Kicking off the 2017 Alaska Season! May 22-29, 2017 Alaska cruise on the Wonder (complete 7/14)

[ironz]

And now, a few more closer photos of the glacier. There are just not words, although I did think of Elsa's ice castle a few times.










In the above photo, you can see a few smaller chunks of ice falling in the lower center. Mind you-- we are 1/4 mile away. And the glacier face is approximately 200 feet tall.

One of the very cool things about being on the excursion boat is that we could hear the glacier. Cracking, groaning, like a living thing. And then, thunderous noise when it calved, which we did get to see multiple smaller chunks and a few larger masses of ice calving from the glacier face.
The sounds of calving tend to be a little delayed, so you have to be watching closely to get good photos.
And... one of the few closeup photos we got of the glacier calving is on DH's computer--argh-- thought I had it. Will add it in later.

When we saw our first really big chunk fall from the glacier, everyone cheered because it's a magnificent sight. And then, I thought, aww... it's sort of sad, too, because it means that part of the glacier is now gone.


Lots of icebergs in all different shapes and sizes. I love all the shades of blue in the ice.

 

[ironz]

Ooooh...... SOOO beautiful!! That picture from the excursion boat is INCREDIBLE!! And your headband....ADORABLE!!!! Did you see any calving?! Oh Oh! I can't wait!

I'll go into pros/cons of the excursion in a bit.
We did see calving-- I felt like we saw more calving from the Wonder later in the day, but definitely a few good chunks from the excursion boat.
And thanks-- I made a few of the headbands--one for myself, and a few I gave as FE gifts.

 

[ironz]

As we were watching the glacier, we could see the Wonder. It didn't seem too far away, though I will estimate the Wonder stays at least 1/2 mile or more from the glacier face. The ship (as well as the excursion boats) will turn to where one side faces the glacier, and then the other-- so you don't have to jostle for space. Even on the smaller excursion boat, I would say that people were generally friendly, no one really hogging the rail on the decks for optimal views (people would take a bit of time and then step away to let someone else get unimpeded photos). People were also very willing to take photos of each other. Like this (might go on the Christmas card this year!):


Super cool perspective as our excursion was over (at about 2:45 pm) and we approached the Wonder for re-boarding. (reminds me of photos from @anricat from her family's kayak excursion last year)





Look at all the people up on Deck 10!!

At the end of the excursion, the boat crew had pulled an iceberg aboard for us to look at and touch. I am pretty sure they do this on the Wonder as well (have seen photos).


Once back on the Wonder, we went to Deck 4 to hang out and watch the glacier some more. There definitely was more calving going on.
Then I wanted to meet at least one character in their Alaska attire, so I went up to Deck 10 to see Daisy.
There was quite a long line, though it was along the glacier-facing side of Deck 10, so some of the people "in line" were actually just watching the glacier.
From Deck 10, I could see the glacier very well, and it seemed to get active later in the day as the temperature warmed up (a little-- it was never hot on this day at all). Here you can see calving, right in front of the excursion boat! Also-- you can see that you have a really good chance to watch the glacier in action without going on the excursion. (This photo is from my not-very-uptodate phone.)




Mind you, the excursion boat did not just happen to be right there for every single big splash. They definitely missed one large one that I saw clearly from Deck 10.

It was funny, waiting in line for Daisy, the glacier was active enough that I remarked to people in line that meeting Daisy was totally secondary to watching the glacier-- Dawes Glacier/Endicott Arm did not disappoint!

Though, I was happy to meet my friend Daisy after about 20 minutes in line.

While in the Daisy line, Koda from Brother Bear was on the opposite side of Deck 10 (not listed in the Navigator, so an extra meet and greet). He was gone by the time I was finished seeing Daisy. Had my DH been there, I would have had him hold my spot in the Daisy line so I could have met both characters.

I later went to the atrium to meet Alaska Minnie-- she's so cute. I had to ask her how big her closet is, since she has so many cute clothes!

 

[Shanti]

May as well add this here: Vancouver is such an easy city to get around. I'm from a city in Texas with massive growing pains. Vancouver exemplified the combination of increased density and workable transportation options that my city only dreams of. If you have the biking and walking infrastructure-- safe bike lanes that are for the most part separate from car traffic, and *good* public transportation in the form of trains and busses, it works. If you don't have that sort of infrastructure and live in a car-centric place and it's not as safe to be on a bike, it doesn't work as well. One of my Vancouver friends, an attorney, bikes to work every day. (of course, it helps that it's not 100 degrees all summer, either)

True. I'm from Austin, and on a summer's day here I don't want to ride a bike around the block, let alone several miles.

 

[ironz]

For those who are interested in whether or not they should do the Glacier Explorer excursion-- I'm going to tell you that I have mixed feelings about it, because there are definitely pros and cons. Do I regret it? Absolutely not! Would I have felt my cruise was incomplete if I hadn't done it? Maybe, or maybe not.
Here are my thoughts-- and mind you, we visited Endicott Arm, so some of these statements might not apply if the ship makes it to Tracy Arm.

Pros of the excursion:
--First look at the glacier, if you are on the noon excursion, as the smaller boat leads the Wonder into Endicott Arm.
--Closer looks at the terrain/scenery on the sides of Endicott Arm, such as the closer view of the waterfalls. I suppose this would also allow for better wildlife viewing, such as the eagles. We did not see any bears on this excursion (I think I have read that people on later cruises this year have seen a bear or two, and whether or not you'd see them from the Wonder is probably just as dependent on luck, being in the right place at the right time, and paying attention to the shoreline).
--Definitely closer to the glacier, and I loved HEARING the glacier almost as much as watching it.
--Had we not gone on it, I probably would have had some FOMO (fear of missing out) watching the small boat close to the glacier.
--Awesome photos/views of the Wonder in Endicott Arm from the water level.


Cons of the excursion:
--It's not cheap. I think it cost $215 per person. If you are on a budget or have other things you want to spend your money on, definitely take that into consideration.
-- I think I saw just as much glacier calving, if not more, from the Wonder. Could have been that the glacier was just more active later in the day, as you can see by my photos, the second excursion was right there for some good splashes. So maybe the consideration here is to take the second excursion (3 pm) instead of the noon excursion.
--Cold and windy, though I'm pretty sure we would have wanted to be outside much of the day no matter if we were on the small boat or on the Wonder all day.
--If you have small kids (I don't recall what the age limit was), they could get bored-- it's sightseeing, plain and simple-- no other activities, so if your kid wouldn't stay engaged for 3 hours, I don't know that I'd spend the money. I would imagine younger kids would have a much better time staying on the Wonder and doing activities/seeing characters.

So really, it's just a matter of personal preference. I don't think anyone's cruise would be lessened if they didn't go on this excursion. Did it enhance my cruise $430 worth (for the 2 of us)? Debatable. I do have a feeling that if we didn't go, I would totally have been envious of those on the smaller boat.
Would I choose the first or second excursion? I chose the first this time, because I wanted to get ahead of the Wonder and not follow it. I do think the second group saw more calving up close. (and I could have done champagne tasting at 12:15, if we were on the 2nd excursion--lol)

As an aside, I think one could run through similar arguments on the classic "do I need a verandah" question that comes up regarding the Alaskan cruises. I am happy we had a verandah (booked early, off season, category 7A)-- though I would not say that we "had to" have a verandah to enjoy this cruise. There are so many opportunities to go up top, or to Deck 4, or even look out the windows from Deck 3 or 9-- anyone can have amazing views, no matter what type of cabin you are in.

 

[ironz]

True. I'm from Austin, and on a summer's day here I don't want to ride a bike around the block, let alone several miles.

I sort of thought you were from Austin, from other posts! Us, too!

 

[ironz]

After the Wonder turned to depart Endicott Arm, we mostly relaxed. I think we grabbed some pizza for a snack. I do not particularly care for the pizza on Deck 9 (Pinocchio's Pizzeria)-- it's not usually very hot, and tastes like cheap frozen pizza.
Having late dining and a hungry DH means we needed some snack or another during the late afternoon.

I went to the Promenade Lounge to play trivia at 6:30 pm, and teamed up with a couple of ladies I had met from our FB group. We came in 2nd or 3rd-- not too shabby! DH met us down there and then we went to play "Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer?" in the D Lounge, which is based off of the "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" game. I got selected to play, which was fun, but I also get nervous in front of crowds. The CM leading the game was super cute and fun. They'll sort of help you along to get the correct answers. I think either 5 or 6 people got to play in the 45 minutes. The winners got plastic medals and Disney pins.

Dinner was at Triton's. I think I had a salad, the steak, and delicious creme brulee for dessert.

 

[ironz]

Next up-- Skagway with the train and snowshoe excursion. Hope to get that posted in the next day or two.
Any questions, please ask!
Sorry I didn't take good food notes.

 

[TestingH2O]

Seeing the various effects of the glaciers carving the rocks was quite interesting.

Beautiful photos!

Thanks for your thoughtful review of the excursion. It looks fun but we didn't book it due to cost and 5 year old temperament.

Really loving the review and can't wait for more.

 

[#NotMyName]

Your photos of the glacier are stunning. Thanks for listing the pros and cons.

 

[wdwfan]

Really enjoying your trip report! We sail on August 7. Can't wait!!

 

[ironz]

Skagway, Alaska-- Thursday, May 25, 2017
White Pass Train and Snowshoe excursion

We woke up early on Skagway day, because we had to meet for our excursion at 7:15 a.m. (port time was 7:15 a.m. to 7:45 p.m.)
The night before, I had started filling out the overnight breakfast room service order to put outside our cabin door, since I knew we needed to eat early before our excursion, and knew we would need some energy for a long day. However, I noticed in the Navigator that Cabanas would open a little earlier than usual, at 6:30 a.m., so we decided to eat there instead and get more/better food with more protein choices.

We bundled up since we knew this was a day of being outside, and when we docked in Skagway, it was cold and windy. (I still say we overall had great weather for the cruise-- I expected cold days, and of course, if one is out on glacial water or out hiking in snow, you don't plan for a 75 degree day.)


After breakfast, we met in the Crown and Fin Pub for our excursion, along with what I think was another excursion group for a train/hike option. There was a bit of delay getting off the ship, I think we had already cleared with the authorities, so maybe there were just lots of groups heading out. It was finally our turn to debark, and our group(s) headed to the White Pass Train. They had one of the first cars (near the engine) reserved for our groups because of some of the equipment the tour leaders were handing out. I double checked a couple of times that we were with the right tour guide and group, just to make sure we didn't accidentally get off at the wrong stop and end up hiking instead of snowshoeing!
(long story short, in Hawaii one year, we were supposed to swim with dolphins and the tour operator mis-scheduled us for a regular snorkeling trip, in which I didn't find out until we were on the wrong boat, with no way to switch to the dolphins--needless to say, that was upsetting and we did get a refund-- but now I am cautious about double-checking)







The photos above are (a not great photo of our train), and some of the early scenery. Notice the low clouds hanging on the mountains-- many helicopter excursions were cancelled this morning. Our guide said it wasn't because of the wind, but the fog-- "if you can't see it, you can't fly to it," he said. I think some of the afternoon helicopter excursions did go, as it seems I heard/saw helicopters when we returned from our long day away from the ship.

The White Pass Railway is a scenic ride, climbing up from sea level to 2800 feet over 20 miles to White Pass, then continuing on to Fraser, British Columbia. This rail line was built originally in 1898 for the mining industry and the Klondike Gold Rush. The premise was that, instead of gold rushers traveling completely by land from the U.S. and Canada up to the Yukon Territory, it was an easier passage to travel by ship up the Canadian/Alaskan coast up to Skagway, and then only have a shorter land passage to reach the mining areas and Yukon River routes north. Easy being relative, as the alternative was to pack your belongings by sled over the pass. There was a required "ton of goods" to bring over, including food for a year, and mining supplies, so this was no easy task. The railway helped, though, from my reading, much of the gold fever had died down before the rail was 100% complete, and very few people really got rich.

Anyway, the scenery was lovely. At about mile 6 of the train ride, we stopped and let out hikers going to the Denver Valley. At this stop, there is an old railway caboose that you can actually rent out for the night, a bargain at only $45/night!


We continued on the train up to White Pass, enjoying the scenery, and preparing for our snowshoe adventure. The guides told us a bit about the history of the area. They had supplies to make sandwiches (lunchmeat, cheese, bread), as well as hummus and veggies. They handed out waistpacks that we could use (unless you had your own backpack that you wanted to use), and the waistpacks had 2 bottles of water and some additional snacks (M & M's and a candy bar). We also had the option to use their snow/rain resistant pants, so I took a pair and put them on over my jeans.



View from the train--you can see the highway across the valley. We'll come down this highway in a shuttle bus on the return trip.



Trestle bridge into a tunnel.



Looking back at the long train. Still foggy!

 

[ironz]

Skagway, continued...

Here we are, at the summit of White Pass (view from the train)


The U.S./Canada border. This is the actual border, though the border patrol office is up the way at Fraser, where both the train and highway converge.
Flags are: United States, Alaska, British Columbia, Yukon Territory, Canada


Our stop was just over the physical border, so the train stopped again to let our group off. Felt like we were being dropped off in the middle of nowhere!
There is another railcar to the side of the tracks, that the Packer Expeditions (excursion folks) use to store supplies. We waved goodbye to the train travelers heading to Fraser, and the guides handed out our snowshoes, hiking poles, shoe/boot covers to those who wanted them (DH used some--I had my heavy snowboots on), and foldable pads to sit on when we had our picnic lunch.

View from when we got our gear.


DH and I had been very much looking forward to this excursion, and it was the first thing we booked when I did my online DCL checkin, since I knew the group would be small. We're from Texas-- not much opportunity to snowshoe, so we are checking it off the bucket list! Putting on the snowshoes was not difficult, they just strap on over your shoes/boots. Once the group was ready, we hiked across the railroad tracks and over the rocky area to the snowy trail! It was not that difficult, actually, pretty much like hiking. The main guide, Dylan (Dillon?) was awesome. He clearly loves the outdoors. He led the way, making sure that we were hiking on more solid snow. The trick with snowshoeing, esp once the weather starts melting the snow, is that the sides of the trail are the least stable. Snow melts closer to trees and boulders. With Dylan leading, he was the one to find most of the soft spots and sink his legs into the snow. We mostly stayed on our feet. I was surprised that, with snowshoes, you don't have to be on snow the whole time. There were melted spots that we just tramped over rocks and brush.

This photo is from when we stopped for lunch, after hiking about a mile (I was having too much fun to take many photos early on). You can see the lichen-covered rocks under our feet. We just perched on these large rock outcroppings overlooking the valley below and ate our sandwiches. The guides had hot chocolate and cider that they had packed up for us to warm up a little. They carried MUCH larger packs than we did!





Not a bad picnic spot, eh?

After our lunch break, we snowshoe hiked some more. If my Garmin tracked correctly, we covered about 2 miles, though there were lots of starts and stops-- at times for the guides to make sure we had a safe trail, at times for people to catch up, and just to take in the sights.

 

[ironz]

Skagway, part 3...

At a couple of spots, we had some "play time"-- sliding down the hillsides. There were a couple of little girls in our group (maybe 10-12 years old) who LOVED sliding and didn't mind climbing up the hills to slide over and over! They were naturals at snowshoeing as well.
This is me and the little girls sliding.


The assistant tour guides slid down on their bellies.

Some of the group had a 'backwards snowshoe' race. Of course, Dylan won, because pretty much everyone else fell down.



Yes, that's Dylan, in the orange jacket and shorts! (and my DH in the blue-- he went head over heels--lol)

And I made one hidden Mickey, just because.


While we were snowshoeing our way back, the guides were in contact with either the excursion office or the train people, so we would get back to our start point on time to meet the train.




That yellow thing on my back is the foldup pad I sat on for our picnic lunch. And you can see the waistpacks they provided for us to use during the excursion. At one point (not here) I did manage to lose focus and step too far to the edge of the snow-- as you see here, the snow disappears when you get near the rocks, and it's soft on those edges. I sank in the snow up to my thigh and managed to get my foot stuck on a rock because of the width of the snowshoe. I wasn't hurt--it was actually funny to me, but took a little digging and help from DH to get unstuck. I told him later that I lost my focus because I was thinking how much our guide reminded me of Yukon Cornelius from the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer TV special.

Another thing I'd like to point out here is that this is definitely a seasonal excursion offering. The Alaska cruise season started for some cruise lines only 2 or 3 weeks before this first DCL Alaskan cruise of the season. You see that not everything is covered with snow. In fact, I had seen some weather reports the week prior of fairly warm weather in Fraser. Dylan the guide said that our excursion was likely to be the last snowshoe of the 2017 cruise season. So, for anyone reading this and planning future cruises, don't expect this in July and August. Pretty much May and sometimes early June. I am not sure what they offer if, say, someone on the cruise after us signed up and they didn't have it. I suppose they give you a chance to either cancel, switch to hiking, or switch to something else.

When we got back to the tracks, the steam train was approaching-- so cool!

 

[Shanti]

Skagway, part 3...

At a couple of spots, we had some "play time"-- sliding down the hillsides. There were a couple of little girls in our group (maybe 10-12 years old) who LOVED sliding and didn't mind climbing up the hills to slide over and over! They were naturals at snowshoeing as well.
This is me and the little girls sliding.
View attachment 247679

The assistant tour guides slid down on their bellies.
View attachment 247680
Some of the group had a 'backwards snowshoe' race. Of course, Dylan won, because pretty much everyone else fell down.
View attachment 247681

View attachment 247682
Yes, that's Dylan, in the orange jacket and shorts! (and my DH in the blue-- he went head over heels--lol)

And I made one hidden Mickey, just because.
View attachment 247683

While we were snowshoeing our way back, the guides were in contact with either the excursion office or the train people, so we would get back to our start point on time to meet the train.

View attachment 247685
View attachment 247686

That yellow thing on my back is the foldup pad I sat on for our picnic lunch. And you can see the waistpacks they provided for us to use during the excursion. At one point (not here) I did manage to lose focus and step too far to the edge of the snow-- as you see here, the snow disappears when you get near the rocks, and it's soft on those edges. I sank in the snow up to my thigh and managed to get my foot stuck on a rock because of the width of the snowshoe. I wasn't hurt--it was actually funny to me, but took a little digging and help from DH to get unstuck. I told him later that I lost my focus because I was thinking how much our guide reminded me of Yukon Cornelius from the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer TV special.

Another thing I'd like to point out here is that this is definitely a seasonal excursion offering. The Alaska cruise season started for some cruise lines only 2 or 3 weeks before this first DCL Alaskan cruise of the season. You see that not everything is covered with snow. In fact, I had seen some weather reports the week prior of fairly warm weather in Fraser. Dylan the guide said that our excursion was likely to be the last snowshoe of the 2017 cruise season. So, for anyone reading this and planning future cruises, don't expect this in July and August. Pretty much May and sometimes early June. I am not sure what they offer if, say, someone on the cruise after us signed up and they didn't have it. I suppose they give you a chance to either cancel, switch to hiking, or switch to something else.



View attachment 247687

I sooo want to go sledding with my son. Not that many opportunities for it in Austin...Must do this excursion during our Alaska cruise next summer! Maybe we'll find your hidden Mickey.

 

[ironz]

Skagway, part 4

After watching the steam train pass, we crossed back over the tracks to the supply railcar and took off our snowshoes, shoe covers, and handed in our hiking poles. It was only a short wait until the next diesel train came and stopped to pick us up and take us to Fraser. On the short train ride, we handed back our waist packs and snow pants.

(I think we had one passport check on the train on the way over the border prior to snowshoeing-- I can't remember.) When we got to Fraser, we had the border guards check our passports before we got off the train. It was nice that we were in the front railcar, as we were the first to be released from the train, so less line for the bathroom. Also, the border patrol personnel don't stamp your passport when they check it, but you can stamp your passport yourself at a station near the bathrooms.

We then boarded a shuttle bus to take the highway back down to Skagway. We stopped at the physical border to take photos of the Welcome to Alaska sign.


On the way back, the guides made some salmon/cracker snacks. Even after eating lunch, we were hungry, I'm sure from the cold and the activity.
They offered to drop us off either in town in Skagway or at the dock. We chose 'town' because we wanted to drop a postcard in the mail and do some shopping.
DH was nice enough to let me visit quilt shops in each port and I got last year's row by row pattern and kit. (If any quilters are curious what that is, I can make another post to explain) This part of the travel quilt I'm going to make one day will look like the design at the bottom of this photo. I did buy the kit so I have the Northern Light fabric.

We walked around town and took a few photos, as well as visiting the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park Center to get our National Parks Passport stamped. (We want to visit all the National Parks-- this is not one of the majors, but we love stamping our NP passport!)
We also stopped into the A-B (Arctic Brotherhood) building (the one with the driftwood front) and visited with the docent there as well as got questions answered for a geocache.

I loved this statue in town (as well as the fact that it was somewhat protected from the wind).

Then, we battled the wind to get back to the ship. brrr!!
The excursion lasted until about 3 or 3:30 p.m., and we probably got back on board at close to 5 p.m. I was happy to get in our cabin and warm up.
That night, I wasn't feeling great-- had somehow gotten a gum inflammation in my mouth (I think my cheapy travel toothbrush caused it), so I didn't care to go to dinner. We went by the dining room so I could leave a message for our serving team and checked the Frozen menu at AP to see what we were missing. Turns out we didn't miss anything, because they had the same foods on the buffet at Cabana's. We ate earlier than our usual time since we were on our own. On the way back to the cabin, we peeked over the deck at the Freezing the Night Away party-- and, it was just too cold after being out all day, so we continued to our cabin. DH went to go watch the movie "Guardians of the Galaxy 2" and I just rested in the room and fell asleep.

Next stop-- Juneau and whale watching!

 

[ironz]

I sooo want to go sledding with my son. Not that many opportunities for it in Austin...Must do this excursion during our Alaska cruise next summer! Maybe we'll find your hidden Mickey.

No, there aren't! Only the occasional tiny snow we get here. I did make a "Texas snowman" during the excursion, too-- you know, the ones we make during the rare times we get snow or sleet, that are about 6" tall. The people from up north were amused.

I don't think this excursion would happen in July, unfortunately. They said ours would be one of, if not, the last one of this season, because of the snow melting away.
Do let me know if you have any other questions. I've got all my Navigators (though I'm sure they are online somewhere). Happy to help an Austinite!

 

[TestingH2O]

What a cool experience! Those photos are great.

 

[anricat]

Wow, that looks amazing! And I'm from snowy Colorado originally. It looks like you had a lot of fun.

 

[#NotMyName]

Thanks for your post about the Skagway snowshoe excursion. It's been my plan to sign up for this excursion (we're on the first Alaska cruise next year). Planning for Palo that night; hope we won't be too tired.