Monday, May 25, 2009

Alaska Cruise

WOW, what a week it was. Our cruise trip to Alaska was absolutely fantastic.
We boarded ship, the Holland America Ryndam http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruiseson Friday May 15 about 1:00 pm. Along with us was Gary & Marlene Kroeker, our good friends. The welcoming crew were great in assisting us on board. We found our staterooms settled in, made a tour around the ship, found out where all the great bars, shops, restaurants, casino and such were. By that time we all had to go to our staterooms in preparation for the safety drill.

























It was now 5:00 pm, and time to set sail. Off the dock we went and out through the harbour we went.





























Going under the Lions Gate Bridge brought memories back to me of watching cruise ships in the past and what it would be like to travel on one myself.




Friday night we sailed up the Coast of Vancouver Island, past Campbell River http://www.vancouverisland.travel and up through Johnstone Strait. What a beautiful evening we all had, having a superb dinner and walking around the ship checking out the Casino and its lounge. We woke in the morning, to have breakfast of the tip of the Island.

Saturday was a long day as the weather was kind of poopie and the clouds were very low. The wind was up, with rain the majority of the time and the sea was rough going through Queen Charlotte Sound (Dar was a bit queezy). Once we moved into the protection of the coastal islands, the sea became a bit calmer, but the clouds were still very low and we didn’t get to see very much. We spent most of the day eating, walking around the ship (inside) and sleeping.

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Over night we made our way up through the Alexander Archipelago, AK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Archipelago
All in all, the day was quite relaxing



Sunday morning, as we ate our breakfast the weather was improving greatly and as we had entered Chatham Strait, the scenery was quite outstanding as we made our way into Juneau, AK. http://www.traveljuneau.com/index.php We disembarked the Rymdam around 2:00pm and made our way into the town. Juneau is a very quaint little town, with most of its streets rather narrow with many old buildings





and of course, the world famous Red Dog Saloon. http://www.reddogsaloon.com



By late afternoon we had enough of looking at tourist stores so we went back to the ship for dinner and then off again to the Mt. Roberts Tramway. http://www.goldbelttours.com/travel/day_trips/juneau/tram.html


What a view, Gary, Dar and I really enjoyed the view over looking the town and also the short movie. It is very well worth spending the money to take this tour. We pushed off the dock about 10:30pm, went for a late nightcap and off to bed. What a beautiful day!



Over night, the ship made its way through Lynn Canal, by Monday morning, as we enjoyed another great breakfast; we enjoyed the fjords of Taiya Inlet and into the port of Skagway AK http://www.skagway.com What a amazing place to be, this is truly “frontier country”, from the wooden sidewalks to the hundred year old plus buildings. Gary, Marlene and I had to take the White Pass & Yukon Railway tour. There is only one word for this trip, “Awesome” http://www.whitepassrailroad.com/index2.html We took the train from Skagway to Fraser, BC. Pictures only cannot even come close to what the overall view is from the train. (Here are a few of the pictures I took, but look at the web site above.)
























We returned by bus and got back to Skagway around 4:00pm. We went to the Red Onion Saloon; http://www.redonion1898.com had a couple beer and then back to the Ryndam for dinner. After dinner we all strolled up to Vermeer Lounge and took in the “The Marriage Game”, it was hilarious, there was a couple in the game who were celebrating their 60th anniversary and they were unbelievable. Pulled off the dock at 9:30pm and on our way overnight towards Tracy Arm. The four of us had a nightcap up in the Crow’s Nest Lounge and watched the lights of Haines, AK go by, what a lovely evening.


By 6:00am Tuesday, I could not stay in bed any longer, I was up and on to deck as we had entered Tracy Arm. http://www.adventureboundalaska.com/tracyarm.htm I couldn’t believe my eyes, as the Ryndam inched its way through the fjord of Tracy Arm, it was surrounded by sheer mountain walls. The sites were overpowering and beautiful. This fjord, about fifty kilometers long, is narrow and very deep. We made our way to Sawyer Glacier http://www.hickerphoto.com/sawyer-glacier-photos.htm and spent a couple hours just moving very slowly, as the ship did 360 degree turn within a ½ kilometer the Glacier.


We all got plenty of sun as we made our way out of Tracy Arm, late in the afternoon. This was truly the high-light of the trip. As we came out of Tracy Arm, the weather got kind of breezy, so inside we went and got ready for dinner and another great night of entertainment.

























Throughout Wednesday night we transited Snow Passage and past Guard Island first thing in the morning. The Ryndam sailed through Tongass Narrows and into Ketchikan, AK by 10:00am. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketchikan,_Alaska

We were only in Ketchikan for only a few hours, so the four of us walked around town for couple of hours, bought a few touristy type things and then found the Sourdough Bar.




We all had a few beers and played Darts. What fun we had, many laugh’s, it was a good afternoon.



Thursday, was a “At Sea” day, throughout the night we had left American waters and entered into waters, of the coast of British Columbia. It was a day to enjoy the sunshine and get some sun tanning in. By mid morning we were passing Bella Bella and Namu, BC and out into the south end of Hecate Strait before passing by Port Hardy, BC. http://www.porthardy.com By late evening we had passed through Discovery Passage and Seymour Narrows http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Narrows







Friday, May 24, 2009, “sitting on the dock of the Bay” only this time it is in Vancouver, BC. The trip was absolutely wonderful, both Dar and I thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent on the ship. Out of the seven days, five of them were a perfect 10 as far the weather goes and 7 out of 7 days as far the ship, the food and the things to do. My eyes have opened up to cruising and we will be going again, somewhere.

PS from Dar
Will put a link to all pictures soon, ran out of time today!