natvtxn
08-25-2009, 05:07 PM
Reader's Digest version of Alaska cruise
August 13 flew to Vancouver. Walked around Gastown and Chinatown. Very disappointed in Chinatown!
August 14 Got on Royal Caribbean ship Radiance about 11:30am. Toured the ship to get acquainted.
August 15 Sea Day. Did not stop at a port.
August 16 Ketchikan, AK. Went on the Deadliest Catch boat the Aleutian Ballard. This was actually one of the boats on the tv show. It has seats for about 50-75 people and 2 big aquariums to show what they "catch". The crew showed their heart and soul in being a Bering Sea Alaskan king crab fisherman. We saw king crabs, 3 other kinds of crabs, large octopus, large MEAN eel, several kinds of starfish, several different fish, and a skate (looks like a stingray). They also "fed" eagles and we saw them swoop down to feed. It is an awesome trip.
August 17 Juneau. We woke up to rain. We were scheduled to zipline, and it was not cancelled. We took a boat ride to Douglas Island and then up the mountain and climbed a tower to the first zip. There were 10 zips to do...in the rain. Dh had never done it before, so he enjoyed it more than I did. I had fun, but it was better in Costa Rica.
August 18 Skagway. Took a shuttle bus into Yukon Territory and British Columbia. This was the trail of the Klondike gold find. Our driver, Terrell, was the BEST! Very informative and not boring (I'm NOT a history buff). We saw a black bear while driving up. Then we got on a train and rode it back into Skagway. It was an 8 1/2 excursion, but worth it.
August 19 Hoonah, aka Icy Strait Point. We went on a whale watch. We went out about 15 miles from port and saw lots of humpbacks. They came within 10' of our boat! We watched them for about an hour and headed back to port. THEN, we saw orcas (killer whales). I had read that we would probably not see orcas, so this was a special treat. This was a GREAT day, except I lost my sunglasses overboard!
August 20 Sea day. We woke up in front of Hubbard Glacier. I guess I did not really know what a glacier was or what it looked like. NOW, I know! It made lots of noise like thunder and then it would calve (kinda like a small glacier avalanche).
August 21 Seward. We got off the ship and took a shuttle to Exit Glacier. That was really cool (figuratively and literally). At 6pm we got on the Alaskan Railroad and road 4 1/2 hours to Anchorage. Checked into hotel just to sleep.
August 22 Rented a car and drove to Denali National Park. What a beautiful drive this was. We could see Mt. McKinley driving up.
August 23 Rode bus 66 miles towards Mt. Mckinley. (you can only drive personal vehicles into the park 15 miles) It was very cloudy and overcast. Because of that we could not see Mt. McKinley, but we saw moose, grizzlies, squirrels, rabbits (tall), red foxes, and caribou (reindeer).
August 24 Leisurely drive back to Anchorage to catch 8:20pm flight back. Man was that long! Got to Houston 7 hours later and
August 25 THEN dh and I caught next leg to Detroit.
My Dad (79 yo) went with us. He had never been to Alaska or Hawaii. I told him I guess I would "have" to take him to Hawaii now so that he will have been to all 50 states! He had a great time and was a trooper. He went everywhere dh and I went, except for ziplining. It was a trip of a lifetime. I would do all of it again. SM and CG and anyone else, I hope that info helps to convince ya'll to go!
August 13 flew to Vancouver. Walked around Gastown and Chinatown. Very disappointed in Chinatown!
August 14 Got on Royal Caribbean ship Radiance about 11:30am. Toured the ship to get acquainted.
August 15 Sea Day. Did not stop at a port.
August 16 Ketchikan, AK. Went on the Deadliest Catch boat the Aleutian Ballard. This was actually one of the boats on the tv show. It has seats for about 50-75 people and 2 big aquariums to show what they "catch". The crew showed their heart and soul in being a Bering Sea Alaskan king crab fisherman. We saw king crabs, 3 other kinds of crabs, large octopus, large MEAN eel, several kinds of starfish, several different fish, and a skate (looks like a stingray). They also "fed" eagles and we saw them swoop down to feed. It is an awesome trip.
August 17 Juneau. We woke up to rain. We were scheduled to zipline, and it was not cancelled. We took a boat ride to Douglas Island and then up the mountain and climbed a tower to the first zip. There were 10 zips to do...in the rain. Dh had never done it before, so he enjoyed it more than I did. I had fun, but it was better in Costa Rica.
August 18 Skagway. Took a shuttle bus into Yukon Territory and British Columbia. This was the trail of the Klondike gold find. Our driver, Terrell, was the BEST! Very informative and not boring (I'm NOT a history buff). We saw a black bear while driving up. Then we got on a train and rode it back into Skagway. It was an 8 1/2 excursion, but worth it.
August 19 Hoonah, aka Icy Strait Point. We went on a whale watch. We went out about 15 miles from port and saw lots of humpbacks. They came within 10' of our boat! We watched them for about an hour and headed back to port. THEN, we saw orcas (killer whales). I had read that we would probably not see orcas, so this was a special treat. This was a GREAT day, except I lost my sunglasses overboard!
August 20 Sea day. We woke up in front of Hubbard Glacier. I guess I did not really know what a glacier was or what it looked like. NOW, I know! It made lots of noise like thunder and then it would calve (kinda like a small glacier avalanche).
August 21 Seward. We got off the ship and took a shuttle to Exit Glacier. That was really cool (figuratively and literally). At 6pm we got on the Alaskan Railroad and road 4 1/2 hours to Anchorage. Checked into hotel just to sleep.
August 22 Rented a car and drove to Denali National Park. What a beautiful drive this was. We could see Mt. McKinley driving up.
August 23 Rode bus 66 miles towards Mt. Mckinley. (you can only drive personal vehicles into the park 15 miles) It was very cloudy and overcast. Because of that we could not see Mt. McKinley, but we saw moose, grizzlies, squirrels, rabbits (tall), red foxes, and caribou (reindeer).
August 24 Leisurely drive back to Anchorage to catch 8:20pm flight back. Man was that long! Got to Houston 7 hours later and
August 25 THEN dh and I caught next leg to Detroit.
My Dad (79 yo) went with us. He had never been to Alaska or Hawaii. I told him I guess I would "have" to take him to Hawaii now so that he will have been to all 50 states! He had a great time and was a trooper. He went everywhere dh and I went, except for ziplining. It was a trip of a lifetime. I would do all of it again. SM and CG and anyone else, I hope that info helps to convince ya'll to go!