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

[Pinkocto]

Yep, you'd literally have to tear me away from those views. Beautiful!

Oh my about your great uncles hoarding. My mom had to clean out her grandma's house and she was a hoarder also. I was told hers was a result of living through the war. His stories must have been great with all those different experiences.

 

[jenseib]

I really enjoyed the pictures. This is so pretty. How nice that you got to have a nice chat with somebody. It sounds like your uncle would have been a interesting person to meet.

Corinna

It was really excitimg and beautiful. The lady was very nice and it was nice to have chat.
My uncle was iteresting...single all his life so he had a lot of single man views. LOL

Yep, you'd literally have to tear me away from those views. Beautiful!

Oh my about your great uncles hoarding. My mom had to clean out her grandma's house and she was a hoarder also. I was told hers was a result of living through the war. His stories must have been great with all those different experiences.

It was hard to walk away. The whole trip really was beautiful.

My uncle grew up during the war too so that could be part of his issues as well. (he is actually my great-uncle).

 

[pepe3penelope]

Did you happen to experience the kids clubs on Celebrity? By the time we sail again, my kids should be 6 & 10.

 

[canyoncam]

Very cool whale watching!!!!

I never go off by myself when the ship is in port less than 6 hours and especially if I don't know the port yet. We were the last ones getting on through a ship excursion in Columbia. We heard the ships whistle while pulling up to dock in our excursion boat.

You had a nice afternoon enjoying the sights. My mom was fascinated by all the waterfalls too. And as for the ships not using the anchors anymore....Glad you could set him straight. Here we were (once again being the last ones on ship on the last tender) in Cabo



Thanks so much for continuing to share with us Jen!!!!

 

[jenseib]

Did you happen to experience the kids clubs on Celebrity? By the time we sail again, my kids should be 6 & 10.

No, I have yet to sail Celebrity. Too many ships...not enough time or money...I need to win the dang lottery...of course I should probably buy a ticket!

Very cool whale watching!!!!

It was a really cool adventure.

I never go off by myself when the ship is in port less than 6 hours and especially if I don't know the port yet. We were the last ones getting on through a ship excursion in Columbia. We heard the ships whistle while pulling up to dock in our excursion boat.

It makes me nervous too. And yes in a port where I am more familiar I will go off on my own, but sometimes the hassle of getting to places is just not worth the savings of doing it on your own too.

You had a nice afternoon enjoying the sights. My mom was fascinated by all the waterfalls too. And as for the ships not using the anchors anymore....Glad you could set him straight. Here we were (once again being the last ones on ship on the last tender) in Cabo

Awesome shot!!!

 

[jenseib]

I headed back to our room which was at the complete opposite end of the ship. Claire was there and she was all for going with me to see the glacier. Skip said he was going to just watch from the balcony.

We had gotten a note in our room today about a special viewing area for Suite guests. It said that snacks and beverages were being served and to dress warm and also to meet by Moderno. Now I couldn’t fathom where they would have us go that we would get both snacks and have to dress warm. I debated whether or not to go to it. We had some time still to think it over, so Claire and I decided to head to the bow again and watch from there.


We arrived and it was more crowded now. Before you could get near the railing fairly easily but now it seemed to be at least 2 deep of people. I took a few shots.


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We decided what the heck. Let’s leave here and see where this special viewing area was.

We found Florentina near Moderno and she directed us up to floor 14. Oh wow. I never thought about another floor. Well that’s where the Haven is and all the fancier suites are. The Haven has a special area just for its guests and we were directed there.


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Wine and Hot Cocoa was being served.


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And a few snacks, though I don’t think we had any as were still full from lunch…and I later found out Claire had just had a bowl of Clam Chowder. I guess they had a clam bake of sorts out on the pool deck and Skip had taken Claire up there after she was done in the kids club. She said they had a HUGE kettle of clam chowder brewing.


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I shot a few pictures of the Haven…after all I am probably never going to get to stay in a Haven suite in my lifetime.


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As you can see it had a glass covered roof but it can slide open so that on tropical cruises you will have open air.


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Boy I would like to get in that hot tub today!


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We were given a blanket each and directed upstairs. Wow..another level I had not even thought about.


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Chairs and loungers were all set up.


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We grabbed 2 loungers and staked our claim of space and put our stuff down.


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If you sat still you did need the blanket at times but later we moved around and were plenty warm.


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Enjoying some cocoa.


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We just chilled out a bit on our loungers and I shot a few pictures.


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I could see Skip coming up here and just taking a nap on the hammock.


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We decided we would walk around. Most people were anyways and we would get better views if we moved around.


The water started to turn this beautiful aqua green color.


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Looking back you can actually see the line from the yucky looking water to the beautiful blue green water.


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Of course the few pictures I took of the line are all blurry.


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Up next…Dawes Glacier

 

[dolphingirl47]

The Haven looks amazing and the view from up there is pretty spectacular, too.

Corinna

 

[bcwife76]

Wow, fancy. The Haven is well named!!

What a lovely 'extra' for you guys, kind of like NCL pixie dusted you ;-)

 

[mickeystoontown]

Oh my word Jen, you had a fantastic view from which to take pictures! Just like you said, it would have been hard to give up my spot but motherly duties call.

Talk about a special viewing area! I am sure that you and Claire were happy that you decided to check it out. The views are absolutely spectacular!

 

[jenseib]

The Haven looks amazing and the view from up there is pretty spectacular, too.

Corinna

It was really a beautiful area. Would love to stay in that area some day. One can dream...right?

Wow, fancy. The Haven is well named!!

What a lovely 'extra' for you guys, kind of like NCL pixie dusted you ;-)

It was! I was so glad we decided to go.

Oh my word Jen, you had a fantastic view from which to take pictures! Just like you said, it would have been hard to give up my spot but motherly duties call.

It was so hard but I have to be a mom on some days. LOL.

Talk about a special viewing area! I am sure that you and Claire were happy that you decided to check it out. The views are absolutely spectacular!

It ended up being worth leaving the bow to go up here. It was so nice.

 

[jenseib]

We moved around on the top deck and just enjoyed the views.


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Around this bend is the glacier!!!!


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There was a photographer up there with us and we got some pictures taken. I should have grabbed her again when we got in view of the glacier, but we took some of our own so I felt we didn’t need to have her do more.


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It was a little colder up here compared to the bow and more windy, but still was not that bad.


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You can see a peek of the glacier now.


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And there it is! Dawes Glacier…which at that time I had no clue what the name was. It wasn’t till later in the day when the Cruise Director asked over the speakers how everyone enjoyed Dawes Glacier did I know that is what it was called.


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And I am pretty sure Florentina had no clue either. One guy asked her if this was it and she said yes. He said that this wasn’t how he pictured Tracy Arm and she said “no this is it”. Well it wasn’t Tracy Arm first off and I did feel the ship did a poor job at telling us where we were actually going and why.


At this point was disappointed a bit too as I expected more icebergs…and more importantly seals on them. Luckily as we got closer I was rewarded and my disappointment turned into pure excitement and joy.


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If you didn’t know we were in Alaska some of these pictures look like a tropical paradise.


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The size of the glacier is just amazing.


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Claire and I did some posing.


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Claire took like 20 pictures of me standing there. LOL.


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I let her use the point n shoot though I did grab it back here and there, but most of the time she took pictures on that while I used the big camera.


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Claire took another of me, but she told me my eye was too squinty and I look better with sunglasses on. Got love your honest daughter.


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Then someone offered to take one of the 2 of us.


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Claire kept sneaking pictures of me. This one isn’t too bad, but some were like just one eyeball or a nose shot. Crazy kid.


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Isn’t this just gorgeous?


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[jenseib]

You can barely see it but there is a small boat over by the glacier.


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Now something I was hoping to see was seals on icebergs. In this next one you can see dots on one. At the time I took this I hadn’t realized I was seeing them yet.


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Again, the boat is there but you can barely see it…it’s in front of the dark stripe.


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Claire went to take some pictures of the deck furniture….I have taught her well.


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And she had to get a close up of my coat.


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This is where that glass ceiling of the Haven slides back to when they open it.


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And a look down at the Haven.


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Someone offered to take our picture and we returned the favor.


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This was just a photographers dream. Everywhere you looked there was beauty of a different kind.


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Up next…More of Endicott Arm and some Seals!

 

[Pinkocto]

Absolutely gorgeous!!! I'm so glad you went up to the special cold area. Awesome that they did that for you guys, the views are breathtaking!

 

[darwinsrule]

Keep it coming when you can. We are doing the Jewel next August so this is a great primer on what to expect. Jetblue put air on sale tomorrow for August 2016 so this is about to get really 'real'.

 

[shezfrombermuda]

Joining in really late but excited to read.

 

[Beth D]

Fantastic updates! I thought i had posted somewhere in between, but who knows?

I really like the pic of the three of you at the glacier. Claire is such a mix of the two of you!

The whale excursion sounds like it was absolutely perfect! And then special viewing up top? That sounds like a red letter day!

 

[jenseib]

Absolutely gorgeous!!! I'm so glad you went up to the special cold area. Awesome that they did that for you guys, the views are breathtaking!

It really was a nice perk and I am so happy we ended up going.

Keep it coming when you can. We are doing the Jewel next August so this is a great primer on what to expect. Jetblue put air on sale tomorrow for August 2016 so this is about to get really 'real'.

Still plugging along. My Mom was sick this past week and in the hospital so it took away from time I could work on this.
I think you will enjoy the ship. I just love cruising in general and we felt that even though it wasn't Disney we still had a great time. I hope you got a good air sale!!!

Joining in really late but excited to read.

Welcome and so glad you joined in!

Fantastic updates! I thought i had posted somewhere in between, but who knows?

I really like the pic of the three of you at the glacier. Claire is such a mix of the two of you!

The whale excursion sounds like it was absolutely perfect! And then special viewing up top? That sounds like a red letter day!

I think you posted a while back!

Claire tried on a hat the other day...it was similar in style to one Skip wears in the winter. She looked at herself and took it right off and says "OMG I look just like Dad with this hat....No way am I getting it!" LOL.

This was a very fun filled day.

 

[jenseib]

We really were enjoying our views up here on deck 15.


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A lot of these pictures are ones that Claire took….she did a great job.


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This is the excursion boat. They left from Juneau and then would board back on with us in a bit. This was the excursion I had debated on doing. If we ever do this itinerary again I WILL do it. It looked so neat and I have heard so many great things about it.


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And then…We spotted them!


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One jumped off just as I was taking a picture.


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Aren’t they so cute?


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We were told they like to hang around in the Fjords because the whales rarely come back here.


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I was now happy and another check mark went on the list….We saw Seals on icebergs!!


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We walked all around from side to side to get different views.


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Someone mentioned that they saw the glacier calving. I had not and was bummed to have missed it. They pointed out it was still going on and I got one shot of it doing so.


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It never did it again while we were there that I noticed. Claire was convinced she got a shot but I went through all her pictures and nope…she didn’t.


Time for more pictures of us.


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And a pano shot.


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We looked down and saw a chef walk by. We thought it was funny that he had a star on the top of his hat. We would have never have known that if we didn’t see him from above.


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Up next…turning around for more glacier views and the Haven.

 

[Flossbolna]

I love all your pictures, they are truly spectacular! Makes me wish I had a trip to Alaska planned.

 

[jenseib]

I love all your pictures, they are truly spectacular! Makes me wish I had a trip to Alaska planned.

thanks! It is such a wonderful place to visit.