Geo: 55.3542, -131.691Okay, sort of a case of too much of a good thing. We have opted out of today. There were lots of activities around whale watching, fishing and cultural shows but for this short day in port, we decided to do ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING.I know it sounds a waste, but it turned out to be the perfect pace for us.Had a sleep in. Headed to breakfast/lunch right on 11 am so we got the last 30 minutes of the breakfast menu and combined it with the first 30 minutes of the lunch menu.We strolled into town after the tour group rush and had a wander around and went into the backstreets to pick up our wooden totem (our sole souvenir of the trip...no room in luggage for extras).Dinner was at Cagney's and yep, it was ... read more

Geo: 58.3677, -134.58The.mist, the cloud and the rain all hung low over the harbour this morning for our return to Juneau but we knew not to let this dampen our spirits as we responded to the 5.45 am alarm call. It was helicopter morning and we scrambled to shower and layer-up for our glacier walk.We arrived at the meeting point after the gallop up the steep incline of the ramp with just two minutes to spare to hear them making announcements that the helicopter ride was cancelled. That was a little disappointing for about two minutes until Mac worked out it was the "other" helicopter tour that was cancelled...the dog sledding adventure. We were still on!We were given our preflight cards that ask for your weight estimates - now that was embarrassing and other than our ... read more

Geo: 59.9197, -139.542The return trip delivered! We travelled back along the coast for 24 hours, flanked by the snow capped peaks of the coastal mountains. Hubbard Glacier loomed just as imposing and just as blue. But it did seem as if the bay was covered with more floating ice and icebergs on this return visit.The ship nudged much closer today and unfortunately we had been listening to the Captain's updates which indicated we would arrive later than expected. We lounged around and eventually went up to the observation deck only to be met with hundreds of guests who had arrived much earlier than us. There were absolutely no spots left on the railing so short people in the second or third rows were out of luck!So I hightailed it to the open Deck 6 and secured ... read more

Geo: 59.9197, -139.542Another early start by Captain Boris to have us positioned for the perfect viewing of Hubbard Glacier. We had set the alarm to be ready by the advertised viewing time of 8 am but the Captain had us there a full two hours ahead of schedule.The bright and cheery voice of Eddie announcing our arrival coincided perfectly with me being ready so I hightailed it to the observation deck to stake out our claim. Mac on the other hand had to roll out of bed and scramble to get organised. I was number three on the observation deck this morning and although cold and breezy it was not the gale of yesterday so I was able to set up on the rails in a perfect spot.Hubbard Glacier is only accessible on days when weather ... read more

Geo: 59.4583, -135.314This was a big day on shore. An eight hour adventure leaving from our port of Skagway. This little town stretches for seven blocks and features historic false-front shops and restaurants, wooden sidewalks and locals dressed in period costumes. This was the starting place for more than 40 000 gold rush stampeders who headed to the Yukon on their way to the Chilkoot Trail chasing the dream of gold. Today, it is the permanent year round home for 800 residents who host over 1 million tourists a year.Thank goodness the bloated sausage man fingers had improved because it was a day of border crossings today. We needed passport identification to get across the border back in to Canada and visit British Columbia and the Yukon Territory and then to get back into the U.S. ... read more