North to Alaska on the Wonder--August 9-16 About This Page:

[smcnaught]

I am thrilled that I found your TR! I have always wanted to go to Alaska and I am enjoying reading about your adventure. What fantastic luck in seeing those bears!!

I am wondering about the Chamilia charm - what does it look like? I have a bracelet too and can't wait to get this charm!!

[chezp]

What an amazing excursion!

[Shadowfax]

Originally Posted by smcnaught

I am thrilled that I found your TR! I have always wanted to go to Alaska and I am enjoying reading about your adventure. What fantastic luck in seeing those bears!!

I am wondering about the Chamilia charm - what does it look like? I have a bracelet too and can't wait to get this charm!!

Here are a couple of pictures of the charm. They can only be purchased onboard the DCL ships.




I think the price was $40.00.

[Colexis Mom]

Love that charm!

[chezp]

The charm is beautiful!

[Shadowfax]

Saturday, August 13: Juneau!

Once again, Dave and I were up early, because our excursion was supposed to meet in the Walt Disney Theatre at 7:45. We were doing the Whale Watching, Mendenhall Glacier and Salmon Bake: Adults Only Departure. When we woke up, there was thick fog outside and our first thoughts were for our tablemates, who had a flightseeing tour scheduled. We hoped that the planes would get off the ground and that we would be able to see the whales out on the water with all the fog. We had a little extra time, and so decided to go to the Beach Blanket Buffet to have breakfast, which we did and really enjoyed.

After that, we made our way to the theatre and got our Pocahontas stickers and were soon walking out to the bus. We met Jack, our driver and he gave us an overview of the area while driving us to Auke Bay to meet our boat. By that time, the fog had completely lifted and we we treated to a bright sunny and warm day! We met Colt, our naturalist, and Captain Ben, who took us out in a little jet powered boat that seated 16 people. Colt gave us lots of information about whales and very soon we had spotted our first (but not last) whale.








We had very good sightings for whales and marine mammals. In addition to the humpbacks we saw, we also saw some Dall’s porpoises and some sea lions eating fish. The sea lions were awesome. They would surface with a fish in their mouths, shaking their heads back and forth like a dog, and the seagulls would fly down and try and steal little bites of the fish from them.

After that, we went back to the dock and were met by Jack once again who drove us to the Mendenhall Glacier. We had about an hour at the glacier. Dave wanted to try to hike to a waterfall, but I was really concerned about meeting up with the bus, so instead we just walked the paths near the glacier and went to the visitor’s center.









When we came out of the visitor’s center, I walked over to see the salmon spawning in a nearby stream. As I approached, people were crowding around, looking at something. That something turned out to be a black bear, feasting on the spawning salmon! He did not like all the noise though, and quickly faded back into the woods.

Jack picked us all up and took us to the salmon bake. The food there was really good. There was salmon, chicken, pasta sides, rice, cornbread, beans and blueberry cake for dessert. Dave and I really enjoyed it but we felt that we could not do the “all you can eat” part of it justice, as we were full after one helping. We walked back to a waterfall and an old abandoned mine, and watched the salmon swimming upstream.










Then it was back to a different bus, which would take us back into town. This bus was driven by Margaret, a very interesting woman, who, after selling her house, took a series of part time seasonal jobs all around the country. It was fascinating to listen to her and I would have liked to have heard even more about her life.

We were dropped off in downtown Juneau and we shopped our way back to the ship. (There are a lot of jewelry stores in all the ports and lots of trinkets made in China or other countries. We tried to buy things that were made by local craftsmen, but those items were a lot more expensive!) We also got quite overheated in Juneau. We really should have taken some time to peel off some layers! We hopped on a Disney provided shuttle and headed back to our ship.



We got back on board and headed to Animators Palate for Pirate Night and the Show Dinner. (Our first seating there had been the Golden Mickey’s menu, so we missed the show.) Two of our tablemates didn’t show up, so it was just the four of us and we had a blast. We all bought the special light up cups (Our tablemates got Tinkerbell and we got the Pirate glasses) and we had PERFECT seats for the show...but no one had their cameras! Still, it was wonderful fun and we all loved it. Dave had some kind of salad and I had the chicken. Both were good, but not extraordinary, but the fun of the meal made up for it.

After supper, we went out on Deck four for a little bit. were sailing past the Juneau Icefield and the scenery on the port side of the ship was spectacular! We watched until we got too cold, and then went back to our room.





We got a message saying that the time for our Ketchikan excursion had changed from 2 pm to 1 pm, which was no problem for us. We changed our clothing and sat on the verandah for a bit watching the spectacular sunset and then got ready for bed.






PS: This is the necklace and earring set Dave bought me, made by a local artist in Skagway. I whales!



Up next: I though you said we were leaving at 1 pm!

[Colexis Mom]

Great pictures from Juneau! How great that you had a nice sunny day!

[HollyH]

What great excursions! Great luck in seeing the bears!!

[chezp]

So glad to hear a report about this excursion, as that's what we'll be doing next week - it's DH's birthday present, as it's his birthday the next day and he loves whales.

[pamcarey]

What great excursions you've had! Amazing pictures of the bears! I love the jewelry that Dave bought you, and also the Chamilia charm. I have the same cruise ship charm, but without the DCL logo. I didn't know there was a DCL one!

[Grammy Grumpy]

Wonderful! Hope our weather is as good as yours was this day. We too will be on that excursion (with Mark and Cheryl) and I'm looking forward to lots of great pictures.

Did you have hiking boots/shoes with you? I'm trying to save some weight by not taking any but could wear them if necessary. Thanks!

[Shadowfax]

I did not take any hiking shoes, I just wore a good pair of walking shoes (leather New Balance 811's). Dave did bring a pair of mid height hikers and he wore them on all our excursions. He needed the extra traction. (But he only brought the hikers and a pair of walking shoes with him). I was fine with the walking shoes or my Merrell clogs. I really fretted about whether or not to bring hiking shoes, but I really did not need them.

[Shadowfax]

Sunday, August 14: Ketchikan

We were not scheduled to arrive in to Ketchikan until about 11 am, so Dave and I slept in a bit and then went to have some breakfast at Beach Blanket Buffet. Then we spent some time on our verandah, since the passage into Ketchikan is narrow and there were islands and mountains very close to the ship. It really was beautiful. (I know I say that a lot, but we really did have a hard time tearing ourselves away from the scenery!) We spent quite a bit of time looking at the constant stream of seaplanes taking off and landing. It was a very busy day in port because 5 ships were in Ketchikan that day! (Two Celebrity, a Princess, a Carnival and us). I also took the opportunity to go and pre-pay my gratuities for our servers and room steward.




(Ketchikan International Airport...no kidding!)









We went back to Beach Blanket Buffet and had lunch and then went down to the Walt Disney Theatre to check in for our tour. As I mentioned, originally we were supposed to leave at 2 pm but were told that because of the third party tour operators we had to leave at 1 pm. That was fine, but when we got to the theatre, the mix-ups began.

First, they gave us Pocahontas stickers, but when the CM was calling out the excursions she said that the Saxman Native Village group had Simba stickers. We were all confused for a moment, so I went to talk to the CM and told her that the Saxman group had been given Pocahontas stickers. They made that change, but then we sat in the theatre and waited and waited and waited. Finally, they called our group and we went our and boarded the bus. I was 1:49 pm. This put a bad taste in all our mouths for the excursion.

Then our bus driver, Karen, was...well, let’s just say that she sounded like she was talking to pre-schoolers. Now there were some youngsters on the bus, but most of us were adults and we got very tired of Karen very quickly.

When we got to the village, we were shown a brief film as an introduction to the Tlingit culture and then we walked over to the Beaver Clan tribal house. There we were able to listen to singing and watch dancing. At one point, they invited people to go up and dance with the clan, so I volunteered. They placed one of the capes on me and I tried my best to dance with them. That was pretty cool but I am a terrible dancer.






(Awful picture of me, but a cool moment).



Then we went out and looked at the totem poles. Again, Karen explained the poles like we were all two years old and a bit stupid to boot. But there were some interesting tidbits, like the greater the blank space between the ground and the pole, the higher the esteem for the person represented at the top of the pole. I already knew that there were several types of poles, such as mortuary poles, story poles and poles to honor certain chiefs or people.



We then had about 15-20 minutes in the gift store, which was NOT enough time. Everything in the store was made by native craftsmen, so I really wanted to spend more time there. After that, we visited the carving shed and learned about the tools and the paints used in the poles. Then it was back on the bus. Karen dropped most people off at the Lumberjack Show, and Dave and I did our last bit of shopping and then headed back to the ship.


(We call this "Dave birdwatching".)

Onboard, we quickly changed for dinner, since it was semi-formal night. We were the only people from our table who showed up to dinner, as both other couples at our table had late excursions. Dinner was good, but the dining room was empty! Our servers usually took care of a table of 8, a table of 6 (us) and a table of 4. That night, only the table of 4 and Dave and I showed up, so we got a lot of attention from Olivia and Arturo!

It was the Captain’s Gala menu, so I had the lobster and Dave had the venison. The lobster tail was not the kind of Maine lobster that I am used to, but it was very good nonetheless.

After supper, it was back to the verandah. This night we were very lucky to see a pod of about a dozen humpback whales. They were feeding in the distance around an island, but our binoculars brought them in very close. While we were watching the feeding we also saw a breach! That was very exciting! Unfortunately, they were too far away to get get any pictures of them.

Then it was bedtime...the next day would be our last day at sea.

Up next: Will Belle remember me?

[Colexis Mom]

Sorry about the excursion in Ketchikan! Great pictures though!

[chezp]

The Ketchikan excursion doesn't sound the greatest. I'm glad we're not doing that one.

Good news about the hiking shoes. With everywhere we're going, we only have tennis shoes, so those are going to have to do.