Alaska Cruise

Seward Alaska
Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 100, f/5.6 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

Overall, I really enjoyed my trip to Alaska.  It was even more awe-inspiring and beautiful than the pictures and videos I had seen.  I don’t think that photographs and videos could really capture some of the amazing places that I got to see.  Even though I truly enjoyed my trip I am not sure that I would take another cruise.  There were some aspects of the cruise that I did not enjoy.  I was very happy that I did not experience any sea sickness. I however was not a fan of the small amount of time you have off the cruise ship.  I believe that I would have preferred to spend more time in each location.  I also did not like the fact that it seems like their main goal on the cruise ship is to separate you from as much money as possible.  It was just really annoying.  I went to Alaska to escape and enjoy nature, but sometimes it was very hard to because there were so many people in the ports.  In every port there was at least 2 cruise ships,  which made it extremely crowded.  I believe that I would rather go somewhere where it is away from the cruise ships and more isolated.  But this trip was by far the most incredible views that I have ever seen, and it was an absolutely amazing vacation.

My plan for the next few posts is to break down everything I got to experience on my trip, and all the wildlife that I did get to see.  I don’t plan on including the travel day to anchorage, or the travel day out of Vancouver.  They were rather uneventful days.  I hope everyone enjoys seeing the pictures and hearing the stories.

Leaving Seward Alaska
Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 100, f/11 @ 1/50s Manual exposure

Day 1:  Anchorage Alaska to Seward Alaska

The first day I boarded a bus at the hotel and took a very lovely trip down route 1, along the Turnagain Arm.  It was very different than anything I had ever experienced.  They have very large tidal changes, and the tide was out while we drove by.  Also the water is filled with silt due to the glacial runoff, and that gave the water a very distinct color.  The road for the most part parallels train tracks and the water.  Due to it being my first time experiencing Alaska I believe that I was just in shock at how beautiful the views were.  It was a long bus ride but it passes very quickly because of the amazing views.  I just didn’t want the ride to end.  Basically, you are at sea level and looking across the bay, with huge snow-capped mountains in the background.  Your eyes are constantly hunting for the next view, or the next animal to show itself.  I did see a lot of bald eagles along the shore fishing, but I get to experience that a lot at home.

A little further along on the bus trip we passed through Portage.  We crossed a couple of bridges, and the driver let us know that coming up on the left side a humpback whale had gotten stuck on the shore and died, within a couple of days.   There were a lot of eagles around but I did not see any bears at the time.  It was a unique experience, but I would much rather see them alive.  It did however, give everyone a reminder about how harsh and unforgiving Mother Nature can be.
   
Once we arrived in Seward, we boarded the cruise ship.  That night around 7 pm we departed from the port and I spent a lot of time on the upper deck photographing the views.  I did manage a glimpse at a Humpback whale while leaving the port, but no one else seemed to see it.  I thought maybe I was seeing things at that point.  But later on in the trip I did point out whales and other wildlife and other people confirmed my sightings.

Headed out to Sea
Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 100, f/11 @ 1/30s Manual exposure

Day 2:  Out to sea and the Hubbard Glacier

When I awoke on day 2, as far as the eye could see there was nothing but water.  For the majority of that day there was just vast empty seas.  While at dinner that night, I pointed out two Killer Whales outside the window.  Everyone around was very excited to see them.

Hubbard Glacier
Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 200, f/11 @ 1/250s Manual exposure

After dinner the ship was arriving at the Hubbard glacier.  The problem was, that it was raining and the fog was very thick.  I spent several hours up on the upper decks trying to photograph anything.  It was quite a scary experience because you cannot help but think about the Titanic, as you hit small chunks of ice and they bang off the ship.  You are basically driving though an ice pack on your way up to the glacier.  With the visibility so low, we had to get very close to the glacier just to be able to see it.  From where we were you could not even see the top of the glacier, it was just pure fog.  During our pass by the glacier, chunks of the glacier broke off about 8 to 10 times.  I did my best to capture pictures of this happening.  I know that glaciers are melting, but I did not think I would see the glacier give way that many times in a short duration.  I think that maybe because it was raining, or because the ship got so close, that might have caused more to break loose.  None of the other glaciers that I saw on the trip had anything break loose while I was there.  Although the weather was not great for viewing the glacier it was still a wonderful experience.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 100, f/5.6 @ 1/500s Manual exposure

Day 3: Icy Straight Point and Hoonah Alaska

Icy Straight Point, was the first and only time that we had to tender to the dock from the cruise ship, because there was another cruise ship in port.  It was not that hard though.  You basically just get on smaller vessels and they take you to the dock.   Due to there being two ships in port it made Icy Straight Point very crowded.  They only have one welcoming building and it was packed full of people trying to get to their excursions.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 100, f/5.6 @ 1/500s Manual exposure

Our first excursion of the day was a whale watching tour.  This was one of the best tours on the entire trip.  We got to see a lot of different wildlife and it just made for a great day.  Some of the species that we got to see on the trip were humpback whales, sea lions, sea otters, harbor seals, bald eagles, porpoises, and a lot of gulls and terns.  I did manage a few photographs of the humpback whales, a sea lion, and a harbor seal.  For a while we were next to a mother and calf humpback whale.  Which I had not experienced in a long time.  The first time I saw humpback whales was in Maine when I was a child.  There were also a lot of sea lions hanging around with the whales.  I missed a few opportunities at close ups of the smaller animals because they got so close to the boat that I could not shoot through the other people on the boat.  For most of this trip I did not get a position along the rail of the boat.  So I was shooting over the top of most of the people.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 100, f/5.6 @ 1/500s Manual exposure

In the afternoon after the whale tour, we took a bus out into the wilderness for our bear tour.  We did not manage to see any bears, but we did see some Sitka Black-tailed Deer and a Red Headed Woodpecker.  Overall, the wildlife on this tour were so far away that I could not even manage a picture with my 600 mm lens.  The coolest thing that we saw during this walk was the amazing little trees.  The walkway crosses through forest and almost boggy like terrain.  Their growth was stunted due to the harsh conditions, but some were hundreds of years old.  After we got back to the bus I realized that I should have been photographing the trees, but I guess I was just too intent on seeing a bear.  So I really had nothing to show for this trip.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 125, f/6.3 @ 1/500s Manual exposure

Day 4: Juneau Alaska

Mendenhall Glacier
Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 320, f/11 @ 1/320s Manual exposure

In Juneau the first excursion we were on was a trip to the Mendenhall Glacier.  The bus ride out was rather enjoyable, and we saw a lot of bald eagles along the route.  The only problem was due to the time crunch we only had about 45 minutes to enjoy the glacier.  I wish we could have had more time to enjoy the views.  The other cool thing was, that it was not very busy when we arrived.  So it was relatively peaceful, until a little later after more buses arrived.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Sigma 150-600mm f/5.0 - f/6.3 DG Contemporary Lens, ISO 200, f/6.3 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

Since the area around was on the water, there was a lot of wildlife around as well.  At one point I went off alone and somehow got away from other people.  I had a barn swallow land on a wooden railing in front of me.  It was quite a cool experience because the same bird had been dive bombing other peoples heads who had been around.  But once I was alone and relatively still and quite, he came and landed right next to me.  He stayed there and stared straight at me.  He didn’t seem to mind me at all though because he did not fly off, even while I changed lenses to my 150-600 mm sigma lens.  It seemed like he was curious about me.  I managed a few photographs of him before a noisy group of people came over to take a picture in front of the view.  They were just so oblivious, that they didn’t seem to care about how much noise they were making and the swallow flew off.  It was a very cool experience and I had never seen a swallow with colors like his.  He was just an absolutely beautiful bird.

From there we took the bus back to the Mount Roberts Tramway.  We were rather disappointed with this excursion.  Due to the crazy long lines we did not get a lot of time at the top of the mountain to see the view.  We also did not get to walk many of the trails, so it is possible that we missed the best views.  But from the main area the best view is blocked by the Tramway building.  The most disappointing part was the wait to get on the Tram.  We waited in line over an hour and a half just to get up the mountain.  There were 5 cruise ships in Juneau on the day we were there, so it was extremely crowded.  Once we arrived at the top of the mountain we basically had to wait in another line to come back down.  We waited about 45 minutes to come back down the mountain.  The ride up and the ride back down, each take about 6 minutes, and that is the best part.  At least from what we were able to do, due to the time crunch to get back to the cruise ship.

Headed Towards Dawes Glacier
Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 160, f/11 @ 1/320s Manual exposure

Seal Pup and Mother
Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 320, f/11 @ 1/320s Manual exposure

After leaving Juneau in the early afternoon, we traveled to the Dawes Glacier.  Near the glacier I spotted a harbor seal pup and mother near an iceberg.  I did manage a photograph but it was basically directly below the cruise ship.  I was on the 13th deck so they were very small, and the angle was terrible.  But I think it still made for an interesting photo.

Dawes Glacier
Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 50, f/8 @ 1/160s Manual exposure

Dawes Glacier
Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 50, f/8 @ 1/160s Manual exposure

Cliffs near Dawes Glacier
Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 640, f/11 @ 1/200s Manual exposure

Waterfall near Dawes Glacier
Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 1600, f/13 @ 1/400s Manual exposure

Day 5: Skagway Alaska

In Skagway we had also booked two excursions.  The first excursion was the White Pass railway.  I would highly recommend this trip to everyone.  The views from the train are stunning and unreal.   Most of the photographs from the train I took through the glass with my smartphone but I still had a blast.  I never wanted this ride to end because it was just spectacular.

Yukon Bus Overlook
Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 160, f/5 @ 1/500s Manual exposure

Once we arrived in Canada, the train was checked by border patrol for a few minutes and then we boarded our bus, which met us at the top of the mountain.  From there we were on our way to the Yukon Suspension Bridge.  Once we arrived at the Suspension Bridge we hopped off the bus and walked through the gate.  We had about an hour to see the views which seemed like enough.  The trails are short and when you get off the bus you are basically almost on the bridge.  This is another excursion I would highly recommend because the views were beautiful.  Also they had a shop with some food and souvenirs.  If you are scared of heights you might be scared to get on the shaky extension bridge, but it is well worth it.  The excursions that we took in Skagway were the best from the trip, and the views topped everything that we saw on the trip.  When you are leaving the Suspension bridge they will also stamp your passport if you would like.  So it was the first stamp in my passport.  On our way back to Skagway on the bus, we saw a yearling black bear.  It was jumping over a guardrail and seemed like it wanted food from the passerby.   Which is disappointing because it probably means that someone had fed it in the past.  It was the only bear that I got to see in Alaska.

Yukon Suspension Bridge
Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 400, f/11 @ 1/320s Manual exposure

Yukon Suspension Bridge
Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 500, f/11 @ 1/320s Manual exposure

Yukon Suspension Bridge
Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 50, f/11 @ 1/25s Manual exposure

Day 6: Ketchikan Alaska and Misty Fjords

New Eddystone Rock
Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 1250, f/11 @ 1/500s Manual exposure

In Ketchikan our excursion was a boat trip out to the Misty Fjords.  The trip there is long, but they gave out soup and local smoked salmon to try.  They also sell food on the boat.  On the trip the scenery was amazing.  On the way out to the Misty Fjords you stop to view an active bald eagle nest.  Also, you will pass by New Eddystone Rock, which is a volcanic spire rising out of the water.  You also, will see plenty of other wildlife in the Bay including whales, seals, sea lions, porpoises, and eagles.  Also on our way to the fjords we experienced about 3 to 4 different rainbows.  It was raining, but also sunny in the distance, which led to the rainbows.  Once at the fjords you will be boating quite close to the near 3,000 foot vertical cliffs and waterfalls.  Due to the depth of the water they can get really close to the walls.  The only problem was that it was pouring rain when we arrived at the fjords.  So I was having to shoot a few pictures and then head for cover.  Due to all the rain though, the waterfalls were running great.  We were told that not everyone would get to see them running like they were.  It was a stunning view.  I just wish I could have captured more pictures.

Waterfall at Misty Fjords
Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 6400, f/8 @ 1/320s Manual exposure

Rainbow headed towards Misty Fjords
Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 160, f/8 @ 1/500s Manual exposure

Day 7: Out to sea

Day seven was spent mostly out in the ocean as the ship headed towards Vancouver, British Colombia.  The next morning we departed the cruise ship and took a bus tour of Vancouver.  This was not a great trip.  The first part was beautiful, as they took you through Stanley Park.  It had some amazing Redwood trees which made the start of the trip very cool to experience.  But the rest of the tour was of the city of Vancouver and it did not interest me.  Also we were not scheduled to leave Vancouver until the next day, and the problem was that the tour was dropping you off at the airport.  So be careful if you book this, because you will need to get transportation to your hotel.  It turned out to be less of a problem than we thought, because we went to the bus stop and the first shuttle was going to our hotel.  So we jumped in and went to the hotel.  The next day we departed from the hotel and took the morning flight out.

Mountains in the distance
Canon EOS 6D Mark II & Canon 24-105 mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 Lens, ISO 125, f/11 @ 1/320s Manual exposure

Overall the trip was remarkable and I would love to go back to Alaska. The trip lived up to most of my expectations and then some.  I did not get to see a brown bear, so I know that I will have to head back one day, hopefully soon.  I have other places I would like to visit, but Alaska will always be on my list.  I hope this post was informative, and if you plan on taking an Alaskan cruise please read about some of the excursions and my experiences on them.  Until Next Time.