Alaska - A Month Long Adventure - Trip Report - Page 10 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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More wonderful installments of your trip - and now for my "oddball" observations. I couldn't tell if that was a swan or the Lock Ness Monster on your plate but I know you already answered that one. I also noticed that there was an "alien" sighting on your cruise. Was Marvin trying to destroy earth again?
LOL - you are good at catching the little secret things, Darlene. Marvin the Martian was accompanying one of the couples on the trip. He will show up again in a future installment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Russi01
Wow. What a first week. Can't imagine what your next 2 weeks will bring!! My hubby would so do the polar plunge. NOT this girl!!! Can't wait to read more.
You didn't catch me going in, either!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
What a nice end to your first week of cruising Alaska! Bummer that you weren't up to see the two whales.
Thanks, Cam. Oh well, more whales to come ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by rlb38
What a fantastic first cruise ! You have me thinking that this is the way to cruise Alaska. Looking forward to more.
Thanks, Roberta. We did enjoy our first week.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhinohunter
Just had a chance to get caught up. Your pix are really great. I really like the way the layers and the colors show up.
Saturday, May 25th: Our Flightseeing Tour over Misty Fjords
We were booked on the early flightseeing tour with Michelle of Island Wings. It was a perfect day - some clouds, but she said that was better, because it could get quite bumpy if it was sunny and too warm.
She flew us out of Ketchikan and around the area, then into Misty Fjords. We landed on a small island, where we got out and walked around a bit. She was great about taking photos. There were 5 of us on her Beaver DeHavilland, and there was lots of room on the plane. The other 3 folks were scheduled to go out on the next week's cruise with us on the Wilderness Discoverer, so that was a nice introduction.
Lou got to be the co-pilot on the trip out to the island, then he switched places with the other guy. He really enjoyed it.
WARNING - Lots of photos coming up. I decided to just post all of these rather than spend any more time sorting through them, trying to decide what to leave out - this is just a small sampling of the photos I took on the flight but I know it's a lot. No captions necessary - we left Ketchikan, flew around, landed, took off again, and flew back to Ketchikan. You'll notice during the landing at the island that the water was so still we had almost perfect reflections. Michelle explained this could make landing tricky for inexperienced pilots - but she has lots of experience. She gets high ratings, and they are well deserved, if our experience is anything to go by.
I don't know how we could have had a better tour. It was a nice complement to yesterday's cruise through the fjords. And, to top it off, we saw these beautiful starfish on the pier at the Island Wings Dock:
Please make no apologies for all the photos, as they're all stunning and I loved looking at all of them. So weird to see so much snow, as we did our flightseeing tour, it was early September, so of course that was pretty much all gone...
Not too many photos! What a great opportunity to see Misty Fjords from sea level one day and then from above. You can really see what an amazingly beautiful area it is. I think the clouds add to the drama of the mountains surrounding the fjords. Cool for Lou to be co-pilot for a while! Thanks for the starfish photo! I remember being startled seeing them, as for some reason I think of them as being more warm-weather creatures, especially the vividly-colored ones.
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I totally agree with Cheryl and Laurie. Don't apologize for the amount of photos - I too love looking at them. That's why I enjoy your TR's so much - because you include so many wonderful photos that show us what you tell us about.
Please make no apologies for all the photos, as they're all stunning and I loved looking at all of them. So weird to see so much snow, as we did our flightseeing tour, it was early September, so of course that was pretty much all gone...
Thanks, Cheryl. One of the reasons I was glad we went in May was to see the snow on the mountains.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Not too many photos! What a great opportunity to see Misty Fjords from sea level one day and then from above. You can really see what an amazingly beautiful area it is. I think the clouds add to the drama of the mountains surrounding the fjords. Cool for Lou to be co-pilot for a while! Thanks for the starfish photo! I remember being startled seeing them, as for some reason I think of them as being more warm-weather creatures, especially the vividly-colored ones.
Lou did enjoy his ride. We'll see some more sea creatures in the coming weeks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grammy Grumpy
What amazing pictures. So glad you had such great weather and hope it continues for the remainder of your trip.
Thank you - we were very lucky with the weather - we'll see if it continues for the next 3 weeks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CinderAbby
I totally agree with Cheryl and Laurie. Don't apologize for the amount of photos - I too love looking at them. That's why I enjoy your TR's so much - because you include so many wonderful photos that show us what you tell us about.
Appreciate it Darlene. I wanted to give a flavor of the flight, but didn't know if the photos would all look the same if you weren't there
Quote:
Originally Posted by JKnott17
There were not too many pictures, I don't think I could tire at looking at them, they're so beautiful!
Thanks, Jenn.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
all the pictures! How neat to see Misty Fjords from both the surface view and from the air. for sharing all the photos!
It was an opportunity I'm glad we had!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Russi01
I love all the pictures that you post. Really shows us what you experiences! Love the star fish! Can't wait to see more
Thanks, Deb. There are still 3 weeks left, so lots more for you diehards
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We finished up with Island Wings at 11am, and had their van drop us downtown. We walked around, checked out a few shops, and that's about it. We had intended to do the hop on/hop off bus tour, but we were satiated with the wonderful views from the flightseeing trip, and not in the mood for touring.
We did enjoy walking through Creek Street:
I threatened to buy this shirt for Lou, but they didn't have it in his size
We took the small funicular up to the Cape Fox Lodge; this is where the hospitality / check-in room was for the next leg of our cruise:
We didn't need to check-in, but we did take advantage of the free internet service provided by the hotel. We had a late lunch, taking advantage of the vouchers provided by Un-Cruise for people doing back to back cruises. The restaurant at Cape Fox was nice, and had good views. We had a delicious lunch of lightly battered halibut and chips, with an Alaskan Amber chaser.
After using the internet to check emails, pay bills, etc., we walked back through town and along the dock. Check-in time was not until 5:30pm, but we were allowed to board the boat about 4pm, since we were repeats. We watched all the newbies come on board:
We also watched the Island Princess take off; it was the only other cruise ship in Ketchikan that we saw that day - helped keep the crowd levels down
As we boarded the boat, I took the opportunity to take a few quick snaps of a few of the rooms on Deck 2. Each room has a small head, which I didn't take a photo of, and there are choices for bed configurations. Some of the rooms are very small - but there is room in the hall to hang coats and store boots. I didn't hear much complaining about the rooms - except for those who got stuck with the least desirable ones right next to the engine room. You'll notice bags have already been delivered to the rooms, and this is an hour+ before people will board.
Our room was on the top deck, Deck No. 3. We had the same room we'd had the previous week. There are 4 rooms on Deck No. 3 on this boat, and they are all the larger rooms. Not fancy, but plenty of space. They also have a larger head/bathroom, with a separate enclosed shower, and a sink outside the bathroom. Note - the photos of our room were taken in the middle of the previous week. We were able to leave all of our stuff in the room when we got to Ketchikan, but it we did straighten everything up to start the week with a nice neat room (which is not what you see here).
Chris, our friendly bartender, ready to greet the new guests with a welcome drink. Chris is more than a bartender - he also served as the unofficial ombudsman for the ship. He made sure to get to know everyone, and he went out of his way to help take care of any issues people had - whether it was with activities, rooms, food, or more. A very professional young man.
While we were waiting for the safety drill, I wandered out to the back of deck 2 ... I thought I'd come across some hanky panky:
Turned out, it was just a few errant boots from the supply that is kept on board for guests. They recommend you bring your own, but there is a large supply in case anyone needs them for hikes. Forgot to mention that each stateroom also has an outside locker, so again, more options for storage.
The Wildlife Board is Clean and Fresh - what will we see this week?
We enjoyed a nice dinner of fresh salmon, chatted with returning guests, and met a bunch of new people. We also had a presentation in the lounge that evening on our route for the coming week.
A pretty view of Guardian Lighthouse as we cruised along while eating dinner:
The water was calm as the sun set; it was early to bed for us tonight - had to get a good night's sleep. After all, we might see whales tomorrow if we're up early enough ...
I didn't get a chance to explore Ketchikan at all, but liked the look of this town very much. I think you should have gotten that shirt for Lou. He could have worn it to greet the newbies on the ship. Love the peeks into the cabins. The ship looks quite comfortable and hospitable! That shot of the canoodling boots is hilarious!
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on your plate but I know you already answered that one. I also noticed that there was an "alien" sighting on your cruise. Was Marvin trying to destroy earth again? 
- but she has lots of experience. She gets high ratings, and they are well deserved, if our experience is anything to go by.
PassPorter Guide Author
So weird to see so much snow, as we did our flightseeing tour, it was early September, so of course that was pretty much all gone...
all the pictures! How neat to see Misty Fjords from both the surface view and from the air. 
for sharing all the photos! 
Deb
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