My Dad and I took a cruise to Alaska on the Princess Cruise Line. The trip
began in Vancouver, British Columbia, where we boarded the Ocean Princess.
Sailing time was 5:30 pm on Saturday July 27, 2002. Sunday was spent cruising
to Alaska. We arrived at the first port of call, Ketchikan, Alaska, on the
morning of Monday July 29.
| From the ship the dockside in Ketchikan |
|---|
| From the ship looking back at the approach to Ketchikan |
| Bow view of the Ocean Princess docked in Ketchikan. |
| We walked through Ketchikan and visited the Totem Heritage Center Totem outside |
We left Ketchikan Monday evening and sailed for Juneau. On the way we saw
some Humpback whales. We arrived in Juneau Tuesday morning. We walked to the
Alaska State Museum and spent two hours there. Then we walked past the State
capital buildings and through downtown and back to the ship. In the afternoon
we went on a floatplane trip over the Juneau Icefields which feed the Taku
and Mendenhall glaciers.
| A bald eagle near the dock |
|---|
| A view of part of Juneau |
| Dehavilland Otter (foreground) and Beaver floatplanes |
| Front view of Dehavilland Otter. The Otter carries about 12 people, the Beaver about 6. |
| The climb out of Juneau on the way to the Icefields in our Beaver. |
| Views from the plane as we climb and approach the Icefields view to the south |
| view 1 of Taku Inlet |
| view 2 of Taku Inlet |
| view 3 of Taku Inlet |
| The Taku glacier |
| Closeup of the Taku glacier |
| Another closeup showing the blue ice. |
| Great shot of Taku glacier |
| Nearing the Juneau Icefields |
| Over the Juneau Icefields |
| At max height over the Icefields |
| Those peaks are pretty close |
| and so are those. |
| On the way back to Juneau, Lynn Canal |
| Getting closer to Juneau |
| On the base leg to land looking south along the Gastineau Channel. |
| Final approach to land Dad is in the right hand seat. |
| Passing the Ocean Princess as we land, full flaps |
We left Juneau Tuesday night and sailed for Skagway. Arrived in Skagway on
Wednesday morning. Walked around Skagway and went into the city museum (first
granite building in Alaska). We then took a motorcoach trip up White Pass to
the summit and into the Yukon. The road paralleled the route of the Yukon railroad.
We left Skagway Wednesday evening and sailed for Glacier Bay National Park.
Somewhere in here we saw Orca whales and Dall porpoises. Arrived in Glacier Bay
Thursday morning and the ship spent most of the day there.
We left Glacier Bay Thursday afternoon and headed into the Gulf of Alaska
on our way to Prince William Sound and College Fjord.
We arrived in Prince William Sound Friday afternoon and proceeded to College Fjord.
| Columbia Bay inside Prince William Sound |
|---|
| Entering College Fjord |
| another view |
| One of the glaciers (Vassar or Smith) |
| The Harvard glacier |
We spent about 4 hours in College Fjord and then left for Seward. We arrived
in Seward about 2:30 am on Saturday. At 6:30 I left the ship and boarded a
motorcoach for the Anchorage airport (3 hour drive). From Anchorage I flew home,
with a stop in Seattle.
Some photos of the ship
| The ship pool |
|---|
| The atrium 1 |
| The atrium 2 |
| The atrium 3 |
