Mary and Norm's Travel Adventures: Alaska Cruise and Tour July 2014 (part 1 of 2)

Part 1 ~ The Cruise VANCOUVER TO SEWARD ALASKA

Margerie Glacier, Glacier Bay

Our Cruise Itinerary on Holland America's MS Oosterdam

Saturday July 5- SEATTLE

We arrived in Seattle and spent the day at Chihuly Glass and Garden Exhibit under the Space Needle and then went to Pike Place Market for a look around and some dinner. A great day!

Mount Ranier - Flying into Seattle

Chihuly Glass and Garden Exhibit

The Exhibit was right below the Seattle Space Needle
The Gardens were absolutely beautiful!

Sunday July 6

We drive to Vancouver and board our ship the MS Oosterdam

This was the lineup to get on the ship - took about an hour to get through security and US customs.

The Am740 Group

Stateroom 6124

Sailaway from Vancouver

Docked at Canada Place, Vancouver

Lion's Gate Bridge

Vancouver Skyline

Stanley Park

A Beautiful Evening with Calm Seas

Monday July 7 - SAILING THE INSIDE PASSAGE ON A FOGGY RAINY DAY

The entrance to the very narrow Grenville Channel just south of Prince Rupert

There was lots of beautiful scenery and waterfalls in the narrow Grenville Channel

We spotted some whales

Tues. July 8 - KETCHIKAN - The Salmon Capital of the World

After we docked, we just walked around town (and there was NO RAIN - Ketchikan is known for its rain ... about 13 ft/ year or over 160 inches)

First we went to Creek Street

Then walked along the Ketchikan waterfront

Lion's Mane Jellyfish - they were everywhere.
Also those little white jellyfish too.

Look bottom right of photo - Yup, Mary dropped her ship keycard and it fell to the bottom of the channel!!
Had to jump through some hoops to get back on the ship without the id card.

There were eagles flying everywhere. Here is a golden eagle.

Ketchikan is also known for its Totem Poles.

The Oosterdam docked right downtown Ketchikan. It was rather imposing.

Wed. July 9 - JUNEAU

Once docked in Juneau, we took one of the shuttle busses at the dock out to the Mendenhall Glacier (a 20 min drive)

Mary and Norm at the Mendenhall Glacier

A zoomed in view of the blue glacier.

To give a perspective of how large this glacier is, those are trees at the bottom of the photo - not little bushes.

Nugget Falls

We decided to take the hiking trail through the rainforest to the falls.

Waiting for the shuttle and enjoying the scenery

The Glacier is so big, that it looks like it is coming into the parking lot.

WHALE WATCHING

We went back to the ship for lunch, then went on a whale watching excursion in Auke Bay.

We were very lucky ..... the weather was great, the water calm, and we saw LOTS of whales! They were bubble net feeding in a pod of about 8 whales

Bubble Net feeding humpback whales

We were watching the pod of whales traveling along the shore from our boat. The boats must stay back 100 yards from the whales. The boat was idling and we were waiting for the whales to surface. It was hard to catch them as they were up and down pretty fast and you never knew where they would come up.

...... then all of a sudden we saw them......right beside the boat!! They came up beside the boat and then swam under and around us. VERY COOL! They were so huge and so close that you couldn't fit them all in the camera lens.... and you had to be quick!

Humpback whales bubble net feeding right beside the boat.

Sea Lions

At the dock in Auke Bay we saw eagles fishing on the beach. The brown ones are young eagles and haven't got their white feathers yet.

Thurs, July 10 - DRIVING THE KLONDIKE HIGHWAY FROM SKAGWAY TO WHITEHORSE

Skagway is best know as the starting point of the Trail of 98 for miners going to the Klondike gold fields. They had to go across the Chilkoot or White Pass to get to the Yukon.

We rented a car and drove the Klondike Highway over the White Pass and into Fraser BC. We then drove on to Carcross, Emerald Lake and then Whitehorse, the Capital of the Yukon. We had a great day for a drive - sunny and 70 degrees. We even had a bear sighting at the side of the road.

Skagway - It looks much the same as it did in the late 1800's and even still has boardwalks.

Columbine

Our Rental Car

Captain William Moore Bridge. This is a cantilever bridge that is anchored only on one side - just in case of earthquakes.

Klondike Highway

White Pass Train Stopped at the Canadian Border at the Top of the Pass

Summit of the White Pass

Carcross Desert

Stop the Car! There's a bear

Bear at the side of the road

Emerald Lake

Downtown Whitehorse

Whitehorse Mural

In Whitehorse, we stopped at Walmart to pick up some pop and use their free internet, then we turned around and it was back to the ship in Skagway. We returned the same way we came because there is only one highway ;-)

Here are some of the stunning Yukon views on the return trip on the Klondike Highway. The photos don't do it justice, but this will give you some idea of what we saw out the front window of the car.

Back at the border to enter back into the US

Purple Fireweed with Skagway in the background

Back in Skagway to return the rental car

Friday July 11 - GLACIER BAY CRUISING

Cruising Glacier Bay National Park

We had a day of cruising in beautiful Glacier Bay. The water is calm and a beautiful milky turqoise/ jade green colour.... and the scenery is stunning! The day started out quite foggy and we were afraid we wouldn't be able to see the glaciers. But by lunch time when we were at the top of the bay, the sun came out. Here are some of the views that we saw - but once again the photos cannot do it justice.

The fog gave the Bay a magical mystical quality - very beautiful!

Mary and Norm on their balcony in front of the Margerie Glacier

Sea Lions playing below our balcony

The only wildlife we saw on shore were some mountain goats.

Reid Glacier

The fog has lifted

A Hanging Glacier - where the glacier does not flow into the ocean, but stays high in the mountains

Lamplugh Glacier - a tidewater glacier

Lamplugh Glacier (aka Lamplugh the Blue)

Lamplugh Glacier

Margerie Glacier - 1 mile wide

Margerie Glacier Calving - the crack sounds like a gunshot, then a chunk will fall into the water.

The boat gives a perspective to how big these glaciers are. Margerie is 1 mile wide and 200 feet high.

Sat July 12 - SAILING ACROSS THE GULF OF ALASKA TO SEWARD

We had a bit of a rough crossing to Seward Alaska, but we were fine .... Mary even wore high heels to dinner with the ship rocking and rolling in some 15 -20 foot waves. We had a lazy day just packing, eating and napping.

Here are a few photos from the Oosterdam. It was an older ship, but very well maintained.

Our Room 6148 -note the room service breakfast we had every morning :-)