Sunday, June 27 - More Jazz in Vancouver - Our Last Day of Vacation

We had our scones from Safeway this morning and some coffee and went out into the drizzle to see more of Vancouver.
We met the Blue Line trolley and took it to Granville Island. What a fun place - lots of shops, a fabulous public market and a row of artisans crafting their goods. We wandered around for awhile and then stopped to hear another of the jazz bands that were part of the Jazz Festival. We sat outside (the rain had subsided) and people watched, enjoying the music. Lunch came from one of the food stalls in the public market and, after watching one of the street performers, we took a water taxi across False Creek to Yaletown, where we caught another trolley. Riding that to Canada Place, we explored that area, which was built for the 1986 Expo. It is now a Convention Center and also the cruise ship terminal. We then headed down Burrard St., stopped at Christ Church Cathedral to take a look around and ended up at St. Andrew's Wesley Church.
We had seen their Jazz Vespers service mentioned in the Jazz Festival brochure, so that we'd check it out. They actually have it every Sunday afternoon in the summer and we really enjoyed it - today's performance was the "Gospel Giants". The pastor had a short sermon and said some prayers. A good thing to do on a Sunday afternoon. When we came out - there was actually some blue sky with some sun peaking through, which was a nice treat! We decided to have an early dinner, so stopped at Earl's on Robson St., about 5 blocks from the hotel. Very delicious! Then we walked back to the hotel and got ready for our early morning flight home.

Saturday, June 26 - The Cruise Is Over - Fun in Vancouver!

We got up just when the ship was pulling into the Vancouver harbor. Got ready and went to the buffet for breakfast one last time. At 7:45, we moved everything to the Universe Lounge to wait for our disembarkation call. Everything was very organized and ran smoothly. Soon we were called and we breezed through passport control and customs and were ready to explore Vancouver. We changed some money, bought tickets for the Vancouver Trolley (a hop on and off tour) and got a taxi (a Prius!) to our hotel. Since it was so early, we weren't able to go to our room, but dropped our luggage off and headed to the one of the trolley stops to start our tour. Unfortunately, two full ones went by before we decided to start walking and catch the trolley later. We walked along the sea wall walking path and into Stanley Park and around to see the totem poles on display. We then took a trolley to Prospect Point, which had a great view of the Lionsgate Bridge, which the ship had sailed under this morning. After having to wait through another full trolley, we decided just to stay on for the duration of the ride. The driver also gave a commentary as he drove and was pretty amusing. At Canada Place, we transferred from the "Red Line" to the "Blue Line" and drove through Chinatown and then on to Gastown. The Vancouver International Jazz Fest was in full swing and the main street of Gastown was closed for the occasion, so we got off the trolley and joined in the fun.
There were 2 stages and lots and lots of people. The first group we watched was from Finland.....that was a whole different kind of jazz! We had some lunch and then went down to the second venue, which was much more enjoyable. Since the trolleys had stopped running, we walked back to our hotel (Robson Suites) and checked in. We have plenty of room here - full kitchen, living area, etc. Lots of space to spread out in. And free internet!! After resting a bit, we walked down a block to Denman St, which is full of all kinds of ethnic restaurants. We chose "Banana Leaf", a Malaysian restaurant which was very good. Then we walked down to the beach and watched the sun setting (much, much earlier than in Alaska!). There were lots of people strolling and even some wading in the water (Brrrr!). We sat on a bench for awhile and people watched. Got some gelato on the way back and stopped in Safeway for something for tomorrow's breakfast. Only one more day to explore this fun city!

Friday, June 25 - Resting Up from our Vacation - Our Day at Sea

No reason to get up really early this morning - no tours to catch, no sights to see. We did get up in time, though, for the Culinary demonstration in the Universe Lounge. The head chef, maitre d' and pastry chef cooked a meal on stage and then took us all on a tour of the galley. It was fascinating to see all that goes on in the food production area! A whole other world behind the scenes! At 1pm, we went back to Universe Lounge for another session of line dancing - it was definitely time for more exercise! The dances were basically the same as last time, with the addition of "The Hustle", and again, we had lots of fun!
We then went to the buffet for lunch - and of course had to photograph (and sample) the special pastry buffet that was set up! Back to the room to decide what to do next......Bruce worked on his photos...and I fell asleep for over 3 hours! All this eating is really tiring me out :-)! We had our final dinner tonight - Marinated Seafood Salad, Grilled Vegetable Salad, NY Strip Steak, Apple Pie.....and then a slice of Baked Alaska as it came out "on parade". We bade a fond farewell to Elena, our waiter, who we thoroughly enjoyed talking to each evening, and our dining partners Linda and Steve. We did one last walk around the ship and check out the back decks that Steve had told us about at dinner. A very nice place to hang out and watch the sunset! Time to pack up and be ready for an early morning tomorrow!

Thursday, June 24 - Not-so-Rainy Ketchikan - Our Last Port of Call

We slept in a bit this morning as we weren't reaching port until 10am. Had a full breakfast and got off a little after 10. We noticed that is was raining lightly, but nothing like yesterday. That was pretty funny, as Ketchikan is supposedly a rainier area than the others....except for today, I guess!
We finally located the "Ketchikan Rain Gauge" where we were to meet our shuttle at noon. We picked up a walking tour map at the visitors' center and spent an hour exploring. Ketchikan is a much larger area than the other two ports, at least in what is interesting to the tourist. Besides the usual tourist shops, there is a wharf area, Creek St (an area where the bordellos used to be), a beautiful little park/garden area, etc. Even the souvenir shops seemed to be more varied. Then it was time to meet our shuttle, which would take us to our flightseeing plane. By then, the rain was completely gone; it was still cloudy, but a good day for flying. There were 6 of us on the flight, plus the pilot Michelle. I was a little (!) apprehensive about this little float plane, but it was a fabulous experience!! Our destination was Misty Fjords National Monument in the Tongass National Forest. The scenery was amazing - trees, lakes,waterfalls, bald eagles, etc.
Michelle was very informative and told us all about the area and what we were seeing. We flew about 70 miles, then landed on a lake that fed the fjord and were able to get out and walk on the shore. We were the only ones there! After lots of photos, we got back in the plane for the ride back to the base. After we got back into town, we continued on our walking tour which led away from the tourist area (Ketchikan is also built off the side of the mountain, so there were many steep streets/staircases once again). We walked over Ketchikan Creek several times, which is filled with salmon during the proper season. We went to the Totem Heritage Center - Ketchikan is noted for its totem poles, so we saw several on display and learned about their history. Back down in the shopping area, we bought a few souvenirs and then boarded the ship. Another quick late lunch/snack and a rest in our cabin. !
Dinner tonight was the "Chef's Menu" and was very good - Goat Cheese Ramekin, Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup, Rack of Lamb and ice cream for dessert. We then went to the hypnotist show in the Universal Lounge, which was pretty amusing. Tomorrow is a full day at sea - lots to do on our last day

Wednesday, June 23 - There's a Reason Why Juneau is in a Rainforest......

Woke up this morning to grey skies and a light rain in Juneau this morning. Went up and had another good breakfast (made to order omelets!) and got ready for our day exploring Mendenhall Glacier. We had no set plan, were just going to take a bus to the glacier and spend the day on the many hiking trails in the area. Well.......down the gangplank we went, and out into the POURING rain!! Didn't look that bad from ship! We decided to change our plan and starting investigating bus tours. We ended up on one that was leaving in just a few minutes and it was definitely a good choice. We were on a school bus (but with better seats) with 9 others. Again, a very chatty and informative tour guide who drove us first around the city of Juneau (that doesn't take long!) and then out to the Mendenhall Glacier. The downtown area is actually quite picturesque as the city is built right against the mountain, so there are some very steep streets (some were just a set of stairs!). We drove past the capitol building, Governor's mansion, Alaska State Museum, etc.
We got off the bus at the glacier and were able to stay for an hour. It was definitely too miserable out to do much hiking, but we did walk down to the "photo point" and then warmed ourselves up in the visitor's center, looking at the exhibits there. Everything was definitely green and lush in the area (for good reason!) and would be very pleasant on a nicer day. The shuttle picked us up and we headed back into town after passing through the "valley" where 2/3 of the city's population lives and most of the major shopping is. After leaving the shuttle, we walked over to the capitol building via the State Office Building (enter on the 1st floor, take the elevator to the 8th, get out, and the capitol is a block away).
We took a tour, where the guide, after learning we were from Texas, was thrilled to show up the picture that showed the state of Alaska superimposed over the entire US, where you can see that Alaska is MUCH bigger than Texas!! The capitol, however is much smaller....and has no dome! We made a quick stop at a very old Russian Orthodox church and then back to the ship. After a late lunch, we did some laundry and had some time to rest and dry out from the day. Dinner was very delicious - I had seafood pate, roasted tomato soup, lobster and shrimp, and chocolate pudding pie for dessert. Instead of going to the comedy/hypnotist show tonight, we went to the lounge and watched 3 couples play the "Newlywed/Not-so-Newlywed Game", which was really funny. One more shore day - Ketchikan tomorrow. Can we hope for a little less rain??

Tuesday, June 22 - Skagway, the Gateway to the Klondike - Our First Stop on our Cruise

The ship pulled into Skagway early this morning. We went up to the buffet to have a hearty breakfast to sustain ourselves for the day! After disembarking the ship, we headed to the company's office where we had our reservations for our shuttle trip. When we arrived we were told that they had upgraded our trip (probably because no one had signed up for our original one). We'd be leaving an hour later, but travelling further, which sounded good to us. We had a couple of hours, so we walked down to the National Park Service info center and took a walking tour of the town, led by one of the rangers. He did it a little differently, introducing 6 characters from the history of the town, taking us to the houses that they lived, etc. Then at the end he had us guess the outcomes of each of the people; who was murdered, who committed suicide, etc. It was a very interesting tour.
The touristy part of Skagway looks like a Hollywood movie set - all brightly painted buildings, wooden sidewalks, etc. Still having time before our tour, Bruce walked around town taking pictures and I wandered through the shops. There were a few interesting ones, but most were cheap souvenirs or expensive jewelry. We boarded our shuttle at 12:30, along with 2 other couples. We drove out of town and paralled the train tracks that goes through White Pass. This was the route the prospectors took to reach the Klondike Gold Rush! The terrain was very rugged - it was amazing to see first hand what these people faced in their journey. We passed into British Columbia and then finally end at the "Welcome to the Yukon Territory" sign!
The guide was very good; told us all about the history of the area, along with all his own opinions on politics, the environment, unfriendliness of people in Southern California (where he winters)....etc., etc. At one point along the way, we saw several tour buses along the side of the road, so we pulled off too, and were rewarded with two grizzlies along the side of the road, eating their lunch. Grizzlies are not common in this area and the guide was very surprised to see them. We ended the tour back in town around 4:30, and made a stop at the Skagway Brewery for some local beer. Back on the ship, we had a little afternoon snack since we had not stopped for lunch. Tonight was "Italian Night" in the dining room - all the waiters were dressed accordingly. The dinner servings seemed much larger than usual (that's the Italian way, I guess). I had Eggplant Parm appetizer, Pasta e Fagioli soup, Chicken Breast with ham, cheese and spinach, and a dessert that Elena the waitress recommended- berries with a meringue topping (not as good as the tiramisu that she put on the table for us all to share). Tonight's show was a variety show put on by talented crew members - very well done. Another early morning tomorrow - off to Juneau!

Monday, June 21 - We saw ICE!! - Cruising in Glacier Bay National Park

As I was getting ready this morning, it occured to me that I should take a look out the on the balcony and check out the scenery. I stepped out and saw everyone around me with binoculars and cameras pointed out to the ocean. I looked in the direction they were aiming at and saw a pod of 4 humpback whales cruising by our ship!! They were blowing and diving and showing their tails - put on quite an act for us. At that point we were at the entry to Glacier Bay, where we were told later is where the marine wildlife hang out. At 11am, we went down to the Princess Theater to hear one of the park rangers who had come aboard and she told us all about what we would be seeing and how amazing the area is. The rest of the day was spent in the bay and the highlight was coming along side Margerie Glacier - absolutely stunning with its deep crevices and its length - 16 miles!
The thing to watch for there was the calving - we saw a few small pieces come off and one fairly large piece drop. Also saw several bald eagles sitting on icebergs and many gulls. We left that area around 3pm, passed by Johns Hopkins glacier and by 7pm we were back at the mouth of the bay for some marine wildlife viewing. The park ranger met us out on deck and explained to us what we might see and where we should look.
It took awhile, but finally the humpbacks started appearing. You could hear shouts of "there's a blow" and "there's a tail". We saw several pods and also two sea otters. The ranger had described them as "bookends" in the water, and she was right - all you can see is their head and their back feet sticking out of the water as they float on their backs. We spent about an hour out there and then went up to dinner. Linda and Steve were there (and more talkative), but the other 4 were still MIA. Not sure if we'll ever see them! Dinner was delicious tonight - crab legs, seafood soup, surf and turf (with shrimp) and creme brulee. Then we went to the 10:15 show in the Princess Theater, which featured the comedian from the other night. He was really quite good and we enjoyed the show. Time to get ready for our first stop tomorrow - Skagway.