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Spent Saturday watching beautiful BC scenery glide gently past the stateroom windows.  Arrived Vancouver 7 am today after passing under the Lions Gate Bridge and Stanley Park on our way to the Oosterdam's berth at Canada  Place.  Can you believe that the Captain turned the boat around in the Vancouver harbour and backed into our berth!  Nary a bump to be felt. 

Then bus to the ferry and Victoria downtown and home by 4 pm.  Suitcases are unpacked and a load of laundry is in the dryer. 

Will post a full set of pictures (in case you haven't already seen enough :-) ) later on this week (month?).

Ketchikan

I think it was the Captain who said that it rains 95% of the time in Ketchikan.  If that's the case, the weather as we arrived today was well within the statistical norm.  It was pouring down!  According to our city tour guide, Ketchikan gets an average of 14 feet of rain a year, too much to measure in inches. 

But wait, is that  blue sky we see, or just a "sucker hole", that small patch of clear sky that makes you believe the sunshine is coming, when really you're just about to get soaked?

Nope, it really was sunshine, and lots of it.  It made our visit so much more pleasant, and actually let us sit out on our balcony for the first time since we boarded the cruise ship.  There must have been some flight training going on in the harbour as we watched the float planes taking off and landing, over and over in front of us.  (Or it could have been the equivalent of  Victoria's James Bay neighbours, buzzing the cruise ships, telling them to "Go home!") :-)

Into Canadian waters tomorrow.  We cruise the Inside Passage as we make our way to Vancouver on Sunday morning.

Haines and Juneau

It has been a busy couple of days. 

Yesterday we were in Haines AK.  We took a "fast ferry" from there to Skagway, then boarded the White Pass & Yukon Railway, travelling the route used by the gold miners on their way to the Klondike.  From the train we could see the narrow path they followed before the railway was constructed - single file and loaded down with the supplies required by the Canadian government before they were allowed across the border.  We actually crossed into BC just past the White Pass Summit at 2,865 ft, before we returned to Skagway.

Today we're in Juneau, Alaska's capital, accessible only by boat or plane - there are no roads into the city.  We visited the Mendenhall Glacier, which is actually within the city limits!  It's worth the trip to Alaska to see a glacier this close.

More Glacier Bay

What a difference a few hours make!  The afternoon cleared up and we got some great views of the John Hopkins Glacier (as I understand it, the only advancing glacier), and the Lamplugh Glacier.  Most impressive!

Check out all the "bergy bits".  I love that expression so much, I've been using it all afternoon. :-)

Glacier Bay

Another cloudy, raining day, but it didn't unduly impact our glacier viewing.  Even saw a couple of grizzly bears!  Stayed about an hour at the Margerie Glacier.  Very impressive!

Monday, June 16

Seriously crappy weather today: cold wind, high seas, rain.  Nothing to see at all outside, and too cold to walk the deck, so we explored the ship from top to bottom.  Enjoyed a great lecture about the animals and fish in Alaska. 

FYI, there are five kinds of salmon caught here, and we learned to count them off on our fingers - Chum or Dog (thumb, feed to the dog), Sockeye or Red (first finger, best fish), King or Chinook (tallest finger, biggest fish), Coho or Silver (ring finger), Pink or Humpy (pinkie finger, feed to the cat).  As for bears, there are two kinds - black and brown (grizzly).  If confronted by a black bear, look big and talk softly.  With a grizzly, play dead, even after the bear has left the immediate vicinity.  Though there are no polar bears in Alaska, if confronted by one (to quote the lecturer), "Kiss your ass goodbye!"

Lost my $10 in the slots in about  5 minutes.  Lucky Jean won $75!

Scenic cruising in Glacier Bay tomorrow.  Hope the weather improves.

Oosterdam

Boarded Holland America's Oosterdam about 5:30 pm yesterday after a scenic four-hour train ride from Anchorage.  Through a series of last minute (paid) upgrade offers, we moved from a standard to a superior to a deluxe balcony stateroom.  Comes with a bottle of champagne, complimentary laundry service, and a private dining room for breakfast.  Well worth the money, we say!  

Most of our cruising to date has been on Princess, so it's quite disconcerting to not know where everything is located on the HAL ship.  We've been giving the map a good workout.  For a start, the Oosterdam is much smaller - about 1,900 passengers - so there's no big central piazza.  The single main dining room is a two-story affair, quite nice looking.  We'll be eating there tomorrow.  (Tonight is Formal Night, so we're taking a pass.)  The buffet area on the Lido deck is nice, and we even found table for two at lunch!  The theatre spans three decks, and is a combo theatre/lounge affair.  There are two pools, an indoor and an outdoor.  The weather has been a frosty 12C, so only the indoor pool is seeing any action.  I've also located the casino ...

We are currently sailing south from Anchorage and are scheduled to be in Glacier Bay tomorrow.  We've been promised spectacular scenery and more wildlife.