The Alaskan Jewel! Welcome Aboard….You don’t Exist!

[jenseib]

I am heading out of town for Thanksgiving early tomorrow so this will be the last update till next week!
Thanks for sticking with me.

 

[rndmr2]

Nice morning stroll around town. That's crazy how warm it was, definitely better to dress in layers.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

 

[dolphingirl47]

My fear for me is motion sickness.

I suffer pretty badly from motion sickness and I was absolutely fine.

Skagway actually looked pretty nice. We just did the excursion and then headed back to the ship, but maybe next time we need to spend some time exploring.

Have a nice Thanksgiving.

Corinna

 

[Pinkocto]

Safe travels and Happy Thanksgiving!

Skagway is super cute, fun that you went out that morning. I do not think I would be so adventurous if I was traveling with other people. If I started off alone that's one thing, but I tend to stick with who I'm traveling with. Those morning pictures off the ship were so pretty!

 

[westcoastfldisneygirl]

All caught up! Amazing photos.

Swagway is sooo cute! Did you have a long stay there? (can't wait to read more!!)

We did a NCL last year and I loveeeee that whip cream they serve. It's SO GOOD.

Haven is gorgeous, I would love to stay there sometime!

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving, and ready for more photos!

 

[bcwife76]

Finally caught up again! Can't believe we're nearly at the end of your report! I think I'm going to reread your entire report again at some point; we ended up cancelling our Aug 2016 Alaska cruise on DCL in favour of a much more financially-friendly Jan 2017 Bahamas cruise on DCL. We'll get to Alaska eventually (I'm thinking now not until our 15th wedding anniversary in 2019) and most likely it will be on NCL or RCCL.

 

[Mel'sMagic]

Stunning photos - I'm late to join but look forward to catching up on your trip report. We've booked our first DCL experience to Alaska this summer - I have a lot to learn!

 

[Mel'sMagic]

Great Chihuly photos!

 

[Mel'sMagic]

We really spent a lot of time here watching them. I can see how you could spend a whole day here and never get tired of watching them.


whale73 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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As you can see this littler boat went much closer.


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I had really hoped I would get a nice whale tale picture and I was pretty happy that I got several.


Here they come!!!!!


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Look at that big guys mouth wide open.


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I stood next to Sammy for quite a while and she was just so fun to talk to. She said this was an amazing tour and not something you get to see normally.


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We watched them for a bit more and then the Captain said we had to head back since we had a ship to catch yet today and because we were out further than where they normally go it was going to take a bit longer to get back.


We headed back downstairs to warm up and talked to Skip. This was just so fabulous, but we knew that this excursion was more for us girls than Skip. He didn’t have that big silly grin on his face today like he did when we were out crab fishing. Today I was wearing that grin.


Sammy talked some more on the way back. She was so pumped about everything. She said normally they don’t see 8 whales together, let along bubble feeding too. And the fact that we saw Orcas as well just made this tour all the more exciting.


She went on with more info about whales and they also had some stuff for sale and another gal came up and talked about that. They also had some snacks for free. I think it was salmon on a cracker and you could buy the cans of salmon if you liked it. It was pretty good. Claire refused to try it. I think we got some more cocoa as well.


Finally we made it back to shore and I was watching my watch. It was getting late and I knew we were cutting it close getting back to the ship, but thank goodness this was a ship excursion.


When we got back we tipped Sammy and headed back to the bus. Now tips are totally optional, but most of the kids working on these excursions, that is…. the ones helping out, are college kids trying to earn money for the next year. I never felt pressured to tip anyone though it was always announced that they were working hard and we could tip them if we felt they did a good job. So far, everyone really went above and beyond and we were happy to give them a few bucks to help them along.


On our way back to Juneau.


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Our bus driver was just as chatty on the way back and gave us some history on the city.



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I believe he said that Juneau’s capital building is the smallest state capital building used in the US.


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Sadly as we got into town I knew we wouldn’t have any time to look around or shop. I had really wanted to go to Tracy’s Crab Shack for a leg of king crab, but it wasn’t meant to be. I should’ve gotten crab yesterday in Ketchikan…darn it!


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We were basically pulling up at the all aboard time….eek!!!! cutting it close.


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Until we saw this line.


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Yep it was wrapped all the way down to the buses. We decided to wait it out and go to the bathroom before jumping in line.


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The line was moving pretty fast and we jumped in it then as the end got near the bathrooms.


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As we waiting I was trying to upload photos to facebook from my phone. The funny thing is I had better cell reception on the whale watching boat than I did at the dock here.



Up next….Some lunch and some more beautiful scenery!

Incredible photos from the whale watching excursion! Which company did you use?

 

[Beth D]

Great updates Jen! I love the seals on the iceberg!

I was thinking of your last TR today. Fox8 in Cleveland had their remote guy broadcasting from Stan Hewitt Hall, and it was all decorated for Christmas - gorgeous! I only got to watch a couple minutes before i had to get dressed for work.

 

[jenseib]

I made it back! We had a wonderful trip to NYC for Thanksgiving and had a lot of fun and very little sleep. And then I was a bit sick when I got home, plus playing catchup with all sorts of other things. But I am back to writing today and hope to get this day going!

Nice morning stroll around town. That's crazy how warm it was, definitely better to dress in layers.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

It was a great day really. We lucked out with weather and I was so happy!

I suffer pretty badly from motion sickness and I was absolutely fine.

Skagway actually looked pretty nice. We just did the excursion and then headed back to the ship, but maybe next time we need to spend some time exploring.

Have a nice Thanksgiving.

Corinna

Good to know about the motion sickness. The town is pretty small but easy enough to walk around and get the lay of the land somewhat.

Safe travels and Happy Thanksgiving!

Skagway is super cute, fun that you went out that morning. I do not think I would be so adventurous if I was traveling with other people. If I started off alone that's one thing, but I tend to stick with who I'm traveling with. Those morning pictures off the ship were so pretty!

I am super independent. I was a single mom to my 2 older kids for many many years. And then with Skip in the dairy business he can't always come to everything and I just go anyways. So this was no big deal to me. If I want to do something I do it now and don't wait for others. Same was true for the NYC trip we took last week. Some members of the family are a bit slower and I just would go. One night I planned to walk back to the hotel after we did some exploring. My sister and Claire were too tired to walk and their feet hurt. My Uncle said he would walk back with me, but my sister was afraid to take a taxi by herself...even though Claire was with her. So he went with them and I walked and enjoyed the views. My sister was sure I would be killed. LOL. I am still alive!

All caught up! Amazing photos.

Swagway is sooo cute! Did you have a long stay there? (can't wait to read more!!)

We did a NCL last year and I loveeeee that whip cream they serve. It's SO GOOD.

Haven is gorgeous, I would love to stay there sometime!

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving, and ready for more photos!

That whip cream is so delicious!!!
Skagway is a nice little town. But very expensive.

Finally caught up again! Can't believe we're nearly at the end of your report! I think I'm going to reread your entire report again at some point; we ended up cancelling our Aug 2016 Alaska cruise on DCL in favour of a much more financially-friendly Jan 2017 Bahamas cruise on DCL. We'll get to Alaska eventually (I'm thinking now not until our 15th wedding anniversary in 2019) and most likely it will be on NCL or RCCL.

I still have quite a ways to go. 2 more full days after this one and then our travel day.
That's too bad about having to cancel the Alaskan cruise but I can understand. I would love to do one on Disney but the cost is so much higher. I am branching out more and even though I prefer Disney, I know I can have a good time on other lines too.

Stunning photos - I'm late to join but look forward to catching up on your trip report. We've booked our first DCL experience to Alaska this summer - I have a lot to learn!

Welcome!!! So glad you could join in! Alaska is just so beautiful!

Great Chihuly photos!

Thanks

Incredible photos from the whale watching excursion! Which company did you use?

I didn't pay attention to who they were but it was booked through NCL. I believe Disney uses the same company as well.

Great updates Jen! I love the seals on the iceberg!

I was thinking of your last TR today. Fox8 in Cleveland had their remote guy broadcasting from Stan Hewitt Hall, and it was all decorated for Christmas - gorgeous! I only got to watch a couple minutes before i had to get dressed for work.

Oh wow! I would love to see it all decorated. Maybe next year if things are calmer we can take a trip there for the holidays.

 

[jenseib]

We decided we were ready to head off the ship and check in for our excursion. It was early but we had nothing else to do.


skag102 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We checked in and were told just to wait for a bit as our bus wasn’t here but they would call us once it arrived. So we sat on some slabs of concrete and looked out to see if we could see any wild life.


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Something was moving out there.


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Skip kept asking me what we were doing today and it was hard to explain. We were doing the Klondike Family Experience…which doesn’t really tell you much.

Its description said panning for gold, trying out beer/root beer, sled dogs, puppies, lunch and a 40 below room. I thought it sounded good since it had a little bit of everything and it would include gold panning for Skip, puppies for Claire and food for me! Since Skip watches Gold Rush I thought he might like to pan for gold. He kept acting like this was not a good choice....but would still tolerate it. He was SO wrong!!!!!


As we sat I saw something move out there.


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I thought it was an otter but it may have just been some branches floating.


I had Claire pose for me.


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You can see how high the tide can get. And it was MUCH higher when we returned later today.


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There was a seal out there doing some swimming.


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And we watched helicopters take off and land.


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I had Claire pose again with the ship in the background.


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We just wore sweatshirts today since it was so warm…Skip went without one though.


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We saw another bus arrive so we headed over to see if it was ours and it was. Goldbeard told us he would be our guide and he told us to get on the bus.


Goldbeard had a reddish beard and Skip thought it was quite the coincidence that his parents named him Goldbeard. Hahahah.


We sat on the bus and waited for the rest to board and I took pictures out the window.


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The crew must’ve been having a safety drill.


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And then we were off.


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Goldbeard told us about the town and what it was like living there. He like many others, is only there for the summer tourist season.


He pointed out a few things, one being the only grocery store….though I think they had a whole foods type store too. I think he said a half gallon of milk is $3.50!!!! and a gallon $7. He said they use milk sparingly here. Everything is barged up from Seattle and if you are not at the store the day the milk comes there is a good chance you won’t get any milk for the week. And Skip being the dairy farmer asked why they didn’t have cows there. Goldbeard said that there really isn’t enough flat ground to have a dairy farm. Though I bet Skip would figure out a way. LOL.


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The ride wasn’t too long and before we knew it we were ready to start our day.



Up next….panning for Gold with Charlie.

 

[dolphingirl47]

I am really enjoying all the photos again. The price for the milk is really shocking. I am looking forward to read about the excursion. This sounds interesting.

Corinna

 

[AquaDame]

Sounds like Skip was running numbers in his head...

 

[ASchwa]

I made it back! We had a wonderful trip to NYC for Thanksgiving and had a lot of fun and very little sleep. And then I was a bit sick when I got home, plus playing catchup with all sorts of other things. But I am back to writing today and hope to get this day going!

Did you go to the parade? My soon to be 12 year old niece was on the NHL float, with her first cousin. I am enjoying your trip report on Alaska. I went with DCL in 2012. We started in Seattle and ended in Vancouver.

 

[jenseib]

I am really enjoying all the photos again. The price for the milk is really shocking. I am looking forward to read about the excursion. This sounds interesting.

Corinna

I really enjoyed this day. It had something for everyone

Sounds like Skip was running numbers in his head...

Heck yeah. We would have the market cornered for sure.

Did you go to the parade? My soon to be 12 year old niece was on the NHL float, with her first cousin. I am enjoying your trip report on Alaska. I went with DCL in 2012. We started in Seattle and ended in Vancouver.

Which float was it? How cool. I did watch it. i have a friend who lives in NYC and her husband works for Amazon and we got to watch it from the building. It was so nice!!!

 

[jenseib]

On the bus ride we were given a couple of tokens to hold on to. One was for admission and one was for lunch. We may have been given a 3rd for gold panning but I can’t remember for sure now.


I put the lunch ones away safely so they wouldn’t be lost.


When we got off the bus, Goldbeard pointed out a few things like bathrooms, smoking areas, gift shop, snack bar, etc.


We then were going to go and pan for gold first.


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They had coats for use too if you needed one.


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We had to wait a few minutes till the group before us were done panning so if anyone had to use the restroom they could do so at this time.


We were standing next to Goldbeard and Skip saw this!


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It’s a dredger. Now that means nothing to me and probably to many of you as well, but for those who are Gold Rush fans on TV, I guess this is a big to do. Skip said “well that looks just like Tony Beets' dredger!” And Goldbeard replied, “yes it does, because it is the sister dredger. Tony got that one from us.” Skip was now in heaven and this excursion, which I think he thought was going to be somewhat lame, just turned into one of the best things ever.


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It was now our turn to go see Charlie and learn about panning for gold.


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Charlie had a lot of funny stories and he taught us the ways of panning for gold.


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Charlie told us that when it comes to panning gold kids can do it well and adults usually have troubles. That is because you have to dip the pan in and dump out the rocks….gold weighs more than the pebbles so it will stay. Kids will follow the directions, for adults it just doesn’t seem possible for the gold to stay in the pan and the pebbles will fall out. And it was true. When it came to our turn, I just could not get it right at all.


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It looks easy enough, but believe me, it was not.


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After we got our lesson and stories from Charlie we got to move on to try it ourselves. Skip had to get his picture with Charlie….as you can see he is super excited now about this whole thing. We made Claire get a picture too….she was being shy but we got a couple of shots.


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I took a few pictures of the equipment laying around as we made our way to the panning area.


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Skip knew all the terms for each piece and was rattling it off as we went by.


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We each got a pan of paydirt.


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And we got started.


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As you can see, Skip was taking this seriously.


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I was horrid at this. Skip was ok and he helped Claire but I had one of the guys there basically do it for me because I just could not get it right.


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Now there is real gold in this paydirt and the guy said I had a pretty big flake….he said it was not the usual size and pretty rare. Score for me! We all got little vials to put our gold dust in. Then when we were done we could go in and have it weighed. They do not buy the gold but you can either keep it in your vial or purchase something to put the gold in. Of course they have to make some money some way…right?


We made our way up to get our gold weighed then.


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The line was pretty long but it did move fairly fast.


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Up next…I am the Gold Champion!

 

[ASchwa]

and works for Amazon and we got to watch it from the building. It was so nice!!!

NHL the National Hockey League float, with Jake Owen and Gordie Howe's sons. They had kids playing hockey on it, and some just waving.

 

[bcwife76]

Charlie looks like quite the character, what a riot! That looks like so much fun and easy....which means, like you said, way harder than it looks ;-)

 

[chartle]

Sounds like Skip was running numbers in his head...

Heck yeah. We would have the market cornered for sure.

But what numbers was he running? Did he factor in that all his supplies like feed are going to be maybe 2 to 3 or more times higher than he would expect. And don't forget heat.