wordell1

MDR review - night 2 "A Taste of France"
I ordered the French onion soup, the beef tenderloin and the warm apple cobbler.
My wife ordered the Caesar salad, the Spring pea and asparagus risotto, and the cheese plate.
I enjoyed everything that I ordered. The beef tenderloin is my favorite thing from the old menu and it was just as good as I remember. My wife enjoyed her salad and the risotto but felt that the cheese plate was lackluster.
Service was good but I definitely notice that both nights, the waiters and assistants were very busy. There was little time for any interaction. They were friendly, but noticeably rushed. It didn't affect any service,  but I could see how it could. We are on MTD dining, but that is what we typically do so the comparison is still valid.
We will see how the rest of the nights go.

Waiting to depart it Sitka. We are taking the shuttle into town and doing a do it yourself tour.
Here are some pictures of the Alaskan coast as we came in to Sitka. The last one is the port.

We took the free shuttle into town and then took a 20 minute walk to the Raptor center. We wanted to get there early to avoid the crowds and were almost the only ones there when we arrived.
This was well worth the $15 admission. We were able to see multiple bald eagles up close and learned a lot about the birds. This is a great center and they rehab and release a lot of birds. The ones you can take photos of are not able to be released.
There was also a short nature trail that lran along a river up to a small waterfall.

We left tbe raptor center just as the first tour bus arrived. Mission accomplished!
We the walked over to the Sitka National Historic Park. There is a visitors center with lots of information on the native amaricans who lived in the area before the Russians and then Americans came.
 There are some easy walking trails that show lots of different torem poles and different topography along the way. You can walk all the way out to the site of a battle between the native amaricans and the Russians.
We came in from the back side so we ended the hike at the visitors center. This was highly enjoyable as we got to see some really pretty forrest areas as well as river and coastal areas all in one relatively short hike.

Dinner last night was "A Taste of Asia"
I had the chicken and cabbage dumplings, theshrimp pad thai, and the royal chocolate cake. I missed taking a picture of the dumplings.
My wife had the spring rolls, the teriyaki salmon, and vanilla ice cream.
Again, the food was really good. No complaints on anything. The restaurant was less busy tonight, maybe people tired from the excursions or just didn't like the menu.
There are alot of Asians on this cruise. There is a large group from Malaysia on a tour.

 

Woke up early today (6am) and these are a few shots from our balcony as we head towards Skagway.
I am ignoring @Mattadvice and doing 2 excursions. We are doing the White pass railway at 8am and the dog sled excursion at 2.

We had a long day with the 2 excursions.
We started the day with a RC excursion. White pass railway and Skagway highlights. I actually picked this only because the normal railway excursions were sold out.
This one started on a bus which brought us through town and to the cemetery with a history of the town along the way. At the cemetery was a path up to a waterfall that was worth doing, although it was a very steep walk.
We got a good history of the town and of the Gold Rush. The bus then took us along the river all the way to the Canadian side of the railway. We then boarded the train to ride back to Skagway.
 

I cannot recommend the White Pass Railway enough. I have read a few reviews and all I can say is that they did not do it justice, I doubt this one will either. The views were spectacular.
We started in Canada at 2800 ft elevation and ended back in Skagway at zero. At the summit it was cold and foggy with plenty of snow on the ground.
As we got lower, large valleys open up with spectacular views.
I took lots of pictures and will try to post a few to do it justice.

After a busy day yesterday we entered the Endicott Arms glacier area at 5am this morning. I positioned us at the bridge wings outside the Solarium.
It was COLD and windy out there but worth it to get good shots.
We were able to duck into the Solarium to warm up occasionally. I told my wife that next time we do this, we would do it from the Solarium hot tubs.

Monday night's dinner was "A Taste of USA"
My phone was at 5% battery after taking so many pictures on our 2 excursions so I didn't get pictures.
I ordered the Buffalo chicken dip, the honey fried chicken, and the vegan fudge brownie.
The dip was very good and I think the name is confusing because it did taste anything like Buffalo wings. It was more like chips and queso with shredded chicken in the queso. Very good, but I didn't get enough chips.
I didn't really like the honey fried chicken. It was too lightly breaded and although it had a nice flavor, it was a little dry. I didn't hate it, but I would probably not get it again.
My wife had the honey glazed salmon which was good. I observed someone near me who ordered the Royal burger which looked really good.
I'm definitely not a vegan, and had concerns about ordering the vegan brownie but it may have been the best dessert of the week. I asked for mine with ice cream.
Edit - I realized my wife took pictures of the entree's.

Our excursion in Juneau was "Whales, glaciers, and Rainforest trails.
We started with a 2 hr whale watch. There were only 19 people on this tour so it was not one of the super big boats.  We saw a lot of whales, although none were super close. It was a beautiful boat ride so that was a bonus.
After the whale watch, we took a 1 mile hike through the forest to a beach on Lake Mendenhall. We got a really good view of the glacier from there. The tour guide provided a lot of information about the rain forest and the the glacier.
It was another good excursion. I would have loved to hike out to the waterfall but it would have taken too much time.

Wonderland review 
Wow, what a crazy restaurant! It was worth it to try once just for the experience. If you have never tried it, you should.
Having said that, there was little to recommend on the food.
Our waiter pretty much brought us all of the appetizers to try. I only loved the tuna sashimi and liked the shrimp. I disliked the tomato water, the salad, and birds nest. The crab thing and liqified lobster were just ok in my opinion. My wife liked the shrimp, tuna and also the birds nest.
Most of the issues can be summarized by the following. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.
One of the things I try to live by in my home and work life is to keep things simple. This restaurant really makes things complicated. I get that it is done for artistic reasons, but it seems like it was done at the expense of flavor. At least for the appetizers.
We did have a lot of fun trying them all, I think the experience was worth it.
 

We both ordered the short ribs and they were excellent. Our waiter brought us the branzino to try and it was good, but not great.
Our waiter also brought out all 3 desserts and I liked all of them. The world is one of my favorite desserts. It's a must for any chocolate lover. The other 2 were good as well and dessert may be a compelling reason to come back Wonderland in the future.

We docked at 5pm in Victoria. It's a short stop with all aboard at 930.
We chose to walk into downtown from the ship. It is about a 2 mile walk to the main areas of downtown. We walked all the way to Chinatown.
It was a really nice walk along a designed path that follwed the waterfront.
We stopped at fisherman's warf. This would have been a nice place to stop and eat casual dinner but we had eaten a late lunch and were not hungry.  This is also really close to the ship and could be easily walked if you are not up to the whole 2 miles. There was a water taxi to downtown available.
The path continues along to waterfront and passes the BC capital building and the Empress hotel. Both are neat stops.




 

We walked around, had a beer at a pretty cool bar, and the caught a pedi cab back. Unfortunately, we have to pack.
I mentioned before that the pub on Ovation serves food. We decided to have the burger as our dinner. Wow, what an outstanding burger. They really need to add the food menu to all of the pubs.

We have been blessed with outstanding weather on this trip. I was expecting lots of cold and rain. We have had a little cold, but only a light must in Juneau.
Today was 72 degrees and sunny. I am actually sitting on my balcony watching the sun set in Victoria wearing just a t shirt and shorts. It's a perfect end to a great cruise.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CtS4ftNgTDa/?igshid=MjAxZDBhZDhlNA==
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CtS4ftNgTDa/?igshid=MjAxZDBhZDhlNA==  Stumbled on this last night when scrolling through my Instagram reels.  It indeed was a medical emergency and the whole story was posted on IG.  

One time a family member had a change to their graduation date from boot camp and I had to walk away from a cruise.  I lost all my cruise money. (but I was at the graduation).  Another time a real estate deal had a hiccup that required I meet with the seller on short notice and if I didn't the deal would fall through.  I lost all my cruise money (but I eventually closed on the deal).
Neither were covered events for travel insurance purposes.  In both cases I decided something else was more important.  That was my choice.
Those were the terms I agreed to when I booked and paid for the cruise.  There was no recourse.  There is no appealing for life events that warrant missing a cruise.  

I'm not familiar with the site, but the paying money part doesn't seem right.  Its not that difficult, and your TA should be able to help.  If you have questions, you can ask here and people will try to help.

Even though this thread is really old.  It's probably good for everyone to realize that its not a good idea to mix your vacation and jewelry/art buying. Unless you have done some research and know what you are buying and what normal pricing is, its likely you will overpay. 
 

I'm not familiar with the site, but the paying money part doesn't seem right.  Its not that difficult, and your TA should be able to help.  If you have questions, you can ask here and people will try to help.

I'm not familiar with the site, but the paying money part doesn't seem right.  Its not that difficult, and your TA should be able to help.  If you have questions, you can ask here and people will try to help.

Even though this thread is really old.  It's probably good for everyone to realize that its not a good idea to mix your vacation and jewelry/art buying. Unless you have done some research and know what you are buying and what normal pricing is, its likely you will overpay. 
 

I would say its early but you can use Google Flights to track the prices on the routes you want.  You could also have your TA get you a price on Air2Sea as this is refundable - it is probably more than the refundable fares, but may be cheaper than the non refundable ones.
As a rule, I try to book flights about 6 month out from date of travel but I would also say that sometimes its good to lock in the flights for peace of mind, especially if there are few direct options.

When we were in Ketchikan Alaska the church had a van that they picked you up at the port and brought you to and from the church.
As added bonus the church had a beautiful Alaska themed Stain Glass window