Tag: Inside Passage

  • The Grand Princess

    The Grand Princess

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    Saturday: To Vancouver and the Grand Princess

    We are really rushed this morning: we swallow breakfast, pack, get to the light rail station, ride to International District/Chinatown, and transit to the King Street train station. The elevator is out of service, so we haul all of our luggage down the stairs to make it with only 3 minutes to spare.

    The Amtrak Cascade takes us across some spectacular scenery. Soon, we arrive in Vancouver. We heft the stroller and our bags across the street and up to the light rail platform. Another elevator outage at the rail exit, so we make multiple trips up and down stairs.

    Finally, we arrive at Canada Place. We are so relieved to drop our bags at bag check, then pass through the checkpoints to finally board the Grand Princess. After getting a late lunch at the buffet, we settle in and do our first batch of laundry.

    Sunday: At Sea

    This is a day at sea. Daphney and Jayden soak in the hot tub on the upper deck of the Grand Princess. We lounge during afternoon tea in the Michelangelo Dining Room. The movie on the top deck, “The Call of the Wild,” gives us a glimpse of gold prospecting and dog mushing in Alaska.

    Monday: Ketchikan

    Our ship arrives in Ketchikan in the morning. We walk through Creek Street then up to the fish ladder. Salmon are in the pool, lingering but not jumping. Then, we stroll along the river to the Totem Heritage Center. Lunch is at the Asian Garden Sushi Bar, and we enjoy strawberries and Nutella crepes for dessert at the Alaska Crêpe Co. Afterward, we check back onto the Grand Princess and sail up the Inside Passage.

    Evening entertainment is Phil Hughes, a ventriloquist. Daphney especially enjoys the show. It’s her first time seeing a ventriloquist.

    Tuesday: Juneau Whale Watching

    We arrive in Juneau in the morning. The cruise company has a whale-watching tour package, but since I didn’t prearrange one, I find one online while on the ship.

    Dolphin Tours picks us up by the tramway station and get shuttled to Auke Bay Harbor. The small group tour turns out to be a highlight of the trip. We see groups of humpback whales diving and performing bubble net feeding. There are multiple groups throughout the region.

    Upon our return, we take the Mt. Roberts Tram for a mountaintop view of Juneau.

    Wednesday: Skagway and the Klondike

    In Skagway, the recent landslide by the docks forces our ship to stop away from the main strip. We take the water shuttle to the dock and walk to town. In the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park’s visitor center and theater, we learn a lot about the history of how this area got established.

    The kids get to eat Klondike ice cream sandwiches within the Klondike. Then, they spend the afternoon running and climbing around in the Molly Walsh playground before returning to the ship.

    We set sail, trailing two other cruise ships heading toward Glacier Bay.

    Thursday: Glacier Bay

    Rangers hop on board in the morning and narrate while we cruise through Glacier Bay. We pass by Reid, Lamplugh, and Johns Hopkins glaciers. At Johns Hopkins Glacier, there is a lone kayaker doing some scenic paddling. The most impressive is Margerie Glacier, where we linger. A bald eagle hangs out on an iceberg. Sea otters float by as we cruise out of Glacier Bay.

    Tonight is formal night, and I do our second set of laundry.

    We order dinner and then steal away briefly to get our formal pictures taken, which we will end up forgetting to pick up. Dinner finishes off with a parade of the Baked Alaskas, from which we get our slices.

    Friday: College Fjord

    This final at-sea day starts out with our usual breakfast, plus a brunch session with Stanley the Bear. He makes another appearance at the afternoon story time session. At the end of the program, Jayden wins a slinky at the raffle, and Daphney wins the grand prize: a stuffed animal wolf.

    In the evening, I take them to run around outside on the top deck and to enjoy College Fjord with Harvard Glacier and Yale Glacier. Then, we have a room service dinner.

    After tucking everyone into bed, I sneak up onto the bow of the ship to take sunset pictures on this final night of our cruise journey.

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  • Part 4, In Juneau and Skagway

    Part 4, In Juneau and Skagway

    The crew makes up time, getting us to Juneau only slightly later than scheduled. A shuttle bus drops us off at the tramway station, and we walk the rest of downtown. The old St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church welcomes tourists like us and worshipers alike. Andy and I make a quick pass through the State Capitol. Nothing is in session, and the Speaker’s seat waits to be usurped. Our brisk walk takes us back to the tramway station, and we hop on the next shuttle. Back at the dock, a van takes us meandering through the AJ Gold Mine ruins to arrive at the Gold Rush Summer Dog Camp. Following an introduction, twelve trained Alaskan sled dogs race us along the road, bumping over potholes, puddles, and pools. Alice gets to hold a six-week-old puppy. Back on the ship, Libby Riddles delivers an inspiring story of her dreams and journey to become the first woman to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, even with the mishap of losing her dog team early in the competition.

    We then set sail for Skagway. Early morning, we board the White Pass and Yukon Route train and snake our way up the narrow gauge track, coursing by the old cemetery, the Skagway River, Bridalveil Falls, two tunnels, and the historic cantilever bridge of 1901. However, mist shrouds any hope of having distant views. After eighteen miles, we cross into and back out of British Columbia. Returning to downtown, we visit the heart of the Klondike Gold Rush, now pulsing with tourists rather than prospectors. Before we leave Alaska, local entertainer Steve Hites sings ballads of the old gold rush and recounts stories of Alaska’s path to statehood.

    We retrace our path out of the Lynn Canal and into the Chatham Strait as dinner is served. The after dinner entertainment is the International Crew Talent Show, featuring some of the engineers, waiters, cooks, and other staff. By morning, we’re sailing the open Pacific Ocean on much calmer seas sprinkled with wavelets.

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  • Part 3, First Glimpses of Alaska

    Part 3, First Glimpses of Alaska

    Golden morning light bathes the docks and the town of Ketchikan. We decide to do a walking tour of this first stop in Alaska. We’ve escaped—from the contiguous states and the rocky seas. Turning onto Creek Street, the famous historic red light district of old Ketchikan, the stench of dead fish pierces our nostrils. It’s salmon spawning season. In this salmon capital of the world, countless fish thrash against the rushing rapids to end up in their ancestral waterways. We also visited the Totem Heritage Center. In St. John’s Episcopal Church, the ladies allowed me to play on their pipe organ.

    After a late lunch, we set sail through the Clarence Strait. Master of Illusion, Alexander Great, performs a pre-dinner show. Through Snow Passage, the full moon rises while we have dinner in the Canaletto Dining Room. Overnight, we cruise through Summer Strait, Chatham Strait, Frederick Sound, and into the Tracy Arm. Kathy Slamp, the onboard naturalist, begins her introduction at 5:45. She explains how Sumdum Glacier, at the junction of Tracy and Endicott Arms, carved away the mountainside. We pass countless waterfalls cascading down from tall cliffs and soon reach Sawyer Glacier. The St. Nicholas catamaran, which had trailed us earlier, now ventures out toward the glacier face where icebergs are calved. Turning around, we head back out, and near the entrance, we have to circle back into Tracy Arm, where the St. Nicholas developed a mechanical failure.

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  • Part 2, From Seattle to Inside Passage

    Part 2, From Seattle to Inside Passage

    People, all trying to escape onto the cruise liners, jam pack the Smith Cove terminal. The entire hall swirls with excitement of the upcoming vacations. The process takes a long time, but we finally board the Golden Princess, have a late buffet lunch, and go through emergency drills.

    Soon, the horn blasts through all of us standing on the top deck, and we’re off, setting sail for Alaska through the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Inside Passage. After gorging ourselves in Seattle and the buffet, the first order of business is to work out, of course. The welcome show introduces us to the upcoming cruise services. Right after this, we literally sail off into the sunset.

    We had reserved the second dinner setting. Our table, number 275, happens to sit right next to a window, and the waiters assigned to us are meticulous. They both have OCD, the main waiter more affected than the junior. Every detail is perfect—appetizer spoon, fish fork, filet knife, fresh herb garnish, hand-selected berries. It’s all about presentation.

    I wake up earlier than the rest and catch the Wake Show with Kelly and Dave, cruise directors, while it plays on the big screen as we sail in the open Pacific Ocean. The sea, originally quite calm, churns on its long wash cycle. In the upper deck swimming pools, water sloshes back and forth, emptying each end with every roll. It’s good that lunch never found its way back up. In the line dancing session, Kelly tells us the rule: if you make a mistake, blame the ship. By dinner time, we steer back into quiet waters. While sailing through the Inside Passage, we enjoy dinner and showtime.

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