Favorite Regatta Alaska outings

[kibutzer]

Hi, looks like we have alot of Alaska  2022 Regatta posters here. What were your favorite ports, outings, and why? Any special "events"? Also does anyone have any clue who may be coming aboard for Aug 8th cruise for CD, GM, FB Manager? Think many of the folks we know are ending their current contracts. 

[nursinadream]

We had a wonderful Alaskan cruise, our first. BY FAR our favorite ship excursion was in Juneau called Photo Safari.  A boat to view whales and bonus seals and otters, then a nature hike about 1 hour with lots of stops that ended in a lovely view of the Mendenhall glacier.  The young man who guided us, Nick, was pleasant and easy going and knew his stuff.  He gave some photo tips on the short bus ride with a Power point no less.  He also included tips for using smart phones and assured us that they are certainly adequate or even superb photo taking devices.  A nice snack in a paper bag was served on the coach ride including bottled water, energy granola type bar etc.  And care was taken to keep food wrappers in the BUS, away from the woods where a bear might be attracted. 

We also enjoyed Butchart Gardens.  Nice coach ride and ticket price provided.  Two hours at this destination was perfect.  Early July the plants were very beautiful. We did a Jet boat tour in Prince Rupert that was quite unique.  Very rural body of water, undeveloped and wild.  Salmon was prepared on grill and sides included for a nice meal.  Coach transfer was kinda long, overy an hour.  We did a short nature walk here too - but after a walk with Nick in Juneau nothing much to learn about the plants, birds, glacier carving, foresting, etc.

We booked another cruise while on board, we are fans.  For those who may not know the "Captain's Cocktail Reception" is held in several venues.  He and his team only visited one I believe.  But the drinks are FREE and not limited to a short menu which surprised us.  We were expecting a few mixed drinks, limited choices of wine or beer, etc.  But not the case.  Only high end whiskys were unavailable.

@kibutzerI hope this helps.  I was very anxious for information before our Alaskan cruise.  The weather was lovely Jun27-Jul8.  No rain, mild temperatures.

I did 3 wine tastings with the head sommelier, Gabriel.  My hubby's not a fan.  I met other single ladies to sit with.  We had Americanos in Barista's every morning with Jimmy at 7:30.  And 2 for 1 cocktails in Horizons with Syrian.  Sorry I don't know about the senior stuff you were asking about.  Peter was CD.

Deb

 

 

 

[lj77346]

We were also on the June 27- July 8 Regatta cruise - extremely smooth sailing and great weather - a very enjoyable cruise.

 

We had an extraordinary whale watching excursion in Icy Point Strait thanks to a show-off humpback whale that breached 20+ times and put on quite a show (of course YMMV as a performance like that is unusual).  The nice thing about whale watching at this location is that you walk off the Regatta and the whale watching boat is at the pier about 100 feet away - no travel time to get to it.

 

The pier that the Regatta uses for Ketchikan is in a remote location about 8 miles and a shuttle bus ride from the downtown area - not very convenient.  We liked it better when the ship docked in town and you could just get off and walk around.  In Skagway the ship docked, but because of damage to the pier you had to use a tender to get to town as you couldn't walk on the pier.

 

It looks like a lot of the crew are coming to the ends of their contracts - when we were embarking in Seattle a busload of new crew members were coming aboard and the same appeared to be true when we were disembarking.  The production cast will be leaving in mid-August and a new cast and CD will be coming aboard then.

[Carolfay]

I also was on the cruise departing June 27 from Seattle, and I can corroborate what the previous posters have written.  The whale watching in Icy Point Strait was indeed extraordinary - some of us speculated that the humpback was really an animatronic device performing for us.  My other whale watch was also outstanding, and we used Gastineau Guiding.  Captain Mike found a very energetic whale for us, and we watched lunge feeding for nearly half an hour - stunning.  Our guide for that outing was the delightful and whip-smart Mikaela, who provided excellent commentary.

 

Our bear "hunt" in Hoonah was well handled, and we did indeed spot one adult brown bear, who entertained us while feeding from berry bushes.  From Ketchikan (the Ward Cove terminal), we shuttled to a walk through the Tongass Forest, escorted by a fun and informative guide named Debbie.  Quite a character - she even recounted her Sasquatch encounter a few years prior.  If you stop in Victoria, I can recommend the "sights and bites" walk with a fun guide named Emily.  She's affiliated with Hidden Victoria, and she was full of excellent insights into her city.

 

I was favorably impressed by my first Oceania cruise and will certainly consider them for future adventures.  

 

[garyc20]

In Hoonah we took the Jeep tour. Followed a lead Jeep in our own Jeep.

[kibutzer]

On 7/14/2022 at 3:14 PM, nursinadream said:

We had a wonderful Alaskan cruise, our first. BY FAR our favorite ship excursion was in Juneau called Photo Safari.  A boat to view whales and bonus seals and otters, then a nature hike about 1 hour with lots of stops that ended in a lovely view of the Mendenhall glacier.  The young man who guided us, Nick, was pleasant and easy going and knew his stuff.  He gave some photo tips on the short bus ride with a Power point no less.  He also included tips for using smart phones and assured us that they are certainly adequate or even superb photo taking devices.  A nice snack in a paper bag was served on the coach ride including bottled water, energy granola type bar etc.  And care was taken to keep food wrappers in the BUS, away from the woods where a bear might be attracted. 

We also enjoyed Butchart Gardens.  Nice coach ride and ticket price provided.  Two hours at this destination was perfect.  Early July the plants were very beautiful. We did a Jet boat tour in Prince Rupert that was quite unique.  Very rural body of water, undeveloped and wild.  Salmon was prepared on grill and sides included for a nice meal.  Coach transfer was kinda long, overy an hour.  We did a short nature walk here too - but after a walk with Nick in Juneau nothing much to learn about the plants, birds, glacier carving, foresting, etc.

We booked another cruise while on board, we are fans.  For those who may not know the "Captain's Cocktail Reception" is held in several venues.  He and his team only visited one I believe.  But the drinks are FREE and not limited to a short menu which surprised us.  We were expecting a few mixed drinks, limited choices of wine or beer, etc.  But not the case.  Only high end whiskys were unavailable.

@kibutzerI hope this helps.  I was very anxious for information before our Alaskan cruise.  The weather was lovely Jun27-Jul8.  No rain, mild temperatures.

I did 3 wine tastings with the head sommelier, Gabriel.  My hubby's not a fan.  I met other single ladies to sit with.  We had Americanos in Barista's every morning with Jimmy at 7:30.  And 2 for 1 cocktails in Horizons with Syrian.  Sorry I don't know about the senior stuff you were asking about.  Peter was CD.

Deb

 

 

 

Thanks we have done 10 O cruises but this our first Alaska

[curmudgeon98]

In Juneau we really enjoyed the float plan trip over the five glaciers area and landing on the river at Taku Lodge for an excellent dinner.  They call it "Wings Airways".  Of course, it helped that we had a beautiful day for the trip.  We've also done the "Gold Creek salmon bake" in Juneau, which was just so-so.  Mendenhall Glacier can be easily visited by a short taxi ride, or city bus and walk.

 

In Sitka, we did a guided kayaking trip around the sound there which we really enjoyed, also helped by great weather.