Day 15 – Cruise Day 5 (Juneau)
This morning after the usual Beach Blanket breakfast, all six of us took the cruise shuttle to town in order to catch the express bus to Mendenhall Glacier. We donned raincoats and carried our umbrellas since it was raining again. Once at the glacier, we walked around the visitor’s center for a bit (small fee) before walking the trail to Nugget Falls.
Pic taken from Visitor's Center
(Note that they do not allow food at the visitor’s center due to potential bear activity.)
I love hiking and enjoyed this little walk – even in the rain! We found the portion of the trail that ran from the main trail over to the sandy beach area washed out, so DD and I took off our shoes and braved the VERY COLD water to go over and walk around. Due to the rain and cold water, we had the place to ourselves for a while. Loved it here!
We walked back to the Visitor’s Center and walked the short Photo Point trail. Then we went inside and watched the glacier movie, which was wonderful – very informative. At this point, I wanted to go hike more trails, but DS, who was catching a cold, wanted to leave. Given the rain and the fact that he wasn’t feeling great, we decided to go back to Juneau and explore the town a bit before heading back to the Wonder.
Planning note: For those folks who do an early morning whale watching tour here in Juneau (or any other early tour), many tour companies will drop you off at Mendenhall after your tour is over (just make sure to eat first since no food is allowed here). You can then catch the express bus back to town for $10/person.
Once back in Juneau, we walked around town a bit, stopping in a coffee shop to dry off, warm up, use wifi and snack on coffee and pastries. We stopped briefly in a pharmacy to purchase cold medicine for DS and then caught the shuttle back to the ship. We just made it to Beach Blanket for lunch before they closed the doors. Unfortunately, I have no idea what we did between 2:30 and 5:00 (must take better notes next time!)
Leaving Juneau (I miss the sun!)
Tonight’s show was the Toy Story production. Since we had seen this on a previous cruise, we opted for the 5:00 showing of the Avengers, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Post movie, DH, myself, Mom, and B went to Palo for our 7:30 reservation while the kids ate in the main dining room by themselves. Mom and B ordered a lovely bottle of pinot noir for the table (I fell in love with this particular wine when I had it on the Magic back in 2009 – very special), which was very generous of them! Our Palo meal was FABULOUS! The service was perfect and the food wonderful. I’ve already forgotten what I ordered as my main course, although I do remember having the chocolate soufflé for dessert. Many rave about the soufflé, but I thought it was just ok. I did, however, fantasize about drinking the little container of chocolate sauce that comes with it (yum)!
Between dinner and dessert, I heard someone somewhere utter the word “whale,” and I was up and outside in about 10 seconds to see quite a few humpbacks in the waters close to the ship. Too bad it was windy, cold, and rainy outside . . . otherwise I would have gladly skipped dessert to stand there and watch the whales. No pictures sadly, as I had left the camera back in our stateroom.
Our Palo dinner pretty much ended our activities for the day. Unfortunately, we missed the adult show that evening – Rich Purpura. We attended his family show later that week and found that he was hysterical! I’m so sorry we missed his adult performance and hope we have the opportunity to see him again one day.
Almost forgot to post this . . . cracked me up:
The Navigator:
http://disneycruiselineblog.com/wp-...s-Wonder-7N-Alaskan-Day-5-Juneau-20150710.pdf
Up tomorrow – AC/DC, bears, and eagles!
Glad you found me. Don't you want to go back? I found myself looking up cruises that visit Glacier Bay today. Ugh.
