Continued from Part 1:
Day 5:
A beautiful Sunday morning, we had arrived at Glacier Bay National Park, yes it is a Federal Park and very, very protected environmentally. I believe that only Princess, Norwegian and Holland America ships are allowed to travel in Glacier Bay.
Remember I had mentioned that we were booked on this cruise with an Escort. Well, we were invited to a private Glacier watching party in a private lounge at the rear upper deck of the ship with plenty of space for viewing outside and inside. We arrived at the party with our invitation and were greeted with coffee, hot chocolate and cocktails. Inside was a beautiful buffet breakfast. And the views were outstanding! What a treat for Glacier day!
There are several glaciers, but the main one is Margerie Glacier, which is what I took pictures of. It was just stunning and awe inspiring in person. A sight we won't soon forget! That was one fantastic day!
Day 6:
We arrived in the town of Sitka. Sitka was first inhabited by the Russians and a lot of the town's architecture showed that history. We had been given tickets to the Raptor Center, but had to take a shuttle 5 miles into town and then find a cab to take us further. We found a sweet cab driver who offered to take us on a little tour of the town, so we said, heck, why not! Another lady joined us and that helped cut the fare down a bit, and we were glad to share.
She took us to the Indian River, and this time of year the salmon were 'running'. It was amazing! we took quite a few pictures there, watched the amazing salmon do their thing upstream, also got to see a few totem poles up close.
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We then went to the Bear Fortress. Pretty neat. It's a sanctuary for orphaned baby bears and they live their lives out there.
Last stop in Sitka was the Raptor Center. It is a rehabilitation foundation, they rescue birds as small as hummingbirds, to the largest eagle!
We were going to grab a a taxi back to the area downtown to pick up the shuttle bus back to our ship, but no taxi's were available, so crazy us decided to walk back. We were told it was a little over a mile, and downhill so we, I, thought, no problem. Oh boy, that was too much for Carl. By the time we got the shuttle and back to the ship, we were both beat. We grabbed a bite to eat and turned in for the rest of the night. We put our jammas on and ordered room service for dinner!
Sitka was a charming town and I wish we had more time there to explore some of the landmarks. Definitely would like to go back to Sitka on a future cruise.
Day 7:
This was a Sea Day. A good day to have a relaxed breakfast, attend a Naturalist lecture, walk about the ship, just take it easy!
Day 8:
We arrived in Victoria, BC.. We have been to Victoria a couple of times, most recently this past April, so we stayed on board the ship. I think we were only there for about 5 hours. It was a lovely day to spend some time up on the decks and enjoy the views of the city and harbor.
Day 9:
A last day at Sea.. We relaxed and just tried to enjoy the time we had left on board. The procedure for disembarking the ship begins the day before with packing up the suitcases. When we board a ship, when we get to our cabin we take everything out of our suitcases and put our items in the drawers and closet. That way we can slide our suitcases under the bed and they are out of the way for the journey. So what comes out has to go back in! Sort of like putting a puzzle together. Then the last evening the packed and tagged suitcases go out in the hallway so the crew can get them offloaded when we arrive in port the next morning. Important! Keep your carry ons and clothes out for the next morning. Yes, people disembark in their robes and pajamas, the ship stores are not open in port so if you pack your getting off cloths, you are sorry out of luck!
Day 10:
Arrival in San Francisco and disembarking day.. We got up really early so we could go up to the buffet and have breakfast before we got off. Carl woke up out of sorts, wobbly and not feeling well at all. I was wishing we had a wheelchair to use. We made it up to the buffet and I got him some orange juice in case his blood sugar was a little low. While he was drinking that I went to get him some food. Brought it back to him and he said he needed to use the restroom, which was about a hundred feet away...I didn't want to leave the table because the staff would have cleared it and we would lose it. And it was getting busy up there. Well, he didn't come back, and didn't come back. I was getting pretty concerned so I went over to the restroom and found a gentleman who I asked if he could go in and check for Carl. No Carl... OK. I thought I would call down to the room although I knew in my mind he would not be able to find our room by himself. No answer and by now I was getting little panicky. I literally ran down to the room, nope not there. Panic! So I went down to deck 5 to the pursers desk and asked for help finding him. Now I would not have been so panicky if we didn't have to get off shortly, and if we didn't have a bus waiting for us to take us back to Roseville to our son's. I knew the bus would not wait and how the heck was I going to get us out of San Francisco to Roseville, a 2 to 3 hour trip. All kinds of things going through my mind by now. The kind gentleman behind the desk first called the Medical Centre to make sure Carl was not taken down there. No not there. So he printed out a picture of Carl, they take your picture when you first board, and he told me to stay where I was and he would find him. I was a wreck. Sure enough, about 15 minutes later he comes back with Carl. I guess when he left the restroom he got turned around and disoriented. All's well that ends well. I gave that guy a big hug! And Carl got one too! We made to the luggage area, found a porter who could take our bags to the bus, we got on the bus and I let out a BIG sigh of relief.
We arrived back in Roseville, got our car and headed over the mountain to home. Our friends Bill and Ruth had been taking care of Prince, so we got to their house, they had a nice dinner waiting for us, and we were home by 6 pm.
We had a fabulous trip, we can highly recommend cruising to Alaska and we would love to go back some day. Thanks for following along!
Day 5:
A beautiful Sunday morning, we had arrived at Glacier Bay National Park, yes it is a Federal Park and very, very protected environmentally. I believe that only Princess, Norwegian and Holland America ships are allowed to travel in Glacier Bay.
Remember I had mentioned that we were booked on this cruise with an Escort. Well, we were invited to a private Glacier watching party in a private lounge at the rear upper deck of the ship with plenty of space for viewing outside and inside. We arrived at the party with our invitation and were greeted with coffee, hot chocolate and cocktails. Inside was a beautiful buffet breakfast. And the views were outstanding! What a treat for Glacier day!
Day 6:
We arrived in the town of Sitka. Sitka was first inhabited by the Russians and a lot of the town's architecture showed that history. We had been given tickets to the Raptor Center, but had to take a shuttle 5 miles into town and then find a cab to take us further. We found a sweet cab driver who offered to take us on a little tour of the town, so we said, heck, why not! Another lady joined us and that helped cut the fare down a bit, and we were glad to share.
She took us to the Indian River, and this time of year the salmon were 'running'. It was amazing! we took quite a few pictures there, watched the amazing salmon do their thing upstream, also got to see a few totem poles up close.
We then went to the Bear Fortress. Pretty neat. It's a sanctuary for orphaned baby bears and they live their lives out there.
Last stop in Sitka was the Raptor Center. It is a rehabilitation foundation, they rescue birds as small as hummingbirds, to the largest eagle!
We were going to grab a a taxi back to the area downtown to pick up the shuttle bus back to our ship, but no taxi's were available, so crazy us decided to walk back. We were told it was a little over a mile, and downhill so we, I, thought, no problem. Oh boy, that was too much for Carl. By the time we got the shuttle and back to the ship, we were both beat. We grabbed a bite to eat and turned in for the rest of the night. We put our jammas on and ordered room service for dinner!
Sitka was a charming town and I wish we had more time there to explore some of the landmarks. Definitely would like to go back to Sitka on a future cruise.
Day 7:
This was a Sea Day. A good day to have a relaxed breakfast, attend a Naturalist lecture, walk about the ship, just take it easy!
Day 8:
We arrived in Victoria, BC.. We have been to Victoria a couple of times, most recently this past April, so we stayed on board the ship. I think we were only there for about 5 hours. It was a lovely day to spend some time up on the decks and enjoy the views of the city and harbor.
Day 9:
A last day at Sea.. We relaxed and just tried to enjoy the time we had left on board. The procedure for disembarking the ship begins the day before with packing up the suitcases. When we board a ship, when we get to our cabin we take everything out of our suitcases and put our items in the drawers and closet. That way we can slide our suitcases under the bed and they are out of the way for the journey. So what comes out has to go back in! Sort of like putting a puzzle together. Then the last evening the packed and tagged suitcases go out in the hallway so the crew can get them offloaded when we arrive in port the next morning. Important! Keep your carry ons and clothes out for the next morning. Yes, people disembark in their robes and pajamas, the ship stores are not open in port so if you pack your getting off cloths, you are sorry out of luck!
Day 10:
Arrival in San Francisco and disembarking day.. We got up really early so we could go up to the buffet and have breakfast before we got off. Carl woke up out of sorts, wobbly and not feeling well at all. I was wishing we had a wheelchair to use. We made it up to the buffet and I got him some orange juice in case his blood sugar was a little low. While he was drinking that I went to get him some food. Brought it back to him and he said he needed to use the restroom, which was about a hundred feet away...I didn't want to leave the table because the staff would have cleared it and we would lose it. And it was getting busy up there. Well, he didn't come back, and didn't come back. I was getting pretty concerned so I went over to the restroom and found a gentleman who I asked if he could go in and check for Carl. No Carl... OK. I thought I would call down to the room although I knew in my mind he would not be able to find our room by himself. No answer and by now I was getting little panicky. I literally ran down to the room, nope not there. Panic! So I went down to deck 5 to the pursers desk and asked for help finding him. Now I would not have been so panicky if we didn't have to get off shortly, and if we didn't have a bus waiting for us to take us back to Roseville to our son's. I knew the bus would not wait and how the heck was I going to get us out of San Francisco to Roseville, a 2 to 3 hour trip. All kinds of things going through my mind by now. The kind gentleman behind the desk first called the Medical Centre to make sure Carl was not taken down there. No not there. So he printed out a picture of Carl, they take your picture when you first board, and he told me to stay where I was and he would find him. I was a wreck. Sure enough, about 15 minutes later he comes back with Carl. I guess when he left the restroom he got turned around and disoriented. All's well that ends well. I gave that guy a big hug! And Carl got one too! We made to the luggage area, found a porter who could take our bags to the bus, we got on the bus and I let out a BIG sigh of relief.
We arrived back in Roseville, got our car and headed over the mountain to home. Our friends Bill and Ruth had been taking care of Prince, so we got to their house, they had a nice dinner waiting for us, and we were home by 6 pm.
We had a fabulous trip, we can highly recommend cruising to Alaska and we would love to go back some day. Thanks for following along!