Our First Full Day of Cruising

After our rushed introduction to our room, having to climb seven flights of stairs because the elevators were shut down for the "emergency evacuation training" *gasp*, we were ready for our late night meal and a bit of ship exploration.
Indoor and outdoor pools; check. Three story atrium with glass elevators; check. Elegant dining rooms; check. Multiple gift shops; check. Casino; checkchecked it out. Denny actually walked out with an additional $50 in his pocket from the penny slots. Not a bad way to start the cruise.

We did have melodrama our first full day on the ship. A lady slipped and fell on the marble steps of the atrium, knocking herself unconscious and apparently ending up with a severe head injury. She was air-lifted from the ship and Denny and I and all those with upper seaboard balcony rooms were required to leave/stay away from our rooms during that period. Apparently the ship did not want anyone photographing/filming or even seeing the person removed from the ship. I guess they have their reputation as "fun" ships to maintain. Denny and I spent the time listening to Kathy, the naturalist, talk about growing up in Alaska followed by a talk by the ship's shopping director about all the types of discounts and goodies available at the various ports, all the while ducking in and out of doors to watch as we cruised past the Turner and Hubbard Glaciers in Yukatat Bay.Turner Glacier is black with crushed rock and silt.

Hubbard Glacier is the standard deep blue, although the blue is more washed out in bright daylight (which is the opposite of what I would have thought.)


The naturalist informed us by loudspeaker that the small (less than three foot high and sixteen feet long) icebergs we were seeing were called growlers, while the ones that were three feet to about fourteen feet hight and fifteen to forty-six feet long were called bergy bits. After that, they are classified as small, medium, large and very large.

A bergy bit.
Once we were out of the bay and cruising towards Glacier Bay Denny and I hit the buffet for dinner (it was formal night at the restaurants and Denny wasn't in the mood to dress for dinner) where we linked up with a few of our Prudhoe group. After dinner we took in the live music and dance performance in the theater and then it was time for bed. We were plain tuckered out.

Wending Our Way to Whittier

Our train narrator, Ingrid, tossed out all sorts of little factoids during the several hour long ride to meet our cruise ship in Whittier but you could tell that folks were getting a little tired of riding as we neared our destination. After all, we had ridden a large bus for two nine plus hour days, then ridden a school bus for 6 plus hours into Denali National Park and now we had spent nine hours on the train. Granted, we saw Beluga Whales in Turnagain Arm (sorry the photo isn't so good but the white knobby-headed Belugas don't breach like the big whales but swim and hunt more like dolphins, only surfacing briefly as they chased the salmon up the inlet. The Beluga is that white spot in the lower left hand corner.
We saw spruce trees that had been killed by the tsunami that was caused by the earthquake on 1964. Being immersed in sea salt water killed them.Then came the one mile long tunnel through Begich Peak and the much longer, much darker two and a half mile long Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel. One traffic lane wide, the tunnel is shared by automotive and train traffic alike which creates some long traffic jams when a train comes through.
Finally we arrived in Whittier. And there was our ship, the Island Princess. It took us a long time to finally board as we had to go through security to get on the ship and then receive our ID/room cards and be processed but finally we were onboard the ship. After the lifeboat drill had been suffered through, we were free to explore the ship. But that's tomorrow's post.