Alaska Cruise: Glacier Bay and Juneau

You can read my recap of our ship, NCL Encore here ß

You can read my recap about Embarkation Day, Sea Day, and Icy Straight Point here ß

 

We woke up the following morning bright and early to try and grab a good spot at the Observation Lounge in preparation of cruising Glacier Bay.  Little did we know, the good spots were already taken. I wasn’t happy with the location we picked since the view was partly obstructed.  Eventually we moved upstairs to the Garden Café which had better views, food, coffee, and good company as my parents and Kenyon were all together.  The scenery was amazing.  We had the best day of weather since cruising began in August with no rain, sunshine, and crystal-clear water that provided reflective views.  It was simply spectacular.

 

I spent most of my day running up and down the stairs at various times in order to get photos outside on the lido deck.  There was a guy sitting in the hot tub which was genius.  I wish I had thought of that.  What a great way to stay warm while you are cruising in frigid temps.  We were lucky enough to catch some ice calving, although difficult to try and get on camera/video.  A park ranger boarded the ship and spent several hours pointing out what we were looking at while providing a commentary throughout the day.  We were able to pull right up to John Hopkins Glacier sitting just feet from the edge.  The captain maneuvered several 360 degree spins so we could all get a good view.

The bow of the ship on Deck 8 was opened specially for our day in Glacier Bay.  You don’t often get this opportunity so Mom, Kenyon, and I made sure to visit.

 

Simply spectacular!  I couldn’t quit taking pictures as we were just so lucky to have such beautiful weather.

Our second Port of Call was Juneau.  My parents had visited Juneau 46 years ago and so we were most excited for this port.  We arrived at 8am and it was a bit chilly, but we were going to have another beautiful day of sunshine.  After a sit-down breakfast in Savor, we disembarked and boarded the complementary shuttles, which dropped off at the base of the Juneau Tram as we had tickets to ride.  Kenyon and I rode the tram when we visited in 2010 and it was still just as fun.  It is also the best way to get a bird’s eye view of your ship.

Here is a time-lapse video I took from the observation center of the tram ride in just 20 seconds.

 

Once we were back on the ground, we made our way to Red Dog Saloon to try their signature Duck Fart Shot made of 1/3 Kahlua, 1/3 Baileys, and 1/3 Crown Royal.  It was quite tasty.  We also had some local beer.

 

The atmosphere was neat experience, and the servers were dressed up in old time costumes.  They looked quite cold.

We continued further into town to Bullwinkle’s Pizza Parlor, another location my parents visited on their trip.  The owner was mildly impressed to hear our story and we were able to score some free pint glasses with the logo.  We shared a delicious pizza although a bit overpriced if you ask me. 

 

Shopping wrapped up our day and we boarded the ship as we headed to our final Port of Call.

One more recap to go.