Evening after Juneau

We had eaten pizza around 1:30pm, and so at 4:30pm weren't all that interested in dressing formally for dinner. Instead, the gorgeous scenery passing by, and the warm sun in our balcony convinced us to move around our plans for the evening. G headed to the hot tubs on the Lido Deck, but returned after not too long. His reason? The views were better from our cabin. So we soaked up the scenery and sun, dressing for the evening in just enough time to go to the Captains Circle party at 7:15pm. Once again, we had the fourth highest number of Princess days. Always a bridesmaid...

After the Captains Circle party, we stepped outside the Universe Lounge to see the best sunset of the cruise unfolding just outside the windows. And, the best part was that it was warm enough for us to step out on the Promenade Deck to take a few photos. Wow, we've enjoyed great weather.

We then went to the Princess Theater to see comedian Carlos Oscar. Now, Carlos had beaten our beloved Beatle Maniacs to win Princess Entertainer of the Year (I'm still dumbfounded at that fact). He was funny...but as a comedian, he does a show we'll see once. Beatle Maniacs we enjoy cruise after cruise after cruise. And that's important to us, as we stay on a ship for cruise after cruise after cruise.

:-)

Finally, after 9pm we finally arrived in the dining room for formal night dinner. Only the draw of lobster and beef Wellington had us eating dinner that late. We made it through dinner, and then were in bed 20 minutes later. It had been a full day!

Tomorrow: our final port of call, Ketchikan

Photo 1: late afternoon on our balcony cruising Stevens Passage

Photos 2 and 3: Captains Circle party in the Universe Lounge; Cruise Director Rich Joseph (Photo 2), Captain Binetti (Photo 3)

Photo 4: check out this sunset!

Photo 5: Carlos Oscar performs in the Princess Theater

Sailaway from Juneau

Whales! We spotted whales again, along our starboard side. No photos, sadly...we would have had to have cameras in hand to catch them, and since they were a surprise, and not exactly where they "should" have been, we were unprepared.

Photo 1: the weather today was perfect!

Photo 2: at low tide, a Juneau "beach"

Photo 3: the view toward downtown Juneau

Photo 4: Douglas Island marina along the Gastineau Channel

Day 12: Juneau

Summer came to Juneau today, and how nice for the locals that it happened on a Sunday.

The foggy, wet weather of the past three days has been forgotten, and today was the prettiest single day of our cruise to date. While our day in Juneau on this southbound route was somewhat limited (we sailed at 4pm), we made the most of it by leaving the ship mid-morning and taking a leisurely walk along the Juneau waterfront into downtown.

We were once again particularly intrigued by the number of floatplanes taking off and landing amongst the cruise ships and fishing boats. In a bit of nostalgia, our very first cruise ship, Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas was in Juneau today, exactly 15 years to the week after we sailed on her to Alaska on our first cruise. Another past ship, Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas was also in Juneau. We cruised on that ship for 23 nights through the Panama Canal and out to Hawaii in April 2002, and it remains one of our favorite ships. It is certainly the most beautiful cruise ship we've ever been on, and although we'd heard that the Island Princess was just as pretty...well, sorry, but the Radiance still holds that honor in our minds.

We finished up our gift buying in one of the gift shops along the waterfront. In fact, I had just said to G, "We're still looking for something for Xxxxx", when we both spotted the most perfect item imaginable. Love it when that happens!

We were determined today to get back to the ship in time to hear Libby Riddles talk at 1:45pm, since we had missed her presentation on the last cruise, and we did get back just in time to grab a piece of pizza and then head to the Universe Lounge. Her hour-long presentation was very interesting and fun, but, honestly, to hear about her Iditarod "all-nighter" at 60 below zero just about numbed my brain. We were out in 9 below two winters ago and it was too cold to fasten my seatbelt. 60 below...no thanks, and her fame is well deserved.

Afterwards, we returned to our cabin and there we stayed, enjoying our sunny (warm!) balcony on the scenic side of the ship and watching the boat and floatplane traffic.

The fish BBQ that had been served on the open Lido Deck upon our early departure from Ketchikan last cruise was served today after our early departure from Juneau, but we skipped it this week. Our chocolate covered strawberries were delivered just in time for sailaway (tonight is a formal night), and we stayed on our the balcony while the ship sailed down the Gastineau Channel and turned south at Stevens Passage en route to Ketchikan.

Photo 1: our first cruise ship, the Rhapsody of the Seas, in Juneau today, exactly 15 years after we first sailed on her. 1997 was her inaugural year.

Photo 2: Wings Aviation, the source of most of the floatplane traffic

Photo 3: National Geographic's Seabird ship started an Inside Passage cruise from Juneau today. 62 passengers are paying around $1000 per person per night for that cruise!

Photo 4: cleaning fish along the waterfront

Photo 5:  Libby Riddles, first woman to win the Iditarod dogsled race

Video:  Floatplane takeoff in Juneau

Sailaway from Juneau

It was about 6:30pm by the time we arrived at the Bordeaux Dining Room (the Anytime Dining Room). We weren't certain how busy they would be, as we were still docked in Juneau, and we were instructed to go the the Provence (traditional) dining room one deck up, where they had a table for two immediately available. Waiter Girard from the Phillipines and assistant waiter Akmad from Indonesia were wonderful- and patient when I had to send back my seafood soup (it just wasn't hot enough) and G ordered a second surf and turf. The food has been marvelous but it does seem as if portion sizes have been reduced. No matter; there's no issue with ordering seconds and thirds, although we seldomly do that. It's just that it had been a long time since breakfast and we had had an active day.

It was a foregone conclusion (as we almost fell asleep at the table) that we would NOT be going to a show after dinner. Yes, we were tired, but moreso we wanted to watch sailaway at 9pm from our balcony. What we didn't know is that we would also be seeing a beautiful sunset.

We left the dining room and stopped by the Patisserie for cups of brewed coffee to take back to our cabin, but realized we'd left our coffee card in our cabin. No matter- we walked across the Piazza to the Passenger Services Desk and got a copy of our on board statement which proved we had purchased a coffee card on the current cruise. Armed with this, we picked up our coffee and I headed up to the Horizon Court buffet for some cheeses, dried fruits and nuts. G pushed the elevator button for Aloha Deck, where our cabin is located,, and was looking at our statement while we stood in the elevator. As he exited the elevator one deck before me, he turned around and asked, "Did you enjoy that $150 bottle of wine?". I thought he was kidding. Us? Buy a $150 bottle of wine? Sure enough, a charge of $172 ($150 plus 15% tip) had shown up on our account.

Always. Check. Your. On board. Spending. Statement. Every. Day.

Unfortunately, we have this issue periodically on Princess, but never on other cruise lines. However, we've never had an issue quite this large.

When I returned from the buffet with the plate of cheese, G was not in the cabin, and I knew exactly where he was. I added cognac to our coffees and settled on the balcony, watching the sun begin to slip behind the mountains surrounding Juneau. Within a few minutes, G returned. The Passengers Services Desk couldn't find a receipt for the charge (no surprise here). The issue hasn't been totally resolved but we know it's just a matter of time. We then sat wondering about the price of the most expensive bottle of wine we've ever bought. I don't know what it is, but it's way, WAY less than $150!!

Believe it or not, while we were still docked, just before sunset, there was a boat pulling a water skier around just next to the ship. Water skiing. At sunset. In Juneau, Alaska. I shivered just watching it.

Although we were on the side of the ship not facing the pier, and so couldn't see the shoreside activity, we could tell when the ship had released its lines and began to move slowly away from the pier. Sailing back down Gastineau Channel at dusk, sipping coffee and cognac and nibbling from our cheese plate is not something I'll soon forget.

G was asleep almost immediately, and I followed after preparing the blog posts about our day, to be sent in the morning when we once again have 3G Internet from our phones in Skagway.

It had been a perfect day, in a hundred ways, in Juneau.

Photo 1: the view from our balcony

Photo 2: sunset in Juneau, Alaska, not something you see every day

Photo 3: the mountains rise up from the water along Gastineau Channel

Photo 4: waterskiing at sunset- brrrrrrrrr!

East Glacier Trail hike

Photo 1: what a view!


Photo 2: lichen growing on a rock in the rainforest


Photo 3: the forest floor covered with moss and ferns

Photo 4: AJ Falls

Videos 5 and 6: a real life sound machine

Photo 7: the weather was perfect!

Mendenhall Glacier and the East Glacier Loop trail

Our first glimpse of the glacier from the road quickened our pace. The sun had come out full stop (how lucky can we be with the weather this week?) and the blue of the glacier was striking.

Our next stop was the visitors center, where we once again used G's Senior Pass to be admitted for free. The visitors center had a beautiful lookout area and several exhibits, including a large piece of 200 year old glacial ice that we were able to touch. But the highlight was, once again, the movie, with gorgeous aerial photography of the glacier and the surrounding Tongass National Forest.

Although it was already mid-afternoon, we decided to hike the 3.5 mile East Glacier Loop Trail, which started behind the visitors center. It was a beautiful trail through the rain forest and offered great overlook views of the glacier and the large waterfall to its right. Along the way we were astonished by the heavy moss covering the rain forest floor and the different kinds and colors of lichen growing on the trees. For those folks from Ohio, it was like Hocking Hills times 100.

We were also astonished by the amount of bear and wolf scat we saw along the way. This is serious stuff!

We had originally wanted to return to the ship by 4:30pm to attend a lecture by Libby Riddles, the first woman to win the Iditarod dogsled race, but I convinced G that she spoke every time the ship was in Juneau and we'd catch her next time (God, I hope that's true). Today was too pretty to waste sitting on the ship.

By the time we were back at the visitors center, it was almost 5pm, and we were beginning to drag a bit. The East Glacier Trail had a fair bit of elevation gain achieved by a never-ending series of rocky switchbacks leading to the top of that biggest waterfall. Despite it being only 60 degrees, we had worked up a sweat, we were getting hungry (no lunch), and we just wanted to be home (aka the ship). Our initial plan had been to take the public bus one way and the shuttle bus the other, but, in retrospect, we would take the shuttle both ways next time. The $6 per person savings over the bus was not worth spending a mile and a half's worth of energy to walk from the bus stop to the visitors center, especially when we wanted to hike once we got there.

Anyway, it was after 5pm and cooling a bit when we returned to the parking lot. We waited for awhile but never saw a blue bus come by, just several large tour buses that stopped and disgorged lots of seniors who, never leaving the parking lot, snapped a copius number of photos and re-boarded the bus, which then drove away. We were beginning to think that we were going to have to talk our way onto one of those buses, but instead I Googled the shuttle company on my phone to get their phone number to call them to verify that the buses were fact, still running.

Before I completed that, G had walked over to a couple who had just returned to their 4-door pickup truck in the parking lot. He motioned me over; they were giving us a ride back to the ship. During the 30-minute ride, we learned more about Juneau and life in Alaska than we ever would have otherwise. They were both part Haitt Indians (1/4 and 1/3 respectively) and had lived in Juneau their entire lives. That they were so nice restored our faith in the people of Juneau. That they took us right to the ship saved our evening for us. Otherwise, we might have gotten back to our cabin and collapsed on the bed.

Okay, we DID get back to our cabin and collapse on the bed anyway, but at least we eventually got up, showered and went to dinner in the dining room.

Photo 2: the moss covered rainforest floor

Photo 3: our first view of the glacier from the road


Photo 4: something tells me these bears aren't a bit like Yogi and Boo Boo

Photo 5: view from the Mendenhall Visitors Center

Photo 6: as close as I want to get!

Photos 7 and 8: scenes from the Visitors Center movie

A walk along the Juneau waterfront

Once again, the Island Princess was docked at the least desirable berth along the pier, furthest from the city center. Hmmmm...two days in a row. Is this a trend? We began to walk along the boardwalk which connects all the berths, stopping a few times to check out the sights. The fish market area had gathered quite a crowd, and we watched the fishmongers preparing blue cod, highly desired in Japan, for sale.

We bypassed the "blue bus", the $8 per person each way shuttle to Mendenhall in favor of taking the city bus. We wanted to walk a bit further into town anyway, so it made sense to make our way toward the bus terminal (right next to the police station). The bus just raised its rates this month-$2 per adult, $1 per child- and exact change was required.

Honestly, it would be hard to find a less welcoming bus driver than we encountered today. I might have assumed that the fact that she was 11 months pregnant might have something to do with it, but others traveling with us from our ship said that they encountered the same thing yesterday in Ketchikan. That's too bad...with so many visitors every summer, you'd think Alaska would want to appear to be a bit more welcoming.

Still, a bus ride is a bus ride, and we enjoyed seeing Juneau a bit during the 30 minute or so ride down Mendenhall Valley. However (and we knew this), there is a 1.5 mile walk, slightly uphill on an asphalt sidewalk, from where the bus left us off to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitors Center. Again, we were looking for some exercise, but given the hiking we subsequently did around the glacial lake, next time we would opt for the direct shuttle to the visitors center and save the walking to the bus terminal in town and from the drop off point of the public bus.

We had met up with a family from Toronto (originally from India) at the bus terminal. They were also off the Island Princess, and we chatted a bit on the ride. As it turned out, we walked with them, either in pairs or as a group, the mile and a half to the visitors center. Their 10 year old son was quite talkative- VERY talkative- and we heard all about their current vacation, their vacation last year, his last three birthdays and school. All the way to the visitors center. We worked hard to keep our amusement contained.

Photo 1: steep gangway up to the Promenade Deck 7

Photo 2: waterfront boardwalk leading to town

Photo 3: Freshly caught Alaskan blue cod

Photo 4: the Mt. Roberts tramway

Day 4: Juneau

It is 9:30 pm, and we've just come in from our balcony after watching sunset over Juneau and the Island Princess' sailaway at 9pm. After dinner, we stopped by the Patisserie for fresh brewed coffee in take away cups, and then went to the Horizon Court buffet for a plate of cheeses (big shards of parmesan cheese, crumbles of blue cheese and mozzarella balls), crusty bread, grapes, dried fruits and nuts. We brought our haul back to our cabin, added cognac from our mini bar to the coffee, covered up with pool towels and sat on our balcony to watch sailaway.

We've had another wonderful day.

I woke up first this morning and peered out the balcony door as the Island Princess was making her way up the Gastineau Channel on her approach to Juneau. The mountains rose up almost directly from the water on the side of the ship, and I could tell by watching the TV channel broadcasting the webcam view from the front of the ship that the other side was just as close to land.

As they did last evening, the clouds hung low over the mountains, and the fog, if not thick, was fairly heavy. The forecast for today had been a high of 60 degrees with a 90% chance of rain, so while I was disappointed with the weather, I wasn't surprised.

We had no schedule for today, and were not too hungry after our late dinner last night, so we were a bit slow to get moving. I had a bit of business to do (quickly, saving my laptop battery), so G headed out of the cabin in search of coffee. He phoned me (!) a little while later and said he had a table for two by the window in the Bordeaux Dining Room, and to join him when I was finished.

We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, content in the knowledge that, while others with early morning excursions were standing out in the fog on the pier, we could linger on the ship, watching the weather before finalizing our plans for the day.

With so many people off the ship, it was the perfect time for us to explore the very front and the very back of the ship. We have the inside of the ship pretty much figured out; the outer public decks were still a bit of a mystery. So we started with the very front of Baja Deck 11, walking through the unmarked doors to a narrow deck just below the bridge (on Aloha Deck 12). This would be a good spot for glacier viewing in Glacier Bay on Monday. We then made our way down to the same area on Caribe Deck 10, then walked to the back of the ship to check out the aft decks. Starting with Emerald Deck 8, we made our way deck by deck up the back of the ship. There are some nice viewing areas all the way up through Baja deck. I'm sure they get crowded during glacier and Panama Canal cruising, but we'll want to check them out.

By the time we got through all that exploring, we had walked quite a bit without ever leaving the ship. At about the same time, the fog began to lift and we saw a hint of sun making an appearance. Now this was a nice surprise!

We returned to our cabin and decided to pack up for a potential hike at Mendenhall glacier, weather permitting. And we finally left the ship about 10:30am, not exactly sure what the day would bring.

Photo 1: fog hanging low over the Gastineau Channel just south of Juneau

Photo 2: the Mt. Roberts tramway making its way into the fog

Photo 3: it was just after low tide. With wildly swinging tidal variations, the gangways were set off Deck 7 when we arrived, lowered to Deck 5 during the day, and raised again before we sailed this evening.