Blogs from Inside Passage, Alaska, United States, North America - page 4

Hello at last, dear friends and family! I am sitting here in the greatest of luxury and happiness aboard the Alaskan ferry, Columbia. I am in total bliss as I lie in my lounge chair on my thermarest with my grandmother’s down comforter over me, watching the most glorious land and waterscapes drift away behind us. Two humpbacked whales just bounded by minutes ago. I have not felt this relaxed and at peace in many months (since before January 21st at least…). For all who have ever considered it, the ferry from Bellingham, WA to Alaska is a destination in itself. It is important, however, that you don’t get sucked into the idea of sleeping indoors, be it a cabin or on the floor of the lounge. The heated and covered solarium is the spot to ... read more

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 ... read more

Last Day at Sea Finally we got treated blue skies and it was just in time for our last day at sea. Blue skies above and blue ocean all around, it was so peaceful and the best way to end our cruise.. Entertainment included a staff talent show and a final comedy and musical show. At sunset there were a few Orca whales next to the ship and then what seemed to be hundreds of dolphins swimming just behind us jumping out the water as if to say “goodbye”, it was so special! Some have asked we do whole day, but I can honestly say that not once was I bored with nothing to do..and I didn’t even take part in most of the activities… There was always something to do: taking photos from the deck, ... read more

Day 5 The Tracy Arm Fjord - Sept 4, 2012 Got up this morning to see our ship go through the Tracy Arm Fjord. Luckily for us the rainy weather held off until we left the glacier. After watching out the sides of the ship and taking many pictures of the glacier, we headed up to our favorite spot on the ship which is the Viking lounge (deck 11). Up there you can sit in very comfortable chairs and have a panoramic view of everything while looking out from the back of the ship. Plus another advantage is you are staying out of the cold. The windows never fog up there, so picture taking was great. As I'm writing this I just saw a whale!! There was a sushi demo at 10:30 in the Centrum which ... read more

Wednesday July 25, 2012 Tracy Arm Cove to Ford’s Terror via North and South Sawyer Glaciers and Endicott Arm We mapped out a plan to go all the way up Tracy Arm, view both glaciers, come back and go up Endicott Arm as far as Ford’s Terror, which required a 6:00 AM start in order to arrive at Ford’s Terror narrows by 7:00 high slack tide. So off we went into the morning sun, beautiful but too hazy for really good photography. Tim fixed a breakfast of bacon and eggs with the smoky flavor of truffle salt on a lightly toasted English muffin. Again we’re awed by the majesty of the sheer walls, cascading falls, and glacier carved side valleys. Glacier Bay, by comparison offers immense views of waterways and entire ... read more