Day 19: At Sea

We had a lazy, uneventful day followed by a fun evening, so it was a perfect way to spend a sea day. We awoke to see heavy rain drops on the Bridgecam, so we crawled back under the covers for a couple more hours. At home, we are up by 6:30am every morning (G even earlier). Not having to do that is one of the greatest joys of being on vacation. 

It also allows us to keep our meals to two a day (well…plus afternoon tea today).  We went to the buffet about 11 am, where G grabbed items from the breakfast and lunch lines, and I waited until the lunch line opened at 11:30am. It was the bouillon soup with add ins today and watermelon for me today. Funny note:  a younger man in front of me was very sweet at the soup area and handed me a bowl and offered to let me go ahead of him, which I declined. Turns out, he was our entertainer tonight, Jared Freiburg. 

Lunch, nearly everyday

By 3pm, G was hungry again, and we went to tea in Botticelli for the second time this cruise. I really enjoy afternoon tea on the Ruby. On some ships, I get the impression that the waiters would rather be elsewhere, but not so here. They make it a lot of fun. What wasn’t so much fun was G’s comments on the heavy engine sounds and shaking in Botticelli. Lots of comments. It’s not his favorite dining room. And, to his credit, it IS a different ambience than the midship dining rooms. 

I had forgotten to mention that our Elite minibar setup contained two different alcohol elements than we’ve ever seen before:  two amaretto di Saronnos and two Tia Marias in cold brew. Sorry, I can’t tell you what they replaced because I didn’t pay that much attention. I do know G traded the rest for beers. Anyway, I remember this today because he took one of the Tia Marias to tea and put it in coffee and said it was good. The amarettos will probably go home for me to enjoy in a weak moment. 

It wasn’t long from tea to dinner (which is why I didn’t eat at tea) in Michelangelo. I felt kind of bad again wearing a fleece to dinner but took a good look around tonight for the first time. People are wearing sweatshirts, hoodies, T shirts…this really is a casual cruise. Dinner was salmon and broccoli for me as it has been quite a lot, plus grapefruit sorbet for dessert, which is a favorite for both of us. 

I wore a fleece tonight because we planned to return to the Princess Theater after a few nights away (MUTS movie one night, enjoying the Terrace Deck in Juneau the next night, and the cocktail party last night). We sat up higher tonight, to make a quick escape to Club Fusion after the show, and it was considerably less chilly up there than down in front, but I still wasn’t dressed too warmly. 

The pre-show playlist featured late 70s rock songs which I enjoyed immensely (My Sharona on blast could raise my father’s blood pressure like nothing else) and I was hopeful that was the kind of music we’d hear in the show. Alas, this rock show was more hit songs of the late 50s, but the really good ones. When the curtain went up, I realized Jared Freiburg of Jared Freiburg and The Vagabonds was my soup saint from the lunch buffet. I really loved this show, and expected G to feel the same. He liked it, but was a little more neutral, so your views on the show may vary. 

It was a quick dash down the outside Promenade Deck afterward to Club Fusion for Mike Wilson’s comedy show. He was ok, but Princess comedians will never be as funny as those we saw on Carnival. They’re just not as edgy. 

Afterward we went to the buffet where I drank still more tea and they made hot chocolate especially for G who was the one who was freezing tonight, after that walk across the Promenade Deck. We were able to find our location on Google Maps and could see that we were between Vancouver Island and the BC mainland. We could see land on either side of the ship, but not closely. 

And we returned to our cabin via the Terrace Deck. When we stepped outside, we were met with an orange blaze so bright that my first thought was that it was a beacon right behind the ship. No, it was the sunset, and the pics I took do not do it justice. It was breathtakingly beautiful, a perfect ending to a day at sea. 

Day 18: Scenic Cruising Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier

We finally made it up in the middle of the night to see how much light there was midway between sunset and sunrise. Actually, it was past and parcel with a bathroom break that just happened to occur simultaneously, and we said “why not get dressed at go out in dec”? So we did. 

Lights of Juneau in the distance at 1:15am

I was dragging a little bit this morning after that t but still managed to be up and out on the Terrace Deck by 7:30am. I was blown away by the beauty we were already cruising through. I guess, since I had never been here before, that I expected Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier to be less scenic than the three other glacier sites we’ve seen on this cruise, but no. It was spectacular and reminded me a great deal of Fiordland National Park on the South Island of New Zealand. 

I grabbed some tea from the buffet and sat on the border of the Terrace Pool (they don’t set up the loungers during scenic cruising) and watched for awhile, listening to the narration being given occasionally from the bridge. There were sea lions on bergy bits everywhere (I lost count of how many we saw) but I didn’t personally see any other wildlife. Still, the scenery was amazing as the rock walls on either side of the ship started to close in. 

There were also waterfalls everywhere, and, being a music-free area, we were able to hear them. Some were thunderous and others quieter, but it appeared to be a function of falling height and width at the bottom. 

I eventually got very hungry and stepped into the back of the buffet for breakfast, which I ate outside. We saw the excursion boat (sorry, no info on pricing for that one) come up behind the ship and then alongside, and, eventually we could see that the ship was turning, and so knew that we had reached the glacier. 

I believe I heard the naturalist say that Dawes Glacier is 17 miles long and is advancing at 15 feet per year. She also said that it is known for its active calving as a result (but I didn’t see any).  Still, I was very impressed. If it happens that your cruise goes to Endicott Arm instead of Glacier Bay, they are different experiences but in many ways I preferred Endicott Arm. Or maybe it’s just because the weather today was perfection. 

After the Ruby had turned around and was part way out of Endicott Arm, the captain made an announcement that there was going to be a helicopter evacuation. I returned to the cabin for a nap, and G went to Skywalkers to watch our continued scenic cruising.

By dinner I was getting pretty hungry., and realized that I had skipped lunch despite an early breakfast. Nothing appealed too much on the menu, so I went with the standard salmon (which I seem to have at least half the time). We are going to miss Errol and Haifa. They have really made our dinners special. We also have great tablemates at the tables on either side of us. It’s nice to have someone to chat with but not be locked into dining at the same pace. 

We had returned to the cabin two nights ago to find an invitation to an MTG cocktail party to be held in Adagio at 7pm tonight. What a pleasant surprise (shock) that was! Customer Service Director Luca told us tonight that they decided to have the party because the cruise was so long and the MTG luncheon was over two weeks ago. It was very nice. 

Employee of the month Melyans

We sat with Laura and Brian who we’ve been waiting with for shows in the front row of the Princess Theater, and chatted for nearly two hours. 

G is going to impressionist  Mike Wilson’s 9:30pm show with Laura and Brian, but I more wanted to write this post and catch up with the news online. Scary times!

Day 17: Juneau

Today was a very relaxed day so that (hopefully) means a short post and early bedtime tonight. We are in Juneau tonight until nearly midnight, so I’ve had a good cell signal and have been uploading pics throughout the day. 

First, this pic below.  I keep mentioning that it’s never getting really dark at night, and that’s because last light is something like two hours after sunset, and first light is about two hours before sunrise, and since sunset and sunrise are about five hours apart, complete darkness is elusive. 

Ship’s Bridgecam at 2:42am this morning

And, second, you know my “mission” I mentioned last night, doing something nice for Angie on her 94th birthday, her first one without her husband?  Well, in the end, it worked out even better than I could have imagined. The Michelangelo greeter apparently called Angie first, then delivered the flowers to her cabin between first and second seating last night. She said Angie was in tears when she saw them, and it was all very sweet. Then today, Angie came back to the dining room and the greeter (I need to find out her name) came to get us and take us to her table and Angie hugged me over and over and said she told her kids all about it when she talked with them on the phone last night and it certainly gave me the warm fuzzies. Mission accomplished!

So, finally, our day…

It was a gorgeous day in Juneau. We were at the far berth, but it didn’t faze me at all, because we never got off the ship. Our only plan had been to get fish tacos at Deckhand Dave’s, but a friend on board shared his head cold with me (that’s all it is) and I have lost most of my sense of taste, so there was no sense in making a special effort. 

Instead we slept in, had a late breakfast/ early lunch in the buffet, and hung out literally all day on the Terrace Deck. The stable ship felt particularly good after yesterday’s bouncy train ride, and we especially enjoyed watching the float planes take off and land (because we had seen surprisingly few of them in Ketchikan). 

Juneau weather was spectacular today

At home, under the heat dome over the central US

Darn glad to be here!



We never tire of this

The gondola is now $60pp

We took note of the steepness of this mountain. 

That is another landslide waiting to happen.

If you’re cruising Alaska in the next couple of weeks, look away now. The weather is changing in a big way. We’re getting out of Alaska just in time. 

We went to dinner in Michelangelo (where we met up with Angie). We weren’t especially hungry. I had the chicken chili and G had the chicken satay made entree-sized. I know Princess has significantly cut down on portion sizes to reduce waste, but today neither one of us could finish our meal. 

Chicken chili

With our beautiful weather, we just couldn’t convince ourselves to sit in the Princess Theater for Libby Riddles (we’ve heard her speak before) or tonight’s entertainment (we think it’s two violinists). Instead, we were right back on the Terrace Deck, with few people, no music and only the sound of the huge Bermuda flag flapping in the wind. The best way to end a day. 

At almost 7pm 

In Alaska 

Amazing!

Tomorrow is more virgin territory for us, scenic cruising in Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier. It’s another early day, but I suspect the weather will be considerably improved over College Fiord. 

Day 16: Skagway

We awoke to low lying clouds this morning in Skagway, but the forecast was for sunny and 70°, so I was hopeful that it would soon start to clear. I was in the buffet at 7am, having just enough breakfast for that morning pill taking activity, and we met our Princess excursion group at 8am in the Princess Theater. 

We were once again taking the White Pass Railroad excursion, because 1) railroad (G loves trains) and 2) because we’ve never made it as far as the summit due to the restriction about entering Canada during COVID one year and bridge repair another. Today was the day. 

The Ruby Princess was berthed along the railroad next to where the landslides had occurred a few years ago. However, we couldn’t disembark on the pier, but instead had to tender to a small boat dock in the marina next to the campground. It was a short tender ride, but a bit of a pain. For some reason, the Grand Princess, berthed just behind us, didn’t tender. Instead, their passengers rode trams on the pier past the slide area. I’m not sure that saved them any time, but that’s the way it was. 

When we were boarding the train, we asked if we could board a car toward the end of the train instead of in order, and were welcome to do that. This gave us a better photo taking position on the bridges and curves. It also gave us a nearly empty car. We all had own bench and could switch sides when the train turned sound. Very nice!  With four ships in port, they were operating seven trains. 

It was a pleasant day, and, as expected, the clouds that were hanging low were starting to lift, giving us two different perspectives going up the pass and coming down. In the interest of time, I will plop just a few of my many photos in here, but will try on an upcoming sea day to add some labels and maybe edit a few out. It’s hard to get a good view of them on my iPhone and that is what I am uploading them from (with cellular)…and typing all my posts on, too, for that matter. 😉

Our camera batteries were exhausted by the time we returned, so we tendered back to the ship to recharge our phones and decided to eat lunch in the buffet. If the ship had been a walk-off, we would have gone back out, but didn’t really want to tender again. Instead we enjoyed the sun and warmth on the Terrace Deck until it was time to get ready for the evening. 

We had big plans for the evening, made on Wrangell Day (a year ago, right?). We had met the sweetest lady named Angie in the buffet at lunch that day. She told us she was turning 94 on June 20th (today!) and was traveling solo for the first time since her husband died late last year. I just fell in love with her, and she fell in love with G and thought he was soooo funny. He loves an appreciative audience and I love to have a mission, so, when she gave us her cabin number, I was able to find out her dining table. I had spoken to Restaurant Manager Alexander and we had plans to make a fuss for her birthday, and G and I picked up flowers on the way. Well, her waiter told us she had not been at dinner for a few days, and so we left the flowers with her waiter who took our names and promised she’d get them delivered to her, and we slid a note under her door last night. So it kind of went bust, but hopefully she knows someone cared. 

Dinner was excellent last night. We skipped all starters and ordered three entrees, two surf and turfs and one seafood kabob. G got two filets and I was awash in shrimp and happiness reigned. He said it was the best beef he’s had onboard. Oh, and one scoop of passion fruit sorbet each for dessert. Delish!

We caught the end of Puppies in the Piazza, which I’m not sure I think is right, but puppies are puppies, There was a magician again in the Princess Theater tonight (again?  still?  I don’t pay enough attention to know), so we listened to music around the ship and stood on the Promenade Deck and examined the landslide area (and, frankly, were glad we tendered and didn’t tram. It looks highly unstable).

It was still warm out even at 8pm, and this cruise suddenly feels much more like a regular Alaska cruise, with busy ports and some passengers even wearing shorts. I can finally say that I am no longer freezing on board, our cabin thermostat, which has hovered closer to the highest temperature for over a week is now inching down toward the middle and we’re not sleeping under extra blankets. Frankly, it feels like summer has arrived, which, on this summer solstice day, is quite fitting.