Category: Alaska

Mother Nature never did cooperate today so instead of being an “Explore Juneau” day (in my case Mt. Roberts hiking day) it was a ship day for a lot of people, including me. I was actually surprised at the number of people who did venture forth – pleased, but...

Cruising though Wells Passage, we met the Alaska State ferry Aurora, which was sailing from Whittier to Valdez. Prince William Sound is spectacular, but that doesn’t really look like summer, does it? Whittier has about the worst weather in Alaska outside the Aleutians. Directly ahead in the darkest part...

As I start writing this, it’s 03:15 am and the Coral Princess is in Stephens Passage, 44 nautical miles south of Juneau at the mouth of Tracy and Endicott Arms. Sunday was so busy that I didn’t have anything to eat until after my second presentation, which ended at...

It’s Day 2 of my first Princess cruise to Alaska, and my first job as ship naturalist. I was up early this morning as always, and the Horizon Court was the source of coffee to get it started and to greet the sun just after 05:00. As I start...

Yesterday was our ship’s day in Sitka, our favourite port. It was unfortunately a very short visit, from 7:00 am until 2:00 pm – we’d love to spend 12 hours there (or a week!). I awoke to fog and a light rain, with the Zaandam off to starboard. This...

It’s 05:00 and we’re sailing into Sitka harbor in a cold moderate rain. It was foggy a half-hour ago but that’s now clearing so we may yet get a decent day for our tour with Captain Davey. Regardless of weather, we have high hopes for sea otters and grey...

After a bit of rain and lot of cold wind at Skagway, the incredible weather is back with us. I’m still a day behind on the blog but hope to catch up tonight, as we’re now at sea en route to Sitka following a superb day at the Hubbard...

Yesterday we spent all day in Juneau, and today it was Skagway. Our weather so far has been good – very good until we reached Skagway and even today was far from being bad. Just south of Juneau (at 09:15) we spotted the first land wildlife of the cruise,...

Yesterday, our first port day, was wonderful. Ketchikan on a mostly-sunny day is so beautiful – and those sunny days are so unusual. By 05:30 when I arrived in the Oceanview Cafe on Deck 10 aft of the Celebrity Infinity, the cleaning crews were already hard at work. The...

Fairbanks now has an antique car museum. Not a few old wrecks in a warehouse but a fine collection of classics! The museum has been established by Fountainhead Hotels, and is on the grounds of their Wedgewood Resort. Have a look at the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum website for...