Alaska Travel Part 2
Ports of Call on the Celebrity Solstice Cruise
As I am writing this in 2020, I recall fondly the small cities in Southwestern Alaska . They used to be quiet fishing towns , with the exception of Juneau which used to be a sleepy state capital . Alaska’s total population is less than 200K, so the state capital is not a very big deal – a medium sized city in contiguous USA has more than 200K residents. Juneau has only 30K people.
The Alaska Ferry is the main mode of commuting to these coastal cities, most of them do not have any access by road, although they also have small airports as well.
Once the Alaska Cruises became popular, these cities now host many humongous ships per day . Each ship disgorges from 1000 to 3000 passengers, who spend a few hours in these towns, sightseeing, shopping, eating and just aimlessly walking around beside the harbor.
These little towns on the western coast of Alaska are beautiful. They are right on the ocean, usually with a big harbor good for large ships. Behind the little town there are mountain ranges, and/ or dense forests and no human habitation for hundreds of miles. So there are no roads to access the mainland on other side of the mountains.
Interestingly, some of these little towns were swamped by people in the mid 1800’s, people chasing gold landed here then went by foot or mule to the hinterlands in the Yukon territories. Lawless and uncouth townships sprouted, most people spent countless days searching for gold , panning the rivers and ponds , a few lucky ones found large nuggets or plots of land with veins of gold. It was a short lived time of prosperity for these little towns which worked as landing stations for the famous Yukon Gold Rush. After that ended, the towns lived in relative obscurity with fishing and canning for about a century. The folks that lived there are real hardy, the weather is brutal for about six months, and nasty for about four additional months. During two months of summer, it rains most of the time and the temperature is from 40 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
Juneau is one of these towns – an exception because the state capital shifted there in 1906. The others with their romantic names, Ketchikan, Skagway, Sitka, Hoona, , Metkatla, Hydabug and many others dot the coastline , the lucky (!) ones get up to a million or more tourists from Cruise ships per year. One of my American colleague’s sons that I have met as a teen , dropped out of mainstream USA, and lives in Hoona, Alaska nowadays !
As the cruise ships got bigger (actually massive), summers in these towns were transformed completely.
Everyday, starting around 8 am, the ships dock and discharge hordes of mainly elderly people. Some stay in town, snacking, lunching and shopping. In a daring effort at vertical integration, the cruise ship companies have opened their own gift shops and restaurants in these towns. Yes, you can buy Peruvian Alpaca sweaters in Ketchikan, Alaska at exorbitant prices, or get Swarovski crystals for your sweetheart at double the usual price at Juneau!! For the townspeople and some itinerant workers that come during the summer, it is their only chance to make a few bucks by selling pizza, sandwiches, coffee and souvenirs – they totally resent the encroachment from the shops owned by the Disney or Celebrity cruises, although they welcome the tourists bought in by them.
For the more physically active folks there are lots of activities offered as day tours – they run from 50 to 500 dollars depending on the activities and the duration, This is my evaluation of these trips (according to my own preference)
1. Native American cultural tour – mainly Tippis and totem poles and lectures from a guide. Go if you are really interested.
2. City sightseeing and food tours – the historical sights in these cities are at best unremarkable and the food is way better in modern cruise ships and free too if you are on the cruise!!
3. Hiking or biking tours – you will see wonderful scenery – land and mountains and oceans – take the mild to moderate tours unless you are below forty and in great physical shape . If you are in great Physical shape, then you are rewarded with a spectacular trekking experience. But you are unlikely to be on a cruise ship with that demographic – unless , of course you are on your honeymoon in which case you may have other pleasant activities in mind!!
Remember it rains frequently and hard and it is cold and windy during summer. There are occasional gorgeous days with sunshine though!
4. Wildlife tours – mainly moose and elk. If you live in North America, you may have seen them already, occasionally you may see black bears, but unlikely during the day when these tours occur. Tons of horse flies, gnats, mosquitoes and other insects inside the forests – and they bite hard!
5. Glacier trips – yes!
6. Whale-watching boat rides – yes!
They cost some real money!
7. Train rides from Skagway through the rugged mountains – this track goes to the Yukon territories in Canada, originally built during the gold rush era – a big yes!
Our ship stopped first at Ketchikan (hard rain, did nothing),
Juneau (enjoyed the M glacier – but constant drizzle! )
and finally Skagway ( a gorgeous sunny day, a wonderful train ride and a side trip to the Siberian Husky training Center for sled dogs). Three cities on three different days.
Some affluent Mexican families were vacationing with us, I had a good time hanging out with the two boys in their late twenties on the Skagway trip. Also met two pairs of Indian old couples who have retired and traveling the world now.
Always wanted to do Alaska, I got it off my bucket list. On the way back, the ship stopped at Victoria, British Columbia, and I got a chance to see the beautiful Buchart gardens !!
Some tips for cruising:
By all means, buy an insulated beverage container. In the buffet station on the ship, high quality coffee, tea, juices and soft drinks are free, whereas anywhere else on the ship a cup of coffee is $4.50, a coke is $3.50 and so on. Heck, buy three beverage containers and a shoulder bag and carry all your daily non-alcoholic drinks with you all over the ship and in your cabin too.
There is no weight restriction on your baggage, so if you want to look really good, bring all kinds of clothes and shoes with you. BTW, the formal night when everyone is supposed to dress up is kind of defunct because of all the old fogies who insist on wearing sweatpants everyday!
If you wanna drink a lot, bring two or three liters of alcohol or several six-packs of beer with you, it will save you a lot of money. Yes you can bring alcohol on board!
Swimming and watersports no good on Alaska cruises. There is one small heated covered indoor pool and sauna which is always very crowded. Other pools are uncovered and/or unheated, and the temperature outside is about 40 – 50 degrees F
Parties happen but most passengers are over 60/65
Remember, even with the special internet package, internet does not work well on the ship
Phone calls on your mobile are chargeable and expensive, so if you want to be a chatterbox, buy a cruise ship package from your phone carrier or be prepared to spend a few hundred dollars in a week.
You have an option to go to one of many sit down restaurants or to the huge buffet – all are free. but the restaurants will take your order for specific items and serve you only what you ordered. In the buffet , you are free to choose basically from the best multi-cuisine, multi nation food collection I have ever seen. Unless you and your spouse want to dress up and feel like being served by a liveried waitperson, there is absolutely no reason not to go to the buffet!!
Plan to diet while on the cruise – hahahah!
The crew members are generally very attractive and multi-lingual and fun to talk to, They will hang out with you if you ask them!. If you are attractive, they will flirt with you and maybe more (although strictly against regulations!!)
Bring Winter Jackets even in June, July and August, you will need them!!
Hopefully in a couple of years we will be able cruise like we used to!!
I leave you with spectacular views of the inside passage:
