North to Alaska

Saturday 22^nd:  On a cloudy but warm day we boarded the Diamond Princess at the time recommended (2 p.m.) to avoid the (long) queues.  As the ship is leaving Canada – and into the USA – everyone has to go through US Immigration.  With 2800 souls this takes some time – with fingerprints and photographs.  After an hour or so we boarded the ship and took the next few hours just trying to find our way around………..4 pools, 9 restaurants, 2 snack bars and innumerable bars – catering to all tastes.

The clientele was surprisingly diverse.  There was a wide range of nationalities and ages.  One couple in their nineties had been doing two cruises a year for the last 30 years………..

We left Vancouver on a bright summer’s evening.

We had chosen anytime dining. This gave us the choice of several venues (although the menu was the same in most of them) and times.  With the number of folk one might have expected long queues but there was little waiting for anything.  In fact, given the number of people the ship never seemed crowded and one could always find a place to sit/sunbathe/relax.

The food was of a high standard with excellent service.  It’s always amazing to see how they can manage such quality for mass catering.  After dinner we went to the opening show in the huge theatre.  The singers/bands/dancers and comedian were also of a very high standard.

For most of the cruise the ships take an inside passage – not in the open sea - which not only provides calm waters but also gives better scenery and wildlife opportunities.  On board, the resident wildlife expert gave interesting talks and commentaries.

Sunday was spent at sea, getting to know the ship and generally relaxing.  Each evening they show a movie on the outside top deck “Movie Under the Stars”  A great experience!  We saw Skyfall – sitting on the loungers with blankets, hot chocolate and popcorn!

Monday 24th June:  We woke having arrived at our fist stop – Ketchikan Alaska.  Known as the “Salmon Capital of the world” it’s an interesting small town.  It was too early to see the salmon spawning (they start in July).  Its other claim to fame was it’s one of the wettest towns on the planet.  They measure their rainfall in feet but call it “liquid sunshine”.  Fortunately for us the weather was great  - warm and sunny.  We hadn’t booked a tour but whilst walking in the town we had an opportunity to do a 45-minute trip – we were the only passengers - in a small helicopter.  It was too far to fly over the glaciers but conditions were excellent and we flew a circuit around the region and over the snow capped mountains and lakes.  We left for our next destination mid afternoon.

Views from the Helicopter:

Tuesday 25^th June:  We arrived at our second stop – Juneau - the capital of Alaska.  Like Ketchikan and so many small communities along this narrow stretch of southern Alaska, it can only be reached by air or sea.  The town is surrounded by steep, snow capped mountains – essentially resting in what was the mouth of a glacier. Mendenhall glacier – now around 10 miles to the north -  remains it’s most famous attraction.  We had chosen a photography tour. The first part was a boat trip to seek out wildlife – specifically whales.  It was certainly our lucky day!!!  Within 45 minutes we came across a pod of humpback whales. These massive mammals – weighing up to 40 tons – usually hunt alone.  However, on occasions, they hunt in packs using a method known as “bubble net feeding”.  And it was our turn to see it first hand.

The pod, led by a “manager” whale, waits under a shoal of herring whilst a single animal blows an underwater “circle” of bubbles to surround them.  The fish panic and group together away from this “wall”.  With the whales below them they rise to the surface.  At this point, the whales, led by their leader, charge upwards, waving their pectoral fins and screaming – to frighten the fish even more.  From the surface, the only signs of the fishes impending doom is fish jumping out of the water and the gulls overhead descending to take advantage of the haul.

With a huge splash the whales open their mouths wide, filling them with fish and then breaking fro the surface as their momentum takes them out of the water.  Using their baleen “filters” they strain out the seawater and consume the fish.  Each whale needs a ton of fish per day to sustain them. We were privileged to see this spectacle repeated several times and got some great pictures – some of which can be seen here. Our guide told us that they thought that there were only 12 whales in Alaska who had been deemed capable of leading this sort of hunt. A rare privilege.

On our way back we also saw – Bald eagles, Dall’s porpoises and sea lions.

Afterwards we walked to the Mendenhall Glacier for more photo opportunities, overall a great trip.

Only one way to keep warm.......

In the evening we chose a different restaurant – again with excellent food.  The show that evening featured an Anglo/US couple – Hawley Magic – who had appeared on the US America’s got talent show. They used traditional illusions – woman in a box/woman floating in mid air etc.- but did it professionally and with style.

Wednesday 26^th June:  We visited Skagway today and went on the White Pass and Yukon Route Railway which was built during the gold rush at the end of the 1890s. Unfortunately it was rainy and quite cloudy but still a great train journey.  Skagway itself was a little like walking through an MGM studio set these days with lots of jewellry shops!  Quite strange….

Luckily they don't use this bridge anymore!

Thursday 27^th  and Friday 28^th June:  Our last two days were spent on the ship sailing through Glacier Bay where we stopped in front of the Margerie Glacier.  This is a huge glacier (250ft above water and goes back for 21 miles) and is constantly calving and replenishing during rain and snow.

On Friday we sailed through Prince William Sound and College Fjord.  College Fjord has many glaciers  - all named after US East Coast colleges – women’s colleges on the NW side and men’s colleges on the SE side. The largest - Harvard - is one of the few glaciers that is actually advancing.

Harvard Glacier

We completed the cruise in the isolated port of Whittier.  The town boasts 200 residents and can be accessed only by sea OR the longest road/rail tunnel in North America at 2.5 miles. Then it was through there to Anchorage and the start of the flight home. Well done Princess Cruise Lines!
It was a wonderful trip where we saw nature at its best and met some wonderful and interesting people along the way.  We would both love to go back one day to see more of Canada and Alaska. 

We loved the whales SO much that we added a video by Malc here.......................