Pete Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 Well, I’m back from vacation, an outstanding 7 days cruising the inside passage of Alaska. Sorry, no death defying tales like Mick had to tell. First off, Norwegian Cruse Lines freestyle cruising was perfect for my family. Not having set seating times for meals gave the flexibility to really tailor the cruise to our liking. Overall, I’d give the cruise line and crew four stars. We sailed out of Seattle in the late afternoon, and steamed straight up to Juneau. Didn’t see the sun much on the way up, but we had great weather once in Juneau. We had booked on shore excursions prior to the trip. I highly recommend doing this, as the better stuff books up fast, and you could be left out in the cold. There were so many to chose from, and we went with a lesser know trip that came highly recommended by my boss. We took a float plane glacier tour out to the Taku river lodge. We flew in a vintage ten passenger deHavilland Otter float plane, and the pilot gave us our moneys worth on trip out and back. While I doubt we ever got within 100 yards of any mountain, when they pop out of the clouds right next to ya, it can give the faint of heart a start. The views were nothing short of breathtaking. The lodge itself sits across from the only progressing glacier on the Juneau ice field, and has a little history with it. In the pics taken from the lodge area, we’re two miles from the base of the glacier, and it stands 1800 feet, 500 ft higher then the WTC buildings had been. Bare in mind that most of the pics are from an aircraft with a wet window at times. I’ll post more stuff from other stops on the trip when I get a chance. I’m also looking for a free site I can link all the pics. We took around 150 with the digital, and around another 150 or so with the ol 35mm. Ya, I’m a shutter bug of sorts………. Pic list: 1) On the way north. 2) Pulling into Juneau. 3) Docked at base of the mountain. 4) A stop at the bar before leaving the ship. 5) Our ship from the docks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted July 4, 2006 Author Share Posted July 4, 2006 6) Flying through the clouds. 7) Glacier rainbow. 8) Distant ice field. 9) Bend in the river. 10) View into the valley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted July 4, 2006 Author Share Posted July 4, 2006 11) River valley 1. 12) Valley 2. 13) Valley 3. 14) Cindy and I in front of the glacier. 15) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted July 4, 2006 Author Share Posted July 4, 2006 16) Over the glacier. 17, 18,19,and 20 are on the flight out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCS Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 Great stuff so far Pete. keep 'em coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autographcollector Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 Awesome pix!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scskin Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 Must of read my mind. I have a relative in Anchorage and me and the wife were looking into an Alaskan cruise. Bottom line, how much including flights? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#98QBKiller Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 Pete, Someone told me that they went to Alaska recently and didn't see a single McDonald's...was this true for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMac Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 Awesome pics!! I was wondering if I could find Grizzly Man in some of them. :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted July 4, 2006 Author Share Posted July 4, 2006 Must of read my mind. I have a relative in Anchorage and me and the wife were looking into an Alaskan cruise. Bottom line, how much including flights? The actual cruise was around 3K. Bare in mind that my 13 year old daughter counted as an adult, so it hurt us on the excursions which was about another 2K. Add another grand for our bar tab, souvenirs, and photos. Airfare from Fl was about 1500.oo. It all comes down to how you want the cabin to be. I see it as a place to sleep and shower, so I didn't need a balconey, so we saved a bunch on the inside cabin. Same goes for the excursions. Dog sleeding is like 500.oo a person :doh: so we didn't do that. All the stops have the normal bazillion jewlery, T-shirt, other shops, and touristy stuff, so excursions are a must. I will say it was worth every bit we spent on it. It was a perfect mix of relaxation, and activity. I spent many hours out on deck watching for whales and other critters on land, and just enjoying the view. Remember, all you pay for is you drinks on the ship. Our ship had 4 premium places to eat where they charged extra, but the food in the regular places was very good. The only poor service we had was in one of the premium joints, so go figure. I would contact Halter91, he's the ES travel guru with his own company. Pete, Someone told me that they went to Alaska recently and didn't see a single McDonald's...was this true for you? I didn't see any that I can remember There was this little blue and white building that said Burger Queen on it :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#98QBKiller Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 I didn't see any that I can remember There was this little blue and white building that said Burger Queen on it :doh: Nice. There was a restaurant in the town that I went to high school in called "Dairy King." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redskins4life234 Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 Pete, While in Juneau, you stop by the Red Dog Saloon? While there last year, I would of loved to peak in, but then, Im a minor, and Mom wouldnt want too, Dont know if you went shopping at all, but in Alaska, They have some of the funnyest shirts I have ever seen, and I know most ppl on the board would love them. When I was in Juneau last yr, we saw tons of eagles,and being in Alaska is the only time you want to, other time, they are drunk and wear Puke green . We went Dog sledding on the Mendal Hall Glaciers, it was great, Took a Helecopter ride up, I sat next to the pilot both up and down, it was pretty cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheREALJBird Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 Those are some awesome pics Pete, thanks for showing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted July 4, 2006 Author Share Posted July 4, 2006 I forgot to mention that food at Taku lodge was great. The salmon was caught less then 18 hours prior to our visit. I’m not much for salmon, but the BBQ they did was so good, I had seconds. It took 1 ½ King salmon to feed 30 people. From Juneau, we headed to our farthest point north, Skagway. The weather sucked at this stop, so it put a damper on lots of photos. It was about 43 degrees and heavy rain falling when we got off the ship. Luckily for us, we had book a tour on a scenic railway up the famous White pass. Unlike Juneau, there wasn’t gold in Skagway, but it was a major starting point to get to the Yukon. The rain did stop shortly after we left on the train, but much of the pass was shrouded in clouds, and you couldn’t keep the windows from fogging. I got a few shots standing between cars when the fog wasn’t bad, and in a clear spot before a tunnel. Some history on the area which boasts less then 900 residents. I'm adding some pics from a web page so you can get a feel for what it's actually like, and then five of my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted July 4, 2006 Author Share Posted July 4, 2006 Pete, While in Juneau, you stop by the Red Dog Saloon?While there last year, I would of loved to peak in, but then, Im a minor, and Mom wouldnt want too, Dont know if you went shopping at all, but in Alaska, They have some of the funnyest shirts I have ever seen, and I know most ppl on the board would love them. When I was in Juneau last yr, we saw tons of eagles,and being in Alaska is the only time you want to, other time, they are drunk and wear Puke green . We went Dog sledding on the Mendal Hall Glaciers, it was great, Took a Helecopter ride up, I sat next to the pilot both up and down, it was pretty cool. The Red Dog was a friggin zoo with four cruise ships in port, so I didn't get to go in. It's also tough with my daughter with us. I got to ride copilot on the ride back from Taku, which was cool. I love old aircraft. I also saw lots of bald eagles in the Jueanu area. Had one fly within about 6 feet of me, big sucker. Much bigger then the ones we have down here in Fl. I spotted a bear while walking through the woods. My daughter was making enough noise it was already heading away from us. She didn't see it, and I didn't tell her because I know she would freak out :laugh: She didn't want to walk in the woods at first because she was scared to run into one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redskins4life234 Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 When we did the land part of our vacation (7 days at sea 3 inland) we went to a National Park, I forgot the name, we didnt see any bears or Moose but it was pretty cool, and Mooses are pretty freak if you run into one, and if you do, you are most likely dead if it decides to attack you. But We saw some bears Moose's and other things at this Zoo type place, and saw some moose whiole driving and on train ride. I would love to go back there again, I also, when i turn 18 want to try and get a summer job over there. We Took Royal Carribean when we went. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blondie Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 Pete, Someone told me that they went to Alaska recently and didn't see a single McDonald's...was this true for you? I went to Alaska many years ago......and ate at at McDonalds. Nice pics Pete. I did not do the cruise thing when I went.......traveled to several little towns........Homer.......Schnook.......Talkeetna.......just to name a few. The glaciers are so beautiful. Everyone should go there. Blondie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monte51Coleman Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 Thanks for posting the pics, Pete. Alaska is definitely on my 'must do' list. BTW- I thought that you would look a lot more like Coach Gibbs then you do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The 12th Commandment Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 Awesome pics Pete! My trip to Alaska was one of the best things I've ever done in my life. It's a little weird seeing huge expanses of land without any of our marks on it. Very cool. And those Otters throw you back in your seat a little, don't they. Glad you had a good time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
th869 Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 When I was stationed at Eielson AFB they had a McDonalds in Fairbanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted July 4, 2006 Author Share Posted July 4, 2006 Ok, from Skagway, we moved onto Glacier Bay. Depending on the size of the ship your on determinis just how close you can get to the glaciers. The exception is the John Hopkins glacier due to it being a major baby seal nusery. I put up all my digital stuff on photobucket, so I'll just link the photos from here on out. Still waiting on the 5 rolls of color, and two of B&W film to return. Glacier bay 1 Glacier bay 2 Glacier bay 3 Glacier bay 4 Glacier bay 5 Glacier bay 6 Glacier bay 7 Glacier bay 8 Glacier bay 9 Glacier bay 10 Glacier bay 11 Glacier bay 12 Glacier bay 13 Glacier bay 14 Glacier bay 15 Glacier bay 16 Glacier bay 17 Glacier bay 18 Glacier bay 19 Sudden fog just outside the bay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugs' Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Pete, great pics, thanks for sharing them. I'm glad you and yours had a great time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted July 5, 2006 Author Share Posted July 5, 2006 Our next stop was all the way south, Ketchikan island. Here, me and the family parted ways. My wife and daughter did a "zip line" tour of the rain forest, and I did a motorcycle tour. We saw a ton of bald eagles in this area. They know where to find an easy meal. Up past the red crane to the left, is a red spot which is one of the zip line platforms. Down stream from salmon hatchery This is looking in the other direction.......Creek outlet Eagles in tree This next pics are from up the coast a ways Dock side A motley crew.......... Some replica tribal houses, all made of ceader. Tribal 1 Tribal 2 Tribal 3 Tribal 4 Tribal 5 Tribal 6 Tribal 7 A few shots from the ship of the bay........ The pilots do a great business, the planes came in and out about every 6 minutes. The bay 1 The bay 2 The bay 3 The bay 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted July 5, 2006 Author Share Posted July 5, 2006 Our last port of call was perfect timing...... Victoria, BC Canada for "Canada Day" Great people and party to say the least. These will be the last of the pics for now. Once I get everything on my system, If anybody wants to see the rest they can send me a PM with an e-mail addy for the full photobucket set. The capital building (Paralement) The Empress hotel Totem This pic is for the founder of ES, Die Hard, and the rest of the loyal Skins fans in Canada. Cindy and I This guy is a blast. He scared the snot out of so many people in the short time we watched him. It's amazing how still he can stay for a long time :laugh: Plaster man Hope I haven't boared the hell out of everybody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanCollins Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 great pics Pete. Nice trip, I would like to go there with my family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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