The Walker's are off on another adventure. We leave Seattle via train to Vancouver BC, spend the night with friends, and then board the Princess ship on Monday. The ship spends one week getting up to Whittier, and then spends another week getting back down to Vancouver. We will then take the train to Seattle and return home.
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Day 1 -- Vancouver
It was a dark and stormy night – OK it wasn’t. But it was dark when we left the house at 5:15 am to catch a ferry to Edmonds to catch a train to Vancouver. My good friend, Alana, volunteered to drive us to Kingston to catch a 6:25 am ferry. We packed the car with lots of luggage as we don’t know how to travel lightly. I am very proud of myself as I only had 2 suitcases, plus my purse plus a small bag with breakfast and other miscellaneous junk. Michael had 2 suitcases, a brief case, his bridge case and a backpack. Thank goodness for wheeled luggage. We looked like we were moving in instead of going on a 2 week cruise. It must have looked amusing watching me lug my suitcases up the ramp to the ferry as I woke up with muscle spasms in my back and could barely walk.
We arrived at the train station and had to wait ½ hour before it opened. Our train was scheduled for 8:05 am. When we went to check our large suitcases, we were surprised to find out that they weighed the suitcases just like at the airport. My suitcase was 56 pounds and I asked how much it would cost to let it go. They have a weight limit of 50 pounds – period. Michael’s was 53 pounds. So there we were, in the train station moving all our clothes around trying to stuff the overage into our smaller suitcases which were already packed. We managed to get them down to 51 pounds and the station manager let them go. The train was late out of Seattle due to brake problems; we finally got on the train at 9:20 am.
The ride was surprisingly smooth and the coach was very comfortable. Too bad airplanes aren’t as roomy and comfortable. It was overcast, but warm outside. The scenery was very nice as we rode along the water most of the way. When we arrived in Vancouver, it was raining. It took about ¾ hour to get through customs. Our friends, Leonard and Mary, met us there. We went out to lunch and then back to their house where we spent a relaxing afternoon. Michael hooked up a VCR and did some computer maintenance. We had a lovely home cooked meal and after dinner, took a walk along the waterfront on Coal Harbor. Turned in early and had a good night’s sleep.
We arrived at the train station and had to wait ½ hour before it opened. Our train was scheduled for 8:05 am. When we went to check our large suitcases, we were surprised to find out that they weighed the suitcases just like at the airport. My suitcase was 56 pounds and I asked how much it would cost to let it go. They have a weight limit of 50 pounds – period. Michael’s was 53 pounds. So there we were, in the train station moving all our clothes around trying to stuff the overage into our smaller suitcases which were already packed. We managed to get them down to 51 pounds and the station manager let them go. The train was late out of Seattle due to brake problems; we finally got on the train at 9:20 am.
The ride was surprisingly smooth and the coach was very comfortable. Too bad airplanes aren’t as roomy and comfortable. It was overcast, but warm outside. The scenery was very nice as we rode along the water most of the way. When we arrived in Vancouver, it was raining. It took about ¾ hour to get through customs. Our friends, Leonard and Mary, met us there. We went out to lunch and then back to their house where we spent a relaxing afternoon. Michael hooked up a VCR and did some computer maintenance. We had a lovely home cooked meal and after dinner, took a walk along the waterfront on Coal Harbor. Turned in early and had a good night’s sleep.
Day 2 -- Embarkation
Bad muscle spasms continued. I could barely walk and taking a shower was an ordeal, especially since it is hard to reach certain places when you can barely stand up; thank goodness for Flexeril and painkillers. Mary made an outstanding breakfast casserole and by then I was somewhat mobile. Leonard and Mary drove us to the ship terminal.
We had a pretty easy boarding as Princess actually had us on the passenger manifest with a room number. We checked bags and did the registration thing. When they gave us our room assignment, I thought great, we have a passenger room. Well, we went to deck 5 and looked for the room and there were no such numbers. Found a crew member and told us to head down the corridor toward the stern and keep going until we reach the crew only door. Go through that door and you will find your room.
Yep, we got a crew room. Only good thing I can say about it is that we have 2 portholes. It is noisy, spartan and the pillows and bed need help. The bed is against the wall so one of us has to crawl in from the end (you guessed right – Michael). We get a cruise news with no letterhead and really crummy hangers. There were no drinking glasses, but we did get soap and shampoo. Michael went to one of the bars and snagged a couple of martini glasses for his Manhattans.
THIS IS NOT REGENT SEVEN SEAS VOYAGER. We are spoiled forever.
We had a pretty easy boarding as Princess actually had us on the passenger manifest with a room number. We checked bags and did the registration thing. When they gave us our room assignment, I thought great, we have a passenger room. Well, we went to deck 5 and looked for the room and there were no such numbers. Found a crew member and told us to head down the corridor toward the stern and keep going until we reach the crew only door. Go through that door and you will find your room.
Yep, we got a crew room. Only good thing I can say about it is that we have 2 portholes. It is noisy, spartan and the pillows and bed need help. The bed is against the wall so one of us has to crawl in from the end (you guessed right – Michael). We get a cruise news with no letterhead and really crummy hangers. There were no drinking glasses, but we did get soap and shampoo. Michael went to one of the bars and snagged a couple of martini glasses for his Manhattans.THIS IS NOT REGENT SEVEN SEAS VOYAGER. We are spoiled forever.
Day 3 -- Sea Day
Today was a sea day. Michael gave bridge lessons and directed a game. He had a decent turnout for both. I spent the day reading in various locations on the ship. I found a place I like on the 8th floor library, so that is where I will spend most of my time as our cabin is not a place to linger in. The weather was overcast, and was too cold to sit outside.
Still having muscle spasms, but they are gradually getting less severe.
Tonight was formal night. We noticed that very few men wore tuxedos. They have photographers stationed all around the common areas and we thought we would have a formal picture taken. We then looked at the backgrounds they were using and realized we already had pictures with those backgrounds! Oh, Regent, how I miss you -- no photographers everywhere, no bingo announcements, no drink of the day, etc.
Tomorrow is Ketchikan.
Still having muscle spasms, but they are gradually getting less severe.
Tonight was formal night. We noticed that very few men wore tuxedos. They have photographers stationed all around the common areas and we thought we would have a formal picture taken. We then looked at the backgrounds they were using and realized we already had pictures with those backgrounds! Oh, Regent, how I miss you -- no photographers everywhere, no bingo announcements, no drink of the day, etc.
Tomorrow is Ketchikan.
Day 4 -- Ketchikan
Princess Cruise Lines is on my sh*t list. I forgot to mention that, once again, we had problems getting our luggage after boarding the ship. They managed to get one of the three bags to our assigned room. We had to track down the other two bags at the crew office. There were tags on the bags with the room number. Simple – deliver the bags to the room indicated on the tag. Don’t understand……..
Last night was the night from hell. It seems as though our cabin is over the loud speakers in the crew recreation/disco room. They had a BIG HUGE party last night and the music shook and vibrated the entire room, and including every organ in my body. It was so bad that I called down to the front desk and complained. When nothing happened, I got dressed and went to the front desk in person and complained. They said there was nothing they could do about it. Michael had fallen asleep before the music got going at 10,000 decibels; it eventually woke him up; and I always thought he could sleep through a nuclear blast. I met some of the singers out in the hallway and we had a nice conversation about the noise/music and their life at sea. Since they work at night and take part in the party, the music didn’t really bother them. The music finally stopped around 2 am. We talked to our contact with the cruise staff and said they would try to find us another room. Who knows what they are going to do – probably give us a worse room. Tonight as I write this (at 11 pm), it is pretty quiet. But fear not, they plan on another BIG HUGE disco party night after next!
Once again, I got a surprise shore excursion. Michael got up around 7:30am and found two envelopes under our door. Escort duty for both of us ---- except mine was scheduled to leave at 8:30am and his LEFT at 6:30am. When exactly did they slip it under our door???? I know it wasn’t before 2am! So I hurried up and got dressed and went on my tour. I really didn’t have any duties, just got to enjoy it. For those of you who haven’t seen “The Deadliest Catch” on the Discovery Channel, it is about the crab fishermen in the Bering Sea, one of the most dangerous jobs on earth. The tour was on one of the boats, Aleutian Ballad, which was in the series. It has been
converted into a tour boat because it is no longer seaworthy for crab fishing because of all the hits it has taken from rogue waves, rough water, and crashing on the rocks. They demonstrated how they catch the crab, including launching and the retrieving the pots, told us about life on the boat during crab season, and took us on a wildlife tour where we saw lots of eagles, an octopus, and an Orca. The guys who ran the boat tour were the original skipper and two of the deckhands. They also would throw bait fish out into the water and the eagles would swoop down and pick the fish up. The adult eagles would then bring the food up to the juveniles that were still in the nest. It was a magnificent sight.
Michael went to Wal-Mart.
We came back to the ship, had lunch, and Michael ran a bridge game. Had dinner and watched a comedy show and a musical. I hope we can sleep tonight.
Tomorrow is Juneau.
Last night was the night from hell. It seems as though our cabin is over the loud speakers in the crew recreation/disco room. They had a BIG HUGE party last night and the music shook and vibrated the entire room, and including every organ in my body. It was so bad that I called down to the front desk and complained. When nothing happened, I got dressed and went to the front desk in person and complained. They said there was nothing they could do about it. Michael had fallen asleep before the music got going at 10,000 decibels; it eventually woke him up; and I always thought he could sleep through a nuclear blast. I met some of the singers out in the hallway and we had a nice conversation about the noise/music and their life at sea. Since they work at night and take part in the party, the music didn’t really bother them. The music finally stopped around 2 am. We talked to our contact with the cruise staff and said they would try to find us another room. Who knows what they are going to do – probably give us a worse room. Tonight as I write this (at 11 pm), it is pretty quiet. But fear not, they plan on another BIG HUGE disco party night after next!
Once again, I got a surprise shore excursion. Michael got up around 7:30am and found two envelopes under our door. Escort duty for both of us ---- except mine was scheduled to leave at 8:30am and his LEFT at 6:30am. When exactly did they slip it under our door???? I know it wasn’t before 2am! So I hurried up and got dressed and went on my tour. I really didn’t have any duties, just got to enjoy it. For those of you who haven’t seen “The Deadliest Catch” on the Discovery Channel, it is about the crab fishermen in the Bering Sea, one of the most dangerous jobs on earth. The tour was on one of the boats, Aleutian Ballad, which was in the series. It has been
converted into a tour boat because it is no longer seaworthy for crab fishing because of all the hits it has taken from rogue waves, rough water, and crashing on the rocks. They demonstrated how they catch the crab, including launching and the retrieving the pots, told us about life on the boat during crab season, and took us on a wildlife tour where we saw lots of eagles, an octopus, and an Orca. The guys who ran the boat tour were the original skipper and two of the deckhands. They also would throw bait fish out into the water and the eagles would swoop down and pick the fish up. The adult eagles would then bring the food up to the juveniles that were still in the nest. It was a magnificent sight.Michael went to Wal-Mart.
We came back to the ship, had lunch, and Michael ran a bridge game. Had dinner and watched a comedy show and a musical. I hope we can sleep tonight.
Tomorrow is Juneau.
Day 5 -- Juneau
We survived the night. Actually, it was pretty calm and we were able to get some solid sleep. No excursions today. It was a very low key day in Juneau.
We walked into town in a light drizzle. There were four ships in port and the town was very crowded and it was impossible to walk on the sidewalks. There were a lot of Japanese and they are not very courteous; if they want to walk in a certain direction and you are in the way, they just bump or push you. The rest of the tourists must leave their brains at home because they wander about without looking where they are going. They stand in the street gazing up, around and everywhere except to look out for cars.
We wound up at the library to do our internet stuff. Free 30 minutes – what a bargain! I was not able to upload my Word file to do a cut and paste into email because the library’s Word was an old version. The librarian was very helpful; I suggested she open the file on her computer, cut and paste into email, and then email it to me. It worked like a charm and hopefully you were able to receive it OK.
After the library, we wandered around the
town. There were a few nice shops, but mostly jewelry stores and trinket and T-shirt shops. The stores were advertising end of season sales and there were some pretty good prices on souvenir sweatshirts and jackets. We came back empty handed since this snowbird doesn’t need any more sweatshirts (plus I already have a very nice Alaska shirt).
We had lunch and then spent the afternoon wandering around the ship and then settled into my favorite place to read. Made a few phone calls; it was so nice to reach out and touch someone you love. Michael followed up with our cruise contact person to see about changing our room. We were informed that it would happen today and that we were going to get a passenger room.
After waiting all day, it finally happened!! We were informed at 9 pm that we would get a new room. We packed and at 10 pm we made the move. A room steward came with a trolley to transport all our stuff. We had miscellaneous bags for books (which have mysteriously multiplied) and snacks and martini glasses and other assorted oddities. We left our hanging clothes on hangers. I felt like a gypsy. We finally settled into our new room at 11 pm. It is an inside room and has less storage, but a better bed. I have figured out how to live with an inside room so I am less stressed without the window. We are going to have to move again when the turnaround comes on Monday. We have absolutely no idea where we will go next.
Tomorrow is Skagway.
We walked into town in a light drizzle. There were four ships in port and the town was very crowded and it was impossible to walk on the sidewalks. There were a lot of Japanese and they are not very courteous; if they want to walk in a certain direction and you are in the way, they just bump or push you. The rest of the tourists must leave their brains at home because they wander about without looking where they are going. They stand in the street gazing up, around and everywhere except to look out for cars.
We wound up at the library to do our internet stuff. Free 30 minutes – what a bargain! I was not able to upload my Word file to do a cut and paste into email because the library’s Word was an old version. The librarian was very helpful; I suggested she open the file on her computer, cut and paste into email, and then email it to me. It worked like a charm and hopefully you were able to receive it OK.
After the library, we wandered around the
town. There were a few nice shops, but mostly jewelry stores and trinket and T-shirt shops. The stores were advertising end of season sales and there were some pretty good prices on souvenir sweatshirts and jackets. We came back empty handed since this snowbird doesn’t need any more sweatshirts (plus I already have a very nice Alaska shirt).We had lunch and then spent the afternoon wandering around the ship and then settled into my favorite place to read. Made a few phone calls; it was so nice to reach out and touch someone you love. Michael followed up with our cruise contact person to see about changing our room. We were informed that it would happen today and that we were going to get a passenger room.
After waiting all day, it finally happened!! We were informed at 9 pm that we would get a new room. We packed and at 10 pm we made the move. A room steward came with a trolley to transport all our stuff. We had miscellaneous bags for books (which have mysteriously multiplied) and snacks and martini glasses and other assorted oddities. We left our hanging clothes on hangers. I felt like a gypsy. We finally settled into our new room at 11 pm. It is an inside room and has less storage, but a better bed. I have figured out how to live with an inside room so I am less stressed without the window. We are going to have to move again when the turnaround comes on Monday. We have absolutely no idea where we will go next.
Tomorrow is Skagway.
Day 6 -- Skagway
How did our new room work out? Let’s just say it was a different kind of noise. No intense bass beating the walls and body at night when you are trying to sleep; instead, we have a service area behind and over the room and it sounds like they are roller skating and sometimes it sounds like they are bowling. It occurs at all hours both day and night. There is no noise-free zone for us. Ain’t gonna happen! Did I mention I will never do a Princess cruise again?
There isn’t a whole lot to report on the locations we have visited on this cruise as we have been to them many times before and there just isn’t a whole lot to describe. We were in Skagway, which has a permanent population of fewer than 1,000. There was just our ship in town so it wasn’t overrun with people. It was overcast and very windy. We walked abo
ut ½ mile into town along a very nice boardwalk that runs along the water. We passed over a stream where an enormous number of salmon were coming upstream to spawn. Wherever there was a bare patch of ground, there were lovely flowers; there weren’t any hanging baskets as it is just too windy all the time (the name Skagway means winds from the north). The sidewalks were raised wooden boardwalks. Again, there were a lot of jewelry and trinket shops. I bought a large, shocking pink tote bag with “Alaska” embroidered on one side for $5 – what a bargain. After our move last night, we really needed an extra bag to tote all the miscellaneous stuff so now we are prepared for the next move which should be on Monday.
We came back to the ship and had lunch. I looked like I stuck my finger in a light socket because my hair was standing straight out from all the wind. It’s a kind of wind that goes straight through you. After lunch, I started teaching our dinner companion, Shirley, how to knit. She went to town and bought needles and yarn, and was very excited to start the lessons. She seems very eager to learn and I really enjoy teaching. We then saw the new Star Trek movie (Michael loved it, and I thought it was a pleasant way to kill a few hours). Went back to our room for a little R&R before dinner (like we haven’t had any R&R, right….!).
After dinner, we went to the show and saw a very funny and talented ventriloquist, Dan Horn. Normally I would yawn at something like this, but this guy was really, really good. If you ever get a chance to see him, you will be very pleased (he has been on the late night shows).
There isn’t a whole lot to report on the locations we have visited on this cruise as we have been to them many times before and there just isn’t a whole lot to describe. We were in Skagway, which has a permanent population of fewer than 1,000. There was just our ship in town so it wasn’t overrun with people. It was overcast and very windy. We walked abo
ut ½ mile into town along a very nice boardwalk that runs along the water. We passed over a stream where an enormous number of salmon were coming upstream to spawn. Wherever there was a bare patch of ground, there were lovely flowers; there weren’t any hanging baskets as it is just too windy all the time (the name Skagway means winds from the north). The sidewalks were raised wooden boardwalks. Again, there were a lot of jewelry and trinket shops. I bought a large, shocking pink tote bag with “Alaska” embroidered on one side for $5 – what a bargain. After our move last night, we really needed an extra bag to tote all the miscellaneous stuff so now we are prepared for the next move which should be on Monday.We came back to the ship and had lunch. I looked like I stuck my finger in a light socket because my hair was standing straight out from all the wind. It’s a kind of wind that goes straight through you. After lunch, I started teaching our dinner companion, Shirley, how to knit. She went to town and bought needles and yarn, and was very excited to start the lessons. She seems very eager to learn and I really enjoy teaching. We then saw the new Star Trek movie (Michael loved it, and I thought it was a pleasant way to kill a few hours). Went back to our room for a little R&R before dinner (like we haven’t had any R&R, right….!).
After dinner, we went to the show and saw a very funny and talented ventriloquist, Dan Horn. Normally I would yawn at something like this, but this guy was really, really good. If you ever get a chance to see him, you will be very pleased (he has been on the late night shows).
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