Our Alaskan Adventure 08/21/18-08/28/18

[diasmiles]

Today was our first elegant night. We had assigned early seating for dinner. I prefer assigned dining because I like to get to know our waiters. Our head waiter wasn't much of a talker and seemed distracted most of the week. We absolutely loved his assistant waiter, Alimin.

 

After dinner we went to see the show in the theatre. On our walk to the theatre we lost my dad and uncle to the casino...every night. We enjoyed the show and then went to the Red Frog Pub to listen to a band called Murphy's Law and have a few drinks. We liked this band quite a bit and went back a couple more times during the week to listen to them play.

[y7anks3]

Good morning

 

Great review so far.. doing same trip July 2019. I take it you stayed downtown area. How much was uber and what size car did u use for all that luggage

[diasmiles]

Good morning

 

Great review so far.. doing same trip July 2019. I take it you stayed downtown area. How much was uber and what size car did u use for all that luggage

 

Good morning,

Thank you. You are going to have a great time! Yes, we stayed at the Hyatt Place Seattle/Downtown. We used an Uber XL for all our rides since there were 5 of us. From the airport to the hotel the cost was $61.25 and the cost from our hotel to the cruise port was $18.61.

[erewhon]

Following your reports, thank you.

Good to hear your mother is doing better.

[penguin85]

Thank you, great review. We are going next year.

[diasmiles]

Thank you, great review. We are going next year.

How exciting! You will have a great time.

[diasmiles]

Thursday 08/23/18:

Today we are in Tracy Arm Fjord! My mom, aunt and I are going on the small boat excursion. This is something we have been looking forward too and I must say we were not disappointed. We were on the 11am excursion and there were about 100 people on this excursion with us. The boat never felt overcrowded and there was a naturalist on board to point things out. I spent most of my time outside, so I missed most of what the naturalist had to say but the views were amazing.

I took these pictures on the ship before our excursion

[diasmiles]

 

 

Ready for our small boat excursion:

 

[diasmiles]

And we are off...

 

 

 

 

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I took this picture of our naturalist holding a 300 year old piece of broken off ice from a glacier (sorry about the water drops, I had just come inside from the rain)

 

 

This is an amazing excursion that I would recommend anyone to do if they can. The cost of the excursion was $189.99/person and worth every penny. I must say though that if you choose to stay on the ship the view of at least one of the glaciers is great. I was on our balcony at one point and had an amazing view. I had left my camera with my family so I could not take a picture but the ship got a lot closer than I thought it would.

[diasmiles]

We were back on board at 2pm and there was another group of people getting ready to go on this excursion to meet the ship at 5pm. I live in Los Angeles so I was freezing and not as prepared for the cold and rain as I thought I was...lol. It took me a while to warm up. We all went our own way on the ship after the excursion and planned to meet up in the dining room for dinner. After dinner I made my way to the Fun Shops to buy a warmer jacket. They sell jackets on board for $24.99 and they are super warm. The price was perfect since it will hang in a closet now that I am home.

On the small boat excursion they offer samples of smoked salmon that is delicious. They sell the small box for $12. I did not have any cash on me to buy any but I found it later that night in the Fun Shops for $9 and change.

Our next port would be Skagway and we would arrive early so we made plans before going to bed to meet in the dining room about 6:45am.

[deadmoney]

Awesome review.

Awaiting the rest.(y)

[erewhon]

Thanks for sharing your great photos, especially the close ups of the glaciers.

[diasmiles]

Friday 08/24/18:

This morning we woke up crazy early to get ready for our day in Skagway. Once we were ready I looked out of our balcony to see that the train was already waiting for its passengers for the day. I rented a car at this port so that we could spend the day at our own pace.

We chose to eat in the dining room all week for breakfast. So, after breakfast we walked off the ship and it was a short walk to the Avis rental trailer. Once I signed the paperwork for the rental, the guy behind the counter handed me a map and we were on our way. It was a pretty foggy day but it is a beautiful drive.

[diasmiles]

Before getting off the ship I checked to make sure everyone had their passports and once we were in the car I asked everyone about their passports. Everyone had them. So we started our drive to Emerald Lake.

[diasmiles]

On our way to Emerald Lake we made plenty of stops and stopped for coffee on our way. We met a very nice lady from Alberta who was visiting a friend and was out for the day.

So, we get to the border of the US and Canada and I ask everyone for their passports. And they all tell me they are in the trunk. What? Why? They didn't know they would need them...lol. I don't know how to respond to that. When the agent comes to our car I ask if someone can go into the trunk and get their passports. He wasn't thrilled but he allowed it.

My dad is driving at this point and as soon as we cross the border we see a black bear (a cub). I get sooooo excited to see it that I forget to take a picture :o. What a sight! I would forget to take a picture and later that evening my room steward scolded not taking that picture.

[cmecruise1962]

I am loving this review! I was thinking I should ask about the weather, but apparently you are a mind reader! LOL I live in FLA, so I am also spectacularly unprepared for the cold. I guess, I will start shopping!

[diasmiles]

I am loving this review! I was thinking I should ask about the weather, but apparently you are a mind reader! LOL I live in FLA, so I am also spectacularly unprepared for the cold. I guess, I will start shopping!

 

LOL! I kept hearing that I needed to layer my clothes and I thought I did but I was wrong. I took the jacket I wear when it is "cold" in LA and bought a rain jacket. The jacket was not warm enough which is why I ended up buying a jacket on board. Best $25 I spent...lol.

[diasmiles]

We made it to Emerald Lake. Since we got an early start we were able to beat the crowds. We took pictures and enjoyed the views before deciding to head back to Skagway.

 

 

 

I started the drive back to Skagway and it was very, very foggy. I am so glad there weren't many cars on the road and everyone seemed to be taking their time.

 

Once we crossed the border it seemed to clear up some and the rain stopped for a little bit. We stopped by a gas station in Skagway to fill up the gas tank before returning the car to Avis. At this point my dad decided to walk back to the ship while the rest of decided to walk around town for a bit. The rain started up again as we started our walk. We went into a few shops but did not find anything interesting and then we came across the Red Onion Saloon. We decided to grab some lunch here. This place is tiny and has a very limited menu.

 

At one point I looked up and saw they had urinals as part of their decor. As a nurse I thought it was pretty funny, not everyone in my group agreed...lol. I thought I took a picture of it but I can't find it.

[diasmiles]

We decided after lunch to walk back to the ship. Once back on the ship we went back to our cabin so that my mom could rest her foot for a while and we could relax before dinner. I hung out in our balcony until it was time to get ready. Our evening was pretty much the same as most. Dinner, a show (I don't think there was a show the night we were in Skagway), listening to music at one of the bars and maybe an after dinner drink. We enjoyed listening to the violinists on board but always seemed to catch them playing the last song of their set.

[diasmiles]

Saturday 08/25/18:

This morning we were in Juneau. Like most mornings, we woke up early and went to the dining room for breakfast. I had rented a car for today and was planning on going to Mendenhall glacier, St. Theresa’s and Chapel on the lake. I like to take my time and adjust my day depending on what we like. Well once in port my dad decided he didn’t want to go with the car rental, but he wanted to go on a city tour. Despite my argument, I was out voted. So, we paid $60/person for a city tour and time at Mendenhall glacier. I was completely disappointed because this tour made one other stop to Douglas Island for 10 minutes and then headed out to Mendenhall glacier. There was no way to take pictures and when someone asked if we could take pictures of some landmark he was told by the driver that he could give him directions to that landmark once we were back in town, so he could take pictures. Basically, this was an expensive bus ride to Mendenhall. Then we had to rush down the trail to get some time there before turning back to make the bus back to town. We almost missed the bus. I give my mom so much credit because she would not stay behind because of her injury but she did have to take it a little slow. We should have stuck with the car rental but oh well.