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.

Bob's Alaska Trip--cruising the glaciers

The cruise portion of our journey began when we boarded the Diamond Princess about 6:30 PM on Saturday May 30. After a quick unpacking we had a nice dinner. Since we had sailed on a sister ship (Sapphire Princess in January) we were quite familiar with the ship’s layout and further exploration wasn’t required. Late that evening there was a short "welcome aboard" show featuring a good comic.

We had a balcony cabin on deck 12 on the port side. I downgraded by one category to obtain a port side cabin. After sailing, I now feel that the side of the ship is irrelevant. The room was relatively small by modern standards. The balcony, connected by a sliding glass door, had room for two chairs and a small table.

College Fjord: we set the alarm early so that we could experience the cruise through College Fjord. On a southbound itinerary you visit College Fjord early in the morning (6 to 9 AM for us). This relatively narrow waterway lies within Prince William Sound south of Whittier and Anchorage. While cruising this inlet it is possible to see up to 8 glaciers at one time. Some of the glaciers spill into the water (tidewater glaciers) while others stay up in the valleys of the mountains (valley glaciers). Most of the glaciers here are named after east coast ivy league schools.

Unfortunately we awoke to a heavy cloud cover. The best view of the glaciers is obtained from the front of the ship. We selected a viewing location at the front of deck 8 (another good viewing area, though more exposed, is on one of the upper decks, just above the bridge). Relatively few passengers were out for this early morning viewing opportunity.

Photographing in the heavy overcast is quite a challenge, especially for someone with no photography training. I just kept taking shots and hoping for the best. Unfortunately most look like ‘black and white’ photos. Photoshop brightens them up a bit.

As the ship departed the fjord we had a snack from the buffet, then proceeded to enjoy the remainder of our first ‘day at sea’. There was a naturalist onboard who provided lectures and occasional commentary from the bridge over the ship PA system (and TV channel 35). Her lecture in the morning covered marine mammals (otters, orcas and humpbacks). Her afternoon lecture discussed the bald eagle. Her lectures were interesting and informative. They were reasonably well attended but there were more people in the casino than in her lectures.

That evening we had our first "traditional" dinner, early seating in the main dining room, and we met our dining companions. I always request a table for six. One couple was older, perhaps mid-70s, on their very first cruise. They were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary that occurred earlier in the year. They really loved the cruise. I found it sad that they hadn’t tried cruising 20 years earlier. The other couple had just sailed the northbound itinerary as part of a back-to-back 14-night cruise. They were able to provide us some useful information about the ports. Our waiter was very experienced and very professional. He worked very well with his assistant and all of our meals flowed perfectly.

During our voyage there were three production shows featuring four singers and ten dancers. All were extremely well done. One quirk of the ship is that the main showroom capacity is less than one half of the ship capacity so that each production show is shown twice one night and repeated the following night. This seems to work fine although a few of the passengers were disappointed that there was not unique showroom entertainment each night.

Glacier Bay: The second day of the cruise spent much of the day in Glacier Bay. Only one or two cruise ships are allowed to enter Glacier Bay each day so Princess is fortunate to have permits for all of its ships sailing on one-way itineraries.

Our day began memorably with Princess’ Ultimate Balcony Breakfast. Although the weather was clear and sunny, it was a bit chilly to eat on the balcony so we enjoyed this meal inside our cabin. This meal was one of the best that I have experienced on a cruise and probably deserves a complete posting of its own but I will just hit the highlights. This meal costs $32/couple and consists of a half bottle of French champagne plus seven plates of food. Two plates include an assortment of fresh fruit with two types of melon, mango, and lots of ripe berries. Two plates include a huge portion of smoke salmon with a brioche roll and herbed cream cheese. Two plates include a wonderful crab quiche along with some crab legs. One plate includes sweet pastries. When the head waiter was marketing this breakfast he indicated that you are just being charged for the champagne; the food is actually free. We saved the champagne for later and did our best to consume the food. I enjoyed this meal so much that I ordered it again later in the cruise. The presentation was outstanding and the food was great; it is definitely well worth the minor cost. For those not sailing in the balcony cabins, the meal was also offered in one of the main dining rooms.

About 10 AM the ship entered Glacier Bay and picked up three rangers from the national park service. The bay is surrounded by many high snow-covered mountain peaks, some reaching 15,000 feet. Chunks of ice, some small, others huge, float in the water. Twelve glaciers reach the water and others can be seen in the mountains. The ship motors slowly past the scenery and takes several hours to reach the Margerie Glacier, perhaps the most scenic in his area. The rangers stayed onboard during our visit to the bay. One gave a lecture in the main showroom while the other two set up a display station on one of the upper decks. They were available during the day for questions and one provided some commentary from the bridge.

Glacier Bay is the destination where having a balcony cabin is particularly worthwhile. We had a beautiful sunny day that warmed to about 70 degrees. We could enjoy the scenery from our balcony while listening to the ranger commentary that was broadcast on the television. When we arrived at the Margerie Glacier the captain positioned the ship so that the glacier was visible from the port side of the ship; 30 minutes later he swung the ship 180 degrees to offer the same view to the starboard cabins. The Margerie Glacier extends 250 feet above the waterline and goes down another 100 feet below the water. It was interesting to be on the 12th deck, nominally 12 stories above water, looking up at this massive glacier.

Everyone hopes to observe a major glacier calving with a huge segment of ice falling into the water. Unfortunately this is relatively rare but we experienced several minor "sloughings" of glacial ice. However we frequently heard loud cracks and rumbles, the glacier teasing us with the possibility of a major calving.

About 3 PM the ship pulled away from Margerie Glacier and headed back towards the sea. We dropped off our rangers and headed towards our first port, Skagway.