lxpedia
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Love your planning info. A huge thank you for taking the time to share. I'm still in the midst of planning for our 4 nights post our NCL Jewel cruise ending in Seward in August. It's so overwhelming that I have been frozen in trying to decide what to plan -- an like yourself have come to the conclusion that Denali would likely just be too much to take on as it will be myself & my husband and our 3yo daughter!
Anyhow, you mentioned a fishing guide that you had found in Seward? As I know my husband has similar dreams of fishing in Alaska. Thanks for your help & hope you have a fabulous trip
At this point…There’s a plan for lodging pre and post cruise
There’s a plan for Skagway
A plan for ISP
A plan for Ketchikan
And the beginnings of a plan in Juneau…
Still to plan…
An agenda in Alaska…
An agenda in Vancouver…
Finalize Juneau…UGH.
While my planning wasn’t quite as linear timewise as my writing about the planning is…my tackling of the ports was rather systematic…orderly…
Anyone remember the old Justice League? MEANwhile…back at the Hall of Justice…
Even in the midst of going through the cruise ports…
I’m researching the area surrounding Anchorage for our non-Denali DIY post cruise…SO MANY OPTIONS…warning, warning...overwhelming ahead.
I went back to my thought about fully exploring our cruise ports themselves…so I stopped looking EVERYWHERE and focused in on Seward.
SO.
Meanwhile…up in Alaska…post cruise…I’m dialed into and researching Seward specifically and Kenai Peninsula in general…
My family has been ordering from the Great Alaska Seafood Company for about 20 years. NO JOKE. If you haven’t heard of them:
http://www.great-alaska-seafood.com
If you are on their email list…they will BOMBARD your email daily…but the specials can be very, very good. IF you like seafood.
My point is that this company is located on the Kenai Peninsula…and we have been ordering fish caught in this area for years and years. The emails also often contain information about visiting their area for an Alaskan fishing trip.
Fishing…which had reared up in Juneau was ALSO coming to the forefront of planning up on the Kenai. DH was enamored with thoughts of fishing the famous Kenai River. Boyhood dreams of river fishing in Alaska were about to come true.
Salmon fishing on the Kenai?
Oh, yes. Yes, PLEASE.
Ohhhhh. So sorry. No salmon for you. It’s not salmon season on the Kenai during our visit.
I had found many, many local fishing guides for the Kenai. Hours spent reading reviews and looking at prices…studying the offerings…I picked one and made first contact.
I learned that the first weekend of July is really in between salmon runs. There was the possibility that the early run could run late…and the later run could run early. But the most likely scenario would be trophy rainbow trout fishing…and Dolly Varden aka Dollies…both of which are fun sport fishing.
Alrighty then.
All this fishing research for Juneau and Kenai was happening at the same time…remember that I had discovered that we WOULD hit a salmon run in Juneau…which I have already talked about.
So back in Kenai…
Trophy Rainbows?
Not a big disappointment. Not a disappointment at ALL.
So we are settled on a fishing excursion…and we know who we want to fish with.
Thoughts are the debarkation day, Friday, would be something of a chore day…get the rental…do some food shopping for the still hopeful cabin rental…maybe do some laundry?...do quite a bit of car travel…so just plan on this day being an unplanned day.
Fishing was looking good for the day AFTER embarkation…Saturday.
Now about those Glaciers…
There are some wonderful sightseeing boating excursions out of Seward. Kenai Fjords National Park is accessed almost entirely by water…Major Marines Tours was being talked about all over the boards…and word was that there was going to be a big Black Friday sale:
But again…we weren’t as interested in a sightseeing tour…
I saw a picture of a kayaker on pristine waters with not only one ice berg dwarfing her but several blue ice bergs scattered through the mirrored surface of the water.
http://liquid-adventures.com/content/bear-glacier-kayaking
DH was like…I want THAT. I did too…obviously…I found it and was like…look at this!
Ok, then.
Now we want to kayak with the ice bergs in the waters in front of Bear Glacier.
All this glacier research had also been happening concurrently…so while I’m learning about Mendenhall, Taku, and the others in Juneau area…I landed on Exit Glacier, which is one of the only areas of Kenai Fjords National Park that is accessible by car.
https://www.nps.gov/kefj/planyourvisit/exit-glacier-area.htm
Unlike the Mendenhall Visitor Center…the Exit Glacier Visitor Center has free admission. And a free ranger led walk! (like in Skagway). This walk will take you to the base of Exit Glacier.
Could we hike ON the glacier?
Why yes we could.
https://www.exitglacierguides.com/content/ice-hiking
If we fish on Saturday…
Kayak on Sunday…
Glacier hike on Monday…
Fly home Tuesday…
If we pursued this plan...it didn’t make sense for us to stay in the Public Use Cabin Sunday night…travel to and from Seward for two days in a row? We should try to stay in Seward Sunday night…
Time to research all the lodging options in Seward…
Liking the idea of another cabin…I researched those first.
The nearby public use cabins were a no go. Access was the main issue. Great difficulties getting to and from the cabins near Seward.
There are several hotel type cabin rentals available. Cabins are separate but grouped together on the hotel grounds…furnished.
I was liking this idea. The thought of the private shower was very appealing!
There was availability. I had choices, but not many. And fortunately, on October 28, 2017…I booked the last available cabin for the night of July 1 at my top choice “resort.” Bonus…no deposit required. Reservation held with a credit card. No charges until we arrive. Cancel with no penalty up to 7 days prior to arrival.
Nice.
Now I was just waiting for December 29 to be able to hopefully book our public use cabin.
Then I would finalize the excursions.
Private excursion findings - Cienfuegos, Trinidad Cuba
in Cuba
Posted
Our shore excursion tour with Tony Castillo (tony.cubavacation@gmail.com) of Cienfuegos and Trinidad was great last week! Tony is a very classy guy, who really showed us the very colorful Trinidad, and his beloved Cienfuegos. Tony took very good care of my wife and I. We felt very comfortable with him. I think what I liked the most about the day was Tony’s honesty and candid responses to many questions about Cuba and it’s history. I would very highly recommend him both as a guide and hostel owner. In addition Tony was very good in communicating with our daughter, Lauren, in planning and arranging our tour. We think Tony is terrific. Highly recommend.
His website is:
https://sites.google.com/view/tonycubavacation/