THE FINAL FAREWELL TO ALASKA 2010

Tuesday, August 24th – skies are clearing as we get closer to home

Today was a sad day as we are packing to leave the ship. We were invited to one more luncheon with Captain Bos and is was a wonderful spread they put out for us. We were so fortunate to be able to take park in these meet and greets – it meant a lot to Mom. She will have so much to tell her friends at Fleetwood Villa when she gets home tomorrow.

As I write this final entry to the blog, we are sailing into Robson Bight and hoping to see Orcas. This is the rubbing beach that is talked about. The Captain made an announcement that if you google Robson Byte, there is a link to an underwater camera and you can see the Orcas rubbing on the pebbles on the bottom. I must do that when I get home – it is way too expensive to google on the ship. Internet charges are about 55 cents a minute and the connection rates are slower than the lightning speed we have at home. However, I enjoy doing this so much and this is my hobby when on these trips.

The weather has gone from rain last night – to foggy and socked in most of the day, and now that evening is here and we are nearing home, we are enjoying a lovely, albeit cool scenic cruise. OK so I had to run down to Deck 6 and out to the bow of the boat. There were 4 or 5 Orcas, but they were too far away for a picture with my camera – we could only enjoy watching them blow and splash in the distance. There were hundreds fishing boats in the area – more than we have ever seen there. Evidently the season was extended because the run of salmon is so very large this year. This is the run they have talked about for years – and it didn’t appear until this year. Finally the fisherman can have their turn.

So time for our last chance in the Casino. We have had fun putting $5.00 each in this one machine and we doubled our money on the first spin and quit. Then the next day we put in our $5.00 each in the same machine and doubled on the first spin again! So tonight we have to try this machine again and see what luck we have.

Thanks for coming along for the adventure!

….to be continued on a future journey!

IT’S RAINING … IT’S POURING

Monday, August 23 – weather is scrudgy

We pulled into Ketchikan and it was nasty – driving rain, windy and just very very wet. All in all we have been very lucky with the weather, but today in Ketchikan was only the second rainy day they had all summer. Although Ketchikan needed the rain badly, we would have preferred they waited just one more day before the deluge!

Eileen and I braved the weather and tramped around the downtown shops for a couple of hours. We came back with a little less cash in our pockets and soaking wet. Brian went off to find an internet café and he was splashed by a passing vehicle and had to change his socks and shoes when he returned.

All in all it was just a dull grey day! After dinner we played Name that Tune and the four of us did quite well, but not well enough to win a “Dam” prize. That was our last opportunity to snag one of the “Dam” coveted prizes – so we are coming home empty handed.

Tomorrow we hope to see fin whales and more humpbacks – they are on their migration to Hawaii and there is a very good possibility that we may spot them between 8 and 10 tomorrow morning. Evidently you can tell the type of whale by their shape of the blow (the puff of steam and water that comes out of the blow hole) – I’ll let you know how that goes.

G’night

MARGERIE – STILL FRIDGID!

Sunday, August 22 – surprisingly clear skies!

Today we set the alarm for 5:30 a.m. so we could take full advantage of the whole day of scenic cruising in Glacier Bay. Our day started with an unexpected emergency on ship and someone needed to be tendered off the ship and then jetted to Ketchikan Hospital. We were delayed by 2 hours. We don’t know any other details but what we do know is that because of the unexpected turn of events….we could have stayed in bed and ASLEEP for an additional 2 hours.

When we did get underway again. We began our way up Queen Inlet and saw the Carroll Glacier then back down and over to Johns Hopkins Inlet and saw the Reid Glacier and Lamplugh Glacier and then Johns Hopkins Glacier. The highlight came when we came out and entered the Tarr Inlet and then……there stood Margerie Glacier in all her glory right next to the Grand Pacific Glacier. There were some calving events going on there were lots of puffins. Did you know that several puffins together are called an improbability of puffins not a flock of puffins. That was quite a site. Lots of sea lions and lots of sea otters – it was a great day for spotting wildlife. Just as we were completing the last 360 degree turn before we had to leave the bay, the clouds moved in and the rain began. We really had a perfect weather window for our Glacier Bay visit.

Once again, we continued the tradition of having pea soup on the outer deck in Glacier Bay.

Brian finished the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo today and we all had naps this afternoon feeling much better for it. Tomorrow we will wake up – when we wake up no alarms! Tomorrow we are in Ketchikan and this will be our last shopping day. We have had fun on our adventures on and off the ship and we still have a couple of days to go.

Tonight the Captain said we would be going at warp speed in order to make up the two hours that we were delayed during the medical emergency. So we will be rocked to sleep and I’m sure we will not have any trouble falling asleep – the bed looks very inviting!!

Talk to you tomorrow!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIT!

Saturday, August 21, 2010 – clear skies

We began our day singing Happy Birthday to Kit and we hope you had a wonderful day. The cabin mates of 7034 are warming wishing you all the best for the year to come too!

Hi! Did you miss us? We are sorry that we did not blog yesterday.

Yesterday, we arrived in Skagway at 6:30 am. This town is the beginning for the White Pass Yukon narrow guage railway. It is truly our favourite stop. After breakfast, we went into town to wander around and shop. We have been so lucky with the weather. We had been expecting overcast skies and misty rain, but so far, we have had lovely mild and for the most part, sunny days.

After a couple of hours walking about we came back to the ship and had lunch then played some Scrabble until it was time for Mom to have a nap. I read my book until it fell on the floor and woke me up. Eileen laughed at me and then we decided to veg in the room for a while until it was time to get ready for dinner.

After dinner, when we usually blog, and we did have every good intention of doing so, we were invited to a special party to have after dinner drinks with our wonderful captain and totally lost all track of time. Actually, we arrived a bit late and he remarked that he had been waiting for us. Are you jealous?

We stayed up in the Crow’s Nest to watch the ship leave port and then Mom wanted to gamble!! So we played for a while and the next thing we knew it was 11:30 – and knowing that we needed to get up for 5:30 a.m. as we begin our approach to Glacier Bay, we just needed to get to bed! So we did.

Be sure to peek in again later today for the highlights of Glacier Bay!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO RYLAN!

Friday, August 20th – Cloudy with sunny bits

The day began with the members of cabin 7034 singing Happy Birthday to Rylan!! So we hope that you had the best day ever and know that you were fondly remembered on your special day of by the four of us.

Today was the scenic cruising day up the Tracey Arm to see the Sawyer Glacier. We had better weather than we thought and the glacier was magnificent. Years ago when we were up this way we were able to see both of the twin Sawyer Glaciers, however climate change has made it impossible to see both of the Glaciers from a large ship.



There were lots of bergie bits in the waters and of all shapes and sizes. It is still thrilling to come into these waters and start to see the narrow passage and the amount of ice. The captain did 2 360 degree turns to ensure that everyone had a excellent view of the glacier. Mom said that these were the best views she had ever seen and they were right off of our balcony.

We docked at Juneau at 2:30 in the afternoon and ventured out to the shops. The Alaska T-Shirt Company still does a booming business. The purchases are placed in a trademark red plastic bag and then the procession of the passengers coming back to the ship looks like a large red millipede.

Casino is closed today because we are in port and so Brian, Eileen and I are having some time in the pool and the hot tub tonight. Maybe this will ensure a good night’s sleep – Eileen and I are still working on that!

Talk to you tomorrow …

….CAUSE WE WAS TOSSIN AND TURNIN – TURNIN AND TOSSIN …..

Thursday, August 18 – Sunny with Clouds

Did I explain to you before we left that we are all staying in a deluxe verandah suite….and that the 3rd and 4th persons in this suite pay only $358.00 each? Well, the reason is clear! The queen hide-a-bed has a 1/8th inch mattress that sinks in the middle.

Although Eileen and I would start the night facing out on the edges – we would inevitably wake up (often) nose to nose in the middle! Brian delights in describing our bed as “the rack”.

Easy for him as he and mom and their own single - pillow topped 3 foot thick mattress with the extra fluffy down duvets. This morning Brian brought in muffins and latte’s for breakfast. He said he had a wonderful sleep as did our mother. Brian did serve Eileen and me lattes in bed as we floundered around – I guess he felt some guilt – but not enough to give up his bed tonight!!! Oh well….

There were several hump back whales about – but we were never close enough to get a decent picture. Maybe we’ll spot some later on in the cruise. We played trivia after lunch and came 2nd. We missed winning the “Dam” prize by 1 answer. Did you know that Great Britain holds the patent for polyester? Well, neither did we!!! Phhhhhht.

Formal night dinner tonight, we looked gorgeous and managed to escape all the photographers by saying we were in the witness protection program and told them to read the memo.

Well, clocks go back an hour tonight as we are officially on Alaska Time – we will be cruising the Tracy Arm starting at 7:00 a.m. and then docking in Juneau at 2:30 in the afternoon.

Talk to you tomorrow …

ALL ABOARRRRRRD

Wednesday, August 18 – Sunny but cooler

Today was the most easy embarkation day ever. We arrived at the pier at Canada Place at 10:45 and were checked in right away. After Mom gave a pat down to the Customs Officer, we were escorted on board. At 12:00, we were sitting in the dining room having a lovely lunch. The emergency drill was painless as Holland America no longer required you to wear your life jacket during the drill. So basically, we just took the elevator downstairs to the promenade deck and lined up under our designated life boat. Odd isn’t it how the reflective strips for the life boats are on the underside of the boat…hmmmm.

Dinner tonight was yummy Alaska King Crab Legs – Brian was exhausted after his feast. We used our special invite and went to a meet and greet with the captain and some of the officers. This captain is the same one we sailed with years ago – Peter Bos. Kit you will remember him. He is very nice and very enthusiastic. He enjoys these waters tremendously and he is fun to sail with. He greeted Mom by name and assured her that this would be a memorable cruise with lots of wild life both on and off the ship.

After our meet and greet, we went to the casino to help pay our dues. Didn’t hear of any big winners and we certainly didn’t walk away with any bundles of cash….but this was only Day 1. Tomorrow I will take my big purse to bring all the winnings home!

We have an “at sea” day tomorrow so it will be very pleasant. We will do some more exploration on this ship and find out where Trivia is and any other “Dam” games that are happening. (Holland America’s ships all end in ….dam –like Vollendam, Zandam, Zuiderdam etc – so they always talk about the dam ships or the dam trivia or the dam name that tune and their prizes are embroidered, embossed or engraved with dam on them. Maybe we will be able to bring some dam thing home to show you!

Bye for now …..

ALASKA OR BUST 2010

Once again I will blogging our way up the coast to Alaska and back. It is such a beautiful trip - and enjoying it with my brother (Brian) sister (Eileen) and our mom (Mom) will be full of special moments that will undoubtedly create wonderful memories. The cruise to Alaska is our Mom's favourite. For Mom, Eileen and I - this will be our 4th cruise. Brian has enjoyed it a few more times than we have....but enjoying it together is always special.

I will post every day beginning on the 18th and I hope you will enjoy a bit of the trip along with us!

Chat with you soon ...