 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Friday |
| So the trip to Anchorage was the usual travelling gong show. The flight to Vancouver was uneventful but when we got to Vancouver airport it was chaos as the International terminal was under construction (when isn't it?) and the line ups to get through security were huge. Because my mom had requested a wheelchair they were able to take the shorter line but when they went through security my dad was practically strip searched. I was getting more and more pissed off at the guy frisking my dad as it took him forever to do so and it was beyond ridiculous at how thorough he was being searched. Of course if I had said anything they'd pull a God trip on me and suddenly I'm a terrorist being sent off to Syria to be tortured. But I digress...the flight to Anchorage was about 3 hrs and went by fairly fast. I passed the time by watching a documentary on the Golden Age of Zeppelins as well as some World Series of Poker. Anchorage itself is fairly large, roughly 200,000 and makes up half the population of Alaska. It is on the ocean and surrounded by large mountains. Oh, and the women there all talk like Sarah Palin. After we got settled in we went for dinner at a local micro brewery/restaurant. Everyone except Chris and Kim had some form of seafood and it was amazingly good. They had ordered the ribs which they weren't overly impressed with (but as I told them, it'd be like going to Texas and ordering the Salmon - just doesn't make much sense). I was disappointed to find out from our server that you couldn't really see Mt. McKinley from Anchorage, which kinda sucked as I was hoping to get a picture of North America's largest mountain. I had an odd experience when we ran across the street to the liquor store. I went to pay with my debit card but it came back with an error saying 'institution not recognized'. I told the clerk that it was pretty sad that I could use my debit card in Russia with no problem put apparently not in Alaska's largest city. Which nation is backwards again? The hotel was very nice with an upscale lodgey feel to it. There was a bit of panic as they had misplaced one of my parents suitcases (which had my Dad's medication in it) but after a few hours it showed up. It was neat to find out that at this time of year you have 20 hours of sunlight in Anchorage with the sun going down around midnight and coming up again around 4am. Thankfully all the rooms had thick blinds to block out the light. |
| Saturday |
| In the morning we got up and took a quick shuttle to the train station where we boarded our train which was to take us to the port of Whittier - a two and a half hour ride. Because my parents had booked late they had to go separately on a bus coach. The train was fun and you could go out between the cars which was open to the outside and stand and take pictures of the countryside rushing by. After what had seemed like a long, somewhat tiring journey just to get to the ship we rounded a corner and there she was in all her glory - the Princess Diamond. As we walked up to it I was making mental comparisons to the other ships we've travelled on, and while a large ship, I decided it was somewhat smaller than the other ones. However unlike the ports of Fort Lauderdale or Dover which were fairly typical, seeing such a large ship against a backdrop of majestic snow covered mountain peaks was pretty awe inspiring. The lineup to get on the ship was annoyingly large (no priority boarding for us this time) but overall went fairly quickly. We got our sign and sail cards and had our picture taken and we were on board! We grabbed some food in the buffet and chowed it down before wandering around. I was starting to get worried as I had called my parents cabin several times but didn't get an answer. After eating we went back to our cabin and tried phoning them once more and was relieved when they answered. They had just got on despite having left Anchorage before us. In fact, there was still people coming on to the ship until late in the evening. Thankfully it didn't depart until 9 or 9:30 pm. By the end of the evening we had explored a good portion of the ship. We found a very cool place called the Skywalker lounge. What was neat was that it had floor to ceiling windows which looked out over the back of the ship. So you could sit there enjoying your drink while looking out upon everything behind you. My parents had turned in early, so Kim, Chris, Hailey and I had a few drinks (Hailey's were virgin) and had a good time whooping it up and giggling like little girls. Afterwards we went back to our cabin and crashed as all the stresses and exertions of the previous days drained out of us. |
| Sunday |
| Chris and I ended up with a mini suite. Having previously only stayed in full suites I have to say they're pretty good. I would easily stay in another one again. The main difference with the mini suite is you don't get the little makeup area and the tub isn't jetted. Our balcony was fairly large, but unlike our previous balconies it was square instead of being rectangular. Princess is slightly more upscale than Carnival. After having spent a day onboard I'd have to say about the only thing I like better about Carnival ships is their running track which is on the very top of the boat and is completely outside. On the Princess Diamond it is a deck or two from the top and alternates between being enclosed and being outside. One of my favorite things when we went to Europe on the Carnival Splendor was being able to exercise while seeing all of the sea all around me and feeling the breeze. The event on this day was a visit to College Fjord. The ship came up to the glacier and slowly did a 180 before heading back out. The glacier itself was very cool and was also the most northern point of our trip. It put anything I've seen in Banff or Jasper to shame. Even better we got to see several instances of 'calving'. That's where you hear a monstrous 'crack' and large chunks of the glacier break off and fall into the sea. The whole area was beautiful and almost primeval - completely untouched by man. I also found out (just now) that it was also the epicenter of North America's largest earthquake in 1964. In the afternoon we ran into the casino and bee lined it to our favorite slot machine - Wheel of Fortune - and much to Kim's annoyance Chris won $150 on her second spin. Which was good because I had sank over $100 on the other machine a few minutes earlier. That night was formal night so we had to get dressed up for dinner. The meal was pretty yummy and it seemed like everyone was celebrating their anniversary or birthday. Afterwards my parents went to see the main show in the theatre while we went and saw the standup comic. He was pretty funny but unfortunately Chris couldn't stay as she was feeling sea sick. In fact everyone on the ship was feeling pretty ill. Early in the afternoon the captain had made an announcement warning everyone that we'd be experiencing gale force winds and waves as high as 5m as we crossed the Gulf of Alaska. This was Chris and my third cruise and we've experienced rough conditions before. Although I was initially excited at the prospect of a choppy ride by the end of the night it was getting a bit old. Needless to say we all turned in fairly early. |
| Monday |
| The morning started with the potential to be very crappy. While the seas were calm again we were completely hemmed in by fog. Every few minutes the ship would have to blast it's horn to let any other ships out there know we were there. But miraculously as soon as we entered Glacier Bay the fog lifted and the sun came out in what turned out to be a gorgeous day. The bay itself is a UNSO heritage site. What makes it unique is that it contains 3 or 4 huge glaciers. We sailed past them all and at each one the ship would pull alongside, then turn around, and sit there for awhile before resuming - this gave everyone an opportunity for the best view. We got to see a lot more calving and at one of the glaciers a huge chunk broke off with a mighty crack and the whole ship ooohed and aaahed and cheered. It was definitely surreal lying on a deck lounger with beer in hand having the warm sun beating down and in the background a massive glacier dwarfing all the people in front of it. After we had spent a good chunk of the day taking in the sites the ship left the bay and like clockwork the fog and crappy weather rolled in again. That night was pretty tame as we had to be up early in the morning so we went to bed early. Chris, Kim, Hailey and I did however go for a massage before dinner. It was pretty funny because as we left I was the only one who had bought any products. As a result we were all feeling really relaxed while we ate. |