Rare NE John Posted July 19 #26 Share Posted July 19 This weather seems like such a bummer. Hope the ship experience is going well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfred Posted July 19 #27 Share Posted July 19 Sympathies @3rdGenCunarder on your soggy Alaska trip. I hope you get some sunny days before you finish. Thanks for your updates. Weather makes such a huge difference to the scenic quality of glaciers. Mrs sfred and I had a stunningly beautiful day on QE's first visit to Hubbard in May 2019. We were extremely impressed. But then in February 2020 on QV's South America voyage, we had gloomy overcast and drizzle on our cruise by of Amalia and Pio glaciers in Chile. Not as impressive, unfortunately... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfred Posted July 19 #28 Share Posted July 19 We also had a nice day on our drive to Mendenhall glacier on 18 May 2019. You mentioned that the glacier has retreated since then. Might you have taken a current comparison photo? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NE John Posted July 19 #29 Share Posted July 19 (edited) 14 minutes ago, sfred said: We also had a nice day on our drive to Mendenhall glacier on 18 May 2019. You mentioned that the glacier has retreated since then. Might you have taken a current comparison photo? Here’s one from a three weeks ago; I believe @3rdGenCunarder didn’t go on this hike with bad weather. Doesn’t look like too much change since your visit. You went about a month earlier than us. Edited July 19 by NE John 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfred Posted July 19 #30 Share Posted July 19 12 minutes ago, NE John said: Here’s one from a three weeks ago; Thanks @NE John. From that vantage point, Mendenhall still looks reasonably healthy. I hope so. It is a beautiful park. Mrs sfred and I were the only ones on most of the trails we walked that day. Luckily, no bear incidents. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ukulele girl Posted July 20 #31 Share Posted July 20 Thank you so much for helping me to re-live our Alaska Cruise in 2022 this morning. Your comments/rant re photographers rings so true with us. We watched the Hubbard Glacier from our balcony as we were lower down the ship and got great pictures of the calving without elbows in the way. Where I am sitting with my morning coffee I look at the three pictures on the wall covering that holiday. QE docked in Skagway, Hubbard Glacier and Vancouver Skyline the day we returned. We self disembarked on our return to Vancouver and took the train to the airport where we collected a car and drove the Rockies over 5 nights, ending in Banff, then flew home from Calgary. The drive is so easy and the sights spectacular, I would recommend it to anyone as part of the holiday. The whole thing was only marred by my husband catching Covid at the end of the cruise but he didn't give it to me thank goodness and wasn't too ill at the time. I do hope your weather improves. Thanks again. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted July 21 Author #32 Share Posted July 21 (edited) July 20 Ketchikan Yes, another drizzly day. It didn’t rain all day, but it never got sunny. I had booked the hovercraft, mostly because this is my fifth time here and I’ve done most of the other things. It was canceled 2 days ago, and so I just did a wander. Actually, it’s just as well. It was pricy for the length of the ride, and I wouldn’t have see much in the dreary weather. Girl math! It’s a thing. If you have spent money or earmarked money for something and it’s cancelled (like my boat ride), you HAVE TO spend the money. I set out on my usual route toward the upstream end of Creek Street. This route passes a yarn shop. I always browse, because a knitter can’t pass a good “local yarn shop.” And I had that money refunded to my credit card, couldn’t leave it lying around, right? So I spent some of the refund on beautiful yarns. I don’t feel the need to spend the whole refund. Just using part of it is enough to qualify. I stood at the railing, watching fish, large salmon of some kind, when a sea lion swam by faster than I would have thought possible. Up and down a section of the creek, chasing fish. That was a nice wildlife sighting. A bit more of a wander, and then back to the ship. Another cocktail party tonight. The captain and officers invite … It doesn’t say World Club or “Senior Officers’ Cocktail Party.” But that’s what it was. It does not mean that this WC function is back for all cruises. It’s just that there are so few platinum and diamond this time that it’s doable in the Yacht Club. I’d guess maybe 60 of us? At the party, I commented to Dragana that there are so many diamonds with way more cruises/days than the minimum that they need another level. She said they’ve been talking about that in the 17 years she has been with Cunard. More priority things are difficult unless they take away from lower tiers. But how about more internet $$ or more OBC? Or a special excursion??? They’re doing priority disembarkation, too. Upper level of Britannia at 8:15. It doesn’t say platinum/diamond, but that’s what it is. I asked at the front desk if we should start getting there are 8:15 or if that’s when they will walk us off. That’s when they plan for us to leave. He said they’re doing priority this time because there are so few of us. Gold get priority, too. A couple at my dinner table are gold and they got Orange 1 tags as well. So there really are a lot of newbies on this cruise. I hope they like it enough to try Cunard again. Good for business. Edited July 21 by 3rdGenCunarder 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted July 21 Author #33 Share Posted July 21 July 21, at sea Quiet day. The plastic mat is on the bed, so that means it's about over. We've had some sunshine today, and I spent the morning on deck under a blanket, alternately watching the sea and finishing my book in time to get it back to the library. Not a lot else going on, so here's a comparison of QA and QE/QV. I haven’t been on QM2 in over 2 years, so I don’t remember enough to add her to the comparison. Plus, she’s so different in so many ways. But here are some random thoughts. QA is bigger, so there’s more space for a covered midship pool. QE and QV don’t have a covered pool. QA is bigger, so there’s more space for a more extensive buffet AND more seating. The quality of food on all 3 is good. But QA has more variety of most things. QE and QV have a more extensive and varied cold line. Better salad bar, more additional salads. Cold meats and cheeses vary from day to day. On QA they were the same every day. PG cabin on QE (haven’t been in PG on QV, but probably the same as QE) is about the same size as QA, maybe a bit bigger. The storage space on QE is MUCH better than QA. I have about 6 feet of clothes rod plus a closet of shelves plus 3 drawers in each nightstand. There was a bud vase with an orchid in it on QA. No flowers in my room on QE. QE bath is larger, maybe as much as a foot. There’s a tub on QE; stall shower on QA, but with a glass door and larger than a phone booth. QA is bigger than QE/QV BUT the Queens Room is smaller. The seating is less attractive and less comfortable. And I think Queens Room on QA is just plain ugly. QE’s is elegant. QA is bigger than QE/QV BUT the theater is smaller. On QA the seating is less raked, ceiling is lower, and sightlines are not as good. Grills Lounge on QA is an internal room, small, with a fake tree in the middle. Bar was hardly ever open. On QE, it has that wall of windows facing aft. And there’s bar service 10 AM to 11PM. Towels, not really a fair comparison as everything on QA was new. But the towels in PG on QE are strange nubby things, even the facecloths. I prefer ordinary terry cloth, which I believe are still in Britannia cabins. Any questions? I'm happy to answer. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NE John Posted July 21 #34 Share Posted July 21 12 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said: On QE, it has that wall of windows facing aft. The Grills lounge faces forward, not aft. I may be turned around on a ship (not unusual!) but I believe that’s the case. Will you ever go back to Alaska? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted July 21 Author #35 Share Posted July 21 You're right, it does face forward, Since it doesn't face the sea directly, I lose my sense of direction. This was definitely a best of times worst of times trip. The ship is great, people are nice, dinner companions are wonderful. But the off-ship experience was definitely depressing and disappointing. I know that even the captain of a Cunarder can't control the weather. And I have to say the vendors tried their hardest to give good experiences. So I do understand all that, but it doesn't keep me from being disappointed. I think part of it was not getting good pictures. I love taking pictures. For me that's a huge part of travel. I love discovering interesting things and challenging angles. NOT selfies and "vacation snaps." My old digital was getting a little sloppy, so I upgraded to a new model. And I didn't get good use from it, which is hugely disappointing. I think I took fewer pictures on this trip than I have ever since I went digital 20+ years ago. I do photo books after a trip. I haven't looked at everything I've shot, but I'm thinking this will be my skinniest book ever. A few misty/gray photos are atmospheric. But do I want a whole book of that? Every morning, I take a picture of my view. I text it to my SIL. The other day she said, "Is this yesterday's picture?" (It wasn't) This was my fifth Alaska cruise. I've never had more than 1/3 of the days be rainy. I chose this itinerary for new places--Haines, Wrangel, Misty Fjord. I may do Alaska again. But now that QE will be the North American Cunarder, I'll see what else she will do. Next summer is the 2-week Norway-Iceland-TA on QM2. I've booked January 2026 to the Caribbean on QE. At my age that's an act of faith... 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted July 21 Author #36 Share Posted July 21 Just remembered another difference between QA and QE. We did a cabin crawl on QA. Inside cabins are small. Space is cramped. I've peeked into a few on QE while the stewards were working and the insides near me have much more space. It's possible that I was seeing accessible cabins, but there was a lot of floor space. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karen of PA Posted July 22 #37 Share Posted July 22 Thank you su much for your review and all of the details. I’m sorry that you didn’t have better weather. We’ll be on the QE to Alaska next month on our first Cunard cruise. Your info really helped us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted July 23 Author #38 Share Posted July 23 (edited) Here are some of my better pictures. This is sailing into Icy Strait Point. I do like an "atmospheric" picture. 7/13 Edited July 23 by 3rdGenCunarder 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted July 23 Author #39 Share Posted July 23 (edited) Glacier Bay 7/14 Edited July 23 by 3rdGenCunarder 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted July 23 Author #40 Share Posted July 23 Margorie (sp?) Glacier 7/14 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted July 23 Author #41 Share Posted July 23 Hubbard Glacier 7/16 The captain said this was the closest to the glacier he'd been able to get all season. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted July 23 Author #42 Share Posted July 23 Haines 7/16 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted July 23 Author #43 Share Posted July 23 Juneau. This is Sasha. I also saw Flame and her calf but my pictures of them are even worse. It was so misty that I couldn't get a sharp picture. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted July 23 Author #44 Share Posted July 23 Flame, 2017; her calf, Bunsen, enjoying a splash. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted July 23 Author #45 Share Posted July 23 (edited) Mendenhal 7/17 The visitor center showed a series of photos taken over 10 years. It ended with 2017 and an outline of the glacier in 2007. Porcupine hunkering down in the rain on the Steep Creek Boardwalk. (halfway up to the right of the trunk) Edited July 23 by 3rdGenCunarder 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted July 23 Author #46 Share Posted July 23 Anan. The eagle sums up the trip. Hanging around in the rain waiting for something to happen. And something FINALLY did. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted July 23 Author #47 Share Posted July 23 Misty fjord. I didn't take many pictures here. It was all much of a muchness at that point. I had already seen 583,492,210,784 spruce trees at that point, give or take a few. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted July 23 Author #48 Share Posted July 23 Ketchikan in the rain didn't bother me. It's supposed to rain here--they're proud of it, although one woman at the craft market blames her osteoporosis on the lack of sunshine and not taking vitamin D supplements soon enough. I took advantage of the wet to get some artsy photos. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted July 23 Author #49 Share Posted July 23 (edited) All my pictures were taken with my 35-400 zoom. I haven't edited anything yet, so these are as they were taken. I did better with flora than fauna. Edited July 23 by 3rdGenCunarder 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NE John Posted July 23 #50 Share Posted July 23 @3rdGenCunarder After the soggy and sorry looking Eagle, the “atmospheric” photos are the best. They tell an interesting story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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