Category: Travel

Up around 6am. Showered and dressed and headed to breakfast at 6.30am. We decided to go to the dining room today.

We then got of the ship and went to meet today’s tour with Chilkoot Tours.

Our had a brief tour around the rather small, but very cute, town then headed to a view point where we could see the 4 ships that are in Skagway today. Rhapsody and Radiance are the two kissing ships.

We made a number of stops

and we were thrilled to see 2 black bears by the side of the road. Luckily, being in a small bus/van, meant we turn around and go back to see them more closely.

So cute. Even though one was brown in colour they were both black bears – probably 2-3 yr old siblings.

We went over the border in Canada and finally we made it to the Yukon. Many years ago Kevin & I watched a reality show about the trip the stampeders took on their way up to the Klondike and I’ve wanted to visit here every since.

We also visited the very beautiful Emerald Lake.

Before heading to Carcross to catch the train back down to Skagway, on the track laid during the gold rush of 1898-1900.

Before boarding we visited the general store, the 2 story part of it was actually towed along the ice from Bennett where it had been a hotel before the train line was complete.

The first half of the trip was more gorgeous scenery – I have tried really hard to not bombard you with too many photos (we took a lot).

However, the rocking of the train, caused me to have a little nap :-). Don’t worry Kevin had one too.

After about an hour and a half we stopped at Bennett – which was the end of the  Chilkoot Trail. And where the stampeders built their boots to complete their journey to the gold fields.

Here we were served lunch. Unfortunately it was a meat stew which meant I had coleslaw and bread. Luckily the delicious apple pie made up for it.

Bennett is in such a beautiful spot.

These days it’s so peaceful it’s hard to imagine it was once a bustling town of over 35,000. The crazy thing is EVERYTHING had to be carried in, including 3 steam boats in parts and pianos (for the pubs). Crazy. We were also told of the supplies (one years worth) each person had to have before leaving Bennett – which could involve over 50 trips to Skagway and back, taking up to three months.

After lunch we joined one of the train guides for a walk around the old town and actually stood on the end of the Chilkoot trail.

At 2pm it was back on board for the remainder of our journey.

No naps this time as the scenery was just too stunning.

Snow beside the train.

The railway bridge I’m thankful we didn’t have to cross today.

Finally we made it back to Skagway and cleared customs again. All they do is check your passport – no stamps or anything. Our bus driver picked us up and we got dropped off at the end of main street and did a bit of shopping on the way back to the ship. We really loved todays tour and learnt so much about the gold rush and the building of the railway. Plus saw more stunning scenery.

We walked back to the dock and arrived just in time to get the little golf cart ride to the ship – which was good as the bottom on my feet were starting to rub and get sore. Windjammers didn’t open till 6pm so I had time to phone Brenda and organise a time for us to meet up tomorrow.

Dinner was most certainly a carb feast. Only thing I always miss on the cruises in my protein. Sometimes in the dining room I can get tofu or beans. Luckily I had an egg for breakfast. The stuffed pasta shells were really yummy.

I must have been craving some protein because instead of desert I wanted cheese and crackers. I actually got some and took it back to the room to eat later.

The evening was spent updating the blog, enjoying my cheese & crackers, painting my nails and reading some of my book.

Tomorrow : Hoping seeing LOTS of whales at Icy Strait Point

We woke around 7am, showered, dressed and headed up to Windjammers for breakfast. We then sat in one of the bars as we came into Juneau. As you can see there was lots of low clouds so we were feeling doubtful that our dog sled ride on the glacier would be on (we already know it’s the most cancelled excursion).

We were able to depart just after 9am we learned that yes, indeed, the weather was not suitable and the excursion was cancelled. We were able to rebook on a 3.30pm flight (if the weather has improved). We were disappointed but luckily knew to expect this. We went for a walk around the town and visited a few shops. We didn’t really like how many cruise ship shops (ie. jewellery shops) there were. But there were quite a few nice shops around and we bought a few things.

We saw this cute puppy but he wouldn’t look at us.

The back of our ship where are cabin is located.

Even though the cloud was still low we decided to go up the Mount Roberts Tramway (as we could ride it again later if the weather improved). Half way went through the clouds and could see nothing below.

First stop was a coffee for Kevin and I yummy cupcake for both of us.

We then checked out the store and watched a great short film on the native people of Juneau. Then it was back down the tramway. We were lucky that once we came out the clouds we had a nice view of the ship.

Back on board I sat outside and read for a bit before we decided to go have some lunch at Windjammers. Today I had some soup, salad and a roll (love the rolls onboard).

Just before 3.30pm we got off the ship again in the hopes that our dog sled tour was going to run. Unfortunately it didn’t :-(.

So we went back onboard, got changed into our swimmers and went and had a spa in the Solarium (indoor pool area). That was nice and relaxing. We then had some afternoon tea of quesidillas (so yummy) and went to the thermal suites where we read for a bit on the hot stone beds. We had been going to use the sauna but it wasn’t very hot so we didn’t bother.

We went back our cabin and Kevin had a nap while I read (I’ve already gotten right into the latest Suzanne Brockman). We were thinking about getting ready for dinner when someone knocked on our door. Thinking it might be our laundry I opened the door (in my pjs since I hadn’t bothered getting dressed after our spa). I was so surprised to find Brenda – whom I’d befriended first on the cruise critic forum for our cruise and then through facebook. And she had a birthday present for me. How sweet was that? I was a bit flustered being in my jammies but promised I’ll call her later and organise a time to get-to-gether. Look what she bought me? These wonderful scrapbooking goodies.

So thoughtful. You just meet the best people on the internet. And I can’t wait to spend time with her and her husband.

We did in fact get dressed and head out for dinner.

We decided to go to the dining room again. But unfortunately there weren’t a lot of options for me tonight so I just had a bowl of Minestrone Soup and some Tiramusa (which I only ate half of). 35mins later we were out of there. We really do miss having company for dinner and a slower paced meal.

We went and sat in the same seats we’d sat this morning to kill some time before going to tonights show.

Kevin and I both ordered a  Mudslide and it didn’t have a lot of alcohol so I really enjoyed it.

The show was really good. Great singing & dancing, spectacular costumes, and great set. There much of a storyline but it didn’t really matter.

Then it was back to our room to type up this post and do a bit more reading. Another early start – 6am – and a long day ahead in Skagway.

Believe it or not we slept in till 8am today! Just shows what happens when you’ve got a nice comfy bed and block out curtains. Once we got up and dressed we headed to Windjammers for breakfast. I got a nice selection but was too full to each of my favourite chocolate donut :-(.

After breakfast we checked out the shops. We thought about going to see a movie but it had already started.

Instead we went back to the room, and with the internet package that Kevin bought, was able to upload a blog post for yesterday. I sat outside and boy was I frozen when I was finished.

I did a bit of reading till it was time to head for our 2pm lunch at Rita’s – the new Mexican restaurant onboard. It’s one that costs – but at $10 for our meal we weren’t too worried. Once seated we were served the most delicious corn chips – I don’t think I’ve ever had any this good before.

We ordered Vegetable Burritos for 2 which were so yummy.

All enjoyed as we cruised up to the Hubbard Glacier. We loved watching all the ice float pass – some of the pieces were HUGE!

After lunch we bundled up and went outside for some more viewing and photo taking.

It was cold but pretty awesome.

We decided to get changed and go hang out in the Thermal Suites in their heated seats. We thought it would be packed but we were the only ones there. So we had a million dollar view, were nice and warm and had lovely relaxing music.

Finally we were right up beside the glacier and we able to see a bit of carving.

We the ship turned to head back out we headed back to our room since we had our very on balcony to hang out on.

Hear we could the thunderous noise the ice makes with it carves. Just amazing.

Eventually we went back inside and I read for a bit before getting sleepy enough to actually want/need an afternoon snooze – something I very rarely do. I think I napped for 2 hours so I must have really need it. When I woke up it was 6.30pm and I no way felt like getting all dressed up for formal night in the dining. Instead we decided to just to Windjammers – no makeup need for that :-).

Another nice meal which we ate watching the water go by. And Kevin even spotted a humpback whale which was quite exciting.

A scoop of ice cream for desert and we headed back to the room to find our first towel animal – a penguin – so cute!

Now that I’ve blogged today it’s time to read some of the latest Snookie Stackhouse.

Our phone rang at 5am, luckily as we were both fast asleep. We got up, got dressed, packed up and headed downstairs where our 5.30am taxi driver had just arrived. A quick $3 cab fare later (we gave him $10 because we could see the station from our room but had 5 cases to deal with) we were at the station. We were pleased to be able to check in our luggage with RCCL so it would delivered right to our cabin on board Radiance of the Seas. We got checked in and were able to collect the $40 in vochures we had leftover from our booking, and received our gold class pins.

It was then a short wait till the train arrived and we were able to board.

At 6.45am the train departed. About half the trip was alongside the road we had driven just over a week ago on our way to Seward. We had the perfect blue sky day for it and didn’t even need big bulky jackets – which was nice for a change. Before we had even left the station we were taken downstairs to the dining cart (since we were seated in the second row). We had a lovely breakfast and a nice chat with another couple who are also going on the cruise.

We spent most of the 4 hour trip looking out the window enjoying the view. We did spot a black bear right close to the train. I was able to get some video but the photos didn’t turn out due to glare on the glass.

There is also an outdoor viewing area but it was a bit windy out there.

Midmorning Kevin went in search of some snacks to share. Drink were complimentary. That cookie was delicious.

Our train was actually running late so we didn’t arrive in Seward until 11.30pm. We thought about going into town (since we hadn’t visited the actual town on our previous visit) and got onboard the free shuttle. But when the shuttle went to the ship first we decided just to get off and get onboard.

Check in was quick and painless as it was very early.

I forgot to take a photo of the ship with my camera – only my i-phone – but it’s a sister ship to the one we went on last year.

Unfortunately there was a big mix up with our dinner booking. We were supposed to have main seating at 6pm – it said so on our sea pass. But we had no table allocated and there were no more left. We weren’t the only ones this happened to (around 200 I was told) and no one was very impressed. After a good 30 mins of seeing different people they finally made another traditional dining time of 7pm. Not ideal but it was okay. We then headed up to Windjammers for some lunch. We kind of dined in 3 stages. We had a small plate of food here. I was pleasantly surprised with the vegetarian options – much more than I often have.

More exploring. Finally at 1pm we were able to get into our cabin. I’m so happy. I didn’t realize we’d have such a big balcony and being at the back it seems to have good wind protection.

We went back out to do some more exploring. I had to laugh when I saw this picture of the pool….with the snow capped mountains in the background. It seems so wrong :-).

Kevin & I hung out for a while trying to get facebook photos to load (unsuccessfully).

Then it was time for part 2 of lunch. I had a bowl of salad and Kevin had a hotdog.

We wondered around a little more and we had tea and plate of dessert to share. Yum.

Back to our room and luggage had finally arrived. Kevin was quick to settle down for a nap while I unpacked. I then lay in the sun on the balcony – it was so nice to bask in the sun and be warm. I managed to upload some photos and read some of my book. Just before 7pm we headed down to dinner.

Only to discover the saga was not over. We were seated at a table for 2, which was not what we’d wanted, we like to meet new people on the cruise and linger over dinner. Also we were near the entrance which was busy with people waiting and moving around for their any time reservations. I ended up having a bit of a panic attack. Stupid, crazy I know but it was totally spinning me out to see crowds of people while I was trying to relax and enjoy my dinner. It was just such a wrong picture and I couldn’t cope. I ended up switching with Kevin so I was facing the relaxed dining room and I was okay. With only the 2 of us being served dinner was very quick and even though I only had a roll and half my delicious enchillas – I was too full for desert. I did order one though and only ate half.

Dinner was so quick we were finished in 45mins and that was with me playing around trying to make a meal last longer :-(. Oh, well, only another 6 nights to go. After dinner we had to do the muster liferaft drill – which meant we had to stand outside in the cold for 20mins – not fun and hardly anyone had thought to take a jacket – we didn’t as we’d come straight from dinner. We went right to get coffee and tea (but ugh, the tea was horrible).

The ship had already set sail while we were doing so. Back in the room the surprise I had ordered for Kevin had turned up – choc covered strawberries.

We took them, and our teas, onto our verandah to enjoy while we left port. I didn’t have my traditional virgin pina colada at sail away as I was too cold after the muster drill. But the strawberries might be a new tradition :-).

It seemed sad, like we were leaving Alaska and I’m not ready to leave yet. Luckily we’re not really. We headed back indoors when it got cold and read for a bit before going to sleep.