Cruising back to Vancouver (Last full day on the ship)

Our last full day on the ship was just a cruise back to

Ketchikan

Four our third and final stop on the cruise we decided not to bother booking any excursions for the day and instead just tour the city on our own. This ended up being a good decision. Im Skagway the town was very small, so little to do unless you are going on an excursion. However, in Ketchikan there are nice walking trails guiding you to all of the main tourist attractions in the city and it is quite nice little city (Has more than just Jewlery Stores). One of the areas we walked was on the trail that takes you down a river full of salmon heading up stream. The sheer number of salmon in the water is impressive. If only we had fishing like this back at home.

Arriving in Ketchikan

Arriving in Ketchikan and our ship in the background

View from the dock

Very friendly cat

Typical house in Ketchikan

Our crew

Touring the salmon creek (packed full of salmon, if only I had my fishing gear)

Nyik made a friend

Since some people in our group were Indonesian, we were able to get some special stuff from the staff!

Mmm, great salad

I can’t remember but what this was, but it was great!

Man, I miss all the food on the ship

Another towel animal (This one was a puppy)

Dessert Extravaganza

So this night on the ship they had the big Dessert Extravaganza. They put tables all around the pool and covered them with nothing but fancy desserts. It was a dessert lovers dream come true!

Dessert Extravaganza

Lobster cake (Haha)

Ice sculpture

Fish cake

Overview of the pool area

All of us gaining weight!

Formal night with more great food!

Wednesday night was our second formal night on the ship and of course that included more amazing food. This night we all decided to go with the steak and lobster.

Escargot

Seafood salad

Nyik is very happy!

Steak and Lobster

Cheese sampler dessert

Rum cake

All dressed up in our best clothes

The sunset every night was beautiful

Glacier Bay National Park

After leaving Skagway, our tour the next day was a scenic cruise through Glacier Bay National Park. The big attraction on this tour was of course the famous Johns Hopkins Glacier. As you can see in the pictures the ship took us quite close to the glacier and stayed their for a few hours. The view was spectacular.

Nyik out on deck, at the start of our glacier tour

Johns Hopkins Glacier!

Mariata with Kevin’s sister and mother

The rest of our travel group

One more glacier picture

More glacier touring

Nyik posing with the glacer off in the background

Tim

Nyik checking out the glaciers one last time, before leaving

Enjoying some nice weather after leaving Glacier Bay

Evening at Skagway Port

So after a long six hour tour, we headed back to the ship for another great supper in the dining room and to also enjoy view from the observation deck.

Back to the ship

Pecan Salad

Mmm, Duck

Apple strudel dessert

Another towel animal, Turkey this time

Princess Cruise Ship leaving port

Skagway

So after getting back onboard the cruise ship in the evening, enjoying another wonderful supper and a show, we went to bed while the ship was still docked in Juneau. When we woke up the next morning we were already in Skagway! It was sort of a strange feeling, it was like we had never left Juneau. This sure is the way to travel, no renting a car, getting maps, finding a hotel, looking for places to eat, and wasting half of your day just getting there. Now I am starting to get a good understanding of why cruise vacations are so popular.

In Skagway we booked a six hour tour through Holland America called “The Best of Skagway”. This tour basically combines a number of popular tours so you can see everything and not have to co-ordinbate it all yourself. The tour started with a bus trip through the mountains. In the first picture you can see us standing in front of Moore Creek Bridge. This bridge is famous because it is one of the first cable-stayed style of bridges where the bridge is fixed to one side but suspended with cables to allow movement on the other side.

We crossed the border back into Canada then continued to Fraser where we boarded a train. We then took the train down the mountain along the famous White Pass route and had the chance to see the routes that many prospectors crossed on foot with the hopes of one day striking it rich panning for gold.

After the train tour we went to a salmon bake. The food was incredible and it was held in Lairsville. This area received its name because it was the spot where many journalists camped during the gold rush (Ok so you are thinking, journalists, enough said, well there is some more). During the gold rush when many journalists were sent up to get first hand reports, but when they saw the 500 mile journey through the mountains that lay ahead of them, almost all wisely decided to just set up camp and make up stories about the gold rush to send back to their newspapers in the United States. So all of those reports being sent south were either third hand stories or just something that they knew their readers wanted to hear (There is gold in them there hills!). The village was set up like a typical camp from 100 years ago and was staffed with actors. The actors put on several comedy skits showing us what life was like in the camp at that time.

The final stop on the tour was the Red Onion Saloon in Skagway. This is a very famous brothel that was popular during the gold rush era. As we heard from our tour guides, really know one left the gold rush wealthy. Even when someone found gold and had a bunch of money, they spent it either on booze, gambling, or at the brothel so the money never lasted long.

At Moore Creek Bridge on our way to Fraser

Arriving in Fraser

Boarding the White Pass train

Us on board the train

First RCMP Outpost along the trail

Famous Gold Rush Trail

Amazing Scenery

White Pass Hotel (Yes you can stay their for a night)

Tim

Salmon Bake

Mmmm

Excellent Meal!

Liarsville

Nyik with a giant teddy bear

Actors at Liarsville playing some music

Touring the Red Onion Saloon

Red Onion Saloon

Salmon were all in Dewey Lake stream

Snow removal engine

Juneau

Juneau Alaska was our first stop since leaving Vancouver. We got off the ship and walked around the city for a bit. We went on a whale watching tour which took up most of our time in port so we did not make it back to tour much of the city. However, the whale watching tour was definitely worth it. We saw a number of Humpback Whales, Killer Whales, and even a Bald Eagle up close.

Arriving in Juneau

Walking to downtown Juneau

Us in Juneau

Starting our whale watching tour

Nyik is very happy (She just saw her first whale)

Humpback whale with it’s tail out of the water

Bald Eagle sitting on the rocks

Back to the ship for supper

Towel Monkey (Every day we had a new towel animal in our room)

Tracy Arm Tour

So on Monday we did a scenic cruise up Tracy Arm in Alaska before continueing on to Juneau. Tracy Arm is 72 Kms south of Juneau and is a fjord. A fjord is formed by a glacier as it moves and cuts a valley by abrasion of the surrounding rock. Unfortunately our tour up Tracy Arm was cut short by an ice berg that decided not to let us pass.

Tracy Arm Tour

Kevin with his sister

Kevin with Mariata and his mother

Iceberg that shortened our journey

Kevin and Mariata

Us with the Iceberg

Nyik at the bow of the ship

A little rain but still great views

On the deck of the Zuiderdam

First Full Day on the Ship

So after getting on the boat, our first full day on the ship was Sunday and that was an “At sea” day. Basically a day to get us from Vancouver and up to Juneau Alaska for Monday. We cruised up the coast and passed a number of islands for some great views. Also, that evening was one of two formal nights where everyone dresses up for supper. So Nyik and I had the chance to show off our fancy dress up clothes.

On deck enjoying the view

View from the Observation deck

Nyik hanging out

All dressed up for formal night

Kevin with his family

Nyik loves shrimp!

So classy

Rack of Lamb

Captains toast to kick off the cruise