Review - a month in Alaska with a B2B on Celebrity Millennium

[Busman723]

Yvette

I enjoy your review. Sorry we did not meet on the cruise. Your review rekindles great thoughts of our visit to Denali and the area.

As you may remembered we did our trip to Denali after the Aug 1st cruise. We spend 11 days after the cruise doing Denali, Fairbanks, North pole, Copper River area and Anchorage.

Thanks again for your review and hopefully we may meet on a future cruise.

Ben

[BrusselsGirl07]

Thanks everyone for your kind comments! Glad you are enjoying the review.

 

Ben, I am sorry we did not get to meet in person on the cruise! Maybe next time!

 

We just arrived home from the flight from Brisbane, and although it is 10.16pm and I have work tomorrow so should go to sleep, I will write a little more of my review!

 

Yvette

[BrusselsGirl07]

Saturday 19 July 2014 - The next morning we packed up the car, said goodbye to our cabins and drove to Talkeetna. It was raining quite heavily, so we did not stop at any of the lookouts as we did on the way up. But the weather cleared after a while and then it finally stopped raining. We turned off into Trapper Creek to see a 59ers museum that was mentioned in the Mile Post http://www.trappercreekmuseum.com. This was a very small original 59ers cabin filled with memorabilia from the time. It was interesting. We saw a sign for the Trapper Creek Fireweed Festival, so stopped to have a look. The locals were still setting up, so there was not much to see, and we had to keep going.

 

Just inside the turnoff to Talkeetna is a gorgeous little cafe, The Flying Squirrel Bakery Cafe. http://www.flyingsquirrelcafe.com/index.html We stopped here for coffee and a late breakfast around 11.30am. They had fresh bread baking in a wood fired oven, and lots of delicious cakes and cookies. We decided to come back for lunch.

 

 

Rainy view on the way to Talkeetna

 

 

 

A little too early at the Festival to see anything

 

 

The museum

 

 

Old bottles in the window of the small museum

[BrusselsGirl07]

 

A poster for the Trapper Creek Fireweed Festival

 

 

The wonderful Flying Squirrel Cafe!

 

 

 

Inside the cafe

[BrusselsGirl07]

We left the fabulous Flying Squirrel and headed to the Talkeetna Air Offices. We had booked a flight seeing tour of Mt McKinley at 1pm - the Grand Denali Tour and Glacier Landing - with Talkeetna Air. http://www.talkeetnaair.com/flightseeing/index.html?gclid=CjwKEAjwg_afBRD3rpChlqiKt1ESJACwY6NkVvK-8b-esDg9p9Alye-ehBnsWzUrOIksJzFiku5KvhoCsIrw_wcB

 

That morning we were doubtful if the flight would go ahead, but the weather had cleared markedly and the flight was good to go! We were all weighed (they kept your weight a secret in case you were worried) and then fitted us out with overboots for the glacier landing. They even had spare sunglasses you could borrow. Bill had forgotten his, and he was so glad to have them when we landed on the glacier. The sunshine on the snow was blinding!

 

 

 

 

Bill making friends with the gorgeous airport cat

 

[BrusselsGirl07]

There were 8 of us on the flight. We were seated according to our weights, and everyone had a window seat with good views.

 

The flight was fantastic! The views of the Mountains were so spectacular! The top of Denali loomed from the clouds and it was thrilling to see! We went over huge snow banks and glaciers. The way some of the snow had cracked and shifted made it look like a frozen city with streets between skyscrapers! We saw patches of the bluest ice blue ice through the snow on the glaciers.

 

We came in to land on a glacier and the weather could not have been more perfect. The sunshine was brightly shining, the snow was fluffy and white, and the mountains surrounding our plane were so beautiful. We had about half an hour on the glacier before we took off again. Another plane landed after we had been there about 15 minutes and it was fun to watch it come in and land on the snow.

 

This was such an amazing experience, and while it was expensive, I would recommend this to anyone who gets the chance!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BrusselsGirl07]

 

 

 

 

The top of Mt McKinley!!

 

 

 

These chunks could be as high as a 20 storey building!

[BrusselsGirl07]

 

 

 

 

 

[BrusselsGirl07]

The glacier landing was perfect. Bill and I never see snow, so it was fun running around and playing in it. The surrounding scenery was so spectacular and breath taking!! We were all just in awe.

 

 

 

 

Bill running in the snow on the glacier!

 

 

We were all so happy that we got the chance to do this flight. It was amazing!!!

 

 

Bill was in the front seat on the flight home and took this picture of us in the plane.

Edited September 1, 2014 by BrusselsGirl07

[BrusselsGirl07]

After the amazing flight, and all on a high, we drove around Talkeetna to see what it was like. I thought it would be a cute little town, and it probably normally is, but it was really crowded, and the shops looked very touristy. We stopped at the Denali Brewing Co. then headed back to the Flying Squirrel Cafe for lunch. They had friendly staff, local beer with interesting labels, great coffee, really yummy food, and free wifi!

 

 

 

 

[BrusselsGirl07]

Not far from the Flying Squirrel was a Birch Syrup producer - the Kahiltna Birchworks. We stopped in to have a look and had a lovely time!

 

The people in the shop were so friendly and showed us around the syrup making facilities. We got to taste the syrups collected at various times during the collecting period and they were so different to each other. They also sold various jams and products made of the syrup such as toffees. They had free shipping in the US, so our friends bought some products and had them shipped home.

 

We also bought a container of their first run birch syrup to take home with us. I made a rookie travel mistake and forgot all about it. It ended up in a carry on and was confiscated when we entered Honolulu airport on the way home.

 

They also sold really yummy icecream, so we had to try some of that as well!

 

This site has a great short video on birch syrup production http://www.alaskabirchsyrup.com and this link is to the store and facility in Talkeetna http://www.alaskabirchsyrup.com/contactus.html After watching the video since arriving home on how the syrup is made, I am extra sad that my bottle was confiscated!

 

 

 

 

Little bottles of Birch Syrup from day 1 to day 17

 

 

The Syrup evaporator

 

 

Birch Syrup products.

[BrusselsGirl07]

We continued our drive to Anchorage, and arrived back at the Susitna Place B&B. We had the same rooms, and Linda had already put the bags we left behind into our rooms.

 

That night we had dinner at the Snow Goose Restaurant which has a brewery onsite called the Sleeping Lady Brewery. http://www.alaskabeers.com We sat out on the balcony and had a relaxed meal, with more beers for the boys.

 

We went for a big walk around town before going back to our B&B for a good night’s sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BrusselsGirl07]

 

 

A stained glass window we came across.

[Busman723]

Great pictures Yvette. Look forward of more of your adventure.

Ben

[mikemartha]

Looking forward to seeing pictures of your excursions of the cruise ports. I appreciate your time and effort in posting.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Your review is amazing as well as the pictures.

[poolwife]

I can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip and your Kenai fjords trip. Loving your info and pics .

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[BrusselsGirl07]

Thank you for the encouragement - it is a lot of time and effort to do these reviews, so it is nice to get some feedback that the review is being enjoyed! On with the story......

[BrusselsGirl07]

Sunday 20 July - We had a full day in Anchorage. There were lots of options of what to do, but even though the weather was a little overcast and rain was predicted, I was desperate to see a Moose up close!! So we went bike riding on the Tony Knowles Coastal trail.

 

We walked to Pablo’s bike hire http://www.pablobicyclerentals.com, and were fitted out with bikes, helmets and maps. The bike ride is really beautiful, lots of trails which pass beaches, and through parks and forests. We had hired the bikes for 3 hours and thought we would go 90 minutes one way and then turn around and come back. The path goes through Earthquake Park and we stopped and read about the devastation caused by the 1964 earthquake.

 

 

 

Swallows flying around a sandy cliff they had built their nests on

 

 

 

[BrusselsGirl07]

We had been cycling for around an hour and I was giving up hope of seeing a Moose, when a local rode by and casually commented ‘Moose on the left’. He may as well have said that Santa was around the corner handing our million dollar cheques, I was so excited!!

 

We quickly rode around the corner, and there was my first real live up close Moose! It was a young male with small antlers, and he was happily munching grass on the side of the path. We respected his space, took lots of photos, and then we continued on so that we did not make him grumpy.

 

 

I was so excited to see a Moose!!!

 

 

 

[BrusselsGirl07]

We rode along for a little while longer and then came across another Moose!! This time was a female, also enjoying the grass. She looked a little crankier, so we watched her for a few minutes and then headed on our way.

 

 

 

 

[BrusselsGirl07]

On the way back to Anchorage to drop off our bikes, Nancy noticed that Denali was showing!!! We could not believe it! The mountain was quite distinct and glowing white from the sun shining on the snow. We got back to Pablo’s right on the 3 hour mark and left our bikes.

 

The mountain was still out, so we walked back to the Snow Goose Restaurant to sit out on their balcony and enjoy the views. It had gotten quite cold and windy, so we moved inside and had lunch.

 

 

 

We had another big walk around Anchorage and then went back to the B&B. The views from the balcony at the B&B of the mountain ranges and also Mount Susitna, the Sleeping Lady, where beautiful.

 

 

Can you see the Sleeping Lady? The story of this mountain is lovely.

 

[Cassicruiser]

Loving your review Yvette - photos are fabulous! We have just booked for the same trip in reverse - Northbound on Millennium in May with a few days in Anchorage/Seward area at the end.

How did you find Hawaiian airlines? Better than Jetstar? We are tossing up between Jetstar and Hawaiian and trying to figure things out with frequent flyers, but want to fly via Honolulu and maybe stop there for a few days on the way back. Also not sure how to continue on with a codeshare flight (we will be flying Honolulu to Vancouver) but you've made me think I'd better look into it more carefully!

[mapleleaves]

Great trip report and wonderful photos!

Your review will be a great planning tool for other travellers. Thanks for including so much detail. And for taking the time to post !

[BrusselsGirl07]

Hi Cassicruiser - I have not been on Jetstar for a long haul flight, but we were not that impressed with Hawaiian. The plane we were on was really squishy, and it seemed you had to pay for everything including entertainment and food. I even asked for a snack at one point in the flight as I was hungry and the hostess told me I had to purchase food if I wanted it. I was going to buy something but she never came back!

 

Codeshare flights are OK as long as you book your entire flight with the one provider - then if there is a problem they have to sort it out for you. If you book one leg with someone, then the connecting flight with someone else and you miss the connection, it is usually up to you to figure out what you do next. But if you have a few days before continuing, this should not be a problem at all.

 

Mapleleaves, thanks for your kind comments!