North to Alaska ... on the Radiance -- A cruise journal

[emeraldcity]

Enjoying your journal. I've got awhile until I'm in your shoes. We're on BTB Radiance to Alaska on May 20,2016, returning June 3rd.

 

Thank you. Enjoy your planning process. I found this trip the hardest one to research because I didn't have much background in this kind of experience. Caribbean cruises are so easy to plan.

 

What a great photo review. Alaska is breathtaking!

 

I was blown away by the incredible scenery. Thank you for taking the time to comment.

[emeraldcity]

Thank you for such a wonderful review-I feel like I was there.:):) We were supposed to sail 7/24 on Radiance but I ended up in the hospital instead. We are already re-booked for next August but now I feel like I got a taste this year as well. Thank you again and keep it coming! :p:p

 

I'm so sorry your plans got derailed. I wish you all the best for next year.

 

When I booked this, I initially only booked May 15th. After a week of thinking about it, I went back into the web site and booked July too. I figured that way if I had to cancel, I'd have an alternate date already locked in with the early booking price. And when the conflict came up that meant I had to cancel May, I just had them move the deposit money over to the July booking.

[Susie51]

Thank you for your great review.

[emeraldcity]

Thank you for your great review.

 

You're welcome ... glad you're enjoying it.

[Tunkhannock]

This is an amazing review! I'm definitely enjoying reading it.

 

Thank you!

[gaechann]

I'm so sorry your plans got derailed. I wish you all the best for next year.

 

 

 

When I booked this, I initially only booked May 15th. After a week of thinking about it, I went back into the web site and booked July too. I figured that way if I had to cancel, I'd have an alternate date already locked in with the early booking price. And when the conflict came up that meant I had to cancel May, I just had them move the deposit money over to the July booking.

 

 

Totally enjoying your review! My sister has just returned from a Princess cruise / land tour of Alaska informing me that only Princess have the land facilities to do it properly!

I'll be following along to see how it all worked out for you!

Gae

[emeraldcity]

Totally enjoying your review! My sister has just returned from a Princess cruise / land tour of Alaska informing me that only Princess have the land facilities to do it properly!

I'll be following along to see how it all worked out for you!

Gae

 

That's pretty funny. Every cruise line has their cheerleaders. I like RCI a lot and I had a fabulous experience on this trip ... but I tell anyone asking me about Alaska that they should check out all the available lines and determine which one offers the features they are most interested in.

 

I strongly suspect that the land tours themselves are not really run by the cruise lines at all. My emails receipts for the excursions I booked with the land tour director came from Premier Alaska Tours, Inc. I suspect they all use a third party. They all stop in the same areas and offer the same third party excursions in those locations. They all book nice hotels and use modern, comfortable highway coaches. They all travel on exactly the same train (just different coaches). I know RCI coaches on the train have those fantastic glass top dome cars, but there were other cars with glass tops, so they might have been the Princess ones.

 

Some cruisers try lots of different lines, and some of us stick with one. As long as they continue to offer a product I'm comfortable with, I will make RCI my choice, because the discounts I get as a diamond member are very attractive. Had I booked my very first cruise with Princess or Norwegian, I would probably have chosen one of their ships for this trip.

 

I just have one question for your sister ... how's the pillows on the Princess ships?

[emeraldcity]

This is an amazing review! I'm definitely enjoying reading it.

 

Thank you!

 

You're very welcome. I'm enjoying working on it.

 

The next piece includes our flightseeing trip to McKinley and it's taking a bit longer than expected. Hopefully I'll be able to post tomorrow evening.

[emeraldcity]

I was awake by 4:30, because of course the sun had already been up for quite some time. I peeked out the window to check out the view but figured I’d leave the drapes closed so that DD could sleep longer. I turned on my bedside light to do some embroidery and a bizarre sound emitted from the other bed. It was something between a wail and a moan. Then DD flopped over to face the other direction and went back to sleep.

 

This trip was an interesting opportunity to discover my daughter all over again. Except for the one summer between freshman and sophomore year, she’d been on her own now for 3 years. The whole waking-up process was a marvel to behold. Stage 1 involved eye fluttering, but no real connection with the real world. Stage 2 would be when the eyes would open (briefly) make eye contact and then close again. There can be a relatively short period of time before she’s ready to move to Stage 3, but it’s been known to be ridiculously lengthy. Stage 3 is rather odd. I don’t believe the eyes open first, but the hand makes contact with the cell phone (Often under her pillow or relatively close to it). Then the eyes open to consult the cell phone oracle. After a rather lengthy period of calming communing it is possible to have a productive conversation.

 

In all fairness, we had ruled that the official pillow rating would not take place until we had spent the night giving them a decent try. Even so, the opinion didn’t change. While the pillows got a low rating on quality (we gave them a C), at least they did well on quantity. Each bed had four of them.

 

Every day we had a notation in our itinerary concerning when bags were to be set outside our hotel room door (dubbed the Bag Pull). Today it was 9:00. We had decided on taking the tram ride up the mountain today before we were to board the bus. The tram ticket had been included with our package and it had seemed too cloudy the previous day to use it then. There was a trail of dubious width that snaked back and forth toward the top and those who chose to hike the trail up could get a free ride back down. And to be sure, we saw people headed both ways on that narrow trail. But that wasn’t the only kinds of traffic on the slopes. Alyeska is the home of Alaska’s only lift-accessed downhill bike park. I couldn’t believe people took the tram up to ride bikes back down, but apparently it’s popular. We were on one of the first lifts up that day and we got a bit of narration en route. The guide pointed out some brilliant blue ponds below that he said were called kettle ponds. They were created when a massive chunk of ice toppled off the glacier and slammed into the valley floor. When it melted, it simply filled the hole it created. He also told us that they slow the tram down to 50% of its winter rate of speed in the summer, because summer guests want to enjoy the view. Winter guests just want to get to the top to ski down.

 

At the top we wandered over to the edge of some of the ski runs to admire the view. I found it rather unsettling to stand near the edge to shoot my pictures, so I found a pole to rest my hand on and assure I wouldn’t lose my balance. I wanted to be sure that when I returned to the valley floor (over 2000 feet below) that I did so in that tram.

 

 

We watched the clouds drifting past the mountains, many of them below us. Across the valley we could see several hanging glaciers nestled in ridges high in the mountains. We stood at the top of one precipitous drop trying to picture the scene with snow on it. Supposedly we’d been told that this was one of the more difficult ski runs. DD wondered aloud what kind of motivation it took to stand there with skis on and say “Yeah, this looks like a good idea.” Of course, I think her comments were a bit more colorful, but we’re not going to go there. I noted a couple of women who were following a trail farther up the mountain and I tried to entice DD to consider it. She was not supportive. OK, so I’m not going to let her rain on my parade, and I set off up the Mighty Mite trail. I got to milepost .01 in fine shape, but by the time I got to milepost .02, I was breathing hard and wondering what I was trying to prove. One of the two women who had gone up the trail earlier was on the way back down, so I waited at my milepost to get her assessment of the trail. When she reached me she said her daughter was going all the way up, but she’d had enough, especially since the trail got steeper from this point. Steeper? OK, I’m done here. I accompanied the woman back down. It gave a huge new perspective of those gold rush miners who were not only hiking up to the White Pass at 2800 feet elevation, they were schlepping 2000 pounds of gear.

 

 

With time growing short, we decided to head back to the tram. But since we had a little window of time, I chanced a trip to the gift shop just to make certain that I wasn’t missing out on some incredible find that needed to hitchhike back to Ohio. DD headed for the tram and I told her if I didn’t make it back, go ahead and I would catch up with her below. Thus it was that I found nothing fabulous, and I made the trip back down by myself. We made it to the bus with five minutes to spare and climbed on board to settle in for the drive to Anchorage, our lunch stop.

 

I really liked the way they broke up the drive here. A chunk of time on the road with a bit of narrative and then a break to wander in an arts and craft market in Anchorage, before heading on to Talkeetna for the night.

 

As we left Girdwood, we traveled along Turnagain Arm, which Captain Cook gets the credit for naming when he realized this was another failed attempt to find the elusive Northwest Passage and he was going to have to “turn again” his ship. I didn’t get my camera out fast enough, but I noticed some wit had named his lunch spot “Turnagain Arm Pit BBQ”.

 

Alaskans talk about the tides a great deal, since their topography results in some of the biggest tides in the world. Depending on which tour guide had been doing the bragging on this trip, we heard ranges between 30-38 feet. In any event, Darren claimed that in the spring where Turnagain Arm meets Cook Inlet it is possible to actually go surfing on a boar tide. So I had to google it. (Turnagain Arm Tidal Bore). And it’s a real thing. It has to do with when the outgoing tide meets the incoming tide. The point at which they collide makes a wave, which is popular with surfboarders and kayakers.

 

Over the years there has been some interest in building a bridge across the arm, but testing revealed the arm is nestled in 800 feet of glacial silt, resulting in yet one more reason why ferries are so prevalent through the state. Glacial silt seems hard when it’s dry, but once the tide comes in, it quickly liquefies and takes on the consistency of quick sand. They said a fast incoming tide has proven deadly for the unwary hiker or unlucky wildlife.

 

When we drove into Anchorage, maps of the downtown area were passed out and we were given a quick explanation about how to find the various eateries in the vicinity of the drop-off point. We stepped off the bus into warm sunshine, which was a definite departure from what we’d been experiencing most of this trip. Neither of us had to debate the point of which way to head … we turned in the direction of the Arts and Crafts marketplace that operated on weekends. We spent a delightful hour or so wandering the booths, admiring the art in some and commenting “What were they thinking?” when we were out of earshot of others. We got a teriyaki chicken lunch to share, as well as a huge strawberry lemonade and the biggest bag of kettle corn they sold. If it had been cooler, I would have tried the chowder in the bread bowl, because that looked fabulous. We shared a picnic table in the sunshine with some locals … who turned out to have family ties in one of Cleveland’s suburbs.

 

Although we didn’t leave with anything other than full stomach and a bag of kettle corn, DD took a business card from the vendor who was selling beautiful tooled leather bags, with the thought that at some point when she’s a bit more sure of her finances, she just might have to make an on-line purchase.

 

 

 

We wandered the streets of Anchorage for a few blocks in each direction, marveling at the flowers everywhere. Purportedly, Anchorage had spent a million dollars to beautify the downtown and give visitors a positive overall impression of the city. It certainly worked. And there were numerous bronze statues, worthy of a stop and an examination ... far more intriguing that the normal city streets of your average town. Of course we found another bronze bear. This one looked like he belonged at Splash Mountain in Disney World. But more interesting than the bear was the fact that we’d stumbled upon the corner where Rod Perry hangs out. Rod is a former Iditarod musher and he engages visitors with tales of the race he is so passionate about. It would be easy to walk on by, but who can resist Phoenix. Rod’s beautiful Malamute is stretched out under the canopy and she happily accepts the adulation of all comers. Rod explained that a malamute is the draft horse version of the sled dog. This is the dog a musher uses when he wants to haul heavy loads long distance. In the race, they use huskies, because they are all about speed.

 

The bus arrived at the appointed stop and we climbed aboard to begin the next leg of the trip. As we headed out of town, we passed the airport and it was interesting to see the large number of small places lined up in rows. Darren pointed out the big fat balloon tires some of the planes had, which he said enabled them to land on uneven surfaces. Air travel is an important way of life in Alaska. So much so that one in every seventy people holds a pilot’s license.

 

As we headed further north, we were still seeing only a tiny portion of this vast land. Shane had advised us that only one percent of Alaska is privately owned. Darren challenged us to identify the differences between valleys that were carved out by raging rivers, as opposed to those that were scoured out by glaciers. The difference was the deep “V” shaped of the river valleys, vs the “U” shape of the glacier valleys. Once it was explained, it certainly was understandable.

 

As the road wound around some massive mountain cliffs, Shane slowed to point out the Dall Sheep that were picking their way along narrow mountain tracks high above. It had been the desire to protect the Dall Sheep that had initially been the impetus for the formation of the National Park we were headed for.

 

As we passed through Wasilla, the local Walmart was pointed out and Darren noted that due to the amount of duct tape they sell, they are the Duct Tape Capital of the World. DD and I couldn’t let that pass and we challenged him. This was not well received. But nearby Avon Ohio also claims that title. And I googled it a bit ago. When you put in Duct Tape Capital … the first 4 hits are Avon. The fifth is Wasilla. In any event, I doubt any Clevelanders are welcomed on Darren’s buses now. I can see the bargaining going on in the parking lot as the three tour directors stand outside the Radiance waiting for their charges. “I got three Texans … anybody willing to trade?” Darren pipes up, “I’ll take your Texans and give you a couple of Clevelanders …”

 

We went through an area that had experienced a forest fire just two weeks earlier. Already we could see green growth poking up through the charred forest floor. What I found especially touching were the number of hand-made signs propped up along the road thanking the fire fighters.

 

The turn-off to Talkeetna was guarded, of course, by another bronze bear. We spotted the Lodge up ahead and then we had the entrance drive in sight and then we passed it inexplicably. And we drove on into town, turned around in the parking lot where the tours start from and went back. If we were going to be expected to hike out to that location, maybe the detour made sense, but all the tour groups would be picked up at the hotel entrance, so it just seemed like a waste of gas to me. At the Talkeetna Lodge, we pulled up to the East Entrance and a hostess came out with a handful of room keys. As a matter of fact, she had all the room keys … even ours. After all the warnings about this being just a lowly two-star property, I was already disposed to think they were under-rated. Of course we had the last room down the hall again, but we opened the door and were quite pleased with the accommodations. The room was much bigger than the last hotel … and the pillows were much nicer. We awarded them a B+ right off the bat and when we reviewed the pillow rating the next morning we saw no reason to downgrade it. Although the room was pretty chilly at first, we edged up the thermostat and it warmed up quickly. DD was ridiculously pleased about the fact that they had real bedspreads, instead of just bed runners.

 

Taking a tip from our tour director, we decided we weren’t all that hungry so we’d split a meal. The dining room was very accommodating, and the club sandwich with fries was delivered to our table with two plates. The meal was huge and very tasty. The fries were especially awesome. It’s a good thing we split the meal, because we were struggling to finish our respective halves.

 

After a little bit of time to relax, we returned downstairs to the East Lobby where the excursions would be collected. There were probably about 15-20 people who were taking the jet boat and they left before us.

 

Including a flightseeing option was a critical component for this trip. Picking the single best one was the challenging part. I’d researched the differences between fixed wing, float plane and helicopter. We finally decided that a helicopter trip was the most intriguing. However, I found that helicopter excursions were limited, so I stepped back and re-evaluated. I realized that the single most important component should be the landmarks we’d be seeing. So I checked out reviews and youtube videos of every type of flight offered on every stop of our cruisetour before concluding that since we were limiting ourselves to one … it had to be Mt. McKinley. With three busloads of people traveling to the same stops, I was concerned about the fact that booking this through the tour director might result in a capacity issue, but the reviews indicated that they make sure there’s space. I further rationalized that those flights could be really late in the evening and it would still take place before dark, so it should work out. As far as the much recommended “flight with glacier landing”, I wasn’t convinced that I needed that to make the experience complete. It’s a big piece of ice … right? If I want to walk on ice, I can do that in my own driveway several times every winter.

 

I knew that the cruisetour contracted with K2 Aviation for the Mt. McKinley flights out of Talkeetna, so I armed myself with the relevant printouts of the four flights K2 offered privately, along with pricing. But, when we were handed the excursion list and the prices on the bus, the description of the one flight didn’t really match any of the options on K2’s web site. However, it did fulfill the objective of a summit flight at a price I was comfortable with. The fact that it came with a glacier landing was not objectionable. I figured that would give us a chance to see what all the fuss was about.

 

And, of course, despite my concerns about capacity, out of three busloads of people, we were apparently the only ones who selected this excursion … so once again we were bucking the trend. Most everyone else seemed to be opting to hang out in Talkeetna, or they were being collected in a big converted school bus for the jet boat tour. The shuttle came to collect us (just a common van, instead of that nice limo bus in Ketchikan) and then swung over to the main entrance to collect the other couple who was going with us. We were advised that it looked like we would be among the first customers all day to do a glacier landing. A snowstorm on the mountain earlier in the day had prevented the option.

 

We arrived at the office and headed inside to check-in. Unhappily, the first requirement was a weigh-in – on a scale in full view of everybody else in the room. This is a really mean trick to pull on people who just spent a self-indulgent week on a cruise ship. Furthermore, you had to weigh in wearing your coat, shoes and holding anything you were taking on the plane. After a quick check to assure that everyone had averted their eyes, I stepped on the scale and looked down. Wow! I had no idea that my shoes, purse and camera weighed 13 pounds. Next we headed out to the deck to get glacier books. I had read about this part and I pictured big clumsy snow boots with heavy tread and maybe even small metal spikes to avoid slipping on the ice. Not even close. We selected our boots our of bins marked small, medium, large, etc. and they amounted to flimsy lightweight nylon slippers that went over your shoes and velcro’d closed. DD modeled hers approvingly and announced that she want them for her wardrobe. Mind you, she hates boots. But these offered the reality that she could wear her shoes of choice and protect them from the elements when walking from the parking lot to the various buildings on campus.

 

I’d only been in a small plane on two other occasions. One had been a component of a day trip from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon West. The other had been the very last Ford Tri-Motor in commercial service, which provided flights from Marblehead Peninsula on the Lake Erie shoreline to South Bass Island back in the early 70s.

 

The plane that our pilot walked us out to was an 8-seater … far smaller than anything I’d experienced. I’ve seen plenty of movies where agile young stunt doubles leap into little planes and buckle themselves in quickly – often with some villain in hot pursuit. It’s a lie. There is nothing effortless about heaving yourself through that door, around the seats and into a single seat so you can get buckled in.

 

We settled headphones into place and were soon heading for the runway. I was stunned at how little of the runway was necessary to achieve flight speed. Apparently the extra pounds I was toting weren’t causing the plane any payload issues.

 

We headed for the accumulation of clouds that Mt. McKinley had gathered around herself to hide from the curious. Below us, from time to time, we spotted a house with no visible road leading to it. We were told people often used ATV’s to get back to these remote residences. That rugged concept explains human passage through the wilderness, but it leaves one wondering how the construction material was transported.

 

Unlike the mountains of the Rockies, there is no series of foothills before the massive peaks in this area. McKinley rises directly from the plain we crossed from Talkeetna … a massive, hulking mountain harboring multiple glaciers cradled in the valleys they have scoured out of the mountain’s flanks.

 

With a thrill, we found that the very top of the mountain was poking up above the clouds. The snow-covered peak tried to disguise herself in the hopes we’d mistake her for just another cloud. Our pilot crowed with delight that he’d just inaugurated us into the 30% Club, since apparently only 30% of the people who go to Alaska see Mt McKinley’s summit. Then he banked the plane and swung around the mountain to line up for a landing on Ruth Glacier.

 

 

The sheet of ice I was expecting was covered in nearly a foot of new snow. It was like landing on a marshmallow. There were a couple of planes already there and we headed over to them and swung around so we’d be pointed back out the way we’d come in. One by one, we slipped out of the plane and took our first steps on the glacier. Given that I hadn’t expected much of this experience, I have to report that I was so wrong. It was absolutely delightful. Each footstep sank into the fresh, heavy wet snow and when I picked up my foot, the resultant footprint was blue. OK. I’ve walked through a lot of fresh snow in Ohio. I never had blue footprints before. It added so much delight to the experience. Here we were standing in one of the most remote locations in the country … high up on a glacier on the slopes of America’s tallest mountain. It was a huge thrill. Unexpected and thrilling.

 

DD flopped down and made a snow angel. She’s made plenty of them over her lifetime … but never on a mountain, and never in July.

 

Our pilot pointed out a rocky outcropping that reared above us and asked if we saw the tip of a building up there. I stared I amazement. You’ve got to be kidding. Why would somebody put a building up there? Apparently for the very adventurous. High above Ruth Glacier sits the Don Sheldon Mountain House, which was built by a legendary Alaskan bush pilot before the mountain became a National Park. The family still owns the house, which is actually on private property in the middle of the National Park. It’s rented out to the very hardy who want a truly unique experience. The top of the building we could see from our vantage point was actually the outhouse for the tenants. Hmm … what does that say about the pristine nature of the glacial landscape?

 

 

We probably only spent about 15 minutes on the glacier, but it remains one of my favorite memories of the entire trip. DD happily claimed the co-pilot’s seat for the return flight, which added a bit more sparkle to the entire experience. When we took off, we banked around several sheer cliffs and then followed the flowing river of ice through the Great Gorge, the world’s deepest. The ice is 3700 feet thick and the walls are 4000-5000 feet high. The views were breathtaking. The river of ice eventually emptied onto the plain below and petered out in a jumble of the rocks it carried downhill.

 

Before heading back to Talkeetna, our pilot made several passes over the rolling tundra looking for wildlife, because that’s what his passengers generally come to see I suppose. There were a couple of sightings … supposedly. “Look. There’s a bear.” “There’s a bear and two cubs.” I don’t know. They just looked like brown lumps to me … could have been tree stumps. DD reports that she saw a brown lump that was definitely moving in a clearing, and she’s certain it was a bear. That’s awesome. But I really think it loses something of the experience when it’s that far away. I like the zoo setting where I can stand and watch a bear (safely) close enough to see his cute face and ponder why something so cuddly- looking can be so dangerous.

 

The landing was feather soft and we taxied back to the hanger. After dropping our boots off in the appropriate bins, we stepped into the office and decided we needed an airplane pin for our souvenir banner. Then it was back to the hotel to unwind. At 10:20, it was still an hour until sunset, but we weren’t interested in waiting it out. We closed the curtains and went to bed. I did get up about 1:15 a.m. and peeked outside, and it was still surprisingly light.

Edited August 12, 2015 by emeraldcity

[emeraldcity]

 

 

 

[emeraldcity]

There would be no sleeping in this day … bag pull was at 7:00 a.m.

 

When we went down to the dining room for breakfast, they had to scramble to find us a table. Having three busloads of people all chowing down at the same time put a bit of a strain on the staff of the Talkeetna Lodge. As warned by Darren, the breakfast buffet was really pricey, so we followed his suggestion again to split a breakfast off the menu. We did a standard breakfast of eggs, bacon and potatoes, then added a side order of fruit. It was plenty of food.

 

We returned to the room, collected our things and joined our fellow passengers waiting in the parking lot for our bus to pull up. Once the bus boarding process got underway, I failed to think things through completely and we took seats again on the passenger side of the bus. This had worked just fine for us throughout the trip, but today it was sunny. That meant that passengers on this side of the bus were going to be getting the morning sun from the east … and the bus possessed no sunshades. Of course, within a couple of hours, we drove back into leaking clouds, so it sorted out long before we got to the Denali Park Entrance.

 

Darren went through the expected schedule and I found out that the whitewater rafting we’d signed up for wasn’t going to take place until the next day. Somehow I thought when it was on the schedule for Denali, it would happen on the day we arrived in Denali. This meant that the excursion would have to fit in before noon, since that’s when we were to be at the depot to catch the train back to Anchorage. I was a bit unsure about the whole idea now. I had expected to want a nice hot shower after whitewater rafting. Instead we were likely to be boarding the train with wet hair (or worse). Well, I just had to roll with it I decided. Somehow it’s going to work out just fine. So how many people are going with us? None, of course. We were the only two people signed up for this excursion too. Darren warned us several times to make sure we wore wool socks. This pre-supposed that we owned wool socks … which we didn’t. It finally penetrated my brain that maybe I should take a harder look at the offerings of socks in the stores we were poking around in. I had noticed by now that Alaskans seemed to have a sock fetish and there were plenty of them offered for sale … mostly of the knee-high persuasion and mostly in really fun patterns. OK, with everybody selling socks, I supposed I’d better buy a couple pair of wool ones.

 

The big item on the schedule for the day was going to be either of the two park tours, which would set off from the Visitor’s Center early afternoon. The 4-hour tour was included as part of our package, and there had been a daily push since we’d left the ship to upgrade to the 8-hour tour. All the research that I’d studied on cruisecritic for the past 3 years had indicated that the shorter tour was uninspiring and the longer tour got mixed reviews that ranged from “awesome” to “overly long”. As we set off from Talkeetna, there was yet another push to “upgrade”, but this time it was accompanied by a clear warning that the “upgrade” did not imply that the mode of transportation would improve. It was still going to be school buses … but the implication was that if you wanted to see bears, that wasn’t going to be possible unless you “upgraded”.

 

A view of the map before the trip made this leg of the journey look rather short, but the reason we left Talkeetna so early was that we’d be on the road for four hours before we got to the Visitor’s Center. And then we were facing 4-8 more hours of bus travel for that tour in school buses. It was time to huddle. DD and I were veterans of 2 cross-country band trips when she’d been in high school, so it didn’t take a vivid imagination to picture the scene. Even if the reviews had been unanimously positive, it just sounded like a band trip ordeal without all the great food that was part of those experiences. For those who wanted to see bears and moose, it would have been a mistake to bypass this offering. Frankly, the cold, rainy weather would ensure that they’d see more animals, since the bears especially tend to hunker down in the sunshine. But we were here for the scenery, and when we got to the park, the low cloud cover was obscuring the mountains that would have enticed me to make a go of it. Eight to twelve hours of bus time (most of it in school buses) sounded like an ordeal. “Pass,” intoned DD. “Hard pass.”

 

 

Decision made, we settled back to enjoy the 4-hour ride in the comfortable bus and figured we’d show our rebel colors when we got to Denali. The tall pines that had lined much of the road on the drive from Seward were replaced now by dwarfs. This was the tiaga (the Land of Little Sticks) which would give way eventually to the tundra as the elevation increased. This was the last lengthy leg of the trip by motorcoach, since our final leg would be the next afternoon when we boarded the Wilderness Express to head back to Anchorage. Darren used the time to tell us about Mt. McKinley. He provided the basic facts and figures and then went on to tell what climbers face when they decide they want to attempt the climb. There are hard guidelines and vigorous tests they have to pass before they can even hire a guide. Applications must be submitted, equipment must be checked, physical tests must be passed and big money must be spent. Climbers generally have to be prepared to pay between $10,000 and $15,000. All that money, time and effort just to climb a mountain in rugged conditions, hauling large quantities of supplies, freezing for several weeks … I admire their drive and determination, but have no interest in joining them. The thought occurs to me that the Gold Rush miners faced some of the same challenges … only their objective was an increase in their financial outlook, not a decrease.

 

As the narration continued, we passed the Perch Restaurant. Perch! Really? I love perch. Do they really have Lake Erie perch in Alaska? Oh wait. There’s a picture of an eagle on a perch. What a letdown!

 

Alaskans have 3 seasons per year … Freeze Up (Winter), Break Up (Thaw) and Fix Up (120-125 days of summer).

 

I don’t believe it was listed on our itinerary, but the tour buses made a stop at the Armed Forces Memorial in Denali. In a way, it seems like such an out-of-the way place to put a tribute to those who have given so much for their country. Since there were a number of references to the mountain rescues that the armed forces have assisted in, perhaps that has something to do with the location. But to call this place merely a memorial is misleading, since it is really a memorial park within the park of Denali. The central components of the park were the monuments to each of the five Armed Services. The entrance to this plaza was guarded by a statue of two members of the Alaska Territorial Guard. But it doesn’t end there. Memorials to recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor with any ties to Alaska are included, in addition to a memorial to commemorate the service of those in the Merchant Marine and two memorials to honor crew members of air crashes. I ran out of time when I tried to take in the interpretive panels that described the role of the military in the Bearing Sea and Alaska’s military role in World War II and the Cold War. I snapped pictures of the signage and retreated to the bus, figuring I could read them in detail when I downloaded the pictures.

 

 

As we got closer to our destination, the road got progressively rougher. Shane attributed the bumpy pavement to frost heaves. The park road itself was under construction so it was slow going on the rough dirt/gravel surface which was riddled with potholes.

 

When we arrived at the visitor’s center, Darren checked on the times for the tours and came back to advise the group when each of the tours would leave. As everyone filed out of the bus, we held back so that we could discuss our change in plans with Darren. We advised we wouldn’t be taking the tour and we asked that they check with the hotel and see if our room could be among the first one to be readied. I doubt they get many defectors like that, because Darren was clearly surprised. Both he and Shane tried to convince us to take the tour, but we didn’t change our minds. I had to wonder if they rather liked the break at this point where they weren’t in any way responsible for their charges for a number of hours. We found out where the hotel shuttle could be found and then went into the Visitor’s Center to explore.

 

The Park’s Visitor’s Center held my interest for a bit over an hour. It celebrates history and seeks to educate visitors about the animals. They show a film in the theater that is extremely well done and sets out to promote appreciation of the animals of the park and their habitat. By far the most intriguing display was the huge model of the mountain that visitors could circle and study in detail. I was amazed that I had absorbed more during my flight than I had realized because I had no trouble at all in identifying where we had made our approach, our landing and then the route of our return. A tiny little sign in a toothpick that said “Ruth Glacier” would have been a nice touch to confirm my brilliance, but it was not to be.

 

 

By now it should surprise no one that we had to go to the store next. I didn’t figure we’d be spending much money, but there was one thing on our list that I needed. Shane had urged me to check out the store because they always had a supply of 30% Club pins. Apparently if you see Mt. McKinley, you are now required to leave a little bit more of your hard-earned cash behind in Alaska. So I found the pins, bought one and dropped it into my purse. Of course, I also looked for wool socks at this store, since it was now on my wish list, but I struck out.

 

Exploration complete, we headed for the shuttle stop. There was plenty of coming and going in the half hour we waited, but no shuttle for the Denali Park Village. We did have a happy encounter with Bill and Liz from our cruise. They were just getting off the bus from the morning tour and they had huge smiles. This is the tour that you probably weren’t going to see wildlife, as I recall. They were flush with success and said they saw 7 bears. I was so happy for them, since that was important to them and it would have been a shame to leave Alaska without accomplishing one’s biggest goals.

 

After a thirty-minute wait, I started examining my options. It was only about another 20 minutes before we could have caught a shuttle to go see the park service do a dog sled demo and I was sort-of intrigued. I asked DD if she wanted to go and she said she really wasn’t up for it. Since my feet were so cold, it was really easy to convince me it was not a good idea. All of our cruisetour people were put on their buses and Darren came over to offer us a lift to the hotel, since our shuttle still hadn’t arrived. Thus it was that we were spared a school bus ride after all.

 

When we got to the hotel and checked at the desk, they had our room keys ready for us. I also asked about the dinner show that evening and they still had seats available for either show. We took the early one, paid at the desk and were given our tickets. Then it was off to our room to get settled. The Denali Park Village consists of a number of two story buildings, most of which do not have any elevators. We were on the second floor and had the first room in the hallway this time (probably by virtue of being the first ones to collect our room key). By now we’d gotten used to walking into a chilly hotel room in Alaska. We simply made a hunt for the thermostat the first order of business. The second order of business was pillow testing followed by a trek to the window to check out the view. Although we had great views in each of the last two hotels, this one probably was my favorite. Despite a couple of pine trees partially obscuring the view, we were only a couple of feet from the fast-moving, glacial-gray waters of the Nenana River.

 

 

I really think the gift shop at the Denali Park Village should have a sign posted at the entrance that warns that people with a known heart condition should avoid looking at price tags. We generally start a store visit with a concept that includes an interest in seeing if there is anything we might like to own at a price we’d be willing to pay. This shipping trip quickly morphed into an entertaining jaunt where we tried to see who could find the most exorbitant price tag. Of course, I was again on the lookout for wool socks, and I’m not sure how much I would have been willing to pay, but I was saved the quandary because they didn’t have any. As for those gloves I’d bought in Juneau … they were selling the same thing here and it was just over twice the price.

 

We wandered over to the cluster of buildings where the Cabin Nite Dinner Theater was located. It was an intriguing mix of wood buildings designed to feel like a frontier settlement, although there didn’t seem to be a lot of buildings that were open (maybe because it was Sunday evening). The General Store held our interest for only a few minutes (they didn’t have wool socks either) and little else seemed to be open. I could picture this area being a huge draw if they offered a themed mix of shops (rocks and crystals, dolls and stuffed animals, carved wooden pieces) and activities (old fashioned photos, candle-dipping, rug braiding). But for the most part, people just stood around waiting for the doors to open for the dinner theater.

 

The show started before the doors opened when one of the actors came out to recite an entertaining poem. Afterward, the doors opened and we were shown to our seats. Given that we booked same day, I was pretty pleased to find that we had a table right up front by the piano player and in between the stage and the bar. I was expecting this show to be something on the order of Disney’s Hoop-Dee-Doo-Review held in Pioneer Hall in Disney World. And I’d have to say I was right.

 

Because hungry people are tough to entertain, they wisely served us food before the show started. Buckets of food were placed on the table and we handed our plates down to be filled by whichever guest was nearest to the hot serving dish. If we managed to empty anything, they promptly refilled it. The seasoned biscuits were to die for and the ribs were awesome. And then they capped it off with an amazing warm four-berry cobbler that I still dream about.

 

The show revolved loosely around the concept that this was a roadhouse where a group of friends gathered to share an evening of songs and stories. There were some rousing songs about Alaska and some very touching ones as well. Miss Kitty ran around the room bestowing lipstick prints on the cheeks of any man with a dollar waving over his head (the dollars were then slipped happily into her bosom). The woman across from me ignored her husband and waved the dollar over the piano-player’s head. He was stunned. He told her afterward that it was the first time he ever gotten a kiss from Miss Kitty. We were pulled into an audience participation song where we sang “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” And every time a word started with “B”, you were to alternately raise or lower your arms. We were all laughing by the time the song ended. At one point, audience participants were pulled onto the floor to stage a gunfight and the guys that were picked were budding hams. But one of the best parts was that there was a solo I’d been waiting to hear this entire trip … our trip theme was “North to Alaska" … and we’d gotten all the way to Denali before someone finally sang that song.

 

All in all, it was a very enjoyable evening and we returned to our room to make it an early night, because we had to be in the lobby by 7:00 a.m. the next morning to meet our excursion driver.

Edited August 13, 2015 by emeraldcity

[DarlingDancer]

DD here.

As I recall, during the staged gun fight, one of the actors pulled from the audience was given the difficult task of laughing maniacally whenever his characters name was stated. Instead of maniacal laughter, he screamed "NO!" with as much gusto as his lungs would allow. I'm not sure if this was because he didn't agree with his designated role, or if this was his way of silencing our theatrical booing, but the amount of energy he put behind his re-imagined line made for a great laugh, considering no one had expected it.

[travln1234]

Wonderful review! I've always loved Alaska. I've been twice on Princess and once on Disney (and hope to do RCI, specifically for Icy Straight Point and all the glass on the Radiance). One thing that struck me, regardless of the cruise line, Alaska is Alaska and I loved it!

 

I would love to know what camera you use. Great photos!

[emeraldcity]

Wonderful review! I've always loved Alaska. I've been twice on Princess and once on Disney (and hope to do RCI, specifically for Icy Straight Point and all the glass on the Radiance). One thing that struck me, regardless of the cruise line, Alaska is Alaska and I loved it!

 

I would love to know what camera you use. Great photos!

 

Oh dear. True confessions time. I hesitate posting my photos, because there are so many great photos on this web site taken by people with really good camera equipment. My pictures were taken with one of four pieces of equipment ... a Kodak Easyshare Z981, my tablet, and the cellphones DD and I carried around. Honestly, I'm embarrassed that the best pictures seem to be the ones from the cell phone ... although the Easyshare has a really good zoom.

[emeraldcity]

DD here.

As I recall, during the staged gun fight, one of the actors pulled from the audience was given the difficult task of laughing maniacally whenever his characters name was stated. Instead of maniacal laughter, he screamed "NO!" with as much gusto as his lungs would allow. I'm not sure if this was because he didn't agree with his designated role, or if this was his way of silencing our theatrical booing, but the amount of energy he put behind his re-imagined line made for a great laugh, considering no one had expected it.

 

Well, hello!

 

I should have sent these along for editing before posting I suppose.

 

You are welcome to add anything that I missed however.

[emeraldcity]

The first order of business in the morning was the pillow rating. This time we gave them a B-. They could have benefitted from a bit more puffiness. The bed, however, was very comfy. I actually had to be awakened by the alarm this time. It was the best night’s sleep I had in the entire trip.

 

Having checked out the prices for food here, we opted to have coffee and most of the rest of our cookies for breakfast. I would have paid the prices, but DD was adamant that we simply were not spending $6 for a breakfast sandwich and $5.75 for a yogurt parfait. Since it was my wallet we were being nice to, I was again amazed at how living on her own has made my fledgling adult offspring price-conscious.

 

We placed our bags out in the hall well before 7:00 and got to the lobby at least 15 minutes ahead of time. Darren was already there. I’m guessing that it’s part of the service to ensure that the connections go smoothly with the third party excursion operators. In addition to the warnings to wear wool socks, Darren had been the one to urge us to book the paddle vs the oar option. He said it was much more fun.

 

Adam showed up right on time and we got into the van along with one other couple. It was a quick ride to the office where the first order of business was the inevitable clip board with waivers to sign. Once past the formality (everybody read it before they signed, right?) they started selecting equipment for each of us based on size. Our river guide was Bobby from Bulgaria and he was our personal fashion expert at this point. He tried to get DD to accept that her life jacket was a bit too small, but she doesn’t take fashion advice from a guy … and she wanted it to be really tight, purportedly just to make sure she didn’t slip out of it. All of our “stuff” went into a bin and we were advised they would have the bins for us when we reached the de-suiting station downriver. I stuffed my wallet in my pocket, but put everything else in the bin. I was surprised that even the shoes had to go into the bin … so THAT’S why we need wool socks … we don’t even get to wear shoes. Pants legs were tucked inside of socks and then we stepped into a dry suit that had feet already attached (like toddler PJ’s!). There was a tight rubber fitting around the wrists and neck. I felt like a plumbing fixture that someone wanted to insure wasn’t going to leak (which I guess is pretty accurate). I wasn’t able to get my suit on without a certain amount of help from the staff. The whole process reminded me of a build-a-bear operation … and I was the bear. Once adequately encased in my new get-up, I got to select the hard hat of choice and we were ready to get back into the van for the trip to the river.

 

There was a family of three coming as well. They would be doing the oar boat, where the guide did all the work. DD and I would be doing the paddle experience with the other couple and Bobby.

 

Once I was suited up, they gave me the once-over and told me I’d better leave my glasses behind. I hesitated, unsure of how I’d deal with a wet experience without my windshield. In the end, I agreed to leave them behind in the bin. It was a good call … otherwise I probably would have left them behind in the river.

 

When we got to the river the first order of business was a safety briefing that basically covered the three options of what to do if someone when overboard. Option A was the preferred method in that the person going overboard managed to hang onto the boat. Option B came next where the person was to float in a demonstrated position and we’d paddle the boat over to them and pull them in. Option C was when we couldn’t paddle close enough and a line would be thrown to the person to pull them to the boat. Either way, when they got to the boat, Bobby advised he would have to dunk them first to get enough momentum to pull them up. But, of course, none of this is going to be necessary because we are going to stay in the boat … right? We asked if people fall out very often and Bobby said it had only happened twice this season.

 

When the moment came to climb in, the other couple bravely took the front and I was ridiculously pleased that I wasn’t going to be the front runner getting the worst of it. The reality is that there was no way to avoid getting the worst of it … it was going to be quite a ride!

 

We pushed off into the current and paddled a bit to get the feel of it. Bobby would call out when we were to paddle and when we were to just sit back and enjoy the ride. The swift current in the early going gave us a chance to get the feel of things and then we hit the first set of big rapids. I quickly realized that the way I was bracing my right leg was putting the wrong pressure on the knee and I was risking it popping out. So as soon as we reached a calmer portion I asked Bobby if DD and I could switch sides. He gave the go-ahead and we made a quick switch. I settled into my new position and was instantly more confident that this wouldn’t cause me an issue. We soon hit another awesome section of whitewater and I did just fine this time … it was a blast.

 

 

When we reached the section of river when photos were being shot from somewhere up ahead, Bobby yelled to us to paddle and then he pulled out a Bulgarian flag from his suit and held it up for a little bit of national pride to be a part of the pictures we’d see later that morning.

 

There was one point early on when my brain registered the vast quantity of water that had just swept over my lap and into the boat … wondering if there was a pump on board to get rid of all that water. OK … I admit … it’s been 30 years since I did that ride down the Salmon River in Idaho. I’m experienced at this sort of thing … but that experience is really limited. The water just rushed out through the holes in the bottom. You can’t sink one of these things unless you do something about getting rid of all that air in the sidewalls.

 

 

 

To the people who run the river daily, every set of rapids had its own little name (Razor Back Rapids, Royal Flush, Coffee Grinder), although there certainly weren’t signs attesting to that. It would be a nice touch to add them to the river bank … “Entering Cable Car Rapids … Speed Limit 35 MPH … Click It or Ticket”. Of course, these boats don’t come with seat belts. You are simply advised to make sure you slip your foot under some sort of restraining feature. This worked well for most of us. But at some point early in the trip downriver we encountered a charming feature that Bobby was describing later to someone at the take-out point (it might have been the Black Hole) and the boat went nose down about the time a big wave smashed into us from the right. The massive volume of water tossed me back into the bottom on the boat at Bobby’s feet. When I pulled myself up to get back into my seat, I realized we were missing somebody … DD was gone. There was the initial moment of panic until I spotted her in the river probably 20 or more feet away and she had the biggest grin on her face. Maybe she didn’t realize that the objective was to stay in the boat. Bobby called for us to row and we dug our paddles in and headed for her. She grabbed the line that runs around the boat and Bobby jumped forward. He grabbed her by the shoulders of her life jacket and pulled her up far enough that she was able to get a leg up and climb back in. Then he jumped back into his position at the back of the boat and the trip continued downriver. He had great praise for our little crew, in that we did exactly what we were supposed to do and he seemed terribly pleased about the whole affair. He noted that this was his third one, and Shane would later tell me that boaters consider three a lucky number … so if he had three successful retrievals, that boded well for the rest of the season. As for DD, she was just happy he hadn’t performed the “dunk first” operation to get the extra momentum to pull her up. He said he didn’t have to because she was so light. If we hadn’t switched sides early on, it probably would have been me in the river, and I’m pretty sure I’d have gotten the “dunk first” treatment.

 

At times I felt like Bobby was steering us straight for an ugly wall, calling out that now was the time to paddle. Then he’d yell to stop and the intense current would spin us on by without even a close call. We’d hit a rough section and I’d see a wave about to crash over us, so I’d instinctively duck, raising my paddle over my head as if it was going to ward off the wave. And then I’d laugh at myself. But then, I remember laughing a lot … all the way down the river. The photos we bought at the end of the ride certainly bear witness to that. My original plan was to be able to make the entire trip without getting that glacial facial that Darren had warned us about. It didn’t happen. I lost track of how many times I got slammed with a face-full of cold glacier water, and I was having too much fun to let it bother me. It was part of the experience and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

 

When we reached the take-out point, we stepped out of the boat into the river and I reached down into the water to select a pretty glacier stone, with alternate layers of white and green. I didn’t manage to find any tidal treasures at Icy Straight Point, but I now I had a pretty stone … made in Alaska, which very few souvenirs can boast. The mom of the family of three commented to DD that she had been taking pictures of the woman-overboard experience and she’d try to send them on to DD after they got home. Apparently her daughter was giving her a hard time during the photography session about filming someone’s tragedy, but the mother said she was pretty certain that DD was just getting a bigger thrill for the money than had been originally planned and would probably want pictures to prove it.

 

We hopped into the van for the quick trip to the downriver office where our belongings were waiting. “You didn’t have cookies in there, did you?” DD was asked about her open carryall. Apparently the kettle corn and cookies were too big of a temptation for a local squirrel and he’d seized an unguarded moment to help himself to a little snack. Actually, we weren’t too concerned about the little hole in the popcorn bag and it looks like he got chased off before he managed to get to the bottom of the bag where the cookies were. But he’d worked on the charger cord for the cell phone in the attempt. This was not cool. DD did not take this well. She’d just bought the cord a few days before the trip since her other one had died and this nasty little surprise had the potential to sever her connections with friends around the world who relied heavily on receiving a steady stream of Alaska snap-chats. Of course, the fact that my charger cord could be pressed into service for the next two days was not enough to prevent all kinds of unpleasant sentiment being expressed about this one particular squirrel. By the time we reached the airport the next day and she was buying a new cord, the entire squirrel species had been reduced to the lowest form of life on the face of the earth.

 

While DD was still foaming at the mouth, I was trying to figure out how to extract myself from the build-a-bear suit. Somebody helped me get the suit to release its strangle-hold on my neck and get it over my head. We were told to slip two fingers under the rubber at your wrist and pull your arm out. Then each of us were to sit down and they pealed the suit off, resulting in it being inside out. This is where I get to put on my shoes and try to warm up my feet. I was surprised my clothes were still dry. Even more remarkable, DD was dry as well … except for the hair, of course, but that seemed to dry by the time we boarded the train.

 

We checked out the set of pictures being shown on the laptop, but I really didn’t have to see more than 4 or 5, because I’d figured before we even booked the trip that if they sold pictures of this excursion, I’d buy the lot. The other couple was initially going to just get the 8 x 10, but they reconsidered and paid for the flash drive too. Then we were driven to the gas station where we were to meet our tour bus at the end of Glitter Gulch.

 

When I heard the term Glitter Gulch applied to a strip of shops in the Alaska interior, I was pretty certain that it wouldn’t be anything to resemble the Las Vegas version. It wasn’t. It is actually a seasonal boom town that has popped up to take advantage of the amount of available tourist dollars begin delivered by bus and rail to the few square miles in the vicinity of the Denali’s entrance. Let’s be realistic. It will never glitter like Vegas (which is all aglow at night), because it never really gets dark here in the summer when the place experiences the heavy influx of visitors. And furthermore … it’s not in a gulch. They need to get some marketing genius to come up with a better name that gives credit to the stunning mountain that is the main attraction.

 

We didn’t have a lot of time to explore the shops, since our excursion drop-off was only about a half hour before we needed to board the bus to take us to the depot. Others of our party had spent the morning here and they said that it was way too much time. DD wasn’t interested in checking out the stores, so I wandered down the boardwalk myself for one final chance to see if I wanted to buy anything here in the interior. And I finally found a store selling wool socks. Of course, I no longer needed them for my river trip, but by this time I was pretty convinced they would be awesome at the homecoming game this fall at the local high school. I happily purchased 2 pair and noted the presence of a fudge counter at the back of the store. I returned to DD and advised her she had missed an opportunity to interrogate another fudge store owner. Suddenly, the little 10 minute window we had left had an objective, because she wasn’t about to be denied. She set off briskly down the boardwalk, with me trailing behind her to make sure she found it. She ducked into the store and checked out the offerings. The only caramel fudge had been tainted by the inclusion of peanuts. The lady offered her a sample and DD gave it a try but she said the peanut flavor was too noticeable. At this point, the lady noted she had another fudge variety in the back that really needed another day to set, but she’d give DD a sample. This one was Caramel Oreo. DD slipped the little taster spoon into her mouth and it was clear from the dawning light of discovery on DD’s face that we had a winner. The quest was over. She made her purchase and we rushed back to the bus to join our group for the quick trip to the train station.

Edited August 15, 2015 by emeraldcity

[DarlingDancer]

I would like to proudly point out that when I was swept off the raft and enjoying a nice float down the river while the others rushed to reclaim me, I never lost my paddle. I held on to that sucker the whole time and even insisted that the paddle be lifted into the raft before myself. I wasn't about to risk being charged for loosing company property, but I was assured that I wouldn't have been charged in that event.

Actually, Bobbi was quite excited about the fact that I'd gone overboard and considered me his "Lucky Number 3". Bad things come in threes for sailors, so after the third person had gone overboard and been successfully rescued, the rest of the season was sure to go off without a hitch.

[emeraldcity]

There wasn’t much to do at the train station as we waited for the train to arrive, except try to find someplace warm. So we slipped sideways into the crowded gift shop and pretended to shop. When we knew the train was coming, we went outside to try and get a decent picture of it coming in to the station, but it was a bit of a challenge. Not only were there plenty of people trying to do the same thing, there were also a large number of loaded luggage bins being moved around by the loading crew to prepare for the train’s arrival and those guys weren’t terribly concerned about assuring we had a good camera angle.

 

 

Our three buses of people would be using two train cars. Bus A got the first one, Bus B got the second one, and Bus C (our bus) was to be split up between the two. We volunteered to be part of the group that went into the first car, which afforded us the nice bonus of being seated in the back of the car. When we got the clearance to board, we climbed into the train car and then proceeded up the spiral stairs to get to the upper level where the seats were. I had been mentally rehearsing this climb up this stairway for years, having watched that Royal Caribbean video repeatedly. It was every bit as exciting as I had pictured it would be. This experience is one of the centerpieces of an RCI Alaska Cruisetour, and we were tacking it on the very end of our trip … sort of like an exclamation point.

 

Our train host was Chandler and he had some great lines. He started off by telling us about all the duties he had and then concluded, “So if you hear me talking to myself, I’m probably having a staff meeting.”

 

Once we settled into our seats, the first order of business was to extract those new wool socks from the bag and put them on. They were wonderful. My feet started to warm up right away.

Our seats were right next to the elevator, so we didn’t have someone potentially blocking our view when we wanted to try to shoot pictures on that side. Unlike airline seating, we had a gracious amount of space to stretch out in. The seats were very comfortable and the bubble roof gave awesome views in all directions. The one thing they omitted was a consideration for power stations. In today’s world, an 8-hour trip anywhere really needs to feature electric outlets for each row of seats. I didn’t need it, because I’m a scenery junkie, but DD wasn’t the only one having electronic device withdrawal. The woman behind us had intended to use her Kindle to catch up on a bit of reading … and it was not going to happen. Chandler told us that there were two sets of Wilderness Express cars and we had the older set … the ones without the outlets.

 

 

In any event, it was announced that the back of the train would be the ones who got the first lunch seating. And we were certainly ready for lunch! As the train headed south Chandler pointed out a number of beaver dams and beaver lodges. He told us that beavers can get as large as 90 pounds. Before we’d gotten an hour outside of Denali, we left the clouds behind and the sun came out. The train slowed shortly thereafter because the sun wasn’t all that had come out. There behind us in all her glory, Mt. McKinley rose majestically above the clouds that still clung to her base. The excitement in the car was electric. Cameras were being slapped against the windows and everyone was getting pictures. I went downstairs to the outside platform (after Skagway, I’m a train platform photographic professional) where a group of about 8-10 people were taking turns rotating out so that everyone could get some good shots without any heads in the way. Mission accomplished, I returned to the upper level where everyone was excitedly talking about being in the 30% Club. I obligingly fished my 30% Club pin out of my purse and showed it around. It instantly hit the must-have list of a number of people who would be looking to buy one at their first opportunity. There were things for sale on the train (including a Wilderness Express pin, which we bought of course) but they missed a bet by not offering this as well. They would have sold quite a few in our car alone.

 

 

When we were invited to go down to lunch, we shared our table with part of an extended family that also had the table across the aisle. I got the chicken wrap and chips, while DD had the Cesar salad. The food was very good and it was pretty reasonably priced. After lunch we went back to our seats on the upper level. Once again the train slowed down. This time it was apparently for a wildlife sighting. Chandler pointed into a woodsy area and claimed there was a moose. A number of other people affirmed they saw a moose. I didn’t see a moose. I didn’t see a moving distant stump either. I think it’s a scam. The only wildlife I saw from the train was when we went through a lovely park-like setting as we were nearing Talkeetna. There were a number of people picnicking and wading in the stream. Not sure how much that wild bunch had been drinking before we rolled through town, but three guys mooned us, to the raucous appreciation of the entire train.

 

We had another good sighting of Mt. McKinley as we neared Talkeetna and another one again after we left Talkeetna behind … but the best shots were the first ones when we were closer.

 

As we passed through Wasilla we caused a traffic jam during rush minute, so we all waved as we went by. A few good-natured folks waved back. It was a very pleasant mode of travel and if I ever go back to Alaska I will look to arrange more train and less bus travel, simply due to the spaciousness of the seating area and the ability to get up and move around at will.

 

 

One warning to those who might travel on these trains … some of Chandler’s narration was hard to hear in the back, but we did pick up pieces here and there.

 

At dinnertime, we weren’t as hungry, since there wasn’t enough of a break between lunch and dinner, so we ordered one prime rib dinner and split it, which was just perfect for us. Again, the dinner was very good, and at $29 I felt it was reasonably priced.

 

 

When they announced last call for the bar, we decided that we needed to order a special drink. We started off our cruise with a drink of the day … we needed to end our cruisetour with a Glacier Ice Cap (rum, pineapple juice and curacao). Getting the drink was a bit of a challenge. If I was expecting a Royal Caribbean level of bar service, I was certainly disappointed. Although the bartender was introduced early in the trip, he seemed to lack much interest in walking all the way to the back of the car. But we’re pretty determined when we want to be and we managed to get our drinks in time to toast our awesome trip and congratulate ourselves on its success.

 

 

As the train approached Anchorage we passed the building where Historical Engine #557 is being restored for the 100th anniversary of the railroad. The engine was sold decades earlier to a man who took it “Outside” (everywhere that is not within Alaska’s borders is referred to as “Outside”). It was donated back to Alaska’s railroad some years earlier with the stipulation that they restore it within 8 years and put it back into service. They are progressing nicely to meet that schedule.

 

When the train pulled into the station, we could see our bus waiting for us. Darren handed out our Marriott room keys as we boarded the bus. It was a quick ride to the hotel and we headed straight for our room. We had one of the first rooms right off the elevator and our luggage had already been placed in the room. Of course, we checked out the pillows right away … we have a legendary affinity for Marriott and their pillows. They did not disappoint. We definitely awarded them an A, but DD maintains that the Victorian Hotel pillows still were the best, so I am unable to add a plus to that A.

 

Naturally, as it common in Alaska hotel rooms, the air conditioning was desperately working to overcome the blistering 65-degree temperatures. We turned it off immediately. Hey! Ohioans know all about frigid conditions. We wear shorts in 50 and 60 degree weather and we aren’t surprised when somebody drives by with their convertible top down on a 50-degree day. But let’s get rational here. We’ve just spent two weeks touring a land that reveres its natural resources, so why are they wasting electricity on air conditioning on a nice day. More to the point, why do they install air conditioning at all?

Edited August 15, 2015 by emeraldcity

[emeraldcity]

From our hotel room window we could see a café about a block away. Having already checked out the prices at the Marriott for breakfast, we decided a walk was going to be a very good thing. Breakfast items at the Marriott seemed to be priced higher than even at Denali Village. Maybe they just figure their Royal Caribbean Clientele is used to paying these prices by now, so they might as well get in on the action. The Muffin Man Café seemed to be catering mostly to the local population. The food was very good, but I certainly won’t claim it was terribly economical.

 

After breakfast, we headed back to the Marriott to finish packing and relax till our noon shuttle to the airport. With only one charger between 4 devices, we kept switching to try and get a decent charge on everything, but it was an uphill battle. We had been advised that we were to have our bags outside our room by 11:00 so that they could be transferred to the bus for us. Then part two of the process was to verify before the bus driver headed for the airport that your bags were on the bus. I didn’t see the point of having somebody else collect the bags if we had to check up on them. It just made more sense to wheel them down ourselves shortly before noon. Apparently, going against the tide is not permitted. Sharply at 11:00 there was a knock on the door and somebody was standing there waiting for the bags. I figured there was no point in continuing to be a rebel and I let him take them away.

 

We followed shortly thereafter and visited with some of our cruisetour friends in the lobby until it was time to climb onto the bus. It was a quick 15-minute transfer to the airport and I failed to pull my backpack out of the overhead as we got off the bus. DD realized it first just after the bus pulled away. So we had to call the Marriott and they transferred the call to someone who called the bus driver. I felt like an idiot, DD was annoyed, and I inconvenienced an awful lot of people, but 30-40 minutes later someone from airport guest services came strolling by with my backpack and we were able to get on with the business of checking in for our flight.

 

The Anchorage Airport isn’t too terribly big, so it was a pretty short walk to where we could settle down and wait until time to board. We scored seats by an electrical plug and I plugged in while DD went off to buy a new charger. She made her purchase, but it didn’t improve her mood. The new charger was 2 feet shorter than the one that had met its end in Denali and she launched a whole new set of curses directed at that squirrel, his ancestors and his descendants.

 

About an hour before our flight, I went on a voyage of discovery to come up with some pre-flight food. I scored a to-go option of a grilled chicken club in a pizza dough pocket. I got a similar pocket for DD with Cesar Salad in it. It was reasonably priced and very tasty. Shortly after we finished our lunch, they began boarding the plane. As soon as we unplugged our cell phones and stood up, our spots were claimed by someone else with a cell phone charger already plugged into his phone and ready to plug into the wall.

 

Our plane was on time and the flight was full. As we settled into our seats we found that the little TVs were apparently complimentary. I had offered DD a set of ear buds pre-trip and she wasn’t interested, so I only brought one pair. Suddenly she decided that the offer wasn’t such a bad idea after all. I could have kept them, but I handed them over … because I’m saintly … and because it’s worth several months of “I told you so’s”.

 

The guy in the aisle seat was one of those stoic fellows who apparently had arms that failed to fit close to his body … I don’t know … maybe he had baseballs under his arm pits and that’s why he not only needed the whole armrest ... He needed part of my seat too. I had to try and squeeze over to the side of my seat to avoid his elbow in my side. Let’s just say it was a very long flight. They eventually passed out ear buds to anyone who wanted them and I watched part of one of the movies, but I wasn’t impressed.

 

Having never been to San Francisco, I was hoping we might spot the Golden Gate Bridge from the air as we made our approach, but it was too cloudy. In any event, it was a relief when the plane came to a stop at the gate and my charming seatmate removed himself and his elbow.

 

It was a very brief layover … even if we had managed to find a charging station, I doubt we would have had enough time to get an adequate charge.

 

We were dreading the last leg of our journey home. It’s always chancy that you’ll actually get to sleep on the red-eye. My chances where diminished greatly when the woman in the aisle seat plopped down solidly and stoically took full possession of both armrests. Sigh … it was going to be a long flight.

 

There were a group of gregarious teens who had apparently booked this flight late in the game, since they had a series of center seats in different rows in the general vicinity. They couldn’t convince anyone in more desirable seats to switch so they happily bounced around talking over the seats, while they loudly commiserated about the separation. My initial thought was that this didn’t bode well for an attempt to sleep our way across the country, but they settled down when we reached altitude and the lights were shut off.

 

I thought I’d be tired enough to doze from time to time, but I was just too uncomfortable. DD didn’t have any better luck than me. We look back on that flight as the absolute worst flight we have ever taken in our lives. Not sure why. It was a relatively smooth flight and virtually everyone else around us seemed to manage to get some sleep … but it didn’t work out for us.

 

Late in the flight DD decided she needed to get out of her seat, if only for a few moments to stretch her legs. She and I switched places and then she neatly stepped over the sleeping rock in the aisle seat without coming into contact at all. I admire her agility, I envy her agility. I’m pretty sure that at one point in my distant past, I possessed that kind of agility.

 

The best part of the flight was spotting the familiar landmarks as we flew across Ohio with the dawn breaking. It told us the ordeal was almost over. We touched down a bit early and happily headed for baggage claim. It was a bit before 6:00 a.m. and I wasn’t about to call the neighbor who had told me he’d pick us up … we just took a taxi home. We unpacked some stuff, threw the first load of clothes in the washer and then crashed.

 

Alaska was one of the most amazing trips we have ever taken. Generally our cruise vacations are all about the ship, with the port stops being a piece of the adventure. This time Alaska was the adventure, and we just happened to include a cruise in the trip. It was far more amazing that I expected and it will remain one of most treasured memories forever.

Edited August 19, 2015 by emeraldcity

[MauiMomma4]

Loved your review and am a little sad that I've reached the end of the novel. I can't wait for my family trip next July!

[barbeyg]

I too have enjoyed your cruise journal. We sail AK next summer and I'm living vicariously thru the reviews here. [emoji4]

[cruiselife4me]

FANTASTIC review!! I loved every minute. That certainly did seem like the trip of a lifetime. Hoping to take my hubby on one for our 10th anniversary in 2018. Thanks so much,

Mary

[emeraldcity]

Thank you for your nice comments. My planning process was made easier by having some idea of what worked for other people, so I hope there's bits and pieces in here that will help others. Everyone is looking for particular things that will make their experience complete. What worked for me won't necessarily work for others.

 

Good luck with your plans and I hope each of you have a wonderful experience when you go to Alaska.

[sailingwithfriends]

Thank you for this wonderful review (journal) with all the photos. We sailed on Radiance in June from Vancouver to Seward. We enjoyed it so much and realized there is no way we could see and do 1/10 of what we would have like to have seen or done, so we are planning another trip in 2018. Your review has given me a new "To-Do" list for our next trip.

[Iloveowls]

I really enjoyed your trip report. I can tell I will have no trouble finding things to do. I am definitely taking a journal along. There is too much happening to remember.