Comparison Haven vs. inside to Alaska and May vs. Aug.

[littlelulu01]

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.

[littlelulu01]

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.

Edited July 20, 2014 by littlelulu01

[littlelulu01]

the water is very clear below

[littlelulu01]

beautiful Misty Fjords

[littlelulu01]

And still some snow in parts.

[littlelulu01]

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

[littlelulu01]

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.

Edited July 20, 2014 by littlelulu01

[littlelulu01]

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.

 

[littlelulu01]

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.

[littlelulu01]

Very quaint walk to town. I love Victoria.

[littlelulu01]

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

[littlelulu01]

Parliament building along our walk.

[PathfinderEss]

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

[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:

[littlelulu01]

Marjorie Glacier in August. Pic taken as we were leaving. Not as impressive as May but still breathtaking.

[littlelulu01]

up on deck in August.

 

[littlelulu01]

And now some more from our kayak excursion in Ketchikan. The first pic shows the tide line.

 

This is how you enter the kayak. Step down a ladder from big boat into little boat and then sit on Kayak and swing around and into the kayak. Guide holds kayak stable and tells you exactly what to do. Very easy, even for me.

[littlelulu01]

The guide also has you put on one of their jackets, a skirt that attaches to the kayak and keeps the water out and then a bag for camera etc so they won't get wet.

 

We had two different guides each visit. They were brothers and doing this as a summer job. Both excellent, kind, helpful and knowledgeable. They also looked strong enough to pull you out of the water if needed.

 

 

[littlelulu01]

Here's some more pics of the hike we took in Skagway. Starting at the beginning of the hike looking down at the Pearl in Port.

 

I mislabeled the a previous pic as "reid lake" This and other pic are Dewey Lake. It was about half way through hike. Very pretty mountain lake and It was uphill but not too terribly difficult to reach this point. It was from this lake on up that the hike got more strenuous but also prettier.

[littlelulu01]

Glacier fed streams.

and silty sandy bars to walk out on but you need to take off shoes to walk out there and the water is ice cold but refreshing.

[littlelulu01]

The paths on the Skagway hike are fairly wide in parts and some areas not that steep. This area not too far from ship. Workers were digging the path a little wider.

 

And some areas of the trails not rocky.

 

Here's where I gave up and sat by this stream while my party went ahead.

[littlelulu01]

Dewey Lake looks green and cloudy in some shots but is actually clear but cold.

[littlelulu01]

We thoroughly enjoyed each trip. I would go back in a second. Perhaps it was just plain easy being in the US or Canada the entire time so no real hassles with ports, getting off and on the ship or the process in general but it was a completely different experience than the previous Royal Caribbean and Carnival cruises we had taken years ago.

 

A few things daughter noticed in the beginning that I suggest you tune out if not interested were; The diamonds international and Parkwest Galleries sales pitches. If you love this sort of thing more power to you but if not best to just tune it out and not let it bother you. I did not notice any of this while sailing in the Haven but did notice it a little in August. There were quite a few people on board our August sailing for a, "free cruise" compliments of Parkwest Galleries. According to a guest I was talking to, A Rembrandt etching sold one afternoon for 150k and the guest who told me this also told me that he was pretty sure another etching was going to sell for 250k. I guess that's where the justification came in for the private art auctions taking up the Indigo whenever we tried to eat there.

 

We did not have any good quality steak while on board in the free restaurants. The pay restaurants had excellent steak but the free ones, not so much. It was not that it was cooked poorly, it was just not the quality of beef I would purchase for my own family. I really have no idea what the cut was. Perhaps sirloin or round steak? Not any quality I have ever eaten in a restaurant. Other than that food was good and no concerns. We experienced no waits for tables in May or August but could have just been the times we ate.

 

I would say the inside cabin gave us an extreme value. I would recommend at least a balcony if sailing to Alaska if you can afford it but we still managed to have a wonderful vacation with the inside cabin. The Haven is of course in a league all it's own and was fabulous but with the inside cabin our daughter and I participated in so many more activities. We attended the activities such as Pictionary or trivia and had fun. We got to know other passengers and ended up with more to do in a day than time allowed.