National parks, natural beauty and a bit of Disney wonder! COMPLETED About This Page:

[Colexis Mom]

Glad you were able to see some whales! Sorry about missing the Orcas! Great pictures from Mendenhall Glacier! I'm still sorry that I missed that on our trip! And sorry about all the rain!

[DrDolphin]

Mendenhall glacier looks very pretty - I can only imagine how it would look with the sun shining on it. The graphics showing the glacier's retreat and the photos are a graphic reminder of the effects climate change can have on such a wild and pristine place - which is quite sad.

[lauriep]

Eating lunch outside (even if covered) in a cold rain? And no water to drink? I think I'll explore other excursion possibilities! The glacier and visitor's center looks like it provided lots of good information. So sad what climate change is doing to our planet.

[pamcarey]

Great pictures from your day so far. Sad to see how the glacier has retreated over time.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by DrDolphin

Mendenhall glacier looks very pretty - I can only imagine how it would look with the sun shining on it. The graphics showing the glacier's retreat and the photos are a graphic reminder of the effects climate change can have on such a wild and pristine place - which is quite sad.

I know. I found that so scary.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by lauriep

Eating lunch outside (even if covered) in a cold rain? And no water to drink? I think I'll explore other excursion possibilities! The glacier and visitor's center looks like it provided lots of good information. So sad what climate change is doing to our planet.

I thought the explanation of the excursions were very good and, in fairness, it's what I was expecting. I just went back and found the information we had on the salmon bake and I think it's spot on:

Next, a short transfer ride takes you to the Gold Creek Salmon Bake, set in a beautiful lush rain forest alongside a creek, under translucent domes that protect you from the elements, rain or shine. Savor the aroma of wild salmon, grilling slowly over fires of fragrant alder wood. And settle in for a feast for all your senses!

Choose from Grilled Salmon, Cheechako Chicken, Chilkoot Baked Beans, Tongass Wild-Rice Pilaf, White Pass Pasta and other sides. Come back for seconds, or thirds, while a local musician sets a festive mood. And bring on the blueberry cake for dessert!

[DMA]

The salmon bake looks yummy! Sorry it was cold and rainy!

[mcc0313]

Sorry for the rain but glad you were able to see some whales. Sorry you missed the orcas though. I could not get over the sea lions...that is just amazing.

[KMB733]

Just getting caught up. Glad you got to see some whales! The glacier looks beautiful.

[lauriep]

Originally Posted by chezp

I thought the explanation of the excursions were very good and, in fairness, it's what I was expecting. I just went back and found the information we had on the salmon bake and I think it's spot on:

Next, a short transfer ride takes you to the Gold Creek Salmon Bake, set in a beautiful lush rain forest alongside a creek, under translucent domes that protect you from the elements, rain or shine. Savor the aroma of wild salmon, grilling slowly over fires of fragrant alder wood. And settle in for a feast for all your senses!

Choose from Grilled Salmon, Cheechako Chicken, Chilkoot Baked Beans, Tongass Wild-Rice Pilaf, White Pass Pasta and other sides. Come back for seconds, or thirds, while a local musician sets a festive mood. And bring on the blueberry cake for dessert!

Very fair description! I haven't really looked in depth into the excursion offerings so don't know what the other options were. Certainly the trip to the glacier looks amazing. I used to be much more willing to be out in the elements and "roughing it" to some extent. I seem to have turned into a travel wimp!

[PrincessSharon]

That sounds like a wonderful excursion. Glad you finally spotted a whale.

[chezp]

Saturday 3 September – part four: what do you mean “a bear up a tree”

When we came out, Bob mentioned about the bear up a tree. Yes, you read that right. There was a bear up a tree near where everyone was eating. My goodness, it was quite a sight, although as Bob said, “he could’ve got himself in a better position, there’s too much backlight here” and he was right!



We had been told on the way over here about the time that a bear fell out of a tree into the plastic canopy covering the dining area. I honestly thought that was a joke, but now I realised that perhaps it wasn’t after all...

I wasn’t sure about walking down to the waterfall, as it was raining so heavily, but a little old lady told me it was not to be missed. Ok, decision made then! And my goodness, I’m glad we didn’t miss them, as they were well worth seeing, although by the time we’d done that, we were absolutely drenched.



We did look at showing Barb the bear, as she’d missed him previously, but when we heard he was no longer up that tree Barb and I took one look at each other and decided we needed to get the bus back...

We just missed one, which left full, but there was another waiting, so we climbed aboard. This also filled up and left about five minutes before the next one was due to arrive. We were told that we may or may not be lucky and the driver may drop us off at the Wonder. We had no problems with this guy. He cracked jokes the whole way back – some very funny, some not so much – but he was great and told us at the offset that stop four would be for the Wonder.

When we got to the third stop, the Carnival Spirit, the whole bus emptied off and I dread to think how long the wait to get back on the ship would be, as it just snaked round and round and round. I’d guess maybe a 20 minute wait in the tipping rain?

As for us, we walked straight back on with no issue and each headed back to our rooms, with a promise to meet up again at 4:45pm. It was semi-formal night and we figured that we’d get some more photos done before Toy Story the Musical.

We retired to the room for a while, with me going to guest services to put this morning’s tour on my credit card, as it was Mark’s birthday present. That wasn’t the easiest thing to do, as I guess Disney doesn’t expect people would want to do this, but I got there in the end. Then it was up to deck nine to get some of those nice desserts from the Cove Cafe – a totally different selection to earlier in the week, but nice all the same – and then some hot chocolate from the beverage station and back to the room.

Then we headed down to the Rainforest. That was invaluable in helping to warm us back up, as it had been yesterday. We were finding that our room really wasn’t quite warm enough, as we guessed that the temperature was originally planned for the Caribbean and obviously the weather up here is very different up here. We only had half an hour or so at the Rainforest, but we both felt so much better after that time.

We headed back to the room to get changed for our photos and headed out at the appointed time. No sign of Barb or Bob which was very odd, as usually we walk outside at the agreed time and they’re waiting. I called their wave phone and it took ages to answer, so long that I assumed they were out of the room and on the way, but apparently not. It turns out that they’d been chilling and had lost track of time, so said they’d find us in the atrium for photos later.

We wandered down via Shutters, getting the CD ordered, as we had way more photos now than the 20 credit package. It’s pricey at $290, but worth it for everything we’d had taken to date.

Then it was down for photos.



Our first stop, we assumed would be Mickey, judging by the line, but : it was Goofy and very suave he looked too.


I saw lots of people lining up and asked who’d be next – Donald and Daisy we were told. Well, we just had to get them! We got in line there and Barb and Bob found us there. That had to be the slowest moving line of the night, it was so slow, I had to go and sit down and take a break from standing.




We thought we were done, but saw Minnie and Mickey arrive, so went to get them and their line moved quicker than Donald and Daisy!



By now, we’d waited in line maybe 45 minutes for those character encounters, but the lines at the other set-ups were non-existent and I think we cleared those in maybe another 10 minutes. We even found Cinderella on the way...



On the way round, we found Margarita, who had photographed us a number of times so far this cruise and, as always, she was excellent. I think I need to mention her in the guest survey, as that usually asks about outstanding Cast Members and she’s definitely one.



Next: a Toy Story and a great dinner

[Big Baloo]

Just getting caught up over the past few installments--
You certainly are learning a lot this trip, aren't you? I'm going to have to remember to take pictures of not only the exhibit, but the explanation as well.
Cute story about the bear falling onto the plastic--can imagine that hurried lunch along for quite a few people! Brings back memories of when I was little, my parents took us camping in northern Maine. We stayed in a lean-to, and the next morning we awoke to a black bear sniffing our feet!
Digression over--great pictures of the two of you in your semi-formal wear. And may I say that you are Rockin' those slacks, Cheryl!

[Colexis Mom]

How cool to see the bear up the tree! Great pics from formal night!

[clio]

Lovely pictures of the waterfall. That's the first time I've ever seen a bear up a tree. Sorry about the rain.
Liz