Alaska cruise and land review June10th-17th

[flashdog_1]

What ship were you sailing on? Thanks

[shutterbug285]

What ship were you sailing on? Thanks

 

radiance of the seas tons of glass great ship for alaska

[shutterbug285]

went back to the room to relax for a while. when I went out to the balcony this boat was in our wake

it followed us for a while. all I could think of is........is he checking our license plate? are we getting pulled over? It just seemed strange to have it follow so close. Maybe the captain was speeding lol.

 

 

the rest of the day we just relaxed, did go down for the trivia challenge and we each spent ten whole dollars at the casino-we are such big gamblers! and we did some more exploring. but mostly just relaxed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 3, 2011 by shutterbug285

[shutterbug285]

we ate later in the day so we could try the MDR late seating. It was formal night In reality even trying to eat lunch late. I was still felt like i was starving by the time 8:30 came around and what should have been a relaxed leisurely meal seemed very slow moving. not the waitstaffs fault , just what my body is used to. the waitstaff was attentive, the food was OK and our table mates were very pleasant company. By the time the meal was over it was 10:30 . so we took a quick stroll. didn't feel much like doing anything else so when we got back to the room we were going to just head off to sleep but...............oooh whats that?

 

 

 

 

they were everywhere, frolicking in the wake as far as you could see, then after watching for a few minutes

 

 

look whales too!!! best after dinner show ever!

 

now it IS getting late

 

Edited July 3, 2011 by shutterbug285

[shutterbug285]

great review so far, seen you stayed in 1104, we are in 1102 in 19 days. do you have any balcony pics?

 

we were in 9260 which was the very back of the ship. I don't think i have any pics don't know why, I'm usually really good about that maybe it was because there was so much to shoot all the time I can tell you it was big enough for the table and two chairs plus two loungers

[Esha]

Thank you for posting this review. Your photos are fantastic...... really making me excited for our Alaska cruise in 5 weeks !!

 

Helen

[shutterbug285]

good morning ketchikan. the weather is cloudy and its misting.....but its pretty

 

 

 

 

we grab an early breakfast because we are kayaking today. after breakfast we go out on deck and wait for them to let us go ashore. We are supposed to meet at the rain gauge building parking lot

 

watching as we dock

 

the mountains in the distance dwarf the ship and the clouds shroud just about everything, I'm hoping it doesn't rain, but it looks like it will. right now its still misting,OK now its raining.oh well

 

[shutterbug285]

We get off the ship with plenty of time to spare so we decide to look through the shop right on the dock. still raining. WE will go kayaking rain or not and its not cold out so I'm sure we will still have fun.

 

This store is huge. I bought a jacket, windbreaker that is fleece lined and is water repellent says Alaska on it and is only 19.95 YUP I'm a tourist....grin

 

We get to the meeting spot early. A few minutes later our shuttle shows up. We are greeted by Gillian the owner of Southeast Sea Kayaks. She finds that we are all there early. So off we go to the office. There we meet Rob, who will be our guide. They are both very friendly and outgoing' We are outfitted with rain gear and a kayak skirt (to keep water out of the kayak) They give us a place to store anything we don't want to take with us. When we are all ready and looking mighty glamorous, we head to her boat to transport us to orca cove

 

 

 

pardon the glass reflection. It took about ten minutes to get to orca cove.We boarded another boat where we met Greg, Gillian's husband who is Australian. We get instructions about the kayaks , how to paddle and how to get in and out. I have to tell you that bud was not really looking forward to this excursion. He was willing to do it, but i could tell that he was not anxious to do it. Of course he was the first person they picked to get in the kayak. They were tandem kayaks so we were in the same boat. :D

[shutterbug285]

when we had all done our LBL'S (leg butt leg technique for boarding the kayaks) there were six of us, Rob gave us a little paddling training and we were off

 

 

 

rob gives us lots of information about the area

 

shows us a salmon stream,and more info about spawning and varieties of salmon

 

this is the boat where we boarded the kayaks we paddled close to shore so we could see the life under the water. I made a couple of them gasp as I stuck my camera under the water to get some shots. its an olympus shockproof waterproof camera that I have for just these occiasions. It was a little difficult to see what i was shooting because leaning way over in a kayak is not a recommended pratice... grin

 

 

[shutterbug285]

 

 

 

Rob told us these drawings were discovered fairly recently and were being studied by some experts. He also picked up a fish he found floating, said he was going to save it for something.............Hmmmmm

 

 

next he took us across to an island. there was a section that got a little wavy and i could see bud tensing up. Rob must have seen it to He said very calmly a moving kayak is a stable kayak. and bud relaxed. We paddle over closer to the island where he pointed out the eagle nest and the reason for the fish. He was going to try and tempt mom out of the nest

 

If you look close at the picture above you can see the eaglets head

 

The fish ploy worked

 

she didn't go for the fish just did a fly by to get a look at it

 

 

when she landed back at the nest, she showed him what she thought of his fish. I had no idea a bird could poop that kind of volume. I hope never to be under one when that happens. Don't worry i have no photo's of that event lol

[shutterbug285]

It was time to head back to the boat. on the way back we saw a sea lion or a seal popping his head up not far from us. I was not quick enough to catch it. back at the boat we used the BLL butt leg leg to get back out of the kayaks. we got to take off our gear and they had a snack of smoked salmon crackers and assorted condiments to go with them. Gillian was there to bring us back and offered to drop us somewhere, we all wanted to go to creek street so she dropped us there. I thought this was a top notch business and i would highly recommend them.

 

we did some shopping at creek street them headed back to the ship

 

 

 

 

 

[speedyjane]

Wonderful pictures and review. Thanks for taking the time to post them all.

[Deb in Cali]

Thank you so much for your review and especially your pictures. You take great pictures. Only 33 more days before our cruise to Alaska on the Pearl.

 

I love Vancouver and have it on my bucket list to cruise out of there on another Alaska cruise.

 

I can't wait to see the remainder of your pictures. I will be looking at this thread almost daily to get my Alaska cruise fix.

[shutterbug285]

I did forget to mention that after the trip bud said he really enjoyed it and was glad he went and that he wouldn't hesitate to go again. That relieved me greatly as I did sort of ignore the fact that initially, he wasn't really looking forward to it. He never said that, but i knew. After shopping, it was time to re board the ship. We decided to try the dinning room late seating one more time.

 

leaving ketchikan

 

 

 

 

goodnight ketchikan

 

 

[rerepunim]

Your pics and comments are great !!!

I too did not really want to do an alaska cruise, but did go with family and friends 7 years ago. Next week i'm going again !!!! most beautiful place i've been.

 

thanks for posting

[shutterbug285]

Your pics and comments are great !!!

I too did not really want to do an alaska cruise, but did go with family and friends 7 years ago. Next week i'm going again !!!! most beautiful place i've been.

 

thanks for posting

 

oh sorry I wasn't clear on that last post. It was the kayaking that he didn't really want to do lol. He had never done it and the idea of being in the ocean with the potential for flipping over ( not likely) and possibly whales, did not make him comfortable. he did love it thought once he was able to relax :)

[shutterbug285]

Today is Icy Strait . We have a whale watch AND a bear search scheduled for today. I booked both with Misty Bay Lodge. Dan called me after I left an email inquiring about the possibility of fishing,whale watching and bear searching. He was very helpful gave me the ins and out of all three and I decided to pick the whale watch. I followed up by asking if there was enough time to do the whale watch and the bear search. I wanted to get out into the wilderness a bit ..... seeing bears would be a bonus. He assured me there would be time. I also found out that someone else on our cruise had booked this tour. We met via the roll call on this forum and met again in person at the meet and mingle,our first day at sea.

 

got up early as usual

 

misty bay is pretty accurate

 

 

 

 

[lanord]

Thanks for posting such great pictures! I loved the ones 'underwater'. I wouldn't have thought of Alaska having such interesting 'sea creatures'. I don't see how you could have gotten better pics, even if you had stuck your head under too! :p

 

Leigh Ann

[shutterbug285]

 

 

 

 

 

[shutterbug285]

this is a tender port. We grab the first tender. we are supposed to meet outside the icy strait gates.

 

this is right outside the port gate

 

This is Bud and I may be the only photo you see of me. ( I hate having my picture taken, much prefer to be behind the camera) PS I'm really not that short about 5'5" He's just very tall! and thanks Jen for snapping the picture for us.

 

 

 

We met up with the third couple that was going with us. Our driver arrived. His name was Brian, He was taking us to the lodge and would also be back to take us on the bear search.

At the lodge we meet Hope who immediately asks me if I'm Lisa and gives me a big hug, she was so sweet and after meeting all of us in the group . suggested that we might want to order sandwiches,as we would be out pretty much all day. Great suggestion! so we all ordered. She pointed out our boat and Capitan Dan (her husband) was already there waiting for us.

the town of hoonah

 

Edited July 4, 2011 by shutterbug285

[shutterbug285]

There were six of us total. we boarded the boat. I'm sorry once again,no photo of the boat. and off to the open seas. They had homemade cookies inside and they were yum!

that is another whale watch, the ship tour i think

 

we are not even out of the cove yet and we spot a sea lion, we didn't stop but i managed to catch him

wasn't long at all before we spotted the first whale. two it turned out

[shutterbug285]

I have to say this was the best whale watch I have ever been on. I have been on at least half a dozen before, out of Plymouth or Cape Cod, back where I live. we have never gotten so close or seen so many . we even saw some breaching. but all i managed to catch was the splash!

 

Dan said they were actually sleeping. I'm thinking oh they sleep like this? DUH!

we watch for a while, you could not only hear them blow when they exhaled , you could here them inhale as well. I'd never been close enough to hear that before.

another tour boat came over and i guess that woke them up. so with a yawn and a stretch

they decided to dive

[shutterbug285]

 

We then head off to find more whales, or so i thought. Dan had spotted something yesterday in that area and wanted to see if they might be there again

but wait!

[shutterbug285]

Thanks for posting such great pictures! I loved the ones 'underwater'. I wouldn't have thought of Alaska having such interesting 'sea creatures'. I don't see how you could have gotten better pics, even if you had stuck your head under too! :p

 

Leigh Ann

 

thank you! :)

there were giant sea stars too and i didn't manage to catch one on camera. we were moving(slowly) so once i saw them I had to stick my camera in the water aim where i thought they were and click. also had to keep up my end of the paddling lol

[shutterbug285]

 

sorry they are a little fuzzy. we were pretty far away

 

are you coming mom?

mom?

and they made their way back into the woods

so..............back to whale watching. here is the breach I didn't catch

Edited July 4, 2011 by shutterbug285