Day 11: A relaxing day at sea

It’s hard to believe, but it’s our last day of this “vacation of a lifetime”.  All the planning and preparation, and now it’s is almost over.  Our last day on board the Radiance of the Seas is a relaxing day at sea.  Nothing big planned other than EAT and enjoy some of the ship’s activities.  I think everyone is tired from all the activity over the past week and a half and ready for a quiet day with some time to relax.  I’m writing this entry, as I have many others, relaxing from the balcony of our lovely stateroom, enjoying the sunshine and mild temps and the sound of the ocean as we cut through.

Brielle took her dad to a “behind the scenes” tour of the stage and show production area, which was very interesting, while Karen went to a cake decorating, napkin folding and scrapbooking exhibitions. 

After meeting back up for lunch, we took Brielle to the rock climbing wall which she’s been asking to do all week.  Finally she got her shot, and she did great!!  She made it half way up the wall, not bad for her first try.  She then spent the rest of the day in the kid’s club while mom and dad had a coffee, took in the sites off the ship, and packed.

 

One last big dinner.  Our wait staff was excellent all week.  Head waiter, Asif, waiter, Ted and assistant waiter Robert kept us well fed and happy all week.  It took them no time what so ever to learn what we liked and didn’t like.  Robert kept us entertained all week with all his tricks which he shared with our table.

 

We went to the Farewell Show in the Aurora Theater for our last hoorah, then it was off to bed for an early wake up call and disembarkation.

In retrospect, we all had a truly amazing trip.  Starting on land in Fairbanks, which seemed so long ago, through the amazing Inside Passage of Alaska on the beautiful Radiance of the Seas.  It was spectacular from start to finish.

I am finishing up this entry at the Vancouver airport.  Shortly we board our plane and by around 9:00 pm EST, reality will return as we land in Newark.  We were all blessed to have such a wonderful, safe and healthy trip, truly a trip of a lifetime.

Day 10: Ketchikan

Around 9:00 am, we pulled into the beautiful port of Ketchikan, Alaska.  We were the fourth cruise ship to dock here today which was unusual as we’ve not been docked with many other ships throughout this entire cruise.  Float planes were taking off and landing all around us, seemingly non-stop.  The weather was great once again, partly cloudy in the mid to high 60’s.

We had the morning free, so Karen, Dave and Brielle went off the ship to check out all the shops near the port.  This port reminded Karen of St. Thomas with all the shops available.  We had some coupons for free items from certain shops and enjoyed the sights and sounds of this beautiful port city before returning for a quick lunch.  Then we were off on our day’s excursion.

Finally, we hit a tour that did not exceed our expectations.  It was a land and sea adventure that started out with a boat ride to George Inlet.  We had expected to see a lot of wild life, but all we saw was one bald eagle, a juvenile bald eagle in it’s nest, and a lot of jumping salmon (that’s right… jumping straight out of the water). 

 

The boat brought us to the George inlet cannery, a salmon cannery that has been closed since 1957 but still serves local fisherman and is set up to educate visitors on this industry which is vital to Alaska.  It was quite interesting and informative. 

 

Next we boarded a bus that took us back to the ship, but not for making one stop along the way at the Saxman Totem Park.  There we saw numerous totem poles, including one that had Abe Lincoln on top!!   We looked into possibly getting a totem pole to bring home, but found that the authentic, hand carved ones were just too expensive.

 

All in all, it was an ok tour.  Nothing to write home about.  At least it was a beautiful day.

We returned to the ship in time to change for dinner and later enjoyed the show later in the evening.  Dinner tonight was lobster tails… yum!!  Dave ate two dinners, and Chris had three.  We also saw whales from the ship through the window in the dining room as well as from our balcony as we were leaving port.  It was quite a site to see!

Day 9: ISP and WHALES!!

Just when we thought the these towns could not have gotten much smaller, we anchored in the lovely town of Icy Strait Point (ISP) Alaska, population 800!  There is no dock big enough for our ship, so we dropped anchor nearby and tendered in.  Today’s excursions, Whale watching and kayaking (Chris did the kayaking with Mark, Sue, Laura, Shannon and Kristina).

After tendering in, we boarded our boat to do some whale watching.  I know I’m repeating myself when I say that it seems that each day just seems to exceed the previous one, if that’s possible, but this was no different.  We continued to bring the great weather with us as it was comfortable and dry, albeit a bit cloudy.  We headed out into ISP and it wasn’t long before we started seeing whales, humpbacks, and lots of them. 

 

The boat slowed down so that passengers could get out on the decks for the best views.  We saw lots and lots of whales, up close.  We witnessed them coming up to the surface and diving down sending their huge tails out of the water.

We also saw whales come out of the water head first as the fed on krill and other small sea life.

It was awesome to watch. 

We also saw sea otters and sea lions.  It was a very exciting excursion.

We got back to the ship early, so Brielle and Dave visited the pools and hot tubs while Karen attended a jewelry making seminar.  The weather warmed up a bit, but the pool water was cold, so we didn’t stay in long.  Brielle zipped down the big water slide several times and spent a little time in the kids pool area (which was heated) before calling it quits.

Chris has been spending a lot of time with his friend Mark, and hanging out with the other teens on board.  He seems to be really enjoying his independence.

We had our second formal night tonight, and the tuxedos reappeared along with all the other beautiful formal ware from our group.  After dinner, we enjoyed a very funny show by a singer/comedian/impressionist that had us all in stitches.  Then we all stayed up for the midnight buffet, even Brielle!  After enjoying some delicious treats at the buffet, we called it a night.

Day 8: Skagway

The rain that we left in Juneau was behind us, and once again we brought sunshine into our next port of call, Skagway Alaska.  We had nothing planned until noon, so we were able to have a leisurely breakfast, after which Karen and Dave left the ship to check out the local town and do a little shopping.  The center of town was about a 10 minute walk from where the ship was docked.  Don’t blink or you might miss it.  Skagway is actually a very quaint little town with a number of shops and eateries.

We hustled back to the ship in time to get Brielle and Chris and then left the ship again for our late morning excursion, the White Pass Railroad and Yukon Adventure.   This was a vintage train ride headed toward the Yukon territories as the gold rush miners did back in the 1890s. 

The ride through the Alaskan countryside and into Canada was breathtaking (no surprise).  Many members from our travel group took this same excursion, and all were just amazed once more at the beautiful, yet rugged scenery that we were treated to.

While there were big windows on the train to take pictures through, several from our group once again rode between the cars to get the some unobstructed views (and enjoy the cool breeze whipping by!).  It was a great ride that dropped us off in Canada.

We left the train and got on a bus that brought us back to Skagway.  Along the way, we stopped at Liarsville, a camp where newspaper reporters camped instead of riding all the way up to the Yukon territories during the Gold Rush (and wrote lies about what actually happened in the Yukon, hence the name). 

  

We were treated to a show put on by the people dressed in period costumes, and then got to pan for gold.  Well, actually, they gave us a pan with dirt and some gold flakes, and showed us how to get the gold out.  It was a bit contrived, but still a lot of fun.  Everyone enjoyed discovering their fortunes. 

The bus then took as back to the ship for another wonderful dinner.  On that subject, the food so far has been fabulous.  Good thing we didn’t bring any tight fitting clothes, or else we’d have nothing to wear!  No show in the main theater tonight, but it was 70’s disco night, and Karen, Dave and Brielle met Laura, Shannon and Kristina on deck 13 for a family disco party.  Brielle and Kristina won a hula hoop contest and received medals.  Then it was early to bed in preparation for our day in Icy Strait Point tomorrow.

Day 7: Juneau

Ok, we were due for a break in our great run with the weather.  We arrived in Juneau in what could be best described as “pea soup”!  Doris tells us that the captain had to sound the fog horn twice as we approached.  The day was filled with low clouds and fog, and drizzle most of the day.  But this did not dampen our spirits as we ventured out on our Juneau City Highlights tour.

Our first stop was at the Mendenhall Glacier.  What an amazing sight!!  Our tour bus took dropped us off at the visitor center at the glacier.  We walked along a path in front of the glacier for a perfect view of this amazing natural wonder. 

 

Light drizzle fell, but we were all prepared with rain gear.  No calving today, but still, the colors and the majesty of the glacier were spectacular.  There were also walking trails near the glacier for you to explore filled with local wildlife.  We saw ducks, beavers and bears (oh my!).  Yes bears!!  Several in our group got shots of a mother bear and two cubs up close and personal.  Dave was getting frustrated because everywhere he went, there were no bears.  Finally, as it was time to leave, Dave got to witness two bears chasing each other up a tree right next to him and finally got his pictures of the bears. The bears were almost as exciting as the glacier!

 

We departed the glacier for the Glacier Gardens where we got to see their upside down trees before getting a tram ride up and down through their rain forest.  The owner of the property created the upside down trees.  He took trees, roots and all, then drove them into the ground, upside down, root sticking up.  Then he put moss and soil on the top (the root system) and planted flowers.  When they are done, they look like an umbrella of flowers! 

We learned that the weather we had in Juneau was normal as they get over 100 inches of rain every year.  There were beautiful flowers and fauna to be seen at the gardens, and we all received a packet of forget-me-not seeds as we left.

Then it was on to the salmon hatchery.  This was a non-profit organization committed to raising and releasing salmon into the local waters.  We learned all about how they raise these fish, and got to see them in various stages. 

We saw several of them jump right out of the water. 

Then we were treated to some samples of the salmon before being brought back to our ship.

Others in our group took another tour which took in the Mendenhall Glacier then went whale watching where they saw hump backs, Orcas and several bald eagles.  Sheryl met her cousin who is a local helicopter pilot who took her up in a helicopter which landed on the Mendenhall Glacier where she actually got to walk on the glacier!!  Very exciting.

It was a great day for everyone.  In case anyone’s keeping count, Dave has already exceeded 2,000 pictures.  Hopefully there are a few good ones!  In time, we’ll add some to these blogs.  We barely have enough time to write them!