29 June 2017; Juneau, Alaska.

During the night we sailed slowly towards Juneau to join the parade of incoming cruise ships. Today it was not so busy; only three ships arrived at more or less the same time. The parade was led this time by the Celebrity Infinity who had to go to the Steamship Dock, the dock furthest in before they put the new floating dock in position. Alaska Steam was always the dock for the smallest cruise ship and thus most of the time the Holland America S and R Class docked there.

The ms Noordam docked in Juneau today. this photo was taken from the ships tender as I was conducting sailor training today. In the back the Celebrity Infinity.

Now we have this new and very long dock there is space for the big boys as well. Next in line was the Noordam which docked in front of the Infinity at what we still call the Cruise Terminal although the name is now outdated. The name dates back from the days that the Alaska Ferry dock was converted in a cruise ship dock and if there was only one cruise ship in, it went to that dock. The Alaska State Ferry had by then moved to a new terminal at Auke Bay sometime in the early 80’s. Far out of town but much easier for cars and trucks to reach and park.  In port as well was the Norwegian Sun and in the afternoon we were joined by the Carnival Legend and that meant that all the major cruise docks were occupied.  There were no small cruise ships in port today which is unusual as there are a lot of wildlife enthusiasts who want to go very far off the beaten track. Something we do not offer with the larger ships and not even with our shore excursions.

The port of Juneau as seen on the Electronic chart. The red lines in the chart are the safe boundaries for the ship to sail in between. The little roundals indicates the moments for changing course and speed.

Carnival has committed one ship to Alaska since a number of years, although it’s focus is not on Alaska as such. As we are now one big family with the various brands under the Carnival Corporation Umbrella, Holland America and Princess are spear heading the Alaska cruise experience. But Carnival Cruise Lines is a big cruise company and thus they have sufficient clientele to offer one ship for the Alaska summer while having “fun” at the same time. It is for the same reason we see other company’s popping up with one ship for one or more cruises. Thus we have seen the Silver Shadow and the Seven Seas Mariner but also one of our own Seabourn Ships. Seabourn delivers a six star cruise experience and goes everywhere from the Artic to the Antarctic and from Europe to the Far East. It has only a few ships and so has to offer a few cruises everywhere which is also something its guests expect. Something different all the time.  I might be able to blog about Seabourn a bit more next year, as plans are that those ships will be become part of my fleet rotation program.

A bald eagle had taken up a prime look out spot on top of the rope winch for bringing mooring lines ashore.

Juneau provided an overcast experience today but the clouds stayed up in the sky and thus the Cable Car to Mount Roberts could show Juneau from the air. It is not unusual for the top to be enclosed in clouds. It does not stop the cable cars from going up and down but it limits the experience at the top to visiting the little attractions (shops) on the platform. But Juneau is getting more and more attractions closer to the ship in the form of Wildlife. When I came to Alaska for the first time in 1982 seeing a Bald Eagle was big news. We made announcements and slowed down the ships. But with the years the conservation projects have paid off and now we see them everywhere. Even on the docks. This afternoon we had a full grown specimen sitting on the bow bollard of the dock watching the world go by. There is ample fish in Gastineau Channel and all around, not to mention all sorts of small animals (and they seem to like French fries as well) for them to live the good life.

We left just after 17.30 as all the guests were nicely back on board on time and the extra 30 minutes will help the captain to arrive timely in Ketchikan. It is a high speed run between these two ports and as you never know how much you have to slow down at Snow Passage, a bit of extra time up the sleeve does help. We are looking forward to real Ketchikan weather with temperatures around 55oF or 13oC and around noon time a 100% chance of rain. The locals must get worried as even for Ketchikan there has been much less summer than normal.