Just returned from Alaska

[mcat12]

and wanted to share a few quick thoughts while they are still fresh. I will try to find time to post a thorough review with photos over the next few weeks.

 

1) Bring the longest lens you have available for your camera, or consider renting one from somewhere like borrowlenses.com. I brought an 18-300mm and did not feel I had enough reach. If we ever make it out to Alaska again, I will most definitely bring at minimum a 500mm.

 

2)Ketchikan has the most sightseeing and things to do in port. If we could re-plan, I would book an itinery with a longer port time here. We booked a flightseeing tour with Island Wings--definitely a highlight of our trip. Michelle was amazing and the views can't be beat. After the tour we grabbed a bite to eat and then we had to be back on the ship---not enough time!

 

3)Skagway--if you plan to drive to the Yukon (which was honestly a great experience) Murrays guide is a MUST. Without it, we would have just drove and stopped along the way randomly, it was great to know what we were looking at and some history of the area. Note: Emerald Lake was still frozen as of last week when we were there.

 

4) Juneau--felt like any other port. Nothing really stuck out here. We went with Harv & Marv on a whale watching excursion. Capt. Shawn was extremely knowledgeable and you could tell he is a naturalist at heart. We also had the joy of having Brian on our tour as well and he was just as great. I had different expectations for this tour than what actually happened, so just know that they find a whale, watch it for at most 5 minutes and then leave to search for a new whale. They seem to prefer quantity over quality?? It was still a great experience, and we did see a few whales, but it wasn't "spectacular" if you know what I mean. Note: It was pouring in Juneau when we were there so this may be a biased review.

 

5) If your cruise ship offers you the chance to get off onto a smaller one to view the Sawyer glacier---DO IT. The glacier is gorgeous and even though there was still a lot of ice in the water, we were able to get up close to the glacier. The blues from the smaller boat that reflected were amazing and definitely could not be seen from the cruise ship. This boat also allows you to see some wildlife/marine life that you would miss from your cruise ship.

 

6) waterPROOF coat, we wouldn't have enjoyed our trip without them! Sneakers worked just fine for us, no need for hiking boots. Hat, gloves and a scarf/neck warmer were also items we used daily on our cruise. We wore long sleeves, fleece and waterproof coat with jeans every day...never removed any layers because it was frigid (40s-low 50s the entire trip and wet).

 

Thats all for now, more in the full review later.

[tangerinebunny]

Sounds like a great trip. We did the Island Wings trip last week and it was the highlight of our trip. Michelle is determined to give each passenger a great flight. And the scenery is incredible.

 

And I totally agree with you about the clothes. We used compression bags to pack our coats and fleece and it worked well.

 

We did the Allen Marine sea otter excursion in Sitka and it was really good.

 

Now to start thinking about next year....

[JimmyVWine]

1) Bring the longest lens you have available for your camera, or consider renting one from somewhere like borrowlenses.com. I brought an 18-300mm and did not feel I had enough reach. If we ever make it out to Alaska again, I will most definitely bring at minimum a 500mm.

 

Thanks for this! I have been looking at borrowlenses.com and trying to decide which Canon "L" lens to bring. I was thinking that 400mm would be enough but maybe now I have to consider a different lens or a 1.4x or 2x extender.

[DarceyJK]

and wanted to share a few quick thoughts while they are still fresh. I will try to find time to post a thorough review with photos over the next few weeks.

 

1) Bring the longest lens you have available for your camera, or consider renting one from somewhere like borrowlenses.com. I brought an 18-300mm and did not feel I had enough reach. If we ever make it out to Alaska again, I will most definitely bring at minimum a 500mm.

 

2)Ketchikan has the most sightseeing and things to do in port. If we could re-plan, I would book an itinery with a longer port time here. We booked a flightseeing tour with Island Wings--definitely a highlight of our trip. Michelle was amazing and the views can't be beat. After the tour we grabbed a bite to eat and then we had to be back on the ship---not enough time!

 

3)Skagway--if you plan to drive to the Yukon (which was honestly a great experience) Murrays guide is a MUST. Without it, we would have just drove and stopped along the way randomly, it was great to know what we were looking at and some history of the area. Note: Emerald Lake was still frozen as of last week when we were there.

 

4) Juneau--felt like any other port. Nothing really stuck out here. We went with Harv & Marv on a whale watching excursion. Capt. Shawn was extremely knowledgeable and you could tell he is a naturalist at heart. We also had the joy of having Brian on our tour as well and he was just as great. I had different expectations for this tour than what actually happened, so just know that they find a whale, watch it for at most 5 minutes and then leave to search for a new whale. They seem to prefer quantity over quality?? It was still a great experience, and we did see a few whales, but it wasn't "spectacular" if you know what I mean. Note: It was pouring in Juneau when we were there so this may be a biased review.

 

5) If your cruise ship offers you the chance to get off onto a smaller one to view the Sawyer glacier---DO IT. The glacier is gorgeous and even though there was still a lot of ice in the water, we were able to get up close to the glacier. The blues from the smaller boat that reflected were amazing and definitely could not be seen from the cruise ship. This boat also allows you to see some wildlife/marine life that you would miss from your cruise ship.

 

6) waterPROOF coat, we wouldn't have enjoyed our trip without them! Sneakers worked just fine for us, no need for hiking boots. Hat, gloves and a scarf/neck warmer were also items we used daily on our cruise. We wore long sleeves, fleece and waterproof coat with jeans every day...never removed any layers because it was frigid (40s-low 50s the entire trip and wet).

 

Thats all for now, more in the full review later.

 

 

Wow - thanks a MILLION for this information! We are doing Alaska on the Jewel on June 29th for the first time and I'm looking for every and all details I can find! Thanks again - MUCH APPRECIATED!!!

[flounder315]

wow you did the exact same things we have booked... Island wings, harv & marv's and the small boat up to the glacier. we rented a jeep to drive to emerald lake

[Keith1010]

Welcome home and thanks for posting this.

 

Keith

[CountryBoots]

Thanks for the info !! We leave next Friday for our cruise. We're also driving up to Emerald Lake, I checked the weather and it's supposed to warm up next week, hopefully it'll be enough to break the ice !!

 

I hope Celebrity offers a smaller boat to see Sawyer Glacier ! I'm really looking forward to that.

[injebreck99]

We are from the UK, on our first ever AK visit, and will be doing a Green Jeep tour in Skagway on our own, (2 of us), would we be able to get this Murrays guide before we get underwayon the trip, any other tips, driving times etc, much appreciated.

[Skai]

We are from the UK, on our first ever AK visit, and will be doing a Green Jeep tour in Skagway on our own, (2 of us), would we be able to get this Murrays guide before we get underwayon the trip, any other tips, driving times etc, much appreciated.

 

His guide is downloadable in PDF format -- murraysguideDOTcom

[CountryBoots]

We are from the UK, on our first ever AK visit, and will be doing a Green Jeep tour in Skagway on our own, (2 of us), would we be able to get this Murrays guide before we get underwayon the trip, any other tips, driving times etc, much appreciated.

 

Here is the link www.murraysguide.com . You simply download it and print it at home :) It's a 32 page detailed guide. I'll let the others provide tips etc.. as we haven't done it yet :)

[flyingandcruising]

Thank you for the information, we are going on the Miracle in August. Good to know about the lens, considering that mine is 18-300 as well.

 

Do you by any chance have the fun times?

 

Thanks

[mcat12]

calving on the Sawyer Glacier

 

wouldn't have known what this was without Murray's Guide :)

 

view from the gym on board--not too shabby to workout to!

 

Sawyer Glacier again

 

Chillin'

 

These photos were on my phone so easy to share :)

 

We may have the Fun Times still--is there something in particular you wanted to know? We still aren't fully unpacked, but I can look for them for you.

[mcat12]

One other thing--we got our rental car in Skagway around 915am and got right on the highway. When we got close to the summit, the fog was DENSE--as in you can't see a foot in front of the hood. They had workers out filling in potholes in these conditions, so be prepared to seriously slow down if you see a road work sign--my husband almost hit a worker! Scary!!

[KruisinKath]

We are from the UK, on our first ever AK visit, and will be doing a Green Jeep tour in Skagway on our own, (2 of us), would we be able to get this Murrays guide before we get underwayon the trip, any other tips, driving times etc, much appreciated.

 

We're renting the Green Jeep as well, and they do provide a couple of maps and a mile-by-mile guide, as well as an audio CD containing history, etc. If you are concerned that the mile-by-mile guide might not be the Murray's Guide, or similar to it, you could call ahead to double check....

[JimAOk1945]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise. I'm looking forward to reading your review.

 

We have taken two Alaska cruises so far. The first one in 2009 was a round trip from Seattle on the Star Princess. Our ports of call were Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway. We had a great time but wanted to go back again, which we did last summer.

 

We sailed on the Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Seas last August on the southbound route. We loved it! We had four ports of call, Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway and Icy Strait Point located in the Alaskan town of Hoonah.

My wife was complaining that her lens didn't have enough reach, so when we go back she will probably rent one with better power.

[VacationWhen?]

Thanks for the tips! I was wondering about lenses, I only have a 55-250, so I was thinking of renting if it seemed worth it.

 

And we just booked with Island Wings, so glad to hear you loved it!

[flyingandcruising]

[ATTACH]272406[/ATTACH] calving on the Sawyer Glacier

 

[ATTACH]272407[/ATTACH] wouldn't have known what this was without Murray's Guide :)

 

[ATTACH]272408[/ATTACH] view from the gym on board--not too shabby to workout to!

 

[ATTACH]272409[/ATTACH] Sawyer Glacier again

 

[ATTACH]272410[/ATTACH] Chillin'

 

These photos were on my phone so easy to share :)

 

We may have the Fun Times still--is there something in particular you wanted to know? We still aren't fully unpacked, but I can look for them for you.

 

Thank you for the pictures, they look great, and good to see what the 300mm will show. Nothing in particular, just wanted to see the fun times, when you get a chance, no rush.

 

Thank you

[Goldygolfer]

Thanks mcat12 for posting this information. I also enjoyed your photos and can't wait to actually see it all in reality.

 

Your comments on the clothing you required were particularly helpful as our cruise is basically at the same time next year. Although packing for ours will be quite a challenge because we are doing a 37-dayer, which includes the Western Caribbean and Panama Canal - We are going to need clothes for both extremes in weather conditions.

 

Glad to hear that you enjoyed your cruise. We are looking forward to ours - even though we have a long time to wait.

[Bucky3]

Your comments are much appreciated. We will be in Juneau on the 4th of July and are thinking of taking a small boat to Sawyer Glacier. What company did you use? Was it a ship excursion? Did you reserve ahead of time or at the dock?

 

We'll be on a Princess ship, and I don't see this offered on the shorex list - even though we have a very long day/evening in Juneau. I'm wondering if it's because we'll be there on July 4th and maybe the small boat companies won't be in service that day?

 

Thanks for posting your pictures. Sawyer Glacier looks amazing - almost dangerous as close as that little boat looks in your picture!

[injebreck99]

Thanks for all the info folks, maybe we will just see what the GJTours maps are like, I'm sure they have got it sussed by now.

This is also our first ever cruise, so we are getting anxious and exited if that makes sense. :confused:

[Texas Tillie]

Your comments are much appreciated. We will be in Juneau on the 4th of July and are thinking of taking a small boat to Sawyer Glacier. What company did you use? Was it a ship excursion? Did you reserve ahead of time or at the dock?

 

We'll be on a Princess ship, and I don't see this offered on the shorex list - even though we have a very long day/evening in Juneau. I'm wondering if it's because we'll be there on July 4th and maybe the small boat companies won't be in service that day?

 

Thanks for posting your pictures. Sawyer Glacier looks amazing - almost dangerous as close as that little boat looks in your picture!

 

My independent tour to the Sawyer Glaciers out of Juneau was with Adventure Bound. Many ships are not in port long enough to do this excursion as it is 10 hours. You must book in advance. If you're talking about July 4th of this year, they may be already fully booked.

[subtchr]

Thanks so much for the info, and welcome home!

 

We cruise in less than a month, and we also have many of the same activities booked.

 

Hopefully it will at times be a bit warmer in late June, but just in case I have the same plan - jeans, long sleeve tees, fleece, and waterPROOF jackets on top. I have hiking boots but my DH decided to stick with sneakers. We even have inexpensive waterproof rain pants to wear over the jeans, not sure if we will use them much, but we use them at home anyway for watching football and soccer games, so I figured why not throw them in.

 

A question about the zoom - I have a Sigma 18-250 that is my go-to for most situations. Once one gets into the 300-500 mm range, is a tripod necessary? Anyone get good results handheld with that type of lens? Thanks!

[mcat12]

Subtchr--I do not think a tripod or monopod is necessary with longer lenses as long as it has built in stabilization (VR). There were many people on our boat with 500mm simply using their "God pod" ;)

[Markanddonna]

Just a word of warning: Juneau on the 4th is like Christmas day and it is all about family and community. The streets were blocked off at times (parades), some tours weren't operating or they shut down early. Just a warning! Be sure to check and don't assume.

[DarceyJK]

Great advice, ConnieG. We will be at sea that day, probably a wonderful thing, right? LoL :eek: