This is a long page so just show me The Best
If not, just scroll down, but I did mention this was a long post.
And if you are a glutton for punishment, see Details and Trip Planning
Finally, if you want some before and after pictures try Glaciers, 14 Years Later
About
Yep, Alaska again.
With last year's successful hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park we decided this year's trip had to be pretty large to compete. The question of where was decided after watching too many YouTube videos from the travel vloggers A&K when they traveled to Alaska. The hope was to snag hikes in Denali National Park and Mt Roberts in Juneau. Spoiler, we didn't. But it was still a great trip. And a shout out to my travel companion Laura for that ABA "adaptability". Because any trip to Alaska is going to take a bunch of it.
So yes, I had taken nearly the same trip about 14 years ago. But it was a pretty great trip and it being Alaska means that about half of your days are going to be rain or fog so it's a given that no two trips are going to be the same. For this trip I had my fingers crossed that the weather at the Mt. McKinley Lodge and College Fjords would be better and I was not disappointed. Truly a high point in the trip was getting to see the Mountain this time and extra points for getting to do so from a Jet Boat.
While we did get rained out of the Savage River Hike in Denali and Mt Roberts in Juneau I did get some great pictures of The Fairweather Mountain Range so as with most trips to Alaska, you never know what you are going to get. Also while the weather at the Mendenhall Glacier was rain and fog, I got the cover picture for this trip from that hike, so sometimes you never know.
The What and Where
What: A 12 day cruise and land tour on Princess Cruise lines. Seven days on ship and five on land.
Where: Seattle, Vancouver, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay and College Fjords.
I want to take this trip, what details should I know? Details and Trip Planning
Seattle
We had some time to kill, and I had not seen Seattle since I was 6 so it sounded like a good idea.
With only a few hours to kill before heading back to the airport area we decided on the Pikes Place Market area. All I had heard of it to that point was the "fish throwing" area so I was not expecting the sheer size and diversity of the market. The place is simply huge with hundreds of shops on multiple levels. I can't even call them floors at this point as they seem to be more just built into the side of the hill and connected as was most convenient at the time. I wish I had some better pictures, but pictures just would not convey the activity or haphazardness of the construction. Which leads to the first stop.
Maximillians Restaurant. A fantastic view, great bartender and an overall just great place to grab some drinks for lunch.
After lunch it was a walk down to the water, and down is the word. I didn't know that Seattle is basically built on the side of a very steep hill. Each staircase is followed by a larger staircase until you reach this monster. And then just a couple more. But we made it to the bottom, took a few pictures, and started the walk back. Rather impressive after a couple of Manhattans I will say so myself.
 Maximillians Restaurant |
 Maximillians Restaurant |
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Vancouver
The next day was off to the Seattle airport to catch the transfer bus to Vancouver. Let just say that the directions provided by Princess at this stage were a disaster. How a billion dollar company can fail something as simple as directions is astounding, but we eventually managed to find our way and got on board.
What I remember most at this point was how incredibly perfect the weather was. On my previous trip this departure was the start of many days of rain, fog, and a bit chilly. For this sail away, you simply could not ask for better weather. Absolutely gorgeous. I'm sure I was getting on everyone's nerves with all of my comments about how great this was, but in fairness, they had no idea of the "wonderful" Alaskan weather to come.
But for now, simply incredible.
Points to Laura for braving the front of the boat with me. OMG that wind was strong! But hey, a really good photo studio would have charged a fortune for that wind machine.
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Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway
Not to put too fine a point on it, but all three of these cities can be skipped. Unless you are interested in an endless stream of jewelry stores there is really nothing to see or do.
In Ketchikan you have the Artic Bar or "Home of the Happy Bears", in Juneau you have the Red Dog Saloon, and in Skagway you have the Red Onion Saloon as the only "local color". While not bad, all are much smaller than you think and a cruise ship has a ton of people. There was no way we would wait in lines for any of them. Spend your time and money on some excursions instead and you will be happier.
With that being said...
We took at bar hopping excursion at Skagway which was a three bar, bar hop. The Artic Bar was fun and I'll recommended it if the crowds are low. As for the other two bars, it seemed they really were working hard to be two other interesting bars.
We never got into either the Red Dog or Red Onion because of crowds and lines so I can't comment. But for Skagway we did end up at the Station Bar and Grill and it was a fantastic place to eat lunch. Not a themed bar but it had great food and great service. I would highly recommended it in case you are getting a bit tired of cruise food by this point. We were wondering at this point if we had just lost the ability to taste seasoning, but nope, it was just that the cruise ship had forgotten how to add it to their food.
 Ketchikan, Creek Street |
 Juneau, Red Dog |
 Skagway Red Onion |
Mendenhall Glacier (Juneau)
I was a bit worried about this day as the weather was not great. Also to note is the difficulty in actually getting to Mendenhall Glacier. It seems that Uber killed the taxis and Covid killed the Ubers. So now there is just about nothing. Gone are the days of people in cars and vans parked outside of the cruise ship gangways selling tours and travel. The Uber app will simply give you an error, and as for the City Bus, who the hell knows because we sure couldn't figure out what was happening. We eventually stumbled upon the only working cab outside of the Red Dog Saloon and got a ride to the glacier.
As said before, you simply have to plan for the weather. Rain ponchos are your friend for this trip. We had some, so we were good. If you go to Mendenhall, you will have two options. A standard tour from the cruise ship, or a "do it yourself". While in the past I would say it's a no brainer to just do it yourself, the recent problem with finding transportation make this a difficult one. If you go with an excursion from the cruise ship, you will have limited time, and most likely you will not be able to take the short hike to Nugget Falls. But if you go yourself, finding transportation is very difficult. Nugget Falls is great but it was more important in years past as this was much closer to the glacier and hence part of the point of going. Now with the Glacier so much farther back, I just don't know. See the pictures below for more details. We had gone the DIY route, so the hike to Nugget Falls was our choice. It's only a 2 mile round trip and while most of the hike is in the woods, the end drops you right at the falls with a tantalizing view just a bit of the glacier in the background. Having an actual trail to walk on this time was welcomed change but of course they had a small section that was washed out so we got a bit of adventure in rock hopping anyway. On a rare day, some low clouds and fog can enhance a picture. This was one of those days. Kind of a Jurassic Park look. . |
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White Pass Train (Skagway)
Not a lot to say about this one. It's a train, and should be fun train ride. But I'm zero for two on good weather, so I really can't tell you how it would be if there was any sun and you could see farther. I do really wish there was a way to hike the trail you can see from the train, but alas that doesn't seem to be a thing you can do.
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Glacier Bay National Park
And our weather luck turned to the better.
We couldn't ask for better weather this day. Just enough fog to add intrigue and just enough sunlight to add contrast and perfect temperatures. And perfect weather being just cold enough that you could rationalize getting a hot toddy before lunch.
Even if you have a balcony room, be sure to take a stroll on the top of the ship. The views from the uppermost viewing station were incredible and being able to see the mountains rise on all sides was really exceptional. Unfortunately it's just one of those things that doesn't photograph well so you will just have to see it yourself in person.
This being Glacier Bay you see the big three of the Lamplugh, Johns Hopkins, and Margerie Glaciers. Each are a bit different but more importantly, with the constantly changing lighting conditions you never know which will be the most impressive. Again, even if you have a balcony room, go on top deck for the times when your balcony is not facing the glacier. By the time the boat has reach the last glacier, turned around, and come back will be hours later and you have no idea if the weather and lighting will be better or worse. Yes, this means you have to move around a bit. But think ahead a bit and get a bottle of wine in the morning and you can get room service pizza for that hour when you have the best viewing from your private balcony.
 Johns Hopkins |
 Margerie |
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The Fairweather Mountain Range
If you take this cruise going from South to North you will leave Glacier Bay and continue to the Gulf of Alaska via the Cross Sound and head north along the coast. If you are lucky it will be near sunset, and the weather will be clear, because you will get to see The Fairweather Mountain Range. And they are pretty damn impressive. From sea level to over 15,000' in just a few miles. The only thing close is Mt Rainier at 14,400'. But there are 6-8 of these in view.
I had caught only a faint glimpse of these on my previous trip and it was on my to do list not to miss them this time. I was not disappointed. By far the most impressive mountain range I have ever seen. While I could have wished for clearer skies, the cloud cover did provide for that perfect "floating mountain" effect where you just can't understand how the base of the mountain can disappear.
I am still utterly baffled why the cruise ship does not even mention this is as a site you can see. I mean this is rather incredible and simply there if you know to look. So if you are there, yes it's worth being 20 minutes late to dinner. You went to Alaska to see incredible sights, so see them in that brief window when you can.
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College Fjords
After the glaciers of Glacier Bay it's a reasonable question to ask, "why more glaciers?". The answer is that these are "just different". The glaciers at College Fjords really have that "river of ice" look that the flatter and larger glaciers just don't convey.
At this point I have to mention that here Princess Cruise Lines failed bad. The daily schedule had us arriving at 6pm so we figured we had plenty of time for a 5pm dinner. Nope. It seems they were 2 hours early and just ….. Never mentioned it. If we did not have a window seat at dinner we would have missed almost all of the glacier viewing. I just can't convey how incredibly poor that is. There are food options all over the ship at all times, but there is only a few hours of glacier viewing. The cruise ship's perspective seemed to be "meh". Not excusable. As to not harp on Princess, I have no idea if this is standard practice. It does show that you as a cruise passenger in this day and age have to have far more information about what is happening on your cruise at any given time because, you and only you will be the person that makes the difference.
But lest I rant too much, we did see the first glacier out of the dining room window so we were able to skip the rest of meal to go outside and see the sights.
 Byrn |
 Harvard |
 Barnard |
Train Ride to Denali
A ten hour scenic train ride from Whitter to Denali. On the plus side, it's so very neat to just walk off the cruise ship and on to the train. This is an area where Princess really shines. A great coordination of moving you from cruise ship to train and then to the Denali Lodge. Particularly great is getting your room keys and information packet while on the train so there is no check-in at when you get to the lodge.
The bar and dining were also good and really help to break up the ride and a shout out to our tour guide Dylan who was excellent.
As for the downside, again the weather did not cooperate. While I'm sure there are some great views when the sun is out, we got a lot of blurry pictures of trees and overcast mountains.
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Denali National Park
And sadly we got rained and fogged out again. It's difficult when you only get one day at all of these places because the weather might just not cooperate. Between the rain and low clouds we didn't really get the large sweeping views and even the wildlife seemed to be just hiding. About all we got was some birds and a caribou way off in the distance.
Currently the Denali Park Road is closed at Mile 43, at an area called Pretty Rocks. There was a massive rock slide in the Polychrome Rocks area which has really reduced your options. A new bridge is going to be constructed but will probably not be finished until 2025. Until then you really only have the Savage River area and the Mt Healy Overlook hike to get "out and into" the park.
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Chulitna Gorge Jet Boat Adventure
And the clouds parted.
After some poor weather and a couple of rain outs we were so happy when the sun came out for our last Alaskan adventure. The Jet Boat Adventure by Mahay's Jet Boat Adventures. This is about as good as it gets. The Jet Boat is a blast (Hey, it's a Jet Boat), the guides are great and even the "history walk" at the midpoint was a cut above the others we had gone on.
During the ride we got our best wildlife sighting of the entire trip when we came around a corner and surprised a female grizzly and her three cubs on a sandbar. They took off at a run, but we got a great view and great pictures of grizzlies running. And yes, everything you have heard about how fast they can run is true. Amazing to see it in person. And great to see it in person from the safety of a jet boat.
And finally, we turn the next corner, and there it is, Mt Denali. The tallest mountain in North America and notoriously difficult to actually see. It's difficult to imagine that a giant mountain can just disappear into the clouds, and in truth it's amazing to see with your own eyes. But for us and this trip we got fantastic views.
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Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge
And after the Jet Boat tour it was back to the McKinley Lodge and a couple more photos of Mt Denali before it disappeared again. Just for something different, these photos are from the new treehouse they built at the top of the hill trail.
A pretty great ending to a very long trip.
As with all Alaskan adventures, this one had wild swings of great and lousy weather with some of those being on the same day. The Jet Boat ride and actually getting to see the mountain was a great way to end the trip.
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