Hello everyone. Cmsgirl, I can't believe we never saw you and the birthday boy after the first day. We did run into Lou and her husband a couple of times. We did not get back till Labor Day, as we did our own land tour after the cruise, and work (both of them) has been crazy. I was surprised most of the lower part of the cruise was so green. I kept saying where's the icebergs, where's the snow? We finally hit pay dirt on the last day at sea and the Harvard glacier was the grand finale.
Our fly fishing was cancelled in Ketchikan due to river flooding from all their rain, in Juneau we went whale watching w/ Capt Larry. In Skagway we took the ferry over to Haines and went river rafting through the Bald Eagle preserve. Sitka was to be our sport fishing day, but with Thom's eye trouble I didn't get it booked ahead of time, so we just winged it and walked around town and took a small city tour. We didn't book any excursion through Carnival and was very pleased with the quality and personal service we received on the smaller (and less expensive) excursions. We had a great cabin and were very glad we opted for the aft cabin with the wrap around balcony. I agree with Lou, the ship was great and in my opinion, very clean. Yes, there was the occasional tray in the hall, some maintenance going on, but there are over 2000 guests on the ship, what do you expect. We didn't see too many of the night shows, and never made it to the midnight buffet - we were having trouble adjusting to the time change.
In Whittier we took a transfer to Anchorage and picked up our rental SUV and drove to Seward - it was a beautiful drive. We hiked up to Exit Glacier, went fishing, and took another day long boat cruise into Kenai Fjords national park. We saw whales (Orca and "Humpies") , eagles, puffins. dolphins, otters, seals, and got very close to another glacier. It was not as majestic as Harvard glacier, but we were a lot closer. We also did a helicopter ride up to Godwin glacier and did dog mushing. That was by far our favorite excursion of the whole trip. For future travelers, my recommendation is to save your money and skip some of the small excursions, and splurge on a helicopter ride to a glacier and then hike or dog sled. After Seward we drove back through Anchorage and up to Denali National Park, passing Mt. McKinley and beautiful white birch forests on the way. The best views of McKinley are actually before you get to Denali. We had a clear day and could see the summit, although there were some low laying clouds further down the mountain. Take the day long bus trip in Denali, it is worth it (bring a "butt" cushion to help with the less than "plushy" seats on the bus. We used our horseshoe shaped travel pillows.) I was worried about 13 hours on a bus, but with the stops and lunch, it was OK. We also rented 4x4's and did some "small" white water rafting. Then it was on to Fairbanks, probably the most disappointing stop for me, but we really only used it as a jumping off point. We caught a charter flight and went north of the Arctic Circle to Bettles Lodge for a 2 night stay. A very rural place....to my surprise it was very green, with mountains in the distance, but not snow capped. It was hot during the day & cold at night. We did get to see the northern lights which was my goal for making that very expensive side jaunt. Due to Thom's eye, we elected not to do the flight seeing we had planned, but we did do a 6 mile rafting trip down their river. I do not remember the name of it, but we knick named it the "no wildlife on this river" river! Then it was a short flight back to Fairbanks and we were off to finish our drive around Alaska. We headed out of the city towards Delta Junction, stopping at North Pole and the Santa Claus House on the way. We also passed an interesting spot where the Pipeline crosses a river on a suspension bridge. From Delta Junction it was down to Glen Allen then back into Anchorage. We had some free time before our flight so we found the Ulu factory - don't bother. Prices were better in the towns with the coupon from the book. We basically followed the pipeline around the state and saw bear, moose and goats from the road, and also more glaciers. Don't be afraid to add some time on to your trip and drive yourself. Even if you only drive from Anchorage to Seward and then back before an evening flight. The roads are well maintained and it was very easy to get around. We called this our once in a lifetime trip, but now we know we will definitely return. There are some parts of the trip we will repeat, and other new places I would like to see. I have over 1000 pics, so I need to spend some time to sort through them and decide which ones to post.