Trip Report: CCL Legend, Alaska, Very Photo Heavy! And it's late, from Sept. 2017

[Tennessee Rose]

Have really enjoyed your post and photos! :D

 

Good! Exactly why I'm doing this. I, myself, don't get to travel nearly as much as I would like, but thoroughly enjoy lots of vicarious travel through other people's reports.

I'm sorry this is taking so long; I have a few minutes now, so plan to add at least a couple of posts tonight!

[Tennessee Rose]

 

 

 

 

Several pics of Emerald Lake---the fall colors just really set off the gorgeous green colors of this lake!

 

[Tennessee Rose]

 

 

Wonderful BBQ Hawaiian cheeseburger and homemade minestrone soup at the Spirit Lake Wilderness Lodge. Yummy!

 

 

 

[Tennessee Rose]

 

Jaime very quickly became an expert Mountain Goat Spotter! She would see a few white dots then get out her binoculars to confirm. We saw probably several dozen, but just scattered here and there. And they were always pretty high up---never saw any close to the roadway.

 

 

 

 

[dale65]

I am enjoying your posts and photos.

 

Sent from my SM-N910V using Forums mobile app

[Kevin's girl]

For someone that is just picture crazy and not a photographer you take really beautiful photos. Nice eye for details. Thank you very much for doing this review. We will be doing our first Alaskan cruise this September and are looking forward to hearing and seeing your experiences.

[Tennessee Rose]

I am enjoying your posts and photos.

 

Thank you! This is giving me a chance to relive the trip also!

 

For someone that is just picture crazy and not a photographer you take really beautiful photos. Nice eye for details. Thank you very much for doing this review. We will be doing our first Alaskan cruise this September and are looking forward to hearing and seeing your experiences.

 

Thank you for the compliment. And' date=' I tell you, you are going to have a wonderful time. No matter what ports you stop at or what kind of weather you have, just take it all in. I'm almost to posting about my very favorite day of our cruise---the day spent cruising Glacier Bay. It is so magical! Enjoy your trip![/b']

[Tennessee Rose]

 

 

 

 

 

I HAD to get a picture of this waterfall right by the road. But, it wasn't the smartest thing for me to do. This is where the fog was very thick, this little pull-off was right in a curve, and going down the pass on lots more curves. Got my pic then I was terrified to pull out onto the road! I had the window down, listening for any vehicle I might hear coming through that fog. Luckily, I safely got back on the road and it cleared up in about 5 minutes or so.

[Tennessee Rose]

 

 

 

 

 

[Tennessee Rose]

 

And now to my very favorite day of our Alaskan cruise----the day we spent cruising Glacier Bay National Park. I believe Carnival only goes into GB on a first and last cruise of their season. I think the U.S. Park Service requires all ships to have permits for the specific days they are allowed to sail there. Some other lines may go more frequently. Anyway, we chose this cruise specifically because of Glacier Bay.

 

Sat., Sept. 9, Glacier Bay National Park:

This was my favorite day of the cruise by far. Glacier Bay is magical!

We had breakfast on Lido about 7:30 a.m. and then just sat and looked out the windows until we had gone farther into Glacier Bay. Most of the morning it was misty and foggy, and quite chilly with temps in the high 30s to low 40s. Several times during mid-day and afternoon, the sun would try to peek out but we never had fully sunny skies. But mist and fog and scattered rays of sun gave the whole area an ethereal look. The mist would drape in valleys and swirl around the glaciers. It was just so beautiful.

 

Most of my day was spent on the open Serenity deck, bundled up with layers and a scarf and hat. I completely forgot to use my hand and foot warmers I had taken specifically for this day! One handy item I had taken was my large Bubba thermal mug which I filled with hot chocolate to sip on. Along with the naturalist who was on the ship all week making announcements of what we were seeing (not in an obtrusive way either), we had national park rangers on board for this day. They would announce what we were seeing and what was coming up.

[Tennessee Rose]

 

 

 

 

 

[Tennessee Rose]

 

 

 

 

 

[Tennessee Rose]

 

Huge brown bear---the only one we saw the entire trip! The naturalist spotted it and announced about it on the intercom. It was pretty far away but I did get my bear pic!

 

 

 

 

Margerie Glacier, the largest one, the most impressive one, the loudest one---from the thunderous cracking of ice then the follow-up calving!

[Tennessee Rose]

We saw a lone grizzly bear strolling along one beach area, an eagle, some otters, some mountain goats, and a bunch of harbor seals on the icebergs in front of Johns Hopkins glacier. Although I had a preconceived notion that we would see a few glaciers, I was wrong. We saw LOTS of glaciers. I couldn’t even keep track of all of them. I’m not sure how far up the bay we were when we started seeing large chunks of ice floating everywhere. It was pretty exciting, for everyone I think. Of course, we saw what I would consider the Majors----Reid, Margerie, Johns Hopkins and Lamplugh. But there were many more also. The booming, thunderous sounds of the ice cracking on Margerie’s face was incredible as was the follow-up calving. It was so quiet on the ship as everyone watched and listened. My favorite was Johns Hopkins where we saw all the seals lounging on the icebergs. They looked at the ship like---“whatever”.

 

The colors of the Glacier Bay water were stunning as was the scenery of glaciers, mountains, snow, waterfalls, mist, icebergs. The beauty was almost overwhelming. And pretty much to a person, you could see it on everyone’s faces and in their quiet whispers. Many times, we would see crew members also coming out to get a quick look and take some pictures. They were as impressed as all the passengers were. Oh, we also ran into Legend’s sister ship, Miracle, near the “back side” of Glacier Bay. Although the ship’s didn’t greet each other with horn blasts (heard they weren’t allowed to do that in this area), the passengers took turns yelling “hellooooo” back and forth.

 

Later in the day as Legend was getting closer back to the entrance of Glacier Bay, we had a late lunch on Lido---grilled ham and cheese from the deli and New York style cheesecake. Very good. Then, it was back to the cabin to rest, and get warmed up after our coldest day yet! Well, that will happen when you end up staying outside in the weather most of the day! I took an hour nap in my comfy marshmallow bed, then it was time to get ready for dinner. For dinner, I had the hot Thai chicken tenders, pork chop again (tender and yummy, with apples), mashed potatoes, mac ‘n cheese/bacon, AP, cheesecake with strawberry sauce. Then back to the cabin.

[Tennessee Rose]

 

 

 

 

 

[Tennessee Rose]

 

 

 

 

 

[Tennessee Rose]

 

 

I hope you are enjoying tonight's installment of info and pictures. Right now, I have to stop for the evening because a 4:30 a.m. alarm is laughing at me for being up this late right now!

[Beachiekeen]

Great pictures! Brings back memories of our trip last year!

[MMJJOli4]

Great report! I love to see so many pictures :-D

[Tennessee Rose]

Great report! I love to see so many pictures :-D

 

Thank you! Yes, I love having plenty of photos to go travel back through. And I really enjoy seeing other peoples' viewpoint of the same things I've seen. Everyone sees things just a bit differently. Fun for me!

[Tennessee Rose]

wow! The glacier photos are incredible! and that bear :eek:

 

Ha! As soon as the Park Ranger said "bear", everyone went running to that side of the ship to see. It was very far away, but that is why I wanted a much higher zoom camera than what I had before!

And the glaciers were incredible. Beauty that most people never get to experience. I think that is why everyone was so quiet, especially on this day. Overwhelming sights.

So, I got the rest of the photos ready to post; hoping to finish the report this morning! I had no idea it would take this much time to actually do all this. But I'm enjoying it!

[Tennessee Rose]

Well, it is Saturday morning and I know I'm taking a long time to finish all of my trip report and photos, but I finally got the rest of the photos ready and plan to finish the report---this morning!

I'll start with more of the Glacier Bay pics, including bunches of cute seals! Then, it will be Ketchikan day and our final sea day before arriving in Vancouver for debarkation.

Can you see what is lurking in the background?

[Tennessee Rose]

We encountered Legend's sister ship, Miracle, way back in Glacier Bay!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tennessee Rose]

 

 

 

 

 

[Tennessee Rose]

Old Man of the Glacier---double waterfalls coming out of the blue ice. Can you see the eyes and beard?