College Fjord (Friday, June 6)

The final day of the cruise...and our second day of "scenic cruising"...this time with College Fjord as the destination. During the night the ship had sailed into the Gulf of Alaska and for a change we were sailing in open water with not much else to see.

After breakfast the four of us attended a lecture by Susan Hazlett, the naturalist onboard, "Call of the Wild: Reality on the Last Frontier." Susan talked aout what life was like living off-the-grid in Alaska...interesting, but not something I would want to experience! Our Princess Patter (the newsletter delivered daily to our cabin) listed numerous other activities for the morning...a movie on the big screen outdoors, a culinary demonstration & galley tour, bingo, stringed music in the atrium, and even a seminar on teeth whitening. Laurel and I did stop by to check out the 3 hour "outlet sale" being held in the dining room but most of the merchandise was leftovers from other cruises...ones we hadn't been on. I was not even tempted to buy a t-shirt from a Princess Baltic cruise! 

Ideally the morning would have been spent leisurely attending the various events, but the reality of cruising is that luggage must be set out in the hallway the last evening of the cruise. If that was going to happen then I knew what my morning activity was…packing. Until that was done, I couldn’t enjoy the rest of the day.

Bob joined me, but it didn’t take long to realize that both of us trying to work in such a small space was not a good idea. After bumping into each other repeatedly, my frustration level was on the rise. From experience, he knew the morning would be much better for both of us if he just left, so he and Kent headed to the gym for a workout.

It is always a guessing game trying to decide what to pack and what to leave that will ultimately end up in the carry-on bags. I always worry that I will forget to keep out something important and then be in trouble the next morning. The process was a bit simpler than normal due to us not flying home the next day. Trying to abide by airline rules for liquids just complicates the matter further.

By lunchtime I felt like I had made sufficient progress on the packing and was ready to get something to eat. I had noticed in the newsletter that Sabatini’s was open for lunch and offered “complimentary” pizza. Usually the restaurant is only open for dinner and carries an extra fee of $25/person.

I absolutely love the pizza on Princess ships, but the gourmet pizzas that we were served at Sabatini’s were different. Not bad, but not the huge, thin slices served on the Lido deck. However it was nice to sit down and be served rather than fighting the crowds at the buffet.

After lunch, we parted ways. Kent & Laurel left to attend a lecture on Denali and I convinced Bob it would be fun to walk around the outer promenade deck. The Coral is unique in that you can completely circle the ship on the outer deck...2.8 laps = 1 mile. 

Well…we didn’t even complete one lap. Poor Bob. When I saw that we were sailing by such beautiful snow covered mountains, I made him wait while I ran back up to our 11^th deck cabin to grab my camera. Then I made him wait some more while I fiddled with the settings. 

We finally did a "little" bit of walking, but it was in short segments as I stopped frequently to take more photos. Just about the time I decided I had enough pictures...we started seeing whales!

Kent & Laurel caught up with us after their lecture and it was back to our cabins as the ship approached College Fjord in Prince William Sound. College Fjord not only boasts the world's largest collection of tidewater glaciers, but also has snowcapped mountains as far as the eyes can see. The glaciers in the fjord are primarily named for east coast colleges...hence the name College Fjord. 

The TV was tuned in to hear the naturalist speaking and we were ready with our binoculars as we approached the fjord. 

Sea otters floated by the ship in abundance including some mothers holding their babies.

Some were bobbing up and down on their iceberg rafts!

To get a better view of the glaciers, we moved to the front viewing area of the ship. 

Glacier Bay usually gets top billing for Alaska cruises...and definitely has larger glaciers, but I do believe seeing so many glaciers side by side in College Fjord was more stunning.

It is interesting how the caves form on the face of the glaciers.

And I took a LOT of photos just because I thought the iceberg shapes were so intriguing!

I enjoyed the last views of College Fjord from our balcony...but felt sad knowing that the cruise was almost over.

Sailing through College Fjord took place between 5 pm and 7 pm so to get to the evening show on time we opted for dinner at the buffet. "What a Swell Party" was the production show scheduled in the Princess Theater and was actually one we had seen performed on the Emerald Princess back in December. The sets were the same as before, but it was interesting to see the show performed on the much smaller stage on the Coral. Laurel took a few photos to compare to the ones she had taken on the Emerald.

Having a balcony was a real splurge for us and when we booked the cabin I dreamed of sitting out there in the evenings enjoying a plate of exotic cheese and fruit while sailing by the snow covered mountains. But...we were so busy...it just didn't happen. So...on the last night of the cruise I was DETERMINED! I put together a wonderful cheese platter at the buffet with all sorts of cheeses, dried fruit, and breadsticks and then NO ONE would join me! By golly...I didn't care that it was near midnight. I ATE MY CHEESE...ON THE BALCONY!

The cruise was over...but we weren't leaving Alaska just yet. Coming up next...our visit to Seward!

Glacier Bay (Thursday, June 5)

A non-port day...but not a day to sleep in. The Coral Princess entered the waters of Glacier National Park around 6 a.m. and by then we were awake and on our balcony.

Although early for us, we couldn't exactly say we were up at the "crack of dawn"...that had happened much, much earlier! Many layers of clothing helped fight the "wind chill" caused by the moving ship.

Park rangers boarded the Coral Princess and and were on the bridge to provide a play by play narration as we sailed through Glacier Bay. Their commentary matched the views on the left side as the ship entered the bay. Knowing this would be the case was what prompted us to book our port (left) side balcony cabins. Being directly behind the bridge meant we were seeing the views at the same time they described them!

Skagway, Part 2 (Wednesday, June 4)

By the time we passed from British Columbia into the Yukon Territory, it was after noon and we had gone just 50 miles since leaving Skagway.

Trying to make better time was pointless...Laurel and I just "had" to keep stopping to take photographs. How could we not...everywhere you looked were postcard worthy views!

The sandwiches we brought from the ship were eaten at one of the highway pullouts sitting on the ground. Not the most comfortable way to have lunch, but the surrounding beauty more than made up for our sore bottoms.

Skagway - Part 1, (Wednesday, June 4)

The Coral Princess pulled into her berth at the railroad dock in Skagway bright and early at 7 a.m. Parked next to the ship were the cars of the White Pass and Yukon Railway ready to take passengers along the same route that was traveled by prospectors during the Gold Rush Days in the late 1800's.

Our plans for the day had us traveling the same route, but via the highway in a rental car. From the ship, the walk to get to the Avis office was a bit further than what we had anticipated although probably no more than 15 minutes. The office was located in a motel and a line had already started to form prior to the 8:00 am opening time. Laurel and I sat on a bench outside while Bob and Kent went into the office to take care of the paperwork needed to rent our car. With keys in hand, they were directed across the street to a parking lot where we were to pick up our Toyota Corolla. 

After walking back and forth across the parking lot, none of us were able to find the car. Pressing the panic button on the key provided no clue either. An employee happened to come by and seemed a little irritated that we couldn't locate the car, but he soon realized it just wasn't there.

A trip back into the office revealed that "our" car was still on the Avis lot at the airport, not the downtown location where we were. This could have been a disastrous end to our plans…BUT…there was one car left that hadn't been rented. Lucky us…instead of spending the day in a cramped Corolla…we got an SUV for the same price. So much more comfortable for the four of us!

Prior to the cruise, I had downloaded the free "Murrays Guide to the South Klondike Highway" onto my iPad. The guide was a mile-by-mile description of the points of interest along the highway from Skagway into the Yukon Territory. With Kent as driver, I became the tour guide reading the descriptions of what we were seeing as we drove.

Leaving Skagway, the highway was a bit congested with traffic but thinned out the further we drove. The guide noted that the bridge below (the William Moore Bridge) crosses a very active earthquake fault and is only anchored on one side of the gorge so that it can move freely during a quake. The gorge is only 110 feet wide, but 180 feet deep!

The view up the gorge.

Little did we know at the time we were crossing this bridge that a 5.8 magnitude earthquake had just hit nearby a few hours earlier! The park ranger that boarded our ship the next day in Glacier Bay announced that the epicenter of the quake had been just a few miles from the Coral Princess. The captain said the quake had shook the Coral enough that he became concerned that there was some type of problem with the ship. Bob and I vaguely remembered waking about the time of the quake, but whether it was the because of that…who knows. Alaska has earthquakes everyday…but this one was sizable enough to be mentioned in local news reports. Folks in Whitehorse (over 200 miles away) reported that they were awakened by the quake!

Having the rental car gave us the flexibility of stopping at the numerous pull-outs when we wanted to take photographs or just get a better look.

At one pullout we encountered a tour bus full of teenagers having a snow ball fight...they were having a great time!

At another stop we encountered a black bear eating dandelions.

The weather was just glorious...sunny with no wind...so nice after the all day rain we had experienced in Juneau the day before. The mirror-like lakes reflected perfect images of the snow covered mountains.

As the highway gained elevation, Bob spotted a couple of mountain goats. Without the zoom on my camera, they were just tiny dots.

About 14 miles from Skagway we reached the summit of White Pass...a route that took many lives during the Gold Rush.

Signs along the highway warned of possible landslides.

At Fraser (mile 22.7) we reached the Canadian border and had to clear customs before entering British Columbia.

By this point we were really appreciating the fact that we were traveling in the SUV...it made it so much easier to get in and out and we were making LOTS of stops!

It is hard for me to come up with just the right adjectives to describe the snow covered mountains that we saw. Laurel decided these looked like they were covered with powdered sugar!

This post is getting to be plenty long, so I will stop and continue with Part 2. I have so many incredible photos that it is hard for me to pick and choose just a few!