Alaska Cruise

I've just gotten back from a two week cruise to Alaska. Something to cross off my bucket list.

Bob mentioned (c. April 29th) that if we bought me a scooter, we might fly on Southwest to do a cruise this winter. I mentally leapt with joy as he has been refusing to fly for the last five years as he does not like the TSA stuff in the airports. So I said - could we go to Alaska this May, and he agreed. Yippee!!!

I booked the scooter, and the air (Southwest non-stop BWI to Seattle) before I booked the cruise, and I booked the cruise the day before the final payment (which is pretty late).

They gave me a cabin under the kitchen and then asked if I wanted to buy and upgrade and I did.

I asked Southwest for a wheelchair, so when we checked our bags, they wheeled me through security to the gate. We still had to take off our shoes but the line was quicker. We got there two hours in advance. This is Bob waiting



There were 8 of us in wheelchairs - 5 old ladies lined up along the wall. They put us on first.



I had arranged to stay at the Mayflower Park hotel and the concierge advised me that I could get a car to take me and our luggage to the hotel and it wouldn't cost much more than a taxi, so I did that. The Mayflower is in the same building as the Monorail, so we walked over



Elevator to the top



The trip to the top would cost $15 each (for seniors) so I had made a reservation for dinner which would include the ride.

Of course the minimum price for dinner was $35, and most entrees were more than that. But you only go around once.



Actually by the time we finished dinner we went around one and a half times.



Views from the dinner table

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Bob had soup and a pasta dish. I opted for the deep fried rockfish which was the COMPLETE fish



Took the monorail back



And walked through the mall



Where I took my own photo in the mirrored hall

I bought a package at the hotel that included breakfast and a shuttle to the dock. So we went to an early breakfast in the restaurant and found that when it said "Coffee, Tea or Juice" that meant that you couldn't have tea AND juice as it would be extra. Bob's breakfast



Bob didn't particularly care for rosemary in the potatoes. I tried them too and I agree - it gets in my teeth. My breakfast



After breakfast the hotel lent us a wheelchair and Bob pushed me down to Pike Street Market. I had been to Seattle before (about 20 years ago) and I had decided that the monorail, the Space Needle and Pike Street Market were the things Bob needed to see.



Pushing the wheelchair Bob didn't move too fast and we picked up a lady in a bathrobe who was asking him for money. But he couldn't hear her (being a bit deaf) and so he ignored her and she went away.



It was pretty early





and it was difficult to take photos from the wheelchair while Bob was pushing it especially in low/dim light

We did see some fish tossing although I didn't get a photo of it.

Our shuttle was to come at noon, so we went back to the hotel, packed and sat in the lobby



The shuttle dropped us off at the dock, and they took our luggage. I picked up the scooter and we checked in and went to our room - deck 6 forward. Atrium



View from our room



We sailed about 5 pm



My muscles appetizer

It was light quite late. This was one lighthouse that I saw which was probably in northern Washington State. Does anyone recognize it?







I couldn't tell from the ship information on the TV exactly where we were. So I went up to the TV and got right up close to it and saw that we were near Port Angelos. So I went outside and took a photo of it. I saw the red markers going up the coast.

The next morning, I got up and went out on the verandah before breakfast and took some photos of the Inside Passage



Our veranda was just aft of the port wing bridge



I had Eggs Florentine for breakfast



Picture from the starboard side breakfast table (windows were not completely clean)









I think this is a ferry




Our room from the veranda door



Bob asleep on the couch

Bob's photo of me going in to lunch



More photos from the dining room



My baked mac and cheese



Bob's teriyaki salmon



After lunch I saw this lighthouse (pretty sure this is Canada)

Dinner - Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail



Bob's grilled salmon



My beef Wellington



Bob's Baked Alaska



My Esterhazy



The next day we came in to Ketchikan. I didn't see any lighthouses - this is the island across from the town

Great pictures Rosalie! I will look this evening and see if I can identify the lights.

Our tour was the 8:30 Duck tour, so we had Room Service bring us our breakfast



Lily - Our guide



It was fairly warm while we were there and sunny

It was hard to take pictures as the plastic reflected, and the holes in it were over my head. This is a salmon ladder (but it wasn't spawning season, so no salmon)



Then we did the water part - this is another Duck that's just launched.





Float plane docks



Lily showing us a piece of bull kelp after the water part



Since I could not get my computer to log on to the ship network, I borrowed a laptop from them and we went into the information center to find a place to get a thumb drive so I could move my photos and links to it. Bob walked over to the Business Center in town and I went back to the ship. The ramp was so steep that I gave the scooter key to someone to bring it down for me. This is a picture of them moving the ramp down TWO decks because of the enormous tidal differences


I scootered around until I came to a candy store where I met Bob - he watched them making candy and then bought some

We went out to Whale Park (Bob's photo of me on the scooter in the park)



Bob taking a photo of some flowers

We went back to the ship and got lunch. I parked the scooter and picked up my own food. This is one of Bob's plates - he took more of the green olives than I did.



I had chicken but it wasn't so photogenic - this is the bread pudding on one side of the plate.




I took some more pictures from up there. Another Duck returning



City bus



They had these traffic wardens instead of traffic lights



Me reflected in the verandah door



Leaving port



Alaskan Wild Berry Melange



Fisherman's chowder

Towel Animal



I did such a good job of parking the scooter that Bob said I should take picture



The next day were went into Tracy Arm

Breakfast rolls




Breakfast Sandwich which was the first one I ever saw with scrambled eggs in it. I didn't like it



Tracy Arm is a glacier that is at the end of a long fjord, and it has bits of it dropping off. The captain was concerned that the icebergs would damage the azipods which move the ship. So he went in very cautiously.









Bob said that this iceberg looked like a downed airplane.

The melting snow made waterfalls. The pieces of ice got bigger
Even though they were small on the surface - they are big underneath







Eventually the ice got thicker,



and we had to turn around without getting to the glacier

Great story Rosalie. The Washington light is Point Wilson. The Canadian is Pine Island... I think. Very similar to Addenbroke Is. but I think the other buildings make it Pine Island.

I am enjoying your trip with you, but you're really making me hungry. I look forward to the rest of the trip.

Larry

Thank you very much for identifying them.

I have found (after I got home from the cruise) that I have pneumonia and the medicine is making me groggy. Maybe not awake enough to post photos for a bit.

I was looking at the photos and those two appear really similar. What was confusing me was that on the British Columbia lighthouse website, there were pictures of the old lights which had lantern houses, and I could not see any lantern enclosure on these pictures.

We left Seattle at 5 pm and were proceeding north to the Inside Passage. These pictures were taken a couple hours after lunch on the following day. The lighthouse was on the starboard side of the ship. For some reason, I went out after lunch onto the foredeck.

This is the complete sequence of 12 photos in the order I took them from 2:48 to 3:01 pm.

Port side


Starboard side





#251 and 252 are close ups of the towed boat and the towing boat that you see in #249



Port side



Not sure which direction this was taken in - maybe port forward



Starboard



Port



#258 was of people on the bow



This was the last one I took before I went inside.