We did the gold panning and White Pass railway to the summit excursion. Our kids were really looking forward to the gold panning, but ended up a little frustrated. There was alot of time/emphasis on the history and techniques of the gold prospectors - and the actual gold panning was kind of thrown in at the end. The guide did her best and the people were very nice but I think less emphasis on the historical tour and a little extra time panning may have been better. Our guide for the White Pass Rail was awesome - and the scenery was breathtaking. The guide was a local and gave us all kinds of interesting info on the town and summit. All in all I'd recommend this excursion. The town of Skagway was very charming and the people were incredibly nice. I also got an amazing latte at the Starbucks across from the train depot. 


Skagway

We did the whale watching/Mendenhall glacier photo safari excursion. The intention of this excursion was to emphasize photography and our guide was a professional photographer. He was not very friendly and not very helpful to the guests with photographic questions -but the whale watching portion of the excursion was AMAZING. We went out in a small boat (for 12 people) and saw 2-3 pods of Orca's playing- and then the most breathtaking thing I've ever seen - humpback whales "bubble net feeding". Bubble net feeding only happens for a few weeks (typically in July). A group of whales will form a circle of bubbles around a school of fish -trapping them. Then they will dive below the school of fish and burst up vertically with their mouth's open swallowing the school of fish. We saw this happen about 5-6 times and seeing the whales burst out of the water was amazing. Following the whale watching was kind of a disappointing "trek" through a forest that concluded at the Mendenhall glacier which was amazing to see. I think if I were to do it again , I'd just do the whale watching and glacier and skip the photo safari. 


Juneau

We started with the lumberjack show which was great - I'd highly recommend it. We ate across the street at the Crab Cracker and I had some awesome halibut fish tacos. Then we did the duck boat tour with the kids. The guide tried really hard to make it interesting but it was a little slow.. The kids loved that the bus turned into a boat, but I don't know if I'd do it again.. 
The weather was amazing and we were told it was pretty rare.. Sunny, blue skies and about 75.. 


Ketchikan

Family Suite
Huge balcony but not sheltered and unusable when the ship is moving
Disappointed that both bedrooms had 2 twin beds
Bathroom was a little small and only had one sink
Beds and Pillows were very comfortable
Towels and Robes were very nice/luxe
Nice amenities
Located at very front of ship - long walk to everything and you can feel the movement of the boat more than mid-ship.

Pools

Pros-Nice assortment of pools for all ages



Movies Under the Stars

This was great on our last day when the weather was pleasant enough to sit outside to watch the movies.Family Suites are the first cabins at the front of the ship (D101 and D102) so we felt the movement a little more.

Diamond Princess Review

Diamond Princess Southbound Whittier to Vancouver

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