- - Alaska,
June 2000 - - |
Date:
June 22nd, 2000
Length of Cruise:
4 + 7 Days
Ship:
Dawn Princess
Cruise Line (Princess #): Princess Cruise Lines
(#1)
Embarkation: Seward, AK
Ports of Call: Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, AK
Final Destination: Vancouver, B.C.
Cruise Mates: Kent & Linda, Ed & Andi,
Roberta & Fran
Total Days At Sea: 11 days |
This cruise is a big adventure
for us. We have only done one cruise, and this one is a lot more
expensive and a lot longer... seven days on land and five days on the
sea. And it will be up in cold, cold Alaska no less, a place that we
have never visited before.
We planned a rather large group,
and it grew to number a total of ten people. Late in the planning close
friends of Andi & Ed's (Linda and her fiancé Ken) were planning on
joining the party but Linda's father was having problems and they felt
compelled to fly back East to care for him. That was certainly
understood. We felt badly that they would have to bow out. Sadly we
learned that Linda passed away when the vehicle she was driving left the
road. We felt so sorry for Ken. Linda was a beautiful soul and had a
beautiful singing voice.
This trip was taken in June of 2000. We flew into Fairbanks, Alaska and did a
"Land/Sea Cruise" where the land portion started in
Fairbanks and worked our way down through Denali Park,
through Anchorage and then to Seward where we met
our ship. The ship cruised the Inside Passage along the
Western coast of Alaska and Canada visiting Glacier Bay,
Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan, ending in Vancouver,
British Columbia. We were bused over the border to Seattle
where we flew to San Francisco.
Rosalee kept a personal diary of this trip.
Anything you see in this colored box and in this
font will be from her diary. |
Any text in the
white boxes like this are added by Ken. |
I had a primitive
digital camera on this trip, and managed to
leave home without a gadget that is required
to move images from the camera to the
computer, so I literally had an extremely
limited amount of storage for images.
Therefore, in this account, with the
gracious permission of Ed Myers and Kent
Smith I am using a few of my images and a
lot of theirs. Each image will be credited
as follows: Kent's photos will be:
Photo by KDS
Ed's photos will be: Photo by EM
Ken's photos will be: Photo by Ken
Many of the photos have
been modified and/or cropped to emphasize a
particular subject. No intent is made to
devalue the artists' original photos. We
are all grateful for their sharing of their
images. |
Thursday,
June 22, 2000
Flight
Oakland/Seattle
Arrived
Oakland airport 6:15 am (Alarm went off 4:00 am - too
early! Andi and Ed spent the night.) Kent, Linda and our
'airport drivers' Manual and Penny (friends of Linda's)
arrived at 5:15 am. Roberta (Rosalee's sister) and Fran
(Roberta's friend) arrived a few minutes later. We
loaded up - 14 pieces of luggage, numerous carry-ons and
10 people in Kent and Linda's Expedition and Manual's
Yukon GMC.
Flight
from Oakland to Seattle was on time and uneventful.
Departed 7:20 am and arrived 9:00 am.
Three hour
layover in Seattle. We are all sitting around writing in
our travel diaries! Roberta had given each family a
travel diary. I usually did not like the responsibility
of writing every day, but have since frequently been
glad I did!
Flight
Seattle/Fairbanks
Left
Seattle on time; 12:07 pm, arrived Fairbanks 2:45 pm for
a 3 - 3/4 hour flight - we lost an hour - different time
zone.
Immediately after pulling up to the gate at the airport
we had a little rain shower. It was almost over by the
time our Princess Guide met us and took us to the bus
for transfer to our lodge - The Bear Lodge in the
Wedgewood Resort. Rooms on the third floor - very nice
and roomy. Two queen beds and a little balcony.
We later
used the school bus shuttle provided in the evening to
go to Alaskaland, an inside Mall (very small by our
California standards) and also to a Mongolian barbeque
for dinner. After dinner we returned to Alaskaland -
small-scale amusement park with train and lots of shops
and places to eat. There was a salmon-bake dinner
advertised for $21.95 but we didn't hear anyone that
thought it was very good.
The
weather was in the 70's and of course, the sun forgot to
set. The day before was the longest day of the year. At
11:30 pm we saw a lady across the street from the hotel
hanging her wash on a clothes line and it was as bright
as we would see at home at 6:00 pm. Some of the manly
men in our party got up in the middle of the "night" to
take pictures of the daylight. I think it is possible
that they never did go to bed until they got their
pictures of the few minutes the sun was 'set'. |

The view from the plane
as we were approaching Fairbanks. It shows a wandering river, with
the sun's reflection highlighting the water
surface.
Photo by Ken

Our Mongolian meal
being cooked on the large plate after we
selected the things we wanted on our plate.
Photo by EM
I was expecting to
see 'wintery' weather in Alaska. Having
never been there before, I assumed there was
going to be snow if we went clear up into
the heart of the state (Fairbanks), but as
we were landing at the airstrip it was in
the low 80's with a very light rain falling.
It was beautiful.

This view is looking
out our hotel window. It was taken at 2400
hours... Midnight. This is as dark as it
could get on June 22nd, the day following
the longest day of the year.
Photo by Ken
The windows in
the hotel had a double set of curtains, with
one so heavy that it shut out this bright
light to allow people to sleep better. |
Friday, June 23, 2000
Fairbanks
Alarm went off at 5:30 am
to be downstairs for breakfast at 7:00 am. Nice buffet
either Continental $6.95 or full buffet $8.95.
Tour bus left at 8:30 for
the 'City of Gold' tour - 3 1/2 hours that consisted of
a 20 minute bus ride and an open excursion train ride to
see displays of an old working gold mine and then a
display of current workings, including everyone getting
a chance to pan for gold. It seems that everyone panned
approximately 4 grams of gold - just enough to nicely
fit into various jewelry available for sale in the gift
shop. Andi had so much experience (from her Dad's gold
mine) she just whipped out her little flakes and then
helped Ed and I with our flakes. Each of us received a 'poke'
and even though it no doubt was planted with an amount of gold
it was fun to see the flakes shine in the sunlight as
the larger grains of gravel and sand were washed away!
Back to the hotel with a brief tour of the Alaska
Pipeline (on the way) and an excursion through downtown
Fairbanks.
Lunch back at our lodge.
The afternoon was spent
being shuttled to the Discovery III riverboat excursion.
We were in the front on the third deck up, sitting in
the sunshine and slathering with sun block so we
wouldn't get an Alaskan sunburn in 80 + degree weather!
I found my way to the gift shop on board and bought a
visor - the sun was VERY bright!
They had an announcer on
the PA system during the whole trip with a narrative of
some of the history along the river. We saw a small
plane take off and land in a very short distance; saw
where Susan Butcher, the famous woman Iditarod race
winner for several years trains (trained?) her dogs. We
had a narrative from one of her trainers on shore. We
saw a fascinating sight where two rivers met - one clear
and beautiful, the other murky and brown, coming down
from the glaciers, carrying sediment and gravel from the
glacier flows. We had narrative from the bank showing us
a 'fish camp' set up with tents, cache, smoke house and
a demonstration of filleting a salmon and readying it for
the smoker. We made a stop at a village and I couldn't
believe they unloaded all 350+ of us. They separated us
into four groups for narrative and displays of their
Native American culture.
Our nice bus driver, Alex,
returned us to our lodge in good order.
We rested for a while then
caught the shuttle into town and had dinner at a fine
Italian restaurant. Most of us had the 10-layer lasagna
that had been highly recommended.
Back in our room in the
middle of the day - it was 10:15 p.m.!! |

Andi, Rosalee and Ken panning our
poke to see if we can find any of that 'yellow mettle'
like John Sutter and James Marshall found in 1848
near what is now Coloma, California.
Photo by KDS

Kent checks his pan for the gold.
Photo by KDS

Ed and Andi are checking theirs. We
all were able to find about 4 grams of gold flakes.
Photo by KDS

Linda found her gold and was
offering advice to Rosalee and Kent.
Photo by EM

If you have never actually seen it
before, this is the infamous Alaskan Pipeline. It is
only about four feet in diameter and has some insulation
around it. Notice a device on the top of each of the
poles... they are air conditioners. They keep the bottom
of that pole cooled so the permafrost will not thaw.
That would allow the post to sink further and mess up
the pipeline. The pipe is elevated at this location and
many other locations to allow free-flowing of wild
animals in their wanderings.
Photo by KDS

Our riverboat Discovery III, tied
up at our stop at a restored primitive settlement along
the river.
Photo by Ken

Taken from the riverboat, this is
not necessarily a 'typical' home along the river, but it
does show a home with a 'sod' roof. Soil is placed on
the roof that has a waterproof membrane, and then it is
planted, sometimes with edible crops and sometimes a
grass lawn. Notice the red lawnmower right on the ridge
of the main roof.
Photo by KDS

A little nicer looking home, this
is also along the river. The boat and the plane tell the
story of the average Alaskan family. Something like one
third of the Alaskan homes have a licensed pilot. This
is not really a 'rich' family... more like an 'average'
income family most likely. Well, maybe a little better
than average?!
Photo by KDS |
Saturday, June 24, 2000
Fairbanks to Denali
Up early to board the bus
for the short trip to the train depot. Our cute little
bus driver reminded us of Kitty (Ken's niece) only she
was pregnant and her name was Kathy. The train hadn't
arrived so we had to drive around town for a while.
There was a special bus for each train car that we would
be boarding and the buses had to be in order. They
pulled the bus VERY close to the door of the train and
we stepped out of the bus into the train.
We were each assigned to a
table for four - the eight in our party were at two
tables, directly across from each other. The Princess
dome cars were wonderful - there was only a strip in the
'dome' 3 1/2 feet wide that wasn't 'viewable'
(transparent glass). The scenery was beautiful all the
way to Denali. We had a big breakfast on the train and
arrived in Denali about 12:00 pm.
Buses picked us up at the
train station in Denali and took us to the Princess
Lodge. The units looked more rustic than they actually
were. Many of them had a 'log cabin look' design. There
were two restaurants, a snack bar, a gift shop and a
nice lodge.
At 3:10 pm we left on a
school bus for the 7+ hour ride of our lives!! We
stopped approximately every 1 - 1/2 hours for a potty
break and to stretch our legs. We were given a 'box
lunch' and were told we could eat it any time but that
was the only food available for the duration!
As we rode we really had
to stretch our vision to see wildlife and determine
rocks from animals. We saw lots of caribou, one bear
sunning on the distant hill, a beautiful red fox with a
long bushy tail, arctic ground squirrels, two different
momma bears with twin cubs and a highlight of the trip -
we stopped the bus along the road to watch a brown bear
walking down the road right beside our bus! We had been
warned by our driver to be silent when we were near any
wild animals - you could have heard a pin drop as we sat
watching the bear. Even the three year old on board was
completely silent! What a beautiful sight.
Other tours mentioned
seeing a wolf and moose but we gave those up for the
close encounter with OUR bear!!
The scenery was incredible
- there was a larger snow fall this year so there was a
lot more snow on the peaks than usual. Everywhere you
look there is beauty. We were so fortunate that the
weather cooperated and because of the very unusual
unobstructed view of Mt. McKinley (American name for the
native's Denali) with no cloud cover. Our driver took us
an additional eight miles into a great viewpoint of Mt.
McKinley.
Our driver, Neal, had a
great knowledge of Denali and all things about nature.
His communication skills were special. We couldn't have
asked for a better guide. Did I mention that of the 60
miles of road we traveled (each way) only the first
thirteen miles were paved - the rest was dusty, gravel,
winding and narrow. It wasn't as bad as it sounds and
even though we all had square bottoms from sitting so
long, the whole day was an incredible experience.
We returned to the lodge
at 10:20 pm; had a little bite to eat before retiring to
our room. Did I mention at 11:30 pm it had the
appearance of 6:00 pm at home? |

Kent and Linda in one of the
buildings that were part of the Alaskaland complex in
Fairbanks. That fuzzy guy behind them is typical of the
neighbors around the state.
Photo by Ken

On board the Alaskan Railway
cars, headed to Denali Park. Travel mates Fran and
Roberta.
Photo by EM

Ken and Rosalee... seated at
tables, four to the table, a great way to visit, travel,
and see the sights.
Photo by EM
 Andi and Ed... they ALWAYS take a good photo.
Photo by EM

Way up there in front you see two
engines in Alaskan Railway colors, followed by five
Alaskan coaches. Following them are five dome-topped,
double-decked coaches by Holland America Cruise Lines.
There are five more dome cars by Princess Cruise Lines.
An interesting train. The cruise lines coaches all have
their own dining areas and kitchens and stores on the
lower level and tables with seats on the upper level
with almost all glass overhead so that you do not miss a
single thing when going through the beautiful mountains.
The train ride starts in Fairbanks in the early morning
for a four-hour run from Fairbanks to Denali Park. It
drops those going to Denali (us) and continues on to
Anchorage, another 8 hours. Then it turns around and
heads back up through Denali to Fairbanks during the
night. The next morning it heads out again, stopping in
Denali around mid-day to drop off some and pick up some
(us) and we are in Anchorage by eight pm.
Photo by KDS

Kent did a beautiful job of putting
these four images together to make this one panorama
shot of the beauty that we saw constantly for nearly 8
hours. It is such a beautiful sight. There are no
private cars on this nicely graded gravel road (except
for just a couple of residents that are at the far end
of the park), and there are other busses but only one
every half hour or more.
Photo by KDS

This is what the park is all about. This
is Denali. Named by the Athabaskan people many years
ago. Denali means "the high one", which is well named
because at 20,320 feet (6,194 meters) elevation it is
the highest mountain peak in the United States, as well
as the highest in North America. From the base to the
peak it measures 18,000 feet and is the greatest rise of
any mountain located entirely above sea level. A gold
prospector in 1896 named it McKinley as political
support of the presidential candidate, and while the
politicians in Ohio (McKinley's hometown) insist on
keeping McKinley for a name, the Alaska Board of
Geographic Names insists it is still Denali. Photo by EM

Kent, Linda, Ken, Rosalee, Andi and
Ed at one of our rest stops on the excursion out into
Denali Park.
Photo by EM

We had stopped
to observe another animal when we spotted an old mother
bear walking toward us on the main road. We were told
that bears almost never approach the buses or other
vehicles, giving them a wide berth.
Kent took a
series of photos as she walked closer to us. Everyone on
the bus was totally silent, but our windows were open,
and she walked right by us.


As far as our being there... she
just did not give a hoot. Her legs are in the shadow of
our bus.
Photos by KDS

We saw quite a few different
species of animals and birds on our ride through the
park. These are Caribou. They also go by another name...
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer... They also go by the name
Reindeer. This is a large wash that is under water
during the spring run-off. We saw other animals out on
this type of land, and we have no idea what they were
finding out there that would draw them back.
Photo by EM
We were 2/3 of the way back
to the Denali Princess Lodge (about 9:00 pm) when Neal shut the bus off, as he
did every time he pulled over to observe nature. When we
were ready to move on it
did not re-start. The turn of the key resulted in...
nothing. Not even a 'click - click - click'. We were 'dead in the
water'. Neal had no radio or phone (no reception that
far out) so what we were looking forward to was flagging
down another homebound tour bus, waiting 1 - 1/2 hours
for them to
reach home, someone sending a new bus out (another 1 - 1/2 hours) and
then the hour and a half back home in the new bus. That
would put us getting home at 1:30 am... IF another bus
comes by soon... IF they could
get another bus for us. I decided to try an alternative.
I introduced myself to Neal as "an automotive
instructor" and asked if he would mind if I checked out the
starting system. He jumped at the offer.
The 'hood' or 'engine cover' was inside the bus, next
to the driver, so we lifted it off and with him in the
driver's seat, and me armed with a heavy metal wrench
that Neal found for me, I basically bypassed the Starter
Solenoid to power the starter motor and crank the engine. Unfortunately the starter
was one that required the starting solenoid to physically engage
the starter gear, but the link was external so I could
manually engage the starter gear and then energize the
cranking motor and the engine
came alive! We replaced the engine cover and I cautioned
Neal "Don't Shut It Off!" He only forgot once and caught
it just before the engine came to a stop. His eyes went
to the large mirror to look at me and we shared a large
grin. We made it 'home' on time. |
Sunday, June 25, 2000
Denali/Train/Anchorage
We had a leisurely morning
and boarded the bus about 11:30 am. This here 'momma
bear' felt much better when she saw Kent and Linda get
off their river rafting bus just a few minutes before
the bus was to leave for the train! You just never stop
being Mommy!!
We boarded the train about
12:15 for an 8+ hour trip to Anchorage; arrived in
Anchorage about 8:40 pm.
If you can imagine an 8
hour trip with completely unobstructed views of the most
gorgeous landscape - the dome cars were great! Much of
the time we were surrounded by snowcapped mountains,
there were lots of streams, rivers, beaver colonies,
green meadows, ferns and everything you could imagine.
Several of us had a later
breakfast and passed on lunch on the train. Or, I should
say our lunch consisted of sodas, peanuts and chocolate
candy!!
We had a beautiful prime
rib dinner on the train. We had the early dinner seating
at 4:00 pm - that is why we passed on lunch!
The biggest excitement
(other than the oohs and aahs from the beautiful
landscape) was the sighting of the 20+ 'mooners' as we
passed through Talkeetna. Ken and I were on the
observation deck at the time but we were on the opposite
side of the train from the 'mooners'; probably the
better side! We did have our turn a little later,
compliments of a couple of fishermen!!
The train ride did seem a
little long. It probably had something to do with
sitting for two days in a row for 8+ hours each day. We
also wouldn't want to forget our train car 'person' -
Leonard, of the 100 non-funny jokes!!
We settled down for the
night at the Hilton in Anchorage. With buses loaded with
a total of 300 people converging on the hotel at the
same time, it took a while for us to get an elevator to
our room! |

Beautiful country to enjoy,
seemingly forever.
Photo by Ken

A view from the train trestle as we
wind our way to Anchorage.
Photo by Ken

Linda was taking in the vast
openness of the State of Alaska. This eight-hour ride
was very long. Very comfortable, and time to do a lot of
visiting or eating or reading... but then you chance
missing seeing something.
Photo by KDS |
Monday, June 26, 2000
Anchorage/Seward - 50-60
degrees - sprinkles
Back on the bus at 9:00 am
for a three-hour ride to Seward. Once again, our ride
through some beautiful scenery. Most of the trip was
near the coast and we saw lots of lakes, meadows,
glaciers, mountains, etc. At least that is what you saw
if you were not nodding off!
Arrived at the docks
shortly after noon and our boarding process took very
little time. Ken and I got separated from the rest of
our group on the morning buses so we didn't meet up
again until lunch on board the ship.
We did a self-guided tour
of the ship, rested a little and then dinner at 7:00 pm.
The ship departed the dock
at 10:00 pm and Ken joined Kent, Linda, Ed and Andi on
deck 15 to watch all the technical stuff associated with
departure. I spent it in our nice warm cabin and watched
from the window! I joined the 'outside group' a little
later for hot chocolate in the Horizon Court. |

On the bus to Seward to board our
ship.
Photo by Ken
 Our Ship! The Dawn Princess. This is our second sailing,
but our first with Princess Cruises. We are looking
forward to this experience. She carries about 1,900
passengers and nearly a thousand crew members.
Everything to make us comfortable and happy.
Photo by EM
 Man, these babies are big. They just don't look that big
until you are standing up next to them.
Photo by EM
 We are on board, on the Lido deck (deck 14) forward,
looking over the rail down onto the Bridge extension or
'wing' that protrudes from each side of the ship. This
is the widest place on the ship, and it allows the
officers of the Bridge to step out and look straight
down through those glass blocks under the officer's feet
to see the side of the hull. That allows them to place
the ship gently alongside the dock. Those controls in
the blue pod allow the officer to control the whole ship
as it docks and when it pulls away. The man on the glass
floor is likely the First Officer and the fellow
watching over his actions happens to be the Captain. We
are preparing to pull away from the dock.
Photo by KDS

Embarkation process has been
handled and we are underway. Looking aft, we can see the
beautiful State of Alaska that we have so much enjoyed
this last week. We shall come again, if we possibly can. Photo by Ken

It is SailAway... Party time. Smile
Ed.
Photo by EM
 Andi and Kent enjoying the deck experience while dealing
with the elements. It may be the day before July starts,
but we are, after all, in Alaska, you know. And it IS a
little overcast today. Just saying "being on deck" is a
bit misleading... most deck levels... and we are
'allowed' on decks 4 through 15... have some deck space.
Deck 7, the Promenade Deck allows you to walk completely
around the ship. The distance is very close to 1/3rd
mile so you can track your exercise. Well, you can if
you don't sit in the lounges and read.
Photo by KDS |
Tuesday, June 27, 2000
At sea - 50+ degrees and
rainy
Ken was up at 6:00 am to
watch our journey through the College of Fjords. I
managed to open my eyes early enough to see some of the
beautiful glaciers that exposed themselves to us.
We find if we are not
eating we are sitting and falling asleep! It is a little
cool and rainy to be outside.
We had breakfast alone and
lunch with Fran and Roberta in the Horizon Court.
Spent the afternoon in the
cabin catching up on my diary, reading and 'bobbing'!
Ready for Formal night a
little early to take advantage of the portrait offer.
Had a nice dinner and more pictures. Went to the Vista
Lounge for the entertainment - a comic juggler and a
stand-up comic. Went to the Casino for a while - $20
worth of time. I had more than doubled my money but just
couldn't stop until it was all gone. Kent was smarter
than his mother - his $300 only cost him $23! - He
stopped! |

Ken, Ed, Andi, Linda and Kent...
"late" in the evening up on deck absorbing what sights
are available as we begin our journey.
Photo by EM |
Wednesday, June 28, 2000
At sea - Glacier Bay - 52
degrees - windy on deck
Breakfast in the Venetian
Dining Room - spotted Kent and Linda and had breakfast
with them and several other table mates. After
introductions around, one lady noticed us talking to
Kent and Linda and asked if we knew each other before.
Of course we had to explain to her that we had known
Kent all of his life!
We did some Glacier
watching from our cabin but spent most of the time on
deck - a little chilly but the glaciers were awesome. We
did spend the early morning in our cabin with a splendid
view of several whales; swimming, diving, blowing,
slapping their tail and we even got to see one breach.
The naturist on board indicated that was the first whale
breach sighting of the season. There were also some
dolphin, turtle-looking shapes in the water, sea otters
and lots of birds.
The glaciers were a
beautiful sight. I couldn't get over the beautiful blue
colors. One of the glaciers was so dirty looking it
looked like a mountain instead of a glacier. We did get
to see several 'calvings'. When it breaks off it sounds
like thunder and then there is a big splash when it hits
the water.
We dressed early for
dinner and all eight of us had our picture taken on the
stairs in the beautiful atrium.
During dinner we
celebrated Kent and Linda's 15th anniversary, Ken and
Rosalee's 40th anniversary and Andi's 50th birthday.
After dinner we went to the Princess Theatre for a
singing and dancing revue - they were all very good. |

As these glaciers slide and grind
down through the canyon, they pick up a large amount of
dirt and even large rocks. You can see the dirt buildup
in the striations of the ice and the large quantity on
the left of the glacier.
Photo by EM

'Calving' is the term used to
indicate a large section of an ice glacier is breaking
off due to the ocean water warming the ice enough for it
to break away from the main glacier. The ice we are
looking at here is actually 200 feet tall from the water
to the top. That splash just to the right of the center
of the image is from a chunk of ice falling into the
water that was larger than a house.
Photo by Ken

The water splashing up from this
calving is quite dirty as you can see. That is from the
water that continually drains out from under the sliding
glacier.
Photo by EM

Dead center of the image you see a
very large, darker chunk falling toward us. We had been
watching it the full time we were in the fjord, but it
did not seem to be moving. For all we knew, it had been
hanging there tempting thousands of shipboard watchers
for weeks... and the Captain could see it also, so he
lingered far longer than he was 'scheduled' to be there.
The Dawn Princess simply sat and spun slightly to keep
moving. At the very last minute, as we were pulling out
of the fjord, we heard the thunderous clap and could see
it slowly descending toward the water. You can see it
already kicking up a lot of water. It went under with an
almost slipping action and was not at all spectacular,
but it sent a very heavy swell across the bay. It was
large enough that we could feel it move our huge ship.
Photo by EM

Formal Night... Fran and Roberta
being attended to by our two waiters. They were quite a
team.
Photo by EM

Rosalee and Ken. Time to stuff in
some more food... it would be terrible to skip a meal.
Photo by EM

Andi and Ed.
Photo by EM

Linda and Kent. Formal Night is
always nice. It is not as finicky and sticky as many
fear it to be. People that you have gotten to know over
a few days act totally different on Formal Nights. We
enjoy it.
Photo by EM |
Thursday, June 29, 2000
Skagway - 52 degrees, slight
wind
Ken and I walked into town
for a little shopping. We figured with the 1/2 mile walk
into town and walking all around and the 1/2 mile walk
back we had enough of a workout to 'pay' for another
creampuff!!
I am in the library
catching up on my diary while the guys are getting a
tour of the bridge and all the navigational 'stuff'.
We sat with Ed, Andi and
Kent in the pizzeria - Linda went on a three mile hike
up the mountain.
Time to get ready for
dinner again - it seems we are either eating or getting
ready to eat.
Went to a classical
concert by Dave Moore, a pianist Ken had listened to in
one of the lounges the night before. He was very good
and added a little humor. Later that evening they had a
crew involvement show - little did we know it would also
be an audience involvement show. You will have to ask
Kent about that! |

Coming into Skagway, Alaska. Ed is
an early riser.
Photo by EM
 Early morning in Skagway.
Photo by EM

Downtown Skagway. The ship at the
end of the street is not ours. She is a Holland America
ship. Our ship is berthed to her starboard. It is a
simple and quick walk into town from the cruise ships,
which are a large part of the local income, as one might
suspect. We found the locals to be very friendly and
pleasant. And everything was clean.
Photo by EM
During the late
morning sometime we caught an officer running loose on
the deck and engaged him in conversation. Eventually we
got around to asking what it would take to talk someone
into allowing a few of us to tour the Bridge, since we
were in port and things were pretty quiet. After some
humming and hawing, he told us to meet him in that area
(deck 12 - Riviera Deck, Forward) around 1300 hours and
he would take us through. Well, we told no one but when
we showed up there were about sixteen people. Someone
leaked. LOL.
While we were
waiting, I spotted a gentleman standing alone along the
corridor, and he was wearing a 'baseball' cap that was
engraved: "Bataan '42-'43". I stepped over and
stood by him and started a conversation with him. I
looked at him and asked "Did you earn that hat?" He
hesitated a moment to remember which hat he had put on
and he meekly said "Well, yes, I guess I did." I reached
out to shake his hand and said "Thank You". He shook my
hand and asked "For what?" "For what you did for me. And
for everyone else in here." He showed a little pink in
his cheeks and meekly said "No Problem."
Others were
observing what was going on and each and every one that
was there came over to shake his hand and give him hugs.
We made sure that he was the Hero On Deck as we entered
the Bridge. Such a sweet man and a great sacrifice.

The view from the Bridge of the
ship. There is a lot of 'stuff' in there. They did
a nice job of explaining a lot of the devices and how
they helped run the ship. They had a whole panel with
red lights indicating every fire detection device on
board. Instant feedback to the bridge. There is never
only one officer on deck watch at any single time.
Photo by EM

"You've Got The Con!" This is where
the Captain runs the ship. The seat on either side has
full control of the ship at any time. Hopefully they
agree in what they are doing. Pertinent information is
fed to this station constantly from others on the
Bridge... it is not a one-officer process, for sure.
Check out the number of windshield wipers.
Photo by KDS |
Friday, June 30, 2000
Juneau - 48 to 50 degrees,
rainy afternoon
We had a 10:30 am bus ride
to the other side of the wharf for an exciting float
plane flight to the Taku Lodge which included flying
over several glaciers - what a beautiful sight. The
airplane was a 1957 De Havilland single engine Otter.
The flight was so smooth you hardly knew when the plane
took off or landed.
The Taku Lodge was located
on 80 acres across the river from a glacier (Taku
Glacier?). We had a nice salmon bake with baked beans,
coleslaw, baked apples, herb biscuits, sourdough bread
and ginger cookies. Everything was delicious. They sold
a cookbook in the gift shop with all the recipes
including the marinate for the fish.
For our trip in, there
were two airplanes of ten passengers each. Some of us
went on a short hike on the property with one of the
employees. There was a larger group that came in on the
planes that came to pick us up. The flight in was about
35 minutes and we flew over several glaciers. The trip
back was only about 20 minutes - a more direct route.
While at the lodge we
understood why they call the mosquito the state bird -
they were large and plentiful. On our walk in the woods
we did see some recent bear tracks but didn't see any
bear, although they are quite plentiful in the area.
The ship was docked on
the port side of the ship so our cabin allowed us to sit
in our window and people watch. Ed and Andi spotted us
and Ed took a picture of Ken at the window!
When we returned from our
Taku Lodge excursion it was raining but that didn't stop
us from spending the couple of hours we had left before
we had to board, shopping and walking in the rain. After
our return to the ship Ken and I were able to sit in our
window and watch all our family return to the ship,
walking in the rain. We did get our window washed while
we were in Juneau so we could see out much better. We
did go out on deck and watched all the latecomers
scurrying on board and watched them pull in the lines to
cast off.
We went to the 'Paris
Revue' show after dinner - lots of singing and dancing.
The costumes were quite amazing compared to what we
expected to see on a ship. We spent an hour or so in the
lounge to hear David Moore at the piano bar. He is quite
a good pianist and includes a lot of humor with his
songs. |

On our way to Taku Lodge. Kent is
wearing the blue shirt with Ken in the white hat.
Roberta is in front of Ken and Linda and Rosalee are
talking to a fellow traveler. Smile Andi, it will not be
that bad. :-)
Photo by EM

Docked at the lodge, we can see the
glacier across the water. You can guess what the
temperature is here. Photo by EM

Inside the Taku Lodge they served
tons of freshly cooked food on large tables. They were
outside barbecuing fresh-caught salmon from the river in
front of the lodge. They tell how they have plenty of
fish ready because sometimes large, four-legged hairy
critters come to dinner and they help themselves to all
of the salmon on the grills. When that happens the
guests wait a little while (inside) and then when the
critters ramble off they cook another batch of salmon.
The food was excellent. The cool air was refreshing and
stimulated the appetites.
Photo by EM

Ed caught Ken sitting in his cabin
window when they returned from town.
Photo by EM |
Saturday, July 1, 2000
Ketchikan - 48 degrees
in morning - 50 degrees in afternoon and
some rain
Had a beautiful sunny
early morning as we slowly approached Ketchikan. I even
had to put on my sun glasses to sit and watch out the
window.
We had been warned that
Ketchikan has more rainy days than sunny days. It was a
little cool. when we left the ship to do some shopping
but no rain until later in the day and that was just for
a little while.
Had lunch in the Horizon
Court and listened to Billy Andrusco while we had lunch.
We then went to the lounge near the Atrium to hear him
again. Fran joined us and after Billy played he joined
us for a little bit of conversation. Kent and Linda came
in from shopping and met Billy and chatted for a while.
We sat in our cabin in the
late afternoon and watched the fish jumping in the
estuary - at one time we counted up to 23 in one minute.
Another formal night but
it was worth it - they served lobster as one of the
entrees. Of course we all took advantage of that!
Went to a one-hour comedy
show and then I went back to the cabin but several of
our group went to a second show - singing and dancing -
they all said it was great. |
 An older part of Ketchikan, Alaska
called Creek Street. Wonder how it got that name.
Photo by EM

A view from the other end of the
street, taken by Kent.
Photo by KDS

Linda provides some scale to the
size of the Totem Pole, which tells a story... if you
know how to 'read' it. Photo by
KDS |
Sunday, July 2, 2000
At Sea
We lost an hour today -
now we are on the same time zone as the lower 48 (west
coast) and Vancouver BC too.
Went to a comedy cooking
demonstration this morning. The executive chef, maitre
D' and a couple of the head waiters prepared some dishes
with a lot of comedy thrown in. We then had a quick
walking tour of the galley. A lot of stainless steel!!
It is amazing to think of the number of meals prepared
in one week! |
Acres Of Spotless Stainless Steel

Obviously we are between meals...
there were people working in this area but the employees
mostly stayed out of sight for the few minutes we were
walking through.
Photo by KDS

Our tour was arranged by the ship's
staff, and only happens once during a cruise on most
ships. It was NOT an 'open house' by any means, but very
well planned out.
Photo by EM

It is amazing how this staff can
produce the number of beautiful and tasty meals it does
in a period of an hour and then repeat the feat for the
second seating time.
Photo by EM

We do not know for sure, but this
Kitchen may be the only one that services the two large
main Dining Rooms. Service facilities do not show up on
the deck plans that are provided. Only "passenger
accessible" areas are listed. Photo by
EM
|
Monday, July 3, 2000
At Sea - Headed into
Vancouver BC for disembarkation.
I do remember the
disembarkation was really long - I think there was a
customs clearance issue in Vancouver. If I remember
right, Ken and my disembarkation time was different than
the other six in our party and we were on different
buses from Vancouver to the Seattle airport. I don't
think we were all together again until we were in the
Seattle airport. |

Sunrise over Vancouver.
Photo by EM

We will pass under Vancouver's
Lions Gate Bridge, which is as old as our own Golden
Gate Bridge.
Photo by EM

We will be docking at the Canada
Place Pier, Vancouver's relatively new Cruise Lines
Terminal.
Photo by EM

Our officer is out on the Bridge
Wing, making sure he brings the Dawn into port as
smoothly as possible. Of course, a lot is at stake as he
controls the ship... safety of thousands of people and
millions of dollars. No Pressure. LOL. Photo by KDS
Transfer onto a bus, a drive
through Vancouver, a stop at the border for a customs
check, then on to the airport in Seattle, where we await
our flight to San Francisco, where we call our service
for the ride home.
It has been a
wonderful, joyful, adventure which we hope to do again
soon. This is one trip that we will always recommend to
others. It could be done in reverse, with the cruise
starting in Vancouver and ending in Seward, then bus and
train up through Denali to Fairbanks and then a flight
home from Fairbanks. Either way would be just as good.
Our first cruise
was a short four-day jaunt from Los Angeles to Ensenada
and back, to see if we like cruising. It was with Royal
Caribbean Cruise Lines on their Viking Serenade, a much
smaller ship than the Dawn Princess. We enjoyed Princess
much more, and I am confident that we will sail with
Princess again. |
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