Paul & Libby’s World of Travel

Saturday (tomorrow) will be our second and final day at sea. Like always, I’ll entertain any questions that you might have that I’m able to answer. So, feel free to post away. All questions received before midnight (Eastern time) on Friday will be answered in my response on Saturday.

So, once again, make my day and ask away!

We arrived early this morning in Juneau (pop. 31,000), the state capitol of Alaska. As with other Alaskan cities, Juneau struck me as an aesthetically unremarkable city in an exceptionally remarkable location. Cut-off by the Juneau Icefield and sandwiched between mountains on the banks of the Gastineau Channel, the city remains accessible only by sea and air.

Our day began with the Juneau Highlights, Mendenhall Glacier, and Salmon Hatchery tour ($44/pp.). We boarded our bus for the short drive to the glacier. En route, we witnessed nearly a dozen bald eagles along the Gastineau Channel. Upon arrival at the glacier, I was also able to briefly spot one of the resident black bear cubs. Having seen a number of glaciers on this trip, the Mendenhall (which is nice) lost some of its impact. Nonetheless, the visit was pleasant and the information center informative.

Here’s a photo of Mendenhall Glacier:

On the way back to town, we stopped at the Macaulay Salmon Hatchery. This was a brief but informative visit that highlighted the “reproductive assistance” provided to all five kinds of salmon (to the tune of millions of fish) that helps to ensure a thriving and ongoing population of wild salmon. From the casual visitor’s perspective, the most impressive element was watching the salmon—who’d returned to their place of origin after 1-7 years at sea—attempting to swim “upstream” through the hatchery’s 450-foot long ladder.

As for downtown Juneau, I don’t really have a lot to favorably report. The area around the dock is very touristy… and, I generally hate tourists and “touristy” things. (Yes, I know there’s an irony in that… especially as I’m one of the thousands disembarking from a cruise ship). As it happened, there were four other (larger) cruise ships in port today: RCI’s Serenade of the Seas (sister ship to Brilliance of the Seas on which we traveled to Egypt), Princess’s Sea Princess and Island Princess (which we’d considered for a Panama Canal visit), and Celebrity’s Mercury. Like with airplane models, I’m also a bit of a cruise ship geek. So, this was fun for me.

Anyway, back to Juneau, the downtown area near the pier has a lot of the same shops as you’d find in cruise ports in the Caribbean. And, I do mean, literally, the same: Diamonds International, Venetian Jewelers, Del Sol, and so forth. You might as well have been in the Bahamas. Interspersed were the usual trinkets and trash shops for “Harry Otter” t-shirts and what not. Two thumbs down!

We had lunch as the well-reviewed Twisted Fish Company restaurant. This was pretty decent. We started with salmon crochettes (very good).Libby also has the clam chowder (excellent). For my main course, I enjoyed an Alaskan king crab “burger” (note: king crab at my mother’s suggestion – she was right, fresh king crab is excellent), while Libby enjoyed her rockfish and chips.

Back aboard the Veendam, we enjoyed an afternoon nap, which we followed up by pouring over cruise brochures to discuss where we might travel next (perhaps we could bring the baby to the Black Sea next year?). We’re both clearly naïve and/or just downright crazy. But, what the heck, I might book the trip anyway! After all, the kid has to start traveling sometime. (As an aside, we heard today of a passenger who’s spent more than 2000 days at sea with Holland America, as well as a couple who sold their home and most of their possessions to now, effectively, “live” on Holland America cruises ships. I don’t know what to make of such people: completely nuts or kindred spirits? I suppose time will tell.).

Tonight, we had room service for dinner, which was pretty good actually. We skipped the main dining room (formal night, again) and the Lido (limited menu and crowded seating as one side was reserved for officers and crew???… not to mention ongoing “no self-service” rules). The Lido buffet is a huge disappointment compared to other cruises.

All in all, a fine but unremarkable day.

Early this morning, we docked in Haines (population 1,200). According to our guidebooks, Haines is a happy and quirky hamlet that’s about as close as one can get to the fictional Cicely, Alaska from the television show Northern Exposure. It’s decidedly non-touristy and thus feels very authentic. It also really is quirky… but in a good way. For example, it’s especially proud of the town library (consistently voted one of the best small libraries in America) and has an odd assortment of small museums (example: one dedicated to a collection of hammers). In short, it’s my kind of place.

We booked the Alaskan Wildlife Experience Tour ($119/pp), which departed at 8:30 in the morning. The tour involved a 45-minute drive out along the picturesque Haines Highway. Our “unofficial tour guide”and bus driver, Suzanne (a full-time Haines resident transplanted from central Ohio three years ago) provided an interesting narrative about life in small town Alaska.

Here are a few highlights that I recall:

Aside from a few stores in Haines, significant shopping for provisions (called the “Costco Run”) must be done nearly 4.5 hours away (one way) in Juneau via a ferry.

The local school (K-12) has 224 students. The school’s curriculum (starting at age 5) includes winter weather and cold water survival skills (provided by the US Coast Guard). Students participating in competitive sports must travel to matches via either airplane or ferry (which can take days and thus a teacher is sent along).

Haines does have decent medical care for such a small town: at least four physicians, two dentists, a well-equipped 24-hour medical center, a pharmacy, nurses, a physical therapist, a chiropractor, some herbal medicine practitioners , and the local shaman of the Tlingit tribe. Visits to specialists of the need for more invasive treatment requires travel to Juneau or beyond (Anchorage, Fairbanks, or Seattle).

If the medical systems fails to save you (or you’re simply mauled by a bear), it’s your family’s responsibility to take your body to Juneau for embalming (likely in combination with a “Costco Run). Think: Aunt Edna in National Lampoon’s Vacation. Alternatively, the local Ace Hardware will construct a simple pine box for your dearly departed to be buried year round in the town cemetary (graves opened with dynamite blasts). Conveniently, Ace also sells body bags (useful for the aforementioned trip to Juneau with the dearly departed in the bed of your pickup truck).

After Suzanne’s insightful commentary, we arrived at the Kroschel Films Wildlife and Education Center. Steve Kroschel’s center provides an important resource for the care of wounded and orphaned wild animals, as well as an opportunity for visitors to learn firsthand about Alaska’s wildlife. We witnessed, touched, and/or fed all kinds of animals during our two hour visit, from the tiny arctic lemming to the brown (grizzly) bear. Here are a few pictures:

We returned to Haines via the same route with more commentary provided by Suzanne.

Upon arriving back at the ship, we ate lunch in the Pinnacle Grill. This is the Veendam’s upscale, specialty restaurant ($10/pp. surcharge for lunch). It was simply excellent! Libby started with a shrimp bruschetta, and I enjoyed a warm scallop “crème brulee.” We both followed this with a delectable “five onion soup.” My main course consisted of a blue cheese crusted beef tenderloin, while the culinary adventurous Libby opted for the “Pinnacle Burger” [I’m rolling my eyes while I type this].

We spent a leisurely afternoon in Haines and enjoyed a brief nap. The meal in the main dining room was also good this evening. It was the “Celebration of Alaska” dinner. We both started with the Yukon Gold potato vichyssoise. I also had the Alaskan seafood sampler appetizer, including different preparations of salmon, shrimp, clams, and crab. For main dishes, I opted for the Alaskan King Crab Cobb Salad (very enjoyable), and Libby had some sort of roasted hen with stuffing (clearly less memorable).

All in all, today’s been a great day on the cruise!

This morning we awoke to a fog-filled sea. I was, of course, up well before Libby and writing for the blog. Like yesterday, we enjoyed a scrumptious breakfast that had delivered to our cabin. We then lounged about, lingering over our coffee, and talking – the vacation version of many of our weekend morning. I then went to the Explorations Cafe to post my Q&A answers (frustratingly unsuccessful). Around 10am, rangers from Glacier Bay National Park came aboard.

At 10:30, we attended Ranger David’s talk about the wildlife and ecosystems of the park. It was, more or less, a “circle of life” / “everything is interconnected” speech. But, I have to say, he was a very polished presenter and the talk was captivating. Indeed, it was the single best presentation that I’ve seen on a cruise ship. Ranger David’s presentation was followed by that of a cultural interpreter from the Tlingit tribe of native people, who view Glacier Bay as their spiritual homeland. Alice’s discussion was also interesting and provided a personal narrative of the area’s people. All in all, this was another example of successful education / enrichment from HAL.

Unfortunately, the scenery today was far less fulfilling. It seems that a number of wildfires in both Alaska and Canada have resulted in very hazy skies. This obscured much of the majestic scenery, having painted the landscape in an ethereal fog. I’m afraid this might portend a fairly lackluster experience along the rest of the Inside Passage, but we’ll have to wait to see. In any case, we did get within a quarter of a mile of Margerie Glacier (which is tidal glacier of nearly a mile wide and over two hundred and fifty feet tall). Here we stood for about an hour, eating an excellent Dutch pea soup (served on the deck), waiting to see calving (which we saw, though modest in scope).

Here’s a picture of Margerie Glacier:

While leaving the glacier, we passed another HAL vessel, the ms Eurodam Westerdam. We last saw the Eurodam Westerdam in Southampton, England, prior to her maiden voyage in the summer of 2008 the Bahamas during December, 2007.

Next, we moved on to Lamplugh Glacier, which impressively displayed a river of water rushing from deep within the glacier. Here’s a photo of the glacier and its feature:

Overall, Glacier Bay National Park was enjoyable but not spectacular due to the atmospheric conditions. It seems that weather in Alaska is always variable and rarely favorable. Thus, I think we’re doing pretty well on balance.