Live, Terry/Ohio, Silver Muse: Alaska, Canada/Rockies, Pix’s

[JohnGinPBG]

37 minutes ago, TLCOhio said:

Here are a range of the views and sights from the Silver Muse this morning as we approached and rotated around both sides of the ship to see the Hubbard Glacier.  

 

I noticed there was no one in the pool! The day we visited Hubbard Glacier, the temp was in the 40's and the wind chill in the 20's. You had much better luck, it appears.

 

Patiently waiting for your Sitka wildlife/whale pics and commentary. Hope you had a great day!

[TLCOhio]

15 minutes ago, JohnGinPBG said:

I noticed there was no one in the pool! The day we visited Hubbard Glacier, the temp was in the 40's and the wind chill in the 20's. You had much better luck, it appears.   Patiently waiting for your Sitka wildlife/whale pics and commentary. Hope you had a great day!

 

Appreciate the short and summary from QueSeraSera of "Just beautiful".  Yes, there is much more to come.  Been having some technical, uploading challenges this morning, but seem to be able now to make things happen.  The Hotel Director, who will be on this ship till Oct. 21, said there some satellite positioning differences that can affect speed. 

 

For John in PBG, YES!, much more to be posted and shared from yesterday's amazing Sitka whale/wildlife/birds adventure.  Today nobody was at the pool, both because it was cool AND so many were up on the higher decks to see the sunny glacier action.  The previous after when sailing from Sitka, where were some both sunning themselves and in the water.   Below are a few examples for the Sitka wildlife action.  More to come!! 

 

We used Captain Paul Davis of Gallant Adventures.  He was not just wonderful, but actually SUPER EXCELLENT would describe this trip.  His boat only holds 6 passengers, so he can go where the bigger boats cannot reach.   We had humpback whales within about 18' of the boat.  Loved the close-ups with sea otters, seals, sea lions, puffins and many other birds during our unforgettable 3-hour trip.  His phone is 907-738-2855.   TripAdvisor had him ranked #2 of 39 tours for Sitka.  You can also reach him by     gallantadventures@yahoo.com

Or:   gary@sitkaadventures.com
 

One of the highlights was going to Saint Lazaria Island National Wildlife Refuge that is about nine miles west of Sitka.  That island is totally amazing with both its wildlife, plus its greenery, trees, volcano core rock formations, etc., etc. 

   

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

SE Asia/Mekong River, Etc.!  Live/blog from early 2018, first adventure through SE Asia, stops in Hong Kong and Bangkok, before exploring all over Vietnam and Cambodia, seven days sailing on the Mekong River. Now at 48,442 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2591474

 

Here are some of the various bird and wildlife examples from yesterday's Sitka adventure with Captain Paul and his powerful, small craft that moved quick to get to where the best action would be.   Notice the unique angle for this whale tale shown below?  Notice below water the orange feet of the puffin?:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these pictures larger/better!)

 

 

 

 

To prove and verify real satisfaction, look at the smiles on the faces of Mark and Chris from the Philadelphia area after they had traveled with us on this adventure.  Do they look happy?  In the middle is our super skilled Captain and expert, Paul Davis, who knows this area so well and had superb eyesight for spotting whales and birds from afar!!:

 

Captain Paul circled our Silver Muse that was in the waters away from the port to allow me to be getting a nice, sunny view of the ship.  We used a tender to reach Sitka on this day.:

[jpalbny]

Great classic whale tail shot, Terry! Enjoying the photos.

[TLCOhio]

5 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

Great classic whale tail shot, Terry! Enjoying the photos.

 

Nice follow-up from J.P.   Much appreciated, especially given your wide travel experiences!!   Below are a few more quick whales, etc., shots.  Many more to follow, including of bald eagles, etc.  But, needing to finish packing and get ready for dinner.

 

With these sea otters, their coats are super thick.  About one million hairs per square inch.  Need to be this protective to allow them to operate in these cold waters. 

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

AFRICA?!!?: Fun, interesting visuals, plus travel details from this early 2016 live/blog. At 46,417 views. Featuring Cape Town, South Africa’s coast, Mozambique, Victoria Falls/Zambia and Botswana's famed Okavango Delta.  

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2310337

 

Below is a "whale blow", plus this second tail picture gives some size perspective compared to the nearby boat.  Have a couple of "face shots" that show the personality for this animals.:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these pictures larger/better!)

 

 

 

[JohnGinPBG]

47 minutes ago, TLCOhio said:

We used Captain Paul Davis of Gallant Adventures.  He was not just wonderful, but actually SUPER EXCELLENT would describe this trip. 

 

SO pleased that you had a good day with Captain Paul! When you recommend an independent excursion, you hope for the best.  Super glad that it worked out for you!

Your pictures are great and I'm looking forward to seeing more of the "808". Nice total, by the way.

[worldtraveller99]

We have booked with Gallant Adventures for next July - your photos are amazing! How long did it take to get off the ship using the tenders?

[spinnaker2]

Love the photos Terry!

Happy that you are enjoying and as enthusiastic as ever!

[TLCOhio]

48 minutes ago, spinnaker2 said:

Love the photos Terry!  Happy that you are enjoying and as enthusiastic as ever!

 

Super appreciate the kind follow-up from Spins/Candy, plus the other great sharing. 

 

Having our final breakfast in the room.  Must be ready at 7 am to gather and then board at 7:50 pm the train for travel to near Anchorage.  We stay the night there at that resort before going north on the Silversea Denali tour over five days and four nights. Lots more visuals to share later. 

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Dubrovnik!  Nice visual samples, tips, details, etc., for this super scenic location. Over 46,186 views.    

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1439227

[poohkey]

In Denali the other day we saw 10 grizzly bears, 3 caribou, 3 Dall sheep, 2 moose, several  Arctic squirrels.  But no Denali mountain.... it was covered in clouds.  It is a huge and beautiful national park.  

[Lois R]

Terry, the pictures are fantastic 😁😁😁

[MHF]

2 hours ago, Lois R said:

Terry, the pictures are fantastic 😁😁😁

 

yes, Nat Geo quality!

 

M in M

[TLCOhio]

16 hours ago, worldtraveller99 said:

We have booked with Gallant Adventures for next July - your photos are amazing! How long did it take to get off the ship using the tenders?

 

Love the kind and generous comments of "Terry, the pictures are fantastic" and "yes, Nat Geo quality!"  Hope we enjoy the great luck/success of poohkey in seeing so much wildlife at Denali.  Will know more on Saturday when we have all day there in that large and famed park.  

 

Here is more as to the good question from worldtraveler99: "How long did it take to get off the ship using the tenders?".  It required about 10-12 minutes to go on the tender in Sitka's super scenic harbor to reach their shore location.  Much depends as to where the Silver Muse drops its anchor.  

 

Everything went well with our departure from the Silver Muse (except the early time to be ready for making the train connection).  Super nice train!!   Done by the Alaska Railroad.  Now at our hotel in Girdwood, near Anchorage.  This is the Hotel Alyeska.  It's a ski resort with several hundred rooms, a tram up to the top where we had lunch, etc.  Up early tomorrow to start our coach ride up to Denali.  There are 55 people from the cruise doing this post-cruise excursion.  

 

SEWARD:  This ice-free port of nearly 3,000 residents was originally settled in 1793 as a fur-trading post by Russians. Located on Alaska's southern coast, it is backed by rugged mountains. Seward was the starting point of the Klondike Gold Rush's Iditarod National Historic Trail.  It was also the southern terminus of the Alaska Railroad and during the summer welcomes dozens of cruise ships.  It is approximately 120 miles by road south of Alaska's largest city, Anchorage.   Now focused on tourism and commercial fishing, Seward is surrounded by Kenai Fjords National Park (with nearly 700,000 acres in size), Chugach National Forest and Resurrection Bay.  These vast nearby areas include marine life and calving glaciers.  Seward is also near the Harding Icefield, one of the largest in the U.S., feeding 38 glaciers within the park. This icefield receives an average of 60 feet of snow annually and approximately 51 percent of the park is covered by ice.  During July and August, its average high is 61F and a low of 50F.  The town is named for former U.S. Secretary of State William Seward, who put together the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867.  Remember “Seward’s Folly”?  That purchase price? $7.2 million, or about two cents an acre to purchase what would become our 49th state.  In 1888, when gold was first discovered, that purchase price seemed like a real bargain.

 

Many more pictures to be shared later from our first rail trip in Alaska, etc.  Plus, from the Silver Muse and these various port stops. 

 

THANKS! Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio.

 

 

Kotor/Montenegro:  Exciting visual samples, tips, details, etc., for this scenic, historic location. Over 46,136 views.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1439193

[QueSeraSera]

Terry, your posts have been a nightly pleasure to my wife and I, thank you so much for sharing.  The empty pool, and the jackets you all are wearing, have been a bit of a wake up call.  Did I mention that we got a great deal on our September Alaska cruise...?  Has anyone been to Alaska in early September?

[TLCOhio]

19 minutes ago, QueSeraSera said:

Terry, your posts have been a nightly pleasure to my wife and I, thank you so much for sharing.  The empty pool, and the jackets you all are wearing, have been a bit of a wake up call.  Did I mention that we got a great deal on our September Alaska cruise...?  Has anyone been to Alaska in early September?

 

Yes, it can be cooler in Alaska, especially in September.  Everyone has told us that temperatures and conditions can vary.  Even in one day.  Hard to predict and know for certain.  Need to be prepared to layer and adjust accordingly.  Clearly September will be much more of a "roll of the dice"!  That is part of the reason for the prices to be more reasonable in September or May.  

 

Below are a few pictures for today to summarize our train ride from Seward to Girdwood, near Anchorage.  Plus, plus!!

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Athens & Greece: Many visuals, details from two visits in a city with great history, culture and architecture.  Now at 31,645 views.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1101008

 

As we departed the Silver Muse, here is our wonderful Butler, Janice, as we enjoyed breakfast in our room at an early hour in order to be ready and in the Venetian Lounge by 7 am.  Our team taking care of suite did an excellent job and made our trip so very enjoyable and easy.:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these pictures larger/better!)

 

Below is a small sampling of the wonderful sights during our scenic train ride.  This included passing several glacier, many lakes and waterways, etc., etc.  Great location and the train staff was excellent in alerting us to what was upcoming.:

 

 

 

 

 

Here was my big highlight.  In the front car, I was looking ahead towards the engine and noice this potential "problem"  It was a bear on the track with our train approach FAST.  The engineer slowed and stopped to allow the bear to move right across the track and go back into the woods.  Fun and interesting sighting, especially in being able to capture visuals from this . . . "wildlife versus machine" action!!:

 

At our hotel, here is the view from their tram as we were returning down the 2700' elevation mountain to the main building and our room.:

[DuffyMcfluffy]

September is a great month to go.

The salmon are spawning and Creek Street in Ketchikan is solid with salmon. There is also usually a few seals putting on a show while helping themselves to the buffet.

The creeks and streams in Sitka are also full of spawning salmon and if you are a shopper, many of the seasonal stores have huge sales to clear out their merchandise before the end of the cruise ship season.

I never figure the weather to be a factor. Been there 13 times and have had hot temps in May and September and chilly, rainy days in the middle of summer. Just be prepared for everything.

[TLCOhio]

2 minutes ago, DuffyMcfluffy said:

September is a great month to go.  The salmon are spawning and Creek Street in Ketchikan is solid with salmon. There is also usually a few seals putting on a show while helping themselves to the buffet.  The creeks and streams in Sitka are also full of spawning salmon and if you are a shopper, many of the seasonal stores have huge sales to clear out their merchandise before the end of the cruise ship season.

I never figure the weather to be a factor. Been there 13 times and have had hot temps in May and September and chilly, rainy days in the middle of summer. Just be prepared for everything.

 

Excellent above sharing from DuffyMcfluffy.   Yes, weather can vary and be unpredictable.  Below is what I just check from AccuWeather as to what they are projecting for the next three days in Denali.  If this happens, we will be super pleased.  Looking good??  We have been feeling luck with our weather and conditions during this entire adventure. 

 

Below is more background about Denali: 

 

 

DENALI:  As some describe it: “Everything about Denali is superlative.” The mountain, formerly identified as Mt. McKinley, is the tallest land-based mountain on earth.  Its name means “The Great One”.  It has a vertical rise (distance from base to peak) of over 18,000 feet. As the highest peak in North America, it has a height of 20,320 feet.  Denali is the third highest of the Seven Summits (the highest peaks of the seven continents) following Mount Everest in Nepal and Aconcagua in Argentina. Denali is still gaining about 1 millimeter (0.039 in) in height each year due to the continued convergence of the North American and Pacific Plates. The mountain is primarily made of granite, a hard rock that does not erode easily.  This national park contains 6.1 million acres (9,446 square miles) of wilderness lands, lakes and rivers.  That size is slightly larger than the entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts.   Glaciers cover about 16% of the 6 million acres of Denali National Park.  The mountain is so tall that it actually “makes its own weather.”  The upper half of Denali is permanently covered with snow and has five massive glaciers on its slopes. The longest glacier is the Kahiltna Glacier with a length of 44 miles. On a clear day you can actually see the mountain from the Anchorage International Airport and other southern locations.

 

Accessed only by a single, 92-mile road. Denali is home to 39 species of mammals, ranging in size from tiny shrews to huge moose. The terrain of the park varies from low-altitude tundra up through alpine forest and above the timberline to barren snowfields.  Many seek to observe some combination of Alaska’s Big Five: grizzly bears, caribou, moose, Dall Sheep and wolves.  In 1917, the bill was signed creating Mount McKinley National Park.  There was no road access to the park entrance until 1957.  The word Denali means "the high one" in the native Athabaskan language.  Over 450 species of flowering plants fill the park and can be viewed in bloom throughout the summer.  In 1896, gold prospector William Dickey named the tallest mountain in the park, Mt. McKinley. after the then presidential nominee.  William McKinley’s support for the gold rush and gold standard was cited as the reasons for this naming honor.  McKinley was from Ohio and served as President from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. In 2015, President Obama directed his Interior Secretary to rename the mountain as Denali.  In July and August, the average high is 66F with a low of 46F.

 

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

 

Lisbon, NWSpain, Bordeaux/Brittany: Live/blog, June 2017 from Portugal to France along scenic Atlantic Coast on the Silver Spirit.  Now at 29,312 views.  Many interesting pictures, details for history, food, culture, etc.:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2511358

 

From AccuWeather just now, here are their projections for next three days in Denali.  Liking this forecast!!!  Might have to get out my shorts for our main day of Saturday while being in the main part of this major national park.:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these pictures larger/better!)

 

[JohnGinPBG]

Nice forecast! Looks like you'll have a good chance of seeing the big mountain.. Enjoy Martin Buser's tomorrow.

[jpalbny]

It's waiting for you! 

 

 

Just a thumbnail of our view back in 2008 when we last made this trip. Hope this whets your appetite, and that your view is even better!

[JohnGinPBG]

2 hours ago, jpalbny said:

Hope this whets your appetite, and that your view is even better!

 

And another....

[TLCOhio]

2 hours ago, jpalbny said:

It's waiting for you!  Just a thumbnail of our view back in 2008 when we last made this trip. Hope this whets your appetite, and that your view is even better!

 

Great warm-up pictures from John and J.P.  Getting ready to depart our hotel near Anchorage now.  The excitement is building.  Soon will be at the dog-racing training facility. It is a long coach ride up, UP to the Denali area.  Our bus will not be too crowded and they have have electricity on board.  I can work on editing more pictures, etc.  BUT, it will be well worth the "PRIZE" to get there to Denali, right??  

 

Sadly, we had to pay for our own dinner last night.  No more fun on the ship of never having to be handed a bill at the end of dinner.  Missing the easy time on the ship.  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

 

Panama Canal? Early 2017, Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco adventure through Panama Canal.  Our first stops in Colombia, Central America and Mexico, plus added time in the great Golden Gate City. Now at 27,363 views.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2465580

[TSUmom]

Great pictures and as always plenty of information!  We are planning on a Rocky Mountaineer trip post cruise next year.

[Silver Spectre]

On 8/1/2019 at 2:38 PM, spinnaker2 said:

Love the photos Terry!

Happy that you are enjoying and as enthusiastic as ever!

+1

[jpalbny]

2 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

Sadly, we had to pay for our own dinner last night.  No more fun on the ship of never having to be handed a bill at the end of dinner.  Missing the easy time on the ship.  

 

That part never gets easier...  😥

[Lois R]

I have been on 3 Alaskan cruises in the last 16 years but not 1 of them had Denali on it. Think I need to go again WITH Denali😁

[Lois R]

TERRY, Your descriptions and photos are amazing😀