Sailing to Alaska, Day 6 – Skagway
Our short day in Skagway was planned to be a mostly independent day. I’d drive our Ontario friends to Fraser so they could take the train back to Skagway, then everyone was on their own. We had dropped our Tracker off in Skagway, and one member of our group didn’t want to go on the train, so it worked out very well.
Approaching Skagway at 06:05 in a light rain.
We were in the clouds through the White Pass and everyone probably thought that I was kidding about it being sunny in the Yukon, but it did happen as is so often the case 🙂 We also saw 3 black bears along the road, which everyone, of course, was hoping to see. The “Welcome to Yukon” sign was as far north as we got, then we headed back to Fraser to meet the train.
I parked the car at the marina lot for further exploring, and was back aboard the Celebrity Millennium just after 11:00. I then went for brunch at the Bistro on Five, which we hadn’t tried yet. There’s a $5 cover charge for this restaurant – the crepes, one with scrambled eggs and then this sweet Italian one, were delicious! I spent quite a while talking to 2 of the servers about things to do and places to eat in Skagway, as the restaurant was almost empty.
I drove back to the train depot to try to find my friends but there were too many trains and too many people, so gave up after a half-hour.
I moved the car to the airport parking lot, which is where we’d need it for the drive home, then walked back to the ship, past the Sapphire Princess.
Back aboard, I did some more exploring, including the Olympic restaurant, which we had reserved a table for this night. This is the top-end restaurant on the ship, with a cover charge of $40 per person. It is beautiful, as we expected after our experience in the SS United States restaurant on the Celebrity Infinity.
At 1:35 pm, the Alaska state ferry Malaspina arrived.
Ten minutes before our sailing time of 4:00 pm, this family came sauntering up the dock – only the bare gandplank was left, as everything else had already been stowed. I could hear conversations on the dock, and heard that we sailed without 2 people. Skagway would be a tough place to be late – the next “port”, Hubbard Glacier, isn’t accessible by normal transport, so your cruise would be over.
A harbour seal at the Skagway dock.
The ship’s casino isn’t open while we’re in any port, but is a busy place while at sea.
A humpback whale came to wave goodbye as we sailed away from Skagway!’
One of the many waterfalls down Taiya Inlet.
Holland America’s Zaandam docked at Haines as we sailed past at 4:55 pm. Historic Fort William H. Seward is to the right of the ship.
The Rainbow Glacier, a hanging glacier just south of Haines.
Some of the impressive peaks along Lynn Canal.
The Davidson Glacier.
It was chilly on deck as we sailed down Lynn Canal so there weren’t many people there, but the scenery was spectacular.
It was a lovely evening for a close look at the historic Eldred Rock Lighthouse.
Another “first” for me on this trip was having a martini! This is my favourite martini creator, Komang, bringing my “20 Year” martini.
We had a long and amazing dinner in the Olympic, and at 10:20 pm I went out on deck to get a photo of Cape Spencer at the east end of Icy Strait, where we sailed into the Gulf of Alaska. While the ship rolled a bit in the open water, the stabilizers were soon set to get us back to smooth sailing.
As always, the captain kept us fairly close to shore, and this shot taken at 11:00 pm is typical of what was visible through much of the night.
Tomorrow, we visit Hubbard Glacier and then sail for our final destination, Seward.
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