Alaska 2005 - Coral Princess and Pre-Cruise

~ PHOTOS ~ Coral Princess - Alaska 2005 Southbound and pre-cruise - July 12 - July 23
Enroute to Anchorage	The photo on the left was taken from the plane enroute to Anchorage, where we started out adventure on Tuesday, July 12. We stayed at the Hawthorn Suites in Anchorage for 2 nights. The first night we found a good spot to eat, called Humpy's. Great food, and the Alaskan Summer Ale was good, too.
Bears at Brooks Falls	Wednesday morning, we had (free) breakfast at the hotel, then took the Rust's Flying Service shuttle to their office. We boarded our 10-seater plane with Dan, our pilot. He was quite a character. It was about a 3 hour plane ride each way - and Dan pointed out things along the way, including bears! The bear viewing at Brooks Falls was amazing. See the pictures....
Alaska Railroad to Seward	Thursday morning we boarded the Alaska Railroad for our trip to Seward. We found a great spot to hang out on the train, near the Tiki Rail Bar. See the pictures....
Overnight at Fox Island	Once we arrived in Seward, we took the Kenai Fjords Tour boat to Fox Island, where we spent the night. It was about a 1 hour ride. After our Salmon Buffet lunch, we were escorted to our cabins - no phones, no TV, no electricity. It was great! See the pictures....
Northwestern Fjords Tour	After a peaceful day and night at Fox Island, we boarded the Kenai Fjords Tour boat Friday morning for the Northwestern Fjords Tour. We saw a calving glacier, puffins, whales (fin whale and humpback whales), seals, and a lot more! See the pictures....
College Fjord & the Coral Princess	Friday night we stayed at the Windsong Lodge in Seward. Saturday, July 16, we had breakfast in Seward and went to the SeaLife Center. Then we took PJ's Taxi we highly recommend contacting Renee at PJs!) Whittier to board the Coral Princess. It was pouring down rain! We boarded the ship around 2pm. Sunday we sailed College Fjord. See Map of the Cruise Route See Log of the Cruise by Princess (pdf) See pictures onboard Coral Princess....
Glacier Bay	Monday we cruised through Glacier Bay National Park all day. Lots of whales, puffins, and a couple of bears on shore. See the pictures....
Drive from Skagway to the Yukon	Our first port of call was Skagway on Tuesday. We arranged for a rental car a few months before the cruise. Because of recommendations on cruisecritic.com, we drove up to the Yukon and Emerald Lake. We stopped for a minute at Caribou crossing, but it was a bit too touristy for us. We enjoyed walking around Carcross, where we went into the post office and bought Yukon stamps for our passports. Emerald Lake was gorgeous, and lunch at the Cinnamon Cache was great - especially the people. On the way back into Alaska, the Immigration guy stamped our passport with a cool Skagway stamp- we had had this done before at a border. See "Murray's Driving Guide" for this route (thanks to this guide, we knew where to stop for pit stops!!) See the pictures....
Glacier Trekking out of Juneau	Wednesday we docked in Juneau. Several months prior to the cruise, we booked the Glacier Trek Level 2 with Northstar Trekking. What an adventure! Words don't do it justice, you have to see the pictures! See the pictures....
After Juneau, in Ketchikan	The scenery leaving Juneau was spectacular. There were also a lot of whales putting on a show for us. We had to tender in to Ketchikan on Thursday. This is not one of our favorite ports. We rode the funciular and walked around a bit. See the pictures....