Shazzah

Cruise & Land Tours are great, but doing a DIY version to include the legs of the train you want is not too difficult. The other advantage of DIY is you will be on the authentic Alaska RR Cars - this was important to my Train Geek husband, but may not matter to others. 
 

Local hotels are well practiced with dealing with the Train arrivals and departures, and we found it very easy to get transport to and from our hotel, even if we weren’t part of a larger group. 
 

Have fun, however you book your trip. 

You might want to consider one of the smaller ships for your Alaska Cruise (less than 100 passengers). These cruises focus on activities instead of major port stops, so you usually get off the ship a couple of times a day to hike, kayak, paddle board, etc. 

We have traveled with UnCruise Adventures, but I believe Alaskan Dream Cruises and National Geographic / Linblad offer similar sized ships and activities. 
 

We love Denali. Fall - late August, early September is hard to beat:
 

 But then again, it could look like this:

The weather can change so easily, you can’t always predict what you will get.  We have also been to Denali in early June, and that was beautiful as well. 

 Great review. It was nice of you to take your parents as well. 

Thanks for the updates. Will definitely have to give The Cookery a try. 

Thank you for sharing!  I enjoyed your blog. 

Bald Eagles in the rain:

After lunch, we set out for the Seal Rocks area, south of the Chiswell Islands.  Lots of Steller Sea Lions.  We also saw puffins high on the cliff, as well as fishing on the water.  We saw one sea otter who was not as shy as most had been.  After a great afternoon of cruising and exploring, we found another quiet cove and settled in for the evening.  It was an opportunity to go for a kayak paddle and a swim.  

We had a pleasant evening.  The winds came up during the night, and we could feel the rocking motion on the boat.  It wasn't uncomfortable, but the next morning we decided to head back to Seward.  We fought the winds and bouncy seas for several hours but made it back just fine.  

We would definitely recommend Alaska Fjord Charters.  We were so impressed with the beauty of the Kenai Fjords, and it was great to experience it in such a quiet, relaxed way.  Probably as important, I'm glad we ventured off our usual path of booking something we'd done before.  We got outside of our comfort zone a bit, and it certainly paid off.

Thanks for following along.  A multi-day charter might not be everyone's interest, but I'd definitely recommend a day cruise if you are in the Seward area.  This was our first trip to the Kenai Peninsula, and we will definitely be back. 

We enjoyed another day in Seward, where we visited the SeaLife Center - and especially loved the puffins.  We then returned to Anchorage where we caught a flight to Lake Clark National Park.  We spent five days at the Alaska Homestead Lodge in Silver Salmon Creek, watching bears do their thing, but that is a story for another day.

Our internet has been up and down for the last couple of weeks, but attempting to finish this now.  

Our third day of cruising was just as beautiful and calm as the two preceding days.  We just cruised around, and then went exploring to the Seal Rock area in the afternoon.

We then entered what I called Magic Cove, which turns out to actually be Taz Basin.  Just a beautiful spot ... lots of sea life on the rocks, a couple seals, and some beautiful colors.

I use the “replace the sky option” in Luminar occasionally. If you have edited a photo with one of the HDR-like settings, the resulting sky sometimes looks a bit off. So it is easy enough to replace the sky with a copy of the unedited sky.

Saturday 16 July 2016

Our two week trip with family and friends ended with our early morning arrival in Ketchikan. Time for hugs and goodbyes - with the crew as well as each other. We had come to appreciate many of the crew members and were sad to see departure day come. 
 

The younger generation left us to get transfers to the airport. They had jobs, school, and summer sports  to get back to.  Finding a two week period where we could all take time off for the trip was no easy task!  It is gratifying to hear the kids and grandkids say this was their favorite vacation ever. They would all go back in a heartbeat. 

Those of us from Maine took an extra day to see Ketchikan and rest up for the long cross country flights. We did the usual - shopped for souvenirs, ate more fried halibut chunks, and also visited the Totem Pole Park. 

Thanks again for following along, and many good wishes for lots of successful cruises to Alaska. There is a reason people keep going back, year after year!

I realize this has been mostly a photo journal of our trip, so I will include some more info on the ship.  This post includes photos from both of our trips on the Wilderness Discoverer.  We found no significant changes between 2013 and 2016 - a good thing, since we really like the way the ship is laid out. 
 

The dining room is on the main deck. Breakfast and lunch were served buffet style, dinner was plated. It was always open seating. 
 

The small bar separated the dining room from the lounge area which was at the bow of the boat. Alcoholic beverages were extra; you could run a tab and settle up at the end of the week. We found a good assortment of Alaskan Beers on tap

The lounge area had small tables and bench seating on the side. This is where people hung out to visit, to read a book from the onboard library, or to watch presentations by the ship’s crew. 
 

This looks like a Slide Presentation shown on the last night, sharing all the week’s adventures. 
 

Cabins are not large, but they seem to work just fine, at least for our group. The only complaint I’ve heard is about some of the cabins in the main deck, which may get more engine noise. Most of the cabins are on Deck 3, which is the deck above the dining room and lounge. There are 4 larger cabins on Deck 4, the sun deck. Each cabin has its own restroom facilities

People often say it isn’t worth getting the largest/most expensive stateroom, because you spend so much time outside when on an Alaska Cruise. We certainly found this to be the case, especially because we were blessed with such good weather most of the week.  The sun deck was a popular gathering place. 
 

This post describes a bit more about the ship. We all liked he ship very much, but undoubtedly, the outdoors was the main attraction. 
 

More photos from the afternoon ( note - I seem to be missing my memory card from the last day of the trip, so the photos of Misty Fjords include some from our self group, and a few from our previous trip.)

Hoping to finish up this report today.  Thank you for those who have followed along, even though it has taken more than three years to finish!
 

Friday 15 July 2016

We woke up in another beautiful anchorage - Walker Cove, within Misty Fjords National Monument. There were lots more water activities today, including long kayak paddles with some bushwhacking, skiff tours, shorter kayak trips, and paddle boarding. There was even a polar plunge in the afternoon.

On 10/17/2019 at 9:44 PM, SuperCrewBear said:

 

I've taken two Alaskan cruises on a large ship plus multiple fly-in road trips of the interior.  I have been feeling like I wouldn't do another cruise as I like the road trips A LOT.  After looking at these pictures and reading about the 14-days on the UnCruise...I'm reconsidering.  This looks like something I could enjoy A LOT.  It's now on my back burner...now I need to figure out when. 🙂  I appreciate the pictures!  Thank you!

Thank you - I’m glad the review and photos gave you ideas for future travel. Road trips are fun, too!

Each day, Captain Colin consulted us on what we’d like to do, where we might like to go. He offered time for kayaking, or going ashore for a hike, We were just interested in letting him set the course to give us an overview of the Fjords. Both of us were rusty with our photography, so it was a good time to work on relearning camera controls and options. I had just purchased a new camera - the Sony RX10 MIV the day before we left for Alaska (not the recommended way to start with a new camera, but something many of us do).

We woke to brilliant sunshine in our quiet anchorage in Abra Cove. The only noise we’d heard all night was distant thundering from Aialik Glacier.

We spent the day leisurely cruising from glacier to glacier, Holgate, Surprise, and Northwestern among them. We anchored in another quiet cove after visiting Northwestern Glacier. We enjoyed a dinner of salad, pork tenderloin and vegetables, followed by brownies for dessert. 
 

Still light at 8:30 pm, with dining table converted to our bed, it was the perfect opportunity to lie down and read a few more chapters of my book. 
 

9 hours ago, misguy said:

We were fortuante, there wasn't any line and the center was mostly empty, and we loved it.

 

Our experience was similar in mid-August.  Thanks for the review. We also enjoyed the SeaLife center.

Thursday 14 July  2016

The destination after  Wrangell Was Traitor’s Cove, enroute to Misty Fjords National Monument and Ketchikan. There were lots of water activities today, including skiff tours, kayaking, and paddle boarding. We saw a black bear along the shore in the morning, and then again as we were eating dinner. Not sure if it was the same bear. Here are photos covering just a sampling of the day.  
 

I’ll continue in hopes I can do justice to the rest of our day. Remember, we’d never been to the Kenai Peninsula, and hadn’t watched a lot of videos. We were impressed with how lonely we were when just an hour or two away from port. We saw some fishing boats, and an occasional tour boat, but it was very quiet. The fjords seemed more expansive than I expected.  We loved the many strange and wonderful rock formations, and the way trees can grow in the craziest places. 

 

Captain Colin brought us close to Aialik Glacier.  We stayed here almost two hours, just soaking up the views, watching the seals on the ice in front of the glacier, and enjoying the sights and sounds of calving. 
 

This was a special afternoon.  We saw only one other boat in our time at the glacier, and we saw the helicopter tour.  It was a perfect introduction to Kenai Fjords National Park. We explored some more before anchoring in Abra Bay.  Tasty chicken tacos for dinner, and then we just soaked up the quiet. We could still hear the occasional thunder of calving at Aialik Glacier. Better yet was what we couldn’t hear - no cell phones ringing, no television, and no temptation to log in to Facebook or Instagram.
 

Will share some more photos from our adventure in the next post. 

We took the shuttle from the Windsong Lodge to the small boat harbor, where we boarded the Darby for our 3 Night cruise. We still weren’t quite sure what we’d signed up for, but it was sure to be an adventure!

After a safety briefing and familiarization with the boat systems, we were on our way into Resurrection Bay.  An Orca surfaced right next to the boat within an hour, but of course I didn’t have my camera ready. We did see a humpback not long after.
 

This was a good start!  A bit about the boat before we continue exploring the Kenai Fjords. It is a 38 foot boat that has been outfitted for comfortable family cruising. The salon area is taken up by a large dining table with benches on both sides.  This area converts to a comfortable bed, and a curtain is hung to separate from the crew quarters which are in a v-berth at the front of the boat. There is a fixed single berth on the starboard side of the cabin that also makes a nice place to sit and watch the world go by.  The boat can be configured with three additional berths to sleep 6 in total. I’d say 4 adults would be comfortable on the boat if they are good friends - or 2 adults and a few kids would also be fine. 
 

The wrap around windows provide good visibility, and one can easily enjoy the cruise from inside if needed. I limit my sun exposure, so this was a good setup for me. 
 

There is a separate head/washroom for guests.  It’s not large, but my 6’5” husband navigated just fine. It has a “wet” shower system, meaning you will most likely get water all over when using the shower - this is a common setup on boats.  Most guests choose to forego showers for a short trip and just wash up using the sink, or jump overboard for a refreshing dip. 
 

There is a small deck on back where you can sit as you cruise, or even set up fishing poles. A ladder takes you to the bridge, where you have 360 degree views of the world. 

This is not a luxury boat ... and it isn’t advertised as such. We found it fit for purpose, and were quite comfortable during our time onboard. 
 

A word about meals. The food was good.  We had typical breakfast fare - eggs, potatoes, pancakes, muffins, and fruit. Lunch was generally a salad, or something in the light side. Snacks like fruit, cheese and crackers, and granola bars were always available. 
 

My husband and I went back to Alaska this summer, our 4th trip in seven years. We are both retired, and also like to plan our vacations well in advance. I started researching this trip in early 2018. We knew we wanted to visit Seward and the Kenai Fjords National Park. I researched many options, and was trying to decide which one of the day tours to pick. I wanted the longest time on the water, with the best chance to see wildlife and glaciers. But I also knew my husband wouldn’t be comfortable on an 8-9 hour cruise. Researching more, mostly on TripAdvisor, I found Alaska Fjord Charters

From their website:

“Most visitors to Kenai Fjords National Park take in the sights in a single day (or less) on large tour boats. Our private boat charters are designed for more active, independent travelers. Our multi-day adventures—most common trip is three days and two nights—are perfect for couples, families and friends who are looking to experience the full magic of Kenai Fjords. 

Each trip is tailored to the unique preferences of our guests. No two charters are exactly alike.“

This sounded interesting, and I read all the reviews I could find, then contacted Captain Colin to get more information.  We booked a 3 Night /4 Day charter for mid-August, 2019, and found Captain Colin to be professional and responsive to all email inquiries.

We live in Maine, so had a very long flight to Anchorage, then an early morning train ride on the Alaska RR. 

This report isn’t about the Alaska RR trip, but we love trains and were happy to complete the Anchorage to Seward leg, having previously traveled Fairbanks to Denali, and then Denali to Anchorage. The trip was good, and we had decent weather, so it was possible to spend a lot of time on the viewing platform. 

We arrived in Seward and were impressed with how well coordinated luggage and transfer services were handled. We were staying at the Windsong Lodge and were checking in within 30 minutes of arriving at the Train Depot. 
 

After a quick check in at the hotel, we took the shuttle back to the small boat harbor in town, where we were able to find our boat for the charter, and meet Captain Colin.

I will describe the boat, and show some photos from our cruising time in the next few posts. To cut to the chase for those who don’t want to sift through photos and my narrative, this turned out to be a wonderful charter. We had three spectacular days onboard the Darby, and my husband is still thanking me for finding Alaska Fjord Charters (high praise, as he can be a little critical when it comes to my travel bookings 😆).

The afternoon adventure was a stop in Wrangell, a small town that has become a popular destination for small ship cruises in Alaska. We attended a presentation on Tlingit history and culture at Chief Shakes Tribal House, then everyone split up and toured the town, went for a hike, or went to the excellent museum. 
 

Many of the homes were brightly painted, and there were lots of colorful flowers. 

We were back onboard by 5:30 or so, in time for dinner and cruising towards the Misty Fjords Area and Ketchikan. 

We are up to 13 July 2016; it is Wednesday and we are half way through our second week. I had worried two weeks on a small ship would lead to bored teenagers, or even be a bit too much family time. This didn’t turn out to be the case.  The granddaughters enjoyed the nature activities, but had also made several friends on board. Plus the expedition guides went out of their way to prepare special activities for the younger passengers. 
 

This was a full day, with two main adventures. First was a hike in the morning in the Virginia Lakes area of the Tongass Forest. This was a fairly easy hike with a slight incline, and lots of opportunity to examine the rainforest. 
 

One of the expedition leaders poses with the kids. 

My photos for our next day only cover one adventure, a heck of a crazy Skiff Tour. It started off slow, as we were motoring along the face of a small glacier.  As we worked our way closer and closer, we saw some ice caves, and then some beautiful turquoise ice.

We could see another group who had selected the long hike as their adventure. 
 

This had turned out to be a stunning Skiff Tour. The photos don’t do justice to the actual journey of carving our way through shallow waters and rocks to get near the caves. We arrived back at the boat and relaxed while waiting for kayakers to return from their long paddle. The shoreline was covered with what looked like glaze, and we could easily see the demarcation between the silty glacier water and the aqua water.

6 hours ago, cruise kitty said:

 

Yup, I have one I'm working on right now...  I need to get it finished before I link it up 🙂

Awesome.  I will be sure to check it out. I just read your New Zealand Celebrity Cruise Report and absolutely loved it. Thanks so much for posting your reviews in your signature - I have not yet cruised Celebrity, so I would never have found your review. 
 

As an aside - we lived in Sydney for 3 years - in an apartment by the Harbor Bridge and just above the Rocks. We made it to New Zealand once, for a land tour by train and also ferry. Your cruise experience is enticing!

Thank you for your wonderful review and photos!  I’ve never sailed Celebrity, but found your review from your signature.