10+ restaurants aboard. We tried 6 of them. 13 bars aboard - we tried one. I checked out a book at the library and read it in the week we had. Picked up "today's crossword" there each day. Watched a couple movies at the theater. Stayed up for one nights entertainment. (all that fresh air was exhausting).
Didn't swim in the pool or bask in the sun or relax in the hot tub. Did get ice cream at the ice cream bar several times. Enjoyed many 6 course meals presented and served as if we were royalty. Did partake of a room service breakfast our last morning aboard.
Since it was the last cruise to Alaska for the year before heading to Mexico, all the Alaska and cold weather items were on sale for half-price. Bought a couple coffee cups and two pins.
Didn't stay up for the Ship-n-dales (Like Chippendale's) men's modeling at midnight, or the Chocoholic Buffet at 11:30pm, nor learn to tango. Did go to a seminar on towel art (now where will I use that skill!) and watched an ice carving demo.
Took the train up to White Pass summit in Skagway and enjoyed the 5-6 hours we had in Glacier Bay with a ranger aboard sharing her knowledge of the bay and glaciers. Saw steam puffs and fin flaps from afar (whales). Saw two sea otters close up (no pix).
Enjoyed the way every employee went out of their way to ask if we were having a good trip and always shared a smile. Freestyle cruising was wonderful. Eat when and where you want. Jeans appropriate except at dinner.
All in all, we'd rather go in our own boat at our own pace.
We are disappointed that the ship did not go on its published route up and down the Inside Passage (inside Vancouver Island and inside the Queen Charlotte Islands; one of the reasons we wanted to go but on the way up went straight west out the Strait of Juan de Fuca and north for a day and a half. Nothing to see. But many folks did not go to "see" and they "thought" we were in the Inside Passage. The fact that the weather was quite snotty out there made it even more dismaying (winds to 49 knots and seas to 28'). Even I was thinking that it wasn't comfortable. Would have been less rough on the "Inside".
Cruise lines cruising is travel all night to get to a port by morning to do land tours and buy at stores. We like watching the shorelines. We were pretty tired by the end of the week because we got up on deck before the sun each morn just to watch the shorelines go by.
Best ride in the storm was in the lower levels...where our room was at.
Comfortable except when
THE WAVES HIT THE WINDOW!
Notice Dean bracing himself to take the videos.
And the splashes from the bow of this 1000' ship!
All in all the weather in Alaska was spectacular for this time of year.
Just a few showers on our day in Juneau.
Our friends with us on this cruise, Gene and Joanne Erwin, used to live up here.
Gene's mom cooked for the miners at the AJ Mine.
Hence, the sculpture of hard rock miners reminded him of his younger years
In the Alaska State Museum was this unique navigation chart of the Yukon river.
80 feet long it was unrolled as the ship continued on the river.
A bit of the Gold Miner's Trail of 1898. Not too bad in the middle of summer. Looks like today's climbers use this route to the summit.
Surprise at the top of White Pass.
Very barren and many bald rocks to trip up any miners coming this way.
What did we tell you!? Wonderful weather. Can see it will be a spectacular day in Glacier Bay
What a fantastic scene. This is the Johns Hopkins Glacier making its way to the water. At the base of the glacier is another large cruise ship. Pretty tiny, huh?
Margarie Glacier has lots of crackly tops caused from the glacier movement (the floe).
You can be darned sure we wouldn't bring the TROUBADOUR
that close to the glacier and the mud!
