Photographing an Alaskan Cruise – Anchorage and Whittier

Mountain Scene Between Anchorage and Whittier (Above Photo)

In this blog, I discuss day one of a seven day Alaskan Cruise. In June, we cruised on the Norwegian Sun sailing from Whittier, Alaska to Vancouver, British Columbia. This series of blog posts is intended for photographers going on an Alaskan Cruise. However, non-photography cruisers will also benefit from the information in this series.

Index for all 11 Blogs on Photographing an Alaskan Cruise

Bus Ride from Anchorage to Whittier

We flew into Anchorage where a chartered bus took us to Whittier where the Norwegian Sun was docked. We purchased the transfer through Norwegian Cruise Lines.

There was plenty of beautiful scenery to photograph on the way to Whittier. The trip went through Chugach National Forest that had beautiful views of the mountains, Turnagain Arm, and a bird sanctuary. However, it was difficult to photograph on a moving bus with glare on the windows.

The bus only made one stop on the way to Whittier. A brief stop at Portage Lake located near Whittier. Portage Lake is a beautiful glacier lake with a mountain background. The bus driver gave us time for a few snaps.

She needed to keep on time for the window to get through the tunnel at Whittier. The only way to get to Whittier by land is through a train tunnel. Cars, trucks, busses, and the train all use the tunnel. In fact, cars, truck, and busses also drive on the railroad tracks. The 2.5 mile long, narrow tunnel is only open one direction at a time and if you miss the window for your direction, you have an hour wait until the tunnel opens in your direction.

Whittier Alaska iPhone 5 Pano

Whittier, Alaska

There are a few photo opportunities at Whittier. There are waterfalls cascading into the water from the melting snow that make nice photo opportunities. There are also boats in the marina, the train, and snow capped mountains. I also saw two bald eagles flying around Whittier. Make sure you walk around the ship to take photos from all sides.

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