Glaciers & Glowtinis - Day 4 Juneau

[Melanie R]

I was becoming very familiar to waking up in the darkness at 5am, so was pleasantly surprised when I checked my phone to realise that I had managed to sleep in until 6 this morning! I was pleased that maybe I was getting back into a more regular sleep routine when I remembered that the ship had changed the time overnight, so in reality I had lost an hour and it was actually 5am “real time” after all!

I had the morning routine down pat by now – try to get back to sleep, when that wasn’t working get up, check the weather forecast for the day and head to the balcony to see if it was accurate! This morning I was disappointed to see that my weather app had the opinion that it was going to rain all day – and my brief excursion outside to the balcony confirmed that it was definitely raining!

I am actually optimistic by nature, so I reminded myself that I had the same forecast in Vancouver, but as the day progressed the forecast got better and the rain did actually hold off for the main part of the day. We weren’t due to dock in Juneau until lunchtime and my trip was booked for 1:15 so there was plenty of time for the weather to improve.

On this positive note, I decided to get dressed and start my day. I decided I would check out the breakfast offerings in Horizons (the buffet restaurant) this morning, but once I headed up there it seemed that everyone else had the same idea and the place was packed, so I made a swift u turn, got straight back in the lift and headed to the main dining room which had only a very small queue. I again opted for a table to myself and was soon seated and had placed my regular order – today I had added sausages to my poached eggs on toast order. I briefly considered ordering the banana nut pancakes, but stuck to my original order ( I really wish now that I had ordered both as they did look good when I spotted someone else’s order!)

The food was slow to arrive, and when it did wasn’t quite as well cooked as the previous day, but was still hot and tasty, and the area I had been seated in seemed to be missed out by the waiters wandering with the trays of pastries, so once I had eaten and finished my cup of tea, I wandered up to the buffet again and collected a couple of pastries to take out – they were so good!

I collected another takeaway latte from the International Café (I did pay for this one ) and given the wet weather decided to skip sitting out on deck – I could get just as wet in peace on my balcony!

My stateroom had already been serviced by the time I returned, so I picked up my kindle and took my coffee and pastries to the balcony to enjoy – I was also periodically checking the weather forecast but it was still showing as solidly rain for the whole day, and to be fair a simple look outdoors confirmed that this weather was going nowhere today.

I had expected variable weather on the trip and had packed accordingly, so it wasn’t too long before I was getting changed into appropriate clothing ready for my excursion. I double checked the time and decided it was time I headed out to meet up with my tour group on the pier, as per instructions.

I headed off the ship and then realised just how sheltered the balconies were – it was raining but it was also a lot more windy than I had expected – luckily I had taken a seasickness tablet in preparation for the whale tour. I headed to the meeting point to be greeted with the news that due to the stronger than expected winds, the whale tours had all been cancelled! I was offered an alternative walking tour of Juneau which I declined and was assured I would be automatically refunded – this wasn’t my top concern at the moment, I was just gutted that I had travelled thousands of miles mainly to view the whales in their natural habitat and the trip was cancelled! I briefly considered having a walk into the town, but the weather really was miserable so I decided to cut my losses and enjoy another day onboard.

I headed back to my stateroom and wallowed in disappointment for about 5 minutes, then I pulled myself together and reminded myself I was on an amazing ship, had lots of other things to look forward to and that I always knew the weather was unpredictable and I needed to get over myself. Once I had done this, I decided I would check out the excursions on the next port days to see if there was any options to switch to a whale tour – I was disappointed to see the excursion desk was closed – I would have expected this to be manned under the circumstances, but there were at least details of the tours available for the next days None of the other ports included such a tour, but then I remembered I had another cruise booked which had a stop in Victoria, and I was fairly certain I would be able to pick up a tour independently even if none were available to book through the ship.

Feeling brighter, I headed back to my stateroom and pulled up the Princess site on my iPad, only to find that I couldn’t amend or add tours to my next cruise as I was too close to the sail day – but it was showing there were still over 20 spots left on the whale tour, and I reasoned that if I couldn’t add to my itinerary, then nobody else would be able to either! I was feeling a lot happier about it now, and I realised that I could even book a tour direct from Vancouver on changeover day if needed as the Golden Princess didn’t sail until 11pm so I could have time in Vancouver if I needed to. (Told you I was an optimist!)

It was too wet today to sit outside, so I wandered round exploring the ship a little, then found myself at the International Café so ordered a coffee and some carrot cake and headed back to my stateroom to have a lazy afternoon watching a movie on my iPad – it was at this point that I realised again the benefit of travelling solo was that I could do this without worrying about anyone else – it was my holiday to spend as I chose 😊

At around 7 I decided it was time to head out for dinner – I checked out the Princess Patter to see what was on tonight in the theatre, and when I realised it was the same comedian from the first night, I knew I would be giving that one a miss!

I got changed and headed down to the dining room and was put in the same section as the previous evening and was warmly greeted by Alex the waiter. Tonight was Italian night and they were all dressed in stripy tops (not at all stereotypical!) and obviously the menu choices reflected the theme for the evening. I ordered the minestrone soup to be followed by spaghetti and meatballs and caught the eye of the wine waiter to order a seabreeze cocktail to go along with it. I realised the added benefit of dining alone was that I didn’t have to share the bread basket with anyone – and I was starving by now as I had skipped lunch, so I’m afraid I made quite a dent!

The food was good – the soup was hot (a common gripe on cruises is lukewarm soup) and tasty and the spaghetti and meatballs were also well cooked and I thoroughly enjoyed the meal. I was a little underwhelmed by the desert menu and ended up with another chocolate desert which if I’m honest was a little too rich for my taste and I couldn’t finish it. What I did eat was very nice though 😂

I was offered a limoncello to round off my meal which I accepted and was lovely!

I headed out of the dining room and it was now around 9 and I was starting to flag a little (even though I had a lazy day) so I headed to the International Café for a latte and while there, a group of musicians started to play in the atrium – I stopped to watch and listen as these guys were fab and I stayed so long I had finished my coffee!

I then was struggling to keep my eyes open and knew we had an early start in Skagway the following day as I had booked a trip on the White Pass Railway, so decided it was bedtime and headed back to my stateroom to bed, reading for a while on my kindle until I fell asleep.💤

[ILoveDaveLamb]

Am enjoying your report, Mel. I hope you got to see whales later in your holiday. Will stay tuned to find out! :-)

[jocat]

What a disappointment that your whale watching trip was cancelled, but glad there are other options for you to do it later in your trip instead. You’d definitely expect the excursion desk to be open though.

Hope the weather improved for your next port days.

[Loopylooloo]

Such a shame about the weather and your whale trip, your food photos make up for lack of whale pictures though Melanie! I am up ready to leave for our short cruise to France, so might not be able to read along for a few days but will check in when I am back!

[Disney_time]

That was a big disappointment 😞 but full marks for going straight back to look at other options. I'm quite excited waiting to see if you saw some whales later in the trip! It's like waiting for the next episode of the Bodyguard! I'm enjoying the food pics too.

[lardypops]

Such a shame about the weather, I used to work that route on the ships and Juneau was one of my favourite ports. Fingers crossed you got to see the whales later on in your trip

[mitch84]

I’m loving these. How expensive were the drinks and coffees? I always gravitate towards AI or a drinks package I must say

[Melanie R]

Originally Posted by mitch84

I’m loving these. How expensive were the drinks and coffees? I always gravitate towards AI or a drinks package I must say

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The drinks package was expensive (over £50 per day) but actual prices were not bad. I was paying around $3 for a coffee and around $8 - $10 for cocktails.

[SuziQz]

Sounds like a mainly relaxing trip so far. That hotel room looked fab. Shame about the weather and your whale trip but hopefully you manage to book another one later on. Looking forward to reading about the rest

[anji]

Such a shame about the weather and I do hope you get to see whales later on. Great report!