Seattle to Alaska Aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines Pearl - Day 4 out of Seattle - Skagway, Alaska

Day Four arrived cold, blustery, and gray.  Skagway living up to its Native American name - Skaqua - windy place.  Wind is channeled by the mountains that line the bay.  First thing we noticed was the trains lining the docks - White Pass Railway - to take people from our ship and our sister ship, "Norwegian Jewel" docked next to us.

View up Skagway valley from 13th Deck - White Pass trains waiting for ship passengers

Norwegian Jewel docked alongside on a gray and cloudy morning

In the picture to the left, a ferry driven by a true mariner approaches the dock.  The wind was howling - at least 30-35 knots - dead astern (from the ferry's backside) - perfect conditions for a rough and hairy docking.  Watched him out on the starboard side (left in picture) of the bridge guiding her in - amazing seamanship.  Once docked, the amount and type of vehicles coming off the ferry was something to behold.  Full size RVs, 5th Wheels, and even a tractor trailer rig - must have been at least 50 vehicles of various shapes and sizes aboard.

Here is the "Pearl" adding color to the clouds and mountains in the background.

There is a feeling about Skagway, its natural setting and the beautifully restored gold rush town theme that invites you in.  Definitely our favorite walking town; inspired us to go shopping....

So we decided that our souvenir for this cruise would be something uniquely Alaskan -- an Ulu knife - that was made in Alaska, signed by the artist, and actually functional.  We found what we wanted and then walked back and forth between three different stores until we were satisfied that we had exactly what we wanted and were getting the best deal.  What we ended up with is in the photograph below.  Ulu knife with carved moose horn handle (gray whale), made of 440C steel, and produced by Bob Merry.  He actually goes out into the Alaskan wilderness to pick up the antlers for his knives.  And boy, is it sharp... I wasn't paying attention and was moving it around to see it next to some others we were looking at; I didn't stop bleeding for half an hour.  After drawing blood, we had to take that very knife home with us which now sits proudly in our living room.

Travel Intelligence Tip - When we got off the ship, we went to a couple of local tour vendors in downtown Skagway and compared their local tours to what we had seen on the ship.  Bottom line -- next time we go to Skagway, we will research the local companies and pick one for our sight seeing day.

Travel Intelligence Tip - We were two weeks from end of the cruise ship season in Skagway.  During our shopping in the jewelry stores we talked to folks in several of them and learned that the vast majority of the jewelry stores would be following the ships as they rotate into the Caribbean for the fall, winter, and spring seasons.  So for non-native jewelry and art work, the price you pay in Alaska is not going to drop very much as the summer turns to fall; conversely, locally produced and native handi-work will probably be a better bargain as season draws to a close.

Next up -- Glacier Bay...

Seattle to Alaska Aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines Pearl - Day 3 out of Seattle - Juneau, Alaska

As soon as we passed Cape Ommaney between Kuiu and Baranof Islands, the wind and seas settled down and we enjoyed a beautiful morning sail towards Juneau.

When we arrived in Juneau, it was later in the afternoon and three other cruise ships were already docked.   Very picturesque back drop with the sun lighting up the mountains above Juneau.

Juneau is one of two state capitols that you can only reach by boat or plane -- the other is Honolulu.

Don't think I will soon forget getting buzzed right after we docked by several float planes on landing and take off.  Guess our dock must have been have been lined up just perfectly with the wind.






Since we had a relatively short stay in Juneau, we concentrated on shopping and walking in the downtown area adjacent to the cruise ship port.  Since our dock was a little farther away than the other ships in port, we took a free shuttle bus for the short ride into town.  Walking at a leisurely pace and looking in shop windows, it probably took us no more than 30 minutes to get to the edge of stores, restaurants, and bars in the downtown area adjacent to the port.  If we were there again, we would definitely take the gondola ride (Mt. Roberts Tramway - $32 per adult) since the view of the bay would be spectacular on a sunny day.  The gondola station is just off the left (port) bow of the Celebrity Millennium in the picture above

We saw these flowers outside a shopping mall - just huge - guess the long days and short growing season make flowers bigger than we see them down here in southwest Florida.