Sorry for the delay.  The connection on the ship was painfully slow.  Also, I'm sorry there are no photos as I'm using Eva's laptop and it doesn't have the photo editing programs I have at home.  I thought it did.  Perhaps I can post some when we get home.

We are currently in Canmore Alberta.  The roads are washed out to Calgary and we're hoping to be able to get to Calgary for our flight home on Monday. 

Here's the info on our trip.

Alaskan Cruise 2013

    Sunday/Monday - 2 & 3 June-   We had lunch at the church, went home and finished putting a few things in our suitcases and left for Toronto.  We had dinner with Cathy, Brian, Deborah and Robin.  Slept on the daybed. Up at 5:30 and off to the airport just before 6.  The flight to Vancouver was uneventful.  Eva and I were not able to sit together, 3 rows apart.

As we approached the baggage pick-up, we were stopped by a woman with a NCL scarf and asked if we were ‘the Breadners.  Why she suspected we were, we have no idea.  Anyway, she got us a luggage cart then pushed it with us trailing to the shuttle bus, then she disappeared with our luggage.  The ‘highway coach’ drove us to the ship with a running commentary from the driver.

Line Up, line up, line up.  First there was the line up to go through security, then the line up to go through US customs, then the line, (rather short because we had sailed with Norwegian before), to get checked in with the ship and our ‘on board’ charge cards.  You can’t pay cash for anything.

We quickly made our way to the Garden Café for something to eat, then began exploring the ship.  We bought an ‘Unlimited Soda’ package. At 4pm we enjoyed the ‘Bon Voyage Sailaway BBQ on the pool deck then headed for the Casino to enjoy some free rum swizzles.  In the  evening we enjoyed the ‘Welcome Aboard Showtime’ in the Stardust Lounge.

We went to bed about 10 pm having been up for about 20 hours and experiencing the tiring effects of a poorer night’s sleep and travel from Toronto.

    Tuesday, 4 June - At Sea    An uneventful day.  We watched the view and spent most of the day getting familiar with the ship.  It is remarkably similar to the Epic

     Wednesday, 5 June - We were up early again today.  Eva was up really early, and managed to get out without waking Dick.

Today we visited Ketchikan, and participated in a guided hike in the Tongass National Rainforest along the Ward Creek Nature Trail.  The tour company was Wild Wolf Tours, and the owner, Tracey Wolf, was our guide.  Our group was only 6 strong, so we could always be close to Tracey.  From the forest, returning to Ketchikan, we stopped at Totem Bight Totem Park. Using original totem poles as examples, copies of old poles and a replica of an old longhouse were set up.  The old craft of carving totems has been revived, and even young boys are learning to carve.

We have been on our feet for nearly 3 hours, so will leave the exploring of the town of Ketchikan for our return trip to Vancouver.   After lunch we returned to our cabin and slept for nearly 2 hours.  This evening we enjoyed an acrobatic show performed by a husband and wife team, former members of ‘Cirque de Soleil”.  Clocks move back another hour tonight.

    Thursday, 6 June - We docked in Juneau at 10 am.  There were already two others in port, ‘Carnival’ and ‘Holland America’ cruise ships. Our ship was berthed some distance from town and there were shuttle busses provided to ferry us back and forth. Of course, with 3 ships in port at the same time, the place was swarming with people.  We looked into visiting the botanical gardens but my back was extremely sore and after a quick look around we returned to the ship.  The rest of the day was spent on board. We were eating dinner when the Carnival ship left and were surprised to see a small coast guard boat with a machine gun mounted on the bow cruising the harbour as she left. Our ship sailed at 8 pm, just behind the “Holland America” ship.

    Friday, 7 June - Skagway arrival was at 7 am.  Our ship turned and backed into the dock with the Carnival Miracle behind us.  We had no tours planned and spent the morning on board.  After lunch we headed for town.  A ‘golf cart type’ vehicle took us to the bus stop but we decided to walk the ½ mile from there to town.  Skagway is quite small, 3 streets wide and 6 long constitute the ‘main drag’.  One local owned shop sells smoked salmon for $16 lb. and we may buy some when we get back next Friday to take to Bruce for one night’s meal.

We visited several other shops and finally went into a ‘saloon’ to have a drink and snack but the music was too loud.  Moving on, we entered the Red Onion Saloon”.  It had the feel of an old time saloon and the waitresses were dressed in period costume. One interesting photo is of a ‘bar girl’ of the 1800s operating a touch screen.  We enjoyed a drink and a large plate of cheese nachos.  Another interesting building is a former ‘Arctic Brotherhood Hall’, now a tourist bureau, that has a facade of short pieces of driftwood.  We left Skagway at 8 pm.

    Saturday, 8 June - Today we cruised ‘Glacier Bay’.  As the ship approached the glaciers at the end of the bay it moved slower and slower, finally coming to a stop amid large and small pieces of floating ice.  We could see quite a contrast between Marjorie (white) and Grand Pacific (black) Glacier faces.  Several small “calves” broke off Marjorie while were there and the captain slowly turned the ship using side thrusters so we spun around in the same place.  We then headed back out the bay, headed for Hubbard Glacier on Sunday.

    Sunday, 9 June - Cruise Hubbard Glacier --The Hubbard Glacier is North America’s largest tidewater glacier. It is 76 miles long,7 miles wide, and 600 feet tall at its terminal face (350 feet exposed above the waterline and 250 feet below the waterline).  The Hubbard Glacier starts at Mt. Logan (19850 ft) in the Yukon Territory. Mt. Logan is the 2nd tallest mountain on the North American continent.  We were so far away for safety reasons that it didn’t look that large.  The ice we see at the terminal face is approximately 450 years old and is over 2000 feet thick at some locations.

    Monday, 10 June- Whittier,  Anchorage,  8:00am - 9:00pm - High Tides during this trip have been quite dramatic. In Whittier they can range up to 14 feet between high and low ties.  We took the NCL arranged bus into Anchorage.  Just outside Whittier is a 2.5 mile, single line tunnel, (shared with a railway line) and is the only land route to Alaska.  Direction of travel in the tunnel changes every ½ hour.  There are 8 ‘emergency shelter’ rooms inside the tunnel in case of accident, fire, or other problems.  The busses go through as a group, spaced 1 shelter apart in case of emergency.  Arriving at Anchorage, we went and cancelled our reservation for the shuttle to the base of the Flat Top Mountain trail as we would not get back in time for the bus back to the ship.  We then walked around the downtown area and found an exhibit on the 1964 Alaskan earthquake, also known as the Great Alaskan Earthquake, the Portage Earthquake and the Good Friday Earthquake. It was a megathrust earthquake that began at 5:36 P.M. AST on Good Friday, March 27, 1964.  Across south-central Alaska, ground fissures, collapsing structures, and tsunamis resulting from the earthquake caused about 143 deaths.

Lasting nearly three minutes, it was the most powerful recorded earthquake in North American history, and the second most powerful ever measured by seismograph.  It had a magnitude of 9.2, making it the second largest earthquake in recorded history.

One side of Fourth St. dropped 14 ft and was filled in and totally rebuilt.
   
We later had reindeer sausages from a street cart for lunch.  The weather was extremely warm and sunny, shirt sleeve weather. We bought some souvenirs for the family and ourselves here in Anchorage.  At 3:30 pm we boarded the bus back to the ship.  The driver gave a running commentary on the area which we really enjoyed, along with a stop just before we reached the tunnel to Whittier  while we waited for the traffic direction to change.

    Tuesday, 11 June - Cruise Hubbard Glacier - A Day at Sea we saw  some fair sized icebergs on the way to the glacier, several more than when we visited on Sunday.  Again we didn’t get too close for safety.

    Wednesday, 12 June - Icy Point Strait, 9:00am - 5:00pm  - The nearby village is called Hoonah and the native peoples have developed several tourist attractions.  This was the only stop where we had to take tenders to shore.  4 of the lifeboats served this purpose.  We took a tour to the village where we saw eagles and ravens and got some good photos.  For lunch we went to the Landing Zone Bar and Grill for grilled salmon, delicious.

    Thursday, 13 June - Juneau, 7:00am - 1:15pm;  Tracey Arm, Sawyer Glacier  - Our time in Juneau was short and we had booked tickets for the Mount Roberts Tramway.  We had a spectacular view of the area and watched an interesting video on the Tlingit people and their history, especially as it related to the white men.  We then walked to the main city bus terminal and caught the ‘Mendenhall Valley bus to the Glacier Gardens.  We didn’t realise it was so far out of the center of town and it took ½ hour to get there.  The gardens are beautiful and we had a personal guide.  We were then put on a ‘golf cart’ and taken to the top of the park by a very knowledgeable driver.  A beautiful view from there.  Realizing the time we would need to get back to the ship we had to cut the visit short.   Just a couple of minutes after we got to the bus stop the bus back to town arrived and we made it back in time.   

On the way up Tracey Arm to the Sawyer Glacier we saw seals on some of the ice flows and in the water.  These were also some of the largest icebergs we had seen to date.

    Friday, 14 June - Skagway, 7:00am - 5:00pm  - 8:50 am and we met ‘Madam Ida Dunham’, one of the madams from the Red Onion Saloon, (and brothel) for the Ghosts and Good Time Girls tour.  This was a great tour and our ‘Madam’ really strutted her stuff and explained a great deal about the early history of the town, it’s ‘girls’, their trade, and the numerous ghosts in the area.

At 12:35 we again met at the end of the pier to board a bus to the Liarsville Salmon Bake.  This was a really busy place with “all you can eat”  BBQd salmon and chicken, salads and desert followed by a show talking about Liarsville and it’s history as the jumping off camp before the infamous Chilkoot Pass to the Klondike gold fields.  (At least they claimed it was there and now Skagway.)

    Saturday, 15 June - Ketchikan, 1:00pm - 8:00pm  - On the way into Ketchikan we saw our first whale of the trip, an acrobatic Orca leaping out of the water and turning somersaults. 

The Great Lumberjack Show was a real treat.  We were divided into 2 teams to root for the two competing teams, (our team won).  This is the same show that has been featured on TV.  After the show we shopped for gifts.

    Sunday, 16 June - Cruise Inside Passage, weather was sunny and warm again.  We attended the presentation put on by the kids who had been in the child care area.  They did a great job.

In the afternoon several of the staff put on a presentation of dance and song.  They also did a great job, particularly the last act where they began so formally then wound up spitting water at each other.  There was a draw in the gift shop for jewelry, but we didn’t come close.  After dinner we picked up some purchases they were holding for us then returned to the room to pack and put out our suitcases for collection overnight.

    Monday, 17 June - Vancouver, Calgary, Canmore.  - Disembarkation started at about 8:15am, depending on the colour of the tags on you luggage.  Since we had an 11 am flight we were one of the first to leave and get to our bus.  Customs consisted of handing in a declaration and I never did see Immigration.  We boarded the bus for the airport and received a 3 hour tour of Vancouver in the 45 minute trip.  We had the first flight out and everyone worked to make sure we made it. Norwegian had someone at the airport to direct us to the special check in counter.  Things went very smooth.

When we got to Calgary we bought lunch at Timmy’s then sat and read until Bruce arrived from work to take us to Canmore.  The condo facility where Bruce and Yuna live has a hotel attached, the Windtower Lodge and Suites, and we were assigned a lovely room with a small kitchenette.

    Wednesday, 19 June, - Canmore - It’s wet. It’s been raining, and raining, and raining.  The trans Canada Highway is closed due to washouts in both directions, as is Hwy 1A, and there’s no way into Calgary.  The forecast is continued rain. I took a short walk during a break but otherwise we have stayed inside. Bruce cannot get into Calgary to work and the bank where Yuna works has been closed.

One bright note, we are eating fabulously. Our son Bruce is a professional chef and he loves to cook at home. I don’t think my “waste” line could take too much of this.

    Thursday, 20 June, - Canmore - Still raining and the rest of the country is beginning to hear of the extensive flooding.  Eva, Bruce, and I took a walk a short way along the Bow Valley Trail and viewed the flooding and washout there.  Then proceeding across a rock strewn former meadow that had been washed with flood water we saw the water flowing off the Trans Canada and trucks trapped on the highway.  Late this afternoon, Bruce’s friend Anthony was evacuated from his home here in Canmore and placed in a suite here at the ‘Windtower’ with two friends.

    Friday, 21 June, - Canmore - More rain and the water in the rivers has reached Calgary.   I’m sure if you check out the internet you will find lots of images showing the flooding.  Eva and Yuna went grocery shopping to the Safeway store. It was extremely busy but they were still well stocked.  Cashier lines stretched to th back of the store.