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Published: September 5th 2018
Sunday, August 5, 2018, safely tucked aboard ms Westerdam, Marilyn was ready for her first cruise and I my second – well, not counting the round trip I made between Vietnam and the Philippines aboard the Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH) USS Iwo Jima some fifty years ago. Here are some interesting statistics about our oceanic mode of transportation. MS Westerdam is owned by Holland America Line and is a sister to MS Oosterdam, MS Zuiderdam and MS Noordam. The prefixes of the four ships' names represent the four directions of the compass in Dutch. Pretty cool. She was christened in April 2004, has eleven passenger decks, is 936 feet long, 105.8 feet wide and weighs 81,811 tons. The mostly Indonesian and Filipino crew of 800 tends to the needs of 1848 passengers. After departure from Vancouver BC, we wandered the ship to become familiar with what would be our surroundings for the next seven days.
Monday, August 6, 2018 was slated as an Inside Passage cruise. Marilyn and I both went to the “YMT Greeting” which was, again, poorly organized. While I did some blog catch-up, Marilyn headed for the “Kitchen Tour” which she said was quite interesting. She was
We Weren’t the First Ship Out of Port
Cruise Day 1 - Boarding and Departure at Vancouver BC - ms Westerdamgiven a listing of some of the culinary facts – Meat and meat products, 11,830 pounds; Poultry, 3418 pounds; Fish, 3000 pounds; Seafood, 2575 pounds; Fresh vegetables, 13,750 pounds; Watermelon, 4000 pounds; Ice cream 1150 gallons; and Eggs 1920 dozen. The food is prepared by a staff of 126 and is served by a staff of 134 while 5 chefs prepare the food for the crew. For our midday meal, we ventured into the main dining room for a “Singles and Solo Travelers Meet for Lunch.” We dined with a gentleman from the London, England area, a Sanford student working on his master’s degree in Materials Engineering, a lady from Minnesota and another from Seattle WA. It was an interesting encounter and we both agreed we would do it again, circumstances permitting. In the afternoon, we attended a “Wild Alaska” presentation which focused on Alaska’s critters, and, in the evening, we attended another talk, “Explore Alaska: The hidden stories behind the place names of Alaska.” Ironically, and during the wildlife presentation, someone in the group spotted a whale from the “classroom” window, but neither of us got as much as a glimpse. Both presentations were interesting.
Tuesday, August 7,
2018 was a rise and shine day for the port city of Ketchikan AK so we ordered breakfast served in our stateroom (no additional fee and available 24 hours a day). We got topside in time to see the final three feet or so of the docking maneuver and the securing of the ships tethers. We stopped in the Ketchikan visitor center, conveniently located near the berth and caught the free downtown shuttle to
Totem Heritage Center. Both of us were surprised that none of the historic artifacts were painted or dyed in any way, but the stories that accompanied the totems were interesting and informative. We took the shuttle back downtown and strolled Creek Street, essentially a boardwalk over the creek, until we happened upon the
Tongass Historical Museum. We pondered a tour of
Dolly's House Museum, but decided $10.00 was a little much to see that particular former brothel – a better-rated brothel awaited us in Skagway. With an instruction set in the old memory bank, we headed for the city bus stop and a ride to
Totem Bight State Historical Park. We were surely glad we had made the trip as the trail through the rainforest to the totems was spectacular, the totems were awesome and the
views of the coastline were exceptional. In the evening, we went to another presentation, “Encounter: Dreamer, Schemers & Stampeders: The famous – and infamous – characters who gambled for gold in ‘The Last Frontier.’” We learned of the men who came to Alaska in search of a gold mine, the women who brought their own gold mine to Alaska with them, the deceitful who created hardship, the hardy who overcame hardship and, the majority, those who merely survived the experience only to return home broken-hearted.
Our port destination on Wednesday, August 8, 2018 was Juneau AK. Overcast skies, wind and a forecast for a high probability of rain dampened our hopes for another day like that in Ketchikan. Since our arrival time was 10:00 AM, we decided to dine in the casual dining room. As we approached Juneau, the ocean changed shades of green in an absolutely dramatic fashion. In less than an inch, the green went from an emerald green to a pea green (yes, Marilyn helped me with the colors). I have never seen such an abrupt color change before and can only attribute it to fresh (river) water entering salt (ocean) water. Regardless, very dramatic and
quite cool. At 9:30, we went down to the bowels of the ship, Deck 2 which is still above the water line, to watch some Mahjong players do their thing. I have played solo Mahjong on the computer but could not even imagine how a two-player game would begin or be played. I didn’t have the chance to find out as no Mahjong payers showed up for the session.
After disembarkation, we made our first stop at the dockside visitor center after which Marilyn decided there would be more walking than she wanted to confront and decided to return to the ship. She is scheduled for a hip replacement shortly after her return to Mesa AZ in late October. I walked about 5-6 blocks to the
Alaska State Capitol and undertook the self-guided tour. As state capitols go, the Alaska facility is as bare bones as I have seen and most tourists could make better use of their time. I walked next door to the
Juneau-Douglas City Museum where the visitor is greeted by exhibits about the indigenous peoples of the area; fishing – recreational, commercial and Tlingit (indigenous peoples) – fish traps and fish canning; the sinking of the
SS Princess Sophia in Lynn
Canal in October 1918; and the search for an identity for Juneau. A 26-minute video, “Juneau: City Built on Gold” provides a nice background for the visitor. My next stop was the
Alaska State Museum. The museum opens with numerous mounts portraying the diversity of wildlife found in Alaska and then covers the story of the sinking of the SS Princess Sophia. An extensive exhibit outlines Alaska at war during World War II –
The Aleutian Islands Campaign – when Japanese forces bombed Dutch Harbor AK and a small Japanese force occupied the islands of Attu and Kiska. The remoteness of the islands and the challenges of weather and terrain delayed deployment of a larger U.S.-Canadian force sent to eject them for over a year. Indigenous art, gold and oil round out the exhibits. The museum is nicely done and provides the visitor with an introduction to the peoples of Alaska both historical and contemporary. My final stop of the day was at
Red Dog Saloon where I had an Alaskan brew and listened to some great “piano man” music.
I returned to our stateroom and headed to the casual dining room for a snack so I would save room for the salmon bake scheduled for
The Chilkoot Trail Was a Shorter but Steeper Route to the Gold Fields
Cruise Day 5 - Klondike Gold Rush NHP Visitor Center & Museum – Skagway AK the evening meal. Marilyn returned to the room and had a few more shopping cells left in her bloodstream, so we ventured back to downtown Juneau. After a rest, we went to listen to Pianist Tim for a spell before gorging ourselves on some fantastic seafood. The early evening found us attending a talk, “The Secret Language of Ships: A lighthearted look at our ship’s flags, whistles & seemingly secret markings.”
Thursday, August 9, 2018 found us visiting Skagway AK. The name Skagway is derived from shԍagéi, a Tlingit idiom which figuratively refers to the rough seas in the Taiya Inlet that are caused by strong north winds. Our first stop was the
Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park Visitor Center & Museum. Gold was discovered in the Klondike region of the Yukon in northwestern Canada on August 16, 1896. On July 29, 1897, the steamer Queen docked at Moore's wharf in Skagway with the first boat load of prospectors. More ships brought thousands more hopeful miners to town where they prepared for the 500-mile journey to the gold fields in Canada. Between 1896 and 1899 an estimated 100,000 prospectors came to the region. To reach the gold fields, most prospective miners ventured through the ports of Skagway
or Dyea AK where they followed either the Chilkoot Trail (from Dyea) or the White Pass Trail (from Skagway) to the Yukon River and then sailed downstream to the Klondike. Canadian authorities required each of them to bring a year's supply of food in order to prevent starvation. Skagway is also part of the setting for Jack London's book,
The Call of the Wild; and the John Wayne film,
North to Alaska (1960), was filmed nearby.
Our next stop was at Jeff Smiths Parlor Museum where we participated in a Ranger-Guided Tour. Due to the influx of prospectors to Skagway, some town residents began offering miners transportation services (often at highly inflated rates) to aid them in their journey to the Yukon. A group of miners, upset with the mistreatment, organized a town council to help protect their interests; but, as the members of the council moved north to try their own hand at mining, control of the town reverted to the more unscrupulous, most notably Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith. Skagway was a lawless town, described by one member of the Northwest Mounted Police as "little better than a hell on earth." Fights, prostitutes and liquor were ever-present on
Skagway's streets, and con man "Soapy" Smith, who had risen to considerable power, did little to stop it. Smith was a sophisticated swindler who liked to think of himself as a kind and generous benefactor to the needy. He was gracious to some, giving money to widows and halting some eminent lynchings, while simultaneously operating a ring of thieves who swindled prospectors with cards, dice and shell games. His telegraph office charged five dollars to send a message anywhere in the world, and unknowing prospectors “sent news” to their families back home without realizing there was no telegraph service in Skagway. Smith was shot and killed by Frank Reid and Jesse Murphy on July 8, 1898, in the famed Shootout on Juneau Wharf. Smith managed to return fire — some accounts claim the two men fired their weapons simultaneously — and Frank Reid died from his wounds twelve days later. Jesse Murphy is accredited as the man responsible for killing Smith. Smith and Reid are now interred at the Klondike Gold Rush Cemetery, also known as "Skagway's Boot Hill."
We made a stop at the Mascot Saloon Museum. It is the only saloon in Alaska that doesn’t serve booze,
The Madam Who Was Docent for Our Group Was a Charmer
Cruise Day 5 - Red Onion Saloon & Brothel Museum – Skagway AK but it did during the gold rush – plenty of it. Built in 1898 the Mascot was one of Skagway's 80 to 100 saloons during its heyday as “the roughest place in the world.” The saloon operated until August 1916, when Prohibition closed it down, and it later served as a drug store. Today, the NPS has turned it into a small museum, complete with a mock-up of the bar as it used to be and life-sized mannequins as they might have been. This building, along with several others in Skagway, is now owned by the National Park Service. Each has been repainted in its original colors, and some are leased to private businesses. The Mascot, however, houses the aforementioned exhibit and restrooms. We visited several other establishments, pondering the merchandise and made a stop at the
Red Onion Saloon & Brothel Museum. The “madam” who conducted our tour was risqué, enticing, catty and about any other similar term you’d like to add but was dignified and classy while being absolutely hilarious – for those of us on the seedy side of center. For the chaste and uninitiated, probably not so much; however, I doubt many of those paid the modest (yes, intentional) admission fee to
Almost Everything Is Original, Including the Wallpaper
Cruise Day 5 - Red Onion Saloon & Brothel Museum – Skagway AK the immodest attraction. The tour provided insight into an aspect of American history, indeed human history, that the Puritans and the Puritanicals of the world might try to deny. The persistent heavy drizzle/light rainfall led us to cut short some of the activities listed on the master plan, but we got a nice introduction to life in a Gold Rush boom town.
At 7:00 AM on Friday, August 10, 2018, two Glacier Bay National Park Rangers boarded the Westerdam, along with a Huna Cultural Interpreter, who made presentations throughout the day. All the offerings were informative and interesting. About 9:15 we passed Composite Island, passed Russell Island about 10:00 AM and arrived at Margerie Glacier about 10:30. While stationed off the glacier face, Dutch Pea Soup was served on the forward deck – quite tasty and warming to the bones – and the group got to see several instances of glacial calving. While cows have calves, glaciers calve icebergs – makes sense to me! Calving is when chunks of ice break off at the terminus, or end, of a tidewater glacier (a glacier that extends all the way to the ocean) and fall into the water. Ice breaks because
the forward motion of the glacier makes the terminus unstable. The resulting chunks of ice become "icebergs," while the calves become “bullburgers” or “cowburgers” as the case might be. At 2:00 PM, we attended a ranger presentation, “The Wonders of Glacier Bay” and a cultural presentation by the Huna interpreter, “Alaska Native Culture.” About 4:00 PM, the rangers and the Huna interpreter disembarked the ship, we passed South Marble Islands and said farewell to Glacier Bay National Park. Friday might have been the best weather day of the cruise, and I’m glad of it.
Saturday August 11, 2018 was an “at sea” day with little to look at and no port of call to visit. In the morning Marilyn and I attended the YMT disembarkation briefing. After the presentation and numerous questions aimed at clarification, several of us agreed in conference that disembarkation on Sunday was going to be a total clusterintercourse. Later that morning, we attended another presentation, “Fire & Ice: An exploration of the extreme forces that have shaped the Alaskan landscape” while the afternoon found us attending back-to-back presentations, “Talk Like an Alaskan: A fun-filled way to expand your vocabulary” and “Alaskan Bush Pilots: Learn about
this exhilarating – and distinctly Alaskan – mode of transportation.” Having presentations to attend was a double-edged sword – I learned but fell even further behind on my travel blogs.
Sunday, August 12, 2018 really began on Saturday evening. We had to have our checked baggage in the passageway, ready for pick-up by 12:00 Midnight and then to be prepared for disembarkation at 7:35 AM! The Lido Café, the informal dining room, opened for business at 5:00 AM to accommodate all the evictees. Surprisingly, the YMT process went quite well until all the passengers were aboard the YMT-chartered bus. The bus driver who was to transport us from Seward AK to Anchorage AK had no knowledge of a tour of Seward that the entire tour group (well, nobody indicated otherwise and most verbalized agreement) understood we would receive. Instead, we stopped at the Alaska Sea Life Center, which was fine, but was not what we were told nor what we were expecting. According to the YMT web site, “Day 13, Disembark and Depart for Home – Today we disembark in beautiful Seward. Enjoy a city tour of this quaint city before ending in Anchorage for a farewell dinner and
your evening departure.” When we arrived at the “farewell dinner” restaurant at 4:00 PM, we learned they were not expecting us until 5:00 PM. Two couples, who could not endure the minor delay as they would have been pushing their pre-flight check-in time with no delay whatsoever, had to take a taxi to the airport. The food, however, was excellent, and the service was superb. After the farewell dinner, the bus took the group to the airport. We made our way to the car rental section of the terminal, procured the rental and, finally, completely divorced from YMT, drove to Wasilla AK where we spent the night.
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