Monday, September 22, 2025

Alaska Cruise of Endicott Arm Fjord to Dawes Glacier



 
On the third day of our Princess Discovery Alaska Cruise, my husband and I woke up very early as we knew the ship was scheduled to sail down scenic Endicott Arm Fjord to Dawes Glacier. 

Endicott Arm is a 30-mile-long fjord in southeastern Alaska, located about 50 miles south of Juneau. It is part of the larger Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness, a protected area within the Tongass National Forest. This untouched region boasts rugged coastlines, deep blue waters, and sheer cliffs rising thousands of feet into the sky. The fjord culminates at Dawes Glacier, one of Alaska's most active tidewater glaciers.

At first, we watched from our balcony, but soon went up to the ship's upper deck to get a 360-degree view.


The sun rose higher in the sky...



...as the ship sailed closer to the glacier



It was a beautiful sight!



Close-up photos of Dawes Glacier.

I found this definition as to why glacier ice appears blue on this link: 

"Water and its frozen form, ice, have a similar effect on light, in that they trap long wavelengths of light, such as red and green, while allowing the shorter wavelengths, like blue, to pass through the ice and reach our eyes. That’s why the blue colour is most visible in shaded areas, not in direct sunlight. The light passing through the ice appears blue, but the directly reflected light off the air bubbles in the ice appear white in colour."


There were many pieces of the glacier ice floating in the surrounding water.



As daylight illuminated Endicott Arm, the views were so beautiful!



There were many, many waterfalls all around the surrounding shorelines as we sailed back out of the Fjord.



A short video of an Endicott Arm waterfall.



We passed Harbor Island as we re-entered Holkum Bay and continued to sail towards Juneau, which would be our next stop the following day.



After being up since 4:30 AM, we enjoyed a hearty breakfast at the ship's buffet. 




Later in the day, we attended an interesting lecture by a naturalist, journalist, and book author on board, Michael Modzelewski. 



He gave an interesting and informative lecture every day in the ship's theater about the Alaska Inside Passage and his experiences living in the Alaska frontier. 


On a past Alaska Cruise, we visited Hubbard Glacier -- click here to see that blog post, and we sailed down Glacier Bay National Park-- click here to read that post, and on this cruise, it was wonderful to see Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier, both of which are magnificent parts of Alaska! 

Next stop is Juneau, Alaska. I hope you will join me back here to see our adventures there!

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Sunday, September 14, 2025

Ketchikan, Alaska, Our Cruise Ship's First Stop

We were at sea the first day after leaving Seattle -- see my post about Seattle here. The first stop on our family Princess Discovery Cruise in Alaska was Ketchikan. Ketchikan is an Alaskan city located on the Inside Passage and the state's southeasternmost major settlement. It is known as Alaska's first city and the Salmon Capital of the World


Ketchikan is named after Ketchikan Creek, which flows through the town, emptying into the Tongass Narrows a short distance southeast of its downtown.  The name"Ketchikan" comes from the Native Peoples' Tlingit name for the creek, Kitschk-hin, which translates as "Thundering Wings of an Eagle." 

The city has a diversified economy, with fishing (salmon, trout, cod, halibut, and snapper), fish processing, and timber as its leading industries. Tourism is also important, as the city is served by air transport and by cruise ships along the Inside Passage.


Please click on the photo above to enlarge it

This was my husband's and my second time visiting Ketchikan. It was the last Alaska town we visited in 2019 while on a 12-day Land and Sea cruise. On that visit, we wanted to visit the Tongass National Forest, which covers most of southeast Alaska. Bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Coast Mountains and Canadian border on the east, the Tongass National Forest spans 500 miles of Southeast Alaska. It is the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world! There, we went on a rowboat and nature walk through the forest adventure.  You can see that post here.


During this visit to Alaska with our family, we all chose to go on different excursions. 

My husband and I chose the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show,  held at the historic site of the Spruce Mill, once the largest Sitka Spruce Mill in the World

Our excursion also included an amazing Crab Fest lunch afterward.

The show was fun to watch! The friendly competition was between the USA and Canada, but we learned that both of the lumberjacks that we watched were from upstate New York and attended a SUNY program to learn their skills.



Twelve events such as chopping, climbing, sawing, axe throwing, and log rolling.



 
Google Photos made a couple of action collages from my photos!



Both men ultimately took a dunk in the water while log rolling


After the lumberjack show, those who had Crab Fest tickets were led to the Harbor Haus where we were served an "all you can eat Dungeness Crab Fest, accompanied by a salad, baby red potatoes, and carrot cake.



Our daughter, son-in-law, and oldest granddaughter chose to go on a
Utility Terrain Vehicle --UTV-- ride through a portion of the Tongass Forest. It was an exciting ride up a mountain with beautiful views! They had to wear face coverings and eye protection during the ride, as the drive was also quite dusty, since Ketchikan did not have its usual summer rainfall in the past few days. They were excited to see many eagles along the scenic drive, and they also enjoyed a Crab Fest dinner afterward.



 
Our son and grandsons went on an exciting excursion called "The Deadliest Catch Fishing Tour" aboard the Aleutian Ballad, a king crab fishing boat featured on the Deadliest Catch TV Show.  The guides on board were well-seasoned fishermen in the Aleutian Islands/Bering Sea. Our grandsons were able to hold live crab, shrimp, and other sea creatures after listening to the crew share their knowledge of the ocean and its inhabitants.  They also saw many eagles as they sailed along the Bering Sea.  They also all attended a Great Alaska Lumberjack Show afterward.



Meanwhile, our daughter-in-law and youngest granddaughter went on a different excursion. They toured the many totem poles in town, and attended a native Tlingit cultural dance and storytime show, followed by making special arts and crafts projects afterward. It was the perfect activity for our granddaughter!



As the cruise ship left Ketchikan, I enjoyed watching the views from our room's balcony.




My husband and I enjoyed a delicious dinner at a specialty restaurant on the ship called Sabatinis Italian Trattoria.



Later, we enjoyed listening to an Irish trio called "Pint of Plain" and our entire family had fun attending a 70s Trivia Contest--our grandchildren had a surprising amount of 70s knowledge! Later that evening we enjoyed the melodic sound of singer Willis White in the Princess Theater. 


One exciting occurrence happened while we were at sea the previous night. At 1 AM, the ship's captain came on the public announcement intercom to wake everyone up and inform us that the Northern Lights were visible! 

What a thrill it was to see them! 


I can also be found on


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Monday, September 8, 2025

Our Alaska Cruise began in Seattle, WA



The Princess Cruise we took as a family in July began in Seattle, Washington. Seattle is a fun place to visit! My husband and I spent a week there in 2016 to celebrate our 42nd anniversary. We visited all the major city sights back then. The Space Needle, seen above, is part of the 74-acre Seattle Center, which was originally built for the 1963 World's Fair and is an arts, educational, tourism, and entertainment center in Seattle. It is home to the iconic landmark 605-foot (184 m) tall Space Needle tower, and the Chihuly Garden and Glass--click here--to see my blog post about Chihuly Garden.


We arrived on the same late afternoon flight as our daughter, son-in-law, and our oldest granddaughter two days before our scheduled cruise, and we stayed in the same hotel. We had dinner at the nearby Queen Anne Beer Hall, and then took a walk to the shore of Puget Sound to enjoy the sunset.  Our daughter-in-law and two grandchildren flew in earlier that morning and spent the day sightseeing, while our son and oldest grandson flew in the next day, after our grandson's last day as a camp counselor-in-training.



The next day, everyone went sightseeing! My husband and I walked around the Belltown Neighborhood. As you can read on the Wikipedia link above, Belltown was "formerly a low-rent, semi-industrial arts district, and in recent decades, it has transformed into a neighborhood of trendy restaurants, boutiques, nightclubs, and residential towers as well as warehouses and art galleries.



I enjoyed photographing its artistic window screens and blocks of poetry on the sidewalk.


Even the privacy screens on fences were filled with quotes!



A highlight for me was that one of my dear friends from high school, Josette, who now lives in Florida, was visiting her daughter and family in a suburb of Seattle, and she was able to meet my husband and me for lunch. She suggested a fun landmark, a 24-hour diner called The 5 Point Cafe, where we were able to talk for hours!



Afterward, my husband and I walked down to Pike Place Market.


The Public Market Center at Pike Place is a bustling area full of stores, shops, and vendors of all kinds. 
As the website states: Founded in 1907, the Market is one of the oldest and largest continuously operating public markets in the United States and is brought to life by the hundreds of farmers, crafters, small businesses, and residents that call it "home”.
The first Starbucks is located there and had a line around the corner of people waiting to visit it!




The seafood being sold by multiple vendors was amazing!


So much fresh seafood!




The next day, we all boarded the Princess Discovery Cruise ship and enjoyed the "sail away" sights of Seattle. 


Later that evening, we all gathered for dinner at one of the Discovery specialty restaurants, "The Catch By Rudi." All the seafood was very delicious, and our waiter treated us by singing "Happy 50th Anniversary" and presented us with a special chocolate cake to enjoy.  It was the perfect way to begin our cruise!


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