Radiance of the Seas Live Blog – Day 3 – Juneau, Alaska

The third day of my 7-night Alaska cruise brings us to Juneau, however we weren’t scheduled to reach till 1PM.

Due to this, the morning began off as a sea day and we caught our first glimpse of Alaska within the distance. Whereas the seas had been calm, it was foggy outdoors, so we weren’t capable of see a lot other than few icebergs floating within the distance!

The Foremost Eating Room had brunch in the present day beginning at 9AM, so we loved a quiet meal subsequent to a window whereas Alaska’s surroundings.

Following brunch, we relaxed in our cabin for a couple of hours till the ship’s captain made an announcement that we had been approaching Juneau.

Arrival in Juneau

Upon listening to the announcement, Reeham and I threw on our jackets, grabbed our cameras, and headed downstairs to the helicopter pad. As a result of our solely views of Alaska thus far had been blocked with fog, we could not wait to catch a extra close-up look.

I keep in mind final yr throughout my first cruise to Alaska, my dad and I had been in awe as we caught our first view of the state when our ship docked in Ketchikan.

The identical factor occurred in the present day after we walked out on the helicopter pad. Large mountains and thousand-foot waterfalls surrounded the ship on either side. We could not have been extra desperate to disembark the ship and begin exploring!

There was nonetheless an hour or so till the gangway opened, so we had lunch on the Windjammer earlier than disembarking.

Radiance of the Seas docked on the AJ dock in the present day, and we had been the final ship to reach in port. Attending to downtown Juneau from the dock is a few 15-20 minute stroll, or you possibly can decide to buy a round-trip shuttle ticket to and from downtown.

Whereas the shuttle ticket was low cost, we determined to stroll as we had no plans for the day and thus weren’t in a rush.

The unique plan for in the present day in Juneau was to trip the Goldbelt Tram up Mount Roberts for gorgeous views of Juneau and the encompassing space. On the high of the tram are climbing trails, a restaurant, and a memento store, so it appeared like a pleasant strategy to spend the afternoon.

After we received to Juneau, nevertheless, the sky had close to full cloud cowl and the tram was lined in mist, so we determined towards it. It is nonetheless on the high of my record, however I will need to strive it on a day with clearer skies!

As an alternative of taking the tram, we ventured to the realm across the port the place native tour firms promote unbiased excursions. Whale watching excursions, helicopter rides, glacier viewing excursions, and different Alaska adventures will be booked as soon as on shore in Juneau.

The excursions had been all fairly costly (albeit normal Alaska tour costs), so we opted for the most affordable one: round-trip transportation and entrance payment to Mendenhall Glacier.

I visited Mendenhall Glacier final yr whereas on Ovation of the Seas, however it’s such a good looking place that I could not go up visiting once more.

Plus, whereas downtown Juneau has loads of outlets and eating places, there is not a ton to do instantly on the town, so I assumed it made sense to go to Juneau’s high attraction a second time.

Mendenhall Glacier

The shuttle to Mendenhall Glacier takes round 25 minutes, and our driver offered informational and entertaining commentary alongside the way in which, making the time go shortly and giving us insights into Juneau’s geography and way of life.

After we arrived, I used to be, as soon as once more, flabbergasted by the wonder and grandeur of Mendenhall Glacier and the encompassing mountains.

The sky blue, icy glacier and towering Mendenhall Towers above are so stunning that I may most likely go to 100 occasions and never get uninterested in the view. We even noticed two bald eagles resting on an iceberg!

We had been a bit brief on time, so we hiked the short path to Nugget Falls as a substitute of doing an extended hike. Visiting Nugget Falls is properly definitely worth the ~20 minute stroll on principally paved surfaces, because the waterfall is extraordinarily highly effective and spectacular!

The view of the glacier from Nugget Falls is not one of the best, although, because the view is generally lined by rock. For one of the best viewing alternative, remember to go to the park’s official scenic picture space situated close to the customer middle.

We spent round two hours on the glacier and earlier than leaving, we walked into the Customer Middle. I discovered the knowledge on the glacier on the middle fairly fascinating, and so they even had a theater and a stay lecturer delivering details about Mendenhall Glacier, so it is properly price a go to.

Downtown Juneau

We took the shuttle bus again to Juneau and arrived downtown with an hour and a half left earlier than all-aboard time.

Our first cease was the Alaska Fudge Co., which makes selfmade fudge in quite a lot of enjoyable flavors, from cookies n’ cream to chocolate peanut butter. It was scrumptious!

Subsequent, we stumbled throughout a cool meals truck/meals vendor park downtown. The whole lot from an oyster bar to fish tacos and crêpes had been being bought from numerous distributors, and it appeared like an superior place to hang around close to downtown.

We tried panko-breaded salmon tacos from the taco truck and so they had been out-of-this-world scrumptious!

Our final cease for the day was a relaxation at a picnic desk on the waterfront whereas en route again to the ship. Right here we took within the final views of Juneau earlier than making the 15 minute stroll again to Radiance of the Seas.

As soon as onboard, we went straight to the Windjammer for a late dinner and watched as we pulled away from Juneau and commenced the journey to Icy Strait Level, our subsequent port of name.

At this level it was already previous 8PM and we had been drained from a protracted day of strolling, climbing, and sightseeing, so we headed again to the cabin to loosen up.

We had a beautiful day in Juneau in the present day, and the rain one way or the other averted us all through the vast majority of the day. I even noticed blue skies peeking by way of the clouds!

Thanks for following alongside on this stay weblog and I will be again tomorrow from Icy Strait Level!