Land of the Midnight Sun

Last night we had a fabulous meal at Morimoto by Sea (original Iron Chef) for the late seating as a treat from Nick. Sue had dumplings as a starter, Mary the calamari salad, Nick the ramen and Julie sticky ribs. Very large portions, very tasty. For entrees Sue had a whole branzino, Mary had yellow tail cooked tableside in a hot stone bowl, Nick had shrimp 3 ways, and Julie had broiled tenderloin with mushroom sauce. We shared fried rice, wasabi mashed potatoes and bok choy. Desserts were tofu cheesecake (Sue), berries (Mary), white chocolate mint ganache (Nick) and a chocolate, marshmallow, caramel "sphere" (Julie). So delicious, so much food! The ship had left the harbor in the early evening and we had prime viewing from our window side table. We had arranged to have the connecting door between our two balconies opened but the weather was not conducive to sitting outside after dinner. It was a little bumpy at times during our overnight sailing towards Vancouver and we woke t...

After our trudge back to the ship, we rested and got dressed up for our dinner at Tamarind. It was fabulous. The appetizers and deserts were great, but we especially enjoyed the entrees. Julie had lamb; Mary had chicken curry; Sue had shrimp stir fry; and Nick had DanDan noodles. Sue also enjoyed the sake selections which brought back memories of Rugby World Cup in Japan. Our Porter Yusuf had promised to open the barrier between our stateroom balconies, and we were anxious to check out this new arrangement. Unfortunately for some reason, he had not done this. It was too cold and windy to sit on the balcony anyway. There were some pink/golden clouds in the distance possibly marking a change in the balmy weather we have been experiencing. We turned in and looked forward to our day in Ketchikan, Alaska's very first city and closest to the lower 48. We awoke Friday to cooler and cloudier temperatures. We had breakfast (omelettes to order and eggs Benedict for Julie) and planned to meet...

Wednesday night, as the ship sailed from Skagway to Juneau, we donned our orange clothing and had dinner in the main dining room. It was a Dutch themed menu that had its ups & downs. We then went to see a comedian who was quite funny without being too crude. The orange party seemed too crowded & crazy so we passed. After a nightcap on Mary & Julie's balcony, we turned on fairly early as we have a 9 am date with the whales.  No tenders were involved this morning so we were able to walk right down the gangplank to meet our tour. There were several choices for a Juneau whale-watching excursion, and we had opted for a small group tour that was supposed to have a research scientist on board and was allegedly connected to the University of Alaska. Although we were not disappointed with the wildlife we saw, the educational aspect seemed to be missing.   A young man named Jose was our guide. It was his first summer in Alaska. A total of 20 of us boarded the bus bound for t...

  The ship stopped in Skagway   at 6:30 am . Because of a landslide where it normally docks, we couldn’t disembark at the pier and had to be transported to shore in tenders (small boats holding about 100 people). Other cruise ships were docked at the pier. We went to a staging area   at 10 am   and boarded a tender 10 minutes later. We arrived at the port and climbed a steep gangplank to reach our trolley tour. Sue was concerned because we had also booked a   12-noon   boat tour and given the delay caused by the tender situation, she figured we would miss our boat. The tour guide Anna, assured us it would be ok.   The City of Skagway, which is 15 miles from Canada, is a gold rush boom town built of wood that never burned to the ground. (Juneau has burned 3 times.) There are  920 year round residents, and over 1,000,000 tourists visit each year. This requires the local population to double every spring to serve the tourists. Some of these transient...

Julie had a morning massage and then watched the sights from the stateroom balcony with commentary on the tv. Nick and Sue went up to the Crow’s Nest to take in the sights of Glacier Bay. Mary joined a bit later. It was super crowded. A park ranger gave commentary about the landscape and the Tlingit people who lived here.  We learned that in the so-called Little Ice Age, a huge glacier advanced to the sea carving up the landscape and then retreated, forming Glacier Bay in its wake. Now there are several “smaller” glaciers in its place.  First was Reid Glacier, which extends from Brady Ice Field. Very dirty looking - lots of moraines. We sailed past Gloomy Knob but without binoculars on (we were eating lunch), we did not see the mountain goats.  A bear was spotted on the other side of the ship, but Sue and Nick didn’t see it. We did get to see a raft of otters floating in the water and some seals sunning themselves on one of the Bergie bits (the correct name of the smaller...

Today we sailed into Disenchantment Bay - named because the explorer didn’t find the northwest passage to the Orient. The highlight is the massive and majestic Hubbard Glacier which is the largest tidewater glacier in North America. It is 25% larger than the state of Rhode Island. It is 76 miles long, 7 miles wide and 600 feet tall at its terminal base (350 feet exposed above the waterline and 250 below). It is advancing 80 feet a year, and is expected to fill in a nearby valley with silt and form a new glacial lake. When it calves, the area below the sea also breaks off, so the ship is not able to get too close as sharp chunks of ice can damage the hull.  It took about 500 years for the Glacier to form. The Glacier is part of the 13.2 million acre Wrangell St Elias park, the largest park in the US. We were able to see the Glacier from the open air deck and from our staterooms. There is excellent commentary given by a member of the cruise staff. It is piped into the stateroom on th...