Sailing...almost over.

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Today was a plain old sailing day. Kids packed off to Kids Club - again - about 10am and we spent the morning just watching the ocean pass us by. Had a game of dads against boys basketball before lunch. Those kids just don't tire. Dads do. Hard to concentrate on the game given the setting.

At 3pm the kids put on a talent show in the Crystal Room. Caitlin did her own little dance number and it was very, very impressive. Those dance lessons are money well spent. Reuben and his Australian friend did a semi-Two Ronnies series of jokes and did it really well and were really, really funny. We had started seeing land around 2pm so Sandy and I spent most of the afternoon on the top deck at the bow (or pointy bit as one of our co-travelers referred to it) looking for Orcas. Did not see any and had to settle for a few Humpbacks. They are now, like, SO yesterday. After dinner the kids again raced back to kids club, it was their final night party, and we went back on deck to continue our search. We are now back in the Narrows or close to it so have land on both sides, lots of small islands to Port and Vancouver Island to Starboard. The sea is calm and the sun lies across the surface in shades of silver where it pierces the clouds. Watching it for hours and it just doesn't get tedious. As the sun lowered behind a curtain of forest clad mountains the numbers of people on deck thinned. Just after 7pm we were at the bow and watching the sea in front and the rocky shores along both sides of the ship in the dying light. Sandy saw it first, a dorsal fin rising out of the waves like a periscope, then followed by a black and white form that broke and lay across the surface and then sank back out of sight. Then another appeared and then another, a total of somewhere between 6 and 8, that swam towards the bow and down the side of the ship around 50-80 metres out. They then took turns to appear again in the last shining water where the sun still cast light. Two leaped clear out of the water and another one rose to the surface with a dorsal fin that sat well over a metre high on his back. Spectacular and we felt well rewarded for our perseverance.

Sandy thinks we should write a little more about the cruise. So here it is. There are 1800 plus passengers aboard this boat along with 800 plus crew for a wide array of tasks. It is a more mature crowd, flecked with many regular cruise goers (there is a couple aboard for their 75th cruise, they are 80 something now and since retirement they have done a number of cruises every year) and then a few younger novices such as us. Hardly any kids as mentioned, but the kids that are onboard are all great kids.
Probably 90% plus of the people are interesting and pleasant people to chat with, as you do on a daily basis standing at the ships rail gazing out over the view.

Time on the ship has been better than we expected. Always thought it would be relaxing but the scenery alone made for an everchanging environment and panorama. Took a night or so to get used to the creaks and shudders of the ship when trying to sleep but after that not a problem. The ship is small be cruise ship standards, the smallest in the Century fleet, but regardless, even after 10 days did not feel too inhibiting, at least not to us. We really only spent time in 4 or 5 locations, Island Restaurant, outside deck on deck 12, Cova Cafe and the Hemisphere Lounge...and of course for the kids', the Fun Factory.

Service was really good, right across the ship. Some of those that found otherwise may like to take a moment in the mirror to identify where the real problem may actually have been.

The itinery on this trip was fantastic, but in hindsight could have had a little fine tuning. First three days were outstanding but then a couple of days kind of threw some timings around. Skagway was too long. The shame of it was it meant we sailed in at night and out at night and missed a chance to see the scenery around it, could have had several hours of great landscapes rather than a few too many hours here. The schedule meant that our docking in Vancouver at 7am meant that we sailed through much of the Narrows during the hours of darkness also and this is probably the only thing that was a little disappointing to miss. Obviously there are schedules set and passages booked by the cruise lines to get through certain places and these cannot be altered at will.

Would we like to return to Alaska? Absolutely. Very different, very beautiful, very remote.

Would we consider doing another cruise? Probably. Would be very selective in cruise locations though.

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Photos

Orca watch...
One of the few patches of sunlight during today. Sunshine, yes. Orcas, no.

Home away from home...
Kids had a great time here and probably saw more of the ship than we did as a result of doing the various programmes.

Practice, practice, practice...
The boys game is coming on...

Polar plunge...
There was a bit of a roll on and Missy a little daunted as all the water moved from one side of the pool to the other but was determined to have her swim.

The Island Restaurant...
Wide variety buffet at the top of the ship. Easy place to get to and just incredible views..

Cova Cafe...
On deck 6, my favourite spot on the ship. Sandy and I spent a few hours reading and just staring at the ocean. Coffee was generally good, did depend who was making it though.