Bob's Alaska Trip--the port stops

The excellent weather we experienced in Glacier Bay followed us for our next three days for our port stops at Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan. At each stop the locals commented about the wonderful weather that we had brought.

Skagway: After two nice days of cruising glaciers and scenic shoreline, it was nice to arrive in Skagway for the first of our three port stops. The stay in Skagway was the longest of the three ports (5 AM to 8 PM). Skagway was a center of activity for the thousands that participated in the gold rush of 1898 and many of the shore excursions reflect this.

Many of the passengers opted to take an trip on the historic and scenic White Pass railway which parallels the trail used by the prospectors who trekked to the Klondike in search of fortune. Many others roamed the town in search of shopping opportunities since many of the stores that operate in the Caribbean and Mexico also have outlets in Skagway.

Skagway is a great location for hiking so we skipped any formal shore excursions and wandered into town. Our first stop was the visitor center of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park where we obtained free tickets for the first of the hourly ranger-led guided walks. These tours last about 45 minutes and are very informative.

After our tour we stopped by the Skagway Convention and Visitor Bureau information center and had a nice chat with a fellow that recommended a hike to Lower Dewey Lake in the hills above town. The trailhead was a short distance away, just across the railroad tracks. The trail began rather steeply so we ascended the half mile to the lake slowly. When we got to the lake the trail leveled out and we continued around the lake with lovely views at each turn. We met a few people hiking that recommended that we not try to circumnavigate the lake as part of the far side of the trail required scrambling over rocks and boulders. We decided to press on and found the route manageable, even for us old farts. It was worthwhile because of the different views of the lake and the waterfalls that we encountered. Our 3 ½ mile hike took us just under 3 hours to complete.

We returned to the ship for a light lunch and decided that some time in the hot tub would be therapeutic for our well exercised legs. The Diamond Princess has an adult pool on Deck 15 which tends to be quieter than the main pool areas. A small pool is heated to a comfortable 90 degrees. Two hot tubs are heated warmer and have lots of nice jets. It is a little tricky to find as you need to enter the area through the spa on deck 15 or via the Sports Deck (deck 16).

Juneau: One of the key attractions here is the Mendenhall Glacier located about 12 miles north of town. Although ship excursions go there, it is cheaper and more flexible to catch the shuttle bus from the cruise dock. This allows you to spend more time at the glacier. The shuttle costs $14 round-trip and leaves every ½ hour. The glacier can be well viewed from the visitor center. It has been receding for years leaving the large Mendenhall Lake at its base. A ranger set up a table with a large piece of perfectly clear glacial ice for visitors to observe. The picture to the left shows the glacier with the lake and the visitor center in the foreground.

After looking around the visitor center we embarked on a hike to visit waterfalls and to get a different view of the glacier. This was a pleasant hike, less strenuous than the one above Skagway. On our way to the bus we noticed a kayaker and two canoeists paddling on the lake; this is something that we would like to try on our next visit.

We returned to the ship in time to hear a lecture by Libby Riddles, the first woman to win the Iditarod sled dog race. In the early 1980s she had some disappointing finishes in the race and decided to take a few years off to breed her own team of dogs. In 1985 she was successful and won the race. She described her adventures in this grueling and dangerous race.

Ketchikan: We found Ketchikan to be a very pleasant and friendly town. We wandered past a small but brightly blooming park and past several totem poles on our way to Creek Street. Historic Creek Street is a boardwalk built above Ketchikan Creek with lots of shops and a bordello museum. From Creek Street we took the tram up to the Cape Fox Hotel, then took a scenic walk back down the hill past the salmon ladder (too early for the salmon run). Back on Creek Street we made our only purchase of the trip, two cookie cutters, one shaped like a moose head and the other shaped like a salmon. I had hoped to visit Totem Bight State Park to observe their collection of totems but that will need to wait for our next visit. Our dining companions enjoyed the Lumberjack Show very much.

We finished our cruise with a leisurely day at sea before disembarking in Vancouver. The disembarkation process was very well organized. Our luggage had been transferred directly to the comfortable coach for our 3 ½ hour ride to Seattle airport for our return flight.

Observations on the Diamond Princess cruise: The food, entertainment, ship activities and service met my expectations for a moderately priced cruise; in fact I was very pleased. (I was less satisfied with Princess earlier this year when we had sailed on the sister ship Sapphire on a Mexican Riviera itinerary. I suspect that the Sapphire voyage had been ‘dumbed down’ a bit in consideration of the 'sun and fun' passenger mix that cruises that itinerary.)

About half of the passengers on this cruise were first-time cruisers (probably typical for an Alaska itinerary). The age mix was pretty diverse and a few hundred kids were aboard.

I very much enjoyed our dinners in the main dining room. There were lots of choices and the taste and presentation were very good. Our waiter did a great job with his food recommendations and with the delivery. The wine list had several choices under $30/bottle and those that I tried were very good. Formal nights are more casual in Alaska with most men wearing suits or sport coats; very few tuxedos were observed.

One disappointment was lunch in the buffet. The layout of the serving area contributes to a very chaotic flow of passengers and the food choices didn’t seem as good as on other ships. However this wasn’t a problem for me as I enjoyed both the pool-side hamburger grill and pizzeria. We also had a very nice lunch in the main dining room on sea day.

This is a large ship at 113,000 tons with a passenger capacity of 2600. The resulting space ratio is comparable to that found on Holland America and Celebrity and is actually much better than that found on the newest Princess ships. Except for the lunch buffet, I never felt crowded.

Overall I was very pleased with this Princess cruise experience and would recommend it to others looking for a moderately priced cruise. The Princess UB5 Cruisetour provides an excellent itinerary for seeing both the interior as well as the traditional cruise ports. Weather in Alaska is unpredictable and we were very fortunate to have clear weather for our Tundra Wilderness Tour in Denali, for cruising Glacier Bay and for our three port stops.