WONDERful Alaska for Gold! 8/11/25-8/18/25

[Geomom]

Wednesday 8/13/25: Glacier Viewing, part 2:

We all met up for lunch at Tiana’s at 12:20PM.

21 had the Parrot Song (non-alcoholic drink of day) and I had the Sunken Treasure (drink of day)

I had the Portobello Mushroom Carpaccio

DH had the Thai Fish Cakes

21 had the Roasted Olives with Rosemary and Feta/Sliced Cacciatore/Roasted Bell Peppers

21 and I had the Mild Chicken Breast Curry

25 had the Pan Roasted Salmon

DH had the Southwest Black Bean Burger

21 and I had the Warm Cherry Crepes

25 had the Chocolate Crème Choux Buns

DH had the Gold Rush Sundae

 

[Geomom]

Wednesday 8/13/25: Glacier Viewing, part 3:

They had announced that we would definitely be going down Endicott Arm and seeing Dawes Glacier. Tracy Arm had recently had a landslide, preventing boat traffic there.

We met Koda while walking on deck 4 promenade at 1:30PM as we sailed down Endicott Arm.

There was a free hot cocoa cart on deck 4 promenade that we enjoyed as well!

It's getting colder!

Pics from Endicott Arm (glacier pics in next post!)






On our August 2016 cruise, we saw tons of seals/seal pups on the ice bergs. We saw NO seals here this year.

 

[Geomom]

Wednesday 8/13/25: Glacier Viewing, part 4:

DH and I met Minnie on deck 10 at 3:45PM (the app said character would be out for 10 minutes—they were out for an hour each on deck 10 by the glacier.)

Then DH, 25, and I met Mickey on deck 10 at 5PM. Okay...so yes, we actually waited 1 hr for each character, but the weather and views were awesome! We got lots of great pics of the glacier while waiting.

The Wonder got really close to the sides of the fjord as we turned. Cast members said it's the closest they've gotten to Dawes Glacier this season.




Glacier!

 

[Geomom]

Wednesday 8/13/25: Glacier Viewing, part 5:

Dinner tonight was in Triton’s again with the “Freezing the Night Away” (Frozen) Menu

21 had the Ice Palace and I had the Pearfection

21 and I had the Andersen Baby Field Greens

DH and I had the Oaken’s Red and Yellow Beetroot Salad

25 had the Sven’s Carrot Soup

I had Hans’ Juniper Marinated Pork Tenderloin

DH had Pabbi’s Stuffed Cabbage Roulades

25 had the Herb Roasted Chicken

21 had Bulda’s Vegetable Turnover

 

[Geomom]

Wednesday 8/13/25: Glacier Viewing, part 6:

21 and I had the Pannekaken

I had the Frozen Yogurt Romanoff Sundae

25 had Olaf’s White Chocolate Floro Dome

DH had Oaken’s Warm Apple Pudding Cake

We shared Elsa’s Chocolate and Raspberry Tart

And the Sitron Mousse

We went to the 8:30PM Walt Disney Theater show, Jon Armstrong, magician/comedian. He was fantastic!

While walking on deck 9, we discovered that there were chunks of glacier ice near both the family pool and adult pool. I love that you can see the striations in this block!

 

[Geomom]

Wednesday 8/13/25: Glacier Viewing, part 7:
Today’s special ice cream flavors were strawberry and blueberry.

While up on deck 10, I took pics of the sunset.



And of the moonlight (I discovered my camera phone could do night mode) from deck 4.


Towel Animal: Bear!

 

[Geomom]

Thursday 8/14/25: Icy Strait Point; 7:15AM-8PM: part 1:

We had the Ocean Landing berth, which is closer to the Adventure Center. Looking out the porthole this morning, we saw flying fish!

We got pastries for the kids from Cove Café again, then DH and I had breakfast in Triton’s. (At home, I normally just have a Greek yogurt for breakfast, so I love the parfaits they have at the sit-down breakfast! I also love the quiet relaxed sit-down meals.)

Pastries

I had the strawberry parfait

I had an omelet with spinach, tomatoes, peppers, and cheese.

DH had Oatmeal, Hashbrowns, and the Power Crepe


21 and I did the “Whale and Mammals Cruise” (IS01) for $234/adult, which included the ‘all access’ tix for gondola rides. We had a 10:45AM meeting time, out on the dock. The catamaran sailed to Point Adolphus. The guides gave the rules as soon as we boarded, no running, and kids must stay with an adult. That lasted maybe 10 minutes…kids running up and down stairs with no adults, and playing ‘hide and seek. The guides walked around the catamaran shortly after we set sail, putting wristbands on anyone who hadn't picked one up yet. This wristband was our 'all access pass', giving us unlimited gondola rides. I believe there was supposed to be a tribal show as well, but we never went to that area.

Beautiful scenery along the way with views of Glacier Bay Mountains in the distance.


We saw stellar sea lions, bald eagles, harbor porpoises, humpback whales, and orcas.

Apparently, we saw something very rare. The pod of orcas was hunting the stellar sea lions right near our boat. The humpback whale that they call ‘Wedgie’ came over and protected the sea lions with its pectoral fin and chased the orcas away.

I don’t have any great pictures from the whale watch, because everything happens so fast. 21 took some phone video of the orcas next to their window. No photo/video proof...but we did see an orca leap out of the water right next to our catamaran!

Pics of humpback whale backs and spouts:



Pic of the Wonder as our catamaran returned to the dock:

 

[Geomom]

Thursday 8/14/25: Icy Strait Point: part 2:

We got back to port around 1:30PM, long line to board ship. We dropped some stuff off in the room/used bathroom quickly. Our stateroom host was 1 room away from us, and I made sure to tell him we were just making a quick stop and would be out of the room in a minute. 21 and I went up to deck 9 for lunch at 1:45PM. We mostly got stuff from Daisy’s De-lites, plus fries from Pete’s, and I had some soft serve ice cream of the day—mango and blueberry. (21 had the mango flavor that night.)

21 had the Teriyaki chicken bowl with cashews and spinach

21 had the Chicken/tomato/mozzarella panini and watermelon

I had the Prosciutto/tomato/arugula/mozzarella panini, watermelon, and a salad with beets, avocado, broccolini, pomegranate seeds.

After lunch, we left the ship again to use our 'all access pass'. The transporter gondola had a long wait, so we decided to do the walking trail to Wilderness Landing.

We walked past parts of the Adventure Course, which 21 thought looked like fun. We heard and saw a juvenile bald eagle up in a tree as well. Then we took the ‘Sky Glider’ gondola to the top of Sky Peak.
You can see the Wonder, way down below:

This is a native fire pit. There was a sign with a schedule of when they light it and do a ceremony...and that should have happened while we were up there...but apparently not?

Then we did the trail to Hidden Lake.




I bought a magnet at the little shop on the top, then we took the Sky Glider gondola back down, and the transporter gondola back over to the Adventure Center.

 

[Geomom]

Thursday 8/14/25: Icy Strait Point: part 3:

DH and 25 had booked the “Spasski River Valley Wildlife and Bear Search” (IS08) for $174/adult. (This excursion also included the 'all access pass', but 25 doesn't like heights, so they had no intention to use the gondolas. Their meeting time was 12:45PM at the Adventure Center. They had lunch at Daisy’s De-lites before leaving the ship. (Teriyaki chicken bowl with cashews for 25. Some wraps/sandwiches/fruit for DH.) DH mailed some postcards at Icy Strait Point before their meet time.

During their tour, they saw Sitka black-tailed deer, bald eagles, lots of salmon, Red Russian squirrels, and a banana slug (the slime has numbing properties).

Boardwalk with bear claw markings:

Pictures of Spasski River Valley with no visible wildlife:



They also so a corona-like rainbow in the sky.

On the drive back to port, they stopped on a bridge and saw a coastal brown (grizzly) bear catching salmon and running off. (No pics.)

DH and 25 were at the Orca Sculpture right as 21 and I walked over from the transporter gondola.

 

[Geomom]

Thursday 8/14/25: Icy Strait Point: part 4:

Dinner was in Animator’s Palate tonight

I had the Great Reef

And 21 had the Passion Cream Freeze (non-alcoholic drink of day)

21 had the Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

21 had the Arugula Leaves

25 had the Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup

I had the Black Truffle Pasta Pursettes

I had the Tomato Tarte

DH had the Sliced Serrano Ham

DH had the Smoked Salmon Tartar

 

[Geomom]

Thursday 8/14/25: Icy Strait Point: part 5:

21 had the Sesame Halloumi Parcels

25 had the Lemon Thyme Marinated Chicken Breast

DH had the Grilled Tuna Steak

I had the Ginger Teriyaki Dusted Beef Tenderloin

Sorcerer Mickey arrives!

21 had the Crunchy Walnut Cake

DH and I had the Warm Sticky Date Pudding

DH had the Cookies ‘n Cream Sundae

25 had the Lemon Icebox Pie and we shared the Chocolate Fudge Cheesecake.

 

[Geomom]

Thursday 8/14/25: Icy Strait Point: part 6:

After dinner, 25 wasn’t feeling well, coming down with a cold, so just rested in the room, watching Disney movies on TV. Tonight, the Walt Disney Theater was showing ‘Freakier Friday’, which we had no interest in. DH and 21 sat on loungers by the Cove pool area with blankets, while I went in the Cove pool. I was the only one in the heated pool. We left port during this time. Then, I joined some women in the hot tub to warm up before getting fully out of the pool.

21 with what was left of the glacier ice.

I took some pics of the sunset.




I went back to the room to get changed, then DH, 21, and I went to the Cadillac Lounge to listen to Tim Moss playing piano ‘Music and Martinis’ from 9:30-10:15PM.

I had the High Tide (drink of day), and we had the free bar snacks. DH and 21 had glasses of water.


At 10:30PM, we went to the 18+ Jon Armstrong magic show in Azure. It was so crowded, the cast members brought over extra chairs. It was a fantastic show! We don’t know how he did any of the tricks.

After that we grabbed some free late-night snacks from Crown & Fin and brought them back to the room. We got mini calzones (not very good…doughy and all the filling had leaked out), deli meat sliders, crudites with ranch dressing, fruit, and mini blondies and pink rice krispie treats.

Towel Animal: Frog!

 

[ImDMous]

Enjoying your Trip Report! We leave on the 8th and haven't been to Alaska before. Our last cruise was about 7 years ago, but the menus are all coming back to me seeing all your yummy looking pictures.

 

[Geomom]

Enjoying your Trip Report! We leave on the 8th and haven't been to Alaska before. Our last cruise was about 7 years ago, but the menus are all coming back to me seeing all your yummy looking pictures.

Thanks for reading! Enjoy your cruise! Prepare for any weather. It sounds like they've been alternating rainy with non rainy weeks. We had the rainy cruise in 2016. We lucked out with this one and just had 1 day of rain in Ketchikan.

 

[Geomom]

Friday 8/15/25: Juneau, part 1:
Port Times: 6:45AM-4:45PM

We woke up to severe vibrations with the thrusters being used coming into port before 6AM. 21 felt sick to their stomach and ended up getting sick. We did call health services (accidentally called the emergency # as that’s the number listed on the app and on the phone, after reaming us out for calling that number, they did call us back and transferred us to the right #.) They asked about symptoms, said a visit to health center would be $163. We didn’t think 21 was bad enough for a visit, I checked 21’s temp and it was normal, and the only symptom was an upset stomach. I think that it was just a lot of food right before bed, including that doughy calzone and the severe vibrations that caused 21 to be sick. 25, 21, and I do take Bonine (Meclizine), but we were taking it in the morning, so it didn’t work well enough at hour 20 to help 21 this day. No one else got sick after this, not even DH after 21 slept on his side of the bed during the day to recover (vs climbing back up to the top bunk)…so I feel pretty confident that it was just seasickness. Of course, we all had an excursion with a 10AM meet time today…I told DH and 25 to go as I continued talking with 21, asking if they minded if I left them alone to go on the excursion as 21 just wanted to stay, sleep, and recover. They seemed stable at that point. I refilled 21’s water bottle with the acai pomegranate vitamin water from the deck 9 beverage station. DH and I both talked with our stateroom host to let him know 21 was staying in to recover, sleeping, etc. And so, I left, feeling bad about leaving…but they’re 21! If they really needed to, they could call room service/guest service/health service, etc. By the time I got to the theater to check in, the group was already headed off the ship, I was able to catch up with them before they got off the ship. Today we were doing the ‘Alaska Salmon Bake/Glacier/Hatchery’ (JU07) for $149/adult (including 21 who didn’t go…)

The first stop was at the DIPAC Macauley Salmon Hatchery for 45 minutes. It was VERY stinky (fishy) here, 21 would not have survived with a sensitive stomach. The salmon were running up the fish ladder with lots of gulls there to eat them. Apparently harbor seals were also enjoying the salmon earlier in the day.




These tanks hold 300,000 baby salmon (just a small section in the pic):

There was a small aquarium (and a touch tank) inside the building.


There were 2 crabs, sidling around the edge. The first one stopped when it found the bubbles from the filter and just sat right over it.
Crab jacuzzi:

We did a little shopping while here, including ‘Spruce tip shortbread cookies.’ While at the hatchery, I discovered that we had cell service, so I texted 21. (They texted back a couple hours later after checking for service, and they were doing fine, just resting/recovering.) We have Tracfone, and didn’t have any service in 2016…so I was pleasantly surprised that it works in Alaska ports now!

 

[Geomom]

Friday 8/15/25: Juneau, part 2:

Next stop was the Mendenhall Glacier for 1.5 hrs.


We quickly walked the 2 mile, round trip, Nugget Falls Trail.



DH and I were shocked by how much the glacier had receded since our 2016 visit. In 2016, you could see the glacier going into Mendenhall Lake while on the beach at Nugget Falls, now you can’t. That tiny dot of white in the valley is the glacier:

Nugget Falls:

After walking back, we took some pics at Mendenhall Glacier Terrace viewpoint.

We walked a little of the Steep Creek boardwalk trail. Didn’t see any bears, but did see some salmon (the red fish) in the creek, and heard ‘something’ in the trees above us.

On the ride to the Gold Creek Salmon bake, we saw a black bear in the meadows near the Gastineau Channel. Here’s a pic of my plate of buffet food from the salmon bake. There were some other options as well. DH and I had the hot cider to drink and 21 had the lemonade.
My plate of food:

They had shuttles running to downtown Juneau and the ship every 20 minutes, so when I was done eating, I headed back to the ship to get back to 21. If 21 had been with us, I probably would have done a few more things at the Salmon Bake. There's a trail to the abandoned Wagner Mine, you could purchase a gold panning kit, they had a fire pit to roast marshmallow, etc. While eating, I did get to listen to a musician singing old Western tunes and playing the guitar, so that was nice.

DH and 25 stopped at the Diamonds International store in Juneau for free charms and free tanzanite stud earrings.
"The Star of Alaska" tanzanite pendant in the shop:

 

[Geomom]

Friday 8/15/25: Juneau, part 3:

Once back on the ship, I went looking for ‘mild’ food for 21, who was doing okay, but not drinking enough fluids. Came back with a bowl of oyster/soup crackers from Daisy’s De-lites. While walking around, I discovered today’s special soft serve ice cream flavors were banana and blueberry.

At 4PM, DH and I met ‘Semi Formal’ Daisy.

It was semi formal night,

It was Mardi Gras night for us in Tiana’s. 21 didn’t want to go to dinner. In order for the stateroom host to finally get a chance to clean our room after the morning incident, I got 21 to take a shower, 21 took a Bonine, and I took them outside for fresh air as the ship was moving again.

We tried the deck 4 loungers, but it was too busy and noisy there. After a few minutes on deck 4, we moved up to deck 9 in the Cove area. I settled 21 into a lounger, overlooking the ocean, with a blanket, their book, and headphones. (And vitamin water and the rest of the oyster crackers…)

At Tiana’s Place, it was Mardi Gras night with the band playing, some dancing, limbo, etc. It was very noisy and would have been too much for 21. We all had beads on the table when we arrived.

I got the Paradise (drink of the day).

25 had Chai tea (the free one)

DH had the Boudin Sausage Fritters.

I was happy to discover I could get the Pickled Gulf Shrimp and Satsuma Orange Salad without the shrimp! So…I had a satsuma orange salad with balsamic dressing

DH had Charlotte La Bouff’s Bucatini Pasta

I had the Roasted Creole Half Chicken

25 had James’ Roasted Pork Tenderloin

 

[Geomom]

Friday 8/15/25: Juneau, part 4:

I had the Southern Style Pecan Nut Tart

25 had the Chocolate Doberge Gateau

And we split 2 orders of Tiana’s Buttermilk Beignets.

Our server, Eka, wrapped up a whole herbed brioche and covered the plate of our remaining beignets to bring to 21. (They just wanted to pick at mild, bread type products until they felt fully recovered.)

Pic of the scenery on deck 10, taken while 21 picked at the brioche and beignets.

21 felt good enough to try and go to the Frozen show, as long as we got an aisle seat in case a quick escape was needed. (DH also needed to leave to get laundry near the end of the show). We got there shortly before the show started and there weren’t too many seats left, but we did manage to find 2 seats together aisles on opposite sides of the theater, so that worked out. Show was great, and 21 survived it.

Towel animal: Turtle!

 

[Disnsyncey]

Wednesday 8/13/25: Glacier Viewing, part 6:

21 and I had the Pannekaken
View attachment 997546
I had the Frozen Yogurt Romanoff Sundae
View attachment 997547
25 had Olaf’s White Chocolate Floro Dome
View attachment 997542
DH had Oaken’s Warm Apple Pudding Cake
View attachment 997548
We shared Elsa’s Chocolate and Raspberry Tart
View attachment 997544
And the Sitron Mousse
View attachment 997549
We went to the 8:30PM Walt Disney Theater show, Jon Armstrong, magician/comedian. He was fantastic!
View attachment 997552
While walking on deck 9, we discovered that there were chunks of glacier ice near both the family pool and adult pool. I love that you can see the striations in this block!
View attachment 997554View attachment 997556

that white chocolate dome looks amazing!

 

[Disnsyncey]

Thursday 8/14/25: Icy Strait Point; 7:15AM-8PM: part 1:

We saw stellar sea lions, bald eagles, harbor porpoises, humpback whales, and orcas.

Apparently, we saw something very rare. The pod of orcas was hunting the stellar sea lions right near our boat. The humpback whale that they call ‘Wedgie’ came over and protected the sea lions with its pectoral fin and chased the orcas away.

I don’t have any great pictures from the whale watch, because everything happens so fast. 21 took some phone video of the orcas next to their window. No photo/video proof...but we did see an orca leap out of the water right next to our catamaran!

Pics of humpback whale backs and spouts:

I just read about that! That's cool!

I love the ISP wildlife opportunities! So good!