Our first port of call was Ketchikan, the wettest place in North America. The pics below show our group at the "liquid sunshine" gauge at the dock, Gail at the Ketchikan Welcome Arch and part of the Chief Johnson totem pole.
The most notable street in Ketchikan is Creek St, which is actually a boardwalk running along a creek. The most famous building in the street is Dolly's House, which was a brothel in the gold rush days. It is now a small museum which we visted. Pics below show Creek St and Dolly's House.
We did a float plane ride to Misty Fjords. The plane landed on a fjord and we were able to stand on a float and admire the view. Pics below show our float plane, the fjord and a view from the plane.
Next port of call was Juneau. The pic below shows a view of the town as we approached in the ship.
In Juneau we visited the Gastineau Gold Mine, which might reopen, in view of the current high gold price. Pics below show Don at the mine entrance, John the miner/tour guide inside and Gail panning for gold.
The most famous attraction in Juneau is the Mendenhall Glacier. It demonstrates many features of the glacier environment. See pic below.
We had lunch at Tracy's Crab Shack, a noted local casual seafood eatery. See Gail below with a King Crab leg - larger than any crab part we had seen before.
We walked around downtown Juneau. We visited the gold rush era Red Dog Saloon, with honkytonk pianist and wildlife mounted on the walls. See pics below of the saloon and downtown Juneau.
Our walk around Juneau took us past the Governor's Mansion (once occupied by Sarah Palin) - see pic below.
We also visited the Alaska State Museum - the pic below shows a Tlingit Indian housepost in an exhibit.
Another popular attraction is the Mt Roberts Tramway. The pics show the tramway, a view of our ship from the tramway, and a view of Juneau from the mountain top.
Next port was Skagway. The main street is Broadway, lined with shops with gold rush era facades along a wooden boardwalk. Pics show the Red Onion Saloon, a view of the street and our meeting with Sarah Palin.
We did a private tour by minivan with local guide "Klondike Kevin", which took us along the Klondike Highway over the White Pass Summit, following the old gold rush route to the Yukon. Pics below show the road through the snowy landscape, a black bear we encountered on the road, and Tutshi Lake.
Further on the tour into the Yukon Territory (see pic below of welcome sign), we visited the historic town of Carcross and stopped at the Carcross Desert - see pic below. This is not a true desert, but windblown sand dunes created from the dust resulting from glaciers grinding down rocks.
We also visited Emerald Lake (pic below), whose green colour is created by sunlight interacting with the water and lake bottom.
Another stop on the van tour was Caribou Crossing, where we visited a wildlife museum which features stuffed local animals and a sled dog camp with husky puppies. See pics below.
Further on the van tour,we met another black bear and we stopped at a frozen lake. See pics below.
The van tour then took us to Fraser Station, to take the historic White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad back to Skagway. The Fraser area gets 24 ft of snow in a year. Pics show the Fraser Station and 3 views from the train.
The highlight of the cruise was the scenic cruising in Glacier Bay. This was exceptional because of the rare sunny conditions on our day. Pics below show views of Glacier Bay, the top of our ship and the last pic shows small icebergs "calving" (dropping off the glacier into the water).
Below are some pics giving an idea of activities on the ship.
A special lunch by the pool was the Taste of Alaska buffet:
One day we watched a cooking demonstration by the chief chef and then toured the galley/kitchen.
We often visited the International Cafe, which had delicious French style pastries and coffees.
In the atrium (pic below) there was often light entertainment, eg the string quartet from Ukraine pictured below.
Don attempted to continue his usual vigorous fitness program in the ship's gym - see workout below.
The ship also cruised in College Fjord, but this was not so satisfactory, because of poor weather. See two pics below.
On the last night of the cruise, the crew put on its International Crew Show. Pics show a dance routine and a comic song routine "If I Were Not Upon the Ship".
Our cruise ended in Whittier - see pic of Sapphire Princess at the dock.
Next post will be our visit to the interior of Alaska.
