After a wonderful cruise on the Norwegian Pearl to Alaska, Jennifer and I are back and excited to tell you about our trip. We’ll start off with port reviews and then an overall cruise review, including some tips and tricks. First up, a port review on Juneau!
We left from Seattle on a Sunday afternoon, around 4pm and cruised through the night and all of Monday to get up to Juneau. We saw lots of whales on the way, and even a pod of dolphins! We arrived in Juneau on Tuesday, a little early, around 1pm. The NCL Jewel was still docked, so we floated in the harbour until they left and we could scoot over into the AJ dock. Here’s a couple photos of our arrival:
Once we docked, we headed off right away to get off the ship. We met our tour (Sled Dog Discovery and Musher’s Camp) on the pier and got on the bus to head over to the summer dog camp. We picked the first tour time of the day; which worked out great once we made it to the camp. The camp is on Douglas Island, so about a 20-25 minute drive from the dock. As soon as we arrived, we went straight to the sled for a ride through the forest. We had 16 dogs pulling us and they were so excited to be running! Our musher told us about life with the dogs and what a typical year is like for him. He owns a total of 42 dogs. In the summer, they train in Juneau and in the winter, he heads back up to Fairbanks.
After our sled ride, we were able to visit with the dogs and then were given a little presentation on the races. Jennifer tried on the giant parka that they have to wear for the Iditarod.
Finally, we got plenty of time to play with the puppies! There were 3 litters of various ages and we were able to visit with them all.
This was a really lovely excursion. Great people and happy dogs!
After the tour, we asked to be dropped off in the town of Juneau. We wandered around, stopping for some icecream, and then decided to go up the Mount Roberts Tramway. You can purchase tickets for the tram on the cruise ship, but as there is no set time to go up, it’s easier and slightly cheaper to buy the tickets when you arrive. The tramway only takes about 5 minutes to reach the top. Once there, you have the choice of many hiking trails. There is also a theatre, visitor centre, gift shop and raptor viewing. We walked the loop trail at the top.
Next port review will be Skagway!
*All photos are the property of Charlotte Moore, unless stated otherwise, and may not be used without written consent.
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