Our Wonderful “Very, Very Lovely” Seattle & 9 Night Alaskan Cruise including Sitka & Hubbard Glacier! ~ with pics ~ July 2019 ~ Completed!

[lorimay]

Love those secret Verandah rooms!!!
6134 is my favorite on the Magic/Wonder.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Love those secret Verandah rooms!!!
6134 is my favorite on the Magic/Wonder.

Agree! We stayed in that room on the Magic for our Norway cruise! Otherwise, 7120 is our go to room!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 7
Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Sea Day 1





I like to check where we’ve gone on the Captain’s map every morning. This morning the map was a little weird. It made us look like we traveled all the way to Juneau! What?!



Obviously, they didn’t clear the last cruise!

We started our morning at Cabanas for breakfast. Cabana’s was busy, but not like it would be later in the cruise!

I played a lot of trivia games on our Panama Canal cruise and was looking forward to playing again with DD. At 9:00 AM, DD and I went to the Promenade Lounge for Disney Trivia. We only got 10/15. DH went to hear the onboard Naturalist talk about “The Bears of Southeast Alaska.” DD stayed after trivia so she could learn to draw Mickey Mouse. Our neighbors joined us. DD then went with our neighbors to complete Anna’s Chocolate Scavenger Hunt.

At 10:30 AM, we all met up in the Walt Disney Theater for the Castaway Club Gold and Platinum Member Reception, if you will. Up in Preludes, before going into the theater, servers were waiting with trays full of Sparkling Wine and Sparkling Cider (non-alcoholic). Now this reception is supposed to be for Gold and Platinum members only, however, I saw several people wearing Silver lanyards enjoying the free drinks outside the theater.

We went in and found our seats when Natalie came out and welcomed everybody.





We were told that there were 2444 passengers on board! What!? I have never been on the Magic or Wonder with that many people. We saw a lot of multi-generational families onboard. Of those 2444, 1714 were repeat passengers, 361 were Gold members and 183 were Platinum members. This was the 62nd cruise for one lady! Oh the Humanity!!!

The Captain mentioned that we were going through Fitzhugh Sound until 12:00 PM so he had to get back to the bridge. We were very close to land and the scenery was gorgeous. They sometimes do this going Southbound, but this is the first time they have gone through it Northbound.



As in the Med, we were introduced to the technical staff and shown a portion of the Dreams show. We were then shown the portion again with live audio and video of what goes on behind the scenes to produce the show! It is always amazing to see all the moving parts come together.

After the reception, Mickey Mouse Rice Krispie treats are handed out to Gold and Platinum members. I overheard one guest say she was getting them for her Silver friends sailing with her! She practically filled up a Disney Cruise shopping bag. What!?? Anyway, DD loves her Rice Krispie treats!

After the reception we went up top to get some pictures of the sound we were sailing through. The water was glass it was so smooth. What a beautiful day at sea!







It was then time to get ready for our 12:30 reservation at Palo!



We were very excited to be taking our DD to her first Palo brunch, but I’m sure won’t be her last. Jen from the United Kingdom was our server. She was marvelous. She brought us our complimentary Sparkling Cider (DD is not old enough to drink) and Mimosas.



She then took us on a tour of the buffet. We stuffed ourselves with the savory items and cheeses, then we went for the warm pecan rolls, which are AMAZING! I’m so glad they added the Strawberry Soup to the buffet!







I ordered the Chicken Parm for my entrée.



I love the risotto! DD ordered the Veal Saltimbocca. Both dishes were outstanding. Then it was off to the dessert table! I outdid myself! But, it was so hard to choose just one!





We were the last seating at brunch, so as Palo employees were cleaning up the brunch, Jen talked with us for a little while. We told her DD wanted to be in the Disney College Program. She said that she had been part of the Cultural Representative Program and worked at the Rose & Crown in EPCOT for 2 years. Her program was similar to the DCP, except you had to work at Epcot to represent your country and culture.

We finally rolled ourselves out of Palo around 2:30 PM. We headed straight to our room to change clothes. I decided to hang out and do some reading and napping. Nothing on the Navigator caught my attention.

DD went to explore the ship and found Pluto.



At 3:15, DD came running in saying there had been a large pod of dolphins playfully swimming along the side of the ship. Unfortunately, I was in a Palo food coma and missed it!



At 4:15, DD went up to watch some of the Princess and the Frog on funnel vision. I don’t think she realized how cold it was! Unfortunately, she didn’t discover that there are blankets up there until she had to come down and get ready for dinner.



It was formal night, so at 5:00 we headed down to the Atrium to get pictures and our free cocktails. We enjoyed our 2 Seasons cocktail while waiting in line for our photo. Captain Danielle didn’t come down for photographs during the first Captain’s Welcome Reception, but we got a nice picture of all of us in front of Aerial.

To be continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 7 Continued

Dinner was at Animator’s Palate tonight.











I was still so full from Palo but I ate the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes and the Pennette Bolognese. DH and I ordered a bottle of Pinot Gris, which was kept by our serving team.





It was show night at Animator’s so Sorcerer Mickey came out before dessert was served.





I believe that I skipped dessert.







After dinner we went to our stateroom to change clothes and saw this.



It was The Golden Mickeys show that night.





Before the show, the captain introduced the steering team, or top officers.



After they we were all introduced, Natalie took the microphone and Donald Duck presented Captain Dannielle an award to commemorate his 20 year anniversary with DCL which would fall during this cruise!



I enjoyed the show when I saw it on the Wonder last fall and DD hadn’t seen it in ages so we went to see it. We sat up front behind our neighbors. There were 2 ASL interpreters on our ship this cruise. They were wonderful and several of the stage acts played off of them during the cruise. The show was very entertaining. We very much enjoyed the Main Stage Cast this cruise.

After Golden Mickeys, DD and I headed down to play Snippets at Azure with Jo at 9:45 PM. This was DD’s first encounter with her. DD loved her immediately! Playing Snippets was a blast, but before the Michael Holly adult show, we skipped out and went to bed.

On the way back to our room at 10:15 PM, we stepped out on Deck 4 to catch these sunset pictures.











Our towel animal for the night. April also set our clocks back an hour, so we got an extra hour of sleep!



Next: What rain?

 

[lorimay]

I have seen silver CC members at the platinum/gold reception too.
I don't think the cast members would ever ask them to leave or refuse to give the rice crispy treat to them or anyone who says they're bringing them to someone else.
DCL just doesn't work that way, you know they are there to please everyone. Some take advantage of that.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I have seen silver CC members at the platinum/gold reception too.
I don't think the cast members would ever ask them to leave or refuse to give the rice crispy treat to them or anyone who says they're bringing them to someone else.
DCL just doesn't work that way, you know they are there to please everyone. Some take advantage of that.

I know you're right. Just afraid if its abused too much DCL will just stop doing it.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 8
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Ketchikan





Our first port was Ketchikan. Usually this is the last part Disney stops at on their way back to Vancouver. Our all ashore time was 7:30 AM. DH and I had booked the Lighthouse, Totems and Eagles excursion through DCL. DD was going flying over the Misty Fjord with our neighbors. They booked with Island Wings. Our neighbors had used Michelle before so we weren’t concerned in light of the number of recent plane collisions in Ketchikan.

We slept in late this morning. If you are a regular reader, you know it is my tradition to get up and take pictures of us coming in to port. Today would be no exception. As Natalie would say, “It is a B-E-A-U-tiful day in Ketchikan.” You wouldn’t guess that this place gets over 100 inches of rain a year!

The map was still weird this morning.



On our previous trip to Alaska, we were on the starboard side of the ship, so I saw a different viewpoint from our port side room.









We got dressed and went to Cabanas. OMG!!! The Humanity!! There were literally lines out the doors to get breakfast. When they redid Cabanas several years ago, they set it up more like stations than a buffet. It was nice to head to the one station you wanted, i.e. Mickey Waffles. However, everybody treated it like a buffet and followed each other down the entire counter. I just got some toast and called it a day!

After breakfast, I went up on Deck 10 and took pictures of the town.











Since our excursion didn’t meet until 10:15 AM. DH and I decided to get off the ship and look around. His mission was to buy some smoked Salmon to take home. Our first stop was actually a store featuring all items made by local Alaskan artists. DH found a carved Elk antler knife with Damascus steel. He bought it and shipped it home. It was much easier than trying to remember to retrieve it back in Vancouver and trying to check it in our luggage.

Our next stop was for salmon.







We walked around a bit. A little before 10:00 AM we headed back to the ship. We stopped at our room to drop off our souvenirs and then headed to deck 9 for a drink at the soda fountain. I discovered that near the doors going to the midship elevators, DCL installed a water bottle refilling station! This was wonderful. Either they are new since October, or I never saw them!



We met our excursion in Azure and were taken down to our bus early off the Desk 3, midship gangway. We were Yellow Minnie. I’m so glad to see DCL going back to the character stickers!





The bus driver gave us some information about Ketchikan. There are about 8000 full time residents. Population grows 14 to 16,000 when ships are in port. 56 different cruise ships visit Ketchikan every season. They are expecting a record number of 1.2 million cruise ship passengers this year! There is one highway and it is 35 mils long. We took a short ride around town to our destination, Lighthouse Excursion at Ward Cove.





We sat on the top deck and enjoyed the beautiful day and scenery. The pilot was very informative and would point out eagle and eagle nests as we passed them. Eaglets are still in the nest this time of year.







Here you can see the nest to the right with an adult and eaglet, below the eagle on top of the tree.



While onboard we were given complementary drinks. The hot chocolate was rated best in Ketchikan, by their crew. But seriously, it was very good. We also got cheese, crackers and salmon dip (along with the recipe) and soft drinks. Children were given a free Eagle plush. One of the crew did theater during the off season and was a trained vocalist. He sang us a jaunty sea chanty in a beautiful baritone. It was very entertaining.

We passed several islands that were privately owned and had houses on them. This one belonged to a plumbing parts magnet.





Another Eagle nest.



And another. This eagle used a grocery bag in its nest.



While the water, at about 61 degrees is too cold for us, these local children swim and wade in it.



To Be Continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 8 (Continued)

We made to Totem Bight State Park. This is home to the tallest totem pole in Ketchikan.















I caught an eagle in flight.





The one and only local bowling alley closed, so this resident used the bowling balls as lawn ornaments.



We made it to Guard Island Lighthouse. It is still in use. There is an interesting history of this island, if you should care to look it up.







Some harbor seals have made this island their home.



Another eagle.



Some more seals.



It was a very enjoyable excursion and I would recommend it to others.

Our all ashore time today as at 4:00 PM, so after being dropped back off at the ship. We did some more exploring around town. When we got back, we discovered 3 more ships in port today. Yikes!

This statute of the eagle was being refurbished and was not here in 2014, so I went to get a photo.





We went by the Discover Center.





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We walked past the Lumberjack Show Theater.


We found Creek Street. Ketchikan’s former “Red Light District.” Now it is shops and restaurants.













We walked back to the ship.



DH was showing how much rain we get compared to Ketchikan.





To be continued . . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 8 (Continued)

We got back onboard the ship at about 2:30. We dropped our stuff off in our stateroom and headed up to Deck 9 for a bite to eat. I had the Chicken Fingers and Fries, which are so good. DH had a hot dog. Unfortunately, it wasn't grilled like the last time he had one. I also got my first free ice cream of the cruise.



Meanwhile. . . at 12:30 PM, DD had an adventure of her own.

Hi, DD here, writing once again on the DIS board, still bitter, by the way, about the whole Panama Canal thing. I mean really, I was stuck studying constitutional law while my parents were chilling in the Cove Café, psh, I kid, I kid…

Anyways, let’s turn all of our focus on the better of the cruises, the one I was on of course ( kidding, once again, I am absolutely positive my parents had a wonderful time in the Panama Canal and I am so glad they got to have some kid free fun)!

However, I can’t really talk though because my adventure was also on my own, with of course our neighbors. I got the fabulous opportunity to fly with Island Wings in Ketchikan to the Misty Fjords National Monument. Let me tell you, a float plane is 100% worth it; it was an incredible view from the sky. Jasmine and Aladdin really had it right with the whole magic carpet ride. The float plane is a Beaver, as I was told by DNJ, which is a small 7 seater, excluding the pilot seat. You might be thinking, “it is small and I won’t fit”, but truth be told, it is a very spacious and comfortable ride. The windows even have small vents in them so that you never get overheated, which is the culprit of most cases of air sickness. As I feel obligated to say, because of how safe I felt and impressed I was, if you do choose to do a float plane, do Island Wings.





We took off so smoothly you could barely tell we lifted off, and we got a level view of the B-E-A-utiful Disney Wonder.





Very quickly after that the views became greater as you flew above the inside passage and over flowing hills, spectacular greenery, and lots of waterfalls. The water in some places was lakes, and in others, glacial deposits, and in other areas we saw, wide and open ocean.




20190710_131432 by Wendy, on Flickr



You weren’t in the clouds but you were high enough to see just how large a fjord could really be. The fjord we flew to was called Misty Fjord. The flight came with a stop on the ground within the fjord. Our pilot, Michelle, was a spunky and adventurous woman, and because she was a friend of our neighbors, she took us to a place few people got to go, or had even heard of before. The lake was called Manzoni Lake.







It was higher up in elevation and was the site of crystal clear water and land untouched by many men. The dock was in fact a steep rock that you sort of had to balance on to stand but it was worth it. The sensational feeling of being one among a few dozen to have been somewhere so beautiful is grand. It is something rare nowadays. The only downside about these rustic, and untouched landscapes is that there were a lot of flies…a lot of flies… I am talking about massive deer flies and house flies, it was terrifying considering a bite from one of them would put you in immense pain… though it wasn’t that serious, we were fine as long as we kept our sleeves down and shooed them away if they got to close.



A special thing about traveling anywhere with my neighbors is seeing how DNM adapts and maneuvers around. We were able to get her out of a float plane, floating without much security, to a large and steep rock. Even she gets to see the beautiful world. The plane ride was about 45 minutes both ways with a 15 minute stop at that lake.

















We were so fortunate to have even gotten to go, with Ketchikan’s weather usually being gloomy, but I suppose us Arizonians either bring the sun, or the Disney Wonder sprinkles its pixie dust over Alaska for us whenever we go there.

I would hope to get to do another tour like this someday, and hopefully, if you’re stuck in a rut about what to do in Ketchikan, you consider a float plane.

By the way, I also feel compelled to mention, LUNCH. I am going to recommend a fish and chips restaurant that will change your life; The BEST halibut fish and chips in existence; Alaska Fish House. It is just down the road to the left when you get off of the ship. You can’t miss it.







Signing off! –DD

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 8 (Continued)

Thanks sweetheart! All aboard was 4:00. We took some pictures from the top deck. As you can see, it was an absolutely beautiful day. No rain in sight! A rare occurrence in Ketchikan, evidently!





We watched as the last tour was dropped off and up the gang way.



We sailed by 2 of the ships in port.





We left by a similar route that we had taken on our excursion.



Tonight we were in Tiana’s Place. DD was very excited to be at this restaurant. She loved Rapunzel’s and was looking forward to Tiana’s Place.















Tiana came out and warmed up the audience and introduced The Crawfish Crooners (aka The Brace Boys). This was the same group as on our Panama Canal cruise and they are great!





DD ordered the special non-alcoholic drink, The Shadowman, or something like that. Anyway, it came with a light up Ray!



In celebration of the 10th Anniversary of The Princess and the Frog, a store called Box Lunch sold T-shirts. DD bought one featuring Louis. DD played the trumpet in band in high school, so she is a particular fan of Louis! Well, when Louis came by, he saw the shirt and went crazy.



When it came time for the parade, Louis came over and got DD and DNM to lead it, then gave DD a hug when they were through.



It was time for dessert. As we usually cruise in the summer, usually just weeks from DD’s birthday, I always tell DCL that we are celebrating. I asked Mari to wait until tonight to give DD her cake.





Then it was everybody else’s turn for dessert.







I got the Baked Alaska, but the ice cream had melted terribly by the time I got it. I forgot to take a picture. It was another long dinner.

Our neighbors went to see Dumbo (2019) in the theater at 8:15 PM. We didn’t have any interest in seeing Michael Holly (a physical comedian) so we just hung out in the stateroom and caught the beautiful sunset.















DD did some exploring of her own and found Mickey and Minnie!





At 9;45 PM, I went to Azure for Seriously?!, a fun adult game show with Jo. Jo got some couples on stage and they had to answer questions about each other using their shoes. His shoe for his traits and her shoes for her traits. It was quite funny. We had 4 couples ranging from newlyweds to married for 20 years. DD showed up with a friend for the 1820 Society.

After the game show, it was time to meet Donna Vivino. She is a Broadway actress that originated the role of young Cosette in Les Miserables. She most recently played Elphaba in Wicked. She has done some comedy too. She did some great impersonations, but the best thing she did was a “Mad Lib” version of “Let it Go.” She asked the audience for nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc. Then she replaced words in “Let it Go.” It was hilarious!!!

After that, DD and I called it a night.

Our towel animal.



We enjoyed our time in Ketchikan. It was nice to see a different part of Ketchikan on our tour. The weather was absolutely perfect. I have yet to see rain in Ketchikan. DH got to see a lot more of the town than before as well and DD had the experience of a lifetime!

Next: Ah, now eventually you do plan to have bears on your, on your bear tour right?

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 9
Thursday, July 11, 2019
Icy Strait Point





Our plans for today included 2 excursions with Hoonah Travel Adventures. The first was “Wilderness Tour and Brown Bear Search” at 10:45 AM. The second was the “Premier Whale Watch Tour” at 2:30 PM.

All ashore as at 9:30 AM and all aboard was at 6:30 PM.

I slept until 8 as we were getting in late this morning. I didn’t grab any pictures, but I checked the map. It appears the captain had fixed the map.



It was overcast and a bit foggy out. However, this was great weather for searching for bears. Evidently, it had been rather warm in Southeast Alaska the week before and smoke from fire near Juneau had been drifting into the area. This was a good weather day!

We went up to breakfast at about 8:40 AM and I got some pictures then.





DD remembered that she could by coffee at the Cove Café and they would put pictures on your lattes. Over the next days, DD would get to know the baristas behind the counter pretty well and joke with them.







After breakfast we went up to our room and found DD’s reward for turning in her Elsa’s Chocolate Scavenger Hunt form.



We went up on Deck 10 and ran into Goofy in his PJs. Who knew he was a Cars fan!



I got some pictures of Icy Strait.







Spotted our first eagle in Icy Strait.







Took some pictures of us docking.





At a little before 10:00, we made our way to the Deck 1 Forward gangway.

DD touched a butt!







We walked to the visitor center.











Then we walked around until our meet up time with our neighbors.









Yes, it was cool enough for this.




To be continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 9 (Continued)

We met up at the Excursion Hub.





Our tour guide for the day would be Gary. Gary is a Tlingit people. He grew up in Hoonah and knew the area well. As we drove literally all over the island, he would tell us about the bears. He told us how when they came out of hibernation that they went straight for the Skunk Cabbage.



He told us how the Salmon Berries were coming in and that was a sign that the salmon were due to come up the rivers. Unfortunately, the berries were late this year and the shortage of rain has left some rivers too low for salmon to run. Gary stopped and picked some berries for us to try.



He showed us areas on the side of the road that showed bears had been there recently enjoying the berries. We also saw bear scat. Unfortunately, we never saw any bears. As I sat in the van scanning the scenery, I kept thinking of the line from Jurassic Park when Malcom says “Ah, now eventually you do plan to have dinosaurs on your, on your dinosaur tour, right? Hello?.”







We did see a Sitka Deer. Gary did stop and let us get out to check out a huge eagles nest with an eaglet!



Momma wasn’t far away.





They residents use the fireweed to indicate when the summer is over. When the bloom reaches the top, summer is over.



We drove to a lake where a bear had been seen earlier in the week.







After our time was up, Gary dropped us in Hoonah so we could meet our boat for our whale watching tour. I certainly hope it is more successful than the bear watching.

We used the public restrooms and ate the few snacks we brought with us for lunch. We walked down the gangway to the dock.











Capt. Paul was our pilot and guide. He had his daughter and another crew member to help spot the sea life. Paul had been a police officer in Juneau before retiring and moving to Hoonah. He told us all about living in Hoonah with only about 800 full-time residents. He raised his kids fishing, crabbing and hunting. His daughter Sofia at 12 years of age skinned and field dressed an elk for use on “The Alaskan Bush People.” Paul was a character

As we headed out, we got a good view of the Wonder.





We also got to see the NCL ship that was in.



It wasn’t long and we started spotting spouts.



Then, one surprised us and came up and blew right in front of our boat.










We saw a few whales around us.



We saw a couple of sea lions. One waved at us. The seals had a fish and the sea gulls were trying to get it from them.





Mine, Mine, Mine!



To be continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 9 (Continued)

Another eagle.



More whales.








Capt. Paul took us back towards Hoonah but stopped at a bouy to see some sea lions.





And tons of otters, some with babies!















Well, fortunately, that tour was much more successful than the bear tour and we got a bonus of all of the otters! We got picked up in Hoonah and taken back to Icy Strait Point at about 5:30 PM.









Dinner tonight was in Triton’s. We went to our room and dropped off our stuff and went straight to dinner as we were late. Even though it was Freezing the Night Away night, we had the French menu.











I had the Lobster and Jumbo Shrimp, the Cream of Potato Soup and Chatteabriand Roasted Filet Steak.



Dessert.







My absolute favorite dessert offered in the MDRs, the Grand Marnier Souffle!



Again, we didn’t get done by 7:30 PM, so no trivia tonight. I understand how important the customer satisfaction survey you fill out at the end of the cruise is to everybody on the ship, however, it really got annoying when every night after dinner Mari would tell us how important it is to give the serving team an “Excellent.” In the past, our servers have waited until the end to push the survey, but every night got to be a bit much.

DD went up with DNM to Freezing the Night Away. I had seen it on the Panama Cruise and didn’t like it.









I went with DH to hang out in our stateroom and take some pictures from our balcony.



I then went to the 8:30 show with Donna Vivino. She was amazing. She got a bunch of kids on the stage to sing “Let it Go”. She would move the mic to different kids and, dang it, if they didn’t know all the words.



Also, not only did she rewrite another Disney song with Mad Libs (this time it was Part of your World), she sang “For Good” with Kara Lindsey (who played Glenda in Wicked) and ended with a spectacular version of “Defying Gravity.”!

DD and I then went to Azure to play Snippets with Jo! It was a riot. Our side won. We didn’t stay to watch Michael Harrison and headed to bed.



We enjoyed our day at Icy Strait. Although Icy Strait Point is strictly set up as a tourist location, I thought it was nicely done. The location is very picturesque, even though we didn't spend much time at Icy Strait. I enjoyed seeing Hoonah. A true Alaskan small town. I was very disappointed not to see bears, but I was thrilled to see whales and otters!

Next: Is there anybody Juneau’nt know?

 

[Hubie]

Your donut from Horton's looks delicious.

 

[Hubie]

Great sunset pictures!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Your donut from Horton's looks delicious.

Yes, they were!

Great sunset pictures!

Thank you! We were very lucky to be able to see them. That's the nice thing about sailing in Alaska. Sunset is so much later at night. Usually, sunsets were during dinnertime and we missed them on other North American itineraries.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 10
Friday, July 12, 2019
Juneau





Today was an early day in Juneau; we had an 8:00 AM excursion scheduled with Custom Juneau Tours. Our owner/driver was Dennis Harris.

We didn’t have to travel far overnight.



I was up at 6:00 AM to get some pictures from the verandah. It was an overcast day with low clouds.







We ate breakfast at Cabanas. Another busy morning as everybody wanted to maximize their time in Juneau. DD wanted to go to Cove Café and see what other characters she could get on a latte. She was joking around with the baristas and they were telling her to get Chewbacca and other characters. She didn’t plan on getting one, but couldn’t resist an Ironman image.



I finally took a picture of the magnets on our door.



We set up for the gangway on Deck 1 Forward. I took a short detour to refill my water bottle on deck 4.





We planned to me our driver at the anchor at the AJ Dock where the Wonder ports.







As we were waiting for Dennis (he was a bit late) we watched an eagle come and land on a communications tower above us.





Dennis arrived, we loaded up in his Cadillac Escalade and went off to explore Juneau. We had all been to Juneau before but went on specific excursions. We thought it would be fun to see other parts of Juneau.

Dennis started by taking us to a mural depicting some of the more well-known and honored people of Juneau. He told us fascinating stories about a few of them. Of course Dennis knew them personally, being a resident of Juneau for most of his life. His grandfather was involved in the mining industry.







He took us by the City museum



The Capitol building with the replica of the Liberty Bell



and the Governor’s Mansion.



He drove us through downtown



and onto “the out”, which is basically the only highway out of town. We decided to see Mendenhall first before all the tours arrived. We were given 45 minutes to look around. We had all been here before. I was hoping to take one of the trails to find bears, but DD wanted to go to Nugget Falls, so everybody agreed to that. Mendenhall is beautiful, but you can definitely see how the glacier is receded over the years.









I found lots of interesting things along the trail.







We then arrived at the falls.









DD wrote something in the sand. She found that somebody had done this in 2014, so she recreated it.



To be continued . . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 10 (Continued)

As we were driving, we asked Dennis if he knew Paul (our captain from yesterday). I wasn’t totally surprised when he said that he knew him! What a small world! Our next stop was the Jensen-Olson Arboretum. Caroline Jensen had this property and this beautiful garden. When she died she left it to Juneau with the provision that it become a park and be free and that no tours be allowed to be given in it. Dennis’s mother used to garden with Ms. Jensen, so Dennis was very familiar with the property and talked with the docent while we were there. It was a beautiful location.

















We enjoyed our time there. It was very peaceful. Our next stop was The National Shrine of St. Therese. It is an active retreat and popular place for weddings. Dennis who sings in several choirs, had sung there on many occasions.

On the way to the shrine, we spotted a couple of Marmots.



















After the shrine, Dennis took us back to the plaza by Mt. Roberts Tram. It was lunchtime and we were all looking forward to Tracy’s Crab Shack!







There was a short line, but it went fast. We ordered the Combo which included an Alaskan crab leg, bisque and crab cakes.





DD had the Alaskan Dungeness Crab Bowl.



It was all delicious and we enjoyed it very much. DD bought a T-shirt to wear at school.



After lunch, we decided that the clouds were high enough that we should go up Mt. Roberts Tram. None of ever had, so we took advantage of the opportunity.

We got our tickets and went to wait in line for the tram. It didn’t take long for us to load and head up the mountain.





On the way up, we had a birds eye view of the Wonder.





Then we got to the top.









To be continued . . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 10 (Continued)

We decided to take a couple of the trails.













We saw a pair of marmots.





We spent about an hour up there before we headed back down.





We saw an eagle sitting on The Wild Alaskan Seafood Company building.





Juneau has done a nice job with the area near the piers. We walked a little bit around the plaza.









We got on the 3:30 shuttle back to the ship. The ship was set up for the Pixar Pals party.



We went up on deck to take pictures about the time we pulled away from the dock. It was getting dark and chilly.





Then, as we were standing at the rail, 2 eagles flew very close to the ship!







Then were heading back down the fjord.







To be continued . . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 10 (Continued)

Dinner was at Animator’s Palate. Since it was Pixar night, we had the California menu. It is not my favorite menu.







I tried the Olive Oil Marinated Artichokes



And enjoyed the Pork Cordon Bleu.



Dessert.







DH had the Pacific Coast Brulee



DD had the Skagway Gold Leaf Chocolate Torte



And I had the Crème Fraiche Panna Cotta



Toy Story 4 was showing in the Walt Disney Theater tonight. DD wanted to see it again, but it wasn’t one of my priorities. But, I agreed to see it with her. However, she ended up sitting down in front with our neighbors, while I had higher seats. I stayed through the scene in Bonnie’s closet because I wanted to hear Carol Burnett, Carl Reiner, Betty White and Mel Brooks voices again. I didn’t know it was them the first time I saw it. I thought it was a great tribute and use of their talents. Then I left and went to play Pixar Trivia in the Promenade Lounge.

I walked on Deck 4 on my way. It was deserted.





I got a table by a port window and DH joined me. We had a drink and enjoyed playing.



Overall, we had a very relaxing day in Juneau. While I was disappointed that we didn’t try to go out and see whales, but we saw some of Juneau that we probably wouldn’t have seen otherwise. We were happy that the clouds moved off enough to go up Mt. Roberts Tram, we really enjoyed eating at Tracy’s Crab Shack again and we enjoyed the cooler weather!

Next: Ice, Ice Baby!