Alaskan Cruise - Day 4

Wednesday, May 31st -- Endicott Arm & Juneau, Alaska

I woke up way too early this day. I'm sure some of that has to do with the sun rising at 4am, but also my excitement about/concern over missing our trek through Endicott Arm. Our initial itinerary included Tracy Arm Fjord, which we were really excited about, but the passage was not safe for travel due to icy conditions. We were extra glad about our flightseeing tour over the misty fjords in Ketchikan now.

And let's be honest, we were not disappointed. The Endicott Arm was beautiful. The water was this amazing emerald green color, the landscape was just majestic and at the end of the Arm was a beautiful glacier (the Endicott glacier, I believe). I got a glimpse of it from our balcony as we were turning and ran to the back of the ship as fast as I could to catch pictures. Still in my pajamas. I was not ashamed.

 On our way to Juneau now. We dubbed this Eagle Island because we spotted about half a dozen eagles in the trees. With our binoculars. My camera lens doesn't have enough zoom to spot them. This was a very pretty way to start the morning. I bet this place is a photographer's dream!

So... for as awesome as Ketchikan was, Juneau was the opposite for us. We were quite blessed to be in Ketchikan on one of the few sunny days a year, but made up for it in Juneau where it rained. Our only rainy day in fact. This put a damper on things. But the biggest upset was our ship arrived in port two hours later than originally scheduled. They announced this at the beginning of the cruise when we had to leave Seattle late because of the low tide. Logistically this meant we were late for our Glacier/Whale watch tour which gave us limited time at the glacier. We were still able to see it and it was beautiful but we didn't have time to hike to Nugget Falls which I really wanted to do.

 We did get to "hike" the photo pass trail, which was basically a short walk to an optimal photo location. Albeit ours was wet & muddy, it was not as exciting as an actual hike.

Then we hopped on a bus and headed to the whale watch tour. Again, I'm gonna be honest here, I was a little disappointed. I was certain we'd see some humpbacks up close or at least jumping out of the water or sticking up their heads. No. We saw their backs peak out of the water and one or two whale tails. That was it! This was still a pretty awesome experience and like a fun treasure hunt. Just not what I came into the experience hoping to see.

After this, we headed back in town to grab dinner. We ate at Tracy's King Crab Shack which was recommended online plus people in town. The food was no doubt delicious but we had to wait forever for our order. Best guess is the lady who took our order forgot/failed to submit it. After about 20 minutes and a couple who just sat down next to us receiving our food, we finally said something. They brought our food out, but no apologies or otherwise was given. So that was basically our day in Juneau. We did a little shopping after dinner but there wasn't much else to do-- the ship extended our on board time by an hour, but it did little good since the town was shutting down.

We had a nice day, but definitely our least favorite. No one can control the rain but it was that on top of the other things that put a damper on our Juneau day. Hopefully we can have a better time if we ever go again. :)