Alaska Port Suggestions / Formal Night Dress

[Robert Mosner]

Hello

My wife and I will be taking our first cruise on June 10th. We are booked on the Princess Dawn leaving Seattle going to Alaska. Does anyone have any suggestion for must see shore excursions at Juneau or Skagway? I enjoy photography and would love to get some good photos.

Another question has to deal with clothing for the formal nights. Is a suit acceptable or is a Tux required?

Thanks

Bob

[Sandy]

Bob, I did a whale watching/salmon watching excursion in Juneau, while others in the group signed up for landing on a glacier via helicopter. However, it was foggy that day and the helicopter excursion was canceled. They have a saying in Juneau: If you can't see the mountain tops, it's raining. If you CAN see the mountain tops, it's about to rain. So dress for damp weather in Juneau.

In Skagway, be sure to go to the little museum of the Gold Rush, a short walk from the ship. It gives you a lot of information about what the gold rushers had to go through and what they had to pack in order to climb the White Pass. You'll come home wanting to read Jack London books! The whole town of Skagway is restored and very picturesque.

There is a narrow guage railroad that takes you to the top of the mountain that the gold rushers used to have to climb by foot (and mule) with their supplies, sometimes necessitating several trips up and down the mountain. By the time the railroad was built, the gold rush ended! Anyway, you can take the railroad both up and down, or some excursions let you take the railroad up and bike down. In any case, it's worthwhile.

As for formal night, a suit will be perfect. I suspect the majority of men will NOT be wearing tuxedos.

Sandy

[Sunprincess]

HI Bob,

You will love the photo opportunities on your Alaska cruise - awesome.
I have done an Alaskan cruise twice. Once was the Seattle route you are doing.

As Sandy mentioned go prepared for rain in Juneau. It's a rare event for it not to be raining.
I highly recommend the helicopter/glacier trek.
Be sure to save some time to visit the Red Dog Saloon. IF it looks to be a clear day the tram ride downtown is nice for photos too.
I also did the salmon hatchery/glacier tour on land - helicopter MUCH better.

Skagway for me was the White Rail Pass Railway.
Along with time to wander downtown.

I have loads of photos in my webshots album. Take a look......
http://community.webshots.com/user/sunprincess8


As for a tux - really not required. A suit is fine.
Layering for daytime clothes is key.

ENJOY your cruise.

Cathy

[Cruise to Relax]

Hi. We were on the Island Princess in September 2005 and did a great wilderness excursion from Skagway. We took a 45 minute catamaran to another town (can't remember the name) and then boarded a school bus for an exciting adventure. Saw lots of eagles, a young baby eagle, seals, whale (rare we were told), lots of Salmon, but no bears. We were just unlucky as the night before there were lots of bears feeding in the river. This only happens in the evening so we took a 2:00 PM excursion to try and see something. I agree with the comment about rain - it rained, sprinkled, misted, and just about any other thing you want to say about it. But we loved it.