Sailing without Flip Flops!! Our Alaska Cruise - May 28th, 2012 UPDATED 7/5

[scrapbookingpro]

Where did you get the cute Mickey poncho your son has on? Was that from a previous Disney vacation or did you buy it on board?

LOL, my mom has been carrying that thing around with her for years. I think she got it at Disneyland. But I think they would sell some on board!? Maybe?


Thanks to everyone for the comments!!

I will update Skagway day later this afternoon for sure

 

[DisSarahK]

Thanks for the poncho update...that's what I was afraid of, LOL!

 

[dismagiclover]

Great report! Thanks for sharing it with us! We can't wait for our sailing on July 23. I have to confess I hope it is a bit warmer.

 

[scrapbookingpro]

Ah, Skagway, I looked forward to this day SO much!!

We had an All Ashore time of 7:15AM and an All Aboard time of 7:30PM, so tons of time, plus a GREAT excursion planned

We chose.............drum roll............

White Pass Railway and Dogcart Ride!!

I researched the heck out of this thing before we left. 2 things I wanted for certain- the dogcart ride (since we couldn't afford the fancy helicopter/dog sled excursion that cost a million dollars) for my DS, and the train ride for us adults. I specifically wanted to take the train one-way only because I didn't think my DS would appreciate the 3-4 hour round trip ride. So after MUCH reading and looking into all the various options, I found that the best and most affordable choice would be:

Yukon Rail and Bus Excursion with Dogcart Ride booked through Chilkoot Charters
http://www.chilkootcharters.com/

I read a ton of good reviews about Chilkoot and their itinerary was just what I wanted- train ride up the mountain, shuttle ride down with a stop at Carcross for lunch and a dog cart ride. DONE. The cost was $208 for each adult and $148 for DS. I will cut to the chase right now and tell you that it was worth every penny, and we had an AMAZING time.

SO, 7:30AM was out meeting time, yikes. Another very early morning, and this time I actually had to look presentable. Too bad I don't drink coffee.

We had ordered our room service breakfast the night before. It came right on time at 6:45AM.

We managed to get up and dressed on time, and miraculously, so did the rest of the group. Mom and my brother, MK, were joining us on this excursion. Ralph couldn't go because he had no passport, and you MUST have a passport because you cross the border into Canada on the train. RJ did not come because he had decided to just ride the train round trip.

Here's the view we woke up to:

We had no trouble disembarking on time. It had been a concern of mine, but we got off just before 7:30. We were supposed to meet our driver at the "end of the dock" but we weren't exactly sure where that was. There were tons of drivers standing down the road with signs for different companies. It was raining a little bit when we finally found our driver. She said she wasn't actually our driver but we could wait in her van and stay dry while we waited for our actual driver to come.

We only waited about 5 minutes for him to arrive, then we all moved over to get on his shuttle bus.

There were 21 people in our group and DS was the ONLY child. I kind of liked it that way. Our driver's name was James, from Arizona, but he had a very Irish accent. He was great and we liked him immediately.

The drive to the train depot was all of 1 minute. The station is right there at the end of the dock.

Chilkoot has their own car assigned to them, which turned out to be the very last car. We all got in, and I remembered reading that the left side of the train was best to sit on because that is where most of the scenery ends up being. Apparently EVERYONE had gotten that memo, since when we got on the train, the whole left side was full and the right side was empty. I need to be quicker next time.

Here we are, spread out on the right side/wrong side

*For the record, that advice is correct. Try to sit on the left side, it's where everything is!!!

 

[scrapbookingpro]

Here we GO!!!

So, DS was cozy inside with my mom, hooked up with his Innotab in case he got bored, so DH, MK and I went out to stand on the platform on the back of the train. Originally we just went out to take a picture, but let me tell you, it was AWESOME back there. We ended up staying out there almost the entire time. I couldn't tear myself away- the scenery going by, the air on my face...it was just the best feeling And since we were in the back, basically traveling backwards, we couldn't see what was coming up. Then once in a while an unexpected waterfall would just appear on our left and we'd be like, WHOA!! LOL, so great.

Here are some pictures:

Here is the conductor. Doesn't he just LOOK like a conductor??

Here is a view of the other train coming down the mountain:

Now, being in the back, we couldn't hear the narration form inside the train car. But every now and then, several people would come hurrying out onto the platform saying, "There's a tunnel coming!" or "We're about to cross the bridge!"
I am smiling just remembering. When we saw them all coming, we'd say "Something good must be up ahead!"

Tunnel!!

The rain had stopped ages ago, and it didn't feel all that cold- just my hands were cold and I didn't want to go in to get my gloves! (I did eventually).
There was a bathroom in every car, and they advised up to use it while we could because there are very few bathrooms in Frasier and they always had long lines. Also, a pretty girl came through all of the cars, selling train DVDs and answering people's questions about the train.

I did not much care about any of this, I just stayed outside watching the tracks behind us.

As we got higher we saw more and more SNOW:

And one point we stopped. In the middle of nowhere. Turns out we were letting some hikers off the train. Wow, more power to you if you don't mind getting off a train in the middle of the woods and being left there to hike out.

In this photo you can see the hikers.....

DS came out while we were stopped. He was quite happy to stay inside, so he went back in right away. He was having fun with my mom. I know this wasn't exactly the best excursion for little kids, but he really did have fun, and he LOVED the tunnels.

See how high the snow is?

Now we are crossing into Canada:

The sun is coming out!

We arrived in Canada and were asked to remain sitting until a customs agent had cleared our car. The customs guy was NO joke. He never smiled and he did not look like anyone you should mess with. He checked everyone's passport and then we were cleared to get off.
James was there waiting with the shuttle bus.

 

[AZMermaid]

Is that left side facing forward, or left side if you are looking at the seats?

 

[scrapbookingpro]

Back in the shuttle, James started driving us towards Carcross. The weather at this point was cold, but gorgeous and sunny. James told us lots of stories and we made lots of photo stops, which is exactly what I was hoping for. Our first stop was a lake, and I'm SO sorry but I can't remember what it was called!!

It was so gorgeous:

Back in the shuttle, James suddenly says, "We've got a bear here!"
Sure enough, right by the road- a black bear! There was another car pulled over and the woman had actually gotten our of her car to take photos
James was sure he was going to have to report a bear attack that day. He could not believe that woman was out of her car!!

I was so excited we got to see a bear!

Then we stopped at the smallest desert in the world:

James said we were running ahead of schedule and would we like to go to Emerald Lake? Um...YES please.

Such a beautiful day it was.
We arrived at Caribou Crossing which is where we would have lunch and ride the dogcarts.

It looked like a little pretend tourist town.

At this point it was about 11:40AM. We were told to go have lunch and that our dogcart ride would be at 12:15. Yikes, ok, better hurry up and eat I guess!
The lunch was BBQ chicken, coleslaw, rolls, potato, and doughnuts with iced tea and water.

I'm sorry to say, it was pretty bad, lol. No, I shouldn't say "bad" just really average. The chicken was OK, the potato was this strange, very over cooked slab and I didn't try the coleslaw, but DH said it was "fine". The rolls were good and my DS made a meal of that.

*By the way, we did bring snacks with us from the ship and they were MUCH needed, especially for my DS. It is a long day and snacks were a must! There was a shop there in Caribou Crossing where you could buy other food like ice cream and sandwiches, so in a pinch, there's that, but we didn't want to spend extra money.

The seating area:

The doughnuts were yummy. I had 3. Don't judge.

They also had a "bar" of sorts where you could buy sodas and other drinks. The iced tea was free.

 

[scrapbookingpro]

Is that left side facing forward, or left side if you are looking at the seats?

Facing forward

 

[scrapbookingpro]

DOGCART TIME!!!!

We were the only ones in our group who had booked the dogcart ride. We went over to the dog area at 12:15. James came with us. They took us in right away.

They had lots of dogs in there. They were Alaskan Huskies which many people mistake for mutts because they don't look like the perfect sled dogs you see on TV. Alaskan husky is not a breed of dog rather it is a type or a category. They are excellent sled dogs and they LOVE to run.

We got settled into our cart and James took pictures for us.

Those dogs were ready to GO

My DS was SO excited. If you have young kids, they will LOVE the dogcarts.
It's faster than you think, and pretty bumpy too.

That is a camera on DH's head. I haven't seen the footage yet.

They say it is a 15 minute ride, but reality check- it was about 5 minutes. Still, we had a great time so no complaints. They let the dogs stop once to get some water if they want it. Our dogs didn't, so they ran on down the trail.

After the ride you get to go pet the dogs and see the puppies!!! **You do not have to pay for the dogcart ride to meet the puppies. Anyone could come in and pet the dogs.

They also had treats you could feed the dogs for about a dollar.
They had other animals there also, including goats, ponies and a donkey.

We had until 1PM to look around. It wasn't a lot of time. We didn't go in the museum. We all got back in the shuttle after a few more pictures...

At 1PM, James drove us a short distance to the town of Carcross. He let us get out and walk around for a bit. It was a lovely little town.

This was someone's yard...

We walked around a bit and went in a couple of little stores. Then it was back to the shuttle.

On the drive back to Skagway we did several more photo stops. My DS fell asleep on my lap, but I got out for photos when I could.

The Yukon sign:

Some mountain goats:

The Alaska sign. James (on the right) is pointing to where we are in Alaska:

We saw another BEAR!!!!

Lovely waterfall.....

We arrived back in Skagway at around 3PM. DS woke up cranky. James dropped us off "downtown" which was really only a 10 minute walk from the ship. He drove some people all the way back to the dock so they wouldn't have to walk.

I wanted to find this cupcake shop I read about called Sugar Mamas. I have a terrible sweet tooth.

It was easy to find:

The cute little cupcake girl game us a sample of their Margarita cupcake. It was so yummy!!! Tasted like key lime

Cupcakes for all!

I found this sign on the window:

 

[scrapbookingpro]

We walked past the famous Red Onion Saloon. It looked like a lot of fun, but we were with DS, so we only peeked in. The inside was slightly rated "R", lol!

We were pretty tired now and started making our way back to the ship:

There were these awesome rock paintings right by the dock. They were paintings of all of the different cruise lines that had visited:

Here is DCL

And this cool looking skull:

Back on board and only time for a quick rest since we were having Palo dinner tonight with MK and RJ. Mom and Ralph would be staying with DS. They had decided to skip the sit down dinner and just order some room service. Tonight would have been our Parrot Cay island Dinner. It is my DH's least favorite menu, but I did miss the banana bread

 

[Annabell]

Thank you so much for posting your Alaska trip report including those great photo's. I really enjoy reading it !

 

[girlpenguin]

Oh!!! This is so exciting! We booked the same exact excursion through Chilcoot! The only difference is that we are doing the bus ride up and the train ride down. But we're doing the 15 minute dog cart ride, too. I thought that my 18-month-old would sleep on the train on the way down. I totally agree about the kids being bored on the round trip train ride. I planned on bringing lots of snacks and something for my 6-year-old to do (the Nintendo DS) if she gets bored.

Anyway I can't tell you how thrilled I am to see the pictures and info from this excursion - and again, with a kiddo similarly-aged to mine When you were on the bus on the way down, was your son still the only child on the whole bus?

How early were you able to order room service on excursion days? I was concerned that it wouldn't be available before we left for the excursion, but it looks like that won't be a problem!

Now I'm going to crack up if you did whale watching with Harv & Marv in Juneau, cause that's what we we've got booked there

 

[dismagiclover]

Thanks for the cupcake store tip. My DD loves cupcakes and is always begging to go to cupcake stores. We will definitely head here!

 

[DisSarahK]

Oooh, yay for the cupcake store info--I wouldn't have thought to look for that, but my little guy is a cupcake store *addict*! I Tivo "Cupcake Wars" for him. LOL! He critiques cupcakes just like he is one of the judges on the television show. It is hilarious.

That is kind of disappointing that the 15 minute dogsled ride is only 5 minutes. I read that somewhere else, too. That is what we're planning on doing too. It is pretty pricey for just five minutes! Oh well, it is what it is! I hope we see bears on our drive...we'll be staying IN our rental car though!

 

[Chilly]

I think room service breakfast is available from about 5am. Don't forget if going down on the train sit on the right hand side.


On our cruise we docked at a different dock so didn't see the painted wall, its cool.

 

[scrapbookingpro]

Oh!!! This is so exciting! We booked the same exact excursion through Chilcoot! The only difference is that we are doing the bus ride up and the train ride down. But we're doing the 15 minute dog cart ride, too. I thought that my 18-month-old would sleep on the train on the way down. I totally agree about the kids being bored on the round trip train ride. I planned on bringing lots of snacks and something for my 6-year-old to do (the Nintendo DS) if she gets bored.

When you were on the bus on the way down, was your son still the only child on the whole bus?

How early were you able to order room service on excursion days?

Now I'm going to crack up if you did whale watching with Harv & Marv in Juneau, cause that's what we we've got booked there

LOL, aaahhh, I WISH we had a whale watching trip, but that was not the case. I did hear amazing things from others who saw tons of whales on whale watching trips.

I believe Claire is right- 5AM was the early time for room service so you should have no trouble.

And yes, my son was still the only child on the way down. We had just the one group the whole time, so all 21 of us were together for the whole excursion. I thought it was nice not having a huge bus full of people. And DS was perfectly unaware that he was the only kid.
You will love Chilkoot, they did an excellent job. I am excited for you!!!

Thanks for the cupcake store tip. My DD loves cupcakes and is always begging to go to cupcake stores. We will definitely head here!

YAY cupcakes!!! I believe it was on 5th and Broadway, VERY easy to find because it's such a small town. We asked our driver and he knew exactly where it was. They were very yummy!

Oooh, yay for the cupcake store info--I wouldn't have thought to look for that, but my little guy is a cupcake store *addict*! I Tivo "Cupcake Wars" for him. LOL!

That is kind of disappointing that the 15 minute dogsled ride is only 5 minutes. I read that somewhere else, too. That is what we're planning on doing too. It is pretty pricey for just five minutes! Oh well, it is what it is! I hope we see bears on our drive...we'll be staying IN our rental car though!

We love Cupcake Wars, lol! My son watches it too, but he doesn't like to eat cake, so go figure.
You will love the dogcart ride- yes it is short, but still very fun.

Don't forget if going down on the train sit on the right hand side.

Excellent point!

 

[scrapbookingpro]

PALO night.......

Our reservation was at 6PM. The late sunset in Alaska is a fantastic benefit for Palo dinners. Usually when we sail it is too dark to see anything at dinner, but this time it stayed light the whole time and we had a great view.

Bread selection:

We were seated in Alex's section again. I think they try to keep you with the same server if you go more than once. He seemed more focused this time and not quite as chatty. We thought he was a great server, we just didn't "click" with him the way people sometimes do.

They start you with a plate of Antipasto Freddo.

You may be thinking that a super picky eater like me has no business even being at Palo dinner, and you may be right. However, I do think that they make a DELICIOUS steak. Actually, everyone at our table ordered the steak:

And you will be proud to learn that I also tried the Wild Mushroom and Hazelnut Risotto, the Ravioli, and the Chicken

Cheers!

Of course the Chocolate Soufflé is a must:

DH also loves the Panna Cotta

For the record, the menu that I found on line for Palo is not the exact menu we had, so if you have any doubts about Palo, be sure to go to deck 10 and check out their menu for yourself when you get on board.

After dinner we picked up DS and went back to the room to change. We were looking forward to playing another round of Disney trivia that night and my mom wasn't able to sit with DS so we decided to take him along, even though it was kind of late.

Now, I have to amend one thing I said earlier. On Day 2, it was the Disney tune trivia that we won. The Disney Theme Park trivia was THIS night. I mixed up the two in my head because they were similar, but definitely NOT the same.
Theme Park trivia was much harder. (I sound like such a nerd, haha) There were a LOT of questions. Stephen was the host and he was the one who had "invented" this particular trivia so he was pretty passionate about it. I will tell you that we did win again- (not bragging, just sharing) and we had a lot of fun on this one because it was tough and there was a LOT of good competition.

One funny thing- my DS was there, as I mentioned, and he enjoys trivia though I have no idea why because he doesn't really get it, but it so happened this night that he knew TWO of the answers that we didn't! LOL. It pays to have a little kid with you who spends a lot of time on rides. We all burst out laughing when we got those 2 answers correct. Thanks buddy!!

We won a hat and a Disney water bottle that my husband immediately made his "gym bottle".

Time for bed, and another towel animal:

Here is what 10PM looks like:

And the map from the TV:

Another long day and fun night. Why is this trip going by so quickly?!?!

*Other notes about today:
-The "show" tonight was the movie, The Avengers. We missed it because of Palo.

-They played the popular "Match Your Mate" Game at 10:30PM

-The Drink of the Day was the Nutty Kodiak. Cheers.

-Character appearances that we missed included Dopey, Stitch, Belle, Pinocchio, Cinderella and Ariel

-There was a "sports nickname" trivia in Diversions. We would have been terrible at that.

-John Carter and The Muppets played in the movie theater.

 

[AZMermaid]

Do they list what trivia they are playing in the Navigator? My husband would love the sports one!

 

[kevdo]

Do they list what trivia they are playing in the Navigator? My husband would love the sports one!

Yes.

 

[barbbarnes]

Thanks again for sharing your trip and the advise on what to pack Looking at your great pictures is really making me excited! I definitely am going to try the cupcake place they look to good to pass up I can't get over how bright it is even at 10:00 that is crazy! Thanks again!