AK Report – Pt. 1, Cruise West Inside Passage
Aug 8th, 2007, 08:35 PM
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AK Report – Pt. 1, Cruise West Inside Passage
My husband and I recently got back from a 3-week trip to AK that started with an Inside Passage cruise on Spirit of ’98, a small Cruise West ship. I can’t say enough good about it - thanks to all the Fodorites who have said the small ships are worth the extra cost (though, as I note later, it wasn’t as much more than we originally thought). The ship holds 94 (96?) passengers but we only had 77 on our cruise. The negatives can be summed up quickly, so I’ll do that and get it out of the way. First, the cabins are smaller than mega-ship cabins and the one we had (the lowest price you could get without somebody climbing into a bunk) was quite small indeed. Second, there’s no entertainment, no casino, no rock-climbing walls, etc. After dinner every night there was a Power Point program on whales or wolves, and that was it. No TV but movies you could borrow from the ship library to watch in your room. Food good and plentiful enough but not the choices of the big ships (4 entrée choices, 2 salad choices, 1 soup and 1 appetizer, several deserts), and no midnight buffet. Less food, less space, and no entertainment costs a good bit more than on the big ships. Also, because of the higher cost and minimum amenities, the passengers are older (generally 50 and up), although we had a number of young adult Aussies and Kiwis. But definitely not a cruise for most young children. That said, we were delighted – it more than met our expectations.
We flew into Ketchikan on the 3rd for a July 5 departure and stayed at the Cape Fox Lodge, which was satisfactory (in other words, typically Alaskan - fairly basic and more pricey than most similar lower 48 accommodations). We originally thought we’d fly the 4th but then remembered last year when our flight was cancelled after many “another 20 minutes” announcements, we missed our connection to the last flight to Amsterdam, and spent another night unexpectedly in our own beds. Just as happy we arrived extra early as that gave us a whole day to explore Ketchikan, see their parade, and have lunch with a friend who was in town for a wedding. The next day we did some shopping in the morning, then took a Cruise West rain forest tour in the afternoon (1 of 2 extra tours we signed up for). Then we boarded the Spirit of ’98 (which we had seen earlier – barely came up as high as the lowest deck of the huge ship it was docked beside) and sailed away.
We woke about 6AM our first day entering Misty Fjords and the ship picked up two NPS rangers, who gave us information about the geology and area for the next few hours. Only wildlife spotting was a couple of harbor seals hauled out on shore, but the scenery was breathtaking. When I saw the float planes coming in, I realized we were saving $200-300 or more each by being there in our ship; furthermore, we spent about 7 hrs. in Misty Fjords, rather than 1 to 2 hrs. Our rangers departed in their kayaks after lunch and we sailed on to Metlakatla, the only Indian reservation in AK, where we watched some traditional dances and wandered through some craft shops. (Not bad but a pretty typical experience of that type.)
Wwe spent the morning of Day 2 in Petersburg, a fishing village settled by Scandinavians, that requires sailing through passages too small for the large cruise ships. Some of the children danced for us while we had coffee and delicious cookies. There were optional trips but many of us just wandered through the town, a completely “real” town, through the shops, along the water. We reboarded the ship at lunch time, then sailed to Thomas Bay for what proved to be one of the high points of the trip. After all, it was 07/07/07 on a 77 passenger trip, so something great was due that day. That afternoon the whales appeared and we spent several hours moving slowly or not at all while dozens of humpbacks came closer and closer, playing around the boat. Several of them came right up to the bow and watched us for awhile. Another small ship advantage is that schedules aren’t rigid and we were able to stop and watch things as long as people were interested. We weren’t quite as close to the whales/the water as we would have been in zodiacs or other small craft, but we were closer than I have been on whale-watching trips since many of the whales came closer. We were pretty close to the water on the bow deck. We had whales that day and the next two, and also Dall’s porpoises joined us for some bow-riding once.
Day 3 was Tracy Arm, with close-up views of South Sawyer and Sawyer Glaciers, bumping and grinding through the ice in the water, spotting seals on the ice, and stopping to watch two black bears eating mussels on the shore. Day 4 we were in Sitka. My husband and I didn’t take any of the optional shore excursions; we walked around the town, looked at the Russian church and the Bishop’s House, then took the included tour to the rainforest on the edge of town. Day 5 was Glacier Bay, where we were allowed into the arm with Johns Hopkins Glacier that was the most actively calving glacier of the trip. Again, we had a park service ranger to narrate and explain – and spot a coastal brown bear that we sailed closer to and watched for a bit. Leaving the bay, we stopped to look at Stellar sea lion colonies, rookeries with puffins, murres, cormorants, and other sea birds.
On the sixth day, we stopped in Skagway in the morning where most people took the White Pass & Yukon rail trip, but since I had hedged (having read that it’s a great trip but not as great in overcast and fog), we couldn’t get tickets. So my husband and I waded through the crowds (5 ships in Skagway that day) and found a very quiet National Park visitor center a few blocks from the docks; we watched a couple of short and excellent films, took a ranger-led tour of the town, and did a bit of shopping. Lunch was on the boat while we sailed to Haines for the afternoon. There we took our second optional excursion, a jet boat trip up the river, hopefully to see some wildlife. Unfortunately, all we saw was a couple of eagles before we even pulled away from the dock, a couple of young moose cows in the distance, and some swans in the even farther distance. One of the group joked that it was the first time he’d paid almost $100 a cup for hot chocolate (served on our return).
Day 7 we docked in Juneau, took an included bus drive around town, and left our luggage at the Goldbelt Hotel (a night was included in the cruise price, supposedly one of the nicest hotels but was, typically, fairly basic). Rather than take one of the 3-hr. tours with an hour at the glacier, we had lunch and then got a $12 pp rt shuttle to Mendenhall Glacier and spent our 3 hours or so in the visitor center, hiking around the area, and watching spawning salmon. Eagles had been in abundance on the whole trip, but on the mud flats on the way to Mendenhall and back there were dozens, waiting for the tide to go out and strand some dinner. The next day we looked around town, went to a free theater organ concert in a government building with a panoramic view of the town, did some shopping, and had a late lunch at the famous (and overrated) Red Dog Saloon. Then we flew to Anchorage and picked up a rental car for the rest of the trip.
For once in my travels, there’s not much I would have done differently. We were completely pleased – as was everyone else on our cruise – that we had chosen the small ship. Although I was sorry we had not been able to take the railway trip in Skagway, several of those who did said it was “pretty good” but didn’t rave about it. No one raved about the “award-winning” jet boat trip in Haines, either. In fact, I didn’t hear many people who took the optional trips talking much about them; rather, their enthusiasm was for the cruise itself. I’d say that kayaking was probably the favorite of those who did it. (The weather was bad in Juneau and all the flight trips the last day were cancelled.) Of course, we didn’t need to take many of the trips offered out of the ports because we visited most of the places on the ship (and spent much more time there). Maybe the only thing we missed that we’d like to have seen was the ice fields from the air. If I had it to do over, I’d skip all the optional trips, and rent a car in Ketchikan for the day to do on our own what we did on the half-day tour. (Later, in Fairbanks, we talked to a couple about to embark on a Princess cruise because they hadn’t been able to get a small ship cabin they wanted on the dates they needed. They had booked many optional boat and float plane trips to places they wouldn’t be able to see otherwise and said they thought the large ship cruise was going to turn out to cost more.)
We flew into Ketchikan on the 3rd for a July 5 departure and stayed at the Cape Fox Lodge, which was satisfactory (in other words, typically Alaskan - fairly basic and more pricey than most similar lower 48 accommodations). We originally thought we’d fly the 4th but then remembered last year when our flight was cancelled after many “another 20 minutes” announcements, we missed our connection to the last flight to Amsterdam, and spent another night unexpectedly in our own beds. Just as happy we arrived extra early as that gave us a whole day to explore Ketchikan, see their parade, and have lunch with a friend who was in town for a wedding. The next day we did some shopping in the morning, then took a Cruise West rain forest tour in the afternoon (1 of 2 extra tours we signed up for). Then we boarded the Spirit of ’98 (which we had seen earlier – barely came up as high as the lowest deck of the huge ship it was docked beside) and sailed away.
We woke about 6AM our first day entering Misty Fjords and the ship picked up two NPS rangers, who gave us information about the geology and area for the next few hours. Only wildlife spotting was a couple of harbor seals hauled out on shore, but the scenery was breathtaking. When I saw the float planes coming in, I realized we were saving $200-300 or more each by being there in our ship; furthermore, we spent about 7 hrs. in Misty Fjords, rather than 1 to 2 hrs. Our rangers departed in their kayaks after lunch and we sailed on to Metlakatla, the only Indian reservation in AK, where we watched some traditional dances and wandered through some craft shops. (Not bad but a pretty typical experience of that type.)
Wwe spent the morning of Day 2 in Petersburg, a fishing village settled by Scandinavians, that requires sailing through passages too small for the large cruise ships. Some of the children danced for us while we had coffee and delicious cookies. There were optional trips but many of us just wandered through the town, a completely “real” town, through the shops, along the water. We reboarded the ship at lunch time, then sailed to Thomas Bay for what proved to be one of the high points of the trip. After all, it was 07/07/07 on a 77 passenger trip, so something great was due that day. That afternoon the whales appeared and we spent several hours moving slowly or not at all while dozens of humpbacks came closer and closer, playing around the boat. Several of them came right up to the bow and watched us for awhile. Another small ship advantage is that schedules aren’t rigid and we were able to stop and watch things as long as people were interested. We weren’t quite as close to the whales/the water as we would have been in zodiacs or other small craft, but we were closer than I have been on whale-watching trips since many of the whales came closer. We were pretty close to the water on the bow deck. We had whales that day and the next two, and also Dall’s porpoises joined us for some bow-riding once.
Day 3 was Tracy Arm, with close-up views of South Sawyer and Sawyer Glaciers, bumping and grinding through the ice in the water, spotting seals on the ice, and stopping to watch two black bears eating mussels on the shore. Day 4 we were in Sitka. My husband and I didn’t take any of the optional shore excursions; we walked around the town, looked at the Russian church and the Bishop’s House, then took the included tour to the rainforest on the edge of town. Day 5 was Glacier Bay, where we were allowed into the arm with Johns Hopkins Glacier that was the most actively calving glacier of the trip. Again, we had a park service ranger to narrate and explain – and spot a coastal brown bear that we sailed closer to and watched for a bit. Leaving the bay, we stopped to look at Stellar sea lion colonies, rookeries with puffins, murres, cormorants, and other sea birds.
On the sixth day, we stopped in Skagway in the morning where most people took the White Pass & Yukon rail trip, but since I had hedged (having read that it’s a great trip but not as great in overcast and fog), we couldn’t get tickets. So my husband and I waded through the crowds (5 ships in Skagway that day) and found a very quiet National Park visitor center a few blocks from the docks; we watched a couple of short and excellent films, took a ranger-led tour of the town, and did a bit of shopping. Lunch was on the boat while we sailed to Haines for the afternoon. There we took our second optional excursion, a jet boat trip up the river, hopefully to see some wildlife. Unfortunately, all we saw was a couple of eagles before we even pulled away from the dock, a couple of young moose cows in the distance, and some swans in the even farther distance. One of the group joked that it was the first time he’d paid almost $100 a cup for hot chocolate (served on our return).
Day 7 we docked in Juneau, took an included bus drive around town, and left our luggage at the Goldbelt Hotel (a night was included in the cruise price, supposedly one of the nicest hotels but was, typically, fairly basic). Rather than take one of the 3-hr. tours with an hour at the glacier, we had lunch and then got a $12 pp rt shuttle to Mendenhall Glacier and spent our 3 hours or so in the visitor center, hiking around the area, and watching spawning salmon. Eagles had been in abundance on the whole trip, but on the mud flats on the way to Mendenhall and back there were dozens, waiting for the tide to go out and strand some dinner. The next day we looked around town, went to a free theater organ concert in a government building with a panoramic view of the town, did some shopping, and had a late lunch at the famous (and overrated) Red Dog Saloon. Then we flew to Anchorage and picked up a rental car for the rest of the trip.
For once in my travels, there’s not much I would have done differently. We were completely pleased – as was everyone else on our cruise – that we had chosen the small ship. Although I was sorry we had not been able to take the railway trip in Skagway, several of those who did said it was “pretty good” but didn’t rave about it. No one raved about the “award-winning” jet boat trip in Haines, either. In fact, I didn’t hear many people who took the optional trips talking much about them; rather, their enthusiasm was for the cruise itself. I’d say that kayaking was probably the favorite of those who did it. (The weather was bad in Juneau and all the flight trips the last day were cancelled.) Of course, we didn’t need to take many of the trips offered out of the ports because we visited most of the places on the ship (and spent much more time there). Maybe the only thing we missed that we’d like to have seen was the ice fields from the air. If I had it to do over, I’d skip all the optional trips, and rent a car in Ketchikan for the day to do on our own what we did on the half-day tour. (Later, in Fairbanks, we talked to a couple about to embark on a Princess cruise because they hadn’t been able to get a small ship cabin they wanted on the dates they needed. They had booked many optional boat and float plane trips to places they wouldn’t be able to see otherwise and said they thought the large ship cruise was going to turn out to cost more.)
Aug 13th, 2007, 10:06 AM
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Isn't Cruise West wonderful? We did the California Napa/Sonoma Wine Cruise with them a few years ago and it was just superb in every respect. A somewhat expensive way to cruise but worth every cent.
Aug 29th, 2007, 08:18 PM
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Probably will start a new thread: AK Report - Pt.2., Kenai Not sure when, however. Shortly after I posted this, our a/c went out. Since we were on borrowed time with a 35 yr.-old system, we opted to do the whole thing, with heat pump, rather than just getting a new compressor. Had no idea it was going to take so long, but a/c was going out all over town, so our job was done between quick fixes for other people. I mostly stayed in a room with a portable unit - and we went to a lot of movies. Temp in my office with the computer ran from a low of 89 to a high of 94, so I checked e-mail quickly once or twice a day but nothing else. By the time we got air back last week, I had pretty well forgotten about this. Now I'm trying to get ready to leave again Tues. for a week in Amsterdam where my husband has a conference, then a week in Belgium. But I will get back to the remainder of the trip report sometime.
