April 19, 2018

Alaska Cruise Tour Days 4-7

This is the second post covering our Alaska Cruise Tour. You can find the other entries about this trip here: Days 1-3, Days 8-12, video journal of trip . The first three days were amazing and we were ready to see what else Alaska had in store for us. On Day for our stop for the day was in Skagway which was a much different experience than the first two towns we visited.

Skagway, AK

When we docked in Skagway as soon as we stepped off the ship and headed toward town it was a much different feeling. The town was very small and almost felt like a pop up town. What I mean by that is that it almost felt like we were on a movie set. The Buildings were very colorful and seemed themed to the “Old days.” There was a lot of focus on the gold rush period of Alaska’s history. While there are permanent residents of Skagway, the population is only about 1,000. A fun fact about the town is that it is the setting for the book “The Call of the Wild.”

Almost all of the excursion choices at this port were centered around the Gold Rush history of 1800’s Alaska. Our excursion started with a bus ride along the famous Klondike Highway. Everywhere you go in Alaska they spend a lot of time telling you what to do in certain situations you might find yourself faced with. The main warning we received every time was what to do if you encounter a bear in the woods. Luckily we didn’t have to find out if they worked because while cruising the highway we say our only Alaska Bear sighting of the trip from the safety of the bus.

  • Fun fact – at our last house (in Florida) we had bears that passed through our yard frequently. Those tips we learned in Alaska came in handy!

We stopped at a few overlook points to take in the beautiful views of snow-capped mountains all around. The roads we took were narrow and circled around mountains and at time were pretty steep, which added a small element of fear trying to navigate them in a large tour bus. We passed lots of people on bikes and were glad that was not part of our excursion. We finally made to our destination point a small mountain town called Liarsville, a reenactment of a gold rush camp.

As you step back in time when you enter the gold rush camp you are welcomed by tents, log cabins and general stores. Everyone in the town is in character and they take you on a tour of life during the gold rush. You even get to pan for gold which was one of the main reasons I choose this excursion. Turns out they just walk you over to these large tubs of rock and water and give you a pan already filled with dirt that they already planted gold (flakes) into so everyone finds gold. It was a little cheesy, but we still had a great time. You have the option to add an all you can eat salmon bake to your tour ticket. We chose not to add that on since your food is included on the cruise and it’s always all you can eat we didn’t see the point in paying extra for outside food.

The day ended with a comedy, puppet, music show under the main pavilion of the camp. You might be wondering why this little town is named Liarsville. I though it was an interesting name for a town, too. They explained the name came from the reporters that flocked to Alaska and returned with tall tales of life during the Klondike Gold Rush. They ended with a music performance that was a great send off back to our ship to get ready for the next day.

Glacier Bay National Park

We woke up the next morning for out day of cruising through Glacier National Park. The park isn’t a port stop, its viewed from the ship as you cruise through. What was really cool is that they bring Park Rangers on to the ship to tell about the park and explain what you are seeing. This is where having a balcony really comes in as a benefit. If you don’t get a balcony you can still go to the front of the ship or upper decks to view everything so it’s not a must, but it is freezing and windy and the balcony helps cut some of that  wind and makes it a lot easier to enjoy the views. It’s not all cold waters and ice there is a little green that makes it’s appearance in the Park every so often.

Prince William Sound &  College Fjord

Prince William Sound is a large inlet Ocean mostly surrounded by the Chugach National Forest. It’s home to a long list of fjords, glaciers, waterfalls and bays. One of the most notable fjords is College Fjord which is located in the Northern sector of Prince William Sound. One thing I love about our day cruising inside Prince William sound was all the little floating ice bergs. They had tons of seals and sea lions sunning on them. This was also the only part of the cruise we saw a small glimpse of whales swimming past in the water.

We spent our last night on the ship enjoying the sunset over the snow-covered mountains, enjoying ice cream (because it’s always a good idea, even when it’s cold!) and coffee on our balcony. The next morning we docked in Whittier and took the bus to downtown Anchorage where we spent the day exploring a small craft festival before departing on our land tour.

Next up we head to the Copper River Wilderness lodge, Explore Denali National Forest, look for Mt. McKinley and one exciting activity I wish was more prominent. There are tons of stops along the way and adventures to explore. If you missed the beginning of our travels in Alaska you can catch up here. Make sure you don’t miss and sign up to our email list before you leave the page today!

Have you been on any great adventures lately? let me know below in the comments!

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