Alaskan Cruise –September 11th to 18th

(This blog has no pictures because I couldn't get them to load, which is too bad because they were fantastic and added a lot to my non-stop verbage. Sorry!)

Wow! I have been reminded yet again of just how wonderful an Alaskan cruise is. This is at least my third one and every time I come away more impressed. The scenery and the history are remarkable and this time again I had beautiful, sunny weather and that always adds to the enjoyment and beauty. My friend, Louise, was with me for this portion of the cruise and I know she too was impressed with the entire experience.

We sailed from Vancouver to Whittier (Anchorage) with stops in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway, and two cruising days in Glacier Bay and College Fjord. That was September 11th to 18th. It’s now the 25th so I’m a week late in writing this. Hopefully I’ll remember some of what we saw and experienced.

First I should say that we flew from Kelowna to Vancouver on the morning of the 11th and my great niece, Megan, met us at the airport to help us with our luggage as we made our way via the Canada Line to the waterfront. We had time for an early lunch in Gastown before we boarded. The walk to find an available restaurant was by far our longest walk with our suitcases. Once at the cruise ship terminal Megan left us with our bags to check in. Thanks for helping us out, Megan. Louise and I really appreciated it!

We then stood in various lines – check-in, baggage deposit, customs, etc. – for several hours before actually getting on the Diamond Princess and into our stateroom A248, a lovely balcony unit on the forward port side. Our luggage didn’t arrive at our room until much later in the evening so we definitely didn’t have to worry about changing for dinner on our first night! Chay (pronounced Chi), our cabin steward is very nice and he keeps the cabin spotless.

We set sail around 5 p.m. and sailed under the Lion’s Gate Bridge with much fanfare. This voyage was the last Vancouver departure for the Diamond Princess for this year as the current voyage continues on to Asia and eventually Australia, so there was special recognition ( a lot of horn blowing!) as we went under the bridge.

Our first day at sea was very good but it’s always the day when I need some Gravol to survive. This trip was no exception but it was only a one-Gravol day so that’s good. Actually, I can now say that the entire crossing of the Pacific only had one day that also was a one-Gravol day. We had very good seas throughout the voyage and I certainly appreciated that. Right now, September 25th as I write this, we are heading south toward Japan while a typhoon, whose name I can’t remember, is heading north so we’re hoping to outrun it and be in more sheltered waters before it hits. The captain told me this just this morning as he and I were chatting on one of the decks. He just happened to stop and say hi and ask me how my day was going so I asked him how his was going, hence the typhoon update. I had no intention of going to his little reception tonight but now that I’ve met him personally and he really is so very friendly, I might just have to drop in for a few minutes even though I really hate formal nights!

Okay, back to Alaska. Our first stop was Ketchikan and Louise and I did not book any official shore excursion. We just went ashore and wandered around the town. Louise did some shopping and I took some pictures and we managed to hit all the highlights of town (we think). We did a bit of waiting for a shuttle bus to take us to the Totem Heritage Centre and the salmon hatchery. The salmon were spawning and the creeks we passed over were just full of salmon. Then we walked back into town through the historic Creek Street, which is redone as it was around 1900 when the “red light” district had to be on the other side of the creek from town. Dolly and her girls were still outside Dolly’s Place but now they say they’re just giving tours. We took the funicular to the top of the hill to see the sights but there really wasn’t much there to see. Then we headed back downtown for more shopping before heading to the ship for our 2 p.m. departure. It was a quick visit but a good one! Ketchikan’s population is 13,000 but with four cruise ships docked on that day the streets and shops were very busy.

We had all day in Juneau from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. so more time to look around. As the capital of Alaska, Juneau was the largest of the cities we visited with a population of 30,000. To start our day we had the comfort of watching otters in the water beside the boat and an eagle in the tree on the hillside – all from our balcony. Again we had no set tour booked so we started our day by going up the tram and enjoying some incredible views of the harbour and surrounding area. We then bought a tour ticket from one of the locals to tour the city, go to Douglas Island and the Mendenhall Glacier. The first two parts were pretty quick but nice. The glacier was definitely the highlight and we took lots of pictures there of the lake with the glacier and surrounding mountains reflected in it. We arrived back in town and went to the Red Dog Saloon for lunch – crowded and nothing exceptional but we did have to go check it out. After that, and around some shopping of course, we took the city bus out to the Glacier Gardens that Louise wanted to see. I must admit that it was quite amazing. The gardens are in a rainforest so you ride around on a golf cart through the rainforest and at some points the views are stunning. Parts of the garden are actually part of the Tongass national Forest. The flowers were on the lower parts of the garden and they were amazing, especially the upside-down trees. Apparently the owner bought the land cheaply after a landslide. As he cleared the land he ended up placing an uprooted tree into the mud with the roots up. He liked the effect and the rest is history. He put moss and dirt in the root wells and now has beautiful flowers growing from the roots of these upside-down trees. We caught the bus back into town in the early evening and slowly walked back to the ship shopping and touring along the way. Juneau also has some great signage and historical plaques along its shoreline and these were very interesting. Mining for gold was definitely big in Juneau early in 20th century and even today there are more miles of underground tunnels in Juneau than there are roads. They also have more than six times as many hiking trails as roads.

Skagway was our next stop and it did not disappoint. As the main gold rush town at the end of the 19th century it had a population of over 20,000 with an additional 10,000 in nearby Dyea. Today Dyea is virtually nonexistent and the population of Skagway is around 800. The main street of Skagway is a reproduction of what it was during the gold-rush days and the local museum society has done a great job of telling the gold rush story through museums and exhibits throughout the town. Louise and I went our separate ways for much of the day so she could finish up the last of her shopping and I could tour around and take more pictures. However, we did tour the brothel above the Red Onion Saloon together, attend a lecture on the gold rush, take a walking tour of the city, have lunch in some makeshift saloon restaurant, and attend the Days of ‘98 Show which was a lot of fun and very well done. Louise headed back to the ship about 5:30 and I went to an internet café for a few minutes and then to another presentation by the museum society at 6:00. They really do present a great program of events. I don’t know if it’s every day or just when the cruise ships are in town. Again there were four ships in town so probably about 10 times the normal population of the town suddenly filled up the streets and theatres. Of course lots of people headed up the White Pass or on other adventures so we weren’t all in town at exactly the same time. We didn’t make it to the Jewell Gardens while in town. When back on the ship we found out that our cruise director, who is from Juneau, had gone off to the gardens and gotten married that afternoon. She got a two-day honeymoon onboard (while working) before her new husband flew back to LA from Anchorage.

We were in Glacier Bay from early morning (before we were up!) until after 3 p.m. The park rangers on board did a great job of describing the scenery and pointing out wildlife as we passed many glaciers including the Lamplugh and Margerie. The weather was sunny and perfect, and the glaciers were impressive and beautiful, although they say the colours in the glaciers are even better if it’s a cloudy day. To be honest, one of the glaciers isn’t actually all that beautiful as it is not clear and white to the extent that it looks blue like the others. That would be the one coming from Canada and it is actually very dark and dirty looking. Apparently while the others come through very hard rock which does not break down, the one from Canada comes through softer rock and the rocks and debris all end up on top of the glacier which makes it look very dark and dirty. We heard and saw a lot of calving activity but never had the camera ready when needed to get a picture. It was just a perfect day to sit and enjoy the beauty all around. The sky was blue. The water was calm and blue and a perfect mirror for the hills and glaciers and incredible mountain peaks in the distance. Wow!

And just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, we sailed into College Fjord. The ship’s naturalist did a good job of pointing out the sights but he kept seeing whales that the rest of us never did see. We did see lots of sea otters though. They were everywhere. We spent the late afternoon and early evening in College Fjord looking at the many glaciers, all of which are named after Ivy League colleges like Harvard, which happened to be the most northerly point of our voyage at just over 61 degrees north. Again the weather was perfect with a bright blue sky and calm waters that reflected the surrounding scenery beautifully. I can’t believe how many pictures I took and all of them look quite amazing. What a great day!

Whittier is the port on Prince William Sound that is closest to Anchorage. Louise departed early in the morning to go to Anchorage to catch her flight home. In fact it seemed insanely early to us but as you learned more about the area it became more understandable. One of the buses didn’t arrive at the port because it hit a moose on the road and had to go in for repairs so wildlife is obviously a hazard. The trip by road (Whittier to Anchorage) is about two hours and you have to go through the tunnel at Whittier which is several miles long and only one lane wide. It’s also for motor vehicles as well as trains so there is a schedule of when you can and cannot get through during the day. With 15 minute intervals for cars out, cars in, trains out, trains in, if you don’t time it well you could sit for over an hour before getting through.

We arrived in Whittier early in the morning and left 5 p.m. I got up and had breakfast with Louise and saw her off, then waited around until it got a bit warmer to go touring around the town of Whittier. Now Whittier is pretty small so there really wasn’t much to tour around. There are some small shops down along the harbour and I do mean small. Some were open and some were not as it’s the end of the tourist season. There is a short tunnel from the harbour to downtown itself, which has a few more shops and that’s about it for the town. There is one large 14-story building and that’s where most people live. It includes a grocery store, city hall, a chapel, post office, medical centre and other such necessities on the ground floor. The school is right next door but there is a tunnel from the building so the children don’t have to walk outside. Whittier was important in WWII as a major debarkation point for American troops. There is a museum in town and it was quite interesting to read some of the WWII information. I had no idea that Alaska was also attacked by the Japanese and that many people died on some of the main Aleutian Islands. It was also interesting to see how earthquakes and tsunamis have devastated the area from time to time. I think it was in College Fjord where the naturalist noted that the one area or mountain range had dropped 10 feet in one earthquake while another had risen by 30 feet – all due to tectonic plate movements. Moves like that would certainly rearrange the landscape considerably. My only other stop in Whittier was to walk to the waterfall and take some pictures before heading back to the ship. In total it took no more than a couple hours to see the whole town in detail and I really was walking slowly and trying to take my time.

The Diamond Princess is a beautiful ship and not too hard to find your way around once you figure out how to read your handy map. I’ve never been lost but I certainly have been heading the wrong way on more than one occasion. We opted for any time dining so we could go to any restaurant and eat at any time and, given all the sights and shows that had to be seen, that was a great option. As usual, you wouldn’t go hungry on the cruise and eventually you learn to stop eating everything in sight. I’ve been eating lots of salads and fruit, which is a change for me, and I’ve really been trying to limit my portions at the buffet. In the dining rooms the portions have always been about the right size so no problem there. And as of now, I’ve only hit the ice cream stand two or three times in two weeks so that’s not too bad. I’m sure you’re all very interested in my eating habits, right?

Enough activities are available on board to keep you busy all day every day – if you wanted to be kept busy. There is something for everyone from morning to night. ScholarShip@Sea programs were available throughout the cruise and included ceramics, arts and crafts, dance classes, computers, naturalist and historian talks. There were contests and competitions all day long and different types of music in all venues. Trivia contests were the only activities I attended regularly. There were usually at least three of these every day and they were a humbling experience to say the least!

And of course the spa and fitness centre were always available when needed or wanted. We were too busy on the Alaskan cruise to check them out much but I am making use of them now that we’re at sea for six days crossing to Asia. I’m also doing more computer classes so I can figure out how to improve all the pictures I am taking – not saying they aren’t already perfect or anything, but they might need some adjustments.

The shows each night are quite varied. The more “Broadway-like” musical productions are my favourites and they are fantastic. The main Princess cast has five different shows that they perform and I’ve now seen them all. I think we saw about three of them on the Alaskan portion and the others were at sea. We’ve also had comedians and hypnotists and jugglers and classical musicians and jazz musicians and illusionists – definitely something for everyone every evening. And if you get bored with this type of entertainment you can always go to the casino.

Okay, that’s all for now. Tomorrow we arrive in Muroran, Japan so that will be the start of my Asian tour and I will try and post that around October 4th or 5th. Of course I really don’t know if this posting will actually work. The ship’s internet is incredibly slow out here at sea.

Until next time I’ll leave you with the views for six days at sea – nothing to see but water and sky day and night every day. It will be good to have solid ground again tomorrow.

Jayne