Alaska! – Part One
Last week I talked in general about my first cruise experience so this week I want to talk specifically about Alaska – or at least the parts I saw. As a recap, my friend and I chose a luxury cruise line, Seabourn, for our trip. Their ships are much smaller than the giant cruise ships (500 guest vs as much as 5,000) and this gives them a lot of advantages. We chose the 7 day cruise from Juneau to Vancouver, BC (with stops in Wrangell, AK and Prince Rupert, BC).
We flew to Juneau the day before our cruise to make sure we did not have any travel problems (which gratefully we did not). It was a pretty easy flight from Seattle to Juneau, and we arrived around 9 pm but being summer in Alaska, it was still light. The next day we explored Juneau. We were able to get up at our leisure, have a great breakfast at a local place and get in some souvenir shopping. There are definitely tourist shops in Juneau, but our cruise crew recommended a few local places that had some great souvenirs. We got on the ship in the early afternoon, but I probably would have spent a little more time sightseeing in Juneau and got on a little later. They have a tram that takes you to the top of the mountain where you can see all of Juneau and there are many other outdoor activities including hiking and a trip to the Mendenhall Glacier. 
We left port from Juneau around 9 pm to head toward Tracy Arm and Endicott Arm. Waking up that first morning and opening the curtains to see the icebergs floating by was amazing!!! We had also scheduled a zodiac tour that first morning (the first of 3 that we pre-booked) that took us very close to the glacier, and we saw tons on harbor seals and other wildlife, not to mention the amazing glacier itself and hearing the crackling as pieces fall off is something that you should see once in your life.
One of the things that I loved was that Seabourn had their own zodiac guides that are so knowledgeable in the surroundings and make your experience special. We had very good weather the first few days and in fact one of the days was in the 70s. But we also had all the “gear” for the zodiac tours including waterproof pants and shoes and a really great jacket (Seabourn provides you jacket as part of your cruise package) that was perfect for these adventures. We also took lots of clothes to layer along with hats and gloves. This trip was a packing challenge since it required dressing for all types of weather – and it was in the 100’s at home in AZ.
On day two, we had a stop in Wrangell, AK which was a cute little town. We did a tour of the city including the Wrangell museum, Petroglyph State Park and Totem Park. It was a fun stop for a few hours but there was not a lot else to see and do in the town. For me choosing a hike might have been a better choice and then doing some exploring on my own. But these are the things we learn as we travel, and they help us when we plan the next trip. On day 3, we did another zodiac tour of Misty Fjords National Monument – which is a 2.2 million acre national wilderness area – or about 3.5 times the size of Rhode Island! The area is home to so much amazing wildlife and the waterfalls were just completely breathtaking (I took a ton of waterfall pictures when I looked back at my phone)! The Misty Fjords (Rudyerd Bay) was a place that only a small ship like Seabourn can visit. It is called Misty Fjords because it is often shrouded in mist. But with vertical granite cliffs that were carved by glaciers, it is an amazing site. And that may be the biggest thing about this trip – epic scenery.
I will continue next week for the final days of the cruise!
