June 27, 2024


Today we were in port in Juneau. We got up early and got ready. We ate breakfast in the Lido Market (see fancy juice display above) and prepared to go ashore. We saw a harbor seal next to the ship. 



We could just walk off the ship here. We found where we needed to go and got in line for a bus. There were four coach buses taking us to the whale watching boats so there were lots of people needing to get on and only one person scanning tickets. We got on and waited for our bus to go. We had to drive about a half hour to get to the dock where the whale watching boat was. On the way, we saw the Mendenhall Glacier and bald eagles. 


We picked seats in the front of the whale watching boat on the first floor. We sat next to a couple. The boat was very hot and we were in the sun. I was very thankful when someone opened an air vent in the window once we started moving. We rode for awhile to get out to where the whales usually are. We got to see tons of humpback whales! I was able to get a good video of one showing its tail. I liked going up to the roof of the boat so I could see better and I didn’t have a glare when taking pictures. It was nice up there when the boat wasn’t moving. When we were going fast, it did get chilly up there. We also saw salmon jumping out of the water and we saw a bald eagle swoop down and catch a fish! We saw sea lions really on a buoy. One of them got pushed off by another and they were having a bit of a tussle. We had donut holes and hot chocolate on the boat. They also offered salmon dip, but I left that for Tammy. The four hours flew by and so it was time to head back to our ship. We had a money back guarantee that we would see whales, and I’m very thankful to report that we are not getting any money back!










On the way back, we saw an area where there were tons of bald eagles sitting on the ground near a stream waiting for salmon. We also saw a cool statue of a humpback whale.





When we got back to the ship, we decided to get back on and eat lunch before heading out to explore. We walked around Juneau and saw the state Capitol building, the governor’s mansion, and a pretty park. 





We walked back to the ship so we could beat the rush. We went to team trivia at 4:00. It was really hard. We went to the crow’s nest for scenic commentary at 5 before having dinner in the Lido Market. Then we went to Lightning Trivia at 7, which was actually very slow. We did pretty well. We went back up to the crow’s nest and played games. We tried a new game that was really complicated so we decided to play Trivial Pursuit instead. I was way behind, but I ended up winning. It was 9:25 when we finished. There was “Chocolate Surprise” on the schedule for 9:45 so we went back to our room for a few minutes before heading there. We didn’t know what to expect, but waiters came out with trays of chocolate treats. My favorite were the chocolate covered Cheerios. I also had a white chocolate bar with nuts and the milk chocolate version. All of a sudden, the waiters disappeared and it was over. We went back to our room and got ready for bed.




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