Well, the cruise bliss has come to an end. Our penultimate day cruising the Inside Passage lived up to the hype, we again saw pods of porpoises racing and diving below the bow of the ship in a spectacular display. The sun was shining and even the Cap'n said we had been blessed with the best weather of the entire cruising season. And we took full advantage! We sat in the sun, watching the passage 'traffic' from barges to smaller fishing vessels, and stunning scene...

Well, the time has come. This is the last port stop on our cruise and what a fascinating visit it was to Ketchikan (fabulous name isn't it?). On our way into port it appeared to be a bustling, much, much larger city/town than Skagway and we were the fourth large cruise ship to dock this day- talk about wall to wall ships! We decided not to undertake any formal optional shore tours as we like to walk around and get a feel for places. We undertook the first part ...

A 'day at sea' today as we wake up to Glacier Bay for a scenic trip in this part of the Glacier Bay National Park. The ship got quite close to the various glaciers in the two inlets that we entered but it is virtually impossible to describe the beauty and wildness of this place. It is VERY remote and it is a real privilege to see the glaciers, and wildlife including seals and whales although there is a sense of loss as we are told by the Glacier Bay Park rangers ...

With a population of about 1,000 (down to 400 in the winter) and one jewellery shop per person (OK, slight exaggeration) there was not a lot to see in Skagway. But the narrow gauge railway and it's gold rush history more than made up for the town itself which is probably unkindly described as an outpost. It was cold and damp early in the day but as one guy on our trip said - "I would be disappointed if the weather was any different as he wanted to ensure he had ...

This morning we awake to what we are told is typical weather for Alaska this time of the year - overcast and with temperatures in the low teens. We arrive in Juneau at 1:00 pm and just before we disembark we buy tickets for the chairlift (here called the Mt Roberts Tramway). It is right beside the dock and operated by the local Tlingit First Nations people. We see a bald eagle up close and a few others while descending back to Juneau from the vertigo inducing hei...