tlimbergsmith
NolaDisneyGirl
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2013
I am thoroughly enjoying this trip report. I will be on the Wonder in 6 weeks!
I look forward to the next installment.
I look forward to the next installment.
Alaska September 2nd-9th 2013 - Our EPIC adventure!
- Thread starter topsy
- Start date
topsy
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2007
Wednesday 4th September
Part One -
This was it, the day we had been waiting for. No not the beautiful scenery, seals and magnificent Sawyer Glacier but our first Palo brunch! Ha, we have our priorities right!
The day started wonderfully, the ship movement had calmed down, we were awake at 7.00am and by 8.00am we had seen five whales from the veranda, two of which kept breaching. The only problem with seeing whales from the ship is that the ship moves a lot more quickly than the whales so once youve managed to lock eyes on them, theyre already behind you. Thank goodness I had a good zoom and binoculars, both of which were used constantly during this trip.
I decided to run up to BBB and get some doughnuts* and hot chocolate; we didnt want to fill up as we had Palo reservations at 10.00am.
*(A quick note the doughnuts became progressively drier and less edible as the cruise went on and the chocolate ones disappeared after 2 days!)
We ended up being a little late as we were so enthralled by the whales we lost track of time. When we did get to Palo we had a brilliant seat by the window, right in the centre and could continue watching the show, in fact we saw one whale slapping its fin on the surface.
Our server was Mladen from Croatia. He was lovely, really funny and eager to please; we ended up having him as our server for dinner later in the week. I believe they try to keep you with the same server if they can. We each had a mimosa and were shown the buffet tables. He explained which items went well together and offered his opinion on the cooked food you can order from the kitchen.
The pastry station
Antipasti station
Seafood station
Dessert station
Cheese and bread station
I had heard so much about the strawberry soup, grape and gorgonzola pizza and parmesan chicken that I ordered all three for us to share. Elle also ordered the veal to share. The chicken was outstanding, I dont know how they make such a simple dish so extraordinary but I nearly ordered a second! The pizza too was perfect and I enjoyed the soup, Elle not so much. The veal was ok, but I would rather have had two chicken plates!
Parmesan chicken AMAZING
Strawberry soup
I cant remember what this is veal I think?!
Grape & gorgonzola pizza
The rest of the buffet was great but I really didnt get my fill as I was so stuffed with all the other dishes. I definitely want to do the brunch again, and hopefully go on a cruise where I could do it two or three times in one trip. Maybe the transatlantic next year?! We did have a very British moment at brunch in that we had no idea how much to tip. In theory, 20% is a good tip but 20% on $20pp would only be $8 between us for 1.5hours of great service. This didnt seem like enough so we (wrongly or rightly) gave him $20 which we later realised was a 40% tip! Oh well, it was worth it to us.
Part One -
This was it, the day we had been waiting for. No not the beautiful scenery, seals and magnificent Sawyer Glacier but our first Palo brunch! Ha, we have our priorities right!
The day started wonderfully, the ship movement had calmed down, we were awake at 7.00am and by 8.00am we had seen five whales from the veranda, two of which kept breaching. The only problem with seeing whales from the ship is that the ship moves a lot more quickly than the whales so once youve managed to lock eyes on them, theyre already behind you. Thank goodness I had a good zoom and binoculars, both of which were used constantly during this trip.
I decided to run up to BBB and get some doughnuts* and hot chocolate; we didnt want to fill up as we had Palo reservations at 10.00am.
*(A quick note the doughnuts became progressively drier and less edible as the cruise went on and the chocolate ones disappeared after 2 days!)
We ended up being a little late as we were so enthralled by the whales we lost track of time. When we did get to Palo we had a brilliant seat by the window, right in the centre and could continue watching the show, in fact we saw one whale slapping its fin on the surface.
Our server was Mladen from Croatia. He was lovely, really funny and eager to please; we ended up having him as our server for dinner later in the week. I believe they try to keep you with the same server if they can. We each had a mimosa and were shown the buffet tables. He explained which items went well together and offered his opinion on the cooked food you can order from the kitchen.
The pastry station
Antipasti station
Seafood station
Dessert station
Cheese and bread station
I had heard so much about the strawberry soup, grape and gorgonzola pizza and parmesan chicken that I ordered all three for us to share. Elle also ordered the veal to share. The chicken was outstanding, I dont know how they make such a simple dish so extraordinary but I nearly ordered a second! The pizza too was perfect and I enjoyed the soup, Elle not so much. The veal was ok, but I would rather have had two chicken plates!
Parmesan chicken AMAZING
Strawberry soup
I cant remember what this is veal I think?!
Grape & gorgonzola pizza
The rest of the buffet was great but I really didnt get my fill as I was so stuffed with all the other dishes. I definitely want to do the brunch again, and hopefully go on a cruise where I could do it two or three times in one trip. Maybe the transatlantic next year?! We did have a very British moment at brunch in that we had no idea how much to tip. In theory, 20% is a good tip but 20% on $20pp would only be $8 between us for 1.5hours of great service. This didnt seem like enough so we (wrongly or rightly) gave him $20 which we later realised was a 40% tip! Oh well, it was worth it to us.
topsy
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2007
We returned to the room around 11.30am and changed into some warmer layers. Unfortunately the weather was quite miserable and dull. We couldnt really see the beautiful blue colours in the water until much later in the day. I wore jeans, a t-shirt and thin cardigan with my thick winter coat on top and felt warm enough. I later had to change again as my jeans got so wet and made my thighs really cold. I changed into my sweatpants and they were much better in the rain. I had debated bringing waterproof trousers but decided I wouldnt need them. I now wish I had, just for comfort more than necessity.
After watching the world go by from our veranda, we ventured up to decks 9 and 10, probably around 12.30pm. It was really quiet, even at the front. This definitely changed though the nearer we got to the glacier. We didnt base ourselves in one place, instead we spent the afternoon moving around and spent most of our time on deck 4 which was brilliant. We were well sheltered and nearer to the icebergs plus there was loads of room along the railings. We didnt even know it was raining until we went up to deck 9 after wed turned around at the glacier!
On the way in we were passing lots of seals, we moved very slowly in towards the glacier. Did anyone else feel like they were in Jurassic Park? The mountains we were sailing past were very Jurassic Park-y to me!
I found it very hard to find any characters on Tracy Arm day, supposedly they walk around decks 4, 9 and 10 and we saw loads of professional photos in Shutters the next day but we only ever caught glimpses of them as they were marching back to their backstage areas, with a gaggle of people behind them.
The captain managed to get us very close to the glacier despite seeing what he said were the biggest chunks of ice he has ever seen in Tracy Arm. He took us up there then turned the ship to the right, so the port side was facing the glacier. We stayed there for what felt like an hour but Im sure wasnt. There was definitely plenty of time to take about a million photos of the same thing (which we did!). We went back to our room to watch from the veranda at this point.
First glimpse of the glacier
After watching the world go by from our veranda, we ventured up to decks 9 and 10, probably around 12.30pm. It was really quiet, even at the front. This definitely changed though the nearer we got to the glacier. We didnt base ourselves in one place, instead we spent the afternoon moving around and spent most of our time on deck 4 which was brilliant. We were well sheltered and nearer to the icebergs plus there was loads of room along the railings. We didnt even know it was raining until we went up to deck 9 after wed turned around at the glacier!
On the way in we were passing lots of seals, we moved very slowly in towards the glacier. Did anyone else feel like they were in Jurassic Park? The mountains we were sailing past were very Jurassic Park-y to me!
I found it very hard to find any characters on Tracy Arm day, supposedly they walk around decks 4, 9 and 10 and we saw loads of professional photos in Shutters the next day but we only ever caught glimpses of them as they were marching back to their backstage areas, with a gaggle of people behind them.
The captain managed to get us very close to the glacier despite seeing what he said were the biggest chunks of ice he has ever seen in Tracy Arm. He took us up there then turned the ship to the right, so the port side was facing the glacier. We stayed there for what felt like an hour but Im sure wasnt. There was definitely plenty of time to take about a million photos of the same thing (which we did!). We went back to our room to watch from the veranda at this point.
First glimpse of the glacier
topsy
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2007
Eventually, he turned the ship round on the spot; this was amazing to see as he had to do it so quietly and slowly. So now the starboard side (right) was facing the glacier as was our veranda.
This is when something amazing happened. We had seen several small bits of ice calve off at this point and heard the noise, something which cant be explained. Suddenly we heard these huge cracks but could not see anything moving or falling off the glacier. We kept looking and hearing noises, until suddenly a wave started to appear and something started to come up from out of the water. This HUGE piece of ice had broken off from underneath the glacier and was rising to the surface, moving all the other bits of ice as the wave came toward the ship. Dont worry, this wasnt a tsunami sized wave, we couldnt even feel it in the ship but you could certainly see it and see that it was moving the ice; the little seals were bobbing up and down on bits of ice!
This chunk was the most brilliant blue I have ever seen and although we knew it looked big, it wasnt until later when we were told it was the size of an office building that we really understood just how big it was. I shall never forget that moment.
Shortly after this, we started to move off, gently nudging bits of ice out of the way. From our veranda we saw a huge piece of ice hit the ship, or the ship hit the ice, were not sure which! It made a big scraping sound and when the ice floated off you could see it had been compressed almost on one side. Again its nothing to worry about. That ship is tough!
Around 5pm we decided to go on the hunt of the characters dressed in their Alaska gear as we hadnt had any luck during the day. We were still moving out through Tracy Arm at this time. Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Chip & Dale were all in the lobby but they each had separate lines which were so long, we could only line up for one. We chose Mickey. I dont understand why they dont set this up like the Princess gathering where they have them all in a line and you move from one to the next. That way you would get to see them all. Youd still line up but would be able to see more in a shorter space of time.
Whilst we were in the line for Mickey, Captain Thord announced that he would be stopping the ship at some points of scenic interest. A few minutes later we stopped by a gorgeous waterfall and saw that beautiful crystal blue water I had seen in so many other TR pics. It was wonderful. We didnt even realise it but he even turned the ship around so people on both sides could see it. It was on deck 4 looking at the waterfall that we ran into Goofy, finally. However there was no Disney photographer there at the time, I saw other peoples pictures with the same background in Shutters later on. We must have just missed the photographer.
This is when something amazing happened. We had seen several small bits of ice calve off at this point and heard the noise, something which cant be explained. Suddenly we heard these huge cracks but could not see anything moving or falling off the glacier. We kept looking and hearing noises, until suddenly a wave started to appear and something started to come up from out of the water. This HUGE piece of ice had broken off from underneath the glacier and was rising to the surface, moving all the other bits of ice as the wave came toward the ship. Dont worry, this wasnt a tsunami sized wave, we couldnt even feel it in the ship but you could certainly see it and see that it was moving the ice; the little seals were bobbing up and down on bits of ice!
This chunk was the most brilliant blue I have ever seen and although we knew it looked big, it wasnt until later when we were told it was the size of an office building that we really understood just how big it was. I shall never forget that moment.
Shortly after this, we started to move off, gently nudging bits of ice out of the way. From our veranda we saw a huge piece of ice hit the ship, or the ship hit the ice, were not sure which! It made a big scraping sound and when the ice floated off you could see it had been compressed almost on one side. Again its nothing to worry about. That ship is tough!
Around 5pm we decided to go on the hunt of the characters dressed in their Alaska gear as we hadnt had any luck during the day. We were still moving out through Tracy Arm at this time. Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Chip & Dale were all in the lobby but they each had separate lines which were so long, we could only line up for one. We chose Mickey. I dont understand why they dont set this up like the Princess gathering where they have them all in a line and you move from one to the next. That way you would get to see them all. Youd still line up but would be able to see more in a shorter space of time.
Whilst we were in the line for Mickey, Captain Thord announced that he would be stopping the ship at some points of scenic interest. A few minutes later we stopped by a gorgeous waterfall and saw that beautiful crystal blue water I had seen in so many other TR pics. It was wonderful. We didnt even realise it but he even turned the ship around so people on both sides could see it. It was on deck 4 looking at the waterfall that we ran into Goofy, finally. However there was no Disney photographer there at the time, I saw other peoples pictures with the same background in Shutters later on. We must have just missed the photographer.
topsy
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2007
The show tonight was Magic Dave, who although was very funny in his little skit during the first night show, didnt appeal to us as a whole show, so we skipped it. Dinner tonight was in Animators Palate again and was show night. Two of our tablemates were on their first cruise so were excited for the show. We noticed this night how empty the dining room was, and each of them seemed to be every other night. The guest services desk said the ship was full but it cant have been. Unless a LOT of people ate elsewhere each night?
For dinner tonight I ordered the Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup which was so good, I had a second helping! I wish I had ordered the Wild Mushroom Risotto and Porcini Twist as it looked lovely. Next time ! For my main I had the Lemon-Thyme Marinated Chicken Breast which came on top of Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Root Vegetables, and Grain Mustard Jus. I was trying not to have steak every night which is very easy to do! If I remember correctly, I ordered a Mickey Premium Bar for dessert as I didnt really fancy anything on the menu. It set a trend and 4 of the 6 of us had a Mickey bar!
After dinner, we went through our usual exciting routine of putting on PJs, watching Disney movies and going to sleep. Not before having a final peek out on the veranda just in case there were more whales in the dark.
Next up Land, I see land!!!
For dinner tonight I ordered the Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup which was so good, I had a second helping! I wish I had ordered the Wild Mushroom Risotto and Porcini Twist as it looked lovely. Next time ! For my main I had the Lemon-Thyme Marinated Chicken Breast which came on top of Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Root Vegetables, and Grain Mustard Jus. I was trying not to have steak every night which is very easy to do! If I remember correctly, I ordered a Mickey Premium Bar for dessert as I didnt really fancy anything on the menu. It set a trend and 4 of the 6 of us had a Mickey bar!
After dinner, we went through our usual exciting routine of putting on PJs, watching Disney movies and going to sleep. Not before having a final peek out on the veranda just in case there were more whales in the dark.
Next up Land, I see land!!!
disneyfaninaz
It takes faith, trust & pixie dust!
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2007
Great updates! Your TR is making me so excited to go on our cruise next year! 
Ellester
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2003
That's me in the purple/black blouse helping my mom get some goodies. So yummy! We also had the tipping question, so it isn't just a British thing! We also tipped $20 which seemed such a bargain for the fabulous service!
That ice breaking off was just astounding wasn't it? I was just walking outside on Deck 4 when I saw it. My DH actually caught it on video on his iPad from our veranda. Unbelievable!
It's so much fun reliving the trip through someone else's eyes!
RweTHEREyet
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 4, 1999
Enjoyed so many new installments. Still here following along, still enjoying your report and getting even more excited about our sailing next May. I hope we are as lucky with the whale sightings as you were. Each person's experience seems to be different.
The ice calving from the bottom sure was something--I am sure it would have scared me a bit, would have made me wonder if something could come up underneath the ship.
The ice calving from the bottom sure was something--I am sure it would have scared me a bit, would have made me wonder if something could come up underneath the ship.
topsy
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2007
Thursday 5th September
Part One -
Today is Skagway day! I woke around 6.00am and like a child on Christmas morning, ran out to the veranda to see what I could see. And what did I see sea! I stayed out there for a while, although it was a little chilly in my PJs, and watched as we docked. We were right at the end of the main street in town, nice and central. I made sure to check both our cameras were charged and gathered the memory cards and extra batteries etc. as this was going to be a long day away from the ship.
We had pre-ordered breakfast and it arrived at the room around 6.30am. Apparently you have to be quite specific when filling out the room service breakfast ticket and not do it in a rush late at night so that you miss complete sections! I had ordered fruit loops but missed the part where you have to order the milk for cereal, I assumed it would just come with it. Elles selection of jams and honeys for her toast was actually just one pot of jam. There were no chocolate doughnuts and the plain doughnuts we were given were stale. Never ones to worry too much about things, we just gobbled it all down anyway, dry fruit loops and all.
We got up and packed our very handy Castaway Club bag for the day preparing for every eventuality. The weather was a little dreary and chilly but not what I would consider to be cold. The sun was supposed to peak out later on in the day. I think I wore jeans a tank top and cardigan with a thin waterproof coat on top. I did take a scarf, hat and gloves in the bag but only needed these on the train later on as we stood out on the platform for the whole trip. But Im getting ahead of myself again!
I am pretty certain we were the first people to get off the ship when we disembarked around 7.15am. Our tour start time was 7.30am so we wanted to make sure we could get off before the rush. There was no rush. We got off from deck 4, right next to a piece of ice which the crew had brought on board from Tracy Arm the day before. It was just sitting there on a trolley looking all sad and drippy, poor ice block.
We met the Chilkoot Tours driver at the end of the dock and waited in the van for our other tour mates. There were 5 of us from the Wonder and the rest from another ship which was in port that day, I think a Princess ship. We were driven to the other side of the dock (could have walked it in about 3 minutes) and transferred onto our real tour bus. Here we met our driver for the day, Bruce. He was great, very knowledgeable and clearly happy to be living in Alaska and share his stories with us. He then drove us to the train station in town; again we could have walked in about 2 minutes, and told us our carriage was the one at the very back of the train. Brilliant!
We got settled and thought it was a nice touch that Chilkoot supply bottled water in their carriage. There was loads of it, crate after crate. We took 2 for later. After a while we were off. They didnt let anyone go out on the platform until we were out of town, after which we went out and stayed out. It was lovely and being right at the back meant we had no obstructions in our view. They are not allowed to officially tell you which side is best for the views but they do tell you that you want to sit on the left!
Our journey up was mostly clear but as edged closer to the summit the clouds rolled in. it wasnt wet, just misty and dull. We soon pulled out of this though when we reached the summit and worked our way out towards Fraser BC. I really enjoyed the train journey but wouldnt want to go back down the same way. Our tablemates later told us they took the train up and cycled down. I think this would have been a brilliant option, if I were to go again I would try that.
Once at Fraser, we had to get our passports out ready for the customs officer to check. We were asked to sit quietly until they came into our carriage and told us we were clear. Waiting at the station were all of the drivers for the various tours. Bruce suggested we take advantage of the toilet facilities as it would be our last chance for a couple of hours. They also had a neat stamp which you could stamp in your passport.
We all bundled back onto the bus and set off for our lovely journey up to Carcross. We stopped a few times on the way for various sights and a possible mountain goat sighting. We all concluded that it was just a rock and the passenger who spotted it had been a bit over zealous! Just before stopping at Caribou Crossing Trading Post for lunch, Bruce took us to Emerald Lake which was beautiful. The pictures just dont do the colours justice.
We were given about an hour and 15 minutes of free time at Caribou Crossing Trading Post, starting with lunch. We were served a rustic BBQ chicken plate with baked potato, roll and coleslaw. They then had trays of really tasty cinnamon sugar doughnuts, of which you could have as many as you wanted! We decided to sit outside in one of the novelty wagons because, well, when else can you eat BBQ chicken in a wagon?!
Part One -
Today is Skagway day! I woke around 6.00am and like a child on Christmas morning, ran out to the veranda to see what I could see. And what did I see sea! I stayed out there for a while, although it was a little chilly in my PJs, and watched as we docked. We were right at the end of the main street in town, nice and central. I made sure to check both our cameras were charged and gathered the memory cards and extra batteries etc. as this was going to be a long day away from the ship.
We had pre-ordered breakfast and it arrived at the room around 6.30am. Apparently you have to be quite specific when filling out the room service breakfast ticket and not do it in a rush late at night so that you miss complete sections! I had ordered fruit loops but missed the part where you have to order the milk for cereal, I assumed it would just come with it. Elles selection of jams and honeys for her toast was actually just one pot of jam. There were no chocolate doughnuts and the plain doughnuts we were given were stale. Never ones to worry too much about things, we just gobbled it all down anyway, dry fruit loops and all.
We got up and packed our very handy Castaway Club bag for the day preparing for every eventuality. The weather was a little dreary and chilly but not what I would consider to be cold. The sun was supposed to peak out later on in the day. I think I wore jeans a tank top and cardigan with a thin waterproof coat on top. I did take a scarf, hat and gloves in the bag but only needed these on the train later on as we stood out on the platform for the whole trip. But Im getting ahead of myself again!
I am pretty certain we were the first people to get off the ship when we disembarked around 7.15am. Our tour start time was 7.30am so we wanted to make sure we could get off before the rush. There was no rush. We got off from deck 4, right next to a piece of ice which the crew had brought on board from Tracy Arm the day before. It was just sitting there on a trolley looking all sad and drippy, poor ice block.
We met the Chilkoot Tours driver at the end of the dock and waited in the van for our other tour mates. There were 5 of us from the Wonder and the rest from another ship which was in port that day, I think a Princess ship. We were driven to the other side of the dock (could have walked it in about 3 minutes) and transferred onto our real tour bus. Here we met our driver for the day, Bruce. He was great, very knowledgeable and clearly happy to be living in Alaska and share his stories with us. He then drove us to the train station in town; again we could have walked in about 2 minutes, and told us our carriage was the one at the very back of the train. Brilliant!
We got settled and thought it was a nice touch that Chilkoot supply bottled water in their carriage. There was loads of it, crate after crate. We took 2 for later. After a while we were off. They didnt let anyone go out on the platform until we were out of town, after which we went out and stayed out. It was lovely and being right at the back meant we had no obstructions in our view. They are not allowed to officially tell you which side is best for the views but they do tell you that you want to sit on the left!
Our journey up was mostly clear but as edged closer to the summit the clouds rolled in. it wasnt wet, just misty and dull. We soon pulled out of this though when we reached the summit and worked our way out towards Fraser BC. I really enjoyed the train journey but wouldnt want to go back down the same way. Our tablemates later told us they took the train up and cycled down. I think this would have been a brilliant option, if I were to go again I would try that.
Once at Fraser, we had to get our passports out ready for the customs officer to check. We were asked to sit quietly until they came into our carriage and told us we were clear. Waiting at the station were all of the drivers for the various tours. Bruce suggested we take advantage of the toilet facilities as it would be our last chance for a couple of hours. They also had a neat stamp which you could stamp in your passport.
We all bundled back onto the bus and set off for our lovely journey up to Carcross. We stopped a few times on the way for various sights and a possible mountain goat sighting. We all concluded that it was just a rock and the passenger who spotted it had been a bit over zealous! Just before stopping at Caribou Crossing Trading Post for lunch, Bruce took us to Emerald Lake which was beautiful. The pictures just dont do the colours justice.
We were given about an hour and 15 minutes of free time at Caribou Crossing Trading Post, starting with lunch. We were served a rustic BBQ chicken plate with baked potato, roll and coleslaw. They then had trays of really tasty cinnamon sugar doughnuts, of which you could have as many as you wanted! We decided to sit outside in one of the novelty wagons because, well, when else can you eat BBQ chicken in a wagon?!
topsy
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2007
Part Two -
Following lunch, we wandered around the animal area and saw goats, donkeys, pigs and of course the husky puppies! They were adorable. Having wanted a dog my whole life and recently buying our fist puppy back in the UK, I was particularly broody when it came to the puppies. I made friends with an adorable black and tan puppy who was clinging on to me for dear life! They were only 1 month old.
We spent all of our time here so didnt get to look at the museum or gift shop which is a shame as I have seen pictures since of the museum which includes a hall full of life-sized animals from the area. A few of our tour mates came back to the bus with some delicious looking ice-cream which they had purchased. I do regret not having bought some as I was craving something sweet. I think I probably had time to pop over and get some but didnt want to hold the tour up.
Soon we were off and with our bellies full and the sun shining, we were as Bruce had predicted dozing off within minutes. We stopped a couple of times on the way back, at the Alaska and Yukon signs as well as some other picturesque stops. We got a few more stamps in our passports from Carcross too.
Our journey back to Skagway took until about 3.00pm. Our last stop was at the relatively new overlook, where we could see the whole town of Skagway and the three ships docked in port. Bruce was kind enough to drop some of us in town so that we could see what their shops had to offer.
To be honest, we werent impressed by Skagway. It was a bit bland for us, all the shops selling the same things and the typical pushy jewellery sales people. I had bought a Chamilia charm bracelet on the ship the day before and wanted to pick up a charm in each port to go on it. in all the brochures we were given, we saw that lots of the jewellery shops were giving away train charms, which was perfect. However when we saw them they looked really cheap and some of the sales people got a bit narky when we didnt want to buy anything else.
It wasnt all bad though. We bought some amazing fudge frim the very friendly people in the fudge shop, tried some very unique flavours of popcorn in the popcorn emporium and had some good ice-cream. Is it wrong that all of the best bits include food?! We returned to the ship fairly quickly after taking a few pictures in town, grabbed some food from Plutos and set up camp on our balcony just watching the world go by.
Dinner tonight was in Parrot Cay, my least favourite restaurant, but I loved this menu. It was just four of us for dinner tonight as two of our tablemates ate in BBB. I seem to remember we opened a bottle of Jam Jar wine (another amazing find from WDW) and took a glass each to dinner. We had no problem doing this each night. I ordered the baked crab martinique to start, island spice grilled rib-eye with double baked potato and sweet corn followed by the sweet temptations trio (Crème Brûlée Cheesecake, Lemon Meringue Pie and Chocolate S`More Vanilla Cake). The desserts were delicious and the rest was pretty darn good too.
After dinner we broke from tradition and spent a while in the atrium, looking down from deck 4, watching Hook, Smee and Lilo & Stitch. They were brilliant at interacting with one another as well as the guests. It wasnt long though before we gave in and went back to watch yet another Disney classic movie and fall asleep!
Next up Whale watching, but not from the veranda!
Following lunch, we wandered around the animal area and saw goats, donkeys, pigs and of course the husky puppies! They were adorable. Having wanted a dog my whole life and recently buying our fist puppy back in the UK, I was particularly broody when it came to the puppies. I made friends with an adorable black and tan puppy who was clinging on to me for dear life! They were only 1 month old.
We spent all of our time here so didnt get to look at the museum or gift shop which is a shame as I have seen pictures since of the museum which includes a hall full of life-sized animals from the area. A few of our tour mates came back to the bus with some delicious looking ice-cream which they had purchased. I do regret not having bought some as I was craving something sweet. I think I probably had time to pop over and get some but didnt want to hold the tour up.
Soon we were off and with our bellies full and the sun shining, we were as Bruce had predicted dozing off within minutes. We stopped a couple of times on the way back, at the Alaska and Yukon signs as well as some other picturesque stops. We got a few more stamps in our passports from Carcross too.
Our journey back to Skagway took until about 3.00pm. Our last stop was at the relatively new overlook, where we could see the whole town of Skagway and the three ships docked in port. Bruce was kind enough to drop some of us in town so that we could see what their shops had to offer.
To be honest, we werent impressed by Skagway. It was a bit bland for us, all the shops selling the same things and the typical pushy jewellery sales people. I had bought a Chamilia charm bracelet on the ship the day before and wanted to pick up a charm in each port to go on it. in all the brochures we were given, we saw that lots of the jewellery shops were giving away train charms, which was perfect. However when we saw them they looked really cheap and some of the sales people got a bit narky when we didnt want to buy anything else.
It wasnt all bad though. We bought some amazing fudge frim the very friendly people in the fudge shop, tried some very unique flavours of popcorn in the popcorn emporium and had some good ice-cream. Is it wrong that all of the best bits include food?! We returned to the ship fairly quickly after taking a few pictures in town, grabbed some food from Plutos and set up camp on our balcony just watching the world go by.
Dinner tonight was in Parrot Cay, my least favourite restaurant, but I loved this menu. It was just four of us for dinner tonight as two of our tablemates ate in BBB. I seem to remember we opened a bottle of Jam Jar wine (another amazing find from WDW) and took a glass each to dinner. We had no problem doing this each night. I ordered the baked crab martinique to start, island spice grilled rib-eye with double baked potato and sweet corn followed by the sweet temptations trio (Crème Brûlée Cheesecake, Lemon Meringue Pie and Chocolate S`More Vanilla Cake). The desserts were delicious and the rest was pretty darn good too.
After dinner we broke from tradition and spent a while in the atrium, looking down from deck 4, watching Hook, Smee and Lilo & Stitch. They were brilliant at interacting with one another as well as the guests. It wasnt long though before we gave in and went back to watch yet another Disney classic movie and fall asleep!
Next up Whale watching, but not from the veranda!
Texas lady
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2007
Found your trip report this morning Enjoying it, Love the pics!!
Enjoying it, Love the pics!!
MomsOf2boys
<font color= deeppink ><marquee>Has obsessive fing
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2007
I'm just tuning in. This is my first Alaska trip report. I want to do one but have not yet decided when I can do one. So I'm going with you. Loved the pictures. I would have freaked out hearing the iceberg crack. Titanic came to mind and you might have turned your head to see me wearing my life vest.
topsy
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2007
I'm glad I can take you on the journey! I am trying to find a video which sows the noise the glacier made before that piece broke off. I have a feeling it was that which alerted us to the calving so the only recordings I have are after the noise, but I'll keep looking!
You're very welcome, thank you for reading! It's been said many times before but no matter how many TRs you read, nothing will prepare you for the wonderful trip you will have and the amazing sights you will see!
Found your trip report this morning
Thank you, there's plenty more to come!
topsy
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2007
Friday 6th September
Part One -
When we first talked about whale watching in Juneau, we booked onto the 9.50am tour with Harv and Marv, allowing us to have a bit of a lie in. however, I was concerned about how much time that would leave us to explore Juneau itself after our tour, I knew I really wanted to try the crab at Tracys Crab Shack! I contacted Callie at Harv and Marv and she was brilliant, she suggested we make our own way to Mendenhall Glacier (there are loads of options from town) and they would pick us up from there at 10.15am on the way to the boat. Perfect.
So we ordered a room-service breakfast again, but this time gave the right level of detail! The guy who brought it to us had also added coffee for us as it was a chilly day he thought we might want some! We got ready and were off the ship at 8.00am. We were actually late docking this morning; we arrived at 6.50am instead of 6.15am.
On the way out, we took Elles damaged case to guest services as they had said they would try to fix it. Later on, they called and left us a message offering her a brand new case as they could not find a handle to fit. Elle accepted the new case and they had it delivered to our room later that day. It was huge! It was just a plain black one, not a Disney case but they must have some stored for issues like this. She was very happy as looking back now, we have no idea how she would have brought everything back in her original case!
Back to Juneau we boarded the free shuttle from the ship to downtown and then purchased an $8 one-way ticket (each) to Mendenhall Glacier on another shuttle. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side here, it was dull and drizzly and my jeans quickly became soaked through. We wandered along a short path near the visitor centre to look out at the glacier but didnt want to go any further in the rain, which was a shame as I had really wanted to walk up to the waterfall. We then decided to walk around the bear trails running along the river, which absolutely stank of dead salmon! When we got closer, we could see why. There was dead salmon and scraps of salmon everywhere, which suggested bears had been in the area. We didnt see any bears here, but we did see our first up-close bald eagle.
Just after 10.15am our Harv & Marv ride came to pick us up. I dont recall the name of the lady driving us to the dock but she was lovely. We spent the 15 minute journey talking about all the travels we had each been on. I just remember thinking she was so warm and kind, a brilliant first impression. We arrived at the dock and found we would have a full boat of 6 plus Captain Liz. I was so excited to have Liz as she is the one who manages their Facebook page which I had been looking at for months! There was us, another couple from the Wonder from Ohio who were lovely and a couple from California who were travelling independently. Elle later struck up a conversation with the chap from California and found he used to live in the area her family comes from in the UK a small world indeed!
This tour was unbelievable. We left the dock and sailed out past some small land masses, we saw eagles and seals frolicking in the sea. We didnt think wed have a very good view as the weather was so dreary but the further out we got, the more our excitement started to build. We were allowed to go out on the back of the boat and were all watching for the elusive whale spout. The small boats H&M use actually sit down in the water so youre very close to the water. We spent a long time searching with no luck, when suddenly there was a hive of activity ahead of us. Whales! I dont know how many there were in total but I think we saw at least 8 different whales, of course they swim in all directions so it was hard to keep track.
We didnt have any up-close breaches sadly, but we did have some VERY close encounters with the whales swimming only a few feet from the boat. I must point out that the boats are not allowed to go within 100yds of the whales, they have to cut their engines if the whales approach. Captain Liz had noticed that a group of whales were moving in a circle, probably feeding. She tried to get us on the edge of the circle so they would go past us occasionally. With the engine cut off, we seemed to float right into the centre so we had all the whales circling our boat, feeding. The sounds they made were indescribable, there was screeching and trumpeting, fog horn type noises we took a video to try and capture it but nothing will prepare you for how loud they are when youre just feet away from them!
I cannot say enough good things about Harv & Marv, from Callie in the office having to deal with my constant stream of emails and questions, to the lady who picked us up and finally Captain Liz who was clearly so passionate about her job and truly cared for the whales. She told us she lives in Maui for half the year, were planning a Hawaii trip so I would love to look Liz up and join her for a whale watch there!
Part One -
When we first talked about whale watching in Juneau, we booked onto the 9.50am tour with Harv and Marv, allowing us to have a bit of a lie in. however, I was concerned about how much time that would leave us to explore Juneau itself after our tour, I knew I really wanted to try the crab at Tracys Crab Shack! I contacted Callie at Harv and Marv and she was brilliant, she suggested we make our own way to Mendenhall Glacier (there are loads of options from town) and they would pick us up from there at 10.15am on the way to the boat. Perfect.
So we ordered a room-service breakfast again, but this time gave the right level of detail! The guy who brought it to us had also added coffee for us as it was a chilly day he thought we might want some! We got ready and were off the ship at 8.00am. We were actually late docking this morning; we arrived at 6.50am instead of 6.15am.
On the way out, we took Elles damaged case to guest services as they had said they would try to fix it. Later on, they called and left us a message offering her a brand new case as they could not find a handle to fit. Elle accepted the new case and they had it delivered to our room later that day. It was huge! It was just a plain black one, not a Disney case but they must have some stored for issues like this. She was very happy as looking back now, we have no idea how she would have brought everything back in her original case!
Back to Juneau we boarded the free shuttle from the ship to downtown and then purchased an $8 one-way ticket (each) to Mendenhall Glacier on another shuttle. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side here, it was dull and drizzly and my jeans quickly became soaked through. We wandered along a short path near the visitor centre to look out at the glacier but didnt want to go any further in the rain, which was a shame as I had really wanted to walk up to the waterfall. We then decided to walk around the bear trails running along the river, which absolutely stank of dead salmon! When we got closer, we could see why. There was dead salmon and scraps of salmon everywhere, which suggested bears had been in the area. We didnt see any bears here, but we did see our first up-close bald eagle.
Just after 10.15am our Harv & Marv ride came to pick us up. I dont recall the name of the lady driving us to the dock but she was lovely. We spent the 15 minute journey talking about all the travels we had each been on. I just remember thinking she was so warm and kind, a brilliant first impression. We arrived at the dock and found we would have a full boat of 6 plus Captain Liz. I was so excited to have Liz as she is the one who manages their Facebook page which I had been looking at for months! There was us, another couple from the Wonder from Ohio who were lovely and a couple from California who were travelling independently. Elle later struck up a conversation with the chap from California and found he used to live in the area her family comes from in the UK a small world indeed!
This tour was unbelievable. We left the dock and sailed out past some small land masses, we saw eagles and seals frolicking in the sea. We didnt think wed have a very good view as the weather was so dreary but the further out we got, the more our excitement started to build. We were allowed to go out on the back of the boat and were all watching for the elusive whale spout. The small boats H&M use actually sit down in the water so youre very close to the water. We spent a long time searching with no luck, when suddenly there was a hive of activity ahead of us. Whales! I dont know how many there were in total but I think we saw at least 8 different whales, of course they swim in all directions so it was hard to keep track.
We didnt have any up-close breaches sadly, but we did have some VERY close encounters with the whales swimming only a few feet from the boat. I must point out that the boats are not allowed to go within 100yds of the whales, they have to cut their engines if the whales approach. Captain Liz had noticed that a group of whales were moving in a circle, probably feeding. She tried to get us on the edge of the circle so they would go past us occasionally. With the engine cut off, we seemed to float right into the centre so we had all the whales circling our boat, feeding. The sounds they made were indescribable, there was screeching and trumpeting, fog horn type noises we took a video to try and capture it but nothing will prepare you for how loud they are when youre just feet away from them!
I cannot say enough good things about Harv & Marv, from Callie in the office having to deal with my constant stream of emails and questions, to the lady who picked us up and finally Captain Liz who was clearly so passionate about her job and truly cared for the whales. She told us she lives in Maui for half the year, were planning a Hawaii trip so I would love to look Liz up and join her for a whale watch there!
topsy
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2007
Part Two
Once the tour was over, we joined guests form the other H&M boats on a bus which took us over to Mendenhall Glacier for 15 minutes. Luckily, the clouds had lifted and the weather was much better by this point so we got some much better shots of the glacier. We still didnt have time to walk to the waterfall unfortunately. We had another quick look for bears but they werent being very cooperative!
The bus driver offered to drop people in the centre of town or at the ships, we chose town. Something which I did find funny was that in the bus there was a big hand-written sign saying something along the lines of gratuities appreciated, yet there was no mention or indication of gratuities on the boat. We actually gave Liz a tip but I didnt see the others do that. Liz was so taken aback and clearly appreciated it, but certainly didnt expect it. I find it odd that a driver, who has had no interaction with me and only spent 30 minutes with me felt he deserved a tip. Yet a woman who was responsible for our safety out on the open water, with us for 2 hours and interacted wonderfully with us didnt expect a thing. Anyway, Ill stop sounding grumpy now back to the report!
We found a lovely coffee place, the Heritage Coffee Co. and took some drinks with us whilst we wandered around town. I made a beeline for Tracys whilst Elle went off in search off some good fish and chips Liz had recommended. It turns out the fish and chips place was table service only so Elle came back to have crab with me. I thought Tracys was fun and light hearted. I ordered the combo which included a king crab leg, 6 crab cakes and a small pot of crab bisque. It was really good! The crab cakes were my favourite, followed by the legs then bisque. Elle had the crab sandwich stuffed with crab cakes, crab meat, coleslaw and maybe some other stuff?! It looked amazing and for someone who doesnt really like crab, she really enjoyed it.
Several napkins and wet wipes later, we went off in search of a charm for my bracelet. I had seen a cute whale charm in the chamilia catalogue on the ship and was told I could get it in port. Again, I was not impressed with all the jewellery shops or pushy sales people but I did much prefer the port as a whole to Skagway. Our last shop is where we found the charms but they didnt have the whale or train in stock. They offered to order them and send them to me in the UK with no P&P charge. I was sceptical but it all seemed above board, I paid on a credit card so I am covered and was given proper receipts and delivery info. I am still waiting for them so I am just hoping I havent been screwed over!
We made it back to the shuttle stop, only a couple of yards away in time to catch the 3.45pm shuttle bus back to the ship. We were told the last one would be at 4.00pm and they were every 15 minutes. At dinner our tablemates told us they got a bus back at 4.15pm! we headed to our room to warm up and change, I think we got drinks, probably hot chocolate because that stuff was good!
We then watched the ship prepare to leave. This was one of the funniest moments of the trip. For some reason we were trying to move away but there was still one rope attached to the dock. The dock master (if thats even a thing?) was shouting obscenities at the crew and yelling stop, tell the captain to stop whilst waving in the direction of the bridge. Now bear in mind we were in an aft room, about 5 from the back of the ship. Did he really think the Captain would a) hear him or b) see him?! He was getting really irate and eventually with lots of tugging, they freed the rope from the dock. Id be curious to know whether the crew on the bridge ever knew about the commotion happening at the back of the ship!
After sitting out looking for whales again, we went off to watch the Toy Story musical. I had not seen it before, but Elle had, and I had heard varying reviews. I liked it, I thought Sid was brilliant and sounded exactly like Sid in the movie. Buzz Lightyear annoyed me and Woody was cute. I did think it dragged a little but overall was good. I loved the alien scene with the claw. Elle didnt feel very well part way through so went back to the room to rest before dinner. She bumped into Elmer who asked if she was ok, he really was a very sweet room host.
Tonights dinner, served in Tritons, was something new. It was Pixar night (as well as semi-formal, which I dont completely understand) and they were serving the Toy Story Menu. I ordered The Prospector (Chicken and Red Onion Flat Bread with Red Wine Pears, Walnuts and Crumbled Blue Cheese),Sheriff Woody's Favorite Marinated Delmonico Rib Eye Steak
(With a Sweet Potato Gratin, Collard Greens and Sweet Baby Carrots) and two desserts - Buzz Light Year's Ice Cream Sundae and Jessie's White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake.
Theres been a lot of buzz about the bubble gum ice-cream (see what I did there Buzz?!) and only two of us on the table were brave enough to try it. Yes we both had bright blue tongues and it did taste like I was eating bubble gum, but I actually really enjoyed it! I did have the cheesecake too so I would appear to be more normal. The table shared a bottle of Korbel champagne tonight as graciously paid for by one of the guys on our table.
After dinner, one of our tablemate couples left to go and await the Pixar party in the lobby. The rest of us decided to linger and chat over coffee, which turned out to be a great idea as Mike and Sully walked through the restaurant to get to the main doors of Tritons. Apparently this is the only route Sully can take as he is so big! They stood there for a few minutes until their names were called and they went out to the party. Mike was hilarious, he was doing his stretches and warm up exercises whilst waiting!
Once theyd gone through we decided to go and watch the Pixar party. It was ok, very loud and hosted by a very annoying cast member who was a bit of a wannabe Disney princess. She over-acted everything and was very arrogant. Otherwise, it was fairly fun, I love the Up characters so it was fun seeing them out. It was just a bit of a free for all though when it came to people trying to take pictures.
It wasnt long before we called it a night, after strolling through Shutters to check on our photos.
Next up Ketchikan, will we finally see bears?!
Once the tour was over, we joined guests form the other H&M boats on a bus which took us over to Mendenhall Glacier for 15 minutes. Luckily, the clouds had lifted and the weather was much better by this point so we got some much better shots of the glacier. We still didnt have time to walk to the waterfall unfortunately. We had another quick look for bears but they werent being very cooperative!
The bus driver offered to drop people in the centre of town or at the ships, we chose town. Something which I did find funny was that in the bus there was a big hand-written sign saying something along the lines of gratuities appreciated, yet there was no mention or indication of gratuities on the boat. We actually gave Liz a tip but I didnt see the others do that. Liz was so taken aback and clearly appreciated it, but certainly didnt expect it. I find it odd that a driver, who has had no interaction with me and only spent 30 minutes with me felt he deserved a tip. Yet a woman who was responsible for our safety out on the open water, with us for 2 hours and interacted wonderfully with us didnt expect a thing. Anyway, Ill stop sounding grumpy now back to the report!
We found a lovely coffee place, the Heritage Coffee Co. and took some drinks with us whilst we wandered around town. I made a beeline for Tracys whilst Elle went off in search off some good fish and chips Liz had recommended. It turns out the fish and chips place was table service only so Elle came back to have crab with me. I thought Tracys was fun and light hearted. I ordered the combo which included a king crab leg, 6 crab cakes and a small pot of crab bisque. It was really good! The crab cakes were my favourite, followed by the legs then bisque. Elle had the crab sandwich stuffed with crab cakes, crab meat, coleslaw and maybe some other stuff?! It looked amazing and for someone who doesnt really like crab, she really enjoyed it.
Several napkins and wet wipes later, we went off in search of a charm for my bracelet. I had seen a cute whale charm in the chamilia catalogue on the ship and was told I could get it in port. Again, I was not impressed with all the jewellery shops or pushy sales people but I did much prefer the port as a whole to Skagway. Our last shop is where we found the charms but they didnt have the whale or train in stock. They offered to order them and send them to me in the UK with no P&P charge. I was sceptical but it all seemed above board, I paid on a credit card so I am covered and was given proper receipts and delivery info. I am still waiting for them so I am just hoping I havent been screwed over!
We made it back to the shuttle stop, only a couple of yards away in time to catch the 3.45pm shuttle bus back to the ship. We were told the last one would be at 4.00pm and they were every 15 minutes. At dinner our tablemates told us they got a bus back at 4.15pm! we headed to our room to warm up and change, I think we got drinks, probably hot chocolate because that stuff was good!
We then watched the ship prepare to leave. This was one of the funniest moments of the trip. For some reason we were trying to move away but there was still one rope attached to the dock. The dock master (if thats even a thing?) was shouting obscenities at the crew and yelling stop, tell the captain to stop whilst waving in the direction of the bridge. Now bear in mind we were in an aft room, about 5 from the back of the ship. Did he really think the Captain would a) hear him or b) see him?! He was getting really irate and eventually with lots of tugging, they freed the rope from the dock. Id be curious to know whether the crew on the bridge ever knew about the commotion happening at the back of the ship!
After sitting out looking for whales again, we went off to watch the Toy Story musical. I had not seen it before, but Elle had, and I had heard varying reviews. I liked it, I thought Sid was brilliant and sounded exactly like Sid in the movie. Buzz Lightyear annoyed me and Woody was cute. I did think it dragged a little but overall was good. I loved the alien scene with the claw. Elle didnt feel very well part way through so went back to the room to rest before dinner. She bumped into Elmer who asked if she was ok, he really was a very sweet room host.
Tonights dinner, served in Tritons, was something new. It was Pixar night (as well as semi-formal, which I dont completely understand) and they were serving the Toy Story Menu. I ordered The Prospector (Chicken and Red Onion Flat Bread with Red Wine Pears, Walnuts and Crumbled Blue Cheese),Sheriff Woody's Favorite Marinated Delmonico Rib Eye Steak
(With a Sweet Potato Gratin, Collard Greens and Sweet Baby Carrots) and two desserts - Buzz Light Year's Ice Cream Sundae and Jessie's White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake.
Theres been a lot of buzz about the bubble gum ice-cream (see what I did there Buzz?!) and only two of us on the table were brave enough to try it. Yes we both had bright blue tongues and it did taste like I was eating bubble gum, but I actually really enjoyed it! I did have the cheesecake too so I would appear to be more normal. The table shared a bottle of Korbel champagne tonight as graciously paid for by one of the guys on our table.
After dinner, one of our tablemate couples left to go and await the Pixar party in the lobby. The rest of us decided to linger and chat over coffee, which turned out to be a great idea as Mike and Sully walked through the restaurant to get to the main doors of Tritons. Apparently this is the only route Sully can take as he is so big! They stood there for a few minutes until their names were called and they went out to the party. Mike was hilarious, he was doing his stretches and warm up exercises whilst waiting!
Once theyd gone through we decided to go and watch the Pixar party. It was ok, very loud and hosted by a very annoying cast member who was a bit of a wannabe Disney princess. She over-acted everything and was very arrogant. Otherwise, it was fairly fun, I love the Up characters so it was fun seeing them out. It was just a bit of a free for all though when it came to people trying to take pictures.
It wasnt long before we called it a night, after strolling through Shutters to check on our photos.
Next up Ketchikan, will we finally see bears?!
pascalstongue
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2012
Wow, it all looks so beautiful! How lucky of you to get so close to the whales.
Hope your Chamilla charm arrives soon!
Hope your Chamilla charm arrives soon!
RweTHEREyet
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 4, 1999
Another great installment and more wales and good food. I love crab and cannot wait to try Tracy's Crab Shack. so thank you for sharing the pictures of your food there.
Loved the leaving the dock story, wonder what would have given way first if they hadn't gotten the rope loose, the dock or a part of the ship?
Loved the leaving the dock story, wonder what would have given way first if they hadn't gotten the rope loose, the dock or a part of the ship?
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