Last Leg: Transit from Skagway to Victoria British Columbia

Saturday, 18 January 2014.  After a full-day in Skagway, and thoroughly enjoying our scenic rail ride aboard the White Pass & Yukon Route railroad, we were ready for some rest & relaxation (R&R) aboard our cruise ship.  The Golden Princess set sail right at 5pm from Skagway and by 5:30pm we were well into the Lynn Canal and Chatham Strait on our way to the next -- and final -- port of call in Victoria British Columbia (BC).  The next day would be entirely at sea as we made our way back to the Great Pacific Northwest, giving us ample time to enjoy the many amenities aboard our cruise ship.

Here's a few "people" shots of our little group as we explored more of the Golden Princess on this day at sea.  Lynette's Mom, Glenna, found this dolphin fountain built into a small alcove on the ship and wanted to take some pics.  Here's the results.

 Lynette posing with the dolphin statue / fountain.  The colors get a bit "washed out" with the flash, but you get the idea.  It was a a cute little dolphin, though.

 Course, "somebody" had to show the little guy some love!

Lynette's folks, Glenn & Glenna -- our travel buddies on this cruise, posing with the dolphin.  We had a great time on this cruise -- a wonderful way for them to celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary!

It has been very difficult for me to describe the awesome beauty we've encountered on this 7-day round-trip cruise out of Seattle into Alaska's Inside Passage.  I find myself using the same adjectives over and over again when trying to describe the absolutely breath-taking scenery we've encountered -- starting the minute we left Seattle almost a week ago.  This leg of the trip from Skagway to Victoria BC was no exception.  From the occasional whale spouting we spotted on our way south, to the magnificent and spectacular snow-capped mountains we'd spy off in the distance, we were treated to one incredible, out-of-this-world scene after another.  Just hard to describe.  Believe we would do this cruise again in a heartbeat -- and we will!

Here's a handful of pics I snapped on our last day at sea as we sailed toward Victoria and as we entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca and eventually the Port of Victoria.  This first set of five pics was taken in the early evening hours after our departure from Skagway.  There was just a hint of pink in the sky as the sun was setting; by the time I took these pics the cloud cover prevented any really great sunset shots, but the whole scene was still pretty amazing.  I've included a couple "sunset" shots that Lynette's Mom, Glenna, snapped just a bit earlier than my shots, just as the sun was setting. Nice pics!

 This shot was taken looking toward the stern of the ship; you'll notice the ship's wake at bottom right.

The next two shots are of another cruise ship -- one from the Holland America Line -- that we passed on our way to Victoria.  She would end up docking right next to us in Victoria.

The closer to the Strait of Juan de Fuca we got the more ships we encountered.  Here's a couple shots of a tanker, I guess, headed south.  We would see this ship again once we were docked in Victoria, awaiting its turn to off-load its cargo. The mountains with a bit of snow on them in the background are the Olympic Mts of Washington State -- part of the Olympic National Forest and Park.

 A view of Washington State's Olympic Mountains, as seen from our cruise ship as we transited the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  These mountains offered us some extremely spectacular views.  Absolutely beautiful!

These next few pics were taken from the balcony of our stateroom and show various views of the harbor area, Victoria skyline, and the Cascade Mountain Range that runs along Washington State's coastline. 

 This shot was taken as we were entering the harbor area.

 Victoria BC skyline; taken as we came into port.

 More of the skyline, looking east.  You can just barely make out Mt. Baker (~9,000-ft), top left., which is part of the Cascade Mountain chain that runs thru Washington State and Oregon.  The next photo is a close up of Mt. Baker and the Cascades.  Pretty sight!

 Another view of the port area; that's a helicopter flying across the harbor area.

 The Golden Princess making a starboard turn into our berth in Victoria harbor.  That's a crew observation deck, center left in the photo.  Would love to have taken some pics from that vantage point!

 Another view of the Olympic Mts, taken from our stateroom balcony while berthed in Victoria.  That boat skimming across the water in this photo belongs to Canada's version of the US Coast Guard.

 A view of Victoria Harbor man-made breakwater.

 A view of the dock area in Victoria, with that Holland America cruise ship docked next to our berth.  Amazing how these cruise ships can just "snug" into a berthing spot.  The Victoria skyline is in the distance.

 View looking at Washington State from Victoria Harbor; there's that tanker we passed while at sea.  It stayed anchored until a berth opened up; I assume when one of the three cruise ships departed.

 I call this "Seagull in Flight with an Olympic Mountains Backdrop."

 Thought this was a nice photo-op, taken from our stateroom balcony, showing the lifeboats of that Holland America cruise ship and the "Welcome to Victoria" sign with the Native American art plastered to the seaboard side of the dock warehouse.  Guess those are "totem salmon?"  Anyway, made for a nice photo.