Alaska Cruise, Yukon & Denali

Friday, 11 August – Juneau AK
We were up and about too early for breakfast, so we found a couple of seats by a window and saw our first whales of the trip. They weren’t too close, but we saw their fins, spouts and tails. The scenery was very interesting – lots of rocky little islands covered with trees. After breakfast, we went to the Crow’s Nest, a large bar with a panoramic, front-facing view, and listened to a wildlife expert explain what we might see over the next several days.

Alaska certainly is an amazing place! Larry needed a warm hat and a new jacket, so we shopped a bit, did a circuit of the ship on Deck 3 and continued to enjoy the magnificent scenery from all directions. 

Lunch on our balcony continued the views, right until we docked in Juneau. There were 2 other passenger ships in port. Once docked, we headed out on an excursion to the 

Mendenhall Glacier and the Glacier Gardens. Both were awesome. The Gardens are on the site of a disastrous landslide, at the edge of the vast Tongass National Rainforest. The owner has done wonderful things with the area, including creating gardens on top of upended trees and planting colourful annuals everywhere. We rode a tram up very steep and twisting paths to a high outlook, where we looked down on Juneau and the surrounding area. My eyes were closed and my teeth were clenched for much of the ride, because, of course, I was sitting on the outside edge. 

At the glacier, we were shown videos demonstrating how much the glacier has receded over the last 125 years, and how quickly it continues to recede. However, it is still huge and impressive. In the water in front of it were many ice chunks, the biggest of which resembled a polar bear. We got back to the ship just in time to go to dinner at the Pinnacle Grill – delicious and meticulously served. The staff on the Volendam always seem to have a few moments to chat and they seem to enjoy themselves. Agus, tonight’s server, has a family in Jakarta, whom he sees only every 7 months. That must be hard. Again, we spent awhile in the piano bar, enjoying Grace’s music one last time, then it was bed time. It’ll be an early morning. Bags are already out.

More Photos of the day