ikirumata

Spotted a Red-Tailed Hawk on an old windmill this morning.

hawk_mill-1 by ikirumata, on Flickr

Went to the Dallas Zoo this weekend with the family (braved intermittent torrential downpours...kept the crowds away). This guy kinda looked how I felt dealing with the heat and humidity.

Dallas Zoo Giraffe by ikirumata, on Flickr

Great topic! I don't usually have my cell on me during a cruise, but I love seeing what people can do with cell phone cameras.

The Solarium on Brilliance of the Seas. Taken with an old iphone 4s.

brilliancesolarium by ikirumata, on Flickr

Dolphin bow-riding on our whale watch excursion in San Diego. If you look closely at the reflection in the dolphin, you can see us looking at it from the boat.

WhaleWatch-2 by ikirumata, on Flickr

Got to visit Universal Orlando this week with my family. Diagon Alley is just amazing! Here is the dragon that sits atop Gringotts Bank.

Orlando-1 by ikirumata, on Flickr

That would be a "he". The beard hanging down from his chest is the giveaway.

Thanks!

Came into the office the other morning to find a wild turkey perched on one of the windows. He/she hung out near the cafeteria for a while before disappearing back into the woods.

turkey-2 by ikirumata, on Flickr

25k iso looks crazy amazing! Thanks for sharing!

Screaming Hawk

by ikirumata, on Flickr

Fixed Link :(

Got to enjoy the nice weather in our backyard. Captured a female cardinal making her way to our pond.

housebirds-2 by ikirumata, on Flickr

With the nice weather, we have been taking walks in the late morning. We have seen tons of cool wildlife on our walk, so we started bringing our cameras.

 

Red Tailed Hawk, apparently not too happy we were taking its photo.

Screaming Hawk by ikirumata, on Flickr

 

And the turtles are always up for a photo op...

destiny-2 by ikirumata, on Flickr

fixed a link :(

With the nice weather, we have been taking walks in the late morning. We have seen tons of cool wildlife on our walk, so we started bringing our cameras.

Red Tailed Hawk, apparently not too happy we were taking its photo.

Screaming Hawk by ikirumata, on Flickr

And the turtles are always up for a photo op...

destiny-2 by ikirumata, on Flickr

Screaming Hawk by ikirumata, on Flickr

Pics from around the office.

Was taking a photo of a turtle when someone tossed some bread crumbs into the water and suddenly the turtle and a fish raced for the crumbs. Fish won.

destiny-7 by ikirumata, on Flickr

Red Tailed Hawk stomping around the ground stopped to ask what I was lookin' at!

destiny-9 by ikirumata, on Flickr

Squirrel lookout

destiny-3 by ikirumata, on Flickr

We went in Late May 2012 with Adventurebound and the weather was perfect! We got all the way to both sides and observed lots of calving (North side was a bit icy, but we got close enough). We consider ourselves very lucky!

South Sawyer Glacier by ikirumata, on Flickr

North Sawyer Glacier Tracy Arm Fjord by ikirumata, on Flickr

For less than the price difference between an inside and a balcony, we were able to afford:

Kayaking in Ketchikan

Whale Watching in Icy Strait

Tracy Arm tour with Adventurebound in Juneau

Hiking in Skagway

Lunch at Tracy's Crab Shack

Cheap souvenirs for the kids and coworkers in Ketchikan

Alaska Tshirts for us.

I spent most of my time on the upper deck with my camera. One of the highlights of my time on the deck included seeing a line of dolphins stretching across the horizon as far as the eye can see. Other highlights included swapping stories with other photographers and waking up early to watch the ship pull into port.

Alaska is probably going to be a once in a lifetime event for us, so saving money on the room so we could get out and enjoy Alaska was very important.

Good luck! Either way, have a fantastic time!

We did the Liberty the week before you on the 13th - 20th.

The weather was the probably the best I have had on any cruise ever.

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Full moon on the week of March 20 2016.

http://www.calendar-12.com/moon_calendar/2016/march

My cruise mates and I have a theory that the weather is worst around full moons (at least in the Caribbean). I have no scientific data to back this up, but every time we have sailed on a full moon in the Caribbean, the seas have been rough. The OPs experience seems to corroborate this.

Does anyone else have any anecdotes about this?

Seems to be a popular question. Personally I would do whale watching in Icy Strait, simply because there are more things to do in Juneau.

For other opinions (and probably my own posts mixed in as well), this will help!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=969886

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=988816

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2033518

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1890561

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2002532

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1629671

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=121076

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1209372

http://www.cruisecritic.com/search/results.cfm?q=whale+watching+juneau+or+icy+strait&x=0&y=0

Good luck!

I don't know how long you will be in Juneau, but a tour of Tracy Arm from Juneau is a 10+ hour trip! We did Adventurebound from Juneau and we left around 8am and got back around 6pm.

Looks like your best bet is to just do the PCL tour.

Personally, I would choose whale watching in Icy Strait, simply because there are so many other tours available in Juneau.

The two glaciers are way at the end of the Tracy Arm Fjord. Im not sure if the ship will be able to get all the way to the end (it gets icy closer to the end) enough to see them. If your cruise offers a small boat excursion that takes you in closer, you might want to explore that option.

I have never done it (so I wont comment on quality), but looks like there may be an excursion to the Davidson Glacier out of Skagway.

http://www.carnival.com/shore-excursions/skagway-ak/glacier-point-wilderness-safari-172075

Looks fantastic! Good luck! Let us know how it goes!

You seriously got lucky!

We only saw a whale on the way back to Juneau (& the golf balls in the tops of the trees). But I too the excursion to see the Sawyer Glaciers & was extremely satisfied!

Yes, we did get lucky that day! We saw tons of seals/pups, 2 bears, tons of eagles (one up close sitting on an iceberg), mountain goats, and a whale.

Eagle on Iceberg by ikirumata, on Flickr

Tracy Arm was my favorite place we visited that trip! I can't wait to go back!

I'll be on the HAL Volendam Alaska inside passage round trip itinerary early this summer. HAL offers an additional small boat excursion into Tracy Arm. I think the seals have their pups in late May/early June. Are the small boats allowed to go near where the seals are or is Tracy Arm largely closed to all marine traffic during this time? Also I know if I want guaranteed whale sightings I should take a whale watching tour out of Juneau. I am curious, though, whether those of you who took a Tracy Arm excursion saw whales.

 

I am trying to decide on the Tracy Arm excursion versus a tour out of Juneau. My priorities are wildlife and beautiful scenery.

 

Thanks.

 

Vicki

If the small boat can navigate to the end of the arms (i.e. there isn't too much ice), you should be able to see seals/pups.

Harbor Seal and Baby by ikirumata, on Flickr

Also, make sure you scan the tops of the fjord walls too. There might be some goats as well.

Tracy Arm Mountain Goat by ikirumata, on Flickr

Even though Tracy Arm is about the fjord and glaciers, there is wildlife to be seen there! You might even get to see a bear!

Bear at Tracy Arm Fjord by ikirumata, on Flickr

Have fun!

2) Can you really eat all day and night if you wanted? I'm a big eater see and small portions don't normally cut the mustard with me haha! Essentially this question is saying is there availability for food 24 hours?

Should't be a problem! Between the MDR, Windjammer, Promenade Cafe, Park Cafe, and Room Service, there should be no way you will ever be hungry at any time during your cruise! Enjoy!

Had a fantastic time on my recent cruise. I just wanted to report that I used a tripod provided on one of the excursions. On the other excursion, the ISO was set to allow for a fast enough speed that the tripod and monopod weren't necessary.

Sounds like you had a great time! Any pics to share? :)