Blogs from Juneau, Alaska, United States, North America - page 8

Arrived in Juneau around 2 pm. we spent the morning playing trivia and wandering. Had our cabin crawl with 4 cabins and 12 people participating. We all ate lunch together at Blue lagoon. got off in Juneau with the gang for our limo ride but the driver thought it was tomorrow so we split up and each did our own thing. Toni and i walked about 8 blocks and met our good friend, sugar, at the viking bar. Had a nice half hour visit and then headed back to the ship- it was raining harder by then.Bought a postcard to send to my girls and some advil to help my ankle. Dinner with our boys, Jack and Ron, in Indigo last nite. The lamb was super then off to the Las Vegas style show. Not bad. ... read more

They’re Jumpin’ in Juneau Our “You Have a Message” red light prompted us to check our messages when we awoke, to find that our Gold-Panning Salmon Bake tour was sold-out, so we had to reschedule something if we wanted a tour. We purchased the unlimited laundry and pressing package, which really is nice. Sharon has a 3-star rating with HA, so we don’t yet qualify for this as a complimentary service, but it sure is nice. We left our second batch which usually gets returned the next day before setting out. We went to breakfast after checking with the excursion office and selecting the “Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Quest”. We also decided to do the tram which ascends 1,800 feet for a panoramic view of Juneau. I tried the Make-your-own-Omelet, with ham, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, onions, ... read more

July 13, 2011 - JUNEAU, AK. Today we traveled to Juneau aboard the Fjordland, a new 65-foot, state-of-the-art, fast-hulled catamaran specially designed for the waters of the Lynn Canal. This was a long day, leaving Skagway at 8 am and heading south through Lynn Canal, the continent’s longest and deepest glacial fjord. Lynn Canal stretches over 100 miles long and is over 2,000 ft. deep. Along the way our ship’s captain went out of his way to bring us close to any wildlife we saw along the way. Throughout the day we were able to view Dolphins, Humpback Whales, Bald Eagles, Stellar sea lions, but no mountain sheep!! A bus met us just outside Juneau and took us on a tour of the city before dropping us off for 3 hours to do our own exploring ... read more

We were hardly out of the harbor and Captain Greg said, “Whales ahead.” We looked and could see several blow spouts not far away. Soon it seemed they were blowing and rolling all around us. Captain Greg explained that they were bubble netting and that Auk Bay was the only place he knew that they did this. The whales blow bubbles and encircle the herring, forcing the herring closer and closer together. Then on cue, the whales dive and come up under the herring with their mouths open, catching all they can in one bite. When this happens you can see the whole head of the whale and the stretching of the baleen. Other than this behavior, if you aren’t lucky enough to see a whale breach (jump up out of the water) then the most ... read more

You can’t drive into or out of Juneau. You must go by boat or plane. Hearing this was one of those little Ah Ha moments. If you look at a map, you can easily see, “Well of course”. Juneau is surrounded on three sides by glaciated mountains and the huge Juneau icefield. The other side of course is the water. Ferries bring in the automobiles and there are roads, just as in any semi-large city. Only here, the roads ultimately dead end. We’ve been having bad weather and there was a chance we wouldn’t be able to go by helicopter up to the Herbert glacier to the dog camp. The cruise ship sponsored helicopter tours and fly-over tours to the Mendenhall glacier were canceled, but we were lucky. Having booked with a private charter, Coastal Helicopters, ... read more