Day 7: Haines

What started as a questionable day in Haines turned all good by the end, so this was, in hindsight, a fantastic day. First, the natural beauty that surrounds us makes us ever more certain that we did the right thing by re-booking this cruise when we did. It really has been everything I’d hoped it would be, with hours of daylight allowing us to see the countless islands we are sailing by. I’m sitting in the Princess Theater right now, keeping my bottom in a seat for a show starting 30 minutes from now but truly wishing I was somewhere- Skywalkers, the Promenade Deck, a large window- where I could just sit for hours and gaze at the beauty passing by. When I said my favorite cruises allow us to stay on the ship and the scenery comes to us…well, this itinerary at this time of year offers that in spades. 

I was up early today because we were asleep early last night. I tried to be quiet from 5am to 7am, but I finally gave up and started making noise. I got us a table in Botticelli and G joined me fairly quickly. It was already a beautiful day, and the scenery we could see from the dining room windows was incredible. 

Another amazing weather day




I had to take a photo of this “orange” juice. 

It’s gotten so weak that it matches the tablecloths. 

I prefer to get my orange juice this way. 

Probably my single favorite breakfast item

And my second favorite (blueberry pancake day!!)

Our arrival in Haines was scheduled for 9am, and an announcement was made that there would be a single gangway with steps until around 10am. Still, it wasn’t as backed up as as I heard it was two days ago in Ketchikan. By 9:20am we were walking down the pier, with this gorgeous view in front of us. 

About a month ago, a group of us from our Cruise Critic roll call had booked an excursion to what is kinda-sorta a wildlife sanctuary or rehab about 28 miles from Haines. I thought it would give us a good chance to see some of the area and have a unique experience. We all made a $75 payment and received a confirming email to meet at the end of the pier for a pick up. But a couple of days before the cruise, word started circulating that this excursion might not happen. 

Our tablemate the first night of the cruise had done this excursion a couple of years ago and raved about it, but I was able to see his pics and I realized this was a reputable operation that hit some bad luck. Well, the guide never showed up, I’ve already disputed the charge and received a credit; things happen in travel. But we got very lucky and ran into two ladies from Alberta who were looking for someone to share a taxi tour to Chilkoot Lake.  Sounded great to us. 

While we were waiting for a pick up, I walked right up the road to a gift shop/art gallery called the Wild Iris. We had been in Haines 25 years ago this month and I purchased every hand painted wild iris note card the Wild Iris had in stock.  They are long gone, and I was hoping to purchase more. I have a special affinity for wild irises. Well, the gift shop is still there, still owned by the same person, but I learned it was his wife who did all the wild iris art, and she has passed away. The store is still called The Wild Iris but they carry Alaska art, not flower art (though the garden is still nice).

So, not exactly batting 1.000 here, but our luck quickly changed. Driver Jax picked us up and gave us a tour of Haines and stopped at several overlooks on the way north to beautiful Chilkoot Lake State Recreation District.  The salmon season starts June 15, so they aren’t really running yet, and, as a result we didn’t see any bears (but we sure saw evidence of them).  They are ready and waiting for dinner to arrive.

The backside of these mountains is actually Glacier Bay National Park

Alaska Fish and Game was on this bridge counting the salmon flow. 

The salmon run really hasn’t started yet. The season starts June 15. 

Eagles everywhere

My childhood vacation memories in a single pic

Vacation meant camping, and camping meant drinking ice cold sulphur water on a hot afternoon. 

We returned to the ship in time for a late lunch in the buffet, and then enjoyed the gorgeous view from a hot tub on Deck 17 until it was time to get cleaned up for the evening. Our first stop was the PES Lounge, and then- joy!- it was Italian night with penne arrabbiata in the dining room. 

Brazino (sea bass)

Tonight’s Princess Theater performance was Trenyce, back again doing disco songs. G gets the seats, I get the MUTS blankets, and we are ready for a great show. 

Trenyce does disco

Speaking of blankets, the lower level of the Princess Theater where we sit is frozen. I remember this from when we were on the ship in the South Pacific, as toasty a climate as exists. We all brought MUTS blankets to the Princess Theater then, too. In fact, I have never not worn a fleece on the ship. It’s pretty chilly everywhere. Luckily, this is a very casual cruise and we dress like this at home so I had the right things to bring. 

Saying that, Haines today was the warmest day we’ve had. Still fleece weather, but with no wind I didn’t need a jacket or headband. Our weather is forecasted to change for the next two days, and we’re going to be getting rain which will make it feel colder. 

After a great show, we went up to Skywalkers for more scenic cruising and sunset. This really is my favorite part of the day. 

Day 6: Wrangell, Alaska

Wrangell was our first “virgin” port on this itinerary, and, though I knew it was located in the middle of some breathtaking scenery, our arrival was scheduled for 7am and that’s just not something I wanted to be up for.  Though we arrived at 7, the first passengers didn’t start to disembark until 7:30am, so you might want to consider that when making plans ashore. 

We instead lingered over breakfast at a table for two in Botticelli, then used a hot tub, and it was close to noon when we finally walked off the ship. Since we had an on board time of 3:30pm, we knew we weren’t going to have a big day, but then Wrangell was not a big town. 

While walking across the Lido Deck, we noticed the firepit on MUTS. Instantly warning! 😉

And look at that Alaskan sunshine!

After quick showers, we swung by the buffet for a bite to eat before getting off the ship. For me, buffet lunches have been hot soup and lots of cold watermelon. 

You can see why our arrival/departure was so scenic

The limited research I did pointed to the Wrangell Museum as being THE place to visit in town, so we headed off in that direction. There is basically one road kind of following the waterfront and that’s where the very few gift ships, the Ace and the IGA are located. G was once again in search of a Mountain Dew, so we first stopped and got that, and then continued on to the museum. A $12 entrance fee per person provided several exhibits on Wrangell history dating back 10000 years. 

The Wrangell waterfront

This was one of my favorite exhibits (probably because it was geared to kids). Several animal pelts could be touched, and then lifting the board each was mounted on revealed the animal it came from. Muskrat and mink were the softest, but wolverine was my favorite (as in It’s great…to be…a Michigan Wolverine!). 😁

A totum topper

We have to find this movie online

I also took special note of the history behind the Garnet Ledge, probably because garnet is my birthstone. It became important an hour or so later. 

https://www.alaska.org/detail/garnet-ledge

Walking back to the ship, we were approached by two enterprising teens who were selling Wrangell key chains they designed and made for $10 each. Now, I need a keychain like I need a bad rash but I have a very soft spot for kids who sell things. After the transaction was complete and they had moved on, a fellow cruiser sitting on a nearby bench said, “That was kind” and, under his breath G said “Dandelion perfume”. This isn’t an itinerary appropriate for telling stories but this is a short one, so I will. 

When I was 7 or 8 years old, my best friend and I started a business. Every family had hundreds of empty baby food jars in their house, because this was the 60s and every house had a baby. We would pick dandelions in the spring, mash them in baby food jars with a popsicle stick, add water, let it sit for a few minutes, strain it and- voila!- dandelion perfume. We sold these jars door to door; small jars were 5¢, large jars were 10¢. We even knew who our marks were, older ladies who could always be counted on to make a purchase. 

I didn’t realize until I was in my teens that these ladies didn’t use our dandelion perfume. In fact, we probably weren’t even off their property when it had already been dumped down a sink. But I clearly remember how proud we were with our little enterprise. And that’s the reason I now have a Wrangell keychain. 

Walking down the pier, a young girl was selling raw garnets she had found at the Garnet Ledge, just as I had read about at the museum. I asked her to pick what she thought was the prettiest $3 one, and she took the job quite seriously, and I then paid her $5 for her extra effort. Because…dandelion perfume. 

Once back on the ship, we went to Skywalkers to watch our sailaway at 4pm. It was another beautiful day without the breeze we’d had in Ketchikan, and I had worn just a fleece jacket and was comfortable. 

The evening included the PES Lounge and then dinner; beautiful scenery passed by our windows as the passages we were sailing on widened and narrowed.

Broccoli from the vegan menu

Starter made entree sized

Your weather report for today. 

We’ve been very lucky (but it’s running out soon)

The entertainment in the Princess Theater was a hypnotist, so we found ourselves kind of purposeless, first making way to the Wheelhouse and then to Crooners looking for music that resonated with us with no luck (though we did see bar waiter ShaSha, or, I should say, she saw us. We had last seen her on the Regal but she left weeks before we did, in fact, right after the transatlantic so she missed all the out of service drama. 

We ultimately ended up in Club Fusion (it’s Club Fusion, not the Vista-less Lounge on the Ruby Princess, I was wrong in an earlier post) listening to the show band play dance music and watching the largely Asian passengers dance. That’s alway a safe entertainment bet. 

I so wanted to catch the moon rise but one of us (shockingly not me) had run out of energy and I didn’t need convincing to call it a day either.