Alaska - Cruise Day 5 - Juneau what I'm talking about?

Our next port stop took us to not only the capital of Alaska but also a place full of corny puns, Juneau what I'm saying? One of the most popular destinations in this city is the Mendenhall Glacier and currently Princess offers 17 different shore excursions that feature this particular glacier. Another popular option is to ride the Mount Roberts Tramway. It's a short walk from the pier and costs $35 per adult for an all day pass. At the mountaintop lodge, there is exhibits, a theater, and a restaurant as well as trails to walk and the Juneau Raptor Center to explore. The tram runs from 8AM to 9PM and a tram car leaves approximately every five minutes. A nice idea if you'd rather have a leisurely day or want to do something more active first and then do this more low key activity. An even better plus is that what Princess is charging for the day pass is the same cost as what you'd pay if you waited to buy your ticket upon arrival at the tram. There have been tickets found online in the past so do a google search before your trip if you're interested. Sometimes local retailers will also offer discounts or coupon books to local attractions so it never hurts to make new friends of shopkeepers and ask. It is wheelchair accessible. The only concern would be if you have a fear of heights. I remember riding a tram up the mountain in Gatlinburg, TN as a teenager and my mom squeezed my hand so hard she kept asking everyone else on the tram if the nail marks she left in my palm was considered child abuse.

Not the clearest picture but it gives you an idea of what the tram cars are like:

I'm also amazed at several new offerings of tours that were not on our list back when we took this cruise like Private Whale Watching or the Foodie Walking Tour. I remember not having very many choices to pick from with this port so now I'm a little jealous to see all the cool adventurous excursions now available. Hey Princess, I'd be happy to be your Guinea pig if you need someone to try out and review these excursions. :)

We left behind the Crown Princess and today got to share the port with the Ruby Princess and Holland America's Zaandam.

If you're interested in simply heading into town and looking for something to do there, you have the option of booking a shuttle into town on the dock. It was $3 for an all day pass during our visit but I hear from recent cruisers that it's now up to $5. It's a 1 mile walk into town if you want to work off some more cruise calories.

What we chose to do for our time in Juneau today was try and redeem my track record when it comes to whale watching boat tours. If you visit Bar Harbor with plans to do their whale watching tour and even the company is offering refunds because of the fog, take them up on it. By the end of the boat tour, the entire boat of a couple hundred passengers was seasick including yours truly. And I normally don't get seasick on big ships or small boats. So today we booked through Princess for their Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Quest tour that currently retails for $199.95. There is an option to take the local bus tour to Mendenhall Glacier for $30 roundtrip if you'd rather get there on your own. The Mendenhall Glacier site not only offers great views of the famous glacier but also a trail to hike down closer to it along with Nugget Falls, a small museum with a short film, and of course gift shop. To enter the visitor center, it costs $5 for anyone 16 and older. From what I've read and experienced, if you don't want to go into the museum part of the visitor center, then there is no cost to see the glacier or do the hiking. We were given wristbands to wear when we arrived on the tour bus and an employee sat between the gift shop and the museum entrance demanding that everyone show him their wristband to enter. I guess a lot of people don't realize it's a fee and walk right past him because he seemed to be really angry about checking for wristbands. Most everyone he stopped turned back to the gift shop counter 5 feet away and bought the wristband.

If you have limited mobility, rest assured you can still get a great view of the glacier from where the buses let you off. This photo is taken from where we got off the bus:

There is also a few covered bus stop style benches right by the parking lot to sit and wait for any of the buses to return. 

There is a couple sets of steps to get up into the museum but also elevators around the other side.

It took 25 minutes to drive to Mendenhall Glacier from the cruise port and we basically were given free reign for an hour to do whatever we pleased on site.

After a fair share of photos taken from the entrance of the glacier, we headed inside to check out the museum. It's a fairly small museum. I'm pretty sure we never lost sight of Mr. Wristband Checker at his post the whole time we explored. Is it worth the extra $5? Yeah I'd say you should spend a little of your time checking out the exhibits. If you're physically able, I'd devote the bulk of your time hiking down on the paved path to get views of Nugget Falls and the Mendenhall Glacier up close.

I loved the humor behind displaying this sign in the museum right before the restrooms.

Showing the different levels of glacial ice:

This telescope in the museum offered a great view of Nugget Falls.

I walked part of the way down the trail to the first lookout area:

Alaska - Cruise Day 5 - Juneau I had to keep blubbering on about whales!

Back on the bus for a 20 minute ride to Auke Bay where we boarded a catamaran for a 3 hour whale watching boat tour. There was a solid deck to walk up to the boat and the staff was on hand to help anyone step on that had mobility issues. There was covered space both on a lower level and upper level on the boat to watch but I had the foresight to grab a seat on the inside in the front row of chairs and the first chair next to the window on the lower level. It gave me a great viewpoint both out the side and front windows and I got to sit comfortably getting great photos even after the masses discovered my prime real estate spot and crowded in front of the window. Too bad I couldn't sell tickets for use of the space and fund my next cruise.

The scenery above the water wasn't too shabby to look at either: 

While you also can book privately with many companies, Harv and Marv is one I hear frequently recommended by cruisers, if you'd rather be on a smaller boat with less people, this ride did not feel super crowded. The crew of this research vessel used for the tour gave great commentary over a microphone so even when they were up top or in the back of the boat, you could easily hear them. They passed around various examples of whale related items like baleen so we could see and feel what they were teaching us about. The boat had a handful of binoculars for use on board but it would also be beneficial to bring your own small pair. They also passed around drinks (non alcoholic) and smoked salmon on crackers. It's always a little cooler on the water so bring along a jacket or rain parka even if it's 80° outside. When it can literally pay to read the fine print: Princess promises that if you don't see any whales on this tour, they will refund you $100. They also add that they have a 100% success record of seeing whales on every tour for the past 15 years.

Bubble feeding:

When you invite your bird friends over for a fish potluck:

Who knew whales could do dolphin impressions:

Such friendly whales always waving at new friends:

Does this count as being mooned by the whale? Or just flipp (ered) off?

Remember when it was the cool thing to do handstands in the pool?

Is this the whale carpool lane?

Who's up for a high five? Or is that high fin?

Even whales like to sunbathe:

Anyone order a whale tail showerhead? It comes with two settings - April Showers and Summer Sprinkles:

Way to stick the landing! The judges give your performance two fins up!

Look, it's a Carnival ship in its native habitat!

A major highlight was being in the right spot to witness a whale surface right next to a man's fishing boat giving him a good splash before diving back down.

We were then blessed with a close up visit by a couple whales who were in the mood to play. This guy was missing a chunk out of his fin.

I'm happy to report two things - 1) I don't think anyone got seasick and 2) Princess got to keep the $100 because we saw multiple sightings of bubble-net feeding (several whales circle a source of food blowing bubbles to trap the fish inside the circle), whales playing, breaching, and whales coming up to the surface for air. I can't say that one whale watching tour in any of the ports is better than the other but this was definitely one to add to your budget.

The highlight of our day in Juneau was spent watching whales play in the water so I ended the day capturing the beauty of the sunset on the water as we left port.

We've seen glaciers, goodtime girls, gold panning, and now whales. What's left for our final port day? Well climbing among the trees with bears of course! Stay tuned for our day in Ketchikan!