So i Went on A Cruise to Alaska (Maybe)

Apparently i went on a vacation last week (to Alaska).  i think it was something called a cruise.  A cruise is kind of like an expensive moving hotel stay (where the hotel sometimes bounces around).  Moving is, apparently, an operative word here.  The ship was really, really moving.  That kind of made it hard to walk and keep your balance. 


The second night was particularly bad for me (and maybe the plumbing in the room).  The last two nights had worse movement - high winds and big waves (some near 20 feet if i read things correctly).  The ship seems kind of slow (usually less than 20 knots - about 23 MPH)

If you don't know a cruise can be boring.  There will be days you spend at sea with virtually nothing to do for most of the day.  There was a TV in the room, but it got very few channels (and sometimes not so well).  There are some entertainment options (primarily in the evenings - usually of questionable worth).  i guess if you drink or gamble it can be slightly better.

Anyway i went for seven days... Seven very long days.  The cruise went through four main cities: Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan and Victoria (BC, eh?).  There was also a day at sea and a day at sea cruising through Glacier Bay (i think that is what it is called).  i had some excursions in each area.

* Juneau:  despite some objections, Juneau is still the capital city of Alaska.  i had an 8 hour stay here (which is probably at least three hours more than i would have preferred). 

While in Juneau, i went on the gold panning excursion.  In this excursion, you go up into an area where people previously used to mine.  You are given a sample pan (which is slightly salted with gold flakes) and get a basic idea of what to look for, and how to pan for gold.  i think it is mostly swirling around the pan - getting the heavier/more dense gold to settle on the bottom. This was roughly a 90 minute excursion for $59.  It was ok, but felt a little overpriced (i got about 15 really small flakes - you can buy a vial of the same stuff for $1.99 at some stores - and it will have way more).

* Skagway:  We had about 13.25 hours here.  Yes, it felt far too long.  This was my most expensive excursion.  Basically, this was a 7.5 hour excursion going by a small bus to the Yukon territory (Canada) and riding back to Skagway on the railroad (i guess we stopped at a town called Caribou Crossing, Carcross for short, and had a ten minute or less "dogsled ride" on land).  i guess the scenery is ok at times. 

However, a word of caution on the Skagway Rail line going from Fraser BC to Skagway (AK) - if you can get on the right side. The left side is so lacking on the ride that i feel you should be give a 50% discount if you are stuck on that side of the train.

* Ketchikan:  This was probably my favorite city i went to in AK (Alaska) - unfortunately, we only got to be there for about 7.5 hours (less real time).  i wish i had more time in Ketchikan.  Maybe it is that they are covered by nice clouds most of the year (awesome) and get about .5" of rain a day.  Go figure, the city with the greatest chance of rain was actually the driest (up to that point) on the trip. 

On this excursion (the second most expensive - i think) i went on a catamaran tour of the Misty Fjords.  One thing they don't tell you is that the boat is enclosed on the bottom level.  That would have been nice to know that i could have brought my better camera on the trip.  It was early in the morning (7 AM) so it didn't go well early.  i saw a few Orcas early on, a bunch of birds and i might have seen some seals (barely).  You will also see some faint petroglyphs and ribbon waterfalls. This was roughly a 4.5 hour excursion (which felt really, really long).  If you do go upstairs (outside) be advised that the ship can go as fast as 40 knots (46 MPH) and that creates a pretty stiff wind.   

* Victoria, BC (Canada): This was the biggest city port of call on the cruise.  We were supposed to be there for about 6 hours - but it was less because the ship was running behind and it took a long time to get off the boat.  i guess it would probably have been better to have more daylight hours here.

This excursion was a pedi-cab.  Basically two connected mini coaches being pulled by a guy on a bicycle.  This was kind of expensive for what it was, but i guess was a decent experience.  There were: drunk bachelor party guys, a Dark Vader dressed violin player, Victorian style houses (some quite new), a story of flashing ghostly lights, people being too nicely in the right place to fall in the background story and some other things.  i think this lasted between 1-2 hours.  It was kind of jerky.  Even so, i probably managed to take a few dozen pictures (before the lack of light killed my shutter speeds causing blur). 

Bonus Picture:

This is a rare "free" coin set as advertised in the Alaska travel guide in the ship terminal.  i say rare because they make you go around to three jewely stores in the three Alaskan cities to ask for these (and they try to sell you jewelry, maybe make you try it on).  This can be a bit of a pain - especially on short "shore leave" trips.  i say "free" becuase this "free" set and the case cost a total of $20.   Luckily, i had people with me to get the coins for me.  The case was in Ketchikan (i think at Spectrum).