Pack our bags and let's go! One problem, we had no bags - we left them at Rose's brothers place in Ohio to save space in the smaller trailer. So it was off to the cheap shop to get a bag, then a dress shop for Rose for the formal nights and a suit for me. We managed to get bags and Roses dresses but no suit for me. The day before we sailed we found a suit and thankfully found a place that hemmed the trousers within the hour.
We found an RV park in Seattle that, as long as we stayed one night they would store our rig for $3 a night, including power to keep the fridge running whilst we are away. Needless to say we booked in including 3 extra nights on our return - just in case we needed to recuperate!
Not wanting to be late for our ship we made sure we had put our trailer in the storage are of the RV park by 9-30 am. We then made the mistake of carrying our bags to the park entrance rather than just directing the limo driver to pick them up, we live and learn. Princess cruises also phoned to advise us that a "fun run" was taking place in Seattle and to allow time for some road closures. Our driver made the appropriate detours and got us to the terminal without fuss and on time.
Waiting For Someone to Carry Our Bags (check out the $10 bags)
Arrival at the terminal was chaos with everyone attempting to get booked in and on board four hours before departure, us being one of them. No great problems just like getting on an international flight, passport, metal detectors and alike. We lined up and got our room card which also is your on board purchase card and ID card for getting on and off the ship - what a great idea! We declared our 4 bottles of wine and paid the $15 corkage (each) on two - they allow you to take one bottle each aboard for free but any additional ones incur the $15 corkage charge.
The Biggest Cruise Ship I Have Ever Been On, In Fact The Only One!
Fifteen minutes later we are heading up the gangplank to our cabin we do three circles in the foyer before we get our bearings and we are off ship map in hand. Our balcony cabin is on level 14 - the highest deck - and about level with the ships bridge. First thing we did was to open a red, sit on our balcony and take in the reality that we are here. Next thing is to explore the ship and have some lunch.
Seattle from the Deck
Our departure is due at 4-00 pm but we leave just 20 minutes late and to our amazement they just back the ship up left turn and we are on our way, no tugs needed for this big baby! In fact the ship never used a tug the entire journey - shows how behind the times I am. We then just spent time exploring and sampling a cocktail or two. We also had to do a lifeboat practice drill which means heading to your "muster station". Here they scan your ID card so they can account for everyone on the boat very quickly. There were no ifs or ands, the drill was compulsory for everyone on board.
We Are on Our Way
Life Boat Drill, I'm Ready
We chose dinner to be at a set time each night so at 8pm we headed to the restaurant to meet our other table guests. For the entire trip we ate at the same table, with the same people and same waiters. Our first night with our new table guest was very pleasant, even if the three young blokes from California did turn up 30 minutes late! We all talked and got to know one another. Henry and Grace are both doctors and they had their son with them who had just graduated and was heading off to Uni. The three young blokes all hailed from Bakersfield in California. Mark had been dumped by his girl the week before the cruise so he called upon his 'mates' Christopher and Branden to go along with him instead. We all joked if someone was missing the following night it would most likely mean that one of us is not liked. After dinner we went back to our cabin and sat on the balcony to watch the sun go down. It was 10.30 pm and the sun was still shinning brightly! Amazing!
Yep Sunset at 10.30pm From Our Balcony
Sunset at 10.30 pm and sunrise at 4.30 am - just five hours of dark. The first day is at sea so we participated in a few of the organised daily activities. But before that I needed to iron my new shirts for the formal nights - I was surprised I remembered how to do it after 7 months without touching an iron!
Shirts done we headed off to the casino to learn the art of Roulette, Three hand Poker and Blackjack - a free learners activity but we all know the intention was to get you into the casino to part with your cash. Lunch was a English Pub themed event so we went and had steak and kidney pie with a Guinness. Next stop was the art auction offering free champagne so I willingly sat and watched the proceedings. We saw some amazing and impressive works but much too expensive for us. Auction done , we headed off to a dancing lesson - yes you heard correct - it was great fun. After working up a sweat we stopped at one of the many bars for a quick drink.
There are Three Painted Female Bodies Making Up this Picture
The next day we arrived at Juneau which is the capital of Alaska. The port side area is very quaint and very obviously geared towards the constant flow of tourists with an over abundance of souvenir shops- there were 4 ships in port the day we were there. There were plenty of "tours" that could be organised from the ship. It's a short tourist season up in Alaska and they don't miss you when it comes to price - generally speaking prices start at $125 for a bus tour to $449 for a helicopter flight to a glacier. We took a rain check on the tours and just did our own thing which we pretty well did in every port we stopped at. We were amazed at the number of jewellery stores in each port we reckon there must be one for every 10 people in town. There are obviously a lot of people who buy a trinket or two when they are on holidays.
Our Ship From the Top of Mount Roberts
After Juneau we set sail for Skagway and thankfully everyone from our table turned out for dinner the next night. For such a mixed group of people we all got on really well, so well in fact that we were the last ones to leave the restaurant every night. The Bakersfield boys, in particular Christopher, were quite fond of red wine and were quite the connesours. They were never going to be happy with drinking their expensive wine out of water glasses so a quick chat to the maitre d resulted in all our glasses being replaced with proper red wine glasses for the remainder of the trip. Thanks Christopher! The boys have been friends all through school but hadn't seen each other for quite awhile. Mark's unfortunate situation with his girlfriend was the topic of many jokes around the table - fortunately he took it well. Branden was the quiet one of the group often just sitting there listening to the other two with a smile on his face. Grace and Henry's son was a typical teenager and it seems he was constantly searching for food - he even told us there was an all night cafe which he paid a visit to most nights for a midnight snack. Grace and Henry were great company and we plan to catch up with them at their farm in northern Tennessee later in the year.
We thoroughly enjoyed meeting our dinner table friends and will hopefully keep in touch with them for many years to come.
Every Dinner was Filled with Laughter and Stories.
Once again the tourist trade is a big part of the business of Skagway. The population of the city is 920 however this doubles in the summer tourist season in order to deal with more than 900,000 visitors. Like many other towns in the panhandle of Alaska, Skagway was affected by the Klondike Gold rush in 1896 with the population growing to around 8,000 during this time. Unfortunately the gold rush only lasted for 2 years and Skagways economy collapsed shortly after. We jumped on a city tour bus which, as well as stopping at the main attractions, also took us over the boarder into Canada.
Skagway Port
The Historic Town of Liarsville
In 1898, a 14-mile, steam-operated aerial tramway was constructed up the Skagway side of the White Pass.
Broadway Avenue
We Are In Canada
Our next stop, and the one we were really looking forward to was Glacier Bay National Park. We arrived early in the morning and were woken by the frequent blowing of the ships fog horn. Yes the whole bay was blanketed in a thick fog. All we could see were icebergs of various sizes floating by as we sailed very slowly up the bay, so slowly that this huge ship barely made a ripple in the ocean. After several hours it was announced the ship would not go any further due to the dangers. We were all really disappointed but had to trust the Captain's decision (which he copped a lot of criticism for) , he knows the risks and we all remember the Titanic!
The Fog was Very Thick
On the way out of the bay the fog lifted momentarily in one spot and we did get to see one glacier.
Just Beautiful
Next stop was Ketchikan and as always there was a rush as people got ashore to get to the waiting tour buses. We watched from our balcony and waited until the rush was over and then ventured into town. Once again we saw at least 10 jewellery shops in town and numerous other gift shops selling souvenirs made in China - it's not just Australia that has that problem. Our stay in Ketchikan was very short - only a couple of hours so we found a coffee shop with free wifi, checked our emails and Facebook and headed back to the ship.
Go Figure! Come to Ketchikan and go to Walmart! Guess some of the crew might take advantage of it.
Our last stop was Victoria BC in Canada. We didn't have a plan in mind, once again this was a relatively short stop, so we jumped on one of the shuttle buses into the city. Grace and Henry were also wondering what to do so decided to join us. As we entered the main street of Victoria Rose spotted one of those double decker open top buses which offered a 90 minute city tour for $20. Bargain- we all jumped on and off we went.
Henry Chatting To The Bus Driver
It was a great tour, Victoria is one beautiful city, one we would definately like to visit again. As always there were plenty of laughs along the way.
A Rare Shot, Rose with Coffee Not a Red Wine!
The cruise was fantastic - the ship was always clean or being cleaned, the staff were great and the meals were fantastic. We saw whales, seals and one of the largest pods of dolphins I have ever seen - hundreds of them rounding up fish and feeding. We all know ships tend to be expensive for alcohol but we found it reasonable, $5.50 for a "well" drink, (Bourbon, Rum etc) , $7-$9 for a cocktail and $25 for a bottle of wine at dinner. The entertainment was great, new friendships made and lots of memories (and photos) of an amazingly beautiful land.
Sunset From Our Balcony
We Are Welcomed by the US Coast Guard ( note bow mounted machine gun!)
Posted by RnR on their IPad
Location:Seattle, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan and Victoria BC
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