CupKayke

Final Day On The Ship, continued.. I woke-up and walked on the track today. I was aggravated later on in the day when I saw there was a "Walk The Deck" for a cause thing going-on and people were wearing t-shirts and walking the deck for some cause. I had no idea. We didn't get our little papers in the stateroom last night and I didn't think much of it so I didn't know this was going on. I didn't really take the time to read the papers every day so this is sorta of on me - next cruise, I'm reading every inch either at night or in the morning before my day gets going. It was hard for me to stay awake on this cruise because I was 3 hours ahead of my normal time zone and I normally go to sleep around 9-10pm in Missouri (sometimes earlier) so that's 6pm-7pm on this cruise. I like to get up and drink iced tea and get walking and I should have taken a few moments every day to plan out my day and read the pamphlets. I ordered some pictures today. They did a great job of taking pics at Embarkation and in Juneau. They gave me the pictures on a little HAL ship drive! So cute! Also, in case you are into stuff like this… you can order a customized metal luggage tag with any photo they take or any photo on your phone for $7.99. I ordered two because my husband liked the idea so much. They are SO cool. We love them. We had our last name and phone number printed on them. We used half ship photos, half our photos. We even used our family photo with our dog that we had taken last autumn on one of side of a tag. It was a little late this cruise but we did our “walk the ship” tour today. We started on Deck 1 and took the stairs to every deck and walked and visited everywhere. I took a few pictures of random items I found beautiful or interesting. These chairs on Deck 7 were too cool.. We enjoyed some time on the aft deck with our friends and with each other. The bartenders back here were GREAT! This one guy is clearly a seasoned employee, and he could make anything. My husband is a certified bartender (from many, many years ago) but he still thinks he knows it all. He was impressed by these guys. I have never been a smoker and I never will be a smoker but I am so thankful that all the cruiselines still offer a covered area where folks can have a drink and a smoke. If it were not for this, my husband would refuse to cruise. I also met some great people in this area. Up next... Victoria, BC

The evening of Ketchikan is when you jump forward an hour and go back to “normal” Seattle-area time. This was the perfect sunset to a perfect day in Ketchikan… Final Day onboard all day was Saturday… Our cruise is almost over now. We slept-in (until 8am), ate breakfast on the Lido deck (where they served breakfast very late today so I was impressed with that), and started packing. We had an airport transfer with HAL so bags had to be out in the hall before midnight. We were scheduled to stop in Victoria, BC from 8pm to midnight. Here’s another pic of our room for the guy interested in a SS. See those little gold “rods” underneath the upper bedside lights? Those are actually movable and adjustable night lights. They are cool because they don’t turn on until you pop them out of their socket. Here is a close-up of my messy desk area. The mini fridge is in that cabinet on the far right. Also, your signature suite comes with free binoculars for use on the cruise. We never used ours. We didn’t even use the ones we took except the day we sailed into Ketchikan and it was kinda neat looking into the trees/mountains with them but I wouldn’t pack binoculars for future Alaska cruises but that’s just me. Did I mention I attended a binocular class one morning at 9am? I did. The guy who taught it was funny and it was a short and sweet class. I liked what he had to say. Take your binoculars to the class (I did not). Here is another view of our room as I was packing..

Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour, continued (Ketchikan) We held starfish, shrimp, rock crab, Dungeness crab, and I don't know what else. Everyone held different animals and passed them around. They had two live tanks with the King Crab and they did allow you to touch the legs and they also used the cool water in the live tanks to dip the animals in frequently and they did not keep the animals out for touching too long. They thought of everything on this tour, IMHO. They pulled up a sunflower fish (that was a surprise to them too), some other odd fish, rock crabs, shrimp, and even a big octopus. There were a lot of things that happened on this boat and it was all fantastic. I really don't want to give it all away. It was a delight! The protected waters we were in were beautiful.. They have a gift shop/galley on the boat. Coffee is free. They sell King Crab legs and hot butter and other items. They sell hats and hoodies (I bought one - only $50 I think) and those yellow jackets they are wearing (about $100 I think). The gift shop/galley area was popular and busy! We got off this excursion on a happy high. There is no other way to describe it. Dave Lethin is a genius. He is the owner of this tour boat, this was his idea and people told him he was crazy to do it, and he is also the first guy to sign with Discovery Channel to allow his boats to be filmed on The Deadliest Catch. I cannot recommend this tour enough. We liked this tour and this cruise so much that a friend of ours is taking herself and 12 family members to Alaska next summer. They will be on this tour. This is about all we saw of Ketchikan.. When we got back onboard, we watched some of Ketchikan as we sailed away. Nice views and beautiful boats. I found the Dive-In restaurant on the Lido deck by the pool where they serve Nathaniel's hot dogs (I had never tried one) and specialty cheeseburgers. There was a long line but it moved quick enough. I noticed when I was waiting for our meal that an official-looking HAL employee walked by with a little microphone on and I heard him say "one more to Dive-in" and lo and behold another employee showed-up. HAL was ON TOP of things this cruise. I was so impressed. The Lido Deck had people sunning (and it wasn't even 70 degrees outside which is hilarious). Tomorrow is basically a sea day because we won't arrive in Victoria, BC until 8pm... but don't worry.. I have more random pictures and an opinion post of what HAL is doing good, what they can improve upon, and some suggestions. It's okay to be opinionated... opinions are what change the world... sometimes for the better.

Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour, continued (Ketchikan) They bait the lines for the next tour (they let this kid help cutup the fish/bait) while letting you walk around the boat. This boat is 2 stories and there are seats upstairs and downstairs. This is a live tank full of King Crab (because obviously they can't catch those in 500 feet of water). This boat is handicapped accessible. The seats are stadium-style so everyone can see what they are doing. They do demonstrations while you sit and then they let everyone get up and roam the boat and touch everything and then you sit a bit more and then you roam a bit more and it goes on and on and it is a GREAT day! Some pics... Rock crabs. They usually only pull these up about once a month.

Ketchikan 😍 Cruising to Ketchikan is beautiful. You will pass their little airport and see planes coming and going... We only had 4 hours in Ketchikan today. Again, the itinerary changed from the Navigator app versus the daily information and when we booked, etc. We were supposed to be here sometime between 7am and 12pm. We ended-up here at 7:30am and left at 11:30am. We booked the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour. I booked this tour directly with the owner's website. They guaranteed we would be back in time for the ship. Frankly, they had to be because the ship offered this exact same tour and don't quote me on this but I think the ship's price ended-up being the same that we paid. A friend told me about this tour years ago and it was the first thing I booked once we booked this cruise. I didn't even check the HAL site for the tour. So, no matter how you book... you are not missing the ship. This tour is on the Aleutian Ballad crab fishing boat. This boat is famous from Season 2 of Deadliest Catch. They tell the story of what happened to this boat on the tour. To this day, that four minute clip is the single most viewed clip of the Deadliest Catch on YouTube – and they are now on Season 18, I think? Anyway, you don’t have to be a fan of the show or know that the guys standing in front of you all day are celebrities to appreciate what happens on this boat… Here's the quickest rundown I can think of to write about this tour.... it's a crab fishing boat that has been remodeled to now be a tour boat. They left certain parts still workable to show you how crab fishing works. They bring up pots from 300 to 500 feet of various animals and it is an interactive tour - you get to touch everything they bring up. They have special permission from a native tribe to fish in their waters. They are the only boat that is allowed to do this. The owner and two Bering Sea crab fisherman (all 3 of them are active or former crab fisherman) tell stories, they do demonstrations with how they get the crab pots and the big crab cages up on the boat, they make it quick and fun and they never just make you sit down and be bored. There is SO MUCH happening that the time flies and really.... every excursion off a ship should be so great! For starters, Dave, the guy with the idea to do this tour years ago... the owner of five Bering Sea crab fishing boats, and the owner/operator of this tour... tells his story and it is interesting and funny. Dave and his wife are onboard and they are interactive and help with the passing out of the sea animals, etc. ...more pics coming...

If you pay attention the next time you cruise, they take all the rolls of toilet paper every time they get "low" - that's why the group on the Lido deck had the big discussion about what they must do with the leftover toilet paper. It wasn't that they were taking OUR roll.... they take everyone's roll when it gets small...

The above toilet paper info is not true. We asked. They said they just didn't know it was our toilet paper. We had another roll in the suitcase which we put out and we used it the rest of the cruise.

Sitka, continued.. We were back on the boat with our full bellies and our souvenirs by 12:15pm! I decided to go find an empty hot tub (and they were all empty). I used the giant one on the Lido Deck all to myself for over 20 minutes and it was great! I don't remember what time the ship left Sitka (3:30-4pm?) but at 4:25pm we were sitting on our balcony and witnessed a Coast Guard rescue!! We've seen A LOT of things from balconies but this was a first... We obviously don't know what happened... did the boat's engine stall? did the man have a medical emergency? We think it may have been a medical emergency because a Coast Guard person was dropped in the water... then the Coast Guard person got into the little boat.... then the helicopter backed-up and flew SO SO close and low to the water... and we assumed they tied-on the stranded/injured person and took him up in the helicopter... but the entire process was so slow that we didn't get to see the ending because our ship was going too fast... Our guide in Juneau told us the water is in the 40s most of the time. Kudos to the Coast Guard. No more pics today but something happened last night or tonight that irked my husband but we have to remember the room stewards are CLEARLY new. It was SO evident. We always travel with our own toilet paper. We pack a roll or usually two of Charmin everywhere we go. My husband says the cruise or hotel toilet paper is "crap" for lack of a better word. We had sat the cruise ship's toilet paper rolls under the cabinet and we were using our roll which we sat on top of the countertop by the sink. They threw it away or took it this afternoon and put out three new rolls of THEIR toilet paper. I thought my husband was going to lose his mind (I was laughing). We were telling some friends we met on deck and they were saying that HAL always throws away or takes away the rolls once they get smaller. So then it became a big discussion with this group as to what happens to those nearly used rolls of toilet paper??? Someone said they must have made a fortune selling them during COVID. But seriously... what does happen to them? Surely they are not so wasteful that they are throwing them away? Today's cruisers and future cruisers are not so pretentious and if they are being thrown away, this practice should be stopped. Tomorrow, our favorite day in Alaska... Ketchikan...

Bluesplayer - There is only ONE excursion in Hubbard. If you signed-up for it, you are on the small boat. It WILL sell out before your cruise. And yes, it is a catamaran!

Sitka, continued... Sitka is the place we had planned to eat a big crab meal. We actually eat crab at home semi-often when we get a good deal on a pound of crab. It's usually not King crab but still... we get some good deals quite a bit. Having said that... I'm not for sure I would or would not recommend our next activity so you can decide for yourself. I'm struggling writing this portion of the trip report. I don't want to disparage a business but I'm not sure I want to say it was worth it... even if you are in Alaska eating crab legs... Today we had made plans to eat a crab legs meal at Halibut Point Crab and Chowder. This restaurant is on the pier and is highly recommended on review sites. It's the glass 2-story place on the right. We were early (it was just after 11am when we got to the restaurant) and they were just filling their "display" tank outside where you can hold a crab and take a picture with it... That's kind of a neat perk. We were the first customers of the day and chose to sit outside. We sat at a table closest to the restaurant and this was our view... So... the prices were inflated... A LOT ....even for Alaska. Did you know Red Lobster sources their crab legs from The Bering Sea crab boats? They do. The Today Show did an entire segment on it and you can Google it and read the article. We've ate at Red Lobster a couple of times this year. We buy crab at home. We expect to pay $20 to $30 a pound (sometimes much less). Here is their menu.. We ordered the Alaskan Crab Combo to split and this is what we got for $94.34.. We ordered one clam chowder cup to go with our meal shortly after it was delivered. Our total with a Diet Coke, a Budweiser in a bottle, and a Spruce Tree (local beer) on tap with tip was $159.42. I can be a tightwad and I know that but I was generous with the tip (our waiter was great) but that was steep for this meal, IMHO. I wish I could say I felt really great about this meal but I felt like the portions were skimpy for the price. HOWEVER... we ate every bite.... Our waiter was excellent. We had heard about the Spruce Tree beer from Phil during our trail walk in Juneau. They actually use the spruce tree berries and make it locally. It's a novelty but I'm glad we tried it. Our waiter had to go upstairs to get it and he was accommodating as they didn't have the upstairs open yet. He was also just a nice kid. We liked him. Another thing... the owner was outside talking to the dock workers and he was helping a waitress run a raven out of their trash can... and he stopped by and checked on us....then he walked over and started checking on the kids running the live crab tank. I mean... that's what makes this review tough because CLEARLY there is a lot of effort and love put into this restaurant. The chowder was EXCELLENT and we are picky chowder eaters (especially me) and we love Ivar's in Seattle. This chowder was clearly a different recipe than Ivar's but so-so good!! The crab legs were great. The corn fritters were okay. I didn't taste the honey in the butter. We may have not touched the coleslaw. Overall, would I do this again? Maybe. I think the next time we go to Alaska (and we WILL go back)... I would like to sign-up for one of those big excursions where they fly or boat you into a lodge and give you a crab feast. I'd like to see how that goes. Of course, that's going to cost us $200 or more for 2 of us so maybe this is on par for what we got. They have a neat gift shop at this place too.

He's somewhere between 6'1" and 6'2". He was comfortable in the showers. The showers on HAL are the kind where you can hold them in your hand IF YOU WANT (they are removable).

Sitka, continued... You will immediately see the totem poles. The trails are well laid out and somewhat marked. Several totem poles Nice little bridge area Walking back to the shuttle location seemed to be super quick in comparison so maybe it was just my attitude... but it's at least 15 minutes and at times you think you've went the wrong way. If you get to the hatchery/museum area... keep going... The path has little things like this for kids to play on... or adults to be morons on... your choice... Their high school is the small yellow and grey building (on the right) behind him. The grounds are taken care of in Sitka

Sitka, Alaska Sitka was small. The homes seemed to be taken care of and the lawns were nice. The morning started with a slow cruise in the fog but as we got closer to the pier, the clouds lifted and we had a nice day. Clear skies, no sun, and 54 degrees was the TV weather report. Again, Sitka is one of those places were the arrival times did not match the Navigator app but we didn’t have an excursion so whatever. Arriving.. We opted to not take an excursion today because I had read about the Sitka National Historic Park with the totem poles and my husband wasn’t going to Alaska without seeing totem poles. We were off the ship before 9am. We passed a large gift shop on the pier before the free shuttle into town and decided it wasn't busy at this hour and this was our only Alaskan port where we had time to shop...so we proceeded to spend over $200. We purchased an ulu made in Anchorage, my dad a baseball cap, a Christmas ornament, and my mother-in-law a 2023 calendar showing “The Men of Alaska” with no clothes on except a blanket covering their private parts (she loved it!). My husband bought a new hat. He thinks he's Indiana Jones... We caught the free shuttle and we were dropped off in downtown. We walked just around the corner (like 2 minutes max) to the reindeer dog stand because my husband also needed to try a hot dog made from reindeer meat. We both liked it. I thought it tasted like warmed summer sausage. The local lady selling the reinder dogs said it was her own recipe. She was nice. So... let me be very clear about this... I'm a walker. I've been walking 2 miles IN THE 87 DEGREE HEAT (90 degrees tonight) and 99% HUMIDITY in Missouri every day - not including what I'm doing inside the house. I have met my step goal (which is a lot more than 2 miles a day) for 44 days. I have walked or exercised since April 5th this year - every day. Earlier this year, I realized I was the fattest I've ever been in my life and I didn't like it. I am taking care of myself this year by exercising and eating healthy. I am on zero medications (which is great for my age) and I'm planning to stay that way for as long as possible. Having said all that... I read it was a 5 or 10 minute walk to the Sitka National Historic Park. I read that and that is what the local shuttle lady told us. I was tired today. The backpack I wore in the airport weighed too much and now I was wearing a backpack again carrying $200 worth of souvenirs including a heavy ulu with a cutting board included. We walked slow and I felt like I'd rather lay down and take a nap the entire way. Not normal for me. Regardless... I did stop and take pictures, the walk is BEAUTIFUL and EASY, and CLEAN, and well-manicured and lots of people local people are using this same path to walk their dogs. Several cruisers were just like us... doing their own excursion... but it did take us 20 minutes today. There was a young group of healthy looking 20-30 somes from the ship and they didn't pass us so maybe it wasn't just me. . It's not "just 10 minutes" away. It's 20 minutes. The walk is along the waterfront so there are plenty of places to sit and benches along the way to view the water or rest. The views are nice. You can walk down to a shallow rocky beach area. There was a lady down there with her child. The park is free. There is a visitor's center inside with a park ranger and she will answer questions or give you a free tour or talk to you about anything you are curious about (we know this because of some other people and we saw her) but we did not go inside. We just took a path and started walking. The totem pole walk is not very well labeled so just stay on the beach path and you'll keep seeing totem poles. It is a one-mile loop. The paths are nice - some paved, some not - and there are plenty of people here and there ~ not crowded at all but just enough people to feel safe.

Oh! I wanted to say one other thing about the little excursion boat. The lower level has a gift shop/foodie area. They had a big pile of free donut holes (I didn't try them but they were all gone quickly) and they were selling some sort of boxed salmon and they were offering free samples that were going quick. Lots of people were buying items from them - they sold "Glaceritas" to drink on the boat or sodas and water and etc. They also offered lots of neat little souvenirs. My mom and dad LOVE rhubarb pies and my mom makes an award-winning rhubarb pie (a local award). They were selling little jars of Alaskan-made rhubarb jam. My mom had never tasted rhubarb jam until I gave her that little jar! They were also selling salsas and etc... made with "glacier water" or somehow connected to and made in Alaska. We aren't big shoppers but we didn't see these items anywhere else we looked. So, lots of neat little items on the boat that you might not see elsewhere.

Hubbard Glacier Day continued... This was taken from our balcony on the ship at 5:03pm. We had gotten back onboard and stripped off our hot sweaters (at least I had) and taken some pictures from our balcony. By 5:52pm... we were back in non-glacier waters.... but it was hot out there and we actually closed our blinds like you would on a Caribbean vacation so the heat wouldn't get in our cabin. HA! If you are highly interested in this glacier, plan to be preoccupied from 1pm to 5:30pm. Tomorrow, Sitka!

Hubbard Glacier, continued... One thing we started noticing was not just that we were surrounded by ice in the water... ...but how CLOSE the HAL Amsterdam ship was getting!! We were all like "WHAAAA???" I mean, they were super super close!! It was a beautiful, sunny day so the ship got super lucky too! I wish I would have taken a picture of how close they actually got but basically, the boat scooted to the far left of the glacier and stayed over on that shore. I wish I would have gotten a better picture to show you some perspective.. Our friends on the boat asked us if we knew how close we had gotten to the glacier and BEFORE we answered they said (they were ON THE SHIP)... that they figured the ship got about a half mile from the glacier! That's hilarious because that's how far away we were in reality so they were at least a mile or so away. It's so odd because we all felt like we were just feet away! There were pink gulls flying around the ship and they were beautiful. There were 2 or 3 otters swimming in and out of the water and laying on the floating ice in the water. It was an excellent experience. They came around and served everyone free hot chocolate (it was chilly at first when the boat was moving but eventually, the boat just scooted around slowly). We had about 2 hours total on this little boat and it was the perfect amount of time... and the glacier never quit calving the entire time... but I will say the loud cracking and popping and thundering was more in the beginning than the end... like maybe our boat disturbed the water a bit... so keep that in mind. It was a fantastic experience. They told us the glacier is 76 miles long and 6 miles wide! So strange. We got back on the ship and the ship was surrounded in ice floating around it too! That surprised me. We had beautiful views for what seemed like forever. This photo was taken at 5:24pm..

I agree. Casual is really the dress code in Alaska.

Hubbard Glacier is phenomenal. It started cracking (very loud - sounded like a volcano erupting or thunder or exactly as you would imagine a giant river of ice cracking would sound)... and calving... and calving some more... (left side) and it crackled and popped and calved over and over and over and over... not kidding... at one point.. I was SO happy I got to see this but I was SHOCKED to see it... the far right side which was sort of in a little alleway of it's own... kept calving continually and then a gigantic calve happened and it pounded ice so hard in the water that a huge wave erupted and started moving super fast... but the only place it had to go there was against the shore on the other side of the alley so the wave just crashed up against that shore and then waves kept crashing and in a little bit, our boat rocked quite a bit and even though we thought we were so-so-so-so close to the glacier.... they announced "THAT'S WHY WE ARE CURRENTLY 1/2 MILE FROM THE GLACIER" because a wave like that coming to our boat would be very bad. So we were a half mile away and had no clue we were that far away because there were moments I was sure that a big break would cause that glacier to pummel our boat. The views were astounding... Here is sort of a view of the little alleyway to the right where the giant wave took off...

Leaving the ship... We immediately saw a mamma bear and two baby bears... the boat slowed-down and idled close to the shore. It was pretty neat to see them walking around and looking at us.. but my pictures are not the best. I was just using my iPhone. We started getting closer...and the views on the way to the glacier are gorgeous too.. We passed some minibergs (that's what they called them on the overhead announcements) And then we started seeing the glacier up-close...

Good Evening. I am trying to finish this review but Cruise Critic keeps locking-up on me and/or deleting my posts which is the reason I haven't been active on CC for years basically... it's too buggy. In an attempt to post quickly and not lose everything magically (which has already happened to me 3 times tonight), I'm no longer using the green font. So... can you tell where we are today... We had beautiful weather and views from early morning today... I woke-up this morning, ate breakfast, and then did over 2 miles on the walking track. I got in a mental competition with someone and I’m glad they didn’t know about it but it motivated me! LOL The views from the walking track are always beautiful. Obviously… today we visited the Hubbard Glacier. The boat flew up the coast last night to get to this area as this would be the most northern spot we would visit in Alaska. The cruise documents say we are at the glacier from 2pm to 4pm? Maybe? I’m not sure but by 1pm… the views were astounding… and there were still icebergs surrounding the boat at 5:30pm! So… if you want to see every moment of the glacier, eat lunch early. Even the very first views near the glacier are breathtaking... We signed-up for the Hubbard Glacier Excursion - the small boat that sides-up to the ship and takes 148 passengers and 2 crew members to see the glacier up close. The crew members are not there to assist us, they are there to enjoy the glacier too (which I think is nice). We talked about this excursion pre-cruise and decided this may (or may not) be the only time we visit Alaska so we decided to do it. I am very glad we did this excursion. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and we had beautiful, sunny weather today. I am going to go into detail about this excursion on this review and you can decide if it is for you or not. If you think this is the only time you will ever go to Alaska and you can swing it... I highly recommend this excursion! Since I was not on the ship, I don't have a picture of the little boat except this picture I took when we were first getting on showing us next to the HAL ship loading everyone... The “small” boat is 3 levels. There are views out all the windows that are phenomenal. Some people stayed outside on the upper deck (no seats up there) the entire time, others stayed on the 2nd deck or 1st deck – regardless, you still get to see and hear everything from any deck. We did stay outside most of the time on the 2nd deck and if you want to hear the cracking of the glacier, I would suggest being outside. The audio/comments being made overheard can be heard much better inside, however. If you are taking this excursion… get on the right side on the 2nd deck… that’s my opinion. Don’t move. HA! Regardless, everyone moved around a lot so you always got your chance to see and hear the glacier cracking and popping and calving… and before I go there… let me just say…. They told us we had the best weather they had seen all year and they really could only think of 2 other days they had ever had weather this clear and beautiful. We had been told to dress in layers and once the boat slowed down, people were taking off their coats and hats and one lady said she was sweating so that’s the type of weather we lucked-out with today! Plenty of pictures on the next post and less writing

Yes. They do. I wrote about it in my Trip Report on this board. It is an EXTREMELY slow lane and will not fast track your wait at all. They were processing the non-VERIFLY passengers 10X faster. I still wish I would have done it.

RubyTue - Yes. I didn't even know there was a time limit until you wrote this comment. I am fairly certain at least one night it was closer to 8pm before we ordered. They never questioned us.

Juneau, continued... Other ships docked in port today.. and I can’t remember anything else we did today. We were back onboard by 7pm/7:30pm?? I don’t remember. We ordered from the dining room menu for dinner, ate, and I probably fell asleep early. Tomorrow…. Hubbard Glacier…

Even if you don't do it, you will still be allowed on the ship. You are in an odd position so I don't know if they'll tell you to do anything more or not?? I'm writing a review right now and there are several paragraphs/posts about what happened with ARRIVECAN with several people... you are in an odd situation, for sure. I wouldn't worry about it too much because no matter what, they will still let you board the ship.

Juneau, continued.. We got on the tour bus and they took us to the Tongass National Forest. On the way, they gave each person a little baggie with a granola bar, some trail mix, a piece of chocolate, and some fruit strip thing plus we all got a bottle of water. The trail walk was supposed to be a mile but it felt much shorter. It was easy and we stopped and talked about the lichen, algae, spruce trees, etc all along the way. My husband doesn’t like to walk and he even thought we stopped and talked too much. It was a nice, easy walk and a beautiful park area. We were at the glacier viewing area alone. There were no other groups there. The clouds had lifted... Our guide grabbed a piece of 200-yr-old glacier ice from the water and passed it around. After plenty of time at the glacier, we took a shortcut back to the van (which had been moved by the bus driver to a closer area). The tour guide here, Phil, was great with his commentary. He gave us interesting and entertaining information all day. We had about an hour after our tour was over to see Ketchikan. Tracy’s Crab Shack had a long line but was highly recommended by our guide (we did not eat there). There is a mercantile downtown by Tracy's. The tram was not busy (surprisingly) and the cars leave every 10 minutes. It was $45 per person. My husband did not feel like going up in the tram and I was ambivalent, so we didn't do it.