Category: Cruise Page 4 of 8

Whale Watching in Juneau

On August 29, 2022

Whale Watching

Some of the links below are affiliate links and as such, I earn a small commission from purchases that allow me to continue telling you my stories without costing you anything extra.

After our short time at Mendenhall Glacier, we climbed back on the bus and headed for Auke Bay to catch our whale-watching boat. Once we got to the boat, we sat down on the comfortable, indoor seats as the captain hit the throttle to where the whales hang out.

When booking this trip, I noticed a lot of tour companies advertised that you will get your money back if you don’t see a whale, and now that I’ve been there, I get it. Auke Bay and the Inside Passage is where the humpback whales come in the summer to eat. The naturalist onboard explained that the whales migrate every year from Alaska all the way to Hawaii to mate. But, there is no food for them in Hawaii or along the journey so they have to get all their nutrients for the whole year when they are in Alaska. She estimated there were probably 50 whales in the water around our boat.

A glimpse of a whale tale

If you haven’t been following along on my journey, I should tell you that we left our camera batteries in Vancouver so all of the photos taken on our whale-watching trip were taken with my phone. While I wish I had awesome whale photos, I have to admit that not having my camera really allowed me to live in the moment and enjoy the experience of whale watching. And honestly, I don’t know if my reflexes would’ve been fast enough to see the first glimpse of a whale and move the camera to the exact spot to capture it. Of course, that doesn’t mean I won’t try again.

We booked this excursion through Alaska Tales on Viator and I highly recommend them to anyone looking for a whale-watching excursion in Juneau. We had an all-female crew, which is very uncommon, and the boat was much smaller than some of the other ones we saw in the area. When we saw “whale smoke” (what one of the kids on board called when the whale blows air and water above the surface. I liked the phrase so I adopted it) or a glimpse of a whale, the captain would move the boat closer so we could get a better look at it. Not to mention their price was significantly less than we originally paid through the cruise line.

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to stop by next week when I detail our experience at the Mt. Roberts Tramway in Juneau! To read more about this trip check out my Planes, Buses, and Boats Trip Report. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.

Pin This:

Exploring Mendenhall Glacier

By Ashleigh

On August 23, 2022

In Cruise, Travel

Mendenhall Glacier is a part of the Tongass National Forest in Southeastern Alaska and is located about 12 miles from downtown Juneau. Our Glacier and Whale Watch tour through Alaska Tales, took us first to Mendenhall Glacier before heading to the harbor to catch the whale watching tour.

Mendenhall Glacier is currently 13 miles long and has receded about 1.75 miles since 1929. In 2012, the retreating glacier exposed tree trunks and logs that have been dated to 1,200 and 2,350 years old and are teaching scientists about the ecosystem of Alaska before the glacier formed.

The Visitor Center at Mendenhall Glacier was the first U.S. Forest Service visitor center built in the United States in 1962. Exhibits in the visitor center cover the history of the glacier including what it looked like in 1794 versus today. There are also exhibits about the local wildlife including bears, mountain goats, and salmon.

One of the most popular hikes at Mendenhall Glacier is the Nugget Falls Trail. It is a 2-mile round trip hike from the visitor center and takes you to scenic Nugget Falls. It is a fairly easy, gravel trail and the forest service says the hike takes about an hour on average.

Unfortunately, our tour only gave us an hour to explore Mendenhall Glacier and we spend about ten minutes waiting for a bus parking spot to open up, so we didn’t have as much time to explore as we were hoping. We’re fast walkers and could probably make it to the falls and back in less than the hour that the forest service says the hike will take, but we didn’t want to miss the bus that was taking us to the boat to go whale watching. So, we ended up doing the 1/3 mile photo point trail instead. This short trail is the perfect spot to capture the glacier.

I wish our tour would have been set up so that we did the whale watching first and then had time to explore the Mendenhall Glacier area. It would’ve been great to just take as much time as wanted and then got on the next bus headed back to town. I guess, that’s why a lot of people rent cars when they’re in Juneau. Then you could spend as much time as you’d like exploring the trails. I guess we’ll just have to make a return trip to Juneau sometime!

Thanks for stopping by! To read more about this trip check out my Planes, Buses, and Boats Trip Report. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.

Pin this:

One Day in Juneau, Alaska

By Ashleigh

On August 15, 2022

In Cruise, Travel

Serenade of the Seas docked in Juneau

After spending the day in Sitka, we woke up the next morning in Juneau, Alaska! Juneau was our longest day; we were in town until 8 pm, so that allowed us to see a lot!

We had originally booked a full-day excursion through Royal Caribbean for our day in Juneau that included whale watching, Mendenhall Glacier, and a salmon bake, but about a week before embarkation, they canceled it. Probably the most frustrating thing about this was that they credited the amount back to our debit card but we were told we wouldn’t have it for 10 days, which was after we boarded the ship. I really don’t understand why with it being so close to sailing, they didn’t just credit our onboard account and allow us to book another excursion through them. Excursions in Alaska are much more expensive than in the Caribbean so we really didn’t want to dish out hundreds of more dollars for something to do this day. We ended up going with a third-party excursion company that I found on Viator that didn’t charge us until 48 hours in advance, by which time we had the refund in our account for the original excursion. It ended up working out because the new excursion I found was $150 per person cheaper than the one through Royal Caribbean.

The excursion we ended up booking was with a small company called Alaska Tales and they offered a tour that took us to Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Watching. Afterward, we got lunch at the iconic Tracy’s King Crab and we took a ride on the Goldbelt Tram (AKA Mt. Roberts Tramway). Then, we explored the city for a while before heading back to the ship.

Chris was able to pick up the new battery for our camera while we were in Juneau, so pictures from the second half of this day were taken on our Fuji. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do this before our whale watching, which was disappointing, especially because I rented a big telephoto lens to catch some whale action shots. I guess that’s just another reason why we’ll have to make another trip up to Alaska sometime!

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check back next week when I get into the details of our time exploring Mendenhall Glacier! To read more about this trip check out my Planes, Buses, and Boats Trip Report. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.

Pin This:

Sitka National Historic Park

By Ashleigh

On August 8, 2022

In Cruise, National Parks & Places, Travel

Totem Pole Trail

After learning about bears and raptors, we headed to Sitka National Historic Park. The National Park Service Site is located a short walk from the Alaska Raptor Center. The park preserves the site of the battle between the Russian settlers and the native Tlingit people. The park was Federally protected back in 1890 and was the first federally preserved piece of land in Alaska.

Sitka was home to one of the first European settlements in Alaska being settled by Russian fur traders in 1799. In 1802, the native Tlingit destroyed the original settlement killing many of the settlers. In 1804 Russian forces returned and bombarded the Tlingit during a bloody battle that the Tlingit would have won had they not run out of gunpowder. Instead, they were forced to leave the fort under cover of darkness. The park sits on the site of this battle.

Yaadaas Crest Pole

One of the highlights of the park is the mile-long Totem Trail. The park is even known to some as the Totem Park. 18 Tlingit and Haida totems can be found along the trail conveying ancestry, history, folklore, and memorials. There are three main types of totem poles: house posts, which were carved as support poles for a home; frontal poles, which were placed against or near the front of a home; and detached poles which were placed anywere in or near villages. The Yaadaas Crest pole (left) was re-carved in 1982 and the figures on the pole represent the lineage of the family that owned it. The village watchman sits on top to symbolize that the people are being watched over and protected.

The totem pole featured at the top of the page is the K’alyaan Pole which represents the Battle of Sitka. The figure on the bottom of the pole represents the raven helmet of the Tlingit warrior who led the battle. The rest of the pole depicts the clans of the raven moiety. The pole was carved in 1999 and stands on the site of the Kiks.adi fort.

There is much more to see in this 112-acre park than we had time to explore. So, like many of the places we have been lately, Sitka is on our list of places fo us to return.

Thanks for stopping by! To learn more about the Sitka Historic Park and the significance of its Totem Poles, visit NPS.gov. To read more about this trip check out my Planes, Buses, and Boats Trip Report. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.

Pin This:

Alaska Raptor Center

By Ashleigh

On August 1, 2022

In Cruise, Travel

Quigiq the Snowy Owl

After our time at Fortress of the Bear, we headed to another wildlife rehabilitation center in Sitka, the Alaska Raptor Center. Where Fortress of the Bear takes in orphaned bear cubs, the Raptor Center focuses on rehabilitating birds of prey: eagles, owls, and falcons. Many of the birds in their care eventually are able to be released into the wild, but some have injuries that are too severe and they get to live out their lives in the center, educating guests about these magnificent creatures and the work of the raptor center.

We started our visit at a raptor talk where we met Owlison (left), a great horned owl, and Hannah, an avian care specialist. Owlison came to the Raptor Center with a fractured wrist bone and possibly some damage to her wing. Through Owlison’s rehabilitation, she is now capable of flight but not well enough to hunt on her own, so she is now a permanent resident at the Raptor Center.

Volta the Bald Eagle After the raptor talk, we got to see the Flight Training Center where rehabilitated birds are able to practice flying from perch to perch as they would do in the wild. Rehabilitators watch the birds in the training center to determine if they are able to fly well enough to survive in the wild and be released. When we visited the birds weren’t very active but it was very good to see the steps the experts at the Raptor Center take to make sure the birds will be able to survive on their own once they are well enough to leave the center.

While many of the birds at the Raptor Center have sad stories, it is good to know they have a place to live out the rest of their lives (many of which are longer in captivity than if they were still hunting for themselves in the wild). Volta (right) has one of those sad stories. He was found electrocuted, most likely from stretching his wings between two power lines. His carocoid bone was fractured in his fall and without that, he is not able to take flight.

Thanks for stopping by! To read more about their raptors in residence, plan your visit, or donate to their cause, visit AlaskaRaptor.org. To read more about this trip check out my Planes, Buses, and Boats Trip Report. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.

Pin This:

Fortress of the Bear

By Ashleigh

On July 25, 2022

In Cruise, Travel

When planning a visit to Alaska, a bear sighting is usually high on the list of things people want to experience. But, any wildlife sighting is hard to plan, and seeing a bear in the wild can be dangerous. Fortress of the Bear in Sitka, Alaska is a bear rescue that allows visitors to view native brown and black bears from a safe distance while giving orphaned bears a second chance at life.

The state of Alaska has no rehabilitation program for orphaned bears so for years, when a mother bear was killed, fish and game rangers had to kill the cubs because without the mother they would starve to death. One ranger got really sick of having to shoot baby bears, so in 2007, he opened Fortress of the Bear to take in orphaned cubs. Since then, they have sent bears the zoos around the country and is currently home to 7 brown and black bears. Fortress of the Bear is currently working with the state of Alaska to change the law and allow bears to be rehabilitated and released.

I was surprised to learn that the trainers at Fortress of the Bear taught the bears to sign. Just like people have taught monkeys to do, the bears put their paws together in front of their chest to signal they want more food. It was fun to watch the bears at feeding time! You can watch the video above!

Brown Bear Fortress of the Bear is a nonprofit that does important work in Alaska! The money for their mission comes from admissions and additional donations. If you are in Sitka, I highly recommend a stop. It is not a big place, the hour they gave us on our tour was more than enough time. It was fun to see the bears and it was good knowing the admission supports Alaskan wildlife. If you want to know more about Fortress of the Bear, read about the bears, or donate to their cause, check out fortressofthebear.org.

Pin This:

One Day in Sitka, Alaska

By Ashleigh

On July 18, 2022

In Cruise, Travel

Cruise ships in Sitka Sound

After our day in Vancouver, we got up the next morning and boarded the Serenade of the Seas, and headed to Alaska. Sailing out of Vancouver Harbor was beautiful and I was excited to snap some photos as we headed up the Inside Passage but at that moment I realized I left my camera batteries at the Airbnb in Vancouver. Since our first two ports were islands (Sitka and Juneau) with no road connections to the mainland and lithium batteries cannot be shipped by air, there was no way to order a replacement and get it by the time we were in Alaska. If we were still Nikon shooters, the pharmacy in Sitka sold Nikon batteries, but that was no help as we had our Fuji camera with us. While we still had cell signal we did some internet sleuthing and found a Fuji photographer who used to have a store in Juneau. We sent him an email and were able to meet up with him and buy a battery when we were in Juneau. All that to say that my photos from Sitka and the first half of our day in Juneau were all taken on my phone as we had a camera and an expensive rented telephoto lens, but we had no way to turn it on.

So, after all that stress, we arrived in Sitka. After doing all my research before we left, it seemed that Sitka is a pretty easy port to explore on your own without an excursion. Our ship docked at what is known as the Old Sitka Dock and is a few miles outside town, but they offer a free shuttle to take you downtown. Once we were dropped off at Centennial Hall, we booked a $10 per person shuttle that would take us to Fortress of the Bear, the Alaska Raptor Center, and from there we could walk to the Sitka National Historic Park and back to downtown.

Alaska Pioneer's Home

I quickly fell in love with Sitka. Sitka is located on the west side of Baranof Island on the Gulf of Alaska. Because of its location, the island is a temperate rain forest with the temperature varying between 33 and 62 degrees throughout the year with the temperature rarely dropping below 22 degrees. I don’t know about you, but that’s not really what I think of when I hear Alaska weather.

Sitka was home to one of the first European settlements in Alaska being settled by Russian explorers in 1799. In 1802, the native Tlingit destroyed the original settlement killing many of the settlers. In 1804 Russian forces returned and bombarded the Tlingit fort causing the Tlingit people to leave under cover of darkness. The Russian influence in Sitka can still be seen today with the Russian Bishop’s house and St. Michael’s Cathedral still standing in downtown Sitka.

Boats in Crescent Harbor

In August of 2015, heavy rains triggered a series of 60 landslides in Sitka, one of which killed three people. The US Geological survey did a landslide assessment of Sitka and determined that the entire island is a landslide risk. Now, the USGS has installed a first-of-its-kind landslide warning system to notify residents of landslide conditions so evacuations can occur.

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to stop back next week to read about our time at Fortress of the Bear in Sitka! To read more about this trip check out my Planes, Buses, and Boats Trip Report. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.

Pin This:

One Day in Vancouver

By Ashleigh

On July 11, 2022

In Cruise, Travel

The city from Vancouver Lookout

We started our one day in Vancouver nice and early being that our bodies were still in Eastern Time. We left our Airbnb in a beautiful North Vancouver neighborhood and spent several hours at the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. From there we took a bus and Sea Bus (what Vancouver calls its fery) to downtown Vancouver.

When planning our day in Vancouver, I had no idea what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to eat at Japadog. I have no idea where I had heard of Japadog, but the concept intrigued me: Japanese flavors meet an American staple. I can’t tell you enough how delicious these hot dogs were! I wish there was a Japadog in Michigan!

After lunch, we headed to the Vancouver Lookout to get a bird’s eye view of the city (top). Built in 1977 by Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, the Harbor Center Building that houses the lookout was the tallest building in the city at the time. Nowadays, a glass elevator takes guests 168 meters (553 feet) up to a viewing platform with a 360-degree view of Vancouver from the 6th tallest building in the city. The Top of Vancouver revolving restaurant is also in the Harbor Center Building for visitors looking for a fine dining experience with an unbeatable view. As a cruise nerd, I enjoyed seeing the ships at Canada Place (left)!

From there we took a bus to Stanley Park and walked around enjoying the beautiful day. With over 1,000 acres, there is a lot to explore in Stanley Park. The park first opened in 1888 and was named after Lord Stanley, the 6th governor general of Canada. Construction of the Seawall (above) began in 1917 and took decades to complete. There is much to do in Stanley Park including 27 km of trails, a waterpark, beaches, the Vancouver Aquarium, or ride a horse-drawn carriage, trolley, or train. You could spend a whole day exploring the park!

I definitely feel like we barely scratched the surface of Vancouver! One thing I wanted to do that we just didn’t have time for was a culinary tour of Chinatown. I guess Vancouver will have to go on the list of places to return to!

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to stop back next week as we board the Serenade of the Seas and head to Sitka, Alaska! To read more about this trip check out my Planes, Buses, and Boats Trip Report. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.

Pin This:

Exploring Capilano Suspension Bridge

By Ashleigh

On July 5, 2022

In Cruise, Travel

While planning our one day in Vancouver, the one thing I knew I wanted to see was the Capilano Suspension Bridge and since we were not going to have a car for this day, we decided to rent an Airbnb in North Vancouver. The area was very nice and we enjoyed walking past all the beautifully manicured gardens to a nearby coffee shop for breakfast. We were even able to walk from our Airbnb to Capilano Bridge Park.

Since it was so close to our Airbnb and we were still adjusting to Pacific Time, we got to the suspension bridge shortly after they opened and I was glad that we did. You can see in the picture (left) that the bridge was busy even at 9:30 in the morning.

Treetops Adventure

The Capilano Suspension Bridge was the first tourist attraction in Vancouver, with the original hemp-rope bridge built in 1888. The current bridge is 140 meters (459 feet) long and is suspended 70 meters (229 feet) above the river. But, there is more to the park than one bridge. A series of seven smaller suspension bridges take you high up in the tall douglas fir trees for a “squirrel’s eye view of the forest”. Interestingly, the platforms in the trees were designed to allow for the continuing growth of the forest using an innovative tree-collar design without any nails or bolts in the trees. While the big suspension bridge is more exciting, I really preferred the bridges in what the park calls “Treetops Adventure”.

Cliffwalk

The Cliffwalk walkways jut out from the granite cliff suspending trekkers over the rushing water below with open grates in some parts allowing you to see just how far up you are. To me, this wasn’t as scary as the big bridge. Where the suspension bridge moves with each step and sways with the breeze, these walkways aren’t going anywhere.

American Kestral at the Raptor Talk

One of the first areas of the park you see is the Kai’Palano which celebrates the area’s First Nation cultures by showcasing several Totem Poles surrounded by educational signs. Many of the totem poles become the first photo opportunity for families in the park.

We happened to stumble into a Raptor Talk at the Raptors Ridge area of the Park and besides the fact that it seemed like the featured birds weren’t native to the area, it was very interesting. One of the biggest takeaways for me is that one of the biggest killers of bald eagles and other raptors is ingesting poisoned food (i.e. mice and rats) and that is 100% preventable. There are other ways to deal with an infestation in your home than putting out poison which has a much bigger effect than just killing the mouse in your house.

Overall, we spent several hours exploring all the trails, bridges, and viewpoints in the park and even though the entrance ticket is pricey (C$62.95 for adults) we thought it was totally worth it and would probably return on our next visit to Vancouver. If you are on the fence about visiting Capilano Suspension Bridge, I highly recommend it!

Pin This:

Wordless Wednesday: Bald Eagle

By Ashleigh

On June 22, 2022

In Cruise, Travel