Travel

Day one was overcast and choppy (20 foot swells and 45 knot winds) due to a building low pressure area north of our position. We are sailing in more of a southerly direction in order to try to avoid as much of it as possible. Because of the larger ship, the rocking and rolling under even these conditions was much less than it was on the Pacific Princess with calmer waters.

[Read more…] about North Pacific Transit

Getting to Kodiak took a day at sea. Alaska is big and the islands stretch quite far toward Asia. The sea day was overcast all day with various times of heavy mist. The sea was angrier than it has been so far in the trip. The Pacific Princess would have been rocking and rolling; the Coral Princess also moved with the sea but not nearly so much. There is some benefit to a larger ship when it comes to riding out rougher water. So far, the largest “problem” with the larger ship has been the need to get to any event you want to attend anywhere from a half hour to an hour in advance in order to get a good seat.

[Read more…] about Kodiak

Woke just before my 8:30 alarm when the bridge called for a medical team one deck down and the other side of the ship; our first emergency call this trip. We were already at the dock not that this was a good thing since Icy Strait Point only has a Physician’s Assistant and anything beyond simple has to be evacuated to Juneau or Seattle. No further information at this point.

[Read more…] about Icy Strait Point

We are presently on our way out of Glacier Bay; almost to the point where we drop the National Park Rangers off the ship so they can go home for the day. I’m glad we are sailing out and not in at this moment as it is quite foggy and there is no land to be seen. The ship is blowing its fog horn to warn any small vessels. The bow camera looks like modern art with drops of water on it. But, we had a good day.

[Read more…] about Glacier Bay

When we sailed into Juneau it was very foggy and the ship had to blow its horn a number of times to make certain we did not run into anything or anything didn’t run into us. At least that’s what I’ve been told. I slept through all that and the fog had lifted and we were at the dock at 8:30 when I woke up. 🙂

[Read more…] about Juneau

It’s Sunday the 23rd and Ketchikan is our first port. My excursion had me meeting at the pier at 7:45 so I got up early and had a small breakfast as part of my excursion was a crab feast. Had some indication of what was to come when I opened the curtains and saw the weather was overcast and foggy with a mist in the air. But, I got ready and was one of the first people off the ship. Got to the meeting point and, as I feared, the weather was too bad for a plane trip. Instead, they offered a bus ride out to the lake where the crab meal was to take place but the crab meal was not the reason I got the excursion so I turned it down. As they cancelled the excursion I now have that cost back in my account to do something else with.

[Read more…] about Ketchikan