Our 2008 Return to the Pearl - May 11, 2008 (Glacier Bay and Ketchikan)

[Cruisin' Nana]

THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2008, GLACIER BAY

The rangers boarded the ship around 7:30ish a.m. and began their periodic explanations of the scenery. We ate breakfast at the Summer Palace and watched as the beautiful snow-covered mountains slowly drifted by our window. We first encountered Reid Glacier while we were eating, but did not get to see it as it was on the port side and we were eating on the starboard side. Then we stopped at Marjorie Glacier around 9:00 a.m. for about an hour. It was a little drizzly and a lot windy, so standing outside was a little uncomfortable. Marjorie managed to give us a couple of tiny calves and that was the end of the show. We then sailed to Johns Hopkins inlet where we saw the Lamplough Glacier. It is a very, very blue glacier and the sun had come out which enhanced the blueness. I did not see any calving here. The ranger announced that we would not be visiting Johns Hopkins Glacier because there was too much ice in the water, and because there is so much ice, the seals use this area to escape from the Orcas. We were not going to disturb them and their babies. By noon, we did a slow "drive by" of Reid Glacier on our way out of Glacier Bay. Chief and I spent the afternoon playing dominoes, napping, reading and working out at the fitness center. The Captain was on the recumbent bike when we arrived for our workout.

We waited too late to get a decent reservation time in any of the restaurants that require them, so we ate at the Summer Palace. We strolled around for a little while, then went to the Stardust Theater for the jugglers, Sharkbait. These two performers were former Barnum & Bailey Circus clowns for 8 years before branching out and doing their own show. The show started a little slow, but turned out to be very entertaining and funny. Next, we went to the Spinnaker Lounge to watch the "Perfect Couple" contest. I don't remember laughing this hard in a long time. Four couples had to accomplish three physical tasks in order to earn points to win. However, the couple that won the most applause at the end won the competition. I won't go into detail about what they had to do so I won't spoil it, but it is well worth going and watching. After the show, we stayed a short time to watch the dancing and listen to the music of Kenosis, then went back to the cabin. It was going to be another early morning for our Ketchikan excursion.

FRIDAY, MAY 16, 2008, KETCHIKAN

 

We were up at 6:00 a.m. to catch breakfast in the Garden Cafe before we met our tour guide on the pier at 7:35. We walked a few blocks to the Lumberjack Show which is very entertaining and fun. Even with a bit of sleep still in our heads, we rallied and hollered with the rest of the spectators. After the show, we boarded a bus to the Totem Bight State Park and took a short hiking tour to look at the totem poles. Our bus driver, Matt, was incredibly informative, interesting and funny. If you take this tour and get him as your driver, you will not be bored! When we were getting ready to board the bus for our return to the ship, we heard eagles screaming in the trees nearby and saw two eagles guarding their nest and babies in the tree above our heads from attacking ravens. Pretty exciting stuff, but Matt said it was time to leave. The rest of the day turned sunny with temperatures near 60 degrees.

On the bus trip to the park, Matt pointed out an eagle sitting on a cross located on the top of a spire of a church. He made the joke - which appears to be a common one in Alaska - that eagles like to sit on top of churches because they are birds of "pray." When we returned hours later to our cabin, I could see the church from our balcony and the eagle was still sitting there. I laughingly made the statement to Chief that perhaps this was a wooden bird put there for the use of the tour guides. However, while we watched with our binoculars, it turned its head. About 15 minutes later, it flew from the spire, circled above the church a few times, then flew away. All I could say is that eagle was very, very patient to be able to sit on that cross for so long without flying away.

Chief caught a cold in the cold wet weather in Skagway and wasn't feeling well, so he laid down to take a nap and I sat on our balcony to read. The ship sailed from Ketchikan around 1:30. We took our last ballroom dancing class which was the waltz. Let me just say it isn't as easy as it looks. We will definitely need to work on this one!!! After the class, we went back to the cabin to clean up and get ready for our second dinner at Cagneys. We were sitting by the window in Cagney’s on the starboard side and saw four whales headed toward Alaska. Our whale sightings had been very lean this trip, and it is my guess that they were still trying to migrate to Alaska. Later, we heard in the hallway that the four whales we saw were a pod of about 8 whales. The other four were on the port side.

After dinner we went to the Jean Ann Ryan Dancer's "Sealegs, A Showgirl Revue." Honestly, this one kept putting me to sleep. After the show, we were given the opportunity to show our appreciation by applause to many of the crew members for our wonderful cruise as they marched to the stage of the Stardust Theater.

I was determined this trip to see the Northern Lights and because it was a mostly clear night, we went back to sit on our balcony and watch the northern sky. Well, of course, exhaustion took over around 11:30 and I just couldn't stay awake to see if they were going to dance for me that night.

(continued)

[judyf]

Another great installment.

 

I noticed that near the end of a cruise we also get exhausted and it's hard to stay awake late.