Day 4 - Endicott Arm/Dawes Glacier and Juneau, Alaska on Discovery Princess
Apologies for the delay in posting our daily cruise blogs. The WiFi/Internet in Alaska is virtually non-existent, so it is taking much longer than usual.
This morning starts out a little differently than other mornings. By the time we get up around 5:30am, Discovery Princess is already sailing through Endicott Arm toward Dawes Glacier. The water is glass smooth as we sail past large blue ice bergs.
The scenery here is what Alaska is all about. It is 48 degrees and is getting colder the closer we get to the glacier. Once we arrive at a spot close enough to see the glacier, the Captain begins to turn the ship using the bow and stern thrusters so that both port and starboard sides of the ship can get a good view.
A cruise like this is a good reason to spend the extra money and get a balcony stateroom.
Dawes Glacier (view from our balcony)
Of course, you can always see the action on the stateroom television turned to the Bridge Cam.
Bridge Cam on stateroom television
As we are sailing out of Endicott Arm toward Juneau, we are greeted by room service delivering our Ultimate Balcony Breakfast ($45 for two people). Unfortunately, our balcony is a bit too cold this morning to enjoy breakfast al fresco, so the room service staff member brought the small round balcony table indoors so we could enjoy breakfast in the warmth of our stateroom.
Our balcony stateroom does not have a coffee table, or any table other than the desk and the top of the mini-bar, so we had to improvise. I moved my laptop to the bed to make room for a couple of dishes we were not going to eat, more on that later. We had a tray on the mini-bar with an ice bucket and champagne that also had to be moved to the bed to make room for the tray of coffee, tea, orange juice and Champagne (the breakfast champagne)
As for the food, we ended up eating each “course” with the dishes stacked on top of each other. When we completed a course, we would remove that dish and put it on the floor and move on to the next course.
The Ultimate Balcony Breakfast included 6 different covered dishes which I will go into in much detail in my Discovery Princess Dining Review video. So, make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel (https://youtube.com/cruisereport) so that you won’t miss that video when it is released.
We arrive in Juneau, Alaska, about 12:00pm and, unlike Norwegian Spirit, we are docked in Juneau. The NCL guests are forced to tender to shore here.
Norwegian Spirit tendering in Juneau
This is another good reason to book an Alaska cruise with Princess Cruises.
Discovery Princess docked in Juneau, Alaska
This afternoon, we have booked the Whale Watching and Wildlife Quest excursion and we disembark to meet up with our group ashore at 12:45.
This is a popular excursion and there are enough guests to fill two large motor coaches for the drive to the tour boat. The drive takes about 15 minutes and we soon arrive at the local marine tour operator and board the double-deck whale watching boat.
These tour boats are nothing to write home about. There is indoor seating on two levels and an outdoor aft deck where you can stand and get photos while the boat is in motion. A smaller upper deck is opened up when the ship is stopped for viewing whales or other wildlife. The boat ride to our first view of wildlife takes about 30 minutes. We come upon a small island with a huge group of Stellar Sea Lions.
Stellar Sea Lions
Nearby, there is another island with Harbor Seals. After about another 20 minutes of sailing, we come to an area where many other tour boats are taking in views of a pod of Humpback whales.
Five Humpback whales
We did see many whales on this excursion, however from a pretty far distance. It was difficult to get good photos without a 300mm to 400mm lens, which I do not have. Also, on this day, there was no bubble feeding or breeching whales, just water spouts and a few flukes as the Humpbacks did their deep dive.
Honestly, this was not the best whale watching we have experienced, but we are still glad we did it. It is late in the season and the best whale watching would probably be in July and August. No bears or eagles were spotted during the tour. The tour boat does have bathroom facilities and snacks and soft drinks are available for purchase. We returned to Discovery Princess at about 5pm. After a quick change of clothes we head back to Take 5 for a cocktail while we decide where to have dinner. Tonight is Italian Night in the Main Dining Rooms and there is really nothing on the menu that excites us.
We considered trying the Ocean Terrace sushi, but after looking at the menu, it appears that it is designed more for a sushi snack than an actual meal. A sushi roll is $3.95 and consists of 4 pieces. Also, the Ocean Terrace has more of a bar vibe than a restaurant vibe, very similar in appearance to Bellini’s one deck above.
We decided to give Salty Dog Gastropub a try for dinner. There is an $18 per person cover charge here which includes two main courses and a dessert per guest. We were partially drawn to Salty Dog because it was virtually empty. I think there was only one other table of diners here. We also like the booth seating next to a window.
The menu here is very limited, but unique. Each guest can select any two “gourmet” plates plus a dessert. Complimentary breadsticks with a cheese dip are served before the meal.
Salty Dog Gastropub menu
I will do a full, honest review in my dining review video coming soon, so watch for it on our YouTube channel. However, I will leave you with a photo of the SDG Burger.
SDG Burger® with Parmesan Truffle Fries
Interestingly, this was one of the most filling meals we had on the cruise so far, and one of the most satisfying. You should definitely give SDG a try.
Tomorrow, Discovery Princess will be docked in Sitka, Alaska.
