Seattle and Alaska '16

This post marks the highlight of my trip to Alaska. But before that, let me share on a little side trip to Seattle.

Seattle is on the west coast of United States, close to where I will be boarding my Alaska cruise ship in Vancouver. 

After arriving at Seattle airport on Alaska airlines, I have to walk a long distance with my luggage to the airport train station. There are direction signs all the way from the arrival hall, but it is quite some distance away. 

Directions to the Link Light Rail

The airport train station

After alighting from the train, I turned and walked towards the sea

My hotel ! By the sea. I stayed here for one night. I will be catching the 7:45am amtrak train from Seattle to Vancover.

The train at the Westlake station nearest my hotel. There is a shopping mall at this station which is linked to another monorail. That monorail connects to the famous Seattle space needle.

Seattle Chinatown. Near the link light rail station

Seattle King Cross station with its famous tower clock

This is a short walk over a bridge and a traffic light crossing from the Chinatown link light rail station. It is a very convenient walk with luggage.

I arrived at the station and queued up for check-in. Seat assignment is given upon check-in. After that, I sat down on the many benches and wait for the boarding. The station has a long history and the interior is very impressive and well-maintained.

The amtrak train economy class features 2-2 seating. The leather seating and the big leg space makes the seat very comfortable. Almost reminds me of the domestic first class seat.

The amtrak cascade route from Seattle to Vancover hugs the United States coast line. This is the Pacific ocean. A left seat provides very good views. I was given a right seat.

4 hours later, we reached Vancouver. I spotted this Rocky Mountaineer train near the station. This is the luxury train for tourists visiting the Canadian rockies. The ticket prices for this train is very expensive. I will not be taking it.

After alighting from the amtrak train at Vancover Pacific station. There is a short queue at the small immigration and customs building as we are entering Canada. After immigration It is a short walk across a small garden to the skytrain station at main street science world.

Another 10 minutes ride on the skytrain and I reached the waterfront station. A ride up an escalator and I saw the Canada Place building. My cruise ship will be departing from here late afternoon. The amtrak cascade arrival time is timed very well to suit cruise ship passengers.

Upon arriving at the cruise building, I dropped our luggage at the counter. Luggage tags are provided so I need not print beforehand. Perhaps the most boring part of the cruise is the waiting and queuing time. Almost 2 hours! 

The only things needed to board the cruise ship is the printed boarding pass and the passport.

Upon stepping on the cruise ship, I have to assemble for an emergency drill briefing for about 30 minutes. After that, I can  go to our cabin.

Stateroom with window. Bigger than I expected. And Bigger than what I experienced on Star cruise Virgo. The window offers unblocked views on the right side of the ship.

Chanced upon this display at the ship's lido deck

And now... Alaska !

On the way. I'm blessed with clear weather for cruising.

The cruise offers free unlimited movie dvds available to watch in the comfort of my cabin.

Free in-room dining available all day and night.

The highlight is the salmon dish.

Sunset in the horizon

Sunset in Alaska

At sea. This is the typical scenery everyday on the cruise.

Fantastic !

Reaching the first port of call.

Mendalhall glacier in Juneau

Me and glacier !

Juneau Mt Roberts tram to the top

From the top

On a clear day. Beautiful scenery

Juneau, a small Alaska town

Our second port of call, Skagway. First thing I saw is the Yukon railroad train. Very convenient transfer from the ship to the train for an excursion.

My cruise ship. Holland American Line's Volendam

At Skagway, I joined a shore excursion to the Yukon territory in Canada for sightseeing. As I will be crossing the border from U.S. to Canada, passport is necessary. 

It involves a coach ride to Yukon, then a return trip via the Yukon railroad train back to Skagway.

At the Canada custom, an immigration officer will board the coach to visually inspect the passport before we enter Yukon.

Beautiful scenery in the coach

Finally, we reached a little town called Carcross in Yukon.

An impressive train bridge in Yukon

The White Pass train

The train will hug the coastline along the way.

Enroute, the train stops at this small town called Bennett.

On board the train, the train officer will pass out a tourist brochure on Bennett featuring a walking trail from the train station. 

A rail bridge. An Engineering marvel !

After Skagway, the ship passed by Glacier Bay

Panorama of a glacier. It is actually bigger than it seems.

The ship sails close to the glacier and stops for a while before turning around. At the top deck, I waited until small parts of the glacier breaks off into the sea. It was a surreal sight !

The final port of call, Ketchikan

Ketchikan is famous for totem poles.

The famous and quaint Creek Street

Looks like fairytale buildings

In Ketchikan, I did not sign up for any excursion. I just wandered around the little town. 

On its return, the cruise ship went under the lion gate bridge in Vancouver before arriving at the Canada Place.

Yup. That's it. My Alaska journey. Personally, I feel that the landscapes are impressive beyond words, unlike any other country that I have seen. The glaciers, icebergs, snow-capped mountains.

I'm also thankful for the beautiful weather during the cruise and clear skies at the ports of call.

This cruise really reminds me of the joys of travelling.

United States domestic first class on Alaska Airlines '16

This is the second series of my trip to Alaska. After arriving in the morning in San Francisco, my connecting flight to Seattle is not due until late afternoon. So I decided to take a short trip to downtown. 

The airport check in lady for my Alaska Airlines flight was kind enough to let me check in my bags many hours before the flight so I don't have to pay for luggage storage at the airport. Probably because I will be travelling domestic first class.

San Francisco airport is connected by the BART subway to downtown. I need to first take the airport train in the terminal to connect to the BART. The subway is relatively expensive. A return trip to town easily costs ~US$18. The train has plenty of seating, though it can be quite noisy.

The BART exterior

The BART interior

After alighting at the union square station, I hopped on the hop-on-hop-off bus which brings me to the Golden Gate park of San Francisco that I never explored on my previous trip here. It is less touristy but equally nice.

Back at the airport, it is disappointing to note that Alaska airlines does not have a lounge at SFO for its first class paying customers. So I spent some time wandering among the shops and buying some souvenirs.

Boarding began soon with first class. This is my first time travelling in domestic first class in the United States, so I want to elaborate my experience here. 

Alaska Airlines uses narrow body aircraft only. The tail livery is quite unique ! My aircraft has a similar design except it is in black colour.

Pre-departure drink or water bottle

It is a clear and good day for flying. 

No turbulence at all for the short 1.5 hours flight.

Appetizer and red wine

A salad dish. Quite tasty

From taking off to landing, I was treated to wonderful views from the plane. 

It reminded me of the joys of flying.

Reaching Seattle airport. It seems to be a hub for FedEx aircraft.

Seattle is also a hub for Alaska Airlines

Hawaiian airlines.

Reminded me to visit Hawaii one day.

The U.S. domestic first class seats are unlike Intra-European business class seats. The U.S. domestic first class seat features thick leather seats and more recline. But the Intra-European business class seat on a narrow body aircraft is really economy class seat in a 3-3 setting for but with the middle seat blocked out. The curtain can also be moved depending on the number of premium class passengers.

Overall, a good flight with Alaska Airlines. For this short flight, the price difference between economy and first class is about ~US$70. So I decided to splurge on it. And it is worth the experience.

Trip report United Airlines Singapore to San Francisco

Finally, Alaska - the last frontier !

Alaska is on my dream list of places of visit. It is near the top of the world and the pictures from the newspaper is always impressive. Nothing beats going there and experience it yourself.

This post is part of a series of my trip to Alaska. In this journey, there are interesting experiences which I would like to share in separate posts. I shall start with my flight experience.

In June 2016, United Airlines started flying from Singapore direct to San Francisco. It advertised in the newspapers the very attractive promotional price to fly from Singapore. ~$888 return! This price is only on offer for 3 days only. Today, it is almost impossible to fly to the United States for under $1000. I quickly took advantage of it.

With the flight booked, I put together a trip that will take me to Alaska, Seattle, Vancouver and a little while in San Francisco.

Fast forward to the start of my trip..

I arrived at Changi Airport Terminal 2 early in the morning. The flight departs 8:45am from Singapore and arrives at 9:15am in San Francisco.

My Star Alliance Gold status enables me to check in at the empty Star Gold counter. I was given the lounge invitation card to visit the SATS lounge in Terminal 2.

Deserted SATS lounge

This will be my second time taking a B787 dreamliner aircraft. My previous experience on Scoot has been positive. The cabin atmosphere is markedly less dry and giving me a better ride. It is touted to reduce turbulence compared to other aircraft types but I'm not sure of this benefit. Along the way, there are some occasions of light turbulence. Anyway, after having ride on many air planes, I'm not really affected by turbulence. 

The light dimmer on the window is one of my favourite as well

United airlines in flight entertainment is not bad

The long trek from Singapore to United States. 

The flight time is 14 hours 21 minutes. 

The longest flight in my record.

Breakfast. On this flight e-ticket, it is only reflected 1 breakfast meal. But actually, it serves 2 breakfasts and 1 snack. The food is average. Not as nice compared to the likes of SQ.

Almost reaching !

San Francisco is a United hub. So there are many United planes. I spotted some B747s from the BART station.

This flight is about 90% full in economy. I did not upgrade to Premium economy which will have cost me an additional ~US$165 I believe. To me, the economy class seat is manageable on this long haul flight. The cabin atmosphere is great and that is important to me.

This aircraft is B787-9, slightly bigger than the B787-8 on Scoot. For the price I paid, this flight is definitely worth it.

Iceland '16

After visiting Scotland, I took the Icelandair flight from Glasgow to Reyjkavik. My dream is to see the northern lights, but unfortunately the sky is cloudy on the days we were there, so no lights.

Anyway, this is my first time on Icelandair. 

Mood lighting throughout this flight reflects the dancing northern lights. Very refreshing! 

This is as close I can get to see the northern lights.

Food is purchased onboard.

To the top of the world !

Wingtip of the B757 plane

At Reykjavik airport

Seriously will anyone buy? It's not cheap by the way.

Other than seeing the northern lights, another must see is the Golden Circle tour. It is made up of three attractions: The waterfall, the geyser and the national park.

I booked the tour from Reykjavik excursions tour company. I was picked up in a van above and transported to their headquarters to board the big and crowded coach.

Iceland is not yet commercialized as a tourist destination. Much of it is empty, barren land.

First stop on my tour is a tomatoes farm visit.

geysers Geysir and Strokkur

The geyser erupts once every six minutes.

Gullfoss waterfall

Þingvellir national park

At night, we went to the horse theatre to view the performance. Believe it or not, we are the only audience, sitting at the empty grand stand watching the performance. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful performance. The trainers and the horses were natural in their performance. 

After the show ended, we were invited to take pictures with the performers and the horses.

Horse stable backstage

Complimentary meal. Not sure whether is it horse meat?

Going back to London on Icelandair's hekla aurora plane. 

Beautiful design !

Business class meal. 

Icelandair's business class lounge at Reykjavik airport has shower facilities which I used before getting on the plane for the long way home.

Despite having a three hour layover at London's Heathrow airport, we barely managed to check in for our Qatar Airways flight. Next time should schedule a longer time when in transit in London.

We took the Qatar Airways A380 flight for the Doha-London and return sectors. The plane has economy section on the rear upper deck in a 2-4-2 layout. The small cabin size made for a more intimate feel and less crowded compared to the main deck below.

This time, I didn't manage to catch the elusive lights. I shall try again next time. Maybe in Greenland. 

Look out for my next trip to Alaska, the last frontier..