One of the many cool things about the Alaska cruises is they have a naturalist on board. She did a presentation on the many types of animals that we might see. The naturalist talked about the orcas which Kaitlyn was very excited about. Kaitlyn wanted to the see the “black and white whales because they’re my favorite”. I had to tell Kaitlyn that she probably wouldn’t get to see them because sightings were pretty rare. In fact, they had only been spotted on one other cruise that season. Wouldn’t you know though, as we were getting dressed, the naturalist announced that there was a pod of orcas on the port side (of course our room was on the starboard side). We quickly tossed on jackets, ran down a few flights of stairs, and Kaitlyn got to see her orcas!
Carnival has recently started a Seuss at Sea program. Throughout the week, their normal Camp Carnival activities are interspersed with Seuss themed activities. One of them was a parade through the ship down to the theater where they did a reading of Cat in the Hat. That’s Kaitlyn in the back row with the pony tail…
Later that morning we sailed into Tracy Arm Fjord. Tracy Arm Fjord is not a port, but is considered a destination rather than a Fun Day at Sea because of the incredible views and wildlife. As I mentioned, we saw orcas in the morning. We also saw some humpback whales. We cruised within two miles of the South Sawyer Glacier. We cruised by mini icebergs (and yes, Kevin did the whole Titanic “Iceberg right ahead” in the voice from the movie). I also promised more pictures of Kenzie sleeping on the balcony…
Kenzie also has the whole ship wrapped around her little finger. Kevin went up to Lido to get lunch and was planning to come down to our balcony to eat so we could continue to watch the incredible views. I guess he was struggling a bit to push the stroller through the buffet line and get his food at the same time. The Captain also happened to be getting lunch and helped push Kenzie down the line for him. He steers ships and strollers!
Towel Animal of the Night…
The next day, we arrived in Skagway, Alaska. One of the cool things Skagway does is paint the cliff next to the pier with the name of every ship and its Captain that calls in Skagway. We saw some up there dating back to the 80s!
For our excursion we took the Yukon Scenic Drive. Our tour guide was great! He was funny, knowledgeable, and took photos of us all together! Did you know that there is a desert in the Yukon? There is! And I told Kaitlyn to touch the sand because I’m dorky like that. At our stop in Carcross, they stamped our passports. So Kenzie’s first ever passport stamp was in the Yukon! On our drive we saw marmots, a couple of mountain goats, and some salmon. Oh, and the colors in the photos are accurate. The various lakes really were those shades of blues and greens… spectacular!
Kaitlyn was a bit traumatized that day. One of the “bathroom” stops was literally an outhouse, with a toilet seat on top of an upside down garbage can with a hole cut into it’s bottom and the floor of the outhouse. After her reaction, I don’t think she will ever be a camper!
And of course, if we see a police car or fire truck we take a picture of it! Unfortunately, someone also had to be taken off the ship by ambulance. Bad place for it though, our tour guide told us that while they have a clinic, they have never gotten a doctor to come in. They only have physician assistants and a couple of nurses. So if you need a doctor you have to be airlifted to Juneau- which is an hour long flight and roughly $10,000.
After our drive, we spent some time shopping and walking around in Skagway.
Back on the ship Kaitlyn chose to eat with Camp Carnival. One of the waiters made Kenzie a little duck to play with out of one of the cloth napkins. She had that thing destroyed in about 30 seconds, but it was cute while it lasted!
Up next… Juneau, Ketchikan, and Victoria!
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