As the title suggests, this was a scenic cruising day through Glacier Bay. The sun was up briefly at 6:20am, but we weren’t up until a more respectable hour and yippee, the breakfast parfait was back. I was hungry as we hadn’t eaten much the night before, so I also managed to scoff a substantial breakfast that included poached eggs for the first time in awhile.
We called in back to the cabin for our warm jackets and spent much of the day alternating between the warmth of the interior and the distinct chill and damp on deck.
However, the main buzz was that several passengers were left stranded in Juneau up a mountain! Versions differ and the story is that either the helicopter couldn’t pick the party of 12 up as the weather closed in, or, that five had wanted to walk up there and didn’t return to the helicopter, but 7 did. As the number included a Mum and her two kids and her parents are on board, we might have to wait until they return to the ship in Vancouver, to find out the full story. There is a hut up the mountain, so it may not be as bad as it sounds, but as the ‘copters couldn’t go out the previous day anyway, it always was a bit risky.
Fortunately M & M had a great time on their trip and managed the dog sledding on snow.
Anyway, back to today. It is quite eerie as the ship trundles so slowly up the bay, with chunks of ice floating past and a misty atmosphere. The captain took us quite close to the end and the glacier face again and the ice calved more than once, though we didn’t see any sea life, other than a distant whale spout late in the day. There were a few on board whales though and a couple more pics for my collection.
The Alaskan seafood buffet lunch out on deck could have been warmer, though the addition of reindeer chilli warmed it up a wee bit. One of the vista waiters bears a striking resemblance to a young Rowan Atkinson...
We returned to the cabin and once again I crashed out. (Not a terrible night’ sleep, but not a good one either – or maybe these nana naps are a symptom of aging?)
Our afternoon quiz team was a couple of members short so our morning duo of Gayle & Denise joined us but we still finished 2 points behind the winners. Poor Kim lost her voice, so one of the passengers took over. (Meanwhile, Deputy Cruise Director Matt was suffering again with his teeth – or loss of them. He had 3 wisdom teeth out just before he boarded at Beijing, but had been suffering ever since and at almost every stop, had to visit a local dentist. At Juneau, they pulled another tooth, so he was suffering too, though we did get a mention on the Wake Show for the gift of the named mugs.)
A full table for the Italian menu dinner. Very nice too, though the head waiter had cooked the tasty spaghetti with finely diced olives and anchovies, garlic and tomato, two nights ago.
Vista lounge was a double bill with pianist Stephen Kane with another good performance, followed by Zach Winningham, billed only as a vocalist, he played guitar too – and very well. Had we known he also played guitar we would have gone to his earlier concert.
We called at the atrium but only for a drinking chocolate and crashed out at midnight, but the clocks go on an hour again tonight, for the last time.
On TV, it was too early for the Italian GP, but it was good to see my football club, Notts County, sitting at the top of their division.
Another day at sea tomorrow and it will soon be time to start packing. Much as we have enjoyed the cruise, we are now looking forward to getting home again and some semblance of normality, even though that does include shopping, cooking and cleaning etc., plus very limited food courses and choices at dinner. It will be nice to catch up with friends too, as we do miss them when we are away. This time next week we’ll be home, but before then, we have Vancouver, Vancouver Island and San Francisco to enjoy.
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