Blog archives for July, 2002

After all the excitement of our last ports, we decided to just spend the day in port on the ship. The town of Ketchikan was mainly a shopping zone and we had not signed up for any of the out-of-town excursions.

As we neared port, I went on deck to watch the captain dock this ship. Ever tried to parallel park a cruise ship, well out captain did a wonderful job. I never felt anything. (Yes, he put the ship between the two ships below).

From our stateroom, I could see took this shot of the main street sign welcoming folks to Ketchikan

Check out those stairs! Good thing they have a tram that takes folks up that hill.

Having the ship to our selves, we had a very relaxing day reading, visiting the different lounges, library, game room, pool area, etc. We attended a line dancing class lead by some of the Statendam Cast members (i.e. professional dancers) which was very good.

Dinner was formal again and we again had the Hotel Manager and his wife as guests at our table

Tonight was the night Denise had been waiting for all the cruse: The Dessert Extravaganza! There were more calories per square foot that I have ever seen in my entire life

As you can see, the desserts were not just good for eating, but were also good for looking out (Yes, that is a white chocolate lion and a watermelon carved into a flower. It the kitchen staff had been working all day on this masterpiece but the passengers made short work of it.

After desert, we went to the Crow’s Nest lounge to dance off a few calories (yea right!) and ended up winning another bottle of champagne.

Having completed our ports of call, this day was our final full day on the ship. The day was filled with nature watching, packing, last minute shopping, and a luncheon / reception in the Crow’s Nest for suite passengers.

After breakfast, we returned to our run to begin the packing process. It is a good thing that we had brought along a spare bag to pack with souvenirs from the trip because we sure needed it. Since leaving Ketchikan the evening before, the ship had been traveling along the Inside Passage (see map) toward Vancouver (across from Victoria on this map). The picture on the left shows just how close we were to the shore as well as pretty wave patterns caused by the ship’s wake. Mid morning, we attended the disembarkment talk and crew farewell show. Denise then tried to win us a cruise at Bingo but was unsuccessful. Below is a close-up of the shoreline showing more of the lush green wilderness on both sides of the ship. Because of the barrier islands, this part of the trip was especially smooth. In many ways, it was like traveling along a gentle river.

This last day I spent a lot of time just looking out the windows at the passing scenery and dreaming of future cruises.

The show for 2nd seating was early tonight so we showed up at the Van Gogh theater at 6:30 for a show called “Personality”. The show recalled great musical personalities of the past: Garland, Diamond, and Sinatra to name a few.

Our final dinner with Pat and Bob and the fine wait staff of Adella our waiter, Yodi the Head Waiter, Rocky the Wine Manager and Dennis the assistant waiter (see below) in the Rotterdam was bittersweet. We would miss our new friends but all good things must come to and end. After exchanging email addresses, we said good-bye.

Before our cruise, we had booked a shore excursion to fly in a helicopter to view and land on 2 glaciers.

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Moraine is the debris carried by a glacier. Moraine along the edge of a glacier is called lateral moraine. When two glaciers merge, the lateral moraines between of each of the glaciers merge into what is called medial moraine. Here is a view of medial moraines on the Herbert glacier.

Here is a close-up of the moraine. As you can see, it is not just dust but contains large rocks and boulders as well.

We also saw a number of pools of liquid on the top of the glacier. Below is an example that shows how blue the glacial ice is below the top layer of snow and debris.

We landed, got out, and walked around on the Herbert, and Mendenhall glaciers. It was truly awesome to stand on a river of ice slowly flowing down the mountain side. The blue of the ice was quite evident in the melt pools and there were numerous examples of cryoconite holes where dark objects melt into the face of the glacier. [I have a film photo of a leaf melting into the surface which I will add here later]

Here is Denise on the Herbert glacier with several waterfalls behind her

As the glaciers flow over the underlying terrain, they often bend and flex producing pressure ridges and crevasses.

“Please make sure you tray tables and seat backs are in their fully upright and locked position for takeoff” After our small plane trip at Denali, both Denise and I were a bit concerned about getting motion sick but the flights were very smooth. We started out with, you guessed it, another bus trip to the small airport. There we were shown given a safety video and fitted with over-boots that would keep out shoes dry and give us better traction on the ice. We also had to tell them our weight so they could balance the aircraft. I ended up in the front next to the pilot and Denise was in the back behind the pilot. Everyone had a headset and microphone so we could talk with each other and the pilot (it also cut down on the noise of the rotors and engine noise. The takeoff was fantastic as we just lifted up off the ground and started heading out along side the general aviation runway of this airport. We took flew over a small mountain range and past the Mendenhall glacier toward the Herbert glacier for our first landing. Along the way we saw numerous examples of glacial rivers filled with the milky sediment.

Here is a close up shot of the medial moraine on the Mendenhall glacier as well as a small stream running on top of the glacier.

y, her is a close-up of the pressure ridges and crevasses on the Mendenhall glacier as we headed back to the airport.

After some shopping in town, we returned to the ship to rest for our exciting day on the glaciers. We attended high tea in the Explorers Lounge (fitting after our adventure of the day). After dinner we turned in early.

Today we visited our first port of call. The town of Sitka as a quaint little village that was once the capital of Russian Alaska. Sitka still has many Russian characteristics and landmarks. Sitka also demonstrates it native American heritage as well. The town of Sitka does not have a harbor that allows crusie ships to dock so we had to take a tender to the port.

There were 2 other ships in port that same day they they too were using their tenders to ferry folks to and from shore.

Our first stop was to watch the New Archangel Dancers, a group of local women who have learned and present, traditional Russian and Slavic folk dances with the women performing both male and female roles. For examples of the dancing, see either movie 1 or movie 2 taken with my digital camera

Then we walked to the Sitka National Park to see the totem poles. There were over 15 poles showing Tlinget, Hoonah, and Haida tribal totems or figures. (see left) This costal area of Alaska is considered a rain forest due to the amount of rain it gets each year. The day we were there was misty and it did rain several times while we were walking around this lush area surrounding the town. For a virtual panorama of the shoreline with and totem poles, click here (requires Quicktime Plugin) We then walked to the Raptor Rehabilitation Center to see eagles, hawks, and owls. Many of the birds are released to the wild after they have healed. If their injuries are too severe, the animals are cared for and studied. For a virtual panorama of the center, click here (requires Quicktime Plugin) We walked back through the national park to see more totem poles before returning to town to see more Russian history. Sitka had been the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in North America and Eastern Russia when Bishop Innocent (Ivan Veniaminov) was resident in Sitka. We visited the Bishop’s House which is managed by the US Park Service and saw Saint Michael’s Cathedral, a replica of the Russian Orthodox Church building. The church was built in 1844-48 but was totally destroyed by fire in January 1966. The current building houses many of the original icons which were rescued from the building at the time of the fire. We also visited the first Lutheran Church on the west coast which was founded in 1843 before returning to the ship.

Back on board we attended a whale watching session with naturalist Andrew on deck as the ship left the harbor. Dinner was casual this night and was also Dutch night with many of the dishes native to Holland. As you can see, we were dressed for the occasion.

After dinner we attended a show called “Showstoppers” by the Statendam Cast followed by 70′s Night in the Crow’s Nest for disco dancing till midnight.

Today we spend almost the entire day inside Glacier Bay. The park service has a nice map of the park. Watching glaciers pass by while eating breakfast was a glorious sight. The majesty of nature is truly awesome.

Naturalist Andrew presented another talk “Sitting With Seals” about seals and sea lions. Later, a park ranger gave a presentation on the wildlife and scenery found in the bay and a Huna Tlinget interpreter talked about the native people who used live in the area.

After lunch, we invited some people we had met (Ben, Fran, Suzie, and Bruce) back to our room for coffee and help us eat the cake we had received the night before.

While looking out of the varenda, we saw a seal float by on and ice floe.

Mid afternoon, we arrived deep in the Tarr Inlet where the Margerie and the Grand Pacific glaciers meet. There the Captain stopped the ship for about an hour so we could watch ice caving off the 1/4-mile high ice wall of Margerie glacier.

At dinner, we learned that the 45-year couple had switched to a table for 2 and the hotel manager would not be eating with us every night (just on the 2 formal nights). In that fashion, we ended up at a table for 8 with just 4. We got to know Bob and Pat well over the rest of the cruise and all 4 of us looked forward to dinner each day.

Our waiter, Adella, was wonderful. He was funny, charming, and did a fantastic job of tempting us with culinary wonders. After dinner, we went to the show. Doug Mattocks did an incredible show playing a wide variety of music on the banjo from Malague�a to Dueling Banjos (playing both parts), and from Fiddler on the Roof to St. Louis Blues.