Alaska Cruise - Seattle To Juneau, 6/9 thru 6/11/2019

Leaving Seattle, the Bliss headed toward open sea rather than taking the Inside Passage as many cruise ships do.  I'm not sure why this course was chosen, but I can tell you the rougher ocean waters gave me a little motion sickness the next morning.  Fortunately, one pill took care of the issue and it did not recur the rest of the voyage.

One of the major risks associated with cruising to Alaska is the frequent rain along the coast.  In this case, rain started Sunday night and lasted for a couple days.  If there was interesting scenery, it could not be viewed through the rain and low clouds.  Visibility was usually 200 yards or less.  As a result, this was a good time to explore our ship and enjoy some of its amenities.  With nineteen decks and many restaurants and bars, this took a great effort and we still never tried everything.

The pool and water slides didn't get much activity during this time.

Most of the bars and restaurants were situated on a few decks surrounding the Atrium.  The large glass cone was lit by constantly changing light.

One bar had a Western theme and a small band playing country music, but our favorite was the Sugarcane Mojito bar, where the bartenders provided constant entertainment.  Having an Unlimited Beverage Package proved to be a good investment.

As we arrived in Juneau, steady rain continued to fall.  Low clouds obscured our view of the nearby mountains and led to all helicopter and float plane excursions being cancelled.  We opted for a whale watch tour, but had time to explore town before our scheduled start.  Everyone going ashore waited in the rain for shuttle buses heading to town.

My primary interests were the State Capitol and the St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, which I had not seen in my 1989 visit to Juneau.  Walking in the rain, we passed several interesting buildings, including the Red Dog Saloon.

By the time of our whale watch, the rain had stopped but it was getting too dark for decent photos of the whales we saw.  Besides, the whales were quite a distance from the boat, adding to the difficulty.  We did see a few humpback whales rolling and making spouts, but only  one young one breeched for us.

In addition to whales, we saw a lighthouse, a float plane coming in after the ceiling had lifted, and a pair of Steller's sea lions resting on a channel marker.  These sea lions are the largest of the seven varieties of sea lion, growing to as much as eleven feet long and weighing up to 2500 pounds.