You can see some of pictures of the trip at http://talljay.clubanywhere.com
Copyright © 2003, tallJay. All rights reserved.
Alaska Cruise Trip
May 23 - June 2, 2003
So, here we are, at our hotel in Seattle. It is the Comfort Suites Downtown Seattle Center, just a stone's throw (a really good throw) away from the Space Needle. We are in quite a large suite which is very unexpected. We were not supposed to get a suite. It explicitly says on our reservation, “NOT A SUITE”, but here we are and we are grateful. It has been quite a day. It all started yesterday...
Friday night - May 23, 2003
It is time to pack. The weather is expected to be cool (lows in the upper 30’s, highs in the mid 50’s), overcast and drizzly the entire trip. We start laying out our clothes; no formalwear for this cruise. We are cruising on Norwegian which features “freestyle cruising.” That means you can wear “resort casual” (collared shirt, no jeans, no sneakers) clothes every night. There is one formal night but it is only in one of their nine dining rooms, easily avoided even by accident. I size up the pile of clothing and figure it will all fit in our giant suitcase plus one roll-on and our little carry-on totes. I tell Debra, “Make sure you put at least one day’s worth of clothes in each [of the two main] suitcase[s], just in case something happens.” She does but I get the feeling she thinks I’m overdoing it. Not a good start for a vacation. We load things up and it all just fits. We check our e-mail and are delighted to find that we have been upgraded to First Class for the flight to Seattle. All that flying from last year (over 30,000 miles) earned us Silver Elite status on Continental this year. That means unlimited, space available upgrades and we’ve had quite a few. It’s especially nice for long flights like this one. I was not expecting to get upgraded because when I checked our seats a week or so ago, there were no seats left in coach. Our flight is at 9am and I tell Debra we need to leave at 7am at the latest. I figure 45 minutes to the airport, 15 minutes to park and then a half-hour wait until they start to board at 8:30. We go to bed but I’m too excited and don’t get much rest.
Saturday morning - May 24, 2003
I get out of bed at 5:30am and have some breakfast. We go through our normal morning routines, load up the car and hit the road at 7:03am. I feel like maybe I haven’t allocated enough time. I check the traffic report, no problems. We get to the airport in record time and are at the terminal around 7:35am. I decide to drop Debra and the two main bags off first so we don’t have to hassle with them on the parking bus. Now, you might be wondering, “This is Newark Airport, why aren’t you taking the monorail?” Good question. The answer is that they raised the monorail parking from $12/day to $20/day. We need to park for 10 days so thats $200. For that money, I could take a limo. So I’m parking in the economy lot (it was raised from $8 to $10/day). Anyway, I drop Debra off and tell her to check the two bags. I also give her my Elite card so she can check me in also. I head off to the parking lot and almost immediately get stuck behind some New Yorker driving painfully slow. Wouldn’t you know it, he is also heading to economy parking. The lot looks quite full and as I pull toward the entrance there are two other cars stopped just before the ticket machines. There are cones blocking the entrance but just as I realize what is going on the attendant removes the cones and re-opens the lot. That was lucky! Inside the lot I’m still stuck behind the slow guy. The other two cars are so far ahead of us they have disappeared from view. Finally, near the end of the lot there are some spots. The bus is at the stop right by my car. I race to grab my little bag and my jacket but too late, the bus has left. (Damn New Yorker!) I walk to the bus stop to wait. I am the only person there at first. There is a slight drizzle coming down. More people show up. I’m sure one of them is that New Yorker but I don’t know what he looks like. We wait and wait. There is no room left for people to stand out of the rain. It is around 8am when a bus finally shows up. Since the busses take a different route through the lot, we are the first stop for the bus. Slowly people pile onto the bus. There is not much space left after everyone is on with all of their luggage. Just as the last person is situated another person comes running to the bus, then we wait for their spouse. OK, let’s go. We are just sitting there. My phone rings. It’s Deb. “We’re all checked in, where are you?” “I just got on the bus, should be there in 10 minutes.” And we wait some more to let a couple more people on. Then we finally move...to the next stop. A couple people get off and about 80 want to get on. Holy crap, this’ll never end. Tick-tock. Tick-tock. We move to the next stop. More people want to get on. They are shouting that they missed the last bus because it was full. They have planes to catch. A few more pack on. It is almost 8:30!!! I call Debra. I’m hoping the weather will delay our flight. She answers. “Check the status of our flight,” I say. “OK, let me go over to the display, it says…‘boarding’.” AHHHG! “MY FLIGHT IS BOARDING!!” I scream out on the bus. “LET’S GO!” others shout. The driver asks, “Anybody else need to get off?” She’s must be kidding but to my surprise someone replies “44” indicating the bus stop they need to get off at (we are at 39!). I am freaking out. A vacation planned for six months is about to get screwed up because I’m stuck in a fucking bus at the parking lot that JUST RAISED THEIR GODDAMN RATES! We finally drop off the last two stragglers and leave the lot. I call Debra again. “We left the lot.” We decide where to meet. The driver asks, “Anybody going to Terminal A or B?” The drop-off order is A, B then C unless nobody needs A or B. Almost all Continental flights leave from C including mine. “A!” two people shout. “B!” says a third. AHHHG! We arrive at Terminal A. I look at my watch, I don’t remember the exact time but it spawned a reaction. I did not have time to go to B and then to C. I jump off the bus and run to the monorail station. A train arrives less than a minute later. I call Deb from the Monorail. “I’m on the Monorail. Meet me at the exit of the Monorail.” It is 8:37. I arrive at Terminal C. I meet Deb and she tells me the gate number (C137) and that we should use the security entrance at the far end. I see the lines of people at security. I had not realized. It is Memorial Day weekend plus it is Orange alert (thanks Al-Qaeda!) The only thing that will save us is the special line for First Class passengers. We push past all the people to the location of the First Class line and...it is gone, as in no longer there, missing. I don’t care. I walk straight up to one of the two people guarding the exit. “You have to help us. Our flight is boarding, it leaves at 9. We arrived here over an hour ago. I’ve been stuck in the parking lot.” I’m showing her our boarding passes. “We’re in First Class, there used to be a First Class line here.” “I’m sorry,” she says, “if I let you in [to the head of the line] everyone would want to go.” I continued pleading my case. The other guard arrives. “There’s a First class line at the next security station.” AHHG! The one right by the Monorail! “Please, our flight is boarding, please.” I don’t know what it was, maybe because we were in First Class, maybe because I was wearing a sport coat, maybe it was the desperation (determination?) in my voice or the panic in my eyes but the guard lifted up the rope and let us cut the line. A glimmer of hope then “Whoa. Where did you come from?” It was another guard. The one running the X-Ray line. I start to explain as I throw my bag on the conveyor and empty my pockets. “Whoa,” he said again. I guess he got the OK from the other guard because he stopped the “whoa”-ing and told us to take off our shoes. Everything into the X-ray. Walk through. No beeps. Shoes refooted we are doing our best O.J. impersonation running through the airport. Gate 137, gate 137...it is the furthest gate, all the way at the end (How is it possible that all gates are at the end of the terminal? Who gets to use the close gates?) We arrive at 137 and, incredibly, there is actually still a couple people waiting in line to board. Whew! I need a drink. I hope they have mimosas on the plane.
On board, we get situated and order our pre-flight drinks; white wine for me (no Mimosas yet) and a screwdriver for Debra. I am sitting in 3F and Debra is right behind me in 4F. When my wine arrives I realize I haven’t taken a Meclizine (yes, they make you drowsy but if they stop me from getting nauseous they’ll help anybody) or a decongestant (as my head was stuffed up). I swallowed them with my wine wondering if I should be mixing them.
We pull back from the JetWay and stop after about 50 feet. A few seconds later I hear a “clunk” from below me. They are loading a couple bags at the last minute. I hear another “clunk” when they close the baggage door. I look out the window and see there are a couple bags still on the cart. I’m starting to feel a little loopy. I wonder if it was the Meclizine or the decongestant. One of the bags on the cart looks similar to ours but it is not ours because it doesn’t have the Continental Elite tag on it (right?) I point out the cart to Debra. “Doesn’t that look kind of like our bag? Boy, that would suck.”
We take off and I am feeling no pain. One glass of wine plus one Meclizine and “See ya!” Breakfast is a fruit plate to start, choice of either corn flakes (corn flakes?!), peach crepes with apple sausage and smoked pork or a mushroom omelet with turkey sausage. “What would you like to drink with breakfast?” “I’ll have a Mimosa,” I respond. Just before serving the food the flight attendant informs me that there is no champagne on board (i.e. no Mimosa.) I switch to white wine. Ooops. Minutes later, someone has found the champagne and I switch again, back to the Mimosa. It arrives along with my fruit plate. Yuck! No wonder they couldn’t find the champagne. It certainly was not in the refrigerator. It is warm but I finish it anyway. “More?” “Just a white wine please.” For my entree, I get the peach crepes which were quite good. They were out of crepes by the time they reach Debra but she wanted the omelet anyway, although where the mushrooms were, she did not know.
Our first movie was “Two Weeks Notice” with Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant. A typical romantic comedy (I hate you...90 minutes later...I love you) but not horrible as these movies go. If you like the genre, you’d probably like this one. Next up was “About Schmidt” which I thought was very good for that “character study” type movie. Early in second movie we get some crackers and cheese (Brie and cheddar). Before we land, we get milk and fresh baked cookies.
We land about half an hour early and head for the baggage claim. It takes us a while to find the correct carousel but the bags haven’t started coming out yet anyway. A few minutes later, things start up and bags start popping out. Then we hear a page, “Debra K----, Please see a Continental representative at the baggage claim office behind the carousel.” Uh oh. Debra goes over to the desk and then comes back and tells me to go over. Good news. Our bag is not lost! Bad news. It is still in Newark. The lady tells me we’re lucky because they know where the bag is! (Yes, that is what I’m feeling; lucky.) Actually, I take the news quite well (I think it’s the Meclizine/alcohol cocktail I’m still swimming in.) They expect to send the bag on the flight arriving at 8pm and it should be at our hotel by 10pm. I’m not worried about it. If it’s not on the 8pm flight, then I’ll worry about it. The other “good news” is that our other checked bag did make it so we are good for at least one day.
We head to the cab stand. The ride to the hotel is supposed to be about $30...unless you hit traffic and, boy, did we hit traffic. Traffic on the freeway, traffic on the local roads. “Not usually like this on Saturday,” our driver tells us. The meter is at $35 as we exit the freeway. It seems like everyone is going to our hotel! Traffic is so bad that our driver cuts through a gas station and a little strip mall to make a turn. It’s a wrong turn and we are heading back toward the freeway. Our driver apologizes and tells us to ignore any further charges on the meter which is now at $41. We finally arrive at the hotel. The meter reads $47. The driver keeps his promise and says $41 plus whatever you think. It has taken us an hour from the airport for a 25 minute ride.
At the hotel we find out there is a folk music festival going on just a couple of blocks from the hotel. It is 1pm so I’m not expecting to be able to check-in but our room is ready and, as I mentioned at the start, we get upgraded to a huge suite. It is the size of two hotel rooms. There’s a living room with a couch, TV, desk and wet bar. The other half is the spacious bedroom and huge bathroom. It is much appreciated after our hectic morning.
We decide that, weather permitting, we’ll walk to a sushi place named “Ototo” for dinner. It gets a 25 rating in Zagat and is the highest rated sushi place in Seattle for $30 or less per person. Did I mention the weather? I checked the forecast the day before we left which said to expect rain, overcast skies and cool-to-cold temperatures in every city starting in Seattle. It does rain tiny bit that afternoon but that’s it. We can’t find the cross street for Ototo on any of the maps available to us (Yahoo! that I brought, phone book or tourist map). The people at the front desk don’t know the address either but figure it is “at the top of the hill.” Hmmm. Seattle is fairly hilly; similar in some parts to San Francisco. So when people say “top of the hill” you’ve got to expect a serious hill. Debra calls Ototo and gets some murky direction (Queen Anne then head to the top of the hill). She asks about a reservation but is told she won’t need one because “the folk festival people don’t eat sushi.”
The walk takes about 25 minutes. The hill is a few blocks long and quite steep but we manage (if we can’t do this, how are we going to hike all over Alaska?) We get to Ototo around 5:30 and it is empty. We sit at the sushi bar. I order the sashimi dinner. Debra orders but I’m not sure the chef understands what she wants. He suggests that he make us two sashimi dinners with different things on each and we share them. Debra agrees.
We get some sake, small-hot for me, large-cold for Debra. They are both served in very funky ceramic bottles and matching glasses. They look like they were made by children (they are quite misshapen) and then left at the bottom of the ocean for several years (they have weird markings on them).
We get the first plate of sashimi. It contains salmon, yellowtail, albacore, “regular” tuna, giant clam, mackerel and a special cut of halibut. The salmon and yellowtail were unbelievable. More so than any sushi we’ve ever had, they literally melted and nearly evaporated right on your tongue. The others were also extremely good. The second plate had uni (sea urchin) mixed with snow crab, giant ami ebi (sweet shrimp), halibut with ponzi sauce and a couple other things I can’t remember except that they were all delicious. We walked back to the hotel in a state of euphoria.
Later that evening we get a phone call (around 8pm). I pick up the phone by the bed but it continues to ring. It is broken. By the time I drag myself out of bed and across the room the phone has stopped ringing. Oh, well. Who would be calling us anyway? About an hour later it dawns on me that maybe the call was about our luggage. I decide to check with the front desk to see if they have our bag and they do! Disaster averted. I decide I need to start writing all this down in a journal.
Sunday - May 25, 2003
Debra and I wake up fairly early (due to the three hour time change) and decide to go for a run down to the cruise ship port. It’s about one and a half miles to the port, part fairly level, part steeply downhill. We don’t have any trouble getting there. The ship is there but hasn’t started to unload passengers yet. We run about three quarters the length of the ship then turn around and head back. Part way up the steepest hill we switch to walking, it is just too steep. Once past this part, we run the rest of the way back to the hotel. We have breakfast (Comfort Inns usually have a nice free breakfast including cereal, yogurt, fruit and make-your-own-waffles) then head back to our room to shower and relax.
At some point in here I noticed a Comfort Inn van outside and the asked at the front desk about it. It’s a free shuttle to anywhere downtown. “Like, to the port,” I ask. And just like that we are signed up to go to the ship at noon on the free shuttle.
We packed back up and checked out just before noon. We rode with two other couples on the van down to the port.
Security at the port and boarding of the ship seemed a little disorganized. It took us a total of just over an hour and I think we were lucky. The line looked much longer when we finished than when we started (so get there EARLY!) On our previous cruise we had arrived fairly late and missed lunch on the ship and some time to explore before donning our life jackets for the fire drill. But I digress…
Our cabin is quite nice. We got an inside cabin on this cruise to compare to the balcony cabin we had on our other cruise. (Note: my opinion of inside vs. outside cabin appears later.)
First thing on our list is to eat. We head to the buffet (thinking it is the only thing open). It’s a bit weird. Maybe it’s their normal policy or maybe it’s the SARS thing but they don’t let you serve yourself at the buffet (isn’t that the definition of buffet?) Debra ends up with a plate full of salad. My salad only covers half the plate but has well over a dozen olives on it. Not a good start. We are eating a little and reading the “ship news” which list activities for the day, restaurant hours, etc. when we see that one of the main restaurants is open for lunch. Enough salad. We head to the other restaurant. It is much better. We pretty much avoided the buffet the rest of the trip. This restaurant is one of two main restaurants where people dine. (There are also two buffets, four much smaller specialty restaurants and a tapas/bar area.) It is three floors directly below our cabin. It takes us less than a minute, door-to-door, to get there. The rest of the cruise I refer to this as “our restaurant.”
We relax for a little while and then go to the fire drill around 4pm. Nothing exciting there. Afterwards, we went to the ship library. Debra got “Blonde” by Joyce Carol Oates (which she seemed to like but, several months later, she still has not finished) and I got the much lighter “Big Trouble” by Dave Barry (which was a quick, funny read written very much in the style of his columns).
We returned to our “local” restaurant for dinner that evening. On NCL you get to decide every night which of the many restaurants you want to dine in and also whether you want to dine alone or with other couples. Tonight (as was the case every night except one) we ask to be seated with others. We are placed at a table with Jean and Jerry (or perhaps Gerry?). They are a very nice, outgoing couple. (I hadn’t really thought about this before but since everyone gets to decide whether they want to sit alone or with others, mostly the people you’ll sit with are the friendly, outgoing types. I say “mostly” for reasons that are apparent later in the story.) They were, as most people on the cruise were, older than us. I’d guess they were in their 60’s. They told us that they knew each other a very long time ago but they did not keep in touch. Not too long ago Jerry contacted her looking for work and one thing led to another and they got married. Jerry is joking and laughing all through dinner. He reminds of the comedian Jerry Clower.
After dinner as we are heading back up stairs, I recognize someone coming down. I know I know her but can’t put my finger on who she is. Debra, in front of me, continues up the steps but my pace has slowed almost to stop as the woman passes by down the steps. She is a few steps below me when, after having been in some kind of self-hypnotic state, I blurt out “Mrs. B!” She turns and looks up the stairs. “Oh my God. Jay!” I should explain here that “Mr. and Mrs. B” are the parents of one of my roommates from college. I have not seen them (or my old roommate) in 15 years. There is about 5 minutes of “How are you”’s and “I can’t believe this”’s. We decide to get together for a drink or dinner and catch up later in the cruise.
The show that night was variety show to introduce the various acts that were on the cruise. One of them is “formerly of the Commodores and Stylistics, and writer of the Grammy award winning song ‘You Make Me Feel Brand New’” They said this EVERY time they introduced him (that I saw). After the singing and dancing, a comedian, Billy Garan did his act. Although a bit corny at times he was quite funny.
Monday - May 26, 2003 - “Scenic cruising of the Inside Passage”
The ride has been quite smooth. We’ve been sailing the Inside Passage and, I assure you, it is nothing like the ocean. I can’t discern any movement by the ship. (Strangely, some people have complained about this because they don’t feel like their on a cruise. To each his own.) In the afternoon we leave the protected waters for a while and the ship starts rocking. I didn’t take a Meclizine and was fine. I just needed to face forward during dinner. (For those who don’t know me that well, I used to get motion sick just by sitting in a seafood restaurant so if I don’t get sick, 99+% of the world won’t get sick.)
The weather was predicted to be rain every day but there is none today. Outside it is cold because of the breeze of the moving ship but out of the wind it is pleasant. The scenery is nice; pine forest covered mountains right down to the water’s edge. There are no power lines, no cell towers, just nature (and our giant ship).
On the forward deck at the top of the ship, we run into Mr. and Mrs. B again. We reminisce for quite a while.
My overall impression of the Inside Passage is nice, smooth sailing, relaxing, pleasant scenery but unspectacular.
Tuesday - May 27, 2003 - Juneau
This morning we ate in our local restaurant for breakfast (it is far better than the buffet). Our dining partners were a married couple (likely in their 70’s) and two older ladies who may have been mother and daughter (one appeared to be late 50’s, the other in her 80’s). The wife in the couple had a very heavy accent which I couldn’t place, perhaps Eastern Europe. Her spouse was clearly having some health problems. He had difficulty walking and very thick glasses. (My eye vision is something like 5/200 so when I say thick, I mean THICK!) He seemed to take it in stride. They were staying in an inside cabin versus the window they had the last time. The woman said she was not happy that they didn’t have a window. The husband then pointed out that on their previous cruise she would not let him open the curtains unless they were in port. Debra and I found this quite funny.
One of the wait staff came over to me and while I wasn’t looking, poured me a cup of coffee. I don’t drink coffee and actually wanted hot chocolate. Debra took my coffee and gave me her empty mug. The younger of the two women at the table then told us that she had just started drinking coffee two years ago. Before that she had always drank tea. Every morning she would make her husband coffee and herself tea. She and her husband had been all over the world because of his job, but they had never been to Alaska and had always planned to go but two years ago her husband had passed away. The coffee making habit was so strong that she continued to make it and, not wanting it to go to waste, she drank it. So here she was, two years later, in Alaska and, as she said “drinking my husband’s cup of coffee.” Everyone at the table had tears welling in their eyes.
We were supposed to arrive in Juneau at 2pm but did not get there until 3. We were hoping to hike to the top of Mt. Roberts and take the tram back down for $5. Well, as we pulled into Juneau, I could see the tram and it certainly did not go to the top of any mountain, maybe a bit more than halfway up.
When we arrive there are already two other ships. One at the dock and the other anchored in the harbor. Before docking, our ship does a 180 degree turn, getting perilously close to the Celebrity ship that was anchored and then squeezing into the dock, nearly hitting the other ships lines as we came in. This captain is something.
Next, we have the obscenely long wait to get off the ship. We are finally off at around 4pm. We stop at an information booth and pick up a trail map. It looks like a photocopy out of a book. The trail is described as “More Difficult”. Distances (one way) are: 2.5 miles to the Cross (2500 ft.), 3 miles to Gastineau Peak (3666 ft.) and 4.5 miles to Mt. Roberts summit (3819 ft.). Estimated roundtrip time is 8 hours.
To get to the trail head we need to go about six blocks through Juneau (that’s pretty much all of Juneau) then turn right on 6th Street and go the five or six block to the end of the street where the trail head is. The main street in Juneau is packed with cruise passengers. We take a quick right and head up some stairs to the next street over, hoping to avoid the crowd. It’s about a hundred or so stairs. We are already getting hot. I am way over dressed. I have tights on under my nylon pants, a CoolMax T-shirt, a fleece shirt plus a fleece liner and shell. The temperature is probably in the upper 50’s. At the top of the stairs I remove both fleeces and a few steps down the road, the shell also. Debra similarly disrobes. We are now on Gastineau Ave. and there are no other tourists in site. We trudge down the street, hang the right and within 10-15 minutes are at the trailhead which begins with some stairs at the end of the road.
The trail is very nice and well maintained. Not too easy, not too hard. Plenty of trees to shade the sun. It takes us about an hour and twenty minutes to reach where the tram stops. There is a nice lookout here. We relax a bit. We are doing good time wise and decide to try for Gastineau Peak although that would be tough. It is certainly too early to head down on the tram. We double check that we can ride down for $5 (or spend $5 in the gift shop) and what time the last tram is. I don’t recall how late it ran but it was much later than we needed. We head out. The hiking is different here. Most of the area is meadow with no trees. The views are constant and quite stunning. (For those who are not hikers, if you take the tram up there is a nice nature trail loop that is fairly flat and worth the view.) Next up is the Cross. The trail map we were given states that a “Catholic Jesuit priest constructed the trail in 1908 and erected a large wooden cross 2.5 miles up the trail. A replica of the cross still stands.” Yes, that’s right, an actual replica! Can you believe it?! We are getting closer to Gastineau Peak and the hiking is getting steeper. The drop-offs are also fairly steep and with no trees or bushes around, I’m getting that feeling of vertigo. This, coupled with the time, causes us to turn back. I’d guess we were a quarter of a mile or less from the peak but still several hundred feet of vertical. (It was steep.)
We hike back to the tram area and head to the gift shop. It is not very easy to spend $10 in the gift shop. $30 or more would be no problem. Fortunately I spot some Alaska chocolate bars and $10 worth of chocolate (only 4 bars of chocolate) we are heading down on the tram. The entire hike, including rests was about 3+ hours. With our big hike coming tomorrow, Debra and I decided we desperately needed three things: food, shower and a soak in the Jacuzzi. We needed to shower before dinner and, given that the Jacuzzi was probably 90% chlorine, we’d want to shower after that. To be efficient (but mostly because we wanted to) we did the Jacuzzi first, then showered, then had dinner.
Our dinner companions were again very nice. It was hard to tell if they were married or just what there status was. When asked if they had been on any other cruises, the man responded that he’d been on many as a dance partner (they cruise very cheaply or free in exchange for spending the evenings dancing with the single, mostly widowed, crowd.) Because of our late dinner, we missed that evening’s show (which I think was the magician.)
Wednesday - May 28, 2003 - Skagway
The plan for Skagway is to hike to Lower Dewey Lake then, hopefully, to Upper Dewey Lake. We stop at the information booth. While Debra uses the facilities, I get a trail map and what I view as a not so subtle warning that this is a tough hike. It is around 9am and we need to be back at the ship by 8pm so we have quite a bit of time. There are about 10 hikes listed on the trail map. They range from “easy” to “moderate”, “difficult and finally, two are rated “strenuous”. One of these is the Chilkoot Trail. This is the trail many people used during the Gold Rush in 1898. (A great book about the Gold Rush trek, though not along the Chilkoot, is “The Journey” by James Michener.) The trail is 33 miles long and takes three to five days to hike. That’s what they call “strenuous”. The other strenuous hike is, of course, Upper Dewey Lake. The description in the trail map says the hike is 3 miles and takes about 3 hours. Elevation gain 3080 ft. Online, I found a description which said that first part of the trail is “brutal”. We head off.
The trail head took us a few extra minutes to find. (Note to self: directions in the trail map only help if you actually READ them.) The hike to Lower Dewey Lake is quite reasonable. Some people actually use parts of the trail to run for exercise. From here we follow the trail map directions and some confusing signs and are soon on our way up toward Upper Dewey Lake.
The online description of the first third of the trail, “brutal”, is accurate. It is extremely steep and hardly lets up, even for a few feet. It is like climbing steps, two at a time, to the top of the Empire State Building. Very tiring. Fortunately, it eases out (comparatively) for the next third to “difficult”, probably because are legs are so worn out. The last third of the trail varies in steepness but is about one-third mud, one-third river stones and one-third snow covered. As we make our way, Debra, looking at the ground, says, “Oh look, somebody brought their dog hiking.” I peer at the paw print in the mud. No dog has a paw that big. THAT is a bear print. We started talking much louder and more frequently after that. We did not encounter any bears.
The mud is quite deep in spots. At one point it almost pulled my boot off my foot. We are probably about 30 minutes from the lake and I’m lagging behind. I am not at my best on the slippery stones, snow and mud. I didn’t realize it until much later but Debra believes that I’m going call quits and turn us around (which was not true). She tells me she’s going ahead “to scout it out” and disappears. We yell back and forth a couple times. I’m stuck at a spot and can’t figure out how to get past. If I actually stand the mud will easily go over the top of my boot. “I can’t get around!” I scream. She mistakes this for, “I’m going back down,” ignores it, and continues toward the lake. What now? I could wait here for Debra to return but for how long? What if she’s hurt? Finally, I climbed across the top of some bushes to get by. I call for Debra but she either can’t hear me or doesn’t want to answer. I cross one last “bridge” made of 5 or 6 logs just next to each other. On the other side of the creek there are hardly any trees, just snow. A few hundred feet through 2 foot deep snow and I’m at the lake. Debra is not only here but she already has her sandwich out and is eating lunch.
I take a good look around. Upper Dewey Lake is almost completely frozen over. Across the lake is a mountain that is mostly covered in snow. Toward the left is another peak that is barren except for a tiny bit of snow. It is very Ansel Adams. Everything is black and white. It is stunning and a sharp contrast to Lower Dewey Lake which was completely surrounded by green trees.
Debra is eating her pre-prepared peanut butter and banana sandwich while I put together a PB&J. At breakfast that morning, Debra had made a couple sandwiches and the kitchen wrapped them for her. I just grabbed a few pieces of bread and little packs of peanut butter and jelly. I get some semblance of a sandwich together (I neglected to bring a knife) and start eating. I hear what sounds like a jet fighter. I look up but see nothing. There is some movement in the corner of my eye and I look across the lake to the mountain face. It’s an avalanche! “LOOK!” I scream at Debra. We watch (we are about a half mile or so away) and it is something. Just an awesome sight. At the same time I’m frantically trying to get my camera out of my pocket. I just get a picture of the end of the avalanche. I gulp down the rest of my sandwich. “Time to go!” I don’t think we are in any danger but I really don’t want to find out the hard way.
We are both quite tired from the hike up. Going down is not as aerobically tiring but my thighs are just burning now. On the way down we pass two guys who are headed up. They are the first people we’ve seen since leaving Lower Dewey Lake.
We finally get back to Lower Dewey Lake. What a relief! We look around a bit and then head back to the trail head. There are plenty of people on this part of the trail.
Overall hike time was around 6 hours. Back at the ship we head straight for Jacuzzi. Oh, that feels good. We soak for a good 40 minutes (they don’t keep them overly hot, maybe 95 or so degrees).
Thursday - May 29, 2003 - Glacier Bay
We get up pretty early in the morning and decide to stake out space. The weather is a little iffy today so we want someplace that will offer protection from the elements. We head to the Observation Lounge at the front of the boat. It is around 7am and it is mostly still empty. I suggest we take seats at the front but Debra says the banister, which is outside, will block our view. We sit next to the starboard side window, which is in the non-smoking section (port side is smoking). We took turns getting breakfast as the other person held our space. We had our books to read until we reached the glaciers around 10am or so.
At some point, I didn’t see when, a boat pulled along side and a couple rangers from Glacier Bay National Park boarded. They must be on board for the ship to sail the bay. They also offer some narration over the PA of what we see.
The Lounge is a pretty good place for viewing. It has easy access to the outside so you can get an unobstructed (by rain coated glass) view or you can sit in comfort. Not quite so for us as most of the viewing is on the port side. We see bears on the shore. We see a bald eagle perched on one of the glaciers. We see, somewhat obstructed, a huge part of the glacier calving and later a smaller part but unobstructed. We see seals lying on the ice that has just fallen off. We are told by the rangers that many animals rely on the glaciers calving. You can see the birds swoop right in to eat the food churned up after the ice falls. The seals mate and give birth on the ice. Certainly the best part is when parts of the glacier calve off into the water. The glacier rises 150 ft. from the ocean surface and it is like slow motion when part falls off.
Soon, the ship is turning and so we return to spot near the window (which will soon have a view of the glacier). Our view is short-lived as the ship leaves much quicker than it arrived.
As we head out of the bay we are told to be on the look out for Humpback whales and Orcas (Killer whales). We do see a couple pods of Humpbacks. You can see them blow and then see their tails as they head back down. We also see some Orcas. With them you mainly just see their dorsal fins as they come up to get air. In addition we see quite a few groups of porpoises. They continuously leap into the air as they travel. Overall, a pleasant, inspiring and relaxing day.
We decide to go to dinner as early as possible so we can get good seats for the show that night. We show up a bit before 5:30 at our “local” place, which opens at 5:30. They are already a dozen or so people lined up. Aside from getting to the show early, another reason people show up early is to get a seat near a window. I this restaurant all the seats along the side windows are tables-for-2 and along the windows at the back of the ship are tables-for-6. They open the doors and people start to shuffle in. Directly ahead of us in line is a group of three women, one of whom is much older and in a wheelchair. They reach the hostess. The hostess asks, “How many?” and one of the ladies responds “Three. We’d like to sit by the window.” “OK, you’d like to share a table?” “No, we don’t want to share” “I can put you at your own table but not next to the window.” At this point the women became belligerent. “Why can’t we sit alone? We came here at 5:30 so we could sit by the window. ...” The hostess handled it very well. She apologized but held firm: sit by the window but share the table OR sit alone but not by the window. The other two ladies said nothing. “Fine! Give us the table by the window.” “You alright with sharing?” “Yes, but I don’t see why we have to, we got here so early....” and on and on she went as they were shown to their table. As Debra and I stepped up to the hostess, we had a dilemma. We really preferred sharing a table but it seemed apparent that if we asked to share a table we’d be stuck with that miserable women. Hmmm, what to do? “How many?” “Two,” I replied then added “We’d like to share but not with those people.” We were seated at the table next to them. I don’t think it was due to my request but rather that they’d prefer to fill the table with another “three”. Our table quickly added two more couples and then another group of three joined the belligerent lady’s table. I heard her complain to her new tablemates about how they wouldn’t let them sit alone by the window. Horrors!
After dinner we saw the show which was called “Cirque Pan”, a Cirque de Soleil style Peter Pan. It was quite a good show. Peter was played by a guy who was on the Spanish Olympic gymnastics team. Toward the end of the show two wide ribbons of fabric came down from the ceiling. He wrapped one around each bicep, holding the end in his hand. Then he started somersaulting and in doing so, he climbed into the air as he wound the fabric onto his arms. He did a couple gymnastic tricks (it looks similar to the “rings”) and proceeded to fly around the stage for a bit. It was much more than I expected from a shipboard show.
Friday - May 30, 2003 - Ketchican
The ship was only going to be in Ketchican from 6am to 12:30pm. On top of this the daily newsletter said disembarking would begin around 7am and we should return to the ship by 11:30. This would not leave much time for hiking. Our plan was to hike the Deer Mountain Trail however the guide book said it was open starting in June. What exactly that meant we didn’t know. The peak was around 3000+ ft. There are two lookouts: one at 1500 ft. and another at 2500 ft. With only four hours we’d really have to hustle to make the peak but we are not hustling-type hikers. It took us a while to find the trail head and we started up. The trail was well maintained and not nearly as difficult as Upper Dewey Lake but given our late start, slow pace and limited time in port we only got to the first lookout before heading back. Thinking about it now we probably could have made the second lookout if we had gotten off the ship a little earlier (they actually let people off around 6am but they didn’t want a huge rush of people trying to get out at once) and taken a taxi to the trailhead. We have no idea if that would have been worth the effort. We both wished we had another three hours in port which would have given us enough time to reach the summit.
Almost forgot, during this hike my Camelback sprang a leak. Debra was drinking bottled water so I decided to drink as much of the water as possible and periodically refilling Deb’s water bottle, which weren’t leaking. This excess water caught up with me as we were heading back through town towards the ship. We decided to walk through a nice little park which happened to have two things in it: restrooms and a salmon hatchery. After using the bathroom (which had prison-style stainless steel fixtures), Debra persuaded me to tour the hatchery. The tour was only $8/person and we did have some time left. This turned out to be quite nice. They had a couple bald eagles, one male, and one female. The female had one damaged wing which prevented her from flying and the male was missing a wing. They have not mated because the male must flap his wings to remain stable when he mounts the female but, with only one wing, he quickly spins himself right off. We learned that the males are generally quite a bit smaller than the females. On to the salmon.
They showed us several tanks of fish of various sizes. They keep the fish at the hatchery until they are 2 years old. They get about 2% back. 35% are caught by commercial fishermen and another 7% by non-commercial. (My memory could be slightly off on these numbers but not much.) The guide was very nice and answered all the questions. Debra even got to feed the fish.
As we headed back to the ship, we picked up some smoked Sockeye salmon at a gift shop. We plan to try it this July 4th.
There was a very long line to get back on the boat. I saw Mr. and Mrs. B ahead of us and I went to see if they’d be interested in getting together. We decided on lunch at 12:30 in our “local” restaurant.
We showered and met them and their friends from home in the dining room. We had a lovely time reminiscing and catching up.
As we left Ketchican heading toward Victoria, we went around the west side of Vancouver Island. The mighty ship was tossed. No, no, it wasn’t that bad but these were the worst seas we had been in. I took a precautionary Meclizine and had no troubles (and I have the worst motion sickness of anybody I’ve ever seen--I used to get seasick just going into a seafood restaurant!)
Saturday - May 31, 2003 - Victoria, BC
Another odd port call. This time we’d arrive around 6pm and leave at midnight (who organized this?) I think this was also the “Chocolate Buffet.” The good news was that the buffet was at 2 (or maybe 3?) pm. On our other cruise (on Holland America’s Zaandam) it was a midnight buffet. Our disappointment from the Zaandam tempered our expectations for this one and I think it met my reduced expectations. (Attn: Cruise ship owners - try the “chocolate frivolous” at Bouley in New York City if you want to know how good chocolate can be.)
We really had no plans for Victoria. Just about everything would be closed by the time we got there. We decided we’d head in for a pint then return. We had an early dinner and left the ship around 7 or so. Since this was Canada, we had to go through customs or immigration or whatever it was. We decided to walk the mile or so to the main part of town (after all that chocolate, we could use it.) We couldn’t find a small pub but ended up in one that was part of a hotel/restaurant. The bartender was very nice and they had a very good assortment on draught. I started with a Guinness then had a cream ale. Deb had a couple different pale ales.
It was a bit cold as we started walking back to the ship. A woman on a bike-taxi pulled along side and started talking to us, just chit-chat. “How far do you go?” I interrupted. I had had enough exercise for the week. She told us it’d be about C$20 for the trip. That sounded great to me and we hopped on. We got a nice little tour as we headed back. It was quite a nice ride. She told us about Victoria and about the guy who owned the bike-taxis. I gave her $20US and told her thanks for the pleasant trip.
Back aboard, we watched the final show we had a few minutes of the magician/comedian we had missed (and now I was sorry we had missed him) and a couple singers and then it devolved into the crew singing “We are the World” or something. We should have left after the real singers.
Sunday - June 1, 2003
Disembarking the ship was quite painless. On Holland America we had to wait on deck with our carry-on luggage until our number was called to disembark. Here, we go to wait in our cabin and we had a pretty good estimate up front of what time we would be disembarking.
After disembarking and retrieving our luggage, we grabbed a cab for the mile and a half ride to the hotel. Just as we started on our way we passed the hotel shuttle dropping off passengers for their cruise. I said, “Hey look, that’s the shuttle for the hotel, we could’ve gone back for free.” The driver immediately asked if we wanted to get out. “No problem,” he said. I told him we were fine with the cab. It dawned on me just a bit later that our cab driver was probably a little disappointed with this fare. There was quite a long line of cabs waiting for people and most of them are probably heading to the airport which is a nice $25 trip. Ours would be about $6. No wonder he offered to let us get out.
A few minutes later we arrive at the hotel. As we pulled in there were many people standing outside the hotel. I assumed they were waiting for the shuttle to return for the next crop. As we unloaded, I heard some ask the driver if he was the cab they called. “Yes, I take you,” he said and started putting their bags in the trunk. Then a cab from another company showed up and an argument was imminent. One woman was panicked that people might be using the wrong cab. I grabbed Debra and rushed us inside. I did not want to be around for this. Once inside, it looked like several people were waiting for cabs so I don’t think there was a problem.
It was still pretty early, just around 11am so I did not expect to check-in but our room was ready and we had been upgraded again. Wow. I was looking forward to being in that giant room again and relaxing a bit. We asked if we could get a ride to Pike Place Market (which is famous market area in Seattle) and she told us we could have the shuttle at 12:30. We headed up to the room and found it was just a “regular” suite which means it is about 4 feet longer than a normal room with a half wall separating the bed area from the couch area. Still a very nice room. We relaxed a while then headed down to wait for the shuttle.
We were the only people on the shuttle and in a couple minutes we were at Pike Place Market. The hotel had told us about a place to eat (Piroshky, Piroshky) but we wanted to check out a couple places from Zagat (either for lunch or a return for dinner). They were at the other end of the market which is several blocks long. Both were in the same building and when we arrived we found both were closed for lunch and one, (the more interesting one) was closed for dinner on Sunday, too. We decided to skip them altogether. We’d find something in the market for lunch and go back to Ototo for dinner. We browsed around and decided to grab some food at a fish market that had a tiny serving area behind the counter. I had some cioppino which was delicious and Debra had some crab salad. She later also got one (“One?!” “Yes, one.”) clam. I was saving room to try the Piroshky.
We browsed through more of the shops and Debra bought some earrings. The market is an interesting mix of a real market and a tourist area, similar to Fisherman’s’ Wharf in San Francisco but much less on the touristy side. We got to Piroshky, Piroshky and decided to split a smoked mozzarella, broccoli and mushroom piroshky. (Piroshkies are like turnovers.) Mmmm. It was good. Nice and fresh. “Let’s have another,” I said and Deb agreed. We decided to get a sweet one this time. I decided on the cherry, white chocolate. There was a lady ordering in front of me (I guess I should mention that the place is tiny and take-out only) and her total was $6.10 or something like that. I have a habit of getting the change out of my pocket when I pay for my lunch and I had done so here...exactly one dime is what I had in my hand. The lady was fishing through her purse when she turned to her friend and asked if she had 10 cents. “Here,” I said after her friend did not respond immediately. “Really?!” “Yeah, take it,” I said. “Thank you very much,” she replied. Her friend then said, “That was _really_ very nice.” “She is standing between me and my food,” I joked but I was half serious.
The cherry, white chocolate was scrumptious. What a great place this was. I only wish we had time and appetite to try some more varieties (I think there were 30-40 different kinds.)
We were about 3 miles or so away from the hotel. We decided to take the monorail, which started a few blocks away and ended at Seattle Center (Space Needle) which was only a few blocks from the hotel.
The monorail station was on the third floor of a mall. As we arrived at the mall something was going on. Perhaps some kind of street performers. There was a small crowd and we sat down on some steps. It was a high school student dance club. They looked so young it was hard to believe some of them were in high school. They put on a nice little Broadway-style performance of three or four numbers. (One of them was Footloose.)
After that, we headed up to the monorail for the ride to the Seattle Center. The ride was uneventful.
At Seattle Center there are some amusement rides and it seemed like Debra wanted to ride them all. “I wanna go on the Carousel.” “Let’s go on this.” “Let’s go on THAT!” “That” was a hundred foot long beam with four seats on each end. It was attached in the center of the beam 50+ feet in the air and it spun in a vertical plane. The seat groups were mounted on pivots so they could spin. After loading people on both ends of the beam, it would spin at some ridiculous speed which would clearly release Piroshky from their current confines. I convinced Debra that it was not worth $10 to ride and we headed back to the hotel.
We signed up for the shuttle to take us to dinner at 5:30 and then relaxed for a while.
On the way to dinner, the shuttle driver told us she could get us a car to the airport for the same $25 it would be for a cab and we told her to set that up. We had another fantastic dinner at Ototo and pleasant walk down the hill back to the hotel.
Monday - June 2, 2003
In the morning the car was waiting for us at 8am (although he thought he was waiting for a different room number. When he found out that room didn’t exist he realized he was there to take us.) We had no problems getting back to the airport. (The driver was Michael from ABA Seattle Towncar Service, 206.349.9530.)
We checked in and found that I had been upgraded but Debra had not (probably because I checked in two seconds before Debra did.) So far we had only been on one flight where there was only one upgrade space available and Debra got it. The agreement was that the next time this happened, I got the upgrade so things were fair. Fifteen minutes before take-off, they moved Debra up to the front. They flight back to Newark was quite bumpy but also very fast taking only about 4 hours in the air. Even though it was June 2nd, they were still showing May’s movies and we got to see “Catch Me If You Can.” which was much better than the movies I usually see on planes.
All in all, this was a great vacation. Having now done two cruises, here’s what I’d recommend. If you are going to Alaska, you should definitely get a balcony room on the port side (that’s the left side if you face the front). The reason is: if it’s raining there is no place on the boat that you can have a view, unobstructed by rain covered glass, except on a balcony. Get either mid-ship (minimizes ship movement) or toward the front (slightly better views of glaciers). Check the amount of time you’ll have in the ports. We were really pressed for time in most ports.
If you are going to the Caribbean (our first cruise), don’t bother with an outside cabin. Better go for a mid-ship inside cabin. The only thing to see from your cabin in the Caribbean is water. It is generally warm and you can spend as much time as you like on deck. On Holland, it seemed most of the balconies were inhabited by chain smokers and so we got very little fresh air and spent very little time on our balcony.