Review Sapphire Princess and 7 Day Independent Land Tour

[LarryF]

Thanks Calbob. Sorry you can't view the slide show. Also sorry I don't have my next chapter done yet, but it will be one tomorrow morning...

 

Larry

[Tyrkitty]

No pressure right? I to am very caught up in your reports. You have become quite a celebrty on these boards. I'm definitely going back to Alaska now in '09 and will pick Glacier Bay the next time. Can't wait for the land portion - plan to be brave and do that on our own this time too.

[LarryF]

We had company over tonight to share our photos and slide show. I am about half way through our first day on land and will post it tomorrow morning.

 

The pressure is killing me! Just kidding... Good for you doing your own land tour as we really enjoyed that part of our trip greatly!

 

Larry

[kristieokc]

Larry, my husband and I and another couple are leaving for this same cruise in less than two weeks. After, we have three days of independent land touring in Seward ... although I've only read your first post so far, thank you so much for the review! I am detail-obsessed, so this is perfect timing as we prepare for our first AK cruise ---- perfect! I'm going to go get a soda, sit back, and enjoy the rest of your review right now. :)

[kristieokc]

Wow, just wow. Your slide show is amazing!!! Even though we don't leave for another two weeks, it made me want to run in and start packing my suitcases now! I don't even know you, and yet I'm so thrilled for you that you and your wife obviously had such a fabulous time on this cruise. In fact, I'm a little sad that you're not going to be on *our* cruise, because you seem like a great guy, and I so very much appreciate this review.

 

Two questions, if you have time, in between satisfying your many readers, anxious for the rest of the review. :)

 

1. We are also taking the floatplane excursion through Island Wings. Were you able to take pictures from the plane? Were the windows a problem, or were certain seats better than others for photo opportunities?

 

2. Are any of the sit-down restaurants open for lunch and breakfast? Just wondering if so many people select Horizon Court buffet because it's quicker ... or why it's so crowded? I'd really prefer to start my day in a leisurely manner, but also want off the ship quickly for excursions. Suggestions???

 

Thanks again, for sharing with the rest of us.

[gambit57]

Sit down restaurants are open for breakfast and lunch.

 

People just go to Horizon Court because it's faster. Some like to see all the food before getting it.

 

Breakfast frequently took an hour or more for us in the sit down. Long waits for the main course at breakfast.

 

Lunch was similar, but at least all the courses came at a good pace like dinner so we didn't have 20-30 min of just waiting around.

 

We also eventually just started doing the buffet for breakfast and lunch cuz it just took too long in the sit down restaurants. If you have time though, I think the food is better overall in the sitdown restaurants.

[LarryF]

Wow, just wow. Your slide show is amazing!!! Even though we don't leave for another two weeks, it made me want to run in and start packing my suitcases now! I don't even know you, and yet I'm so thrilled for you that you and your wife obviously had such a fabulous time on this cruise. In fact, I'm a little sad that you're not going to be on *our* cruise, because you seem like a great guy, and I so very much appreciate this review.

 

Two questions, if you have time, in between satisfying your many readers, anxious for the rest of the review. :)

 

1. We are also taking the floatplane excursion through Island Wings. Were you able to take pictures from the plane? Were the windows a problem, or were certain seats better than others for photo opportunities?

 

2. Are any of the sit-down restaurants open for lunch and breakfast? Just wondering if so many people select Horizon Court buffet because it's quicker ... or why it's so crowded? I'd really prefer to start my day in a leisurely manner, but also want off the ship quickly for excursions. Suggestions???

 

Thanks again, for sharing with the rest of us.

 

Thanks for the kind words. I will be happy to go with you on the cruise, just send me my boarding pass!!

 

I believe it's the International Dining room that is open for Breakfast and Lunch.

 

You can take all the pictures you want on the float plane, but be sure to put the camera lens as close to the window as possible without touching it (don't want to scratch your camera lens or the window glass). We were lucky as we only had only 4 people on the plane and each person had their own row and could take pictures out of either side of the plane. I was the most restricted by sitting next to Michelle in the co-pilot seat, but just sitting there was exciting for me. The scenery is gorgeous on all sides of the plane, so I don't know if there is one seat that would be better than the others. Just be sure you have enough battery power and memory as you will want to take lots of pictures! Also, Michelle will play any type of music other than Classical if you wish as she has an Ipod full of all kinds of music.

 

Larry

[jadejay2]

 

Two questions, if you have time, in between satisfying your many readers, anxious for the rest of the review. :)

 

1. We are also taking the floatplane excursion through Island Wings. Were you able to take pictures from the plane? Were the windows a problem, or were certain seats better than others for photo opportunities?

 

2. Are any of the sit-down restaurants open for lunch and breakfast? Just wondering if so many people select Horizon Court buffet because it's quicker ... or why it's so crowded? I'd really prefer to start my day in a leisurely manner, but also want off the ship quickly for excursions. Suggestions???

 

Thanks again, for sharing with the rest of us.

 

1. When we flew with Island Wings 3 weeks ago, about 80% of our pictures taken onboard turned out really good. Like Larry said, position your camera close to the window, but also try turn off your flash and sometimes take shots at an angle. The scenery is beautiful so you can take lots of pictures and then just pick out the ones that are really good.

 

2. We were also on the Sapphire Princess. On the Horizon Court, most people tend to sit very close to the buffet stations and it gets crowded quickly there. But you can walk a bit (30 seconds?) toward the aft of the ship and find a lot more available seating there. We (party of 5) never had to wait to find a table there, even during peak breakfast hours.

[themerle]

Larry,

Just read your last report. As always, you deserve a round of applause! I'm not going to be fortunate enough to get to do a land tour, but I look forward to your reviews for future referance. I don't want my cruise to be my last trip to Alaska.

Your writing is so vivid, I feel like I've been right there with you and Amy!

[LarryF]

2. We were also on the Sapphire Princess. On the Horizon Court, most people tend to sit very close to the buffet stations and it gets crowded quickly there. But you can walk a bit (30 seconds?) toward the aft of the ship and find a lot more available seating there. We (party of 5) never had to wait to find a table there, even during peak breakfast hours.

 

We always either ate in this portion of the Horizon court and many days when it wasn't too cold we went out the aft doors and ate at table right by the aft pool. That was my favorite place to eat and you could take in the views without having a window in the way!

 

Larry

[LarryF]

Hello All,

 

To continue…

 

Saturday, May 26, 2007

 

The 5:30 a.m. wake up call was not needed as we were both up and dressed by the time the phone rang. I think we were both a little wired with the anticipation of taking off on our own through Alaska. I went out on the balcony to find a very overcast day and a slight springle of rain. :( We went for one last breakfast in the Horizon Court a little before 6:00 a.m. There were quite a number of people already dining, but we were able to get our food and find a table very quickly.

 

The Captain announced that the ship had been cleared for disembarkation around 6:15 a.m. We were on the Promenade deck at 6:30 a.m. and ready to leave the ship. The area was crawling with people and many were blocking the exit off the ship, but the Princess staff took charge of the situation and cleared a well defined path to leave the ship. They had already begun to call luggage tag colors and promptly at 7:00 a.m. our luggage tag color was called out. I knew I had worried needlessly about getting off the ship early and that was confirmed as we stepped off the ship without any fanfare and no one asked to see our or anyone’s luggage tag color. I had witnessed this before when disembarking past cruise ships, yet for some reason I just new I would be stopped! So, in essence, you can get off the ship anytime you want. I would imagine that if everyone tried it, that's when they would start enforcing the policy of waiting until it was your turn.

 

We had been given a custom’s declaration form the night before to fill out and have ready, but once off the ship we found out there was no U.S. Customs to go through. When I asked a Princess Representative what we were supposed to do with our customs declaration, she just shrugged her shoulders and made a face as if to say, don’t ask! I know we had to go through U.S. Customs when we boarded the ship in Vancouver, and since all our travel from that point on was actually in the U.S. and we paid taxes on all purchases, I guess there would be no need to go through customs.

 

Once off the ship you come to a warehouse type facility where there is a large room off to one side where some of the luggage is laid out by tag color. There is another facilty next door that you walk to under a covered walkway to get to the rest of the luggage. Our color was in the room in the main building and we found our all our luggage within minutes. It was now about 7:10 a.m.! Yes, it took all of 10 minutes to get off the ship and find our luggage! What, me worry?! I thought Amy was going kill me for my needless worry!

 

As bad as thought I was with my worrying, there was another couple that got off with us at the same time and they were going to Anchorage at 9:00 a.m. with the Alaskan Leopard tour. They now had close to a 2 hour wait! His wife told me she was going to kill him! HA!

 

During my research I decided that I wanted to find a way to get to Anchorage as early as possible so I could pick up a rental car and get on the road as soon as possible. The only early independent transportation I could find was through a company named Alaska Transportation Group, http://www.alaskatransportation.net. I had found their name on this board and the posts regarding this company were negative. A couple of posts said this company was unreliable and that their vehicles were in bad shape. I called the number on their website and left a voicemail for them to call me back. It took several days, but a guy name Damien did call me back and told me the different options they had available. I told him about the negative posts and my trepadation about using his services, but he assured me they would take good care of me by sayiing, "no worries". I arranged for a 7:45 a.m. pick up to transport us directly to Hertz Rental Car in downtown Anchorage and was a quoted a price of $98 for the two of us. I gave them my credit card number to pay a deposit of $15. He said they would deduct the balance about two weeks before the pick up.

 

I called and emailed them a couple of times prior to our cruise and it usually took a few days before anyone responded, but they did always respond and assured me they would be there on time. And indeed, the driver was there right a 7:45 a.m. The actual vehicle for our transport was the driver’s car which was a Subaru Station Wagon and while it may not have been a gorgeous stretch limo, it was a comfortable ride and it got us to Anchorage! It was a very tight fit for our 4 suitcases, 2 backpacks, cameras, etc., but we did get it all in!

 

We easily made it through the tunnel at 8:00 a.m. as we headed toward Anchorage in the cloudy rainy weather. Our drivers name was Reuben and he was very nice and cordial and pointed out most of the sights from Whittier to Anchorage. I did have to question his knowledge a little when he told us that 2 million people live in Anchorage when I know that only about 600,000 people live in the entire state!:eek:

 

We passed by Portage Glacier exit, the Wildlife Conservation Center entrance and the turnoff for Alyeska Resort. Reuben pointed out Dahl Sheep on the mountain which looked like tiny white dots, but with the Zen Rays you could actually make out their features and see them move. Turngain Arm was pretty but in all the clouds and rain, it wasn’t near as pretty as the pictures I had seen in all the brochures and pictures on-liine.

 

It only took about an hour and a half to get to Anchorage; however it took us a while to find the Hertz downtown location as the street it was located on was under construction and it was hard to find. The check-in process also took a while (about 30 minutes) as there was only one representative at the counter and she was dealing with a customer who was complaining about his bill!

 

Reuben was kind of enough to wait for us as the rental car was located in a parking garage and he waited until I got the car and met him across the street to switch over the luggage. Our car was a brand new Ford Fusion with only 500 miles on it and had the new car smell. So we loaded all our bags, got final directions from our Reuben, gave him a good tip and bid him farewell, loaded our new Alaska Music CD into the CD player and off we went on our great Alaska Land journey!:)

 

We had no set plans at all for the day other than to make it to Seward for dinner. We back-tracked along Turnagain Arm and enjoyed the scenery and made several stops to take pictures. It was pouring down rain as we neared Portage Glacier and decided to forego trying to take the Portage Glacier cruise and opted to go directly to the Portage Glacier Visitor Center. The visitor center was interesting and we wandered around for about 30 minutes looking at the exhibits and browsing through the gift shop as we waited to see if the rain would subside.

 

The rain just kept coming down, so we made a run for the car and left Portage Glacier. We didn’t even get a glance of the Glacier as the rain was just coming down too hard. So we headed back out on the Seward Hwy

 

We stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, http://www.alaskawildlife.org. It was just drizzling a little now so we decided to try it out. The Center is a non profit organization dedicated to preserving Alaska Wildlife. They take in injured or orphaned animals and nurse them back to health and then release them if they are able. They provide a permanent home to the animals incapable of going back to the wild.

 

The cost for the tour is $7.50 for adults, $5.00 for seniors and children. They have a 2 for 1 coupon in the Toursaver Coupon Book, http://www.toursaver.com. We went ahead and paid the full amount as it was for a good cause. You can drive or walk through the park. Since it was still raining slightly and pretty cold we drove through. There are areas to view brown bears, black bears, bison, deer, muskoxen, elk, caribou, moose and other critters. We got out of the car and sloshed through some mud to get a closer view of the grizzlies and muskoxen. I was intrigued with a giant Grizzly as he would walk back and forh endlessly and make a litlte jumping kind of hop when he made each turn.

 

There were several Princess tour buses there but it was not so crowded as to be an issue with seeing the animals. There is a gift shop and food concession there. Amy and I both got a hot chocolate which really hit the spot on this cold rainy day! As we were driving out of the parking area, I noticed a black bear on a tree limb what looked to be about 4 feet above one of the tour buses! It was quite funny watching dozens of people milling about by the bus as they were all oblivious that a bear was hanging about 10 feet above their heads!

 

The road from Anchorage to Seward is a well maintained 2 lane highway with many areas that have passing lanes and a lot of pull outs to view the scenery. I don't know if it was becasue it was early in the season, but we had very little traffic during the entire week of our road trip.

 

As we drove further south the rain subsided and the sun poked its head out just enough that the snow capped mountains surrounding us came to life. :) We pulled off the road time after time to just soak in the beautiful scenery. About 30 miles north of Seward we passed a Lodge that had a restaurant and decided to turn around to eat lunch as it was already about 2:00 p.m. The name of the Lodge was Trail Lake Lodge, http://www.trailakelodge.com, and it’s located at mile marker 29.5 of the Seward Hwy. in Moose Pass, AK. I just had to stop in a town called Moose Pass!

 

We really enjoyed the restaurant which was the first of many wonderful small café type restaurants we discovered along the road as we traveled across Alaska. There were only a few other customers who appeared to be locals. The waitress was very nice and cordial while I told her about our travels so far. She was very helpful by telling us places we should drive and things we could do. The food was very tasty and we enjoyed our time at the restaurant. Amy had a Ham and Cheese Panini sandwich and I had a bowl of clam chowder and a Halibut sandwich. Both meals were excellent and enjoyable. The cost for lunch was about $30 which included the tip. I very much recommend having lunch here if it works with your schedule.

 

We then drove slowly toward Seward listening and relaxing to our two new Alaska music CD’s we had bought on the ship and in one of the gift shops on Juneau. The names of the CD’s are "The Spirit of Alaska and "The Greatest Good", both have music that really fits the scenic viewing from the car. I especially liked "The Greatest Good" CD which is the soundtrack from a documentary video about Alaska.

 

We decided to stop at Exit Glacier before we went into Seward. To get to Exit Glacier, http://www.nps.gov/kefj/planyourvisit-glacier.htm, you turn on to the Exit Glacier Road at mile marker 3 of the Seward Hwy. It’s about an 8 mile drive from there to the Exit Glacier Visitor Center. As you make your way along the drive you will notice signs with dates on them which signify where the Glacier was at that point in time. It's hard to believe how far the Glacier has retreated in the past century and even more recent years.

 

It was still overcast and very cold for these two Floridians at about 40 something degrees and little windy!:D We each put on all our layers and headed down a nice wide paved trail. The pavement ends after a short 5 minute or so hike and then there are various hiking options from that point. We continued on a gravel path that opened up on to a wide expanse of land that was covered in rocks and streams of water. Maneuvering our way on the rocks was not difficult and you had to occasionally tip toe your way across some small streams choosing selective rocks to make your way across. We both were wearing Gortex hiking shoes so even if you stepped into the water it wasn’t a big deal. Eventually you round a corner and Exit Glacier comes into full view. There was no big spiritual experience as we came closer to the Glacier, but it was really cool to be able to get so close to an actual Glacier without having to land on it or take an exhaustive hike to it.

 

It was not real crowded as I could see a couple of dozen or so people in the Glacier area. About 10 to 15 feet in front of the glacier there are ropes with warning signs advising people to not go past the ropes because of the inherent danger of ice falling off the Glacier. It was amazing to see many people not only going past the ropes, but putting their hands on the ice and sometimes leaning against the ice! Amy and I both did go inside the ropes but still kept our distance. There was not park ranger in the area and I don’t know if this is the norm every day or not.

 

There were a number of people that had taken trails that took them very high up in the Glacier area maybe a thousand feet away from where we were standing at the base. Seeing them so far up right next to the Glacier gave a real good perspective as to how large the massave size of the Glacier.

 

When we were leaving, I was amazed to see a guy pushing a woman through the rocks in a wheelchair! This was no easy task and I had to admire this man to go through such great effort to allow this woman to get a view of the Glacier! I'm sure that was a story worth hearing.

 

We hiked back to the Visitor Center and browsed through their gift shop. The rangers there were very helpful and informative. They had a big model of the Kenai Peninsula in the center of the room and I asked the Ranger to show me the Glaciers we would be seeing on our 6 hour Kenai Fjords tour and he pointed out each Glacier to us and told us we were in for a great treat on the tour!

 

We had spend about 2 hours at the Glacier and now got in the car and headed on in to Seward. We fell in love with Seward as soon we began to drive through the Harbor area. The town was very charming with lots of neat shops and restaurants set against the Harbor and surrounded by snowcapped mountains every where you looked. One thing you’ll find out when you’re in Alaska is that there’s hardly one moment that when you don’t feel like you’re standing in the middle of a postcard!

 

We made our way to the Holiday Inn Express which is located on the north side of the Harbor. We used our Holiday Inn points for our two nights in Seward and enjoyed the hotel especially since it was free!

 

We had done our best to pack just one suitcase for the week as well as a smaller case for our toiletries and shoes. So we checked in and took up the suitcases along with our backpacks and cameras and settled into the room. Our room was large and comfortable and while we didn’t have a balcony, our large window overlooked the Harbor. There were hundreds of boats docked in the Harbor and we could see fishermen cleaning the fish from catches during the day. Not wanting to miss anything, we left our room and began walking around the beautiful Harbor area. We walked through a number of gifts shops, poked our heads into restaurants to look at the menus and took in the nice scenic views along the way. We stopped in the Renown Tour building to confirm our reservation for Sunday and asked about what to wear and whether there would be enough to eat on the 6 hour tour. We were told to dress in warm layers and there would be plenty of food served for lunch and other snacks were available for purchase on the boat. We then walked around the pier and watched the fishermen clean the fish for the happy customers who had caught lots and lots of Halibut on their fishing tour. There was one Halibut that was taller than Amy! It weighed about 130lbs!

 

We decided to eat dinner at Chinooks Waterfront Restaurant which is right beside the Holiday Inn and has views of the Harbor. The restaurant is fairly large and serves mostly seafood. Next door to Chinooks is a steakhouse called Ray’s which is owned by the same owner as Chinooks. I had read mixed reviews about both of them, but decided to give Chinooks a try. We were seated by a window overlooking the Harbor. We had a great view of a Sea Lion swimming in the Harbor very close to where fishermen were throwing away the unwanted remains of their catches. As the fish parts hit the water the Sea Lion would grab it in its mouth and then several Seagulls would try to grab it away from him. The Sea Lion would shake the fish side to side trying to scare the birds away! It was quite a sight and fun watching this great display by mother nature.

 

Amy had a Halibut Burger and garden salad. I had a cup of crab bisque and Halibut Fish and Chips. The bisque was very cheesy and a little too rich for me, but the Halibut Fish and Chips Dinner was very good and I enjoyed it very much. Amy enjoyed hers eqaully as well. The service was excellent! We didn’t have any wine or mixed drinks and the cost for dinner was about $47 including tip.

 

After dinner we took a short drive into to town (not more than a mile away at most). There are more shops, restaurants and bars located downtown. The Sealife Center is located there as well. We walked through some of the shops and talked to a lot of the nice shop keepers. We drove along the waterside coming back and were amazed to see how many campers, RV’s and tents were set up along the water. I had forgotten that it was Memorial Day weekend and there were lots of Alaskans enjoying the shores of Seward for there long weekend.

 

We finally had to relent to our exhaustion from being up so early and our all day travel. It was hard to believe we had just gotten off the ship that morning! It had been another great day to add to our wonderul trip! It was still light outside at 11:00 p.m. as we called it a night. Tomorrow would be our big adventure on the Kenai Fjords tour and with the weather not looking to promising I couldn’t help but be a little apprehensive as to how high the seas would be and whether I had made the right decision to take this excursion! Stayed tuned tomorrow for the answer….

 

To be continued…

 

Larry

[tapia]

I can't believe how captivating your review is. Since I'm leaving 1 week from today, you're getting me all kinds of excited!!!!!

 

 

I'm going to start packing this weekend, but am VERY nervous. I don't know how you fit 1 week of clothing for both you & Amy into 1 bag!

[LarryF]

I can't believe how captivating your review is. Since I'm leaving 1 week from today, you're getting me all kinds of excited!!!!!

 

 

I'm going to start packing this weekend, but am VERY nervous. I don't know how you fit 1 week of clothing for both you & Amy into 1 bag!

 

I'm not sure if you've read the entire review. We packed 4 suitcases! 3 - 30 inch cases and 1 - 20 inch cases. We both wore our fleece jackets and rain jackets on the airplane as there was no room in any of the suitcases for them and we both wore backpacks filled to the brim and I also carried on my camera case!

 

So when we packed the last day of the cruise, there was no way I was going to lug all of that stuff in and out of Hotels and B&B's all week, so we consolidated what we needed in to 1- 30" suitcase, 1 - 20" suitcase and 2 backpacks. The other two suitcases were filled with all the other clothes and stuff we didn't need and stayed in the trunk of the car all week.

 

If you're going to do a land trip, do not bother to wear any nice clothes any where as you will stick out like a sore thumb! You will only need comfortable warm layers of clothes. Don't forget to pack a bathing suit, shorts and t-shirts as well as the day can start out in the 30's and end up in the 70's!

 

Have a great trip!

 

Larry

[newbie2468]

Larry F

 

I am trying to arrange a "meet and greet" on the Sapphire this July... Never done it before... how should I go about doing it? Where should we meet and at what time? It is only my second time on Princess and the first time, the meet and greet (someone else arranged) was a flop... I think it would be great to meet the people I have been emailing, etc. for months... any ideas?

 

Thanks for any help !

[LarryF]

Larry F

 

I am trying to arrange a "meet and greet" on the Sapphire this July... Never done it before... how should I go about doing it? Where should we meet and at what time? It is only my second time on Princess and the first time, the meet and greet (someone else arranged) was a flop... I think it would be great to meet the people I have been emailing, etc. for months... any ideas?

 

Thanks for any help !

 

I assume you have a thread going on the roll call board for you cruise? If so, I would recommend you all meet at the Outrigger bar by the aft pool. I it's raining there is covered seating right next to the bar. The best time to meet is right after the Muster drill which is done about 4 pm.

[newbie2468]

Thanks Larry..

 

We are going Southbound on the Sapphire... Is the muster drill at 4 the first day? What about Skywalkers on the second day (crusing college Fiord?) around 3? Which would work better? I have never been on the Alaska cruise... do you have the patters from the southbound itinerary?

 

Thanks again ...

 

Tori

 

 

PS Yes, I am on the roll call, everyone talks about meeting and greeting but noone has "headed it up"... and I am certainly a novice, but would be willing...

[jadejay2]

Thanks Larry..

 

We are going Southbound on the Sapphire... Is the muster drill at 4 the first day? What about Skywalkers on the second day (crusing college Fiord?) around 3? Which would work better? I have never been on the Alaska cruise... do you have the patters from the southbound itinerary?

 

quote]

 

On our southbound cruise on the Sapphire, the muster drill was held at 8 pm and lasted no more than 20 minutes. It might have a second one the next day but I wasn't paying attention. On the southbound, you will be cruising the College Fjord in the morning roughly from 6 am to 9 am.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Very thorough review -- enjoyed reading everything.

[LarryF]

Very thorough review -- enjoyed reading everything.

 

Thanks...I am hoping to have the chapter posted this evening...Our day in Kenai Fjords was very special and it's taking me some time to find the right words to describe it, but I'm getting there...

 

Larry

[cjnky]

One more fabulous review! If you ever decide to write a book, I want to be on your list to receive the first copy!:D The lesson I learned from this review - allow more $$$ for our inland meals!!:eek:

[LarryF]

Sunday May 27, 2007

 

I woke up on Sunday around 7:30 a.m. with great anticipation about our cruise into the Kenai Fjords. I’m not sure why, but for months I had been looking more forward to this tour than all the others. I opened the drapes to reveal very cloudy skies and light drizzle.

 

Breakfast is included with your stay at the Holiday Inn Express, so we headed down to the first floor where breakfast was laid out in a room next to the lobby. The room had a nice view of the harbor. The breakfast items offered were a selection of cereals, oatmeal (instant), breads, English Muffins, cinnamon rolls, various other pastries, fruit, orange juice, coffee, hot chocolate and tea. We went to breakfast around 9:00 a.m. and made sure we ate plenty, as it is always good to have a full stomach when going out on bumpy seas!

 

After breakfast we walked out to the boardwalk which began at the Holiday Inn and stretched along the harbor for several hundred feet with about 4 ramps that led to all the boats in the Harbor. The Holland America Statendam was docked in the Harbor and would be loading passengers all day long and set sail later that evening.

 

The drizzle had stopped as we strolled along the boardwalk and we walked in and out of various gift shops. I had booked a 6 hour Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise tour several months ago through Renown Tours, http://www.renowntours.com. and although we were early, we went ahead and walked over to the Renown tour office and checked in. The cost for the tour is $129.00 per person, but I used the 2 for 1 coupon from our Toursaver Book and only had to pay the fare for 1 person. The total cost including tax was $140.00.

 

We walked down one of the boat ramps so we could take a look at our tour boat and take a few pictures. We saw an older couple by the boat and talked to them for a while. I had asked them if they had been on a cruise and the wife told me that her husband was very prone to sea sickness and wouldn’t go on cruise ships. :confused: My next obvious question was why they were going on the Kenai Fjord tour if he is so prone to sickness, and her husband replied that they were told that the boat tour would be very smooth. Long story short; I told them I didn’t want to scare them, but as the tour goes in the open waters of the Gulf of Alaska and the weather was not ideal, that the boat would probably bounce around quite a bit. After they told me they had Dramamine back in their room, I told them they would be very wise to go back and take the medication; which they did.

 

We walked back to the room as well and grabbed our backpacks which were loaded with our cameras, water and snacks, and then we walked back down to the tour boat. They were now beginning to allow passengers to board, so we boarded the boat and claimed our spot on the second level. The boat holds close to 300 people and has 3 levels of seating. The bottom level seating looks similar to airline type seating, but with a lot more leg room. The second level seating is booth type seating with a table between two cushioned benches. There was plenty of room to store our layers of clothes, backpacks and cameras in our booth. You could access an outside deck area on both the front and back of the boat for better viewing. The third level was accessed by a staircase on the back deck of the second level and was located outside with half of the seats covered and the other half uncovered. This level was the best area for viewing the wildlife and Glaciers.

 

As the boat began to slowly cruise away from the Harbor, we listened to safety announcements and instructions. The Captain made it very clear that the boat would be very rocky and that there would be times when it would be imperative that everyone was seated. It was also announced that motion sickness medication was for available for anyone who was prone to seasickness and had not taken precautions prior to boarding; at which time a couple of dozens people headed for the medication counter! :D Amy had worn the patch on the cruise ship the entire week as well as for this excursion and I always take Bonine on when I cruise, so we were both very prepared.

 

I decided to head up to the third level and brave the cold drizzly weather while Amy stayed warm inside. There were 30 or so brave (or stupid) souls on the top level with me and it was fun getting to know one another as we made cruised away from Seward Harbor. The next couple of hours were just incredible as we cruised through Resurrection Bay. Being from Florida we have been to Sea World several times, especially when our kids were young. It was always amazing to see Shamu do his tricks and jumps, but you couldn’t help feel a little touch of melancholy watching the whales swim around in a little pool instead of the open seas. This thought occurred to me as I watched in utter amazement as two Orca Whales raced by the ship swimming at a speed I can not even imagine! It looked like they were racing to Seward Harbor and to see who could get their first! At the same time there were humpback whales swimming leisurely on each side of the boat. And all through our ride through the Bay we saw Sea Otters, Dall and Harbor Porpoise, Bald Eagles and all kinds of various species of birds. Amy’s dream came true as we saw lots of Tufted Puffins!

 

Lunch was included with the tour, and I was one of the people still outside in the cold when Amy came out to tell me she had picked up my lunch for me. They had a couple selections for lunch including turkey or smoked salmon in a basket with a bagel, cream cheese, an apple and a chocolate chip cookie. I had the bagel and smoked salmon and I’ve got to say, the smoked salmon was just about the best I have ever tasted! I enjoyed the meal very much! They also sold other snacks and provided coffee and hot chocolate at no charge.

 

We had made our way into open waters and the seas were about 5 to 6 feet high; not horrible, but definitely bumpy. The captain announced for everyone to be seated as we came around what I think he called Aliak Cape. The waters were very rough and you definitely needed to be sitting down going through this area which fortunately took only a couple of minutes. As we cruised onward from this point, there were about a dozen people or so that looked quite green that made their way outside with barf bags in hand! :D The older couple we had met earlier and send back to their room to take medication were hanging in like troopers and they waved and mouthed the words "thank you" from across the room as our eyes met. :)

 

As we came in to calmer waters we were told we would be unable to make it to Aliak Glacier because of too much ice, so we headed toward Holgate Glacier. Holgate Glacier was just amazing! When the Glacier came in to view, there were two other tour boats that were dwarfed by the Glacier as they cruised very close to its base. The face of Holgate Glacier is about 500 feet high, almost twice as high as Marjorie Glacier in Glacier Bay. Under the dark grey clouds and misty rain, the Glacier almost glowed as its cool blue colored ice permeated my senses. There were a few small ice calvings as people made there way on the open decks to see this great site. Rare birds were swimming in the water while an occasional eagle soared above.

 

After everyone had a chance to get all their photos and had enough time to enjoy the incredible Glacier, the Captain turned the boat around and headed out of the Fjord to our next destination which I believe was called Resurrection Bay Point. The experience at Resurrection Bay Point is like nothing I could have imagined. As the Captain allowed the boat to drift precariously close to the base of a giant mountain, the first thing I witnessed was the rough sea crashing into the rocks that held dozens of loud barking Sea Lions. At this point my mind went into overdrive to comprehend what appeared to be a white cloud swirling around the rocks with blurry white images on the face of the mountain behind the rocks. And then you realize that thousands if not tens of thousands of Kittiwakes and other Gulls were flying everywhere. :eek: The high pitched sounds from the birds practically attack your eardrums and the entire scene just becomes surreal! I took dozens of photos which sent my new camera into shock as it tried to distinguish the multitude of fast flying white birds from the hosts of more white birds perched on the mountain side!

 

As the boat trolled a little further, we witnessed a rare viewing of two Sea Otters laying on a large rock as the Ranger explained that Sea Otters did not come out of the water very often, and then we realized there were actually three Sea Otters as a baby was cradled next to its mother.

 

We had been on the tour for just about four and half hours as the Captain put the engine in gear and headed away from this awesome area. We were in open waters of the Gulf of Alaska as we raced back to Seward to get back on time. As I was just about to close my eyes for a short nap, I heard someone shout out, “Humpback!” No one paid much attention to him as we had seen lots of whales and the boat was racing pretty fast through the water. Also, I had noticed the guy during the trip and he had seemed a little weird, so I settled back in my seat very happy with how great the tour had been. But when I saw him run out the door to the second level deck, I decided to follow him out. When I made it out to the deck I saw him and one other person pointing out to sea. At first I saw nothing and then as my eyes must have opened as wide as saucers and the loudest WOW my vocal chords could pump out of my mouth rang out, I stood in awe as a humpback whale about 800 yards away totally breached out of the glistening waters of the Gulf and slammed his entire body massively back into the sea. This happened not once, not twice, but six times; one after the other!! There are those that will make fun of my tendency to be melodramatic, but this my friends was a once in a life time occurrence, and it was definitely a dream come true.

 

It seems appropriate to end the chapter at this point as anything I write about the rest of the day just seems out of place after describing the excitement of the Kenai Fjords.

 

It was hard to conceive that anything the rest of the trip could excite me as much as that whale, but with five more days left on our journey and over a thousand miles of driving ahead of us through the Last Frontier, who knew what wonders and miracles lurked around the next bend in the road! Stay tuned to find out...

 

To be continued…

 

Larry

[cjnky]

Great as always, and I'll definitely "stay tuned" !! :)

[tapia]

Wow, that is amazing.

 

Can I ask what you were wearing on the ship? (how cold was it?)

 

Thanks!

[LarryF]

Wow, that is amazing.

 

Can I ask what you were wearing on the ship? (how cold was it?)

 

Thanks!

 

On the cruise ship and tour boat, my base dress for the day was either docker pants or Northface type Hiking pants, a t-shirt or long underewear shirt (depending on temps outside) and a "nice" colored sweat shirt. I wore this all day and most of the time to dinner. Then when I went outside I would add a fleece jacket and light rain coat wtih hood if needed. I also wore a wool hat and heavy gloves when needed also.

 

Amy wore the same type of clothing on the ship, but did change clothes a little more often for dinner; however she dressed very casual for dinner and didn't wear most of the nice clothes she brought.

 

Larry

[tapia]

Did you find yourself being cold on the leg-area or were your pants very warm? I'm trying to start to pack and I'm a little nervous that my legs are going to be cold, but I guess that's why I bought the underarmor, right?