Alaska cruise August 2023
Left Montreal for Vancouver to board the Sapphire Princess on the 23rd.
We had a cabin with a balcony (smaller than expected) on the 12th beck. Princess is recognized for the quality of food but have not been impressed.
The boat made 3 stops; Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway, in addition to entering Glacier Bay (only 3 companies have permission to navigate there).
We did some searches before departure to know what to wear and what to see and we chose our excursions accordingly. Unfortunately, we have not seen bears, wild goats, or eagles, but we have seen many marine animals including whales. I took 2 cameras: The Sony Cybershot for landscapes and the Nikon Z6ii with the 100-400 zoom for animals.
Before our departure, we expected to have cold and rainy weather, but the weather was gorgeous during our trip!
On the 25th in Ketchikan, we attended a Lumberjack show and then visited the Bight Totem Park and made a city tour during which we could see the salmon swimming up the rivers.
On the 26th in Juneau, we went to see the Mendenhall glacier and, in the afternoon, took a boat excursion to see the whales. The weather was ideal and we were spoiled by the show the whales put up.
On the 27th in Skagway, we took the White Pass Train at an altitude of more than a thousand meters, a good part of the road to reach the train was in the clouds, at certain times we did not see 5 meters ahead. After that went to a ranch to do the panning followed by a barbecue (not good). In the afternoon we went for a walk in town (tiny).
On the 28th at sea, the boat entered the Glacier Bay, The weather was superb, and we were treated to a wonderful glacier show. At the front of the boat, it was extremely cold, we had to wear winter clothes, tuque, scarf, gloves … We also saw some seals, otters, and orcas.
On the 29th College Fjord in the mist
On the 30th Anchorage, the ship docked very early in the morning in Wittier, disembarked and took a bus to Anchorage for the flight to Vancouver.
The 31st back to Montreal.