End of our cruise: (06/14/09)

Well, as they say, "All good things must come to an end," and so it is with sadness, our cruise has run its' course and has come to a close.  We experienced spectacular scenery, incredible weather, glorious sunshine, awesome food, friendly people, groovy dancing, absolute serenity, and the list goes on.  

Our cruise director, Lee Childers, has been doing the Alaskan cruise season, which is April 30 - September 30 of each year, for the past twenty years.  NEVER in his experience has the weather been this incredible:  no rain, average daytime temperatures between 67 and 75, placid seas with no more than 3 foot swells.  It doesn't get better than this!

We met several Princess employees who provided outstanding service;  they were the largest contributor to the overall enjoyment of this fabulous cruise.  We highly recommend it to anyone (even though we can't guarantee weather like we've had).  Even so, others who have taken the cruise in less-than-perfect weather have still enjoyed it thoroughly and have called it the highlight of a lifetime!

We arrived home on the 14th of June, which is the date of our 35th anniversary, to find the house in order, the garden watered, the plants blooming and our kitty kats longing for our companionship.  We'll soon settle into our routines, but our life will never be the same again after having experienced a taste of the final frontier.  We'll definitely return.

At Sea: (06/12/09)

Since we didn’t have to get up early to go ashore, we slept in until 10:30 am, ordered room service and lolly-gagged in our stateroom.  The seas were a bit more rolling than when we were in the inland channels, but were nothing like that of our first cruise.  Of course that first cruise with Admiral accommodated only 750 persons and the ship was ¼ the size of the Star Princess.  

At 1 pm we met up with our new friends, Suzanne and Chuck in the Portofino Dining Room for lunch.  We had an encrusted brie cheese with apricot sauce and for the main course, I had talapia fish tacos; Susan had turkey scallopini – both excellent choices.  We were having such a good time talking and eating that we didn’t realize, until we decided to retire to the wine bar that we were the only four left in the dining room.

We visited for another hour or so in the Vines Bar and it was time for another nap.  We headed for our room, I took an hour nap and Susan washed and dryed a load of clothing at the Laundromat.

Tonight was the second formal night and tonight is the night we chose to celebrate our 35^th anniversary (even though it’s not until the 14^th).  The main attraction in the dining room was lobster and tiger prawns.  We each ordered that entrée; I gave my lobster to Susan and she gave me her prawns; it was a fair and even trade.

We dined with another couple celebrating their honeymoon.  How well we remember those first days of ignorant bliss and innocence.  Not that we would change anything, but we’re pretty happy that those days are in the past as we now live together in reality and loving each other despite our flaws.

We attended a Broadway Review after dinner – some of the singers they’ve signed on are really, really good.  This is more than likely their first of many steps as they begin their careers.  The cruise director’s name is Lee Childers, so we’re going to meet him tomorrow afternoon.

We danced the night away again with “Groove Line,” and then closed the bar down at 1 am. 

Tomorrow, we’re attending at culinary demonstration followed by a tour of the ship’s galley.

Good night!

Skagway departures & Cruising at Sea: (06/11/09)

We departed Skagway on Thursday eve at 5 pm.  I was sitting shirtless on the deck, soaking up the sun under partly cloudy skies.  The temperature was 67 with gentle breezes.

Since our departure from Juneau, we have been piloted by Alaskan Mariners who intimately know every square inch of the way as we cruised and are cruising through the Lynn Canal.   The Lynn Canal is actually a fjord and is the second longest and deepest fjord in the world.   The largest is in Argentina. 

The afternoon views of the landscape are stunning.  With our good fortune of temperate weather, the grays and blues of the morning have given way to pristine white of the snow pack, verdant emerald greens, sapphire blues and all shades in between.   We breathe in the pure air and gaze at millions of acres of scenery upon which no man has ever trod.

10 minutes after leaving Skagway, we passed Long Fall, a 1500’ vertical drop with such an immense volume of water that it never freezes.  The tips of the surrounding mountains are jagged and resemble the Grand Tetons.  Comprised of granite, slate, and other miscellaneous rocks, they range in height from 7,200 to 14,000 feet.

By 8:30 pm, we bid farewell to our Alaskan Mariners and entered the Gulf of Alaska, setting a course southward for Victoria, Vancouver Island, our next stop, scheduled in two days from now.

We chose rack of lamb for dinner paired with a lovely Kendall Jackson cabernet.  None of our table mates were savvy when it came to wine, so we had a spirited conversation about viticulture.  As a result two of the folks at the table have decided to plan a vacation getaway to Sonoma County.

After dinner, we enjoyed the Cruise Ship Personnel Talent Show.  Several of the solo acts were stellar and the grand finale was hilarious.  We then danced the night away to the sounds of Groove Line and the Star Princess Orchestra, two phenomenal musical ensembles.

We retired to our stateroom, ordered room service for a late breakfast tomorrow and were lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking of the ship.

Skagway, Puppies and the Iditarod: (06/11/09)

We arrived in Skagway around 6 am and shortly moored.  We had to get up early because our tour to the Musher’s Camp left the pier at 8:20 am.

The skies were mostly cloudy, but the air was balmy and the temperature was in the low 60’s.  Showers were forecast, but several cruise employees told us that if today was anything like last week’s visit to Skagway, the sun would burn off the clouds into a glorious sun-filled afternoon.  We’ve had such great luck with weather thus far, but the clouds seemed a bit foreboding so we went with our gut level hunch and wore sweatshirts.

Our tour today was to the Musher’s Camp in a valley formerly the town of Dyea populated by 10,000 people during the gold rush of the late 1890’s and all but abandoned by 1900, leaving the forest to reclaim the land that formerly had been stripped and laid waste.

Today it is the home of the Musher’s Camp, where an enterprising group of people raise and train Alaskan Huskies (not Siberian Huskies) for the world famous Iditarod Sled Dog Race.  Over 300 dogs and puppies, along with sixteen to twenty professional mushers make this their year-round home, where they literally rough-it-out.

We were pulled over rough terrain in a wheeled version of an Iditarod sled that sat six adults behind howling, barking, enthusiastic dogs, eager to give their best to ensure we had a good time.   It was an E-ticket ride as we went up and down hills, rounded steep corners and bounced over ruts and rocks as the musher yelled commands to his dogs, in a simulated leg of a race.  Incidentally, all but five of our canine team that pulled our sled are former Iditarod participants.

Afterward, we mushed to camp where we held, kissed and loved on the six new additions to the musher’s family, seven-week old puppies.  Each of these puppies will have the chance to grown up and be one of the world famous Dogs of the Iditarod.

When we left the camp, the temperature was 67 degrees and the clouds had all but disappeared.  We returned to Skagway where we shopped the various stores (nothing but souvenir and jewelry stores) before returning to the ship for lunch.

After lunch, we donned our bathing suits and walked to the Serenity Pool where we hot-tubed and sun bathed for an hour under partly cloudy 67 degree skies before coming back to our room for our cocktail hour.

 

It’s a rough life to be certain!

Glaciers and Juneau: (06/10/09)

We were not able to enter Tracy Arm because the ice was still too thick for safe passage, so the captain chose instead to cruise up Endicott Arm to the Dawe’s Glacier, which in the Captain’s opinion, is the more spectacular of the two.

When we cruised to within two miles of the Dawe’s Glacier, the pilot brought our ship around so that the starboard side had a full-on view of the glacier.  Ten minutes later, he continued the maneuver until we on the port had the same opportunity to view this magnificent natural phenomena.  We remained this far from the glacier because from the sea to the top of the leading edge, the glacier is 200’ thick and the calving of a large chunk of ice could jeopardize the safety of the Star Princess and her passengers.

Once we all had the opportunity to view the glacier, we continued on as our second mate informed us that we would be passing the Golden Princess who was behind us in queue, awaiting her turn for the view.  What is so serendipitous about this is that our friends, Chuck La Grave and Lou Kravitz, are onboard the Golden Princess, so as they passed, we videoed their passage to later give to them.  As the two ships passed, a roar from the crowds on both ships arose in our hails to each other.

We arrived in Juneau at 2 pm, and disembarked the ship under cloudless skies with temperatures in the mid 70’s.  A more warm and dry summer this region has not seen in years!

We window shopped the downtown bounty of Juneau’s tourist district and then returned to the pier for a bus trip to the Mendenhall Glacier.  We had only one hour to visit this massive glacier.  The visitor’s center is located where the leading edge of the glacier had been in 1957,  Between 1980 and 1999, it retreated an average of 90 feet a year.  Then, in 2000, it lost 300 linear feet and in 2004, 600 linear feet.  Who says there is no such thing as global warming!

After our trip to the Mendenhall Glacier, we were treated to a traditional Alaskan salmon bake.  Now I don’t want to get too puffed up, but Susan and my salmon on a plank, baked in our Weber grill is far, far better than what we consumed today and our side dishes are much more scrumptious and creative as well.  If this sounds like an invite for y’all to visit, it is.

Weary from today’s journeys, we retired to the ship, ordered a bottle of wine, and even as we post this, we are sitting on our balcony at 10:30 pm with no coats, enjoying a balmy 68 degree Juneau evening.

Harbor Seals: (06/10/09)

The only wildlife we saw were harbor seals which were numerous as the sea gulls at Pier 39 in San Francisco.  We were privileged to watch a seal give birth to her pup as we cruised within 50 feet of the floe upon which they lay.  Moments after birth, both the mother and pup slipped into the icy waters and skirted the floe until after we had safely passed.

Ice Floes: (06/10/09)

This morning I awoke at 6 am to the sound of our on-board naturalist narrating something.  I remembered that we were to be cruising through the Tracy Arm this morning and had set our alarm for 7 am so as not to miss anything spectacular.  I quietly got out of bed and parted the curtains.  I saw we were already in the fjord but nothing else of any significance was evident so I closed the curtains and went back to bed.

Thirty minutes later, I heard some ooohs and aaahs from the patios adjacent to ours and once more our naturalist was narrating some aspect of our journey.  This time when I parted the curtains, we were afloat in a sea of ice floes, some as small as a square foot and others as large as a small house.  It was every bit as surreal as the scene from the Titanic as they drifted through the field of ice floes.  The growlers, as they are called ranged in color from snowy white to  blue green with as many shapes and sizes as there are entrees on a cruise buffet. 

I wakened Susan so she too could share in this magical moment.  Our patio juts out farther than those above, so she had to restrain herself from coming out onto the patio until after she was properly clothed.

In anticipation of this morning, we ordered our breakfast last night for this morning’s delivery and for the next three hours, stood in wonder and awe of the power and majesty of God’s universe.