Cruising - Day Five, Six and Seven

Cruising Day Five: Ketchikan

Cruising Day Six: Inside Passage to Vancouver
Cruising Day Seven: Vancouver.

Well, I either ran out of steam or just didn't have that much to photograph in Ketchikan. It poured rain all day while at this port. Ruth and I attempted to make our first of two scheduled excursions which was to be a 3 hour hike in the woods. We got soaked to the skin by the sideways rain fall and decided to nix the excursion and just relax on the ship for the rest of the day.

The photos below were taken while cruising the Inside Passage to Vancouver. Once we arrived in Vancouver, we were wisked to the airport for our flights home. By the way, if you ever take a cruise that offers valet luggage service, BUY IT. Fantastic deal. We didn't see our bags from the time we left the ship in Vancouver until we arrived back home in Hartford.

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Well, that's it! A vacation of a lifetime. We hope you enjoyed sharing it with us. A trip to Alaska is a must do. Put it on your bucket list.

Cruising Day Four - Icy Strait Point

At Icy Strait Point you’ll find the original workings of a large salmon cannery that operated for several decades. Today, the cannery provides a look at how the early canning process operated. In addition, two restaurants offering spectacular views of Icy Strait, Port Frederick and 13 retail shops.

Just 1.5 miles up the road is Hoonah, Alaska’s largest Tlingit Native village, with a population of approximately 880. The Glacier Bay area, to the north, was the original homeland of the people in Hoonah.

Here are the Top 10 things to do during your time at Icy Strait Point.

No. 10 - Take a Walk on the Nature Trail.

No. 9 - Visit the Icy Strait Point Museum.

No. 8 - Send a Salmon Canned Postcard sealed with the historic canning machinery.

No. 7 - Eat Fresh Seafood and enjoy an incredible view at the Landing Zone Restaurant.

No. 6 - Visit Spasski River Valley for a chance to see a Coastal Brown (Grizzly) Bear.

No. 5 - Take a walk along the beach and skip some rocks.

No. 4 - Enjoy a bottle of wine while sitting on a bench by the shore.

No. 3 - Shop in one of our 13 Alaskan and locally owned retail shops.

No. 2 - Learn about Native Culture and witness our high-energy live show, "Tribal Dance & Cultural Legends".

No. 1 - Ride the World's Longest and Highest ZipRider™!


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Icy Straight Point is such a small town that only 1 cruise ship can visit at a time. Passengers are tendered back and forth from the ship.


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Yes, it rained moderately the whole time we were there!


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Cruising - Day Three - Skagway

Day Three - Skagway: A place exists in Alaska where the past lives on, where the cries of "gold in the Yukon" still echo from steep canyon walls, where the sounds of barroom pianos and boomtown crowds ring out in the night. A place where the romance and excitement of yesteryear linger around every street corner, every bend in the trail. That place is Skagway!

Our shore excursion is a walking tour called "Ghosts and Good Time Girls". Our "madam" tour guide stopped at various points of interest to tell us stories of hauntings and gold rush days:


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.Stopping traffic:

.A building used by "good time girls" once they scored a John:

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.Building covered with driftwood:

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The Red Onion Saloon, now a National Historic Building, was Skagway's most exclusive bordello. Built in 1897 with planks cut by Capt. William Moore, the founder of Skagway, the Red Onion Saloon opened for business in 1898, serving alcohol on the first floor while the upper floor satisfied more than the prospector's thirst. The brothel consisted of ten tiny cubicles, called cribs, each ten foot by ten foot with three exits, one into the hallway, and one into each of the ajoining rooms. Each room also had a hole in the floor which connected to the cash register in the bar by means of a copper tube.In order to keep track of which girls were busy, the bartender kept ten dolls on the back bar, one for each of the girls in each of the rooms. When a girl was with a customer, her doll was laid on its back. When she sent her money down the tube, the doll was returned to the upright position signaling to the waiting prospectors that she was ready for business. The bartender safeguarded the girl's earnings, usually $5.00, preferably in gold, while in the crawl space between the floors, loose floorboards hid nuggets and private tips.


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.The brothel is said to be haunted. Some tourist photos show one of the good time girls hanging in the corner of this room.

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.Train car used to remove snow from the track:

.Our visit to Skagway is over and it is getting cold. Back to the ship.

Cruising - Day Two - Juneau

Day Two - Juneau: The capital city of Alaska is completely inaccessable by road. You can only get there by air or sea.

Our shore excursions take us to the Mendenhall Glacier and the Glacier Gardens.

As we arrive at the glacier, we visit a stream where Salmon can be seen and a special guest visits :


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The Glacier:

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.The visitor center:

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Time to leave the glacier and visit the gardens:


Welcome to Glacier Gardens Rainforest. Fifty acres of Southeast Alaska's lush rainforest offering landscaping, floral design, and scenic vistas. For most of the Glacier Gardens tour, visitors sit in small golf carts, winding their way through a largely untouched forest on the back side of Glacier Highway. Small landscaping touches - such as log borders on the path - are visible along the way. "Flower towers," upturned trees whose sprawling root structures have been transformed into flower beds, are the primary attention-getter from tourists.


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We lunch at the Red Dog Saloon after our mourning excursions:


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Last stop in Juneua is a ride on the Mt. Roberts Tramway:



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An injured bald eagle being kept by the forrest service:


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View of our ship from the tram car:


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Find the bald eagle in the tree: