We are still making up for all the lost travel over the last couple years, and specifically using future cruise credits from a Panama Canal cruise that was canceled in May 2020. Doug and I decided we would do another Alaska Cruise. We had gone several years ago with family, but this one would be just us.
We decided on July, hoping the weather would cooperate. Last time as a family we had gone in June, and it was beautiful weather the whole time. Surely, July would bring us good weather, right? More about that later.
The plan was to leave on July 18th out of Seattle on the Quantum of the Seas. Our stops were Sitka, Skagway, Juneau and Victoria, then returning on July 25th.
Since we were leaving out of Seattle, we made arrangements to park our car at one of the “Cruise and Park” lots near the Smith Cove Cruise Terminal at Pier 91. Once at the lot they shuttled us to the terminal. It all went very smoothly and within a short amount of time we were through the line and getting on the ship.
As in my other cruise posts I will tell a little about the ship, and then the excursions.
Ship
Quantum of the Seas. I would consider this a mid-size ship. It had 16 decks. We were on deck 6 forward, near the elevators. We had a beautiful balcony room with plenty of room to move around. It had a small sofa, a king size bed and a desk.
The “promenade” deck was on 4 and included all the shops, Sorento’s (pizza), Café Promenade for coffee and snacks, and la Patisserie for coffee and pastries to purchase. There was also and English Pub and the Main Dining rooms at the back of the deck and the Royal Theatre at the front of the deck.
Deck 5 had several of the guest services, the upper tier of the Royal Theatre, the Schooner Bar and the Bionic Bar, which was an experience of its own. We were given a tablet to select a drink. Once we ordered it went into a queue and the one by one the robotic arm selected a glass, moved around to get the “shots” and other ingredients from the bottles suspended from the ceiling, added ice if desired, blended if needed, then poured it into a cup. When we saw our name on the reader board we approached and pressed a button which then brought the drink forward. It was fun to watch, and of course the drink that anywhere else on the ship cost $11, was about $16.
The pools and Solarium were on deck 14, as well as the Windjammer Marketplace, the restaurant for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if you didn’t want to eat in the Main Dining room. Also on 14 was the North Star which was a capsule that elevates up to 300 feet above the ship for 360 degrees views. I had scheduled to go on it ($20) however, at the time I was to go it was foggy and rainy out with not much visibility.
Spa
Because we had purchased the cruise through Costco, we received 2 spa treatments, $50 in onboard credit and two soda packages. I used the spa treatments for a 50-minute massage and a 50-minute facial. Both were wonderful.
Entertainment
The welcome aboard show was comic and impressionist Dylan Mandlsohn, who reminded us of Jim Carrey. Later that week we watched ventriloquist Michael Harrison, also very funny, and Elton John tribute by Andy Elton. The final show was a production show “Sequins and Feathers”.
Ports of Calls and Excursions
It was cold (56 degrees) and threatening rain when we pulled into Sitka. The pier is about a 15-minute shuttle ride from downtown Sitka. We had an excursion which included the National Historical Park and Cultural Center. The park has a mile long Totem Trail which had beautiful totem poles, each with their own story to tell. Our shuttle driver gave us the history of Sitka as we made our way to the park. After spending time in the park and cultural center she dropped us off near downtown Sitka for some shopping. Also included was an Indian Dance at the playhouse, but we opted to walk around the town.
It was rainy and cold in Skagway. Our original excursion which was sightseeing was canceled so we went on an excursion to a “mushers camp” up in the hills, and a stop at a pioneer cemetery along the way. At the camp we learned about the Alaskan Huskies that pull the sleds during the annual Iditarod Dog Sled race, and even got to spend a few minutes with some of the puppies, which of course was the highlight of that tour.
Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier
The plan was to sail into Endicott Arm at about 5am and stay until 9:30am. If able, we were going to see Dawes Glacier. Apparently, several ships had not been able to see the glacier because of the ice chunks prohibited them from getting far enough up Endicott Arm. The plan was to be in Juneau about 1pm.
I woke up about 6am and when I looked out the window and I saw that we were in port, which was confusing. Even if we had not been able to get as far up as the glacier, we would not have had time to get to Juneau after entering Endicott Arm. Well, at about 8am the captain came on and explained that they had an emergency the night before and had to make the difficult decision to head straight to Juneau. We found out later that a child had jumped down a staircase and shattered his elbow. So, no glacier this time around.
Since we were in port earlier than we originally planned we decided to get off the ship a little early and check out a few of the stores before went on our excursion. It was very rainy and cold. Our excursion was again about the Iditarod Dog Sled Race, but much more in-depth. The musher’s camp included 40-50 dog houses, a training track and sleeping tents for the mushers. We learned a lot about the training of the dogs, preparing them for the race. We got to spend time with some of the puppies again. The tour ended with everyone getting the opportunity to ride in a sled that was pulled by 12 huskies. It was a fun experience that we both agreed we would do again!
Our last port of call was Victoria. We didn’t even arrive until about 4pm, and it was beautiful and sunny, about 70 degrees. We had a 7pm “city tour” which was ok, nothing special.
My least favorite part, the next morning was having to get off the ship so early. We were back to our car by about 8:30 and home by 9:30 am. We spent the rest of the day unpacking and resting….. The following day Doug tested positive for Covid. I had it back in May, so I did not get it again.
I was hoping after finally be able to have this make-up cruise (after our Panama Canal cruise was canceled in May 2020), that Doug would decide that he wants to do more cruising. Although we had a little trouble with the internet, which he needs to have for his business, overall, he did enjoy himself and said he would like to go on another cruise. We’ll see!
