The second leg of my month-long road trip saw me going to Seattle to ship Mom and Wade home and pick up Cindy and Sylvia for our weeklong cruise of Alaska. All aboard!
Saturday, July 13th
On Saturday morning, I dropped off my mom and Wade at the airport and waited for Cindy and Sylvia to land. Within an hour, they had landed, we got their suitcases, and we were off. Our first stop was Pike’s Market Place in downtown Seattle. Cindy and I had visited there in the past and really enjoyed it. Here are Cindy and Sylvia on our way to Pikes.
In the past, we have visited the market on a weekday and even though it was crowded, it was a fun visit. This is what a weekend looks like when there are cruises leaving Seattle.
It was chaos and not very enjoyable at all. At least I got to see some very large shrimp. Too expensive for my taste, but very large.
We left the madness of the market for the madness of the original Starbucks coffee across the street.
The line to get into the Starbucks was very long so we moved on and walked around the downtown area.
We ended up at another Starbucks that was not crowded and Cindy and Sylvia got there “Seattle” mugs.
We ended up getting a snack at the Mochinut Store which was very interesting and delicious. We had some mochi donuts in Hawaii and enjoyed them and these were just as good.
Of all of the places we visited on Saturday, Mochinut was the only one to earn a link. You know where it is.
Days 1 and 2 of the Cruise – Boarding and a day at sea
On Sunday we boarded our Princess ship for our weeklong Alaskan cruise. We learned our ship had approximately 4,000 passengers on this sailing. Here is our ship, the Majestic Princess.
This was our view of the city from on board the ship.
Once we were on board, we had to wait several bours before we could go to our room. We had a drink at one of the bars while we waited. Here I am holding down the fort and getting the drinks.
Once we finally got to our room, we loved it.
And the balcony was nice with a view of the “over the water see through walkway.”
We had an upgraded room and meal package, so we were able to eat at all of the regular restaurants, and we had two meals at the “specialty restaurants.” We had a reservation at one of the specialty restaurants, “The Catch by Rudi,” on our first night. Here we are, ready for dinner.
The meal was absolutely delicious, as one would expect on a cruise. Here are a few of our Hors d’oeuvres.
The main courses.
And they didn’t skimp on the dessert.
We were stuffed but still managed to listen to some live music in the Atrium area before heading off to our room.
The second day was a sea day as we cruised up the Canadian and Alaskan coast. We took it easy and watched a champagne pouring and show in the Atrium area.
We went on the outside deck too, since the weather was not bad.
We finished off the day with dinner in the Concerto Dining Room. But first, a picture.
The food was once again outstanding.
As were the desserts.
We ended up eating at the Concerto Dining Room three nights. We loved our waiter, Joy, his assistant, Cem (pronounced Gem), and the area lead, Lance. They made the dining experience just as much as the food did.
Day 3 – Port of Ketchikan
This was our first port of call. We had scheduled excursions at all four ports. The excursion at this port was a lumberjack show followed by an all you can eat crab lunch. We had heard the show was outstanding and how could we pass on all you can eat crab. The night before, we had received an update to our excursion requiring us to be at our assigned area for pick up 30 minutes earlier then we were originally told. Not a problem for us. At least that is what we believed. We would be wrong. As we pulled into port, it was cloudy and lightly raining.
We grabbed a quick, light breakfast in the buffet and headed off.
We were confused when we walked past the entrance to the lumberjack show and were seated in a diner.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, the change to our excursion was the all you can eat crab was now for breakfast instead of lunch. Are you kidding me? If we had known that, we would have booked a different excursion. We made the best of it and the crab was pretty tasty. The lumberjack show was outstanding. We sat beneath an overhang, so the light rain was not an issue for us. Here are some pre-show pictures.
There was lots of log chopping.
And of course, log rolling.
The lumberjack show was outstanding. If you choose to take an Alaskan cruise, you have to see this show. After the show, we walked around the crowded town and learned the vast majority of the shops in the tourist areas are owned by the cruise ship companies. That made us go out of our way to find locally owned stores to buy anything from. Between the bad weather and crowded tourist area, we had enough and headed back to the ship.
We had a drink at the bar and waited for what I call the “running of the bulls.” It seems like at every port, someone, or a small group of people, will show up after the time they are already supposed to be on the ship. I have yet to see anyone get left behind, but have heard of it happening.
And here are today’s winners. These three women showed up half an hour late and when several people started to clap for them from their balconies, the one in the teal shirt took a bow. That was a mistake. The clapping turned to nasty comments as they hustled on board.
We had dinner at our favorite restaurant again, and it was outstanding. From the top going down are a clam soup, pork chops, and sliced turkey breast.
After another amazing dinner, we watched the 80’s dance party in the Atrium area.
Day 4 – Port of Juneau
On the way to Juneau, we cruised up the Endicott Arm to the Dawes Glacier. We were excited about this, but not the 4 am wake up to see it. We all got up early, dressed warmly, and watched from our balcony. It was around 40 degrees outside, but the views on the way to the glacier were amazing and made it worth it.
There were a ton of waterfalls.
There were small chunks of ice floating by as well. Some were really blue.
And finally, Dawes Glacier.
It was well worth waking up early. On our way out of the arm, where the fresh water met the ocean, there was a distinct line between the two types of water.
A few hours later we pulled into Juneau.
It was chilly (low 50s), overcast, and raining steadily. Our excursion for the day was to visit Mendenhall Glacier and then take a boat ride in the local bays and go whale watching. Once off the ship, we were able to wait for our bus under a large, covered awning. Clearly the rain is not something new. As chaotic as it was with literally thousands of people exiting the ship and most of them trying to get onto a bus, it went rather smoothly. Here we are on our bus excited to go see a glacier.
Less than an hour drive later, our bus pulled up to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor’s Center. Our driver dropped us off and said he would return in an hour to take us to the boats for our whale watching. Here are Cindy and Sylvia near the visitor’s center.
As you can see, it was raining pretty hard. That drove everyone into the visitor’s center, making that impossible to enjoy. Because it was raining so hard, we couldn’t hike on any of the trails that went near the glacier. At least we could see it through the haze and rain.
There was also a waterfall near the glacier.
And we saw an iceberg floating down the river near the waterfall and glacier.
Our glacier and waterfall viewing took about half an hour, so we hid under some cover for the next half an hour waiting for our bus to return. We did not enjoy the stop. Our next stop was to get onto a boat that had all indoor seating. That was nice since it was still raining. Here is our boat.
Here we are on the boat.
The water in the bay was very calm and we saw several whales breaching. This half of the excursion was enjoyable. We returned to our room on the ship and learned our excursion of riding ATVs on a land tour was cancelled. We went to the excursion desk and had a train ride suggested to us. So, train ride it was going to be. We had some very good pizza at the pizza restaurant for dinner. We ended the night watching everyone dance in the Atrium area.
Day 5 – Port of Skagway
As we pulled into the port of Skagway, it was foggy and misty. It looked like it could be another miserable weather day.
The port of Skagway had been damaged by some landslides, so we had to take small shuttle busses to the train station, which was just outside of the downtown area. Here we are getting on the train and sitting on it. The weather started to clear as we boarded and mostly cleared to a sunny day as we ascended the mountain.
The ride up to White Pass took about an hour and the scenery was beautiful.
At one point, I looked at the tracks ahead of us and panicked for a second.
I was looking at the old track. Luckily, our track was fine. And the scenery was still beautiful.
White Pass is the peak of the mountain and sits on the border of the United States (Alaska) and Canada.
The train goes into Canada where it turns around and returns to the United States. We had to remain on the train the entire time. Here is our very short time in Canada.
Here is some of the scenery on our way down the mountain.
At the base of the mountain, we had the choice to get off of the train in the downtown area or stay on and get off at the train station and take a shuttle back to the ship. We chose to get off in the downtown area and explore.
Like the other ports, the town was crowded, but at least it wasn’t raining this time. We ate a decent meal at a local restaurant, did some shopping, and walked back to the shuttle stop. We could see our ship, so we decided to take a “short cut.” We ended up walking to the wrong pier and had to walk around the long way to get back to the shuttle stop.
Once back on board, we watched a very large ferry unloading cars and RVs. The ferries are the only way to get vehicles between the islands.
Then it was time for the running of the bulls. With the shuttle system in place, I was sure there would be a lot of people running late. I was not disappointed. Here are the people who were only 15-30 minutes late.
And the award for the last two people on board goes to an elderly couple with the woman in a wheelchair. They were 45 minutes late. And the cruise staff had to bring her down the ramp because her partner could not.
Maybe it’s just me, but wouldn’t you try to be a little earlier if you knew it would take you longer to do everything? Here is an idea. Try thinking about the other 3,998 people on the ship instead of just yourself. There. I said it and now I feel better. Here are some pictures of us leaving the port………..late.
After our last delicious dinner at Concerto, we headed to our room and watched a beautiful sunset from our balcony.
Day 6 – At Sea
We mostly relaxed on our sea day. I started the day with a deluxe bloody mary.
We met the Princess Cruise Alaskan Cruise Mascot, Lumberjack Stanley. Of course we had to get a picture with him.
All of the ocean movement finally got to Sylvia, so she took it really easy and rested. Cindy and I walked around the ship and spent some time in the Atrium area.
Fortunately, some rest and Dramamine got Sylvia moving in time to join is for our second specialty restaurant dinner at the Crown Grill.
Check out the interesting plates there.
We started with grilled shrimp, and all had some form of steak and lobster.
For dessert, we split some Creme Brulee and a Banana Custard with white chocolate.
After another delicious dinner, we watched the dancers in the Atrium area then went to bed.
Day 7 – Port of Victoria, Canada
We spent the morning and afternoon of our final day of the cruise sailing to Victoria. During the day, there was a well-deserved tribute to the chefs and wait staff in the Atrium area.
We realized our favorite wait staff from Concerto ended up standing right in front of us. If you’re curious about what their backs look like, wonder no more.
Here is our view of the port in Victoria as we pulled in .
Once off of the ship, we walked through a building with a giant Canada sign on it and we were in Victoria, Canada.
Our excursion on this stop was a walking food tour of Victoria. We immediately found our guide and had a few minutes before we were off. He suggested everyone use the “washroom” around the corner, so we did.
The washroom was basically a fancy port-a-potty. And with that, we were off on our walk. Our first stop was Fisherman’s Wharf Park for some Hawaiian pizza at Pirate Pizza. The place we ate was on the water and the pizza was fine. Nothing to write home about, but good enough to eat.
Our tour guide told us the story of Hawaiian Pizza. He said an Asian chef from Hong Kong who cooked Italian food migrated to Victoria and invented Hawaiian pizza that became a best seller in Australia. True or not, it is an interesting story. We continued on and our next stop was at Steamship Bar and Grill where we had wine and either a salad or clam chowder. Cindy and Sylvia had the salad while I enjoyed the clam chowder.
The Steamship Bar and Grill used to be an actual steamship port building. Our tour guide’s grandparents met there when his grandmother worked at the port and his grandfather worked on a steamship. When we left the Steamship Bar and Grill it was getting dark and we had made it to the downtown area.
We walked around the downtown area and down a street lined with stores. The was a smoke and cigar shop that had burned down years before and had to be rebuilt. Also, we visited Rodger’s Chocolates. They have been making chocolates at the store we visited since 1903. The chocolates were delicious.
Here is our tour guide.
Overall, we really enjoyed this excursion. We returned to our ship for the overnight trip to Seattle.
The next day the debarkation process was pretty smooth, and we made it to the truck in short order. Here is my overall impression of this trip. This is the third cruise Cindy and I have been on. Cruising is great. It is nice having a room steward that takes care of your room and staff for anything else you may need. The food is off of the hook delicious and there is more than you could possibly eat. I could cruise anywhere and enjoy the cruise experience. Now for Alaska as a destination. It’s not for me. I did not enjoy the crowded tourist traps which were basically every stop we had. I really want to return to Alaska and get away from the tourist areas and see the real Alaska. Hopefully that trip will be in our future.
After we dropped Sylvia at the airport, we picked up our daughter Corrianne, who had flown in from Houston. And that trip is for the next blog. Smooth sailing until then.
LINKS