teachatthebeach

I love your bald eagle pictures! I took so many shots of eagles, but sadly none of them turned out that well. Yours could be postcards!!

For me, my Alaska cruise was more about the itinerary and ports then the ship itself. I saw the ship as the hotel not the destination. Does that make sense? We were on the Celebrity Millennium with our 10 year old daughter. We all had a fabulous time.

We were on the Millennium in June on a cruise to Alaska. The Fun Factory staff said there were about 250 kids on the cruise. My daughter is 10 and had lots of fun in the Fun Factory. The staff was super nice and very engaging with the kids. We've sailed on Royal and Disney, so she had something to compare. The rest of the cruise staff, as well as other passengers, were welcoming and friendly as well.

We sailed back on June 19. And we were blessed to have great weather all week. I don't know how much of the Inside Passage we covered that first day. We had already been traveling for 5 days when we got on the ship. I needed that first evening to unpack and regroup! I do know the views from our balcony were amazing!

Sail Away follow up...

We had our muster drill at 4:00 and it seemed to last forever. We finally got up on deck around 5:00 and relaxed on loungers by the pool until the ship started to move. Then we moved up as high as we could which I believe was deck 12. The weather was beautiful and the scenery was amazing. We went to dinner around 8:00.

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Going under the bridge!

Another vote for Chilkoot! We only went as far as Fraser due to time, but the van was very comfortable--easy on and off for photo ops. Kevin was our guide. He was a hoot and had us laughing all the way. Our train car was only half full, so everyone got to sit on the good side.

Our next stop was the Palmer Reindeer Farm. We had so much here feeding the reindeer and elk, petting Dolly the bison, and playing with some farm animals.

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The last stop of the day was the Alaska Zoo in anchorage. It's a nice little zoo. And they have Dall sheep which was the one animal we hadn't seen yet on our trip.

We all had an amazing time on this trip. If I can answer anyone's questions, I'd be happy to! Thanks for reading!

Beth in Tampa, FL

Wasilla

We spent the night in Wasilla at the Best Western Lake Lucille. It's a lovely property. And it's also less than a block away from Sarah Palin's house...you can see her house from the dock at the hotel. One warning about this hotel--it doesn't have an elevator. I needed to repack our luggage for the flight home, so we had to haul all 5 bags up the stairs. They have someone to help you, but we just did it ourselves.

The next morning we went to the Iditarod Headquarters where we hit the jackpot! It was a meeting day and mushers were there to register for next year's race. My daughter got to have her picture taken with Dallas Seavey, last year's winner.

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Dallas Seavey

Disembarkation

Disembarkation couldn't have been easier. We went to the dining room at 7:45 for breakfast and then went to the terminal where our luggage was waiting for us. We rented a car from Hertz. They have a representative in the terminal and a van. Our luggage was loaded, took a very short drive to the terminal, checked in, and we were on our way.

Today was our one day of bad weather. Luckily, the rain let up at the main stops we wanted to make. And by the afternoon in Anchorage, the sun was out again!

Our first stop was the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. We saw bears, eagles, elk, musk ox, but the highlight for me was the baby moose. So cute!

We also stopped at Beluga Point where it was so windy that we just jumped out of the car for a photo op and jumped right back in. Our last stop before Anchorage was Potter's Marsh. There weren't many birds there...guess they didn't like the weather either!

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Then we continued on to Wasilla where we spent the night.

Hubbard Glacier

I couldn't believe our luck as we had another day of great weather. It cold and a bit overcast at the glacier, but the view was clear. The captain was able to get us within a quarter mile of the glacier! We had plenty of calving and I loved hearing the thunder of the crashing ice.

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Skagway

Again, we were blessed with perfect weather. In the afternoon, we were actually hot walking around in town.

We did an excursion with Chilkoot Charters. We took a small van up to Fraser and then took the train down to Skagway. I highly recommend Chilkoot Charters. Kevin was our van driver and did an excellent job. He was funny and really knew his history. I learned a lot from him. And our van was small. I think it held about 20 people, but it wasn't full. That made for easy on/off at the photo stops we made along the way.

After the train, we had lunch at the Red Onion. There were 4 ships in port and it was crowded in town. There was a wait for lunch pretty much everywhere. After lunch, I wish we had explored some of the historical sights in town, especially about the gold rush, but we were tired and let ourselves get sucked into the tourist trap shops!

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After our dog sledding adventure, we took the Mt. Robert's tram. The views from the top are really amazing. We saw Lady Baltimore-the resident bald eagle, walked one of the short trails, watched a totem pole being carved, and did some souvenir shopping.

After the tram, we went to Tracy's Crab Shack where DH had the first of 3 King Crab treats!

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Juneau

We were lucky and had another day of beautiful weather in Juneau!

We went on ERA Flightseeing's Dogsledding Extended Adventure. When I first looked at this excursion, I almost fell over from sticker shock. But dog sledding on a glacier was the #1 priority for this trip, so I made adjustments elsewhere in the budget. And it was worth every penny and was the adventure of a lifetime.

We met the ERA representative on the dock beside the Mt. Roberts tram. He drove us to the helicopters. We had a safety briefing, weighed in, turned in our backpacks (can't bring anything with you other than your camera), and got our waterproof snow shoes.

Next, we boarded the helicopter. I was a little nervous as I have never been in a helicopter before, but as soon as we were in the air I was so amazed by the views that I forgot about being scared! It was about a 15 minute ride to the glacier.

On the glacier, we met our musher Eric. We got to help harness the dogs, put their booties on, and put sunscreen on them. The inside of their ears and tops of their noses can get sunburned. Two sleds are attached to the team. I was on the front sled and Eric was right behind me. My husband was on the second sled and my daughter stood on the sled behind him. Eric is the one driving the sled, but my daughter helped with the braking. We took a long ride around the glacier. Words can't describe the scenery. It's like being in another world.

After the ride, we brushed the dogs, helped give them a snack, and put them back in their doghouses. Then, Magda took over. She gave us a tour of the camp. Then we had lunch-turkey and ham wraps, fresh veggies, and cookies. Sadly, our time on the glacier was over. We boarded the helicopters and went back to Juneau.

Again, I can't say enough about how amazing this trip was. If you are thinking about booking this excursion or one like it, DO IT! You won't regret it.

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So, the boat you went on with Misty Bay was a loaner? We're scheduled to go with them shortly, and we have a 6-er reserved, as there are 6 of us. (duh!) Did they say how long their boat was expected to be out of service? Not that it really matters - it is what it is, and as long as we go, that's fine.

 

No, they didn't say how long their boat would be out of service.

Do you by any chance have any pictures of the 6-person boat?

 

I'm a little bit disappointed... We booked with Misty Bay because of their brand new larger boat, but after reading about the experiences of several others on their larger boat (which holds 18), I found out that the "brand new" boat was not yet ready and they were therefore using a loaner boat which wasn't so comfortable inside. So I changed my reservation to their 6-person boat, as it looks very nice in the pictures and has the upstairs "crows nest" area for photo ops... Now it sounds like that boat is out of commission as well - I wonder for how long? Our excursion with them is on August 3rd.

I don't know how long their boat will be out of commission, but the 6 person boat we were on was very nice! The biggest difference was that there wasn't a covered area should there be rain. Also, there wasn't a crows nest, but we could go out on the front of the boat as well. We never needed to. Lewis could quickky turn the boat for us to get a perfect view from the our spot on the back of the boat. Here are 2 pictures of the boat we were on.

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I'm going to try and post the link to the video a different way. Hope this one works!

This video was featured on my local news. A group of humpback whales was bubble feeding in Resurrection Bay. Wish I could have seen something like this! Caution...this video does contain some cursing. Might want to turn down the sound if children are near by!

We were there 2 weeks ago. It was chilly. I needed my hat and gloves. I wore my fleece jacket with my rain jacket to help with the wind.

Our next stop was Hoonah/ Icy Strait Point. This is a tender port. If you were in line to tender by 10:00, you didn't need a number. Tendering started a good bit before 10:00 and we got to the tender area at 9:50. We waited less than 5 minutes and we were on our way.

We went on a whale watching trip with Misty Bay Lodge. They picked us up just outside of the port area and drove us into town. We rode to town in the bear watching van. I noticed a loaded shot gun right next to our driver!

I booked the this excursion almost a full year before our trip and booked when they just had one boat. It's my understanding that they now have two and the second holds more people than their original boat. We were on the 6 person boat. I'm sure how many people the other boat holds. So if you book with them, make sure you know which you are on!

The original 6 person boat was in the shop, so we were on another smaller boat. It was just fine--enclosed cabin, bathroom, etc. And there were only 5 people on our boat. And we didn't have Captain Dan. We had Lewis. He was always in contact with Dan via the radio. And Lewis was a great guide! He shared lots of knowledge about the area, the whales, and the other sea life. We had a great trip!

The weather was beautiful and warm. A long sleeve shirt and a light jacket was all I needed. The locals were in t-shirts. It wasn't long until we spotted our first 2 whales. They were two humpbacks. According to Lewis, they were "logging". Which means they were just hanging out and floating on top of the water...no diving, breaching, etc. It was so cool to hear them come up for air! We went to another stop, where we saw another humpback who did a little dive and we got to see a tail flip. Sadly, that was about it for whale sightings. We did see sea otters, sea lions, and lots of porpoises.

After the tour we went to Misty Bay Lodge and had lunch. DH and DD loved the halibut fish and chips. We also had pizza for me the landlubber. The pizza was also very good. I think Misty Bay is one of the few if only places in town to eat. Two officers from the police department were eating there and a few locals. It was fun to sit and listen to the chatter!

After lunch we took a walk through town. Hoonah is what I imagined a real Alaskan town to be. The family from the show Alaskan Bush people keep their boat here. When they talk about going to town, Hoonah is where they go. Misty Bay Lodge even has a pizza named after them. We walked back to the port area and did some shopping. Then we got back on the ship.

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Our first port was Ketchikan. We went salmon fishing with Captain Ryan McRobert from Best Weigh Guide Service. His phone number is 907-305-0358. Sadly, we only caught 1 king salmon, but it was too small and we had to throw it back. We did have a nice day on the water. Ryan met us right at the Millennium and we had a very short walk to his boat. We were underway within minutes. When we got to some fishing spots, he quickly set up the rods and reels and we trolled (not sure if that is correct fishing terminology). You only grab the rod when there was a bite.

Our port time was short, so we couldn't go out very far. If we had more time, we could have gone further out and tried for Halibut. From what we heard on shore, the fish really weren't biting that day. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery, especially all the bald eagles.

Ryan dropped us off at the dock on Creek Street. We did some shopping there and walked back toward town and the ship. If you have time and need some souvenirs, check on Tongass Trading. Anything you could ever want with Alaska on it, they have it!

We had beautiful weather. We started off wearing jackets, but we soon shed them. And no mosquitoes!

If you have the time, go to the video section and watch some of the ranger talks. I've learned a lot about the bears, salmon runs, and the park.

I'd love an itinerary like that!

We did the same thing at Club Paris! We showed up early without a reservation. The hostess told us if we could eat in an hour and a half, the table was ours. And our food was so good that it didn't take us that long!

Here are the pictures I tried to post in my review! Wish they would be larger!

Sail Away

The Pool Area

The Food

If someone could give me some advice on how to post pictures, I would really appreciate it! It seems I can post when using my laptop, but not my pc. Ugh!:confused: