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Northward Ho! Alaska

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Telynor
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Northward Ho! Alaska

Post by Telynor » Fri March 18th, 2011, 1:30 am

I am planning a cruise up the Northern passage from Vancouver BC to Seward, with stops in Juneau and Ketchikan (at least). Does anyone have any suggestions for me as to what is a must see or do?

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Fri March 18th, 2011, 1:41 am

I will have to think on this. I did this with mom and my brother's two kids years ago so my brain with have to meditate for a bit. We did love the outing to the Mendenhall Glacier a lot (although we didn't actually go on the glacier). We were limited to what we could due due to mom's health and my brother's rules about where to take his pre-teen kiddos. Helicopter trips were out :(

Too bad you are departing from Vancouver instead of Seattle. You passing through SeaTac by any chance?

ETA: if you take time to spend in Vancouver itself, don't miss Robsen Street. Especially the very very large Chapters bookstore.
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Michy
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Post by Michy » Fri March 18th, 2011, 2:32 am

I've never been, but everyone I've ever talked to who's been there says Victoria, BC is beautiful. I know it won't be part of your cruise, but maybe you could work it out to spend a day there either before or after.

There's a famous old hotel there -- the Empress, I think it's called -- that serves a high English tea. Something you might like. :)

Bouchard Gardens, also, if you like horticulture.
Last edited by Michy on Fri March 18th, 2011, 2:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Telynor
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Post by Telynor » Fri March 18th, 2011, 7:22 pm

[quote=""Michy""]I've never been, but everyone I've ever talked to who's been there says Victoria, BC is beautiful. I know it won't be part of your cruise, but maybe you could work it out to spend a day there either before or after.

There's a famous old hotel there -- the Empress, I think it's called -- that serves a high English tea. Something you might like. :)

Bouchard Gardens, also, if you like horticulture.[/quote]


I'm going to try like hell to put in a day in Victoria, and definately see the gardens. I dimly remember visiting there when I was a child, but don't really remember anything. I'm still in the planning stages, but I want to have everything down so that when I go to the travel agents, I can get everything bundled into a package for me.

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Michy
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Post by Michy » Fri March 18th, 2011, 8:20 pm

I love gardens and horticulture; I would love to see Bouchard Gardens someday.

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Telynor
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Post by Telynor » Wed March 23rd, 2011, 5:20 am

Well, the cruise + cruisetour has been booked and paid for today. I must be utterly mad. It's a whopping great chunk of change, but I'll be traveling with pampering, and from everything I've read, one of the best ships to see Alaska on. So I'm ok with that.

13 nights, from Vancouver to Fairbanks. Tentative schedule:

Vancouver, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait Point, Hubbard Glaicer, Steward.

Then the land portion: Seward, Aleyska, Anchorage, Talkeetna, Denali, Fairbanks, mostly by train. Then fly home through Seattle back to NYC.

Skagway looks to be very interesting from a historical viewpoint, with lots of history, if a bit too much touristy crap. Denali I am very excited to see. And it seems that this will be the farthest north that I have ever been -- I thought that Yellowknife in Canada, but it seems not so.

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Post by Misfit » Wed March 23rd, 2011, 11:46 am

You should have a gas, and yes they do pamper you terribly. Sailing out of Vancouver is very cool, my boat went right past the big park (Stanley park I think?). Awesome.

Ketchikan - not a whole lot to do, it's a fairly small town. We loved Juneau, some nice shopping and took an optional boat tour that we enjoyed a lot.

BTW, at first you will go nuts every time you spot an eagle. After a few days you'll be rather jaded, there's so many of them. Whales are a different story. They didn't even like to announce sitings as everyone would run to one side of the ship... :p

Holler if you have something resembling a decent layover at SeaTac at a decent hour (forget 2 AM ;) ) and maybe we can meet up for a quick bite there. I'm just a few miles down the hill.
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Post by fljustice » Wed March 23rd, 2011, 3:10 pm

Oh, you'll have a great time! We went several years ago and loved it. If you're at all athletic, try sea kayaking (probably offered at most of your port calls.) It's a great way to see the coast and wildlife close up. I also seem to recall walking up to a small glacier at Seward.
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Telynor
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Post by Telynor » Wed March 23rd, 2011, 4:35 pm

[quote=""fljustice""]Oh, you'll have a great time! We went several years ago and loved it. If you're at all athletic, try sea kayaking (probably offered at most of your port calls.) It's a great way to see the coast and wildlife close up. I also seem to recall walking up to a small glacier at Seward.[/quote]

Alas, nothing athletic for me -- I am very much disabled physically, and use a cane to get about, so the more strenuous stuff is out. Hence the cruise and pampering -- I want to see this part of the world, but I don't want to be in physical agony when I do it.

Yes, they are laying me over in SeaTac for a couple of hours in the afternoon before sending me off home to JFK.

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Wed March 23rd, 2011, 4:53 pm

[quote=""Telynor""]Alas, nothing athletic for me -- I am very much disabled physically, and use a cane to get about, so the more strenuous stuff is out. Hence the cruise and pampering -- I want to see this part of the world, but I don't want to be in physical agony when I do it.

Yes, they are laying me over in SeaTac for a couple of hours in the afternoon before sending me off home to JFK.[/quote]

I didn't get to go kayaking, I had the brother's two kids with me and papa did not give us permission for that :(

A two hour layer would be great. I could even whisk you down for a quick visit to Once Sold Tales, or just lunch at one of the local restaurants. There are some fairly decent food options in the terminal, but they are past the ticket gate IIRC.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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