Some Pictures from our Alaska trip

[sweetpee_1993]

Such wonderful pics! I'm glad I saved 'em up for a bit. A mega-dose of all that awesome-ness was totally Wonder-ful! :wave:

I like your approach with this photo report. I'm actually considering NOT doing a TR for our upcoming trip just so I don't have to fool with it. What's gotten into me?!

So pre-cruise you stayed at the Sheraton. I suppose I need to start thinking about where we'll stay pre-cruise next September in Vancouver. Would you recommend the Sheraton? Was it far from the port? Easy to get to/from?

A steam-powered clock?? That's pretty dang cool!

Your pic of the pipe-organ sculpture in the Christ Church Cathedral. At first glance I thought it looked like a sculpture made of paddles (as in the kind we all were convinced our principal kept in her office for disciplinary use way back in the day). I was startled at first then laughed at the irony had they really been paddles. :lol:

Oh wow! The 'Behind the Scenes' lecture sounds like it was fascinating. Was the theater full? How is the book?

This is the coolest pic! It looks like the ship is hanging out with all the cars along the street trying to blend but failing miserably. :lol:

 

[ChuckElias]

We leave on the 22nd. I was trying to figure out how to pack. I'm guessing the end of August will see some cool nights/mornings.

Duh. My bad. For some reason, I had it in my head that you were leaving at the end of July, rather than August. I agree that you'll get very cool weather by then. There were very few brave souls on our cruise who walked the decks in short sleeves, even in the middle of the day.

I would suggest that just before you leave, you get a 10-day weather forecast from weather.com or some other site that you trust. I did it for each port city, but they were pretty similar. That will give you some idea for last-minute packing.

 

[ChuckElias]

I like your approach with this photo report. I'm actually considering NOT doing a TR for our upcoming trip just so I don't have to fool with it. What's gotten into me?!

I felt the same way. I actually started a true trip report, but bagged it during Day 2 There's lots of info about meals and things like that, which I usually like to remember, but I just didn't have the desire to write everything down this time.

So pre-cruise you stayed at the Sheraton. I suppose I need to start thinking about where we'll stay pre-cruise next September in Vancouver. Would you recommend the Sheraton? Was it far from the port? Easy to get to/from?

Yes, we liked the Sheraton.

(Try to imagine Dr. Doofenshmertz' voice: Baaaaaaaaack story!

I won't be offended if you skip it.)

We originally booked the Disney transfers. That meant staying at the airport hotel. So we were scheduled to get in around 6 pm local time. We either had to eat dinner in the airport or take a taxi (or rental car) into the city. Then we were supposed to take the Disney shuttle directly to the Wonder in the morning. This left us with nearly zero time to see Vancouver. The more I thought about this, the less appealing it was.

So we switched plans about a month before our trip. We cancelled the airport hotel reservation and the Disney transfers to the ship. We got a room at the Sheraton downtown instead and paid for a taxi from the airport to the hotel. We had a nice dinner in Vancouver the night we arrived and then wandered Gastown until almost noon on our boarding day. It was very easy, and only about $10 or $12, to take a taxi from the Sheraton to the port terminal (as opposed to $35 per person for the transfers). On top of all this, the Sheraton was significantly less expensive than the airport hotel (like more than $125).

We walked without much difficulty to Gastown, and we even saw one family walking from the hotel to the port terminal with kids and luggage in tow. (Shoot me!!) I guess they were trying to save the cab fare, but for my money, the taxi was well worth it. But my point was just that the Sheraton is in a good spot for access to downtown Vancouver. If you want to see Stanley Park or some other parts of town, you'll need transportation.

We kept the DCL transfers for after the cruise, so transportation back to the airport was sweatless.

A steam-powered clock?? That's pretty dang cool!

Yes, very cool, and it whistles music at the quarter hours.

Oh wow! The 'Behind the Scenes' lecture sounds like it was fascinating. Was the theater full? How is the book?

The theater wasn't full. I would guess a quarter to a third full. Still a pretty good turnout for one of these lectures, IMHO. Sometimes they're in the Buena Vista Theater and only a quarter full.

I have to admit, I haven't started the book yet. I had some other books that were on my list and I'm almost done. And then I'll get to it.

This is the coolest pic! It looks like the ship is hanging out with all the cars along the street trying to blend but failing miserably. :lol:

It's one of my favorites from this trip. I have to admit that I stole the idea from Tammy's trip report. But I also love how it looks like the ship is just parked right in the town.

Ok, today's pics are from Juneau:

On our disappointing whale watch, at least these guys were comic relief:

This the lodge where they served us lunch after the whalewatch. My wife loved it here.

Here is the Mendenhall Glacier, which I believe is the largest glacier that can be seen from Juneau.

 

[ChuckElias]

From our rainforest hike in Ketchikan. We didn't actually see any bears but we had bald eagles fly about 10 feet over our heads.

Lobby shot:

Fourth of July on Deck 9

 

[Crush Dude!]

From our rainforest hike in Ketchikan. We didn't actually see any bears but we had bald eagles fly about 10 feet over our heads.

Lobby shot:

Fourth of July on Deck 9

Great Pic of The Lobby :wave:

 

[ChuckElias]

Ok, this is it for Alaska pictures. These are from the 4th of July celebration. (My daughter actually took these!) Hope you've enjoyed the pictures.

 

[Big Ben]

Thanks for posting them, Chuck

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Yes! Thank you for posting! Those were awesome. I love the 4th of July stuff!

 

[Crush Dude!]

Thanks for all the pics Chuck!

Prob be a long time before we do an Alaskan Cruise so it was great to see all the pictures :wave::wave::wave:

 

[lbrad]

Enjoyed seeing Vancouver & Alaska.
DH & I are planning a trip to Alaska in 2015 !!!

 

[ChuckElias]

Enjoyed seeing Vancouver & Alaska.
DH & I are planning a trip to Alaska in 2015 !!!

It's a great experience. Definitely worth doing!