I know this post is getting published a day late. In fact, it’s getting written a day late, too, while G is on an excursion in Ketchikan. I am staying on the ship to de-compress a bit, something that is much needed after yesterday.
I was awakened by a text from Mom advising me that two units at her community were again in lockdown, and she felt the rest of them might soon follow, and she thought I should stay home next week. What I didn’t know-then- but later learned is that she had had a medical emergency the day before, and the paramedics decided to treat her on site, and not transport her to the ER, which is considered too laden with COVID cases to accept any but the most critical cases. I didn’t have strong enough WiFi to phone her, and could only text her intermittently, so I started the day just a smidge emotional.
Still, the reality is that I could change nothing, other than to cancel my flight to visit her next week, and even that couldn’t be done until today, so we settled in for a day of scenic cruising. But I will only add (because this is MY blog, and no one can stop me from speaking my mind about this) that I am getting really, really angry that some people still refuse to take COVID seriously. It’s not a hoax, it’s never been a hoax and it’s getting to be time for some of us to take back our freedoms which are being so thoroughly stomped on by the minority.
Ok, rant over.
We turned on our cabin TV to the Bridge Channel (navigational, not card game) to catch the Glacier Bay National Park’s ranger talk as we entered the park. At first, the audio was quite sketchy, going in and out, and we thought it was our TV, but, no, it was a technical glitch, but, fortunately, it was soon fixed. After 30 minutes or so, we pulled ourselves away to go to breakfast in the Concerto Dining Room; I remain addicted to the double order of smoked salmon and G to the made to order omelets. By the time we returned to our cabin, we were getting deeper into the park and only about 45 minutes away from the first glaciers.
Several pamphlets were left in our cabin by our steward the night before.
We chose our cabin for this cruise when the cruises were first announced in May, and gave it a great deal of thought. While I am happiest in a inside cabin (really, for several reasons), Alaska is one of those itineraries where a balcony is very worthwhile. But we wanted a balcony with a great deal of overhang from the deck above, which on the Majestic Princess is the Lido Deck. That’s not to say that our balcony has stayed dry all the time; since we left Seattle, we’ve encountered rain so hard it blew against the sliding glass doors and soaked everything out there. But it was obvious today that, although the day was mostly raining and misty, it was a more vertical rain, at least while we were in the park, and we were able to sit on our balcony for hours. This was a wonderful thing. We could step inside to hear the TV commentary and then go out on the balcony again to watch the view.
It was one of those days when every pic took on Ansel Adams-type qualities,
but I found it beautiful the way the muted colors made the water color seem to pop.
A little sunlight on the passage provided some contrast
The glacial silt churned up by the ship
We made frequent runs to the Lido pool area for hot chocolate (free) spiked with Frangelico, and, seeing the many people trying to stay dry while watching the scenery, were happy that, for once, we had our own little hideaway. Unlike last week on the Nieuw Amsterdam, Captain Dino first took the Majestic Princess to Tarr Inlet to see the Grand Pacific Glacier and then the magnificently blue Marjerie Glacier. Captain Dino is the Ice Whisperer, and took the Majestic Princess much closer to the glaciers than we had gotten last week on the Nieuw Amsterdam.
Marjerie Glacier in all her glory
Zooming in on Marjerie
We spent about an hour in Tarr Inlet, spinning in front of the Grand Pacific and Margerie glaciers, and never felt the need to go anywhere else on the ship for pics. The Majestic Princess then cruised south to the Johns Hopkins Inlet, and all along the way the rain really picked up until it was streaming off the overhang above our cabin, and still we stayed cozy and dry. But taking pics got tricky, as the iPhone was just as likely to focus on the raindrops as the backdrops.
Those drops in the pics were the raindrops which got pretty heavy,
traveling between Tarr Inlet and Johns Hopkins Inlet.
But one benefit of the rain: waterfalls everywhere
So happy for our covered balcony (Lido Deck).
We stayed dry the whole day.
It really made my day to see a rainbow develop right off the side of the ship, and it was funny to hear the growing echoes of “Rainbow! Rainbow!” bouncing off the side of the ship from all the people on their balconies (balconies are not quiet things).
Another rainy day benefit
We loved watching the little pockets of clouds settle in the mountain crotches, and then move on.
I was as fascinated by the clouds as the glaciers
Lamplugh Glacier in Johns Hopkins Inlet
There were a couple of presentations in the Princess Theater by the National Park rangers, but we were so totally content watching these views go by even after we left the glaciers that we pretty much stayed where we were all afternoon. I did order a cappuccino for G using the Medallion app, just to see what would happen, It was eventually delivered to our cabin, 37 minutes later and cold. So I guess that was a partial success.
The 37 minute cold cappuccino
I knew it was a crapshoot to order room delivery during Glacier Bay day, and I did get it…finally.
We snuck away for just 30 minutes or so to have lunch in the Concerto Dining Room. They had Baja Fish Tacos on the menu, and they are as good as any I’ve had in Mexico. Strongly recommended! And then I spent the rest of the afternoon trying (not too successfully) to reach Mom while we started talking about adjustments to our own near term plans.
It was formal night, and the two Captains Circle parties were scheduled at 5pm and 7pm. Now, I would never let G down if we were one of the top three most traveled guests, but as bridesmaid #4, we had absolutely no role to fulfill at all, and I decided I really wanted to see production show Encore instead of sitting in a Captains Circle party. So we parted ways after dinner, G went to the back of the ship and I to the front, and I think we would both say it was a good evening. Encore is one of my favorite shows, with the Majestic Princess orchestra (because it includes the violins), and the singers and the dancers. The costumes alone are amazing.
We didn’t do anything else last night. G has a big excursion planned for Ketchikan (honestly, he is like a kid at Christmas from excitement), and I was looking forward to finally being able to talk with Mom. We were hoping for good weather for G and a good phone connection for me.
