Voice of Travel

On day 4 of the cruise, we docked at Juneau, Alaska. We decided to do the Mendenhall Glacier & Whale Quest tour, and did the excursion through Princess. As I got off the ship and saw how many people were doing this same tour, I was worried. I couldn’t believe how many full school buses were going towards the Whale Quest tour, but it turned out not to be an issue.

There were multiple boats that we were all going to go on – I think 4 of them if I remember correctly, so it was not crowded at all. Once we got on the boat, there was more than enough space to look out for the whales.

While I was able to see some whales the day before, in Ketchikan, it was nothing compared to Juneau. We saw plenty more in Juneau on the Whale Quest, and they were a lot more active, almost as if they were putting on a show for us.

We were even lucky enough to see 3 and 4 whales swimming together at a time. It was definitely a cool thing to watch. Here is just a short video of one of the times we saw 4 whales at once.

One thing I really loved about the Whale Quest was that even though we saw a lot of whales, the entire trip was just beautiful. Even when there weren’t any whales to look at, the background was just so awe inspiring…it just made the entire day more incredible.

I can’t forget to mention, we also got free hot chocolate while on board. It was cold and windy, so the hot chocolate was a really great treat!

After the boat tour was over, we were bussed over to Mendenhall Glacier. Here is a panoramic shot of the glacier:

This was the first glacier that I got to see on the cruise, and while not the last, it was the closest that I got to one. It was really amazing to see, and with the small icebergs in the water in front of it, it just made for an even more picturesque setting.

I don’t know how they did it, but it was not crowded while we were there. Granted, you could go inside the visitor’s center, or go out to be closer to the glacier, so people were spread out…but it did not feel like there were too many people there at all.

I was able to get many pictures without anyone else in them. It was great! While we had a decent amount of time to walk around, I wish we had a little more. I heard there was a trail that you could hike on, but there just wasn’t enough time to do it.

It was still a really great stop, and I’m glad I got to see it.

I really think that the Mendenhall Glacier is a must see in Juenau. If you’re going there, you really need to take a stop at the glacier, even if you only stay for a little while. It was really worth it!

After the shore excursion was over, we decided to walk around Juneau a little bit, and get lunch.

Since I love seafood, before going on the cruise, I researched a place to get some good Alaskan crab. I read over and over again that Tracy’s King Crab Shack was the place to go.

Let me start off by saying that it really was a shack. Their was some seating outdoors, and the menu was pretty small. But if you were going for crab, you were in the right place!

I got a combo that included king crab legs, crab bisque, and crab cakes. The picture doesn’t show the king crab legs, because I took it before I got them, and I wanted to take a picture before I forgot – and so that I could dig in!

After we ate, we walked around and went into a few of the shops…and then went back on the ship. It was a really nice day, and we got to see a lot of great Alaskan scenery as well as have some great Alaskan king crab!

I hope you enjoy the review,

P.S. If you’re ready to book your cruise to Alaska (or anywhere else for that matter), I strongly suggest using Cruise Compete. You’ll be sure to get the best price as different agencies will give you their best quote, and you can choose the lowest price!