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Thursday, 31 March 2011

Alaska Exceeds Every Expectation

Tour Seattle to Anchorage to Princess Mt. McKinley Lodge to Princess Denali Lodge to Whittier 9/5 - 9/18

Seattle was the typical Seattle, sun then gloomy with bits of sun peeking through. We did the touristy things, Pike’s Place market and the Space Needle. Best tip for Seattle, go to Beecher’s and get some cheese for your trip. We rented a car and it was very convenient to get around Seattle. There is also an elevated train that takes you downtown from the airport as well if you don’t want to drive it. We booked the Seattle Air Advantage through Princess. Princess arranged for transportation to the airport, a short 5 – 10 minute ride. We were met at the Anchorage airport by a Princess rep and taken to the Captain Cook Hotel. We walked around downtown Anchorage and just had a great time in all of the shops. We took the trolley tour and this is where I learned that all of the tour drivers tell you to be ready for the wildlife that was on the last tour I just took around. By the way, they never showed up until the TWT. I found a great antique shop downtown near the hotel that had some great Native American and Wild West memorabilia. I can’t remember the name but is was very unique; they had a Native American war vest with scalps sewn on. We were shuttled to the train depot for our 1st train ride to Talkeetna and Mt. McKinley lodge. The train ride was spectacular and shouldn’t be missed. The service was great and the food was pretty tasty. The scenery was beautiful even through the clouds and fog. The transfer from the bus depot to Mt. McKinley Lodge is about 45 minutes. If you have the opportunity to stay in Talkeetna and explore the town you should it has it’s own personality.

Mt. McKinley Lodge was in one word GREAT! We were in building 9, we had a short walk to the lodge but with all that fresh air, it was just refreshing. My friend and I went fishing on a tributary to the Talkeetna River the water was very clear and the fishing was good (8 salmon between us). It was catch and release because the salmon were deteriorating because of the spawn and not much for eating. Our wives went ATVing and absolutely LOVED it. Neither have the daredevil gene in them but they certainly enjoyed it. The food at the lodge was very good. Our last evening there we got “lucky” and saw the silhouette of Mt. McKinley. We were in awe but would soon realize how awestruck the mountain can make you feel. So far no wildlife, but it isn’t a zoo. The bus ride from Talkeetna to Denali Lodge was rather unspectacular, our driver made it a better bus ride with his stories and his love for Alaska. He talked about how on one repositioning trip he was impressed by the scenery so he started America the Beautiful. He says he had no complaints from the passengers but then he was the only passenger.

Princess Denali Lodge was very, very nice. The lodge property overlooks the Nenana River and Denali National Park. The view is breathtaking. Directly across the “highway” you will find a bunch of shops and restaurants. My wife and I had lunch at the coffee shop and I would recommend it again. We went to the Songs of Denali show, it was your typical dinner show. The next day we went on the Tundra Wilderness Tour and I cannot say enough about it. The sights were phenomenal, the wildlife was slow at first but in the end we saw, 1 moose, 3 bears one with a cub, a pack of wolves (9) in all, numerous dall sheep, 2 golden eagles, a willow ptarmigan and a snowshoe hare. To me, the best part of the TWT was the view of Denali, it was spectacular and if you don’t get to see it you are missing out. I cannot wait to see our photos because it was breathtaking. Our driver was excellent and how he and the other drivers don’t go driving off the sheer cliffs with no guardrails on essentially a two-lane GRAVEL road is amazing to say the least. They are very talented drivers. That evening we had dinner at the Salmon Bake restaurant. This restaurant really gives you a local flair! We met some locals who talked about how the strip of shops essentially closes after September 17th and won’t open until May and how they sustain themselves over the winter months. It takes a certain personality with a hearty soul to not have much contact with the other for such a long time and not go more than a little “batty”. The train ride from Denali to Whittier is very nice. The views once again are great and the service we received was so nice. Basically, this was the end of our “vacation” in the interior of Alaska and to say the least, I enjoyed every bit of it. I cannot wait to return and experience more of the interior areas of Alaska.

Cruise Whittier to Hubbard Glacier to Glacier Bay National Park to Skagway to Juneau to Ketchikan to Vancouver We didn’t arrive in Whittier until late in the day thus it was a wash. However the embarkation was smooth as silk. The train stopped maybe 200 yards from the ship and the process was quick, we were on the Coral Princess in less than 20 minutes.

Hubbard Glacier, day one of sunny skies, all I can say is WOW! It was magnificent, to see the “iceberglets” floating in the water and our naturalist explaining how they are made of clear ice, “dirty” ice and how the top is only 1/3 of the mass of the “iceberglet”. When the glacier started to calve I think the naturalist was more excited than we were. His excitement carried over to those of us on the ship and we all were waiting to see the crashing of the walls of ice into the ocean. We eventually learned that if you hear the “thundering” of the calving you probably missed seeing the actual calving. Regardless of how “warm” it is near the glacier it is cold, you will need hat and gloves.

Glacier Bay National Park, day two of sunny skies, I must admit after seeing Hubbard Glacier I wasn’t overly excited to see another glacier. Well, that was a mistake. The views of John’s Hopkins Glacier and Margerie Glacier, though much smaller than Hubbard Glacier, were really impressive. We were so lucky to have clear skies as we were able to spend more time at the glacier and we were able to see so much more of the beautiful vista’s throughout the park. Probably the only negative I can say about these two sea days cruising the glaciers was the jockeying for position at the rails to get a good view of them. However, as has been stated on Cruise Critic before, on deck 10 both on the bow and stern you have some “private” viewing decks (no chairs) to view the glaciers.

Skagway, day three of our sun filled cruise to Alaska, was a trip of adventure and one amazing lake. We started with a train ride on the White Pass Railway with Chilkoot Charters. We chose to do this independently because of the savings from the cruise line’s costs. My only concern was do I want another 8+ hour day on a train and bus but one of my goals was to go to Emerald Lake. Well, the train ride was spectacular; to see the path that so many traveled during the gold rush was so impressive. We ended up at Emerald Lake it truly is an awesome sight. We lunched on a chicken leg and thigh and ½ potato at Caribou Crossing and visited the city of CarCross. On the return home we drove over the Cantilever bridge, a very impressive display of engineering at the bridge was one of the bike riding tours. Our driver said they are the bane of his and other tour drivers existence and is convinced that they will be the cause of a major incident on the Yukon Highway. Did I mention that my wife is afraid of bridges and heights so she was “fun”. Tonight we dined on surf n turf, well our own surf n turf. The menu had lobster tails and prawns as well as beef wellington. The lobster was sad, rubbery and it’s a shame to harvest such a small lobster. However the shrimp were divine and the wellington, delicious.

Juneau, day four of our week in Hawaii er Alaska. Today we went whale watching with Kevin Burchfield from Lost in Alaska Charters. We were able to find some active whales and a pod or 2 of dall porpoises. We then hired our taxi driver to take us to Mendenhall Glacier, he gave us a tour of Juneau and some of it’s charm. We ended up at downtown near the tram. We took the Mt. Robert’s Tram – I can’t say it was worth $27 per person. I would have preferred to stay at Mendenhall Glacier. This evening we dined in the Horizon Court – the theme was Octoberfest, not bad – not great. The desert was the best part so at least I went away with a smile.

Ketchikan, day 5 of sun – simply amazing, I took a charter with Ken from Northern Lights Charters. The fishing was slow since we couldn’t go where Ken normally fishes due to Orca’s. Actually slow is the wrong choice of words, more like non-existent. However, Ken made lemonade out of lemons. We found some deep water and bottom fished. We ended up with 3 red snappers and 2 smaller rock fish, catching an 8 – 10 pound fish in 300+ feet of water isn’t easy. We finally ended up with one keeper salmon and the 5 deep water fish. My wife went on the Bering Sea Crab Fishing tour and truly enjoyed herself. I haven’t had time to see all of her photos and videos but from what I can tell she had a GREAT time. This evening we dined at the Bayou Café. Tasty and they were very accommodating for one of our party who doesn’t eat beef or seafood. So a little tip, if you want personalized service but don’t necessarily enjoy the menu just ask. The cruise line wants to satisfy you not disappoint you.

Scenic Cruising – day 6 that’s right, our entire cruise was sunny! We just relaxed, played cards, listened to music and enjoyed some refreshments at the bar. We were escorted between 5:00 and 6:00 by a huge pod of dall porpoises. We watched them for 15 minutes what a beautiful way to end the cruise of your dreams. Tonight we at at Sabatinis, one word, delicious!

To say the least the cruise was spectacular! 7 days of sun and calm waters! We were truly blessed. We met some wonderful new friends. Sandy and Howard I can’t wait to hear how the fish that we caught tastes.

Princess certainly does it right. I cannot see taking any other cruise line. We brought wine on board and had wine/cheese/crackers nightly before dinner. The meals were very good, I would say the only negative was Octoberfest night. The entertainment was OK – the dance/sing show was fair, Jay Johnson from the old 70’s show Soap was great and the International talent show was very fun to watch especially the finale! My favorite “entertainer” was Mel from the Cruise Director’s staff. She really can sing.