I apologize for the odd order of my posts. For some reason they are publishing out of order.
Our itinerary for Alaska was Vancouver B.C. to the Inside Passage, Ketchikan, Icy Strait Point, Juneau, Skagway, Hubbard Glacier, Seward and then the same in reverse back to Vancouver B.C.
Miriam and I walked around the small but beautiful port of Ketchikan. If you make the trip to this town, either plan enough time to climb the Deer Mountain Trail or pay to take a plane ride over the fjords. Miriam and I didn’t have time for a hike or money for the plane ride, so we just absorbed some vitamin D and ate our salmon sandwiches confiscated from the ship’s dining hall. I was also sold a faulty sim card from a guy at AT &T who randomly was from Oregon City (my high school’s rival) and knew people I graduated with. Next stop was Icy Strait Point. We did a lot of walking, watching float planes, and unsuccessful hunting for a glimpse of whales. We did see a lot of dolphins from the ship and a lot of bald eagles perched in trees.
Juneau provided us with great entertainment. We had the option of paying a lot of money to do a tour of the Mendenhall Glacier or we could take a 2 dollar local bus and see it ourselves. We along with an Australian couple from the ship opted for the 2 dollar option. The bus dropped us off a mile from the glacier, but the walk was fine with us. It was a perfectly clear day and the scenery was breath-taking. The glacier is 13.6 miles long and about 12 miles from Juneau. Unfortunately, since 1958 the glacier has receded 1.75 miles. There is also an impressive waterfall to the left of the glacier, which takes about 45 minutes to walk to from the main viewing point of the glacier. On the way back to town we met a Chinese family and I geeked out over discussions of Taiwanese/Chinese cuisine with them.
Skagway was another special stop because my friend Margaret (we met on a tour in Vietnam) now lives there and is a HR manager for a tour company. I contacted her several days before our arrival and she was able to get us in a tour for free! We each tipped the guide 20 dollars, but it was a steal compared to the normal 160 dollar price point! It goes to show it is all about the people you meet. The town was originally founded by an entrepreneur who foresaw the gold rush coming and wanted to cash in on the needs of all the men and women who would come to try their luck. It is amazing to think that the population of this town during off season is only 900, but throughout tourist season it hosts over 900,000 visitors. The tour took us through White Pass and parallel to the Yukon Gauge Railroad. We traversed tundra and passed through the most simplistic border crossing I have ever seen to cross into Canada. Our guide talked a lot about the plight of those seeking gold. By law they had to cart a ton of supplies per person in their party. What ended up happening is couples or families would have to spend all their life savings just to have enough horses and goods to be allowed to embark on their treacherous journey. Many died and out in the tundra murder was considered lesser of a crime than stealing clothing and food. It was all about survival. We walked across the Yukon suspension bridge and stopped for an amazing salmon bakeoff. The family who threw the salmon bakeoff were dressed in traditional gold rush era garb long beards and all. A fiddler played as we threw back corn bread, beans, salad, and of course honey baked salmon. It really was a perfect day. After the tour we went for a short hike with Margaret and took in the stunning views of the water offset by the snowcapped mountains behind it.
Next we visited the Hubbard Glacier. It is supposedly the only glacier in the world that is actually growing (I can’t verify the validity of this fact, but the ship’s crew announced it over the loudspeakers). We watched as chunks of ice the height of a ten story building crashed into Disenchantment Bay and attempted to get photos the best we could considering how far away we were from the glacier itself.
So to understand what happened next takes a bit of explaining. Technically I was on the ship for four cruises. The first was from Australia all the way to Hawaii. The second was Hawaii to Vancouver B.C. The third was from Vancouver to the Hubbard Glacier was and the fourth was from the Hubbard Glacier back to Vancouver. Let’s just say I only made it to Vancouver once.
Unbeknownst to me my troubles began the second day of the first cruise. A pipe burst in Courtney’s cabin and we were flooded. She requested a new room just until the pipe was fixed. The ship gave her a vacant guest cabin. As her guest staying in her room I paid 10 dollars a day. If I were to take a vacant guest cabin myself, I would have to pay 22 dollars a day. I obviously was content to sleep in the pull down cot in her room. Not only was it cheaper, but I got to see more of her. Well at the end of the first cruise the ship charged me for that guest cabin even though we only slept there one night and it in fact had nothing to do with me. I didn’t make this discovery until a couple days into the second cruise. Courtney asked at guest services if anything could be done and their response was that the billing cycle was already closed. I felt that this was an inadequate response considering the circumstance. All I wanted was them to give me credit towards the next three cruises. So I called guest services myself and politely explained the situation. The woman I spoke with said she would call me back after discussing it with her manager. I went to the gym and felt confident that the issue would be resolved. I returned to the room and Courtney was there waiting for me. She was upset. Apparently the woman I spoke with had felt I had been very aggressive and rude. This news blew my mind considering I spoke to her for about two minutes and the entire conversation was very calm. I apologized, but said that I couldn’t think of anything I had said that would have caused the woman to feel attacked. Since this incident took place on a cruise ship it had to be blown way out of proportion because the 800 person crew while stuck at sea for months on end have nothing better to do than find entertainment out of drama. The guest service employee got the guest service manager, hotel manager, and captain involved. Courtney was threatened with losing her privilege to have guests if she was going to invite such rude people to stay with her. This event ended up costing me over 200 dollars and strained my relationship with Courtney unfortunately. She also told me that the crew had complained about me being demanding at the ship’s bar. Considering the only alcohol I had on the ship had been wine in Courtney’s presence, I obviously had a doppelganger running about making mischief. I even had one of the cooks approach me to give me a high five on how drunk I had been the day before.
Me: “Nope, it wasn’t me sorry.”
Cook: “Seriously I saw you hammered yesterday on the beach.”
Me: “Seriously I went scuba diving and would never drink on a dive day.”
Cook: “Crazy, I swear it was you. The woman I saw looks just like you.”
Well whoever she was she sure caused me some headaches. I had about six crew members I didn’t know approach me to make some sort of unwelcome comments.
To make things more unideal Miriam was scheduled to join the ship in two days when we arrived in Vancouver. I had to quickly weigh my options. We could skip the Alaskan cruise and have my parents drive up from Portland to claim us or stick with the original plan regardless of how uncomfortable things were on the ship. Getting off the ship felt like the right option considering how tense things were and I didn’t want to make any trouble for Courtney now that her privilege to have guests was in question. On the other hand Miriam had already spent 1,000 dollars to fly to Vancouver B.C. with the promise of two weeks on a cruise ship. So, I opted to suck it up and stay on the ship for Miriam’s sake.
Six days into our first Alaskan cruise a security guard pulled me aside to say Courtney had left the ship and wasn’t coming back. She had had a family emergency and was gone. The HR manager contacted me and told me Miriam and I were a security hazard and needed to leave. The security team changed Courtney’s password for the internet and thus we were left to fend for ourselves in the very very very small town of Seward, Alaska with nothing figured out in advance. Google Seward just to get a feel for what we were left to deal with. With some help from afar we got on a four hour bus headed to Anchorage and caught an absurdly early plane to Portland. The whole thing was very expensive and unfortunately created a bit of a negative end to my cruising experience. Unexpected things happen while traveling and all you can do is stay positive and deal with the curve balls thrown your way. Miriam and I did just that.
Our itinerary for Alaska was Vancouver B.C. to the Inside Passage, Ketchikan, Icy Strait Point, Juneau, Skagway, Hubbard Glacier, Seward and then the same in reverse back to Vancouver B.C.
Miriam and I walked around the small but beautiful port of Ketchikan. If you make the trip to this town, either plan enough time to climb the Deer Mountain Trail or pay to take a plane ride over the fjords. Miriam and I didn’t have time for a hike or money for the plane ride, so we just absorbed some vitamin D and ate our salmon sandwiches confiscated from the ship’s dining hall. I was also sold a faulty sim card from a guy at AT &T who randomly was from Oregon City (my high school’s rival) and knew people I graduated with. Next stop was Icy Strait Point. We did a lot of walking, watching float planes, and unsuccessful hunting for a glimpse of whales. We did see a lot of dolphins from the ship and a lot of bald eagles perched in trees.
Juneau provided us with great entertainment. We had the option of paying a lot of money to do a tour of the Mendenhall Glacier or we could take a 2 dollar local bus and see it ourselves. We along with an Australian couple from the ship opted for the 2 dollar option. The bus dropped us off a mile from the glacier, but the walk was fine with us. It was a perfectly clear day and the scenery was breath-taking. The glacier is 13.6 miles long and about 12 miles from Juneau. Unfortunately, since 1958 the glacier has receded 1.75 miles. There is also an impressive waterfall to the left of the glacier, which takes about 45 minutes to walk to from the main viewing point of the glacier. On the way back to town we met a Chinese family and I geeked out over discussions of Taiwanese/Chinese cuisine with them.
Skagway was another special stop because my friend Margaret (we met on a tour in Vietnam) now lives there and is a HR manager for a tour company. I contacted her several days before our arrival and she was able to get us in a tour for free! We each tipped the guide 20 dollars, but it was a steal compared to the normal 160 dollar price point! It goes to show it is all about the people you meet. The town was originally founded by an entrepreneur who foresaw the gold rush coming and wanted to cash in on the needs of all the men and women who would come to try their luck. It is amazing to think that the population of this town during off season is only 900, but throughout tourist season it hosts over 900,000 visitors. The tour took us through White Pass and parallel to the Yukon Gauge Railroad. We traversed tundra and passed through the most simplistic border crossing I have ever seen to cross into Canada. Our guide talked a lot about the plight of those seeking gold. By law they had to cart a ton of supplies per person in their party. What ended up happening is couples or families would have to spend all their life savings just to have enough horses and goods to be allowed to embark on their treacherous journey. Many died and out in the tundra murder was considered lesser of a crime than stealing clothing and food. It was all about survival. We walked across the Yukon suspension bridge and stopped for an amazing salmon bakeoff. The family who threw the salmon bakeoff were dressed in traditional gold rush era garb long beards and all. A fiddler played as we threw back corn bread, beans, salad, and of course honey baked salmon. It really was a perfect day. After the tour we went for a short hike with Margaret and took in the stunning views of the water offset by the snowcapped mountains behind it.
Next we visited the Hubbard Glacier. It is supposedly the only glacier in the world that is actually growing (I can’t verify the validity of this fact, but the ship’s crew announced it over the loudspeakers). We watched as chunks of ice the height of a ten story building crashed into Disenchantment Bay and attempted to get photos the best we could considering how far away we were from the glacier itself.
So to understand what happened next takes a bit of explaining. Technically I was on the ship for four cruises. The first was from Australia all the way to Hawaii. The second was Hawaii to Vancouver B.C. The third was from Vancouver to the Hubbard Glacier was and the fourth was from the Hubbard Glacier back to Vancouver. Let’s just say I only made it to Vancouver once.
Unbeknownst to me my troubles began the second day of the first cruise. A pipe burst in Courtney’s cabin and we were flooded. She requested a new room just until the pipe was fixed. The ship gave her a vacant guest cabin. As her guest staying in her room I paid 10 dollars a day. If I were to take a vacant guest cabin myself, I would have to pay 22 dollars a day. I obviously was content to sleep in the pull down cot in her room. Not only was it cheaper, but I got to see more of her. Well at the end of the first cruise the ship charged me for that guest cabin even though we only slept there one night and it in fact had nothing to do with me. I didn’t make this discovery until a couple days into the second cruise. Courtney asked at guest services if anything could be done and their response was that the billing cycle was already closed. I felt that this was an inadequate response considering the circumstance. All I wanted was them to give me credit towards the next three cruises. So I called guest services myself and politely explained the situation. The woman I spoke with said she would call me back after discussing it with her manager. I went to the gym and felt confident that the issue would be resolved. I returned to the room and Courtney was there waiting for me. She was upset. Apparently the woman I spoke with had felt I had been very aggressive and rude. This news blew my mind considering I spoke to her for about two minutes and the entire conversation was very calm. I apologized, but said that I couldn’t think of anything I had said that would have caused the woman to feel attacked. Since this incident took place on a cruise ship it had to be blown way out of proportion because the 800 person crew while stuck at sea for months on end have nothing better to do than find entertainment out of drama. The guest service employee got the guest service manager, hotel manager, and captain involved. Courtney was threatened with losing her privilege to have guests if she was going to invite such rude people to stay with her. This event ended up costing me over 200 dollars and strained my relationship with Courtney unfortunately. She also told me that the crew had complained about me being demanding at the ship’s bar. Considering the only alcohol I had on the ship had been wine in Courtney’s presence, I obviously had a doppelganger running about making mischief. I even had one of the cooks approach me to give me a high five on how drunk I had been the day before.
Me: “Nope, it wasn’t me sorry.”
Cook: “Seriously I saw you hammered yesterday on the beach.”
Me: “Seriously I went scuba diving and would never drink on a dive day.”
Cook: “Crazy, I swear it was you. The woman I saw looks just like you.”
Well whoever she was she sure caused me some headaches. I had about six crew members I didn’t know approach me to make some sort of unwelcome comments.
To make things more unideal Miriam was scheduled to join the ship in two days when we arrived in Vancouver. I had to quickly weigh my options. We could skip the Alaskan cruise and have my parents drive up from Portland to claim us or stick with the original plan regardless of how uncomfortable things were on the ship. Getting off the ship felt like the right option considering how tense things were and I didn’t want to make any trouble for Courtney now that her privilege to have guests was in question. On the other hand Miriam had already spent 1,000 dollars to fly to Vancouver B.C. with the promise of two weeks on a cruise ship. So, I opted to suck it up and stay on the ship for Miriam’s sake.
Six days into our first Alaskan cruise a security guard pulled me aside to say Courtney had left the ship and wasn’t coming back. She had had a family emergency and was gone. The HR manager contacted me and told me Miriam and I were a security hazard and needed to leave. The security team changed Courtney’s password for the internet and thus we were left to fend for ourselves in the very very very small town of Seward, Alaska with nothing figured out in advance. Google Seward just to get a feel for what we were left to deal with. With some help from afar we got on a four hour bus headed to Anchorage and caught an absurdly early plane to Portland. The whole thing was very expensive and unfortunately created a bit of a negative end to my cruising experience. Unexpected things happen while traveling and all you can do is stay positive and deal with the curve balls thrown your way. Miriam and I did just that.
