Review - Amsterdam 14night Alaska Explorer 6/29-7/13t

[trophy_23]

Lets continue on...

 

We are from Vancouver,BC so we took the 6:40am Amtrak Train southbound to Seattle the morning of our cruise instead of spending a night in a hotel. We have done this in the past and found it to be very convenient, arriving at the Seattle station about 11:15am, with a short cab ride to Pier 91. The embarkation process was very quick and we were checked in and in our cabin by 12:15pm. We had a cloudy evening for sail away, followed by quite a nice sea day on our way up the west side of Vancouver Island. We spent most of the day out on deck enjoying the fresh air and the abundance of wildlife (birds, whales, dolphins, etc).

 

Here are a couple pictures of the Seattle skyline to go with that post:

 

 

 

And a couple from the sea day.... All those inviting deck chairs!

 

 

Passing the Disney Wonder at about 10:00pm

 

Edited July 21, 2012 by trophy_23

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Ketchikan

Having been to Ketchikan a few times, we planned to walk around town for a few hours (unless the weather was nice, then we would take the Deadliest Catch tour again as we really enjoyed it in 2010). Well, not surprisingly, the weather was quite wet in Ketchikan, so after a few hours of strolling around town we returned to the ship and had a relaxing afternoon. That evening, at the entrance to the MDR, there was a Canada Flag and a cake to celebrate Canada Day, a nice touch by HAL.

 

It was a busy day in Ketchikan

 

4 shot pano on sail away

 

Canada Day on HAL

Edited July 21, 2012 by trophy_23

[canadianbear]

Finally, some much anticipated photos! Beautiful....am enjoying your review and looking forward to more photos.:)

[JamesEM]

Thanks for sharing, looking forward to more of your review.

[kazu]

Great pics - thanks for carrying on - we're all enjoying:):)

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Tracy Arm

We woke up to a somewhat mixed bag of weather for our scenic cruising in Tracy Arm. We saw many humpback whales and even some Orcas fairly close to the ship in the few hours before we entered Tracy Arm. It was a very cool day on deck, but other than a few very quick showers, the weather held off long enough for us to enjoy a wonderful day in Tracy Arm. We were lucky with the ice conditions and made it all the way to the end, where we got very close to Sawyer Glacier. I was impressed by Tracy arm, it was our first time there and I loved it. After leaving Tracy Arm, we made our way up towards Juneau where we anchored for the night in Stephens Passage.

 

Orcas in Frederick Sound

 

Wide angle shot from the bow in Tracy Arm

 

Beautiful water color

 

National Geographic 'Sea Bird'

 

Lots of seals on the ice

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Blue Ice

 

Sawyer Glacier

[jwitt2]

Thanks for posting the beautiful pictures and comments about this cruise I was also on.

[JamesEM]

Thanks for sharing your pics.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Glad you are all enjoying so far. Here is a bit about the food and entertainment before I get on to the ports of call.

 

The Entertainment

We didn't go to any of the HAL production shows, we only saw performances by the guest entertainers. Our favorite was Jeff Tracta and his singing/impressions. We found the ventriloquist to be just ok. We really enjoyed Benji Hill's 'dangerous' stuff comedy show. George Kanter the comedian was good also. We were really impressed by Chris Michaels' show, playing all of the different 'instruments'.

 

The Food

We had breakfast in the lido everyday and lunch there most days. We found the variety of food great, with taste ranging from good to very good. The selection of fruit was good, but unfortunately they ran out of pineapple on day 4, so that was a bit of a disappointment as it is one fruit I rarely have at home and it is always so tasty!! We enjoy open dining so we are free to vary the time we want to eat based on our plans for the day, some nights we ate at 5:15pm and some nights at 8:30pm. We had a table for 2 each night without making reservations and our longest wait time was no more than 5min. We ate dinner most nights at the MDR, but had three in the Canaletto (still no charge) and a couple in the lido (when we just felt too tired to dress up). We found the food in the Canaletto very good and the service was great. A few times throughout the cruise we found ourselves coming back on board between the lido's lunch and dinner hours, so we had a snack at the Terrace Grill, the tacos, burgers, and hotdogs were good, we did not try the pizza. The desserts, as always, were to die for!!

 

If you read through the menus I posted -- they did not run out of Pineapple -- it is listed in various items until the end of the cruise.

I don't know they didn't but it out in the Lido. DH reminded me that it was in the Neptune Lounge nearly every morning.

[trophy_23]

If you read through the menus I posted -- they did not run out of Pineapple -- it is listed in various items until the end of the cruise.

 

I don't know they didn't but it out in the Lido. DH reminded me that it was in the Neptune Lounge nearly every morning.

 

Well after day 4 it was no longer in the lido tray during any meal time. Fresh pineapple is what I was referring to. Obviously they had a limited supply. I guess people in the deluxe suites were able to get it from the neptune. I shoulda snuck in the I guess ;)

Edited July 22, 2012 by trophy_23

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Juneau

Juneau continued with the trend of overcast conditions, and once again, we had no big plans other than to take the MGT bus out to Mendenhall Glacier for a hike. We enjoyed a nice hike out to the waterfall and then hiked one of the shorter loop trails, just missed a close encounter with a bear, but did see a porcupine in a tree. After a couple hours we made our way back to walk around town and do some quick souvenir shopping. Before we boarded the ship, we headed over to Tracy's Crab Shack for an ice cold Alaskan beer and some very tasty crab cakes! As we sailed out of Juneau (10pm), some of the locals who live along the waterfront put on a display of fireworks as each shipped passed in front of their houses, which was neat to watch.

 

Mendenhall Glacier

 

Fairly busy day in Juneau

 

Tracy's Crab Shack

 

Fireworks

Edited July 23, 2012 by trophy_23

[djwho]

great pics, especially like the fireworks shot.... I missed that,.. will know better next time I cruise to Alaska and it's July 4th.....

 

Donna

[trophy_23]

great pics, especially like the fireworks shot.... I missed that,.. will know better next time I cruise to Alaska and it's July 4th.....

 

Donna

 

It would have been nice to see the display put on by the city, those were just ones done by locals from their houses on the beach.

[erewhon]

Thanks for sharing your great photos.

[trophy_23]

Icy Strait Point

We headed off the ship around 9am on the tender. At the tender dock, we made our way up the very steep ramp where we had a look through the interesting cannery building. There is a shuttle to town ($8pp round trip), but in case anyone is wondering for future cruises, one-way tickets are only available for purchase in town ($5pp) for the return bus back to the tender pier. We found this a bit strange, no one way ticket to town available for those who already had a ride back to the pier pre-arranged. It was a nice enough day so we chose to walk along the seawall path to town.

 

This is where our fun really begins! We pre-booked a whale watch tour with Misty Bay Lodge for 11:30am, so after a walk around town to check out the eagle's nest we checked in at the lodge. We then headed down to meet our Captain (Dan) at the dock, turns out some fellow CC'ers were on the first tour and had a great time! We happened to be the only ones booked on the later tour, so we got a total private tour with Hope and Dan. I can't say enough about how great they were. We saw plenty of whales and their boat was very comfortable. I would highly recommend Misty Bay! We made sure we were on deck to watch for whales after the sail away (until we entered the Gulf of Alaska) and we were rewarded for this with many humpbacks and even a few Orcas coming very close to the ship. The ship and its crew were decorated in Red, White and Blue for the 4th of July BBQ which was also a nice touch.

 

Icy Strait Point tender dock

 

Eagle in Hoonah

 

Cruise ship tour boat

 

Misty Bay Lodge Boat

 

A couple whale photos

 

Edited July 23, 2012 by trophy_23

[RuthC]

At the tender dock, we made our way up the very steep ramp where we had a look through the interesting cannery building.

Thank you for the continuing travelogue, and the interesting photos.

I am beyond curious about the steepness of the ramp at Icy Strait---is the steepness a function of the tides, or is it always the same degree of angle?

I'm already sure I'll have a hard time one direction or the other, but I have been hoping that the slope will be less severe on the other go-round.

 

Thanks for any info you can offer.

[canadianbear]

WOW! Love the photos-thank you for sharing them with us.

 

This cruise just sounds fabulous-lots of nature to see. Enjoying your day to day travel log-makes me almost think I was on it too!

[trophy_23]

Thank you for the continuing travelogue, and the interesting photos.

I am beyond curious about the steepness of the ramp at Icy Strait---is the steepness a function of the tides, or is it always the same degree of angle?

I'm already sure I'll have a hard time one direction or the other, but I have been hoping that the slope will be less severe on the other go-round.

 

Thanks for any info you can offer.

 

Yes the steepness is a function of the tide. From what I understand the tide can be 25ft or more in that area so it will vary greatly during the day. It was no where near as steep by the time we got back at the end of the day.I will post a picture of the ramp area later for you to see.

[RuthC]

Thank you. Now I know that there's at least a chance that one direction won't be as painful to walk.

Hope springs eternal!

[djwho]

Thank you. Now I know that there's at least a chance that one direction won't be as painful to walk.

Hope springs eternal!

 

Ruth just an FYI, hubby has partial use of his left side, and going up is generally easier for him, rather than going down. ISP was close to the steepness as Anchorage. Hubby walked sideways down the ramp in Anchorage.

 

Donna

[djwho]

Trophy great pictures.... I want to go back to Alaska.....

 

Donna

[RuthC]

Ruth just an FYI, hubby has partial use of his left side, and going up is generally easier for him, rather than going down. ISP was close to the steepness as Anchorage. Hubby walked sideways down the ramp in Anchorage.

 

Donna

Thanks for the reminder about going sideways, Donna. I keep forgetting, at least until I am faced with that degree of difficulty.

Someone taught me that trick over in Bali, and I am forever grateful. Kinda dumb of me not to figure it out myself, as I always go sideways going down stairs.

[JamesEM]

Nice pics.

[pepsigirl64]

:D Nice pictures and commentary, I have really enjoyed it. Could you tell me about where you docked for Anchorage? I am doing this cruise September 7, a friend mentioned Seward. I want to rent a car, but need to know where to tell them I am at. Thanks.