Today I booked the first shore excursion for our upcoming Spring Break cruise. We’re booking it through the same company, ShoreTrips, that did all three of our Alaskan cruise excursions. Those were all amazing, and as a result I’m a big fan of the company. So I thought I would review our Alaska adventures.

Our first port was Skagway. We had booked a kayaking trip, and we were instructed to exit the ship and meet our guide at the end of the dock, basically. We were supposed to look for a certain sign, and we didn’t see it, although we were a little early. Someone asked who we were looking for, and we told them, and they said they hadn’t seen her yet, but we were in the right place. Our guide showed up right on time. She was really nice, and she drove us to the small boat marina, which was funny because it was only about a block away. She was really nice, waited with us until the ferry arrived to take us to the nearby town of Haines. She even took a picture for us all together.

The naturalist (guide, really) on the ferry was pretty interesting. He told us about the area. The most interesting thing was that to make the trip to Haines by car, which took us about 45 minutes by ferry, would take nearly eight hours! AND, you’d have to pass into Canada to do it.

When we arrived in Haines, another guide named Aly met us. She was going to be our guide for the rest of the day, and she was really great. It turned out that we were the only ones signed up for this trip, so we had a private guide in effect. It took about half an hour to drive to Chilkoot Lake, where we would kayak.

The kayaking was completely amazing. Before we entered the lake we saw an Eagle sunning its feathers on the other side of the small stream that led out of the lake. Aly made getting into the kayaks easy, which was good because I was nervous about that part and falling into the cold water. We had life jackets, of course, but also spray skirts that went under the life jackets and around the opening to the kayak, so that no water fell into our laps. Aly had her own kayak, while Andrew and Madeline shared one, and Ellie and I shared the other. These kayaks had rutters, which the person in the rear (me in mine, Andrew in his) controlled with their feet. I had never had these before, and they took a little while to get used to. I kept accidentally steering with my paddle.

I left my iPhone in the locked van, because I was afraid I’d drop it in the lake and lose it. But Andrew took his phone, and he got one of my favorite pictures from the whole trip.

I think we must have kayaked four or five miles altogether, although it never felt like it. For one, Aly would pick certain nearby points to aim for, rather than leading toward somewhere far away. For another, it was a perfect weather day, the lake was calm, and the views were breathtaking. The girls did great and seemed to really enjoy it, too. Back in the van Aly had sandwiches for us, and they really hit the spot. Then it was back in the van, to the marina, and on the ferry to Skagway.

The next day was Juneau, and we had splurged on the combination whale watching/glacier helicopter tour. Again, we were given a meeting point, and again we were early. Juneau is a bit bigger, so we had some trouble finding the right spot, but we finally did. This time, the bus from the cruise ship terminal to the small boat harbor took about half an hour, and there was one other couple from another cruise ship on it with us.

Junea has more bears per square foot than anywhere in the U.S. if I remember correctly. It was a little early for the bears, but our driver said we might see one and to be watchful. I was looking all over the place out the side window when a bear ran across the road in front of the bus! I missed it, but Ellie got to see it.

It was just the six of us on the whale watching boat, plus the captain and the naturalist. This time, the water was really choppy, so it was not the smoothest ride, but the whales were great! We saw five in total, although the first one was kind of boring. She would surface, breathe, and dive really quickly. The best was the cow/calf duo, who we watched for about 20 minutes. They were playing and surfacing the whole time. The whole time, the scenery was just beautiful. I asked the naturalist, Matt, if it ever got old. He smiled and said no.

We learned that these whales migrate to Hawaii and in the winter, and that many of the same humpbacks return to the Juneau area every year. Flame, the mother, had been seen there every summer for 30 years, and her calf, Bunson, was about five months old. We also learned that calves weigh about two tons when they are born and gain a pound an hour! They drink 150 pounds of milk a day, and the cow’s milk is 50% fat. We watched them until it was time to head back to the marina, and wow was that a rough ride. The captain was going really fast so that we could return on time; I think he squeezed every possible minute into watching Flame and Bunson. With the waters rough, we were hitting the waves head-on. Fortunately, they gave us bagels with salmon cream cheese, and that helped ward off the motion sickness.

• 

A different shuttle met us at the small boat harbor to take us to the airport for our helicopter glacier adventure. The thought of going up in a helicopter made me anxious, but the idea of walking on a glacier was too big of a draw for the helicopter to scare me away. Once we got to the airport, everything happened really fast. It was raining outside, so we jogged to the building. Inside the crowded office, we stood in line to turn in our vouchers, were weighed, then sat down to wait. Almost immediately, workers started coming up to us with covers for our shoes that included metal grips for the iceberg. Ellie left her raincoat at home, so she borrowed one, and Madeline borrowed rain pants because hers were in the stateroom. We were shown a short safety video, and it was time to load the airplane. They lined us up in the order they wanted us to load, assumingly to balance the weight. Both girls were in front by the pilot, while Andrew and I were in back with another couple. Takeoff had me holding my breath, but after that I lost my breath to the beauty of our surroundings.

At one point as we came around a mountain things got a little jerky, which I did not like. But the pilot, Brian, said it was normal and not to be alarmed, so I tried not to. Next thing I knew, we were touching down! He actually tried one place, decided against it, and set down a little ways from there. The landing was pretty smooth. I was partly glad to be on solid ground, but the glacier was simply foreign. So old and . . . wild. I don’t even have the words. The pilot talked about how the glacier is unsafe, so we should be careful. I think he may have scared us all a bit too much, but I’m sure a lot of people need it. We walked down a bit on an incline, which was probably not as hard as it seemed, but it was unclear whether, once you slipped, you’d be able to stop. So we were all very careful. The glacier was dirty but beautiful.

• 

• 

• 

We were super lucky that the rain had stopped before we landed on the glacier. By the time we flew back, the clouds had mostly cleared, and the flight back to the airport was clearer than the one out. Soon we had landed, and I still can’t believe that happened.

The third day was in Ketchikan, and the craziest shore excursion: snorkeling! We were about five minutes late to the meeting point, and we hopped in a shuttle van to the snorkeling office. We got there at the same time as a bus from the ship. There were about 30 people total. They talked to us about how to put on wetsuits, then got everyone gear. The dressing rooms were only made for 10-12 people, so it was tight. And putting on the wetsuits was difficult. There was a worker there helping everyone get theirs up onto their bodies. The funniest part was when we put on the hoods and everyone’s cheeks were pushed out.

Once we were all in the proper gear, we loaded onto the bus for a one-mile drive to the part where we were able to get in the water near a coral reef. It was definitely cold. But the wetsuit is designed to let in a small amount of water, which your body then warms up, and that keeps you warm. It felt weird when the water entered the suit, but it quickly became normal. Also, I didn’t realize how much easier the wet suits made floating. I definitely could have stayed in the water a long time. In total, we were in the water about an hour and a half, and it was amazing. We saw a lot of fish, of course, but also a ton of oysters, starfish, and crabs. There were even really tiny (like one-inch diameter or less) jellyfish. Andy had told me before the excursion that this was the one that made him the most nervous, but the tour was really well done. There were about five accredited divers in the water with us, and they were doing a great job keeping an eye on everyone. So much so, that at one point they were leading a large group out to deep water. Madeline wanted to go, but then about halfway out she changed her mind and turned around. I followed, and the diver taking up the rear offered to go back with her so I could go out. I declined, but I appreciated the offer and the fact that he was totally in tune with what was happening.

Snorkeling in Alaska was a really great thing to do. When everyone was out of the water they bused us back to the snorkeling office, where we took off our wetsuits, stood in a hot shower (outside, while the rain poured down, which was somehow kind of magical), and then changed back into our regular clothes.

The thing that made these shore excursions stand apart from others I’ve been on was the people. Every single person — drivers, guides, owners — seemed to take real pride in giving us the best experience possible. For example, the captain of the whale watching boat was determined to find interesting whales for us to watch. He sped from one area to another, and when he found the cow and calf, we stayed there as long as we possibly could. The helicopter pilot made sure to find an interesting spot to land. The driver to the snorkeling office told us about the owner, Fred, and how everyone thought he was crazy when he started his snorkeling business. All those special touches, added up, equaled a very memorable experience!