Eagles and Whales and Bears, oh my!!! COMPLETED 3/4/2012 - Page 12 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Great pictures Barb! What a great morning (rainbows, character breakfast , Palo )! And stunning pictures of Tracy Arm! So many seals! Great pictures from your night as well!
Oh that was such a great day! That rainbow was spectacular. Palo rocked it, dinner was great and Tracy Arm...well what can you say? Your pictures are wonderful. I was on deck in my fleece and was wondering about everyone all bundled up. I guess I am cold-blooded. And that was the first time EVER that I had hot chocolate on a Disney cruise!
September 2,2012 We arrive in Skagway Alaska This was an early morning for us by necessity. When we got up we were already in Skagway. This is what we saw when we opened the curtains this morning.
Our shore excursion was to meet in the Walt Disney Theater at 7:15 am. So, we ordered some room service the night before and had a quick bite before leaving the cabin. I say this because my notes say this. Unfortunately I did not note what we had to eat. I’m not much of a breakfast person so it really doesn’t matter to me, but Bob likes and really must have something to eat in the morning. I’m sure it was some sort of roll or cereal or something quick.
So, after eating off we went to the theater meeting place. Today we were to go on the “Eagle Preserve Float Adventure and Lynn Fjord Cruise”. We weren’t there very long when we were led off the ship and onto our waiting bus. We did see a cute harbor seal swimming in an area next to the ship. More on him later.
Board the bus we did and we were gifted a short tour around the town of Skagway. We arrived at the Skagway Alaska Small Boat Harbor to start our excursion. We were to take a ferry from Skagway to Haines via the Lynn Canal. This is the deepest fjord in North America.
Our tour guide and bus driver!
Arrived at the marina and headed through the Lynn Canal.
We arrived at the Fort Seward dock in Haines and boarded another bus that would take us up the Alaska Highway to the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve. This is a 48,000 acres preserve that was created in 1982 and includes the Chilkat, Klehini and Tsirku Rivers. At times there are over 3000 eagles congregating and feeding here. The time of year we were there it is estimated to be home for 200-400 eagles.
Upon arrival there we were told to put on life preservers and other protective gear. We would be traveling through the preserve in 18 foot rafts. We were given some instruction on where to sit and where to hang on and hopefully not to fall into the river! Also, what to do in case we got hung up on the bottom of the river. Silt is deposited in the preserve from the melting of snow and glacier ice.
This airboat arrived just before we were to leave but we have no idea why or what he was doing.
Ok, time to board our rafts and look for eagles! I have to inject here that this type of excursion is WAY out of my comfort zone! I don’t swim and have some fear of the water (I know, and I took a cruise???). But off we went. Bob and I and another couple were in the front of the raft and a family of four (2 adults and 2 kids) were in the back. Our guide and navigator sat in the middle and moved us around.
I have to say that although it was hard to hang on and take pictures (the raft didn’t really go in one straight direction) we saw many, many eagles. We did not get stuck (one other raft did and it was quite comical to watch them bounce up and down in the raft in an attempt to free themselves!). The weather was mostly overcast but at times we saw some of the landscape open up around us.
Here is the raft that got stuff and the occupants had to bounce up and down to free themselves and get back into flowing water!
The next few shots showed how the eagles and ravens do not get along very well. This eagle continued to chase the raven for quite a stretch of the river!
More eagles as we continued to travel the river. The immature eagles are brown headed. They do stay around the parents, who mate for life, for some time.
Along the shoreline after we had been on the water for about an hour we saw a Tlingit village called Klukwan. This village sits on land where the three rivers of the preserve come together.
We arrived at the end of our float trip and had a nice shore picnic lunch. We had our picture taken with our raft “Captain” who I am sorry to say I don’t remember her name. She was wonderful and such a joy to be with that day.
After lunch we boarded our bus and headed back down the Alaskan Highway returning to Haines and the ferry at the Seward Dock that would take us back to Skagway. Although we were told there was a possibility to see marine life coming and going from Haines we regretfully did not see any whales or harbor seals. But we did see those few sea lions resting on a rock on our way to Haines. However, upon return to Skagway we would still have quite a bit of time to explore the town and get some souvenirs.
The town was fascinating! We did find the building that housed Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park and I was able to get a stamp in my National Parks book!
I also found one of my favorite stores – Del Sol – in Skagway! They sell shirts that turn colors when worn in the sunlight. I have some now from various places and I love them! We also did some shopping for things to take back to the grandkids. I got a good deal at Del Sol so a buying I went.
However, after my shopping I got concerned about how we were going to get these home! So, off we went to find a post office. We did indeed find one, right around the corner in fact, and were able to put them all in a box (if it fits it ships!) and send them home. A great solution. I hoped to find post offices in either Juneau or Ketchikan and do the same thing. More on that later. I do have to say that the post master on duty that day was a bit frazzled. I attempted to joke with her and asked her if she would be glad when all the tourists were gone at the end of the season. She shot back at me “It’s always busy here, tourists or not!” Well, okay then! We finished our business and headed out. Sorry no pictures of the post office or the frazzled post master!
We had been told that morning on the bus that if we were going to purchase any jewelry we should look for shops that said they were owned by locals. It seems that cruise lines own most of the “better” jewelry shops in ports. Well, we did just that, we found a locally owned shop and I got a lovely necklace that had actually be made by the owner.
More sightseeing and shopping and then it was time to return to the ship. I really wished we’d had more time here. It was a great town and there were many more things we could have done.
I love this picture of a painting of a woman peeking out of an upstairs window on main street!
Upon returning to the ship, remember the harbor seal we saw leaving in the morning? Well he was still there and had a friend with him. They were swimming around, back and forth. We then discovered what they were up to. The end of the area where they were swimming had a metal wall at the end. Salmon had swam in and they were cornering them and then feasting on those they caught! They were a very successful team.
Dinner that evening was to have been “Taste of Alaska” but we were invited to dine with Mark & Cheryl, Steve & Sue at the buffet that evening at an earlier time than our second seating dining. We had all found that starting after 8:30 in the dining room meant finishing our meal well past 10:30 and that was just too much food to try and sleep on. So, off to the buffet we went. It was ok food but the dining fellowship was better!
We ended up at Diversions after dinner so that Mark & Cheryl could present a UK license plate to Steve and Sue for their place in the Poconos called CnJ’s. They were already charter members! Franklin provided us with wonderful drinks as he had been doing all cruise.
We returned to our cabin to find this! Time to sleep as tomorrow was another early start to the day!
Next up: Juneau, whale watching (Did we finally see any), and rain!
Congratulations on braving the rafting trip! You got some amazing photos of the eagles. Skagway looks like a really fun town to explore. I'm glad you had enough time to do the excursion and also shop around town. Great tip to send things home from the local post office! I guess I can brave the frazzled post-mistress!
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September 3, 2011 Juneau – Whale Watching, Salmon Bake, Mendenhall Glacier – Adults only! Arrival in Juneau, the capital of Alaska. The only way to get there is by water or air, no land roads will get you there. Here's our first look at the city.
Not quite as early today for the shore excursion, but still pretty early. Especially for those who are not really morning people (that would be me!). We had breakfast at the buffet this morning with Mark and Cheryl this morning. Bob went ahead because I had somehow lost my KTTW card and there was no way I was missing out on going on this excursion! I looked everywhere (I thought) and eventually went down to guest services and they printed me another one. (Oh, and I did finally find the "lost" one!)
I joined the group in enough time to get a quick bite of something before we had to head down to the Walt Disney Theater to meet our group. We got going quickly and were escorted to our bus for the drive over to Auke Bay for our whale watching cruise. The weather was misty and overcast just pretty nasty.
We arrived in short fashion (sorry the pictures from the bus are pretty horrible) and we were led to the Red Dolphin, our vehicle for today. Ok, here I am again, not fond of the water and going out to find whales! Small boat, big mammals. Who picked this excursion?? Oh yea, me! I had my patch on and had probably taken on Bonine on top of it but I wasn’t really worried about motion sickness or vertigo. It’s just a BIG body of water, with BIG animals, and small boats. Well, onward we went!
As soon as the boat left the dock it pretty much opened up and away we went. Couldn’t really see anything because of the spray coming up and we bounced up and down and up and down (did I say I wasn’t worried about motion sickness?)
We came to an area where there were other boats and even a cargo ship. Then, we saw the whales. We had a small group so we were all able to go out and see them more clearly and get some pictures. We were told there were probably 3 humpback whales here. We saw them blow and we saw a tail a time or two but none did any breaching. I was a bit disappointed in that but now that I have looked over my pictures I am amazed again at where we were and what was just below the surface of the water!
We cruised along for a while after we left the humpbacks and found a large group of sea lions. I had to look this up, but a group of sea lions is called a raft!
We got some video of them also. Sorry the beginning is a bit choppy.
The boat’s captain was in touch with other boats in the area and he was on the hunt for some orcas for us to see. We did see some in the distance but unfortunately by the time we got there they were gone.Alas our time was up for this portion of the excursion. We started back to the boat dock and left our jet boat and we were on our way to the next part of the excursion.
Back on the bus and we went to the Mendenhall Glacier. The weather had not improved; in fact it was getting worse as the day went on. We spent a short amount of time outside taking some pictures of the glacier, but with the weather so nasty the glacier just didn’t give us the “Wow” factor. I’m sure on a better and sunnier day it would have been must more spectacular.
The guys took a short trek on the pathway to see if they could see salmon in the water.
Cheryl and I decided to head indoors to warm up. We managed a few more pictures and a few purchases.
Cheryl and I kept an eye on the time as we needed to be back to our bus to go to the salmon bake which was the final event of this excursion. We got on the bus and held some seats for the guys who were, by this time, really wet and looked a bit tired. After looking in various buses they finally saw us and got on! On our way to the bus we saw a pair of eagles in a tree just hanging out!
We were now heading to the Gold Creek Salmon Bake. Thankfully the whole area is covered with tarp so we didn’t get wet but it is truly an outdoors experience. Oh, and we had live music. I wasn’t terribly impressed by the food but it was okay. The chowder was good and warm and I should have gotten more of it instead of the entre or sides.
I’m not sure what I was doing but the rest of the group explored the area and found a bear in a tree watching the goings on! By the time I found them and they tried to show me, the bear was gone. I’m not sure which was more frightening – that it was up in the tree while we ate or was not gone and nowhere to be see (or was it???)
The last thing we decided to do was take a short hike up a trail along side of the Gold Creek Salmon Bake to the Norwegian Star Waterfall.
It was raining, it was cold, but I’m glad we did it! As we walked up the patch we found some very interesting, but potentially painful vegetation. The highlight was finding the waterfall and actually managing a group picture!
On the bus for the last time to return to Juneau. I really had wanted to explore the town but the weather was so bad we decided to head back to the Wonder, shower, rest and get ready for the semi-formal night – Captain’s Gala.
We were to meet Mark and Cheryl for some pre-show photos but I mixed up the time and they headed off with a promise we’d be there soon. We just missed Goofy in his tux (darn it) but managed to see Donald/Daisy and Mickey/Minnie in formal attire. Great fun! Cheryl and I even found Cinderella and got a picture. Then the four of us went and got some “sunset” and “moonlight” pictures in couples group and foursome group.
Then it was off to meet others at the Toy Story – The Musical show. It was very good. I love anything that is live theater, Disney or otherwise! As always our cruise director, Christian, introduced the show.
Dinner afterwards was just 5 of us, Sue, Steve, Amy, Bob and myself. The other 5, Bruce, Marta, Catherine, Mark and Cheryl were celebrating birthdays at Palo this evening.
After dinner I was ready to hit the bed so off we went. Sue and Steve were heading to some of the nighttime entertainment. I hope on my next cruise I can have a bit more energy to do some of the evening entertainment!
We did find one more character in the lobby as we went to retire.
You got some wonderful photos of the whales, and the video was great! What a shame it was such nasty weather, but the glacier looked pretty "WOW" to me. Seems like you had a lot of time in port to do so much. For my cruise this year we're only in Juneau until 2pm. I wonder if there will be enough time to do a whale watch, see the glacier and browse the town a bit.
Despite what you said, you got some amazing photos of the eagles and that sounded like a really cool excursion. And what a great day we had with you guys in Juneau! Just a shame about the weather, as I'd have loved to have explored the town more as well...
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, Palo 
)! And stunning pictures of Tracy Arm! 
So many seals! 
Great pictures from your night as well! 
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Pixie Dust
I guess I am cold-blooded. And that was the first time EVER that I had hot chocolate on a Disney cruise! 
Skagway was a great town! And the rafting looked fun, although a bit cold.
PassPorter Guide Author
Just a shame about the weather, as I'd have loved to have explored the town more as well... 
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