Alaskan Cruise Vacay Day 5: Getting our sea legs under us 070217

Wake up to check out the dining room for breakfast as we opted for flexible dining option. Get seated with random people (you are asked if you want a table to yourself or others, we said others all the time as to meet other people on the cruise). We chat with our table people while ordering and have some delicious eggs Benedict before finishing up and heading back to our room to get layered up to try and watch finding dory on the outside deck upstairs. Its cold and a little misty so we dont finish the movie. Instead we go back in to warm up a little bit then walk around a bit before grabbing a small bite to eat before going to check out the art auction.

Look at the colors in the ice. Absolutely stunning.

Arctic serenity.

We are on the top deck of this cruise ship and the glacier still towers over us.

So magnificent. Views like this make this trip a must see for everyone.

Tons of little ice just floating around.

That glacier seems to go on for ever. 

Kinda cool seeing this giant slab of ice and above/behind it, green mountains.

Wish we could get in a small boat and go through that pass and look up close to those striations. 

Look at the hints of blue in the ice.

This panoramic picture doesnt do the glacier justice. I tried :(

Found a boat cruising in the water. Turns out they were trying to pick up ice to bring into the boat (pic below)

While they were gathering the ice, this dude was waving to the boat with a giant hand.

Bald eagle flying over the impressive iceberg. 

The way we came in. Calm water. 

Amazing sight.

Clouds starting to clear out a bit. Not sure if itll last.

That my friends is the birth place of this glacier. It is born up there and has built up mass and moved all this way. Never thought about the origins of a glacier but when you do, they are even more impressive.

We are heading out but this view of the glacier coming down from the mountain is just spectacular. 

Glacier ice they pulled from the water for people to touch/look at.

quick video to try and see all the glacier at once

Glacier calving a little bit

A little more calving

Had some pretty good pieces in it but we left before any auction started to check out the first timers event. This event was useless; it was essentially a giant advertisement about the princess cruise line and how you can get better perks if you cruise more, etc. and to top it all off, there was no free wine/champagne/etc. like all the other welcome events. Missed wide of the mark on that activity. Go to a jewelry demonstration to get some drinks and a chance to win some jewelry (we do not). After that, we go get layered up as we are coming up to the Yakutat Bay Glacier. Notice that the glacier is calving somewhat frequently so we go up to the higher levels to get a better view. We walk around the top to get different views and enjoy the beautiful ice formation in front of us. After we get our fill of the scenery, we head into the buffet area and had a slew of great foods (butter chicken, pork cordon blue, brie cheese, etc.) before heading down to the main staircase to the captain's welcome reception where they had the motown group (Rhapsody) performing and champagne cascade flowing. Have some glasses of champagne and then head down the hall to the indoor movie theater to see the new Beauty and the Beast movie. After that is over, we make our way to the room to get some sleep as tomorrow we spend a bit of time exploring glacier bay national park.

Captain about to give the speech and then we feast.

Alaskan Cruise Vacay Day 4:Lets get this cruise started 070117

Woke up and had our last breakfast with Rock before packing up our bags as today we start our cruise. Go downtown to drop off the car and meet our shuttle to go to the bus. Get there with time to spare so we drop our bags off and then walk around downtown to grab some lunch/beers. Wind up at 49th State brewery to sit on their top patio. Gives us a lovely view north of the city with the lake, mountains, etc. while we enjoy some grub/drinks. We then head over to the shuttle pick up area as it is getting to be closer to that time. Get on our shuttle and head down to Whittier.

Flights at 49th State brewery.

This is the way in/out of Whittier. 

We get to the train track tunnel which is the only way into/out of Whittier by land. Was interesting as cars/trains drove on the same tracks/route. As we are driving down this narrow tunnel, realize there are emergency rooms that were built into the tunnel in case of cave ins I believe. We get to the other side of the tunnel and the city is right in front of us. Small town with a little marina in which our boat is waiting for us. Get off bus and start our way through check in and it is seamless and efficient. Was kinda surprised/impressed at how quick and easy it was. Props Princess! We find our hotel room eventually (it is a hidden hallway that took us a little bit to find) and drop our bags before walking around the boat to check out everything. Go to the top and see the indoor pool which has all these lotus flower and Buddha statues all around it. Go out to the deck and realize there is carpet everywhere which is drenched due to the rain/mist. Not sure how often they have to replace that stuff. Explore a little bit more, trying to get orientated, then have to attend safety training which was way longer/drawn out then needed but then again it is safety so whatever. There are tons of welcome events around which we check out as they are giving out champagne and what not. After those wind down, we go to one of the bar areas which has a motown cover band, from jamaica I believe, playing some great music and happy hour (2nd drink 1$). After taking advantage of happy hour and enjoying the band, we go to the buffet room to grab a little bit of food. Was pretty good. Go grab some wine and walk around the boat (its 11pm or so) and it is a ghost town. I guess it being a sightseeing cruise in alaska, one should expect early nights.

Our room for the next week. Not too shabby.

One of the decks close to our room. This was the outdoor track where people would routinely run/walk laps.

Part of the indoor pool (which we never got into which is kinda surprising in my mind).

The outdoor pool/hot tubs. Apparently these guys just wanted a nice hot bath.

On the boat looking out over the town/marina.

The train that we were considering taking instead of the shuttle. 

Thats what we are sailing into. Ominous yet still gorgeous.

Apparently we were the only ones that got the memo of great music and good drink specials.

Essentially if you are ever hungry, they got you covered. This doesnt even take into count the formal dining rooms.

Alaskan Cruise Vacay Day 3:Seeing some wildlife 063017

Woke up to have an early breakfast as we have a long day ahead of us. Drive down the coast stopping at beluga point (however we dont see any whales as I think it was low tide. Hang there for a little bit before continuing down the coast to the Alaska wildlife conservation center to take a behind the scenes tour that we booked ahead of time. Tour guide finds our group (6 people total) and begins the incredibly informative tour. Takes us to see all the animals as we walk around the grounds, get to see some moose, bears, etc. with the musk ox being much smaller than I thought.

So apparently these cliffs have water coming out of them that people capture into water jugs. I guess nature's water fountain. 

Found some reindeer on a hill.

This dude had horns for days. Part of me was thinking he probably was laying down due to the weight of those bad boys.

Reindeer up close.

Cool looking creatures.

AMERICA!!!! This little dude was injured so lives here now. 

Bear playing with a bone.

Bear on the prowl.

Black bear running around in the grass.

Some cool wolves hanging out with each other.

Sleep lil dude!

Porcupine popping up to say hey

Little dude just exploring the area.

These were our guides favorite animals here. So tiny.

Our guide feeding his babies.

Cute lil guys just eating some leaves.

Brown bear.

Cute guy.

These animals are so precious looking...

But look at those paws... Danger!

As long as you arent being mauled by these guys, they are pretty cute animals.

I wanted this bear to go on a rampage on the birds behind them. Apparently it does happen every now again.

These guys were a lot smaller than expected. Like the size of a small deer or something like that.

Had a seagull come hang in the park with all the trapped animals.

Great view.

Found us some bison. 

Sleeping fox.

Finally saw a moose. 

At the end of the tour, we get to all take turns feeding one of the oldest residents of the center, this porcupine. So gentle as he reaches out to take the peanut from you. Was really cool.

Porcupine taking a peanut from my hand.

Apparently low tide as there are exposed sand bed in the waterways.

After finishing up the tour, we drive over to the ski resort town of Aleyska to drive around a little bit and check it out. Wind up at a thai food stall for lunch which was pretty good. Explore the town a little more and then head over to flat top to do a little hike. In my reading, I remember flat top being popular and I equated that with being easy so we started the hike with maybe 1/3 a bottle of water; definitely needed much more than that. Hiking our way up to the top and get to where the path becomes bouldering instead of a hike. We keep going up and eventually get to a point where we decide we are done with bouldering and take a seat to enjoy the view and chat with other hikers. Carefully make our way down the rocks to return to the car and go check out Anchorage brewing since it was closed the first time and I was told this was the best brewery in Anchorage. It did not disappoint. The interior design was pretty great and the beers were even better. Had a 13% stout that was aged in glenmorangie barrels that was easy drinking like a pilz - delicious! Grabbed some wine for the cruise ship then went to Tommy's burger stop for some dinner. The burgers were pretty tasty, though the wait seemed a little drawn out for the business that was there - though there were many take out orders that came so that could have been the reason. We then get back to the house to shower and crash as it was a long and fun day.

Does this look like a place you would eat? Cause you should :)

Lets start this hike shall we?

The beginning path below us. Great view.

View down on the city as we climb a little bit.

As we keep climbing, there are fewer and fewer green things and more and more rocks. For now though, still with plenty of green.

We made it far up this mountain. Not a bad view.

A view from where we just came. 

Not a bad view from our perch.

The selection at the brewery. Lots of great collaborations and tasty beers.

Some of the tasty beers at the brewery.