North to Alaska! Part 1 - The Cruise

 

May 14, 2023

Rob and I as we are about to board the Noordam.

    The Noordam is Holland America's ship that would take us from Vancouver B.C. north through the inland passage with stops at Ketchikan, Skagway and Juneau before cruising one day in Glacier National Park, spending another day at sea before entering College Fjord and then heading to Whittier, Alaska where we would leave the ship behind. A cruise to Alaska has long been in our thoughts, so as Rob is about to turn 75 in July, and we have now visited all of the "lower 48" states we decided it was time to head north to Alaska. Many folks drive their RVs all the way to Alaska, but though we have driven across the U.S. twice in our LesThora, that was not something we felt compelled to do. We have talked to folks who have driven to Alaska and said it was awesome, and some have even done it more than once. But we have also talked to folks that said they did it so they could "check the box" and weren't quite sure why they'd wanted to. 

    Prior to this Alaska adventure, including its 7 day cruise, we have only been on a cruise ship once and to be honest we were a bit "underwhelmed." That cruise, many years ago, was three days round trip from Long Beach to Ensenada in February. We enjoyed our day on Catalina Island where we rented bicycles and rode around the whole island, but the day we were in Ensenada it rained so we didn't see much of what we had hoped to. Yes, the food was great, there was a deck to walk on, (by now you know I have to walk), the entertainment at night was first class, but some how it just didn't feel like a good fit for us. I think that cruise was with Royal Caribbean. Anyway, when we decided to try for an Alaskan Cruise this May the choices seemed overwhelming - too many choices! How to narrow it all down? I knew the perfect person to consult: daughter-in-law Kristy. She and Scott have been on a number of cruises so I asked her advice and she suggested Holland America, and specifically a package that would include 7 days on the ship and additional days on land. Figuring this would be our only trip to Alaska we selected an 18 day adventure that would include 3 nights at Denali, and time in the Yukon. We have not been disappointed in our choice or in any of the service or our ports of call. This blog post is being composed as we travel inland in Alaska and will just cover the cruise portion of our trip. "North to Alaska, Part 2" will cover the 11 days on land.

Sunday, May 14, 2023

Beautiful Indigenous art greeted us in the Vancouver airport.

Looking at the dock from the top deck of our ship as we are about to depart from Vancouver.

Looking down at the dock.

We’re on our way - crossing under a bridge as we leave Vancouver.

The beautiful scenery as we leave Vancouver and head toward Alaska.

    One challenge for me on a scenic cruise like this was being afraid to take my eyes off the changing scenery, afraid that I might miss something, but I got used to being grateful for what I saw and able to let go of what I might have missed.

Looking behind us.

The view off our balcony, Monday morning, May 15, 2023.

It was a lot of fun to wake up in the morning and see where we were.

Eating breakfast outside in the beautiful sunshine!

Notice the short sleeves? 

We did not pack well for the unbelievably warm weather we experienced the first 4 days of our journey!

    Monday, May 15, was spent cruising through the inside passage. I think I was most amazed by how mountainous all the islands we passed between were, and all of them with snow on top. I guess I think of islands as flat, or at least not mountains rising right out of the sea.

Sun setting, 8:40 PM, Monday, May 15.

The sun seemed to take a very long time to go down as we headed north toward the land of the midnight sun! And of course the further north we went, the later the sun went down.

Approaching Ketchikan early morning, May 16.

Looking down on Ketchikan as we docked.

Ready to explore Ketchikan.

We were a little too early in he season to see the salmon arrive in the “Salmon Capitol of the World.”

There's not a lot of level land here to build on, so buildings hung over the creek.

This little town reminded be a lot of Gold Rush towns in California including Auburn where I was born, Grass Valley where I grew up and Nevada City.

Beautiful blossoms in Ketchikan.

The inside of St John's Episcopal Church, the first church in Ketchikan.

During our exploration of Ketchikan we walked to this wonderful museum.

Some of the old Totems displayed there.

More of the old town part of Ketchikan.

See the Eagle up there?

This was the first of many, many Bald Eagles we would see on our journey.

We were told there are more eagles than people in Ketchikan.

Here is that Eagle zoomed in.

A part of gold producing Ketchikan Creek.

Sculpture depicting a diversity of settlers.

    At all three ports of call along the way we selected optional shore excursions. In Ketchikan we chose a Rain Forest Canoe and Nature Walk. We rode in an old school bus about a half hour into the mountains to canoe around a little lake, stop for some hot chocolate and a snack. We had been told to bring layers of clothing, including rain gear. But none of that was needed as the temperature was in the 70s. We got very warm paddling in the sun shine, but it was a pretty spot.

A view across the lake from where we stopped for our snack and nature walk.

Skunk Cabbage - just like in Humboldt County, only bigger.

The nature walk was a bit short and not too great, but still we had a good time.

Heading back to board the Noordam after exploring Ketchikan, Alaska.

Leaving Ketchikan, Monday, May 16.

9:30 PM on May 16 as we head toward Juneau.

The sun keeps setting later!

About an hour before arriving in Juneau, Tuesday, May 17.

A little further along.

Juneau, Alaska, May 17, 2023.

Yes, we fell for the ship photos - not too many of them though.

This is a picture of one. I did get a flash drive with the pictures, but have no way while we're traveling to upload them. So pictures of pictures will have to do.

I like this one because it shows Juneau and the mountain that rises right behind it.

Rob in front of a Totem to give perspective.

    The shore excursion we selected in Juneau was a bus trip to Mendenhall Glacier and a ride in the Juneau Tram. This would be our first glacier of many on the trip.

Mendenhall Glacier.

A waterfall we walked to just to the right of the glacier.

In front of the water fall.

The Juneau Tram.

Our Tram car coming down to pick us up.

Looking down through the windows at the top of the tram with cruise ships below.

Another view through the windows.

The Noordam is the middle of these three ships.

Note the temperature way above Juneau at 5:30 PM.

Rob comparing his "wing span" to that of a Bald Eagle.

On the way back down - note the paraglider.

Skagway, Alaska, Thursday, May 18.

We were docked before we woke up.

Looking at the three cruise ships docked at Skagway.

The Noordam is on the left, Wonder, a Disney ship is in the front and a Princess Cruise ship is on the right in the back. Skagway's population is under a thousand people. These ships together are carrying at least 10,000 passengers plus crew!

   Skagway is just 5 blocks wide and 23 blocks long, and it's hard to imagine what it would be like without all the cruise ships disembarking their passengers to explore the region and buy souvenirs. In Skagway we chose two shore excursions. The first was a guided tour on an old street car with a great guide who told wonderful stories about the past. The other was riding the Whitepass and Yukon Railway up to its summit at the Canadian border and back. Skagway has a rich and storied history as the starting point for heading over the mountains to the gold fields in the Yukon. The railway dramatically changed access to the region, and was quite an engineering feat.

Our guide dramatically telling the story of the man buried here.

A fox who came out to visit our touring street car.

In between our excursions I took a very short hike on this lovely trail.

A bridge on the trail.

Heading up the mountain on the train.

                                       

A view out the train window.

We saw our first Alaskan Bear along the way - a Black bear.

                                         

Our train entering a tunnel after going over a very high tressel.

(Lots of reflection on the train window)

Looking out of our train car at the snowy landscape at the summit.

The pillar on the top marks the Canadian/U.S. border.

A beautiful "puddle" in the snow where we turned around.

    On Friday, May 19, we spent the day cruising in Glacier Bay. This was a very unique visit to a National Park. Rangers were brought to the ship by boat where they climbed up a rope ladder to board, and then spent the day with us interpreting what we were looking at. They even brought a National Park store on board, and a stamp for our National Park Passport. This was the first day when it was cool and even rained a little bit. It was a cloudy day which we were told helped give the glaciers their beautiful  blue coloring. In addtion to ice floating in the water and glaciers we were treated to seeing many Orcas and sea otters. The rangers told us it was the most Orcas they had ever seen in Glacier Bay. They opened up the bow of the ship so we could spend some time out there viewing it all. Part of what inspired the way we are living retirement is the day Rob and I went hiking on the Rhododendron Trail at Prairie Creek State Park (part of Redwood National and State Park) and I said that when I retired I wanted to go to all the National Parks and hike in them. A little hard to hike in Glacier Bay, but I did manage to walk over 8 miles on the ship that day, including walking around and around on the promenade deck to get different views of it all, and going up and down many flights of stairs! It was a great and rather magical day.

The equivalent of the National Park Entrance sign, brought on board.

Here we are on the bow with Ranger Michael.

Notice the rain coats?

Only day we wore them, and we really didn't need them.

Entering Glacier Bay.

Going further into the bay.

Some ice floating.

More ice floating by.

Sometimes sea otters got on the floating ice.

An Orca in the foreground.

A sea otter.

I think this is Marjorie Glacier.

Us with Marjorie Glacier behind.

Some kayaks in the water. Brrr...

Another view of a glacier.

Up close view of one.

And another view.

Heading out of Glacier Bay.

Another view heading out.

On the bow.

Looking forward into the fog.

The ship's bell.

The rangers waving goodbye after leaving the ship.

Glacier blue water.

And we did a jigsaw puzzle!

    On Saturday, May 20, our last full day aboard the Noordam we are on open water most of the day and there wasn't a lot of programming going on - maybe the powers that be figured we needed to pack. Rob and I picked out a 500 piece puzzle from the ship's library and managed to complete it with a little help from another passenger. It was nice to have some down time before some more glacier viewing in the evening in College Fijord and preparing to leave the ship in the morning.

In College Fjord.

All the glaciers here are named for colleges.

One of the receeding glaciers where we could see the scouring of the rock.

A very impressive glacier!

Another glacier.

Beautiful!

More beauty.

Whittier, Alaska, Sunday, May 21, 2023.

This was the scene I woke to in the morning after we docked during the night.

Looking forward from our balcony.

Looking back from our balcony.

The train next to the dock that we would board after leaving the ship.

Looking back at the ship as we head to the train.

Rob situated on the train as we began our land journey.

    It was a bit bitter sweet to leave the Noordam, its wonderful staff and excellent accomodations, but we were ready to begin the second part of our "North to Alaska" experience. The cruise was great and we saw places and things it would be hard to see without being on a ship, but I don't think either of us have been bitten by the cruise "bug." Perhaps we'll do another cruise some day, but perhaps not. We are grateful though for our 7 days board Holland America's Noordam and the beauty and wonder of Alaska that we saw because of her.

    

    Meanwhile, the kitties remained in Colfax. Ruth moved them into the house where they have more room to roam, and opportunities for attention from the people in the house. We hear that granddaughter Avi is enjoying their company, but her cat Daphne is not. Joy the dog is apparently adapting to their presence well.

Elsie on the window sill.

Straus on the floor in the front room in the upper right of this picture, and Joy, the dog, is in the lower front of the picture.

Elsie's head on the left, Straus in the middle and Joy on the right.