The Glacier Bay Park Rangers, Alaska Native Voices Cultural Ambassador and Alaska Geographic Representatives had joined the ship at 6:30am at Bartlett Cove. The rangers opened a desk in the Crow's Nest and the Geographic Reps open a small store. Their narration began about 8am and it could be heard in the Crow's Nest as well as the outside decks.
Breakfast was in order by 8:45am, and so were several cups of hot coffee. Our meal seemed to taste even better today after being out in the refreshing air for a few hours. Tina had worried about us being late, which was thoughtful, but we reassured her that all was well. We thanked her for her concern and said that when we are in Glacier Bay next week, we shall also be missing until later. There were other guests that arrived even later than we did, and it was fine.
On the way towards the first set of glaciers, we saw several sea otters on both sides of the ship. We do not recall seeing them this deep into the bay. The otters must have had a record year, because we never saw so many. Nice to see their antics as we slowly sailed among them. Many were taking a ride on the small icebergs floating by. They could easily be mistaken for harbor seals, but when we blew up the photos, they were definitely otters of all sizes.
The ship was as far as Jaw Point into the John's Hopkins Inlet, but turned around before we were able to see the actual glacier. Sometimes this glacier is off limits if the seals are pupping. Usually this is the only glacier that calves regularly. The ship headed north towards the Tarr Inlet and Margerie Glacier, situated near the US and Canada border. We lingered for quite a while near the face of the glacier, waiting for the Crown Princess to leave. The bow had been opened by now, and it filled with guests, adding a lot of color to our photos. Dutch pea soup was served on the outside decks as well as a coffee set-up where one could spike it with a variety of liqueur. It was very busy today. It would have been nice if we saw some calving, but it was not to be. The Captain spent about an hour at this point, then turned the ship and sailed slowly out of the inlet.
We needed to go back to the room to defrost and start sorting through the photos. Since we had missed lunch, we went to the Dive-In Grill and ordered one hot dog and one Cannonball burger. No fries. They were good and hot and we dined in our room. It would hold us until dinner at 7:30pm.
About the time we were passing by North and South Marble Islands, we went back outside in hopes of seeing more otters, the Stellar sea lions, and possibly whales. As it turned out, we were too far away to see any wildlife on these strips of islands. Scanning with powerful binoculars, it appeared the sea lions were not there anyway. There was a record number of otters once again. At 3:30pm, the rangers and reps were picked up by boat and headed back to their headquarters at Bartlett Cove. The ship headed south past Hoonah and the Inside Passage. We should arrive to Ketchikan tomorrow before 11am.
Dinnertime was casual attire with a splash of orange. And the theme was Dutch Dinner featuring the flavors of Holland. One of us ordered a bay shrimp cocktail and the other Dutch pea soup. Salads were West highlands with mustard dressing. Mains were bami goreng, a Holland/Indonesian dish and pork cordon bleu. Both were tasty. We are finding the cuisine very good on this trip. Later during our dessert of Boshe bols (chocolate eclairs), Presty stopped by for a chat. He agreed that the food is better than even the food on the world cruise mainly because all of the shipments are coming from the USA and Canada. It is fresh and of high quality and replaced every 7 days. It does make a difference. We complimented the bakers on their skill of producing breads that are tender and stay fresh. Presty totally agreed.
Entertainment this evening was a singer by the name of Chris Bannister performing hits from the now bit older crowd such as Dylan, Taylor, Simon, Croce and many more. The Call of the Wild (new version) was in the Wajang. Then at 9pm, there was the Orange Party in the Crow's Nest. Many folks were dressed for the occasion. It was a long day for us, so we called it a night.
Bill & Mary Ann
PS Thank you for all of the nice comments on Cruise Critic. We are also sorry we did not follow up on the "24 GWV, but life hit us with "fires" to put out. Not literally thank goodness.
We are currently in a very comfortable outside room, but will move to deck six on September 25th. We have access to the Pinnacle Grill for breakfast due to being President's Club members. And worth mentioning, we turned in the first laundry bag this morning. It was returned by 4:30pm. Can't get much better than that. By the way, laundry by the bag is $25 or 7 days unlimited for $59.50.
