littlelulu01

Enjoying your wonderful review and great photo's, thanks for posting.

Thanks. Here's some more pics since I accidently deleted some. Starting with Glacier Bay in August:

Parliament building along our walk.

The Fairmont all set up for tea time. I assume for cruise passengers.

Very quaint walk to town. I love Victoria.

Victoria: We did not get to Victoria till late on the last evening of the cruise and both times there were issues getting off the ship. It had nothing to do with priority debarkation either because the first time we had our concierge leading us off the ship and we still waited what seemed like forever in a stairway. I think there was issues both times with certain passengers who had hard to pronounce last names who were getting called to report somewhere. The border police also came on board in force in May and they seemed to mean business about something. In May we bagged the long line in the staff stairway and opted for dinner on board instead. After dinner we took a leisurely walk along a nice path to the marina, The Fairmont Empress and then back to the ship.

In Aug we went to the spa instead of lining up to get of the ship and then once we knew the ship had been cleared we exited, walked to town, walked back and went to the garden cafe for dinner which was very quiet and peaceful. Note that the spa closes at 8 on the last night of the cruise.

It was fun to wander around the ship without many people on board. We met up with our favorite activities staff and new friends for good byes and sat in a virtually empty spinikers and then on deck to watch some fireworks in the distance. Packing was easy and next morning we left the ship around 9am.

Feel free to ask any questions. I had posted a bunch of pics to photobucket but somehow deleted half of them so I apologize for the missing pics in posts.

Then some more of the area and back to the port. Ascending and descending seems to occur slower in the float plane. I was thinking are we going to clear these mountains.

Our pilot also helped us in and out of the plane. This was the lake landing where we got out and walked around, took pics and then left.

We flew low enough to see the detail on the ground. The entire area is just massive and untouched by man,

And still some snow in parts.

beautiful Misty Fjords

the water is very clear below

After the kayaking and snack the float plane picked us up. The pilot was the owner of the plane and had been doing this all his life so I was not scared.

We saw wildlife both trips and did a different kayak trip each visit. Bald Eagles are a given. They are everywhere. We also saw porpoises, seals, jumping fish, I think a muskrat, and whales.

The excursion in Ketchikan. You can see the boat that transports from the Pearl. It ties up to the bigger, "Mother Ship," which is anchored in a beautiful bay. This is where you get on the kayak's. There is also a bathroom on the boat in case you need, with hot water and soap.

The Pearl docked in Ketchikan. You can see how close the Tongass Trading co. is to the ship.

Coming into Ketchikan in the morning.

Ketchikan: The boat docks right in town and arrives early. I was up early both trips and loved views entering Ketchikan. The ship docks right in town. The Tongass Trading co. is just off the ship and you can purchase soda, souvenirs etc here. There was evidently coupons being handed out at one point of the cruise that I missed but I saw everyone using them at the store.

I booked the same excursion on my own both trips. I did a little research online and found Southeast Kayaks on Trip Advisor. Their guide met us just off the ship at the liquid sunshine dial and their transfer boat was right in the marina. We took a boat ride to their, "Mother ship" where they have the kayaks. It is very easy to board the boat and gear up, get into the kayaks. I had not kayaked in 20 or more years and had no difficulties. Again I would say I am not in good shape but I also don't have mobility issues. After kayaking around the misty fjords with our excellent guide, we returned to the mother ship where our guide helped us out of the kayaks and served us a yummy salmon, capers, cream cheese and cracker snack. For our May sailing I booked an extra add on and had a float plane come pick us up at the boat and take us on a tour of the Misty Fjords. It was beautiful. We landed on a lake, stretched our legs and then continued on back to the ship. This excursion took up our entire time in port both trips so we never got a chance to walk around Ketchikan.

The August sailing was the kayak tour minus the float plane ride. It was much less in cost and was again a very fun, low key, not too physically challenging excursion. I think they gave me a discount the second time for being a repeat customer.

Reid Lake.

Town of Skagway

Gold Rush Cemetery

lower Reid falls at Gold rush cemetery.

Skagway: When my husband and I went in May we walked from the ship to Gold Rush cemetery. Again this was not a difficult walk although it was not the prettiest walk. It was nice to walk in the quiet with no one around. We were the only people at the cemetery when we arrived. There is a pretty and easy trail we walked up to the falls from the cemetery. Again well marked.

In August one of the cruise ship activities staff suggested we go on a hike with another mom and daughter. We met the other mom and daughter, whom we ended up hanging out quite a bit with for the remainder of the cruise and we went on a hike with the cruise ship staff as our guide.

We started our hike just after we walked off the ship. There was a stream with thousands of salmon flopping around and dying. Quite a sight and if sailing the next week I imagine that stream would stink pretty bad.

We then started up the trail. Stopped at the beginning to take a pic of the Pearl in port and then continued up the trail to lower Dewey Lake. This was a beautiful lake however ill warn you that it was uphill the entire way. There was one area that was quite narrow and some workers were chipping away the rock to make the path wider. Everyone in my group was very fit. The other mom my age was a triathlete and then there was me who is not in the best of shape. We had dressed warm but thankfully in layers. If you do this hike remember to bring water. I drank all of mine and then took my daughter's and drank that as well.

The hike after lower Dewey lake was even more difficult. It kept getting more lush and prettier as we ascended the trails up and up but it also got steeper. At one point we rounded a corner and the next trail was a straight uphill climb. At this point I told my party to go ahead and I would wait for them by a stream. They reluctantly went on ahead and I had such a peaceful time sitting by this stream. The foliage was gigantic. I felt like I was somewhere in prehistoric times. I got to thinking about bears after a while and then shortly after that my party rejoined me.

After we returned to town we all went to a pub and had lunch. The lunch was terrible and no real atmosphere either. It was also expensive. At this point I left my party and walked back to the ship/headed to the spa. They walked to the Gold Rush Cemetery and then back to the ship.

If interested in doing any of these hikes just google and you'll find easy directions. It's free to hike and get out into nature. It's also amazing that there can be so many ships in a port and within a couple of mins after exiting the ship we could be out in nature with not a soul around.

Walked around town after we returned from the glacier. Juneau and other Alaska port towns had some different shop names.

The beach. The path to the beach is easily walked at a slow pace in under 20 mins. This is not a difficult walk as long as you don't have mobility issues.

Fish in a stream by the glacier. This was in August. I don't recall seeing any in May.