Royal Princess May 28, 2022 Alaska Northbound live report

[Grillfish]

Great post and pics @dhanakorn.

 

I'm on the northbound cruise as well on the Grand in about 15 days.  My sister lives in Anchorage and she will be picking me up at the port in Whittier (and she knows about the tunnel and fare).  Can you please let me know when the gangway opens for your cruise for general debarkation? (If you hear or read it.)

 

The app is not letting me choose my time to leave the ship.

 

Thanks again for your time sharing your journey. 

[TrixiePixie]

13 hours ago, chrliesangel said:

We will be on the June 25 cruise as well and bringing our 10 year old daughter. This is our first Alaska cruise. 

Is your daughter signed up for kids club. Well at least we know the their will be another child on board. Our grandson was in the kids club before and he really enjoyed it. Are you signed up for any excursions?  We are on the land tour afterwards. Hope to meet you on the ship

[ciera123]

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed your review and all the gorgeous photos you’ve shared. Thank you so much for taking the time to post!!!!!

[Yehootu]

5 hours ago, Grillfish said:

Great post and pics @dhanakorn.

 

I'm on the northbound cruise as well on the Grand in about 15 days.  My sister lives in Anchorage and she will be picking me up at the port in Whittier (and she knows about the tunnel and fare).  Can you please let me know when the gangway opens for your cruise for general debarkation? (If you hear or read it.)

 

The app is not letting me choose my time to leave the ship.

 

Thanks again for your time sharing your journey. 

First folks off this am at 0650. Yesterday they said 0700, but could be earlier if shoreside is ready.

[dhanakorn]

Another great weather in Whittier. 

This’s around 6:30am, the disembarkation hasn’t started yet. You can see the train waiting from a far. Passengers taking the train to Denali are the first ones to leave the ship. I think they start boarding the train around 7am. 

 

I’ve the 26-Glaciers excursion with the boarding time at 11am so I walk around the terminal. Did anyone spot a bald eagle in photo below?

 

Nice looking bald eagle by the creek

 

Another one is flying nearby 

 

I think they’re a couple. They’re bickering each other for a whit. 

 

Beautiful Whittier harbor 

[CynCyn]

@dhanakorn thank you for the report and the lovely pictures.

[TrixiePixie]

19 hours ago, dhanakorn said:

Day 3 Ketchikan (1)

With 3 long days at the port and amazing day at Glacier Bay, I didn’t have time to post the review. Here’s the next installment on Ketchikan. 
 

I got up around 6am and look like we now entered the inside passage. 

 

Around 7am the ship started slowing down as we approached Ketchikan. 

 

We docked on time at 8am. This’s dock 4, not right in front of the town but within walking distance. 

 

There’s a bus stop right outside the dock where the two white busses are. 

 

Free bus running around the town if you don’t want to walk. 

 

Day 3 Patter

 

Thanks for posting the patters. Do you have more you can post. I’m trying to see what production show are listed also movies under the stars. Thanks

[Yehootu]

We had dinner at Sabatinis and waiter told me next time when ordering the seafood linguini to ask for:

Extra seafood, hold the linguini. I’m a protein person but will cave in to carbs for my wife or beer. Great pics, mine have been postcard material. 4th time for us doing an Alaska cruise and I’m going to return home to Hawaii tanner then when I left. Hopefully at the end of the southbound leg I’ll have unused ponchos for sale

[Grillfish]

19 hours ago, Yehootu said:

First folks off this am at 0650. Yesterday they said 0700, but could be earlier if shoreside is ready.

Thank you.

[BobbySu]

Though we will be on the majestic our itinerary is much the same and I’ve really appreciated your report.  thank you so much. 

[partybarbie]

Thank you again for the great pictures and review.  Hoping you are able to post some photos from your 26 glacier excursion. I'm guessing you are having lots of fun and probably slow internet. 

[Happiest when cruising]

On 5/30/2022 at 8:28 PM, Thrak said:

 

Sadly, Vancouver has a major homeless camp issue. You just didn't happen to go to the right places or maybe didn't notice there is a large encampment near the cruise terminal. There are a lot of homeless camps in Vancouver.

 

Yes, Vancouver has many homeless people, the same as many large urban cities do. There are also lots of beautiful places as the poster highlighted. I don’t see the need to add this photo, at all. 

[dhanakorn]

On 6/4/2022 at 11:57 AM, TrixiePixie said:

Thanks for posting the patters. Do you have more you can post. I’m trying to see what production show are listed also movies under the stars. Thanks

I was planning to post the Patter when I wrote each day review but that might take quite some time since I tend to post a lot of photos. So I’ll post all the remaining of the Patters here first since it could be useful for someone planning the trip. 
 

Day 4 Juneau

 

Day 5 Skagway 

 

 

Day 6 Glacier Bay

 

 

Day 7 College Fjord 

 

 

[TrixiePixie]

Thank u thank you for posting the patters. It’s just what I was looking for

[dhanakorn]

Day 4 Juneau (1)

We approached Juneau around 7:30am.

And docking at the terminal around 8:30am. A little far from the downtown but still walkable distance. Celebrity ship was docked right at the town center. 

 

NCL Bliss was already there at the furthest terminal from the town. 

I got off the ship around 9:30am to avoid the early crowd. 

 

Welcome to Juneau 

Edited June 11, 2022 by dhanakorn

[dhanakorn]

Day 4 Juneau (2)

My excursion was at 10am so I had about 20 to quickly explore the town. I like how calm the water is in Alaska. You can see reflection on the water surface. 

 

 

Anyone spots the two bald eagles in the photo below?

 

The famous Tracy’s King Crab Shack

 

This year the price for King Crab leg is $70 per pound. One leg meal will cost you almost $100!

Waterfall can be seen from the town. I think it might dry up by July or August. 

 

I bought one during my first Alaska cruise — the reindeer carpet, not the duke. After 8 years, it still looks like new. The price is probably double from what I paid several years ago. 

[dhanakorn]

Day 4 Juneau (3)
 

Today I booked a whale watching tour. I used Harv and Marv since they seem to be highly recommended on this board. 
 

They have a shuttle bus picking up customers from various ships. We made a stop at Brotherhood Bridge first to view the Mendenhall glacier. 

 

 

 

Then it’s a quick short ride to Auke Bay

 

Harv and Marv was running 3 boats this morning. They’re quite popular. I went with Captain Mickey on the Chilkat with JoMarie as our naturalist. 

[dhanakorn]

Day 4 Juneau (4)

We’re quite lucky on this trip. Only 15 minutes after we left the harbor, we already encountered a couple Orcas. Captain Mickey said it’s very rare to see Orcas around here — only around 10% chance. 

 

Then the first humpback of this trip. When you see the fluke, it means the whale is diving down and won’t surface back again for 10-20 minutes. 

 

We saw many humpback whales on this trip. Although didn’t get a chance to see any breaching action. 

 

We didn’t need to sail very far. Whales were everywhere this morning. 

 

Some short video clips of the humpback whales 

 

 

 

[dhanakorn]

Day 4 Juneau (5)
 

We got a glimpse of Mendenhall glacier.

 

A sea lion swimming up close by the boat to check us out. They’re quite a lot of sea lions in Auke Bay. Some of them were chasing the humpback whales. 

 

We sailed passed a small island -  this’s a nesting place for a lot of bald eagles. 

There’re so many bald eagles on this small island. 

We left the harbor around 11am and got back around 2pm. A bald eagle was at the top mast of a boat in the harbor. 

 

A video clip of sea lions playing near the boat

 
 

A video clip of bald eagle nesting 

 

 

Overall it’s a great tour. Saw so much wildlife - Orcas, humpback whales, sea lions, and bald eagles. I lost count on how many whales we saw on this trip. Captain Mickey and her crew were absolutely wonderful. Harv and Marv lives up to their reputation — highly recommended. 

[dhanakorn]

Day 4 Juneau (6)

The bus dropped us off at the ship around 3pm. On the boat tour, they provided snacks and soft drinks, so I was a little hungry by now. No afternoon tea service today. I went to grab a sandwich and coffee from International Cafe. It’s pretty tasty. 

 

Then I went up to the pool deck to relax a little bit. Didn’t I say that we had

a great weather on this cruise. It’s sunny 80 degree this afternoon. It feels like we’re sailing in the Caribbean until you look up and see snow on top of the mountains. 

 

Around 5:30, I went to grab a quick dinner from the buffet. Very limited choices in the buffet but I didn’t want to get dressed for the MDR. 

 

I left the ship again around 6:30pm for an evening stroll. 

NCL Bliss already left to make room for NCL Encore in the afternoon. 

[dhanakorn]

Day 4 Juneau (7)

At 6:30pm it’s still bright outside. I love the long daylight during the summer.

 

I dressed like I was cruising in the Caribbean. I didn’t expect Alaska to be this warm. 

 

Mount Roberts tramway. 

 

This food square on Franklin st and Front st seems to be very popular among the locals and tourists. 

View of the food square from the top. 

[dhanakorn]

Day 4 Juneau (8)

I walked a little further from the terminal area to see what Alaska state capitol looks like. 

 

 

State museum near the Capitol building 

 

Governor’s house where a former governor once said you could see Russia from here. 

 

 

Looking back to the cruise terminal area. We had 4 ships in port today (NCL Bliss already left). During the normal time when cruise ships are running at full capacity, that’s over 10,000 tourists visiting the town. 

 

[dhanakorn]

Day 4 Juneau (9)

 

I got back to ship around 8pm and grabbed a glass of Moscato from the Vines — Moscato is only available at this bar. 

 

Then relaxed at Crooners listening to Kory. 

 

We only had one show tonight in the theater at 9:30. It’s the concert by Sarah Peavy. She looks a little bit like Lady Gaga. I think she’s very good. Very entertaining. Besides the first two nights, I think the rest of the shows in main theater were pretty good. 

 

It’s another great long day in Juneau. View of the sunset from my cabin around 10:30pm. 

 

[kathy49]

To the OP Dhanakorn....Thank you so much for possibly the best trip report I have ever read. You present exact enough details, the photos are professional quality and just stunning. This report actually makes me want to go on an Alaska Cruise and I have never had that feeling before.   It just seems like you really know how to travel ie enjoy a balanced trip with some excursions and some independent exploring. Of course the chances of weather like you had are minimal. I have seen reports from the next week and I think the rains hit. Again thank you as it is clear this took some time to put together. So many will benefit from such a great report and so nice to get away from posts with all the covid drama. Hope to see your next adventure report!!

Edited June 11, 2022 by kathy49

[dhanakorn]

On 6/11/2022 at 6:58 AM, kathy49 said:

To the OP Dhanakorn....Thank you so much for possibly the best trip report I have ever read. You present exact enough details, the photos are professional quality and just stunning. This report actually makes me want to go on an Alaska Cruise and I have never had that feeling before.   It just seems like you really know how to travel ie enjoy a balanced trip with some excursions and some independent exploring. Of course the chances of weather like you had are minimal. I have seen reports from the next week and I think the rains hit. Again thank you as it is clear this took some time to put together. So many will benefit from such a great report and so nice to get away from posts with all the covid drama. Hope to see your next adventure report!!

Thank you for your compliment 😊