Grand Princess NB cruise tour 7/18-8/1/15

[mimmy52]

We saw the train arrive.

 

 

Brian drove us to the station. He told us our car number and explained that we had to wait while customs did their thing on the train, then wait for people to unload and for the workers to clean up and turn the seats around for the ride down. Then Brian took his leave. I got my seat on the right seat of the train, per Cruise Critic advice.

 

 

Ours was the first car after the engine, all Chilkoot Charters people but not everyone had been on our small bus.

 

 

Views from the train

 

 

[mimmy52]

 

Often the right side of the train looked down on a steep ravine. At one point we could see part of the Gold Rush Trail of '98. This was actually down a lot steeper hill than it looks in the picture. The path is kind of a greenish color across the lower third of the photo.

 

 

Looking back as we go around a curve.

 

 

Fortunately the train did not need to use this bridge.

 

 

This shows a little more clearly how close the tracks run to the edge of a ravine.

 

[mimmy52]

The train ride down was even more awesome than the bus trip up, although what was best about the bus was the ability to stop at scenic places. I went out on the platform between the train and the engine a few times for photos, but we were told when the train started not to be platform hogs. No one seemed to want to spend that much time out in the wind anyway.

 

Going over a trestle.

 

 

The train stopped to pick up some campers.

 

 

We didn't go back all the way to the train depot in Skagway but stopped outside of town. A driver (not Brian) from Chilkoot met us. I was among those who opted to get off in downtown which turned out to be only 3 or 4 blocks away.

 

In the meantime, Jo had gone on her Dog Mushers excursion. She had a great time!

 

The musher's camp

 

 

The demonstrated how the dogs pulled a wheeled conveyance.

 

 

[mimmy52]

Then they got to take a ride.

 

 

And they were each given a puppy to hold.

 

 

They also learned about mushing.

 

 

We both stayed in Skagway after our excursion, but we didn't bump into each other. Jo managed to find another quilt shop.

 

[mimmy52]

I mostly walked around and looked at the buildings.

 

 

Skagway is famous for being the start of two trails into the Yukon after gold was found in 1896. Most of the gold-rich land had already been claimed by the time hordes of prospectors arrived in 1898. A lot of the buildings have a rich history.

 

 

Girls in the window try to entice, not to a brothel, but to the theater below, a play about Skagway's notorious conman Soapy Smith.

 

 

 

The Arctic Brotherhood building, the front of which is covered in driftwood.

 

[FOLcruisers]

Nice review!

 

We are leaving on Sunday for our trip, we are doing the land tour first then Grand Princess. Hope to see a little more before we leave!

 

diana

[mimmy52]

In a shop window. They called it "The Duke," for the man who has everything.

 

 

The Red Onion where you can have a beer or get a tour of the former brothel.

 

 

The train's snow plow.

 

 

I saw the National Park Service Visitors Center in the building that was the original train depot. It's sad to see the photos of those prospectors, toiling their way up the trails time after time until they had their 1,000 pounds of food and equipment, enough to be allowed to enter Canada, and know that those who didn't perish didn't have much luck finding gold.

 

[mimmy52]

Nice review!

 

We are leaving on Sunday for our trip, we are doing the land tour first then Grand Princess. Hope to see a little more before we leave!

 

diana

 

I hope you have as much fun as we did! I hope you post a review, too, because I'd love to hear what you thought of both the cruise and the land tour.

[mimmy52]

The current train depot.

 

 

The Mascot Saloon.

 

 

Inside the Mascot, it's set up as it might have been in 1898.

 

 

[mimmy52]

Starting back toward the ship. That's not the Grand Princess in the photo, it's one of the NCL ships. But it looks so wrong to have that ship towering over the town.

 

 

Along the sea wall with the Grand Princess ahead.

 

 

A look at the marina.

 

 

Next to the ship. Another train leaving.

 

[mimmy52]

We both got back to our room around 1:30 and we went to lunch in Horizon Court. I took a picture of my dessert because it was called double cheesecake and it looked good (the taste was good too). The desserts in Horizon Court were always small, but you could have as many as you wanted.

 

 

We had an afternoon tour scheduled, the Skagway Street Car tour, and after lunch we walked out to find the trolley.

 

 

Our tour guide Nikki. You might be able to tell that the seats on the trolley were barely enough room for two people.

 

 

It started with a slow drive through Skagway, but we ended up seeing the same thing I'd seen this morning on Brian's drive through town. Jo said her tour had driven them through town also. Nikki also took us to the Dyea overlook where I'd been that morning. The best thing about it was the stop at the Gold Rush Cemetery. Most of the gravestones were just plywood, many of them stating "unknown."

 

 

[mimmy52]

 

 

Nikki had talked about Skagway in the early days and she had also told some stories about Mr. Itjen, the entrepreneur who started the trolley company. President Harding had planned a visit to Skagway, so Itjen duded up his truck into a trolley to drive the president around. Harding only stayed for three hours, but Itjen started advertising his tours and was successful.

 

Frank Reid actually had a monument. He was considered a hero because he killed Soapy Smith. With a dramatic flourish, Nikki told the story of the gunfight. Then she did some poses for photos.

 

 

Jo and I did more walking around Skagway before heading back to the ship. I posted most of the photos already but I forgot the one of Moore's cabin. He was the town founder, of sorts.

 

[mimmy52]

We came back to the ship on the Smart Shuttle, which if I recall, was $2 one way or you could buy an all day pass for $5. The number of people in town had thinned out considerably by the time we returned.

 

There was always entertainment in the Piazza.

 

 

Once again we dined in the Michelangelo Room. Since we were anytime dining, we were never seated at the same waiter's station. Tonight we shared a table with a couple from Australia and a woman from Calgary, whose husband's back was bothering him that evening and he stayed in his room. The two couples were traveling together, having met on a previous cruise.

 

I had a delicious goat cheese soufflé that I forgot to take a picture of and the salmon you could order any evening. For dessert I had what I think was called the Chocolate Supreme. It was a sampler with one tiramisu, one a chocolate mousse type, and one I'm not sure of that was kind of gelatin-y.

 

 

The Bar Piazza which is right outside the Michelangelo Room.

 

 

And the Explorers Lounge.

 

[mimmy52]

We put on some warmer clothes and went up on the top deck to watch the sail away.

 

 

 

It was really windy on the bow once the ship got moving. I decided to walk the Promenade Deck which I hadn't done before. It's weird in that you can't go all the way around but have to go up one deck at the bow, cross over, then go back down again. At some point we'd been told the scenery around Haines was supposed to be among the best, so I bundled up and went out on the balcony.

 

 

The scenery was beautiful, as it has been for all our trip.

 

 

That settlement that I can barely see must be Haines.

 

[Harleygirl06]

Thank you so much for your review! I've really enjoyed reading your review so far :) I'm excitedly awaiting your land portion review as my husband I will be going at the end of the month!

[RoobyDoo]

ML (mimmy52),

 

Thank you for a great review and the excellent photos! I'm enjoying it very much and looking forward to your report on the land tour portion. My wife and I just came back 2 weeks ago from a Connoisseur cruisetour on the Pacific Princess, NB from Vancouver to Whittier (same as your cruise itinerary), followed by an 8-night land tour. It's funny that we both took photos of many of the same things! Still working on my review and hope to post it soon.

[mimmy52]

Thank you so much for your review! I've really enjoyed reading your review so far :) I'm excitedly awaiting your land portion review as my husband I will be going at the end of the month!

 

It takes me a while to go through the photos and upload them, but I'll do my best.

[mimmy52]

ML (mimmy52),

 

Thank you for a great review and the excellent photos! I'm enjoying it very much and looking forward to your report on the land tour portion. My wife and I just came back 2 weeks ago from a Connoisseur cruisetour on the Pacific Princess, NB from Vancouver to Whittier (same as your cruise itinerary), followed by an 8-night land tour. It's funny that we both took photos of many of the same things! Still working on my review and hope to post it soon.

 

I hope you do a review! It would be fun to compare. Since you were Connoisseur, you probably had better meals. We had to pay for our own.

[mimmy52]

July 23

Glacier Bay

 

I was really anticipating Glacier Bay! I stepped out on my balcony this morning and this was my view.

 

 

Not optimal glacier viewing, but maybe it would clear up.

 

Today's Patter.

 

 

 

 

[mimmy52]

It was chilly enough that I wore my hoodie to breakfast. I needed it too. Even though the pool area in front of it is covered, it gets cool there. The ranger was on deck 14, available for a chat according to the Patter.

 

 

I wasn't the only one wearing warmer clothes. Jo and I met up with Paul and Lucy again and took our time over breakfast. The Patter indicated we'd be at Lamplugh Glacier around 9:15, so I left the table to prepare. I needed long underwear, jeans and sweater, puffer jacket, rain jacket, hat, ear protector, and gloves. And my rain jacket hood over my hat. I was ready for whatever the elements were going to throw at me. When I went up on deck, Lamplugh Glacier was right in front of me! We'd arrived early.

 

 

We seemed so close it took my breath away.

 

 

The ship turned to give those on the other side a good view. You could clearly see the changes in water color where there was less glacier silt.

 

 

Maybe the best place of all for glacier viewing--the hot tub. But I wouldn't have wanted to get out of it.

 

[mimmy52]

Here I am in front of Lamplugh with my ear protector around my neck.

 

 

I went to the Promenade Deck to view the glacier under cover for a while.

 

 

I love how the gulls are at home on the icebergs.

 

 

I stayed outside until Lamplugh Glacier passed from sight, then went into our cabin to warm up and dry off. I turned on the ship's webcam, and as soon as I saw we were approaching Margerie Glacier, I put on the coats and caps again and headed to the bow with Jo. The glaciers are awesome, even with this poor viewing.

 

Approaching Margerie Glacier

 

 

Jo at Margerie Glacier

 

[mimmy52]

Margerie Glacier

 

 

 

 

 

Starting the turn to give the starboard side viewers a chance.

 

[mimmy52]

It was such a beautiful blue.

 

 

Once the ship turned, we went to our room. I continued to watch from our balcony and really wished we had at least a partial cover to it.

 

 

It seemed like no time and we were already leaving Margerie behind.

 

 

A look at the balconies above us.

 

[mimmy52]

There was some minor calving at Margerie Glacier. I loved hearing everyone's oohs and aahs when that happened. I was never fast enough to capture the calving in a photo though. And it was so windy and rainy on deck that I was never able to hear the ranger's announcements when we were at the glaciers unless I stood right under one of the speakers, but then I didn't have a good view of the glacier.

 

When we left Margerie Glacier behind, I went to lunch in Horizon Court. It was Taste of Alaska Day, and the food was tasty.

 

 

 

Just a few of the things they had: octopus potato salad (I didn't try it), poached salmon, mussels, baked salmon, tilapia, and a salmon and cheese tart. I ate so much seafood, I didn't even have dessert.

 

From there I went to the Ranger presentation in the Princess Theater. She said they would be leaving the ship at 3 or 3:15, they never know the exact time or which side in advance. It depends on the tides. Her presentation was on the changing Glacier Bay.

 

I intended to meet Jo at the "Welcome to Princess Presentation" in the Explorers Lounge. When she didn't show up, I went back to the room. It turns out she'd gotten there early, was in the first row, but is so short I couldn't tell the chair she was in was occupied. Missing it didn't bother me since I knew it would be a sales pitch for future cruises.

 

A view from our balcony that afternoon.

 

 

Our room after we'd been settled in almost a week.

 

 

Jo spent some time in the casino and playing bingo. I wanted to do laundry. I made two trips to the laundry rooms but each time the machines on both sides of the deck were in use. So I took a short nap. And I totally forgot that I was going to watch the Rangers depart.

[mimmy52]

Tonight was the second formal night. We went to our usual Michelangelo Room but it was so busy they escorted us down to the Da Vinci Room which usually isn't available for anytime dining until after 7:30. The ship started rockin' and rollin' during dinner.

 

I had Roasted Tomato Cream Soup

 

 

For my entrée, Rollatine Riprene con Zucca, Mascarpone e Noci, translation: baked crepes filled with roasted pumpkin, mascarpone and walnut thyme-cream sauce. It was outstanding.

 

 

Jo had Beef Wellington that she said was so-so. The food has been okay, with a few standouts.

 

 

The funny thing about Jo's food tonight was the round green gelatin-like substance on her plate. She asked the waiter twice what it was and both of us heard him say the same thing, but it wasn't possible that what we heard was correct. Because if it was, she had part of a male anatomy. She laughed and said she didn't know it was green. We had to look at the menu when we left to see what it really was. Spinach flan. I still can't figure out how we both heard him say so clearly what we thought we heard.

 

Dessert tonight was another winner. "Chocolate Journeys: Chocolate Pistachio Dome with Almond and Pistachio Nougatine."

 

 

We returned to our room, and I went back to the Laundromat. Woo hoo! Two empty washers! I loaded up my clothes in one (Jo had brought enough for the entire two weeks). Half an hour later when I went back to change the clothes to a dryer, I found the washer tub still full of water. The spin cycle hadn't worked. I used the phone in the laundry room to call the maintenance number listed there. After waiting ten minutes and no maintenance guy (I'm not known for my patience), I switched the clothes to the other washer and started it up. It wasn't until I came back to check on whether the washer had stopped that the maintenance guy showed up, so I'm glad I hadn't waited. He said I could get my money back (a whole $2) from the purser.