National Parks Road Trip & Alaska Sea/Land Cruise

Home < Places Visited < Itinerary < National Parks Road Trip & Alaska Sea/Land Cruise - April-June 2015 Alaskan Sea/Land Cruise
Ketchikan
Juneau
Skagway
Glacier Bay National Park
Start Of Land Portion Of Cruise
Denali National Park
Denali/Scenic Train to Anchorage
End Of Sea/Land Cruise

Start Cruise
On the day we were to start the cruise, we checked out of the motel and completed the arrangements for them to park our car for the duration of the cruise. We caught an early shuttle to the airport where we would meet the bus that would take us into Vancouver, BC, Canada. When we checked in at the cruise desk we were assigned to bus number 1, enough people arrived early that the bus was filled and we were able to get started a half-hour early. There was a person on the bus who gave narration as we made the trip to the cruise terminal, he was not very good so we just enjoyed the scenery on the way. When we arrived at the Canadian border we had to wait for a couple of other buses to go through security. We had to get out of the bus and bring our carry-on with us. In the building all they did was check our passports and ask if we had ever been to Canada before, as far as we could tell no one had there carry-on checked.

When we got to the cruise terminal in Vancouver, we went through security and U.S. Customs. At first we were a little surprised that it was U.S. Customs in Canada, but when we thought about it, it made sense since we were leaving from Canada to go to the U.S and would not be entering any other countries on the cruise, so they wanted to know if we had bought something in Canada that needed to be claimed. We fairly rapidly went through the check-in process and boarded the ship, Holland America's Oosterdam. We were able to go directly to our cabin and were surprised to find that Vacations To Go, through whom we booked the cruise, had purchased a drink package for each of us. We could each have any drink that cost $7.00 or less up to 15 drinks per day without being charged. Since we do not drink alcohol we did not even come close to $7.00 per drink nor the 15 drinks per day, but it was nice to not have to pay for soda or bottled water. At lunch we met some nice people and upon returning to our cabin found our luggage had already been delivered. We spent the day exploring the ship and relaxing on the balcony. There was an interdenominational service led by the congregation, we sang a few hymns, one lady talked about a lesson she had learned at a recent Bible study, we discussed our thoughts on the quote she read from a C. S. Lewis book, and ended with a prayer. About 5:30 PM, while we were at the service, the ship departed for the cruise through the Inside Passage. After going for supper, we went to the main show which was very good.

The first full day on the ship was a day at sea. We had a relaxing day on the ship, we spent a lot of time on our cabin's balcony. We met some very nice people at lunch and dinner as well as while wondering around the ship. Due to getting on the road early and afterwards being too tired to concentrate on what he was reading, Ernie had fallen several days behind on his daily Holy Bible reading, this was a good day to do some catching up by reading several times during the day.

Upon Returning from lunch we found that Vacations To Go had paid for dinner at the Pinnacle Lounge for the last night of the sea portion of the cruise. The Pinnacle Lounge is the premier restaurant on the Holland America ships.

We attended the "Rockin' Country" show which was another good show, then spent a little time at the Piano Bar lounge listening to "Jimmy the Piano Man". Though we enjoyed "Rockin' Country", it was slightly mis-named since included were Rolling Stone and Steppenwolf songs as well as pop versions of some country songs and songs that though released as country songs are more pop oriented than country. At the Piano Bar we sat in some of the easy chairs in the lounge and enjoyed not only the music, but also the banter between the entertainer and those sitting at the bar. (Pictures)

Ketchikan
We decided to not do an excursion at Ketchikan, so we took a walk around the city. We visited Whale Park which is just a triangle at a road fork. At the park were the Chief Kyan Totem Pole and a lot of beautiful flowers. We walked over to Ketchikan Creek which runs along Creek Street. There is a salmon ladder in the creek, but it was too early in the year to see salmon running. Creek Street is a boardwalk that was originally the red light district of Ketchikan, the former brothels and saloons are now souvenir shops and other stores that prostitute themselves by selling souvenirs made in China. We walked along the "Married Man's Trail" which is a path through a wooded area that married men would use to go to the brothels on Creek Street. We then walked up the "many" stairs to the street above Creek Street and made our way to the Cape Fox Lodge which is a beautiful lodge. We took the Cape Fox Hill tram down to Creek Street. We looked in a few of the shops and made our way over to the marina where a lot of pleasure and fishing boats are moored. Before returning to the ship we went shopping for gifts for our grandchildren.

We were both tired so after dinner we relaxed on the balcony of our cabin. (Pictures)
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Juneau
In Juneau we decided to take the tram up Mt. Roberts. At the top we went to the Juneau Raptor Center, a small shed with a large window containing one bald eagle, Lady Baltimore, that was shot and can not fly. Lady Baltimore is a very beautiful eagle, but is the only occupant of the Juneau Raptor Center.

We followed the trails that lead to the top of Mt. Roberts, we did not make it all the way to the top as we reached an area of the trail that was snow and ice covered. We did get to and beyond Father Brown's Cross. We saw three bald eagles flying near the cliffs and several small animals along the trail. The scenery from the look outs was great. Upon coming back down on the tram we went shopping for gifts for our grandchildren.

That night we went to "BB King's Blues Club", where we totally enjoyed "BB King's All American Blues Band". The band was excellent, the sax player and guitar player were especially great. (Pictures)
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Skagway
We walked along Main Street checking out the buildings and stopping in some shops. We went on a tour around town with a National Park Ranger, many buildings and sections of Skagway are part of the Klondike Goldrush National Historic Park. The tour went to many buildings, not all are part of the National Park, with the ranger speaking of the history of the town and some of the people who were important in starting the town and making it last. Some of the people she mentioned were Capt. William Moore (the first white man to settle there), gold discoverers Skookum Jim, George W. Carmack and Dawson Charlie and some others. The last stop on the tour was at Capt. William Moore's house where the original log cabin he built when he first went to Alaska and the house he built to bring his family there are open for display. There is one building on Main Street that has a facade completely made of driftwood. The Klondike Goldrush National Historic Park also includes trails used during the gold rush, we did not go to any of the trails due to time constraints. (Pictures)

The evening's show was "Leon & Romy America's Rock Illusionists#". They were very good, but their only originality is playing rock music while they perform the illusions. After the show we went to the Piano Bar to listen to "Jimmy the Piano Man" which again was very enjoyable.
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Glacier Bay National Park
The highlight of any cruise to Alaska is cruising through Glacier Bay National Park. When the announcement was made that we would be entering Glacier Bay shortly, we went to the lounge at the front of the ship. This lounge has windows in front and down the sides. When we arrived at the lounge all the seats near the windows were full and most of the ones back a ways from the windows were occupied. Dale sat in the best seat she could find and Ernie went up one deck to see what it was like outside and how crowded that deck was. He found only a few people were on the deck and that there were windows that slanted inward over the deck in a way that most of the wind was being blocked. There was one lady that had taken a deck chair and set it up outside the railing, under the windows. Ernie took one of the deck chairs and set it up in a similar fashion and found that the wind was completely blocked in that way. He found two unobstructed windows next to each other and setup chairs for Dale and him, then went to get Dale. It was a great spot to watch as we entered the bay. As we cruised toward Margerie Glacier we passed Reid Glacier and much beautiful scenery which we were able to just sit back and enjoy with nothing obstructing our view and no loud talkers disturbing the serenity. When it was announced we were nearing Margerie Glacier we went to our cabin and onto the balcony where the view on that side would be even better. The ship slowly turned in place for about an hour so every view point on the ship could get a good long look at the glacier. The ship made two full revolutions. When we left Margerie Glacier we went into John Hopkins Bay where we passed Lamplugh Glacier then spent a little time where we could see John Hopkins Glacier. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and enjoying the scenery as we cruised out of Glacier Bay. (Pictures)

After dinner, we went to "BB King's Blues Club". BB King had passed away the previous night, the cruise director did a great tribute to BB King, the band put on an even better show than when we had seen them earlier in the cruise. Dale was impressed that without using notes, the cruise director knew so much about BB King. She asked him if he had just gathered the information to put together the tribute. He told her he had been studying BB King's life for 30 years and had met him 5 or 6 times.

We went to the main show, "Northern Lights", which was a beautiful combination of colorful lights & outfits and good music & dancing.
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At Sea
Our last full day of the sea portion of the cruise was a day at sea. This was the night Vacations To Go had made a reservation for us at the ship's premier restaurant, the Pinnacle Lounge. The food and service were OK, but not up to what we are used to on Norwegian Cruise Line ship' premier restaurant, Le Bistro. After dinner we enjoyed "Jimmy the Piano Man" one more time.
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Start Of Land Portion Of Cruise
The ship docked in Seward, there is not much to say about Seward as it is just a working port with no tourist conveniences. We had an early breakfast at the buffet in the Lido then went to meet in the theater. From the theater we went to the tour bus that would take us on a scenic tour to the Denali National Park area. The tour was suppose to take about 10 hours, it took 11½ hours instead. We had stopped at a few places to get out and take pictures and one place for lunch, then we stopped at another place that was not on the schedule and the bus driver told us he would be back in ½ hour. He did not get back until almost 1½ hours later. The air conditioning was not working on the bus and he had gone to get it fixed, instead he returned with a different bus.

The scenery from the bus and at the stops was magnificent. Some places we stopped at were Portage Glacier viewing area, the Iditarod Trail Race Headquarters, and Mt McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge (where we had the delay). Dale had done a land tour of Alaska almost 20 years previously and when they were in the area where she would have been able to see Denali (the indian name for Mt. McKinley) there was smog covering it. There had been fires and the smoke mixed with the clouds to create the smog. Ernie had never been anywhere where he could have seen Denali. On this trip the sky was perfectly clear and we had great views of Denali. Since we were coming up from the south we could see the south peak which is higher than the north peak and is called the true peak. Denali has two peaks because there originally was one, but a glacier came down the middle of the peak and caused a break in it. When we arrived at the lodge each passenger was given a $25 certificate that could be used in any of the restaurants or gift shops at the lodge as compensation for the inconvenience of the delay. This turned out to be good for us as the price of everything is beyond sticker shock and we used one each morning to bring the cost of the breakfast buffet down to reasonable. Besides that we did not consider it as an inconvenience since where the delay occurred the scenery was wonderful including the best view we had of Denali. (Pictures)
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Denali National Park
Loop Trail
The next morning after breakfast we caught the shuttle to the Visitor Center at Denali National Park, where we talked to a ranger and determined which trails to follow to make a loop that would not be too long nor too strenuous. We did not see any large animals on the trails, but we did see some squirrels, birds, and chipmunks. The scenery from trails was beautiful and we stopped several times along the trail to just admire God's creation. We had lunch at the park then caught the shuttle back to the lodge. (Pictures)
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Park Tour
Upon returning from the park we rested for an hour or so then joined the bus tour of the park. The driver/narrator of the tour was really good, providing information along the way that was interesting and entertaining. As soon as we entered the park we saw a mother moose with her two calves. As with each time animals were spotted the driver stopped and would then move the bus a little so everyone had a good view and were able to get pictures. When the bus stopped the calves hid behind their mom in the bushes as the mother kept on eating from the brush. As with all the national parks there was constantly beautiful scenery all around us. We got our best view of the north facing side of Denali by which we were able to get a really good view of both peaks and the glacial rift. We made a few stops where we could get out and enjoy the scenery. As well as moose we saw grizzly bears, mountain sheep, and caribou (reindeer). On the way out the mother moose and her calves were still where we had seen them when coming into the park, this time the calves stayed out where we could see them really well. (Pictures)
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Denali/Scenic Train to Anchorage
The next morning we caught a shuttle to the train station at Denali National Park. Each car of the train is two levels, a dining car on the first level and a glass domed car on the second level. During the trip to Anchorage we had a narrator that was very informative and entertaining. As with everywhere we went in Alaska the scenery was awesome. We had lunch on the train, the food and service was what we had expected it to be when we dined at the Pinnacle on board the ship. At one point we crossed a 300 ft high trestle, Ernie went out on the landing between cars to take some pictures as we crossed the trestle. (Pictures)
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End Of Sea/Land Cruise
When we arrived at Anchorage there was a shuttle waiting to bring us to the hotel where we were staying that night. At the hotel we asked where there was a place to eat that was in walking distance from the hotel, they recommended the Snow Goose Restaurant telling us it was reasonably priced. There was a menu outside the restaurant, the prices were the highest we had seen anywhere in Alaska. On the way to the restaurant Ernie had noticed a small Italian restaurant, Pasta Avanti, directly across the street from the Snow Goose. We went there and had a wonderful meal that did not cost much more than it would have back home.

Very early the next morning we caught a shuttle to the airport. In the security line Dale was told she was pre-screened and she just went through the metal detector without even having to take her shoes off. On the other hand Ernie had to go through the xray machine, after which the TSA agent checked the collar of his shirt and waist band of his pants. We were able to get oatmeal at a McDonald's in the gate area. After an extremely uncomfortable flight that seemed to last a lot longer than 3 hours and 1 minute we arrived in SeaTac.

At the airport we were following signs to where we could catch a hotel shuttle to the hotel where we would be staying that night, we came across some people we recognized from the cruise who were going in the opposite direction. They had talked to someone who told them where they needed to be. We turned around and found that there were signs pointing in the opposite direction from the ones we had been following, so we followed these people. We got on the shuttle and upon arriving at the hotel Ernie noted that we went through a toll gate into the parking lot. We had left the car at a hotel about ½ mile from where we were, Ernie asked if there was a way to get into the parking lot without paying to park. He was informed that even for hotel guests it cost $28 to park at the hotel. Ernie called the other hotel to tell them we would need to extend the time we left the car there by 1 day, they said that would be fine and he could pay the extra $9 when he picked the car up. In the morning Ernie found out there was a way to get to where he could pick up Dale without paying a fee. He walked to the hotel where the car was and they waived the fee for the extra day. He drove back, picked up Dale and the luggage, and we were on our way to Yellowstone.
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Last updated: may 27 2016