Oh no…..when we woke up while sailing into Glacier Bay National Park at 6:45am, all we saw was fog, clouds, and a light drizzle. Gone were the blue skies we experienced on our last two visits. The rangers, a heritage guide, and a geographic rep boarded the ship from the Park Headquarters near Bartlett Cove. They would be our guides until 4pm. The bow was opened for viewing at 7am, and there were a handful of folks all decked out in their raingear. We are so happy to be able to view this excursion for the third time in as many weeks, especially from our veranda. It has kept us feeling close to nature, as opposed to positioning for a spot at the railing on the bow.
Going to breakfast right when the doors opened, guaranteed us seats at the window. All we had to do was ask. On the other hand, another elderly couple came in, the man with a one dollar bill in his hand so everyone could see it, as he marched through the restaurant, were also seated at a window table set for two. He slipped it to the staff member and that was that. In all of the time we have been cruising with HAL, and other cruise lines as well, we have never seen a man give a tip in this manner. Maybe he just wanted to be noticed . We don't want to open a can of worms here, but this did not sit well with us, not that it is any of our business. If you want to tip don't let the whole world see you do it. We have sailed on other luxury cruise lines that forbid any tipping, or the crew member could be fired on the spot. With that said we do tip appropriately, but the whole ship doesn't need to know it. Anyway, the view was not that exciting this morning with the low fog and clouds. We saw no wildlife at all.
We wanted to be back in the room for Gloomy Knob at 9am, which loosely translates to Land of the Mountain Goats. Captain Friso sailed fairly close to the shores, so we could all see the five mountain goats up on the ridges. And we mean, waaaay up there. You really needed a good pair of binoculars to spot them. The guide did spot two bears on the shore, probably due to the fact it was low tide. The Zuiderdam did not slow down, so by the time the sightings were announced we were well past the spot. In our minds, we imagined we saw them, but in reality, we were probably looking at large black rocks.
We have to mention that in order to listen to the commentary, we had to turn on the Bow Camera station on the TV. The volume only went halfway. So while one of us was out on the veranda (with no speakers), the other stayed inside and relayed the info being given. Every other ship we have sailed had outdoor speakers, but this ship has none on the verandas. Kept one of us warmer, moving back and forth, since it was darned cold at 54 degrees. No wind, however, which was a good thing. No sun either.
In the meantime, our floor was having issues with the toilets…like no water in them. Bad timing for sure. While that was being addressed, another fellow came to change the filter matter in the overhead vent. This is one thing we usually request while on a longer cruise, as we never know when it was changed last. Then the laundry arrived. The bathroom water was still running warm while turned to the cold side, so that was also in the process of being remedied. By the afternoon, all seemed to be back to normal.
Passing both Reid and Lamplugh Glaciers, we headed towards Johns Hopkins Inlet. We could see another cruise ship following us, which turned out to be the Norwegian Sun again. They turned right into the Tarr Inlet, heading for Margerie Glacier. Lucky them. Passing Jaw Point, the glacier appeared in front of the ship. This time, we saw fewer harbor seals on the ice chunks, and far less Kittiwakes. Same as the last two times, the ship was turned ½ hour for viewing on both sides. For all of us in the aft section, we had viewing 100% of the time. Do you recall the old saying that a watched pot never boils? Well you can apply that to watching a glacier calve. Unlike our first visit here, there was hardly any calving or ice falling. Right before we left the inlet, there were two very small cracking sounds, with a bit of calving. We just know that after our hour was up, it would calve like crazy. The Norwegian Sun was set to enter next, so maybe they had better luck today.
Sticking to plan, the Captain sailed steadily south rather quickly. We kept our eyes peeled for any wildlife sightings, but only saw a few otters. By the time we tore ourselves away from photo downloading, we had passed South Marble Island, where the Stellar sea lions reside. Without the warmth of the sun, we doubt many were laying on the rocks anyway.
By 4pm, the group left the ship, and their work was done. It began to rain as the fog obscured any views we may have had for seeing otters or whales for that matter. At the same time, Captain Friso came on the speakers to say we were heading out to sea, and the waters would become rough. He added that a storm was moving in our direction, and he wanted to get the ship down south quickly, then cut back into the Inside Passage, where it is more protected. Batten down the hatches, as the old saying goes. And true to his warnings, we began to rock and roll by dinnertime.
Around 2pm, we ordered a room service lunch, where the Cobb or Caesar salads are nicely done. Sandwiches were good as were the chocolate chip cookies. We also received the last of the Canadian Customs forms to fill out for our final visit there on Wednesday. With a quick trip down to the front desk, we learned that our incorrect charges had been credited back to the account yesterday. Checking this on the room TV, we had discovered that it was not updated there.
Friends back at home asked us why did we book back-to-back cruises in Alaska with the same ports. By doing this, we have to admit that it has been most rewarding. What we may have missed on the first two stops, we made up for it on the third time around. We learned much more about the life of Alaskans in each and every port, as we like to visit with the locals. The best place for this interaction had to be while in Skagway. A much smaller town, the locals are the most friendly we have encountered.
We made our way to dinner in the dining room, dressed in "dressy" clothing. Or maybe a bit beyond that, but we were not alone. Many of the fellows had worn suits and the ladies looked festive with some glitter. We had visits from the Maitre'd, Fransicus as well as his assistant Johnny. We are in the process of choosing a table for the world cruise, and we finally found a suitable table for seven of us. We learned that there are no "head waiters" anymore, but we do have hosts that have assumed that job now. Currently, there are two hosts downstairs, and one upstairs. And they are on the run when they have 1000 guests in the dining room like tonight.
Anyway, we ordered the same courses tonight starting with shrimp cocktails, Caesar salads, and chicken cordon blue. Could have been hotter, but it was acceptable, and a nice change since we have not ordered many chicken entrees on this cruise. One chocolate souffle and a dish of frozen raspberry yogurt finished the meal. We were done by 9pm.
Tomorrow we will arrive to Ketchikan at 11am, so breakfast starts at 8pm. Works for us…..
Bill & Mary Ann
