Although it has been 28 years, we have done an Alaskan cruise before. That trip was first time cruising for both Rocky and Boris. The new part of our current trip is a land tour highlighted by a trip to Denali National Park and Preserve and Mt. McKinley/Denali. The boat docks in Seward, Alaska today for disembarkation.
The trip started off with a bang. I had sent clothing to the laundry on the 5th day that arrived back in our cabin during dinner the last night of the cruise. We got back to the cabin after dinner and the final show and I quickly put the clothes I was wearing, plus the clean laundry, in our suitcases and got them out in the hallway before the 10 pm deadline. We had filled one large bag with all the items we wouldn’t need during the land portion of our trip. My ship departure outfit was hanging in the closet.
In spite of having roughly 40 cruises under my belt, I did something I had never done before. We were the last group to disembark the next morning, so we didn’t hurry. After my morning shower, I pulled my clothes out of the closet. I had my top, a jacket, undergarments, socks, and my shoes. Yep, you have all already figured this one out. No pants.
I had packed the pants with the rest of the clean laundry in the bags that were already down in the cargo hold. Normally, that means you just have to get off the ship and then you are reunited with your luggage in the terminal before you go to your outbound transportation. However, since we were going on a land tour, our bags were going directly to our first hotel via truck (not our touring bus).
While Boris went down to Guest Relations to see if they could help, I contemplated wearing my long raincoat off the ship sans pants. (Could have been worse; I don’t usually travel with a raincoat, much less a long one. That was also the type of item I would probably have packed it in the bags I sent to cargo, not anticipating needing it on the way home.). While Guest Relations was of no assistance, Boris found one of the staff in charge of getting passengers off the ship and Christine offered to help. She located one of the four bags we had sent down; it was the only one still in the cargo hold. It was only because we were in the last group to leave the ship or all our bags would have already been off the boat. Someone was smiling down on me; it was the bag I had packed the missing pants in.
Boris brought the bag to the cabin and all I had to do was get dressed and then carry the bag off the ship. After leisurely having breakfast, our group was announced. As we waited for the elevator, one of the staff commented on my yellow suitcase mentioning how it had made several trips up and down the elevator that day. It was Christine who I had not seen in person before. As the glass elevator doors closed, I pointed to my pants and mimed my thanks as she laughed.
There is a bit of a walk in Seward from the dock to the cruise terminal. We met our land tour director James in a designated hallway in the terminal, bypassing the luggage area. While we felt that we had received very little information about the land package before leaving home and while on the ship, we welcomed James and his wealth of knowledge. He was exceptionally friendly and told us what we needed to know. We went directly to our tour bus. They stowed my yellow bag under the bus. James would go on to keep us well informed verbally, in writing, and by text throughout the tour. The tour is 5 nights, 6 days. Some activities are included, but no meals are. They are also lots of optional excursions.
We started in Seward at the SeaLife Center, one of our included activities. There seemed to be a lot of dead time, but we needed to have activities to keep us busy until 4 pm, check-in time at our first resort. We had several hours to explore the SeaLife Center and the surrounding “downtown”. As a port city, there were plenty of souvenir shops. However, most plentiful were the bars. It felt like one in every three storefronts was a bar.
The SeaLife Center came out of a tragedy. “On March 24, 1989, the supertanker Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound, damaging nearly 1,500 miles of Alaska’s pristine shoreline and causing widespread harm to the region’s wildlife, economy, and ecosystems. Thousands of marine birds, mammals, and fish were destroyed in the days and weeks following the spill.” Alaskasealife.org With all the attention coming after the spill, volunteers moved into action to secure funding for a facility the idea of which that had been circulating for years. In 1993, the Alaskan State Legislature appropriated funds from the settlement and awarded them to the city of Seward for the express purpose of creating the center. Out of tragedy came this amazing facility.
The second floor of the SeaLife Center is where all the action is. I slowly walked through the introductory exhibits, before reaching what I would consider the highlight-the puffins. There were several different varieties-horned puffins and tufted puffins, as well as other sea birds in the exhibit area. You were allowed to get no closer than 4 feet from the birds. Since some of them liked to sit on the outer wall and outer rocks, you had to stand back a bit. The exhibit had a rocky area and a large tank. Outside the exhibit, there was also an underwater viewing area. I spent a lot of time watching these fascinating rare birds who love the very cold waters. They were also plentiful in certain areas when we visited Iceland.
Just next door was the sea lion exhibit. We could view the tank at water surface level from the outside or from an interior window also showing an underwater viewing area. There was a lovely 600-pound lady showing her dominance of the exhibit. Rounding out this trilogy of exhibits was the harbor seal tank. There were three seals in residence during our visit. In addition to the standing room, there were lots of chairs to enjoy all these exhibits.
On the opposite side of the main exhibit area were a variety of touch tank exhibits and other sea creature tanks including shrimp, sea urchins, and starfish. The Sea Life Center also had several wonderful areas for children to let off steam. This is a very well-done facility and worth a visit. Also available are a café and excellent gift shop, although the sweatshirt I wanted was out of stock. The staff member said they were wiped out during the 4th of July weekend. That said, there were still lots of interesting souvenirs available.
After the Sea Life Center, I enjoyed walking around in the sunshine (apparently rare in Seward). The backdrop was Mt. Marathon, Resurrection Bay, and the Kenai Mountains. It is just spectacular. Eventually Boris and I made our way down the main street to check out the shops. It was too early to hit the bars. I saw a display wall of sweatpants and was glad I didn’t have to buy any out of necessity. Seward remains an honorary start location for the famous Iditarod dog sled race that started in 1908 and there is a statute on the waterfront and some wall paintings around town commemorating the event. The racing event may be one of the reasons for all the bars.
“The National Iditarod Historic Trail, first known as the Seward-Nome Route, actually predates the famous serum run of 1925. The 2,300-mile trail system was originally developed to transport mail and supplies arriving by steamship in Seward’s ice-free port to communities in the interior during the gold rush era. Nome’s port was ice-bound and inaccessible to steamship from November until roughly July each year. As a result, Seward was a critical link to the outside world for Alaska’s northern villages. From 1909 until the mid-1920s, dog sled teams were the primary method of transportation along the trail.” www.seward.com
After several hours, we were taken back down near the harbor to see the shops there and have some time for lunch. James had given us information about optional excursions, and we decided to discuss them over lunch. We ended up at the restaurant suggested by James, Ray’s Waterfront Bar and Grill. It offered outstanding views overlooking the harbor and our ship, all with the backdrop of the mountains. It was lovely. We shared an order of halibut and chips and a wonderful seafood chowder. Both of us also enjoyed a local cider on draft.
After lunch we checked out the local shops in this area that cater to the many summer cruise ship passengers that pass through Seward, a popular port city for Anchorage departures. As the weather has been colder than I expected, I bought a sweatshirt from a local artist in her original starfish design. Farther down, I found a shop where you could purchase taffy by the pound in a wide variety of flavors. Eventually, I crossed back over the street to the water side and checked out the outfitters that lined the boardwalk by the harbor providing all kinds of recreation in the Kenai Fjords National Park. I didn’t have enough time to watch the entire video, but the National Park office offers a wonderful video on the half hour. It is a well-done presentation, and I was sorry I didn’t stumble upon this location earlier so I could have enjoyed the whole story regarding this beautiful area of Alaska.
Kenai Fjords National Park includes the Harding Icefield, the source of 38 glaciers in the area. The city of Seward may not have much to hold your attention for more than a day or so, but the recreation associated with the park and the region is exciting. Kenai Fjords National Park
From Seward we are headed north to Mt. Alyeska in Girdwood where we will enjoy the premium resort on this itinerary and a tram up the mountain. After getting answers to our individual questions about optional activities, we filled out the form with our selections and another form with our return airline information. James immediately started working on getting our tours booked. We have a group of 21 in total. Since the bus can accommodate 50 plus, we could all have our own row of seats, and everyone can have a window view. Onward to The Aleska Hotel and Resort and tram time.
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