One month in Alaska 2015: August 19, 2015-Haines port, fast ferry Haines to Skagway, explore Skagway, White Pass Yukon Route train/coach excursion, Red Onion Saloon, dinner at Rotterdam Dining Room

ZAANDAM

We arrive in Haines port early-6:30 am. I watch our ship docking and take pictures from our verandah. I'm still feeling queasy but I'm hungry for breakfast. It never occurred to me I'd have this problem but then again, this is our first time on a large cruise ship. My only other experiences have been cruising down the Nile (gentle, no swells) and on the Yangtze. Tip: take motion/sea sickness medication with you if you're planning to cruise as you never know. For breakfast we head to Rotterdam-my favorite. We are seated at a table with others as is usual. The other couple at the table is familiar. They traveled with us on our Arctic Circle excursion. We are so busy talking that I forgot to take any pictures! And I never made a note of what I had for breakfast but I'm sure it was all good.

View of Haines from our verandah

Early birds leaving the ship

Leaving the ship

I have pre booked tickets for us on the fast ferry from Haines to Skagway. It leaves at 9:15 am and will return to Haines from Skagway at 6:05 pm. Cost $36.50 pp round trip. The ferry takes around 45 minutes each way. I also pre booked us the WPYR train/coach combo trip with Chilkoot Charters & Tours. Cost $128 pp. We are to meet our driver at 11:50 am at the Skagway Boat Harbor. We disembark from the ship with our stateroom key card and also have remembered to take our passports. We wait in line to board the fast ferry as we are a bit early. Soon the ferry arrives and we get on just by showing my e-mail confirmation document to the girl who is collecting tickets from everyone else. This boat is medium size and comfortable for the short journey. The ferry transits the Taiya Inlet of the Lynn Canal which is the deepest and longest fjord of North America. There are 3 waterfalls-Long Falls, Twin Falls, and Sawmill Falls. If you're lucky you can spot humpback whales, bald eagles, seals. We were not lucky! There is a guide-a young college aged girl-working this job for the summer who narrates information about the ferry and the sights.

Our ship docked in Haines

Fast ferry arriving in Haines

Ferry docked

Leaving Haines

Soon we are in Skagway at the boat harbor. Since it is only 10:00 am we decide to walk to town which is only 1/4 mile away. We pass an area where there are people fishing for salmon I guess. Soon we reach the town. It's small enough to be very walkable. This town was once a major Klondike gateway. It still has many historic gold rush buildings from the late 1890s. From this town stampeders would start across the coastal mountains to Yukon River headwaters on the way to Dawson City, Canada and the gold fields. Back then it had electric lights and telephones. It also had 80 saloons, 3 breweries, many brothels, and other service or supply businesses. I take pictures of many things-the Red Onion Saloon, the visitor center, an old time rotary snowplow that was used to clear snow from the railroad tracks, the Centennial Statue, many shops selling all sorts of goods, interesting buildings. It really is a visually neat town. Lots of tourists. There are several other cruise ships here. I stop at the Alaska Shirt Company store and purchase a memory card for my camera and a few souvenirs. Then I stop at the WPYR building where train tickets are sold and there is the train shop. Here I buy a wooden train whistle for my 7 year old grandson. After all this we decide to take the town shuttle back to the boat harbor where we have to be for our tour. Cost $4-think for the both of us. We will have time after our excursion to explore the town some more.

Other cruise ships in Skagway

Where I bought my Alaska Pandora charm

Voice of reason??

Old time rotary snowplow

I bought my camera memory card here and other souvenirs

We are back to the meeting place early but all too soon we see Roy holding the Chilkoot sign. We give him our names that he checks off his list and we get on the van. We are taken to the place where we will board the WPYR train. The White Pass Yukon Route Railroad was started in 1898 for an easier way to get to the Klondike. It was finished when the rails reached Whitehorse in 1900. When the rush to the Klondike began in 1897 thousands of men and women arrived in Dyea and Skagway to begin the arduous trek overland to the Klondike. They had around 600 miles over dangerous trails and waterways. There was a shorter but steeper trail which started in Dyea-the Chilkoot Trail. The other option was the longer but less steep White Pass Trail where pack animals could be used making the trek easier. Thousands of horses died on the White Pass Trail because of the tortures of the trail and the inexperience of the stampeders. That's when the idea for the railroad began. We are informed that our group is in the last car-Alsek River. We are not able to get seats on the left side so we sit in the last row on the right side for easy access to the outside platform. I will spend a lot of time taking pictures by standing on the small outside rear viewing platform. This one way trip will take about 2 hours. Our final stop will be Fraser, B.C., Canada-hence the need for the passports. It is almost 28 miles one way from Skagway to Fraser. We pass so many interesting sights. Some have signs marking the point but the train moves too fast for me to get many decent pictures. On each seat is a free booklet called "All Aboard". It contains historical tidbits on the WPYR , information on Skagway, kinds of trees and plants/flowers you might see on the train ride, a route map, and so much more. It's a great little book. I thoroughly enjoyed the train ride. It was something that my husband had asked that we do so I'm glad it turned out so well. He had a good time too. When we arrived in Fraser, we were told to hold our passports up next to our face as a Canadian customs official boarded the train and checked.

Roy from Chilkoot

Where we board the train

Gold Rush Cemetery

Our diesel electric locomotive #91

Mile 18.6 Steel bridge-built in 1901 it was the tallest cantilever bridge in the world and was used until 1969

Going through a tunnel

This may be the Harding Glacier

This red caboose "cabin" can be rented-mile 5.8

Mile 8.8-Buchanan Rock- Sign painted by the Buchanan Boys Tour Group brought from Detroit each year to visit Skagway circa 1920-1930

Scenery

Mile 16 Tunnel Mountain

Mile 19.3 Trail of 1898

Yukon River

Mile 20.4-White Pass Summit US/Canadian border, highest elevation of the route at 2865'

Canadian customs official checking passports

Mile 27.7-Fraser, B. C./Canada

Bernard Lake, Fraser B.C.

Our rail car

Viewing platform on the back of our rail car

Then it was ok to get off the train, have a restroom break, and get on to our coach that will take us back to Skagway. Our coach driver was James and not only did he give us information about our trip but told a few amusing stories. We make a few stops-the Welcome to Alaska sign and a waterfall by the road. I give James a small tip for his service.

Interesting

It's around 4:00 pm and our ferry doesn't leave until 6:05 pm so we have plenty of time to explore. I notice a Pandora sign in the Skagway Jewelry Company so I stop. I'm happy to buy a charm for my Pandora bracelet that says Alaska. It's a good thing I did because when I return home and stop at our Pandora store that particular charm was only available in Alaska! We covered much ground this morning so we head to the Red Onion Saloon for a drink. Wow, this place is packed. I have a cup of the Gold Rush chili and water while Richard has a beer. Bill $13.50 tip included. This is a neat place where all the servers and bartenders are outfitted in Gold Rush era clothing. The food is so-so but the atmosphere is pretty cool. Souvenir T shirts, hats, etc. also sold here. It's getting close to our return ferry time so we take another shuttle $4 back to the boat harbor. We board the ferry to take us back to Haines. We really have no time for any sightseeing in Haines as the town proper is a distance away from the dock. I really regret not having any time to explore Haines but this is a downside of a cruise like this. Only so much time in port and my husband really wanted to ride the WPYR and see Skagway so that was that. He doesn't ask for much and it was a fun day for me too.

This Wells Fargo bank has old time teller windows with bars in front of them to protect the tellers

Built in 1897

Gold Rush Chili

Very busy

Waitress in old time clothing of the gold rush era

Upstairs

Back on board dinner is at Rotterdam Dining Room. Tonight's menu is not as appealing to me as other nights with the entree choices. To begin Richard has the wild rice & chicken soup and it's Holland America's signature French onion soup for me. This soup was a bit of a let down as I've had better here in Buffalo. My mother-in-law made the best French onion soup I've ever had. Tossed salads are next. Then I have the beef pot au feu which was tender chunks of beef, potatoes, carrots, and cabbage in a watery beef broth. Richard fared better with his grilled salmon with ginger cilantro pesto. Desserts are always very good-so many choices. I finally decide on the esterel cake which is almond sponge cake with chocolate, raspberry preserves, white chocolate, and raspberry sauce. Richard has the Gold Rush baked Alaska-vanilla ice cream, vanilla sponge cake, meringue, hot fudge sauce. While dinner was good this was not the best but maybe it was the choices I made??

French onion soup

Chicken and wild rice soup

Tossed seasonal greens

Beet pot au feu

Grilled salmon

Esterel cake

The gold rush baked Alaska

With one of our free perks with the cruise booking I pick out 3 bottles of wine. Wish I had done this earlier-like right away-as I don't want to take them off the ship. That means we have to drink 3 bottles of wine in the next few days! More towel art. Adorable. Brochure for tomorrow-Juneau.

Richard heads off to see some shows while I go to bed hoping this nausea will disappear! So far I haven't been able to enjoy the many shows/activities offered while on this cruise ship. Bummer!