Day 1 - Victoria (May 31)

We accomplished quite a lot today...off the ship into a car, out of the car, onto a ferry, off the ferry, into a taxi, out of the taxi, into the hotel...

...and ate lunch.

Then out for a walk. Across the bridge, and followed the footpath all the way to the Westbay Maritime Village. About fifty minutes. Glorious weather. We were wearing our QE hats & were stopped by a fellow walking his dog. Compared his trip on the QM2 with the QE.  Very nice fellow. Great way to spend the afternoon. Then took a “pickle” boat or water taxi back to town.

View across the bay: Hotel; cruise ship; mountains

Float homes at West Bay Marine Village

Pickle boat

Booked our return mode of travel for Monday.  Back to the hotel, which even though it has a restaurant is also geared towards self catering. Very large rooms with livingroom and kitchen. 

Out for dinner (not far away), then back to the hotel. I failed to mention that Sarah booked the hotel. Two rooms, separated by two floors! I guess my snoring really IS that bad.

Oh well.

Day 11 Vancouver - End of leg 4, beginning of leg 5

Woke up, just before the alarm. Peeked out the curtains & we had just gone under the bridge. Quickly woke Sarah & out to the balcony she went.

Breakfast was earlier than usual, such that everyone could be out of their rooms by 8am (which we didn’t know).

Last breakfast aboard, while we were still docking. Thought we weren’t seeing our table mates again, but they arrived a little after us. Joe looked fine. No extra bruising! Still had a great appetite. The ship doctor said he’d change the bandage before they leave the ship. Hope they took him up on the offer!

We had arranged via the concierge, a private car to take us to Tsawwassen to catch a ferry. Yes. More time on the water. But just 90 minutes. 

The pre-arranged car meant we were provided with “special” tags & were able to get off the ship early & quickly. We were reunited with our bags & then sat & waited. 

It sounds all very civilized...which it was. And fast. And organized. The possible disaster was caused by me. There are comment cards for the passengers, to recommend employees for the “white star” award. These cards needed to be dropped off at the Purser’s office on deck 1. We started out of the cabin, when I decided I wanted to grab a small bottle of perrier. Sent Sarah ahead & dashed back in. I moved fairly quickly & zipped down the stairs to deck 1. No sign of Sarah. How did I miss her??

I went back up the stairs to deck 3 (departure deck). Down to deck 2 (waiting area) no sign. Finally, I remembered we both have cell phones. Sent her a text. She was still on deck 7 waiting for me at the elevators! Oops! Forgot that Sarah had a heavy carry on bag & wouldn’t be taking the stairs. Never occurred to me.

Finally found each other. Off the ship. Found our bags & the waiting area for the limos.

Took almost an hour (should be 40 minutes). But no problem...ferries to Victoria are every hour. 

Victoria? Weren’t we just there? Well, yes. But we have a few days to kill before the last leg of our journey. Wonder how we’ll spend our time? 

For now, fair winds & following seas...

Day 10 - Victoria

Well...today, is our last full day with the ship. 

Soon after we docked, a large cruise ship appeared out of the mist. We were enjoying our view of the distant mountains on the coastline. Gee...I hope it doesn’t dock in front of us.

No such luck. Right between us and the view. 4000 passengers. Ship comes complete with what I can only describe as a sightseeing ball at the top of the ship. It is on a long hydraulic arm, which raises it WAY up. No thanks. Ship is Ovation of the Seas. It looks like a really big apartment block.

We waited until about 10am for all the tours to leave the ship, before making our way ashore. Took the shuttle bus to the town centre (near the Empress Hotel). Wandered around, then stopped for lunch at the aforementioned Empress Hotel, on their verandah. Nice to be able to eat outside. 

After lunch, walked along the shore back to the ship. Just before turning in to the shipyard, saw a chandlery selling a strap on conversion to a paddle board, such that it becomes a sliding shell seat. Complete with oars. Very cool.

Sat on the balcony. Also, darted in to pack...planned packing, as eventually when we get to our last leg, we are allowed only one small bag with us. 

Last hors d’ouevres & the heel of our wine in the room. Watched the first half of the Raptors’ game, then dressed for dinner. Our last one...and it’s a curry!

Our table mates all arrived. The older couple last. Joe...sporting a broken nose! They had taken a taxi to town & he tripped on a bollard of sorts, getting out of the taxi. Back to the ship to see the doctor there. They sent him to the hospital, to have him completely checked out. I think they wanted him to stay overnight, but he wanted out. Nothing wrong with his appetite!

We split up, back to our rooms to do the final packing & get our big bags out to the hallway.

Final sleep on the ship. Alarm set for 6am, to see the approach to Vancouver.

Day 9 - LAST SEA DAY!

Very cleverly, we arranged the pillows and folded bedspreads on the window sill, to block the VERY EARLY sun from coming in under the curtains.

Slept until 6am!

Hot sun on the balcony! Glorious! Tepid, low pressure shower first...not so glorious, but in the grand scheme of things...who cares? Soap still worked.

We are cruising south, probably 12 or so miles off the west coast of Canada. 

Sarah solved a problem for me...we were given our landing cards (customs/immigration) for Canada two days ago. How could I be absolutely sure I wasn’t going to be buying anything further before arriving in Canada? I couldn’t. But the form was signed, dated & handed back. So it WAS true at that time & place. I went with that. Sarah’s added argument (which would have become valid sometime, yesterday evening): We had left US waters & entered Canadian territory. 

We had a pairing lunch: Italian wines, this time. Thankfully, less food. Still lots of wine, though. 

Fog rolled in over the morning, so sitting on the balcony was a bit cool. A good reason for napping.

Tonight is our last “gala” night. We already ordered our last two dinners. Beef Wellington tonight. Curry, tomorrow.

We got back to our rooms to find it as usual (beds turned down, chocolates for gala night, news sheet & daily programme), PLUS, rose petals arranged to form a heart on each bed, around our daily programmes! How sweet is that? Our roses had become a little long in the tooth & they found a lovely way to reduce, reuse, recycle.

PS - sorry for the delay in posting...no internet, yesterday. When Gina left the ship, my account was closed...but it wasn’t fixed until late the day before. That seems to have the unintended result of losing my internet account. Oh, well. Back in Canada with internet via cell phone.

Day 8 - Ketchican

A bright and early morning. Sky was light by 3:30am! Managed to stay in bed until 5am. It is going to be a long day...

Today our exursion was “exclusive flightseeing and crabfest”. 

Yes, even after the two air crashes (3 planes), we still went. We apparently, were originally booked with the company that lost the 3 planes. Re-booked with someone else. 

Left the ship at 9am. Driven down the shore to board our sea plane. First time on a seaplane, for me! Very cool! Flew around and over the island for about 20 minutes, then landed at George’s Inlet Lodge. It was about 10am. After some instruction on the most efficient way to eat crab, we had 90 minutes to eat as much as we wanted. 

Flightseeing: Top left four of the five ships in port; view along the way & our plane docked at the crab shack.

Did I mention this was 10am??? Nothing like crab for breakfast! They also provided bottomless beverages: Wine, beer, soft drinks, lemonade. A fair number of people were drinking wine. 

At 10am.

Champagne is okay, anytime...but wasn’t on offer.

Back by bus to town. Walked around & up to totem pole museum, then back to the ship. Including us, there were five ships here. We were the fourth in & last to get a spot at the dock. The fifth ship, came in after us, anchored in the harbour & used tenders to get their passengers to shore. 

Ketchican

Note to self...and anyone else...check out YouTube video of a bear in a supermarket in Ketchican.

Tomorrow is a sea day. We have planned a pairing lunch...seems only fair to let Sarah experience this. Hopefully, we remain conscious for our journey through the Seymour Straits...if that’s the route we are taking.

Day 7 - Sitka

Arrived at Sitka around 7am. It (like Kodiak) is both the island and the town. 

Relaxing morning...snagged a washing machine at 7:30am, so laundry could wash itself, while we put on the feed bag in the diningroom. No more laundry to do, until we hit the mainland. Sarah also did laundry, after I pulled my stuff out. 

We had an excursion which took us on a walk through a tropical rain forest, through to an area of muskeg. Our guide was very knowledgable. It seems most plants are edible. Not that I would eat them. 

The weather was wonderful! All the locals thanked us for bringing the nice weather. Apparently, rain is more common than warm, sunny days.

Mollusks along the shore

While we were hiking along, we could see a low fog/cloud at the base of the islands across the way. This managed to make its way across the bay in the form of fog. Sunshine/blue skies above, fog a few hundred yards off the ship. 

Fog rolling in

Not sure if we were delayed because of the fog or the lifeboats which were still frolic’ing off the side of the ship.

Regardless, we left...very slowly...after 5pm. Fog horn sounding every two minutes. The echo lasting 15 seconds. 

Day 6 - Icy Strait Point

Icy Strait Point is a purpose built tourist area with room for one ship to be docked. It was built in cooperation with the local Tlingot village (about six miles away). A good way to control the number of visitors per day & those entering the village. Smart. And proceeds are divided amongst the tour operators & villagers.

Sarah was first up (I was allegedly snoring). We had an early start: Our excursion meeting time was 7:10am. 

She ventured up to the Lido to bring back croissants & bacon while I made tea. 

Then down we went to meet up & straight off the ship and into the whale watching boat.

Didn’t take long for the first hump back whale to be spotted. The first sign of whale is the spume, which is mucus mixed with sea water (a snot rocket, we were told). Later we saw a blue whale. I’m using “we” loosely. I didn’t see the first two. It was the next sighting, where I was on the correct side. Between us & the shore was a mother & calf hump back. Pictures gallore. They swung the boat around to give the people on the other side a chance to watch. 

Humpback whales blowing spume

All but three of us watched the “show”. While they were distracted, we watched a bunch of gulls go after a sea lion. I thought they were going after the sea lion to grab whatever fish he caught. It is possible they were going after him because he snatched up a family member. 

Sealion under seige

On the way back to the ship, we saw about 4 sea lions perched on a buoy. Beyond them, the ship. Beyond...sea & mountains.

Back to the ship to sit on the balcony...in the sun. Lunch in the pub. Back on the balcony. Sarah in shorts. 

Since we’ve been back, two bald eagles have been resting on the top of piers at the end of the dock. Beyond that...whale.

While we were on the balcony, we watched people zip lining down the mountain. Then we watch a pod of about six hump back whales “bubble net” fishing. They swim underwater in a circle, then come up through the middle to catch the small fish trapped in the centre. This kept us entertained until we sailed away at 5:30pm.

Another perfect day.

Tomorrow, Sitka and a rain forest hike.

Day 5 - sail by Hubbard Glacier

We had a quick walk around Skagway, once we were back & off the ferry. Not a furkini in sight...thank goodness!

Brilliantly sunny & warm. 

Back to the ship & on the balcony to warm up. And watch all the helicopters take off and land. Actually, Sarah was in charge of that. I was busy updating the blog. We all have our responsibilities.

We shoved off a little after 5:30pm & turned around...therefore, losing our sunny balcony. But what we lost in warmth, we gained in scenery. Sun drenched mountains, hills, valleys & waterfalls. Fair exchange.

Our diningroom faces the same (port side) direction as the cabin, so we continued to enjoy the scenery until after sunset.

****

When Gina & I did the kayaking & “viewing” of the glacier near Juneau, it set up my expectations for the viewing of the Hubbard Glacier. That is, we’d get within viewing distance...maybe 1 or 2 miles & continue on our way.

Nope. The glacier is down a long channel/fjord. Before this, there are the high mountains. So we snaked our way around the mountains and then we caught our first glimpse of the glacier. We kept on going. Then we started seeing bits of bergs (berg bits or berglets...no kidding!). 

I should mention, Sarah & I were by this time at the top of the ship. Securing our positions. I kept darting from side to side to get pictures of the mountains, glaciers and the every larger bits now sizable chunks, of ice.

And still we kept getting closer. Ahead I saw a solid patch of berglets & said to Sarah...okay, she’ll turn around now. Nope. We slowed right down, but kept on.

The berglets were becoming bergs & still we pressed on. The glacier getting larger & larger. Now we started estimating its height above the water. Calculating the height of the ship (based on the number of decks above the water line (14, we thought), height of deck (10’?). We came up with a round number of 150’. We think the glacier wall was about 200’ above the water. 

All this time, as we were silently approaching the glacier, we were the only ship around. We had the place to ourselves. 

Hubbard Glacier

Still we continued on. Until we rounded the last point. THERE was the glacier. The entire wall. On display. One estimate, put us within 200 yards/metres from the glacier. It was absolutely awe inspiring. We had the perfect conditions of clear weather, calm water and only little bergs and berglets.

Diningroom with a view (photo credit: Sarah Nadherny)

Our captain announced earlier in the crew areas that the crew should get out on deck to see the glacier. It was a wonderful thing for her to do & great to see them all availing themselves of the opportunity. For all of our voyage, the crew has been as excited as the passengers. We helped the sommeliers of our diningroom take selfies...with the Hubbard Glacier over their shoulders. 

In my round the world trip in 2014, never were the crew given the opportunity to get out and mingle with the passengers to sight see. That one gesture has likely inspired life long loyalty from her crew. The only reason I found out about it, was by chatting with a crew member I hadn’t seen before.

The ship stayed parallel with the glacier for what seemed like ages, before we slowly started to turn on a dime and moved on. There in the distance was another ship (Radiance of the Seas) at the mouth of the fjord, slowly coming in. We were looking forward to seeing that ship against the mountains and glacier to get a sense of perspective. 

We followed the coast south, staying with the mountains. Everytime we thought we’d seen the tallest mountain...there was one in the distance which was of even greater height.

Another amazing day in the books...capped off with a curry dinner!

Day 4 - Skagway

Panorama view - leaving Juneau

The sail out from Juneau, while in the dark...was unexpectedly lovely. Perfectly calm water with the hills and town lights reflecting. Wonderful. We were the last ship out.

Our arrival at Skagway was early...around six. Oddly, we passed the Norwegian Jewel on her way out. She was with us at Juneau, yesterday. Why would she leave so early? Or was she too early? 

As we were waiting to board the ferry for our excursion, we asked our local guide about the cruise ship. Apparently, it couldn’t dock because a small fuel tanker was coming in & it uses the dock set aside for that cruise ship. 

Our ferry took us 45 minutes to Haines. A naturalist filled us in on the natural history of the area. Very interesting. When we arrived, we transferred to a green painted “cheese wagon” (school bus) for our trip up river. Very few cars, but lots of hills, mountains & wilderness. We turned off the main road to a small, winding single lane side road through the woods and out to the side of a river. Where two rafts awaited us. We were ten strong, plus two guides.

We traded shoes for rubber boots. Added life jackets. Then some instructions:

Don’t fall out of the boat.

If you are told to duck...DUCK, as there are overhanging trees and branches. 

If we get hung up on a shallow patch of gravel, you will be asked to bounce to get us going again.

Chilquit

There were five of us plus guide/rower per raft. The weather looked ominous, but no rain. Cool and breezy. The river we were on was the Chilquit, which is fed by glacier & snow melt. The part we were rafting on (for over 1.5 hours) is in an Eagle preserve. 

On any trip such as this, there are no guarantees as to whether or not you’ll see anything interesting. 

We made two stops along the way: One such that our guides could walk ahead along the shore to determine the best route to take, as the river changes daily; second, for all of us to get out and wander along a small islet of silt, sand & stone. We had a bald eagle follow us along the way, keeping to the tree tops. There were bear tracks in the sand. And moose tracks (no, not the Canadian ice cream flavour). There was an otter as well. 

It was a wonderful trip! At the end, we met our bus driver - without our bus. We now had an executive van. Our bus wouldn’t start. But more importantly, hot beverages & sandwiches. 

The mountains, trees, animals, prints & broody skies. Brilliant.

Day 3 - Juneau

We were to take a side trip into Tracy Arm to see a glacier. However the weather & amount of icebergs prevented that. Amazing to see icebergs in the flesh! Such beauty. And to think we only see the 10% above the water.

Arrived in Juneau early.

Walked the town and nothing much more.

Well...there were the jewellery stores, furkinis and cashmere sweaters on sale...who could resist? Not me!

There were three other ships in port. How our captain managed to fit us into our spot, I have no idea!

Tomorrow, we are rafting & visiting an eagle wilderness preserve. Or at least I think that’s what we are doing. We leave a little after 8am and return after 3pm. WHAT ABOUT LUNCH???? We could starve to death! We have warned our dinner partners they may not recognize us at dinner. Shadows of our former selves & all that.

Shoved off at 9:30pm. Cloudy/rainy all day. No sunset to see us off.

Day 2 - at sea

I had asked Edgar, the day before we arrived in Vancouver if Sarah would be getting a bottle of champagne. Not to worry. He would take care of it.

So the tradition starting back on the QE2, through the world cruise, med cruise, and in Tokyo...we sat on the balcony with champagne and hors d’ouevres for our sail away.

Yes. All about the food & drink.

We had a pleasant evening. Met our new table neighbours. The first “couple” we met, weren’t at all a “couple”. Just friends who have known each other for 60 years & like to cruise together. We were confused at first when she said she had a flat in London & he lived in the NW of the city. 

We thought about going to the theatre - there was a Barbra Striesand singer...but didn’t make it.

We DID manage to stir ourselves to listen to our guest lecturer, Ann Daniels. She has been on a number of expeditions on the Arctic Sea - which refers to the polar ice. Interesting how she sort of fell into it. Not something I’d want to do once or even for a few days.

A misty start to the day. Winds increased to about 25 knots...finally, some swells! The  noon update included the origins of the term “sky scraper”. It came from the top sails used in light winds. There were also “moon rakers” & “star scrapers”. On land, the first use of a sky scraper to refer to a building was in 1880. 

Also in the Captain’s message, she advised we may not be able to have a scenic passage to/in Tracy Arm tomorrow morning, because of weather and...ice? 

First ice sighting

Winds have steadily increased & are now at 37 knots, but the sun is shining & our balcony is in the sun AND in the lee of the wind. Only 50F but feels wonderful! Sarah spotted a full rainbow around the sun...kinda neat.

Sun encircled with a rainbow

Perhaps tomorrow we’ll see whales & no ice.

Day 19 - Vancouver: End of Leg 3, Beginning of Leg 4 - Day 1

One thing Gina & I forgot to do until nearly the end of the trip was be clear as to which towels we were using. Turns out, we’d been using the same bath towel. Good thing we are family.

We set the alarm for 6:45am, such that we’d be able to watch our arrival. Gina was already up when I awoke at 6:30. We were docked by 6am. So disappointing.

Oh, well. 

We got ourselves ready & shifted ourselves out of our room. Gina went down stairs to await her disembarkation. I went to the top deck to see if I could figure out which hotel room Sarah was in - no idea.

Went down below to join Gina. Off the ship by 8:30am. In the hotel diningroom fairly quickly after handing in our immigration forms and leaving Gina’s VERY LARGE SUITCASE with the bell hop of the hotel. Also enquired about how Sarah’s cases were to make it aboard. 

Breakfast (still seems to be all about food), then up to see Sarah’s room. Enormous would be too small a word to describe her hotel room! 

Me, Sarah, Gina (photo credit: Gina Gooderham)

We parcelled Gina into a taxi for her flight home. Herein ends Leg 3.

Sarah & I wandered for a bit along the sea wall, then made our way to the ship. Complete balls up on the shore side. But I will move on from that. Made it aboard. Quick visit to the cabin & balcony & then to lunch.

Where we started with the last two glasses of pink champagne from a bottle Gina & I started a couple of days ago.

Photo credit: Sarah Nadherny

Herein begins Leg 4.

PS - in case you are wondering...we have already discussed bath towels - mine are the top rung, Sarah’s are the bottom rung.

Sarah with our traditional start