The 14-Day Alaskan Adventurer Cruise, August 22-September 6, 2010, Holland America Amsterdam
Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert
Part Four
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August 27 (Friday, Day 6, Skagway, Alaska) -
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| Amsterdam at Skagway |
We didn’t have any excursions planned in Skagway and it was just as well. Had it been a sea day Snookums would not have gotten out of bed due to her cold. She was just exhausted. However, she did get up and went off the ship with Filbert to explore the town of Skagway which is home to 860 year-round residents. Skagway is historically significant since it was the last stop for prospectors beginning their long trek into Canada’s Yukon Territory. Today its main street is home to boardwalk sidewalks and fake-front buildings that house Diamonds International and other Caribbean jewelry store chains. Filbert and Snookums quickly got off the beaten path.
More after the jump . . .
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| Skagway. Not much there, really. |
Before returning to the ship they did stop at the Alaska Shirt Co. store to see what cabin was the lucky winner of $100 in merchandise. It was cabin 2669 so they left a note for those occupants when they returned to the ship. Within 15 minutes Snookums and Filbert’s phone rang and it was the occupant of cabin 2669 wanting to know our affiliation and asking other suspicious questions. When Snookums convinced her that she was just being nice, the 2669 woman was very thankful and was planning on leaving the ship right then to go to the store. Luckily the store was literally the closest one to the ship so she only had to walk a couple of blocks.
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| Nice flowers in somebody's front yard, though. |
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| Harbor seal--in Skagway harbor, strangely enough |
Snookums and Filbert visited the Future Cruise Consultant and booked a 25-day Amazon cruise on Holland America’s Prinsendam. We’ve always wanted to go to the Amazon and we love the Prinsendam (700 passengers) so it seemed like we had to sign up for it. Look forward to an Amazon cruise journal some time in the future!
Gary and Charlotte did a 9-hour White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad excursion (Gary is a huge train buff) so they didn’t attend dinner. That meant that they missed Dad’s 92nd birthday celebration one week after his real birthday. The crewmembers put a very nice round cake with two candles in front of him and sang “Happy Birthday” in English and Indonesian. Obviously the cake was meant to serve seven people, but since Gary and Charlotte weren’t there, they cut it for five people. Much to everyone’s delight, it was a very good New York-style cheesecake. Dad really enjoyed his belated birthday celebration.
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| Happy birthday |
Filbert and Snookums were trying to figure out how to spend some time after dinner and were sitting in one of the lounge areas when the two women they met in Sitka walked up. We found out that Karen and Cheryl are sisters and travel together every year using inheritance from their mother. This way they can remember their parents every year, too. Filbert was enjoying his Manhattan and we were telling them about the ins and outs of Holland America since this was their first HAL cruise. For example, they didn’t know you could buy a cocktail card or a wine package in order to save money. For some reason, Snookums felt compelled to buy the older sister a drink. They probably didn’t realize that this is the first time Snookums has ever done this! In any event, we had a very nice chat for a couple of hours. At that point it was way past our bedtime so we went to bed.
August 28 (Saturday, Day 7, Cruising Glacier Bay) -
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| At Glacier Bay |
Filbert surprised Snookums by bringing her a bowl of mixed berries and a container of yogurt from Neptune Lounge for her breakfast in bed. Only Neptune Lounge has the mixed berries in the morning so they are a treat. Filbert then went out and about in order to get a prime spot for viewing glaciers since we were cruising Glacier Bay. It is a national park that is comprised of more than 3.3 million acres of mountains, glaciers, forests and waterways. Our ship spent about an hour at Johns Hopkins Inlet and Snookums found Filbert on the bow of the ship. In the sun it was actually hot since the ship stopped and there was no wind. Then the ship kept going until it got to Margerie Glacier. Even Mom enjoyed sitting on her balcony, bundled up, watching the scenery slowly glide by. By that time it was time to enjoy Holland America’s tradition of serving Dutch split pea soup on deck during their cool weather cruises. Snookums, Filbert and Judy each enjoyed a cup while sitting outside by the pool around 10:30 AM. Snookums and Filbert saw the glacier calve at least four times. Well, Filbert wouldn’t call it calving since we saw ice fall into the water and not huge chunks of the glacier. There weren’t huge chunks that fell in, but it was loud each time and many chunks did fall.
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| Approaching the glacier |
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| Moon over Glacier Bay |
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| The Glacier |
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| That's a boat in front of the glacier. It's just right of center. Look closely. |
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| The scenery did get better, didn't it? |
Lunch was a special beer and brats lunch. In addition to the normal Lido buffet offerings and the taco and pizza bar, venison, BBQ, and regular brats were served along with sauerkraut and two kinds of cheese fondue. Filbert decided to try all four Alaskan Beer varieties by purchasing the bucket of five beers for $21.85. Luckily Judy walked by and joined him and between the two of them, they managed to drink all five bottles. Filbert definitely drank more of it than Judy did, though.
Gary and Charlotte told us they weren’t going to attend tonight’s formal dinner so we invited Roland and Bernice. Roland is mom’s cousin and they live in Seattle and when they found out that we were doing this cruise, they signed up, too.
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| Formal night photo in the Neptune Lounge |
Next: A Day At The Fair!