Alaskan Cruise 2007 Date(s): May 2007. Album by Frank and JoAnne Logan. 1 - 207 of 207 Total. 3688 Visits.
1 We did the Inside Passage: a loop cruise from Seattle to the Panhandle & back.
2 Saw the snow-covered tip of Mount Ranier as we were flying into Seattle.
3 Went a day early so we would be rested for the cruise. Stayed @ Airport Hilton where we were met by Holland America person with all necessary info. Also met @ airport by HAL rep.
4 Day 1: EMBARKATION from Terminal 30 in Seattle, Washington.
5 Building where we went through security & ramps leading onto the ship.
6 We sailed on the Oosterdam, a Holland America ship.
7 Our luggage headed to the ship.
8 Our embarkation picture.
9 Looking at Starbucks Headquarters from the top deck of our ship.
10 Seahawks Football Stadium & adjacent Safeco Field, home to Mariners baseball club with real grass & retractable roof.
11 Part of the Seattle skyline.
12 Another cruise ship with Space Needle to the right.
13 Frank with Space Needle over his right shoulder.
14 Gary & Sharlyn as we sail away.
15 Frank & Jo as we leave Seattle.
16 Loading cranes down at the Seattle dock.
17 Cargo to be loaded.
18 We had a lifeboat drill before leaving dock.
19 Leaving Seattle with the Cascades in the background.
20 Snow-covered mountain peaks as it begins to get dark & we are now out to sea.
21 Day 2: AT SEA all day & night. Looking @ our wake.
22 Mid-morning the seas got rough.
23 Raining with mountains in distance.
24 First formal night; Sharlyn was in cabin seasick.
25 Closeup of JoAnne on 1st formal night.
26 JoAnne & Charlotte having a laugh. Notice flowers in the foreground; always fresh flowers on the tables.
27 JoAnne with beef Wellington and baked Alaska for dessert. Delicious!
28 Top deck & one of three pools on the ship.
29 Another of the pools.
30 Let's play chess.
31 Entrance to the 9th level dining room, the Lido.
32 Lido Dining where we usually had breakfast and snacks.
33 Another view of the Lido dining.
34 Every table in the Lido had an orchid on it.
35 Coffee with Gary, Sharlyn, & some of the others.
36 Frank & Bobby relaxing.
37 Every evening our table in Vista dining room was set & waiting for us @ 6:00; we had early sitting on upper level.
38 Chandelier above the spiral stairs leading to the dining room.
39 Our cabin on the 5th deck; we had a balcony with awesome views.
40 Another view of our cabin. Notice art work on walls, not the bed.
41 At night, our bed was turned down with a mint on the pillow & a animal towel like this lobster.
42 The Vista Lounge where there was wonderful entertainment every night.
43 A magic show, floorshows with singing & dancing, an Elton John impersonator, etc. We even had an Oosterdam Idol contest with an Australian winner.
44 Day 3: JUNEAU
45 Mountains around Juneau.
46 More.
47 And more.
48 Clouds, snow-covered peaks, water.
49 More of the same.
50 Still more.
51 Coming into Juneau, state capital, pop.31,000, accessible only by air & sea.
52 Houses along the shore.
53 Another ship was already docked.
54 Did a coach tour of Juneau, Macaulay salmon hatchery, & Mendenhall Glacier.
55 Awesome view!
56 Mendenhall Glacier, a river of blue ice, 13 mi. long & 1.5 mi. wide @ widest point.
57 Another view of the glacier which is fed by the 1,500 sq. mi. Juneau Icefield.
58 Mendenhall Glacier.
59 Info on the glacier.
60 Frank & Jo @ Mendenhall Glacier.
61 Gary & Sharlyn @ the glacier.
62 Gary in the rain near the glacier.
63 Sharlyn poses near the glacier.
64 Gary & Sharlyn in silhouette in front of the glacier
65 Frank & Jo in silhouette.
66 Frank & Gary waiting for bus @ glacier.
67 Still waiting.
68 Frank & Jo @ saloon: sawdust floors, old-timey piano player, etc. as in Gold Rush Days.
69 Gary & Sharlyn @ saloon door.
70 Looking down at bar from our table upstairs.
71 For lunch Sharlyn & Jo had Talkeetna soup, a blend of reindeer sausage & tortilla; Frank & Gary had burgers:"motherlode & avalanche".
72 Sign inside the saloon.
73 Juneau residents have to have bear-proof trash cans.
74 Lots of skunk cabbage growing along the road. After hibernation, bears eat them for a laxative.
75 A closer view.
76 The bloom is beautiful, but the smell is like a skunk.
77 From our balcony, we watched seaplanes landing & taking off.
78 More of the seaplanes.
79 Juneau shoreline & more seaplanes.
80 An elephant was our animal of the night.
81 Day 4: HUBBARD GLACIER
82 Day 4: JoAnne bundled up & waiting to see the glacier.
83 Frank waiting for the glacier that stretches 76 mi. from Mt.Logan in the Yukon Territory to the Yakutat Bay.
84 The crew served us Dutch pea soup to help us keep warm.
85 Getting closer to the glacier.
86 View from starboard as we near the glacier
87 A closer view.
88 Taking pictures from the deck on the port side.
89 Nearing the glacier.
90 See the glacier in the distance.
91 The Golden Princess @ the glacier. Notice how the glacier dwarfs the 90,000 ton cruise ship.
92 The Golden Princess from another cruise line was at the glacier first, but we got to Victoria first.
93 Hubbard Glacier, accessible only by sea, longest tidewater glacier in Alaska.
94 Another view.
95 Notice the blue color on the glacier.
96 We couldn't get as close to the snout as you could later because of the frozen ice field.
97 Sharlyn with glacier in background.
98 Gary looking from an upper deck.
99 At dinner on May 8th, the dining staff sang "Happy Birthday" to Gary on his 62nd birthday.
100 His cake; we all had cake & ice cream for dessert.
101 The birthday boy!
102 Day 5: SITKA Mt. Edgecumbe is a dormant volcano; our guide told us an amusing story about a local prankster & the volcano.
103 Coming into Sitka.
104 Trees along the shoreline.
105 We saw lots of bald eagles.
106 Notice the eagles in the trees.
107 Lots of little islands around Sitka.
108 More of the same.
109 Another awesome view!
110 A little light house on one of the islands.
111 Another view of the lighthouse.
112 Our ship docked; tenders had to get us in to shore.
113 Another view of our ship.
114 Ready to go salmon fishing!
115 On the way to the fishing spot.
116 Frank ready to catch a salmon & he did.
117 Frank & Gary fishing.
118 Frank, the captain, & two of the salmon.
119 Frank, Gary & Bobby with two of their catch.
120 Frank & Gary with the four salmon caught.
121 Another pic of the catch.
122 Salmon caught on Sitka fishing trip.
123 Polaroid of salmon; judge size by shoe in lower left corner.
124 Polaroid of Frank & Gary with the salmon.
125 Where the salmon were caught.
126 A pretty scene on the way back from fishing.
127 Sitka skyline with St. Michael's Russian Orthodox Church spire & mountains in background.
128
129 Sharlyn & Jo did a tour of the city while the men fished. Had quiche, clam chowder, & borsch for lunch. Yummy!
130 Totem pole in town park with our ship in the background.
131 Jo & two of the totems @ Sitka Historical Park.
132 Sharlyn & Jo went for a one-mile walk in the temperate rain forest.
133 Sharlyn in the rain forest.
134 More of the rain forest.
135 It's so wet here that the tree roots are above ground.
136 More of the tree roots & new growth sprouting up.
137 A stream in the park where salmon come to spawn.
138 One of the bald eagles @ the Raptor Center where wounded birds are cared for & returned to the wild.
139 This eagle will never fly because of his injury, so he's used for exhibition.
140 A bald eagle waiting to be released.
141 A golden eagle also waiting.
142 Sharlyn & Jo went to see local women perform Russian folk dances. Outstanding!
143 Sea lion; we never could get a full picture of a sea lion or a whale, only parts at a time.
144 A little more.
145 Almost the whole sea lion.
146 Birds are bothering them now.
147 Another towel creature, the Stingray.
148 Day 6: KETCHIKAN
149 Coming into Ketchikan.
150 We saw a jet over snow-covered peaks.
151 People have planes & boats for transportation.
152 We did a bus tour of the town.
153 A street in downtown Ketchikan.
154 A closer view.
155 Ketchikan's waterfront. There are stairs leading to the houses on the upper level; these stairs are named like the streets & maintained by the town.
156 More waterfront.
157 Part of the marina.
158 Need some fish?
159 Airport @ Ketchikan. "Bridge to Nowhere" was to go from mainland to island where airport is located.
160 Oops! Meant to stop before going this far.
161 We toured Bight State Park & its totem poles. Our guide told stories of many of them.
162 The park is part of Tongass National Rainforest; saw lots of hemlock & cedar trees.
163 One of the totems.
164 And another.
165 Totems in the rain. Ketchikan gets 13.5 feet, not inches of rain per year (third rainiest area in the world).
166 Guide told us the story of the halibut pole.
167 Fire pit in the Eagle clan house of the Tlingit. Other natives in the area are Haida & Tsimshian.
168 The natives had to use this exit from the house.
169 Gary makes his exit from the ceremonial clan house.
170 Later he makes friends with a polar bear that had wandered way down to southern Alaska.
171 On the wall in the gift shop was a 385 lb. halibut caught in the area.
172 Our 2nd formal night on the ship
173 One of the ice sculptures.
174 The women in our group.
175 The men.
176 Leroy & Doris
177 Johnny & Debbie
178 Bobby & Charlotte
179 Gary & Sharlyn
180 Frank & JoAnne
181 The brothers.
182 Gary, & others of us had escargot for appetizers. Believe it or not, they were delicious.
183 One of the dining stewards in the "March of the Baked Alaskas."
184 Baked Alaska up close.
185 Floppy-eared dog on this night.
186 Day 7: VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
187 In Victoria, we did a horse-drawn trolley tour like this one.
188 You wouldn't expect a palm tree in Victoria, but its sheltered location makes it possible.
189 Sequoia tree in a city park.
190 Another view of the sequoia.
191 A monkey tail tree.
192 One of the beautiful yards in the city.
193 Rhododendron, Japanese maple, pansies in another yard.
194 Entrance to the Empress Hotel. Rates start @ $350 per night up to $4,000.
195 The front of the grand hotel, designed by Francis Rattenbury & built by Canadian Pacific Railway.
196 Closer view. It was time for high tea when we were there. $84 per person. It really was "high" tea!
197 Sharlyn @ entrance column.
198 Legislative buildings; at night the domes & arches are outlined by thousands of lights.
199 Up close with statue of Queen Victoria.
200 Canadian government buildings; notice the flags.
201 City's Inner Harbour with government buildings in background.
202 Bird on rocks at the marina.
203 Street performers @ one the city's totem poles.
204 Gary saw a '53 Mercury like his hardtop.
205 Farewell from the crew.
206 More of the farewell.
207 Part of the ship's log we received on the last day.
Awesome pictures! I've always heard it was beautiful. You guys catptured it well. - Karen Fussell, Fri, 22 Jun 2007 10:25AM
Frank and Joanne,
BOY! Looks like y'all had a super time. The pictures are great and we know the memories are priceless. Thanks for sharing your trip with us. - Barbara & Woody, Thu, 17 May 2007 5:55PM
Wow! I do wish we could do it. We've taken two Bahamian cruises and loved them both. Going north would be a totally different adventure. - Bill, Karen, and Blake, Thu, 17 May 2007 5:28PM
GREAT pics! Glad you had a good time. :) - Lisa Logan, Wed, 16 May 2007 3:29PM
