Rough Start

The last day of our guided tour started out nicely - the weather was great, we had another good meal with our last voucher and everyone was ready to get on the boat and not have to change rooms for a week. The trip was a couple of hours to Whittier, AK which is where Princess docks their cruise ships. On the way, there was trivia on the bus and we stopped in Portage to see where the Portage Glacier is. Only 15 years ago, the glacier was visible from the visitor's center but now it's receded so far back that you have take a boat ride on the lake to see it. It was still pretty there with some icebergs in the water and an interesting visitor's center (named after Begich and Boggs, two Congressmen who disappeared in a plane crash in 1972) that had a good movie about the Prince William Sound area. When it was over, the curtains opened to reveal floor-to-ceiling windows that showed the mountains and lake.

Smokey the Bear is jacked!

From there, we were only a few minutes from the tunnel. Whittier was built up during World War II because it was an ice-free port and was a shorter distance to Anchorage but there was one problem - there were no roads to it and there were mountains surrounding it. They ended up taking two years and built a 2.5 mile tunnel that was just wide enough for a railroad. As of 20 years ago, Princess would load the motorcoach onto a train car and that's how they would get through.

Deciding this was getting untenable, they got funding in the late 90's to widen the tunnel and allow car traffic and this work was completed in 2003. The tunnel is still barely wide enough for a bus so only one direction of traffic can go at a time. Waiting our turn, our bus was the first through since they cater to Princess. During the trip, the driver told us that it had survived the 1964 Good Friday earthquake (which destroyed much of the town, especially with the ensuing tsunami) but there are 8 safe rooms that can be used in an emergency that are stocked with provisions and are ventilated. They've only been used once during a car chase a few years back. The other interesting thing about the tunnel is that it closes at 9 PM, meaning no one can get in or out of Whittier during the night. Whittier is very small and doesn't have many residents; almost all live in one condo building. The former military housing unit was condemned because of asbestos but it's too costly to remove so it's just abandoned and decaying.

We finally said goodbye to Tia and went to the complex to the board the Star Princess. When we checked in we had to scan our passports but they couldn't find our keys. This was the first red flag since when they found it (after a delay in which the manager had to be called over), it was in the location for the previous room number even though our new room number was printed on the card. We then walk up to get on the ship and that's when the trouble really started.

The cruise card can be swiped or scanned; when they swiped it to let us on board, it said it was invalid. Everyone on our tour had already gone on and while we should have been the first ones on board, it took so long for some other employee to bring new cards that other people were now lined up to embark. Finally we got new cards and headed to customer service to complain and make sure everything else was straightened out but once again, the guy at the desk didn't seem to care and said everything would be fine.

They take your picture all of the time on the boat.

This was taken as we boarded. Jess is NOT happy!

We ended up going to our room and thankfully our key worked and our excursion tickets were there. The room was small but ok; the balcony was pretty big and since it was a nice day (and since we didn't set sail for over 6 hours), we enjoyed it before grabbing lunch at the buffet which was basically my nightmare. It was very crowded and all the food was nothing I'd care to eat. People were packed in and everything was out in open containers; at one point there was a guy literally drooling on the sneeze guard. In fairness, he was struggling with the tongs so I think he had medical issues but still...this is what turns me off to buffets. I grabbed an apple and a roll and then Jess got me some cookies. We did eat dinner there later and that had some meat stations so at least then I could eat something.

Right before the boat leaves, they do a mandatory safety drill. We arrived on time and to ensure that everyone attends, they scan in our cards. Of course, when they did this the scanner makes the sound you'd hear when someone busts out on "Price is Right". Same thing happened with Jess's card. The guy writes down our room number on his hand and says he'll take care of it. As soon as the safety demonstration ended, we headed to customer service and after waiting in a very long time, once again, they did not care that our first cruise experience was so bad. They did change our cards but seemed put out when we asked them scan them to make sure they worked (after all, we'd be leaving the boat when it docks in a couple of days and I didn't want a hassle when we went to re-board). We ended up missing them leave the dock because we were in line; I assume I missed lots of people waving their hats and handkerchiefs at us.

The other thing we noticed is that every two minutes they are trying to sell us things. At dinner they were selling alcohol packages for $60+ per person per day and we were thinking about how anyone could drink enough to justify that much booze. We wanted to get a soda with dinner but didn't see where there was any. When we asked, we found out that soda is a separate package so that was going to be $8 per day per person for the duration of voyage. Considering what we'd spend on a bottle of soda that's not too bad but it is kind of annoying to have to go to a bar to get a Diet Coke each time you want one. And that package still doesn't even include bottled water.

Our first day aboard was not exactly great and while we hope it changes, we're thinking we're not cruise people - we'd rather have done another week on land at this point.

As they say at Princess, "You're stuck on board now so what are you gonna do?" Note: Yeah, that's the attitude we got.

Fabulous Fjords

A couple of days ago, we had booked a 10-hour excurion to see the Kenai Fjords National Park by boat and we were both really looking forward to it. We were up early to head to breakfast and right before leaving, I checked my email and found I had an email from Princess regarding our cruise. Opening it, I saw we got a complimentary upgrade to a mini-suite. Great! When I looked at the room number, I saw it was an odd number which I was pretty sure was on the wrong side of the boat (I wanted the port side since for the first few days, the land is on that side; otherwise you're just looking at ocean). After looking up the map of the ship, it confirmed what I thought so I immediately called to get our old room back.

After being on hold for 15 minutes, I told them that I didn't want the upgrade - I specifically didn't apply for one earlier because I didn't want to get on the wrong side of the boat. She cheerfully said that maybe she'd do an upgrade on the port side but after a couple minutes, she came back and said she needed to speak to her manager. After another 5-10 minutes on hold - and at this point missing our time for a relaxing breakfast - she comes and says she put in a request to move back to our original spot but they would contact me later. I figured I'd have no cell service most of the day but judging by the sound of her voice, they already gave our original room away so I was not optimistic.

Right before we left I got another email saying we were one room over from where we were before - closer to the elevator but at least on the right side of the boat. Of course, we had to a reprint our boarding passes and luggage tags so it was a hassle just to end up with a worse room.

Putting that behind us, we took the shuttle to Seward which was a neat little town where most cruise ships dock. We went to the park Visitor's Center to get Jess's stamp and then we got in line to board the tour boat. While standing in line, we met a retired attorney and teacher who had just gotten off a northbound cruise. Turns out they live in Savannah but had just been living on a boat for a year. Unfortunately the last hurricane season wrecked their plans and they didn't get to actually do much sailing so they ended up selling the boat and doing some different traveling. We stuck with them and sat with them on the boat and they were delightful company for the day.

The Kenai Fjords National Park was amazing! We got to get up close to glaciers, waterfalls and all kinds of rock formations. We saw Dall porpoises (which look like mini orcas), humpback whales, sea lions, seals, puffins and even a Fin whale. The captain said that's rare and kept remarking on how they never get days this nice. The entire tour was incredible and the pictures probably don't do it justice.

My first glacier!

After a late dinner, we packed up since tomorrow is the start of the cruise!

As they say at Princess, "You already paid so what are you gonna do?" Note: Well...

Picker

This was our first day of the trip where we didn't have to be anywhere or have our luggage ready early in the morning so we took advantage by sleeping in (well, at least until Jess felt another earthquake just before 6 AM) and not eating breakfast until well after 9. We originally didn't book any land excursions since we figured we'd play it by ear but knowing we had two full days at this lodge, we decided to do something small on Thursday since it may rain and then book a boat tour for Friday when the weather looked nicer. To fill time in the afternoon, we decided on a quick gold panning excursion and it just so happened it was with the same couple we ate dinner with a couple nights ago.

We took it easy until we had to leave and Jess did some drawing and lettering for items she planned to give away to people on our tour. When gold panning time came, we took a shuttle a short distance to a store on the side of the road that does gold panning. We didn't know anything about this other than the obvious but we found out when we got there that's it a place run by Prospector John who apparently was on one of the gold shows on Discovery Channel years back. The way it works is that they get a bunch of gravel from local rivers and then you get to shovel that into a bucket which you then get to sluice. After you're done, you pick out the gold that got caught in the ridges, clean out the fine gravel caught in the carpet and pan that to see if anything was missed.

Because of my expert gold mining ability, I finished first. While everyone else had less than a half dozen flakes in their box, I had about 20 so I figured I was going to be the big winner. I pick them all out and start to show off and not two minutes later, Jess yells out that she thinks she found a big piece - it was so much bigger than other pieces she thought it might be quartz for a second. Sure enough, it was gold and she had to pick it out right away since it was too big to get caught in the ridges of the sluice box and the woman running it thought it might wash out.

I panned my fine gravel but I found nothing else; neither did Jess but by the end, she had about 10 flakes plus the bigger piece that barely fit into the vial that they put the gold in as you leave. They don't weigh it there but it was probably a legitimate $100 worth of gold in that one piece.

Upon returning, we enjoyed the beautiful afternoon on the deck at the lounge and had some drinks with Jack and Deb where we got to hear a lot about the area they're from in Canada.  After we were done, we changed into our hiking gear and took the steep trail down to the river. They had free walking sticks at the top of the trail so we were prepared for the hills and bear attacks.

It wasn't that long of a hike but it was very nice and the river was a pretty shade of blue. We ate dinner at the lounge; at this point I should mention Jess and I have probably gained at least 5 lbs each. With the meal vouchers, we're eating more meals than usual and eating appetizers, entrees and desserts with each meal since they're included and we already paid for them. Of course, we both had dessert and I even tried something new - huckleberry ice cream. I can see why bears like it since it was delicious. I kept telling Jess that Alaska Ryan is more adventurous with trying some new things but I don't think she thought my few small changes were all that impressive.

We have a somewhat early morning tomorrow with our boat tour so we turned in early once again.

As the gold miners say, "Don't brag about your gold until you know you've got the most." Note: No one said this, but I wish they had.