Utopia of the Seas

A couple months ago I was invited to celebrate my friend’s birthday on the Royal Caribbean Utopia of the Seas. I had a fabulous time.

I highly recommend.

Alaska: Seward Glacier and Alaska SeaLife Center

Today is my last full day in Alaska and I pack the day with activities.

I start the morning with breakfast at the Porthole food truck. They’ve been a reliable provider of coffee the past two days.

The travel fatigue is catching up with me so I choose a short hike today to go see Exit Glacier. Exit Glacier is part of the Harding Icefield, a 700 square mile ice block that feeds many glaciers. Exit Glacier is easily assessable through a short trail with just a short bit that might prove a little challenging for some. However there is a farther viewing area for those who can’t make the hike.

On my drive to the glacier I see a moose family trotting along the road. My drive is slightly delayed while I wait for them to turn off the road.

I stop to finish my coffee with a view.

Walking down the paved path to the Exit Glacier you will come across signs with years on them. The years represent how far the glacier extended during that year. It visually shows how much the glacier has receded over the years.

There are also beautiful views of the valley formed by the former glacier.

The final part of the trail.

Some glacier views

I follow the trail back and I decide to go off to the side trail that I didn’t take earlier. I end up in a large rocky area which I believe used to be part of the glacier. I walk on the rocks to get another view of the glacier.

I leave Exit Glacier and drive back in town to visit the Alaska SeaLife Center. I am not normally a big fan of aquariums but this one is highly rated so it is worth a visit. I am not disappointed. I learn so much about local sea life and come up close to sea life I am only able to see at a distance prior.

One of the great things about the museum is seeing all the sea birds up close. It is entertaining to watch them swim, fight and swaddle about. I see Common Mure, Horned Puffin, Tufted Puffin, King Eider and more.

We don’t get up close to the Stellar Sea Lion (and I am glad) but we do get to see them swim around.

I of course need to stare at the salmon. I love to eat salmon and am ever interested in witnessing spawning of salmon someday.

Another (new) favorite of mine, the King Crab; plus friends

Octopus

While at a lower level I observe the tank below the birds. I catch puffins diving. They are excellent swimmers.

Jellyfish

I finish my day with a sandwich and a view and a local spot. It is still very light out but I feel like I need a rest. The cruise exhaustion is catching up with me. Good thing I am going home tomorrow.

Alaska: Kenai Fjord Cruise from Seward

My first full day in Seward Alaska consists of a nature cruise. I have a little anxiety about going on this cruise because I have had the bad luck of not seeing much wildlife on cruises or the tour getting cancelled for bad weather in past attempts. Neither happens today. The Captain’s Choice National Park Tour goes on spectacularly. Most of the boat tours have a set itinerary but this particular tour goes where the Captain sees best and the captain is amazing. On this cruise I see more wildlife than I expected. My animal checklist on the cruise pamphlet has me check off ten out of the thirteen possible animals.

The first wildlife we see are the cheeky sea otters. They love swimming along the side of the boat. We learn how these otters were almost extinct because they used to be hunted for their unique fur. Their special fur keeps them very insulated and dry.

We next spot some mountain goats. We see a mom and a baby goat. The mother is trying to teach the baby to climb. It is endearing to watch the mom encourage the kid and the kid too scared to climb.

Next we see a glacier – Holgate Glacier. What is good about this cruise is we come very close to the glacier, something we were unable to do with the big cruise ship. It is a more intimate experience. The crew collects some floating ice from the glacier and I order a glacierita made with the ice.

After the glacier we are back to animal viewing. We first see the cormorant, a bird that is an excellent diver.

I finally see some puffins, in fact we see two types: Horned Puffin and Tuffed Puffin.

We cruise by a bunch of stellar sea lions.

I am introduced to the Common Murre.

Also seen is a beautiful bald eagle.

We also catch Humpback whales, Orcas, dal’s porpoise and harbor seals.

We arrive back at the dock and all I can think about is some more king crab legs. Luckily there is a restaurant nearby that has them on the menu.

I walk around town and back to my hotel with a view full stomach. I don’t think I have ever seen so much sea life in one day. I highly recommend the cruise.

Alaska: Glacier Bay National Park

Today is a scenic cruising day and I am up early. We have a 7:15am presentation by the park rangers from Glacier Bay National Park here in Alaska that have stealthily boarded our ship even earlier this morning. Luckily my aunt has saved me a seat much to the disappointment of other passengers that were eying my seat. There are some morning snacks, which is good since I haven’t had time to eat yet.

Today we are on the ship all day and the goal is to find a good viewing deck when we get close to each of the glaciers. This is the time when I regret not splurging for a balcony room. While I am pushing myself awkwardly in the tiny available spaces to get a good view I dream of having a coffee and sitting on my balcony with a delivered breakfast waiting for the glacier view to come to me. As usual my anxiety is unnecessary because we spend quite a while at each glacier and the boat slowly rotates giving one ample chances to get a good view of the glacier – multiple times.

Lamplugh Glacier

Margerie Glacier

The only disappointing thing is that we are too early in the season to see calving, or when pieces of ice break off as part of the natural cycle of glaciers – though some are receding more due to climate change.

I forgot to include last night’s meals in my previous post so here are some pictures of the tartare, lamb chops, and port wine I had last night.

Tonight for dinner we visit the speciality BBQ restaurant to get some meats and southern favorites.

I go to a late comedy show. Luckily we don’t have an early rising in the morning.

Alaska Cruise: Skagway and Yukon

We have arrived in Skagway. I affectionately call this the poor man’s port. Not that it’s all that bad per se but part of the port was damaged years ago in a landslide and it cannot safely disembark all the ships it needs to anymore. If you are one of the unlucky ships you have to travel by tender to the port, which we had to do. Honestly it wasn’t all that bad of a journey – we just weren’t getting the first class services we got at the other ports.

Today we are going to the Yukon and White Pass. We take a bus on the way to Canada and we take the scenic train ride on the way back. Once again we are blessed with amazing weather so it turns out to be a lovely day.

We have a hour or so until our tour meets so we walk into town to browse and get some coffee. It is early and not many places are open yet. It seems like it might be a little more lively in a couple hours.

Our bus ride to the Yukon goes almost in parallel to the train we will take later; we see it occasionally along the way. The view from the bus is amazing but we do stop briefly along the way for some great views.

We finally get to the Yukon, specifically Wild Adventure Yukon where we have some free time. There are animals to see or you can participate in dog sledding. Me being weird about animals used as entertainment skip the dog sledding but after spending some time watching the dogs ramp up for the sledding I realize that they really enjoy the work. When the dogs sense the sledding is about to begin they bark and jump excitedly. It was sad when one group of dogs start howling in sadness when they realize it is not their turn to go out. If I had the opportunity again I might actually try dog sledding.

We leave the Yukon on our way to the rail station to take the famous train ride. We have one last stop at Carcross where there is some shopping and an adorable general store.

We finally board the train for our scenic ride back to Skagway.

It’s been a long day so we return straight back to the ship. I try to stay up and have a little night fun but we have an early start tomorrow so it’s off to bed.