, an area of sand dunes formed from the trapped silt deposits of old glacial lakes.
We then started to head further toward the next major town – stopping at Emerald Lake – before the scenery changed to more scrubby woodland so we decided to turn back to Skagway. By this stage the weather had also improved somewhat in the mountains so by the time we re-crossed the border back to the USA we were able to see much of the mountain pass which had been blanketed in mist and rain on the way up.
Back in Skagway, we walked around the town, stopped for a drink at the Skagway Brewery – despite a blackout in the town (which the barman told us was “not infrequent”) and then back to the ship for a late lunch again. We tried the “Dive-In” again to try their burgers however they seemed to lose our order and we ended up with burgers that had obviously been sitting around for a while – probably the only disappointing food offering throughout the whole cruise.
We then sat on our verandah for a while and watched the activity around the dock. As I’ve said, we get prime position at each dock which was particularly favourable here as there was a landslip about 12 months ago which blocked a couple of the other dock areas and is still being repaired. The Princess Cruises ship in dock had to use 4 of its tender boats to ferry passengers on and off and it was a busy procession for them.
We went back to the dining room for dinner – Adrienne had salmon chowder for starters followed by a beef tenderloin and I had a Thai spring roll followed by beef brisket and after dinner listened to Third Avenue West again in the Ocean Bar before heading for bed – another full day !
Day 6 – Glacier Bay National Park
An early start today as we spent the day cruising around Glacier Bay – a real highlight !
Weather was a bit overcast most of the day, mixed in with a light shower at one point in the morning but also a little sunshine. And cold most of the day with the wind chill off the water ! Late in the day as we made our way out into the last leg of the cruise into the Gulf of Alaska, it became quite windy with some rough seas.
Our day started in the Crows Nest with a light breakfast as we waited for a talk by the National Park rangers who had boarded the ship in the early hours of the morning. For today’s cruising they had also opened up the bow on 3 levels to allow for viewing of the sights of the day. Although foggy for much of the way up the bay, we managed to see a few sea otters in the water.
Around 9.30 we had reached Margerie Glacier. It is one of the most active glaciers in the bay. It extends over 30km, is about 1.5km wide and at the bay over 100 metres high. It was freezing standing on the deck, however it was wall to wall people standing in awe, cameras clicking endlessly. The ship turned slowly around so that everyone had a great view.
We sailed slowly back down the bay before stopping at Reid Glacier – which had basically been hidden by fog and mist on the way up. We did manage to see a hump back whale spout and dive but unfortunately not a lot more wildlife during the day.
We spent time on different decks taking in the different views as well as the great view from our verandah. We had a casual lunch of tasty bread rolls on our verandah as we watched the scenery pass by.
We had another walk around the deck as the ship sailed out of the bay and the weather closed in again.
After a quiet drink before dinner we made our way to the dining room. We both had Escargot Bourguignon for starters whilst Adrienne had grilled salmon with capers and dill and I had a grilled pepper tenderloin and shrimp. Dessert was Tiramisu and cheese.
It has been a great day with plenty of photos – none of them can really do the place justice !
Tomorrow will be our last day on the ship, sailing the Gulf of Alaska and taking in College Fjord late in the day. We then disembark early the next morning and start our driving section of our tour. So, I’ll leave covering this in the next post.
The cruise has well exceeded my expectations – Adrienne would say they were very low to start with – and has been very enjoyable.
The seven days has been about right and the service onboard has been excellent. The ship size has been good with no real feeling of being overcrowded. Certain areas have been busy but we have always been able to find something to accommodate our preferences. The fact that the majority of the cruise has been close to land has meant there has always been something to look at, whether it be from a deck somewhere or from our own verandah.
On the negative side – can’t really fault anything other than perhaps one dodgy lunch experience – I just don’t seem to sleep very well on something that is constantly moving or in a “climate controlled” environment, eventhough it has been very smooth sailing most of the time. (As I write this we are swaying quite a bit through rough seas so things might be different tonight !)
Overall however it has been a great experience and I would highly recommend it .
But, it’s soon back to the road for me ! 😂