laurieal

Day 5 - continued Once back in Juneau, my friends were having a drink in the Red Dog Saloon and I met up with them so we could go have lunch together. I wasn’t there for very long, but wow that place looked wild and I left with a deep feeling of "what the hell did I just see". We went to the Alaska Fish&Chips Company for lunch. I had the shrimp with a side of smoked salmon bisque. The bisque was absolutely lovely, warm, and exploding with flavour. The shrimp, on the other hand, were the worst thing I’ve had on this trip.

Day 5 - continued My wheelchair had stayed behind at the Coastal Helicopters office, so I stayed inside the helicopter while the five other passengers and the pilot hung out on the glacier. With the helicopter door open, it was still really special to feel the cool air and smell the scents. We stayed on the glacier for close to 30 minutes and everyone enjoyed the experience a lot. Then, it was back on the helicopter for our ride back to the airport where we were greeted by pouring rain. The weather had been much better on the glacier. I got back in the accessible van and the driver dropped me off close to the port area. It was an enchanting excursion. Admittedly a bit pricier than what I usually pay, and once converted to Canadian dollars is stung a bit, but it was so worth it. When else am I going to get the chance to go on a helicopter? I highly recommend it.

Day 5 - continued And then, we were off! It was a beautiful, scenic 15 to 20 minutes ride all the way to the Herbert Glacier where the pilot landed.

Cruise Day 5 - continued At 9:15, I was meeting someone from Coastal Helicopters for my first ever ride in a helicopter (insert excited squealing here). I had found that company early on in my research process while looking up fun and accessible things to do in Juneau, and I had booked directly with them. While I think you could book it with the ship, it wasn’t one of the accessible shore excursions proposed for Juneau. Coastal Helicopters picks up their passengers right at the end of the dock. They mostly use mini-bus like vehicles, but they have an accessible van with a ramp which was waiting for me when our group made it to the parking lot. Once at their office next to the airport, there is a ramp to take you inside the building where they go over the security briefing. They also have rain gear and boots they can lend you if you need. You can’t take any bags with you on the helicopter, but they have lockers. There are restrooms there, but the the accessible stall was so cramped that I could barely fit in it. Perhaps some of you are currently wondering how I could make it onto a helicopter. That’s what I was wondering, too, at first. But they have a chair lift device thing that can get you there if you are able to transfer. The device is fixed to the helicopter, you transfer to the chair, the chair goes up all the way to the helicopter seat, you transfer to the helicopter seat. It’s quite brilliant, actually. The first picture shows the device before they attached it to the helicopter. In the second one, they’re setting it up. The third one is taken from the helicopter seat with the device still attached.

Cruise Day 5 We were already docked in Juneau when I woke up. The view from my stateroom was beautiful with the sun shining over the mountains. I had something very fun planned for Juneau and I was feeling too excited for breakfast. Coffee was also not an option because I was already vibrating so much from the excitement. Instead, I got ready and got off the ship to have a look around the port area. We were docked at the Alaska Steam Ship Dock which is right next to the city with no shuttles needed.

Day 5 Cruise Compass

I’m not sure if they’re the same from May or if it’s brand new September snow, but it sure is neat to see!

Day 4 - continued It was Italian night in the MDR and we were lucky enough to get our preferred table. I had the Arancini to start, as well as a small portion of the risotto. I’ve always wanted to try the risotto, but it was always in competition with something I preferred. The Arancini was good and if not hot then definitely warm. The risotto on the other hand was so hot it almost burned my tongue. Flavour-wise, I thought it was a bit weak and I don’t think I’ll feel the need to order it again. I had the lasagna for my entrée and I enjoyed it a lot. Like the risotto, it came very hot. For dessert, I went with the lemon curd tartlet. It tasted nice, but the curd was a bit grainy. We ended the evening at the Champagne Bar for, what else, a chocolate martini. They were having the 70s Party in the Centrum and I thought it was pretty well attended. We didn’t stay for too long after the party had started because we were all tired. Really, I should have titled this review "The One Where They Have Chocolate Martinis and Go to Bed Early".

Day 4 - continued My plan was to check out the evening snacks in the Diamond Lounge, but as I was coming into the elevator bay I heard a violinist playing in the Centrum so I went to the Lobby Bar instead. Do you have that one song that never fails to make you cry? Mine is The Show Must Go On and as soon as I settled at the bar he started playing it. I just kept my eyes on the menu and concentrated on the ingredients until he finished. I ordered a Sangria, which I figured was a good way to transition from afternoon cocktails to dinner red wine. It was alright. Nothing to write home about. We were meeting in the Champagne Bar for pre-dinner drinks so I took my Sangria over there and got a table.

Day 4 - continued When the captain announced that he could see a lot of whales surrounding us, we all split up and I returned to my balcony where the sun was making an appearance.

Day 4 - continued I eventually pulled myself away from my balcony and the spectacular views to meet my friends at the Colony Club for the Royal Mystery activity. It was fun, but very chaotic. Then, we migrated to the Schooner Bar for a drink of the day and Harry Potter trivia. The drink was actually very nice: a Malibu Hot Chocolate. We lost trivia by one point because I was cocky and didn’t double-verify one of the answers. It would have stung less if I had not missed the very same question back on the Wonder. After that, I needed a Tropical Rye as a pick me up.

Day 4 - continued The glacier was quite something. Took my breath away for a few seconds if I’m honest. It was unlike anything I have seen in my life. The whole experience was a bit emotional; I could see my grandfather in every mountain. Not Mount Rushmore style, but solid and strong and always there.

Day 4 - continued At that point, my phone was about to send me "are you sure you want to take another picture of another mountain?" popups when I was opening my camera app. I honestly feel a bit sorry for Laurie-in-the-future who will have to go through every single one of those pictures. But since I’ve been putting Laurie-in-the-future in charge of unpacking since I boarded and she has done nothing about it, I think she deserves it. I’m including some pictures with bits of ship in them, not because I have no idea how to zoom, but just to give you an idea of what the view is like from cabin 7614. The hump can get in the way when looking forwards and the covering over the lifeboats is a bit annoying, but it’s still a spectacular view. I’m always a bit nervous when sharing my stateroom number on the internet, but I can trust you all, right? If any of you sends me more fruits, I will be SO. ANGRY.

Day 4 - continued Once in my stateroom, I gathered all my warm gear, went on the balcony…and immediately locked myself out there. I have no idea how it happened; I just closed the door and the handle kind of flipped by itself. The good thing about travelling with friends is that I could text them instead of shouting at strangers in the neighbouring balconies. It wasn’t too long before my stateroom attendant came running (and laughing). I was pleasantly surprised by how warm it was on my balcony once I had all my layers on. It wasn’t very windy, which probably made all the difference. The scenery leading up to Dawes Glacier was awe-inspiring. I remember reading a story in a book at one point saying that the person who created the earth was left with a bag full of mountains and instead of spreading them out they just emptied the bag all at once. That’s what it felt like being surrounded by all those giants. Also, I need to comment on the smell as we were getting closer to the glacier. I don’t have a word to describe it, but the closest I can get is "clean snow".

Day 4 - continued Around 9:30 people started swarming my section in preparation for Endicott Arm, so that was my signal to leave and return to my stateroom. I grabbed an extra latté, because I figured I would need something to warm me up. Since I was already on deck 13, I used the opportunity to have a quick look around the Viking Crown Lounge and the outdoor deck. The wind was pretty wild out there.

Cruise Day 4 I was very much looking forward to Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier day. We were scheduled to enter Endicott Arm around 10:00 and I knew I wanted to see it from the quiet little spot of pure bliss that is my balcony. I was up in the Diamond Lounge around 8:00 for my coffee, which I took to the Windjammer. Lucky for me, my freezing cold quiet section was open, so that’s where I set up my breakfast camp. Since I was now feeling fully recovered from all the Samba meat, I grabbed some bacon and corned beef hash. The outdoor section of the Windjammer was so empty that I didn’t feel bad about lingering and working on my review for a while. To make sure I had enough energy for all the glacier picture taking to come, I picked up a donut and a highly debated pastry. France calls is a "pain au chocolat" while Quebec calls it a "chocolatine". Which camp are you on? Because if it’s the former I’m not sure we can be friends anymore.

Cruise Day 4 Compass

Cruise Day 3 - continued After dinner, we went to the casino for some Crown and Anchor reward gambling and liquid desserts. The drinks lasted much longer than the gambling and after we had lost all our money we moved to the pub where I tried a Greyhound. I’m a big fan of grapefruit, so this one was right up my alley. We had considered going to Quest, but we were all so tired that we decided to skip it and head to bed instead.

Cruise Day 3 It was around 17:30 when we got off the boat. With an all-aboard time of 19:30, none of us really felt like taking a shuttle to town. We had a look at the stores in the area, most of which were having end-of-season sales. I got some chips from brands I had never seen before and a Christmas ornament featuring an octopus. There was a long and rainy line to get back on the ship, which made people quite cranky. Once back on the ship, I just had enough time to ditch my rain gear and head to dinner. We had enjoyed the table and the service so much on the first night that we had asked if possible to get the same one every night. It was Mexican night and I decided to go with the chef’s recommendation. First, the roasted poblano pepper sauce, which was delicious and had a good level of spiciness for a cruise ship. Because it contained chorizo, it officially put an end to my time as a vegetarian. I also got the chili-lime crusted salmon, which I found very flavourful and tasty. To end the meal, I had the tres leches cake, which was alright.

Cruise Day 3 - continued The tour has a guarantee that if you don’t see an otter, a whale, or a bear they will give you 100$ back. We ended up seeing all three, which the guide called a Sitka Grand Slam, plus some sea lions and eagles. I thought it was an excellent tour. It lasted approximately three hours, people were free to move around between the indoor and outdoor areas, there was some free coffee, tea or chocolate in the galley as well as done local products to sample. You could also purchase wine and beer. While I didn’t use it, my friend confirmed there was an accessible restroom.

Cruise Day 3 - continued I returned to my stateroom for some balcony time, because the scenery was starting to look pretty great and I wanted to watch us arrive in Sitka. And then it finally happened! I saw a whale! I stayed on my balcony until I had to meet up with my friends at the Colony Club for our Sea Otters and Wildlife Quest. Don’t let the name of the excursion fool you; it had nothing to do with RCI’s adult scavenger hunt. The guy from the shore excursions desk the previous day knew what he was talking about. Once off the ship, it was a very short walk to the pier from which we would be leaving. There was someone to help me go down the steep gangway and into the boat. I was just the right width to park myself between to benches in front of the boat. Unfortunately, it was raining so visibility wasn’t optimal in the front facing windows, but my view from the side window was quite good.

Cruise Day 3 It was Sitka day, but we would only be arriving around 14:00 so there was no rush to get ready. As is tradition, I started my day by playing elevator roulette to go up to the Diamond Lounge for a coffee that I then took with me to the Windjammer. I still hadn’t fully recovered from all the meat the night before, so I was still living my best vegetarian life. After breakfast, I went to the theatre for an enrichment lecture about the history of the RCMP. It was an interesting lecture, emotional even at one point. Since I was on deck 5, I went to the outdoor promenade to see if I could spot some whales. Some people around could see them and were pointing them out, but I couldn’t see anything. It felt just like being shown a sonogram picture.

Cruise Day 2 - continued Once we were done, we waddled down to the Lobby Bar for some liquid desserts and steel drums entertainment. We were there for a while, reminiscing about our favourite meats from dinner. I had a couple of chocolate martinis and when I finally headed to my stateroom, I had no delusions that I would be unpacking anything.

Cruise Day 2 - continued Now don’t be like me. Don’t fall for the appetizers and the bread basket: they’re a trap. They even have some fried mozzarella cheese in that basket, but stay strong. By the time the first course of meat came, I had already made a dent in my appetite. Along with the meat, they brought some sides: yucca fries, fried bananas, and cheesy polenta. All the types of meat I tried were ranging from very good to amazing. It was a great meal, but it was just so much meat. By the end of it I was ready to declare myself a vegetarian and I definitely felt like I didn’t meet the weight and width requirements for the sea otter excursion. One thing that was a big hitter for all of us was the pre-dessert: a roasted cinnamon pineapple. Not only did it smell like heaven, it was also delicious. We were all too full for dessert, but collectively we managed a few bites of everything.

Cruise Day 2 - continued I only dragged myself away from my balcony when it was time to meet for pre-dinner drinks at the Champagne Bar. I was surprised to see they were using what I feel is a pool-themed menu. It’s been a while since I’ve been on a ship with a Champagne Bar, but I remember the menu being more martini-oriented. I ordered a Papa Jac, which I discovered on the Wonder and loved. It’s a must-try for anyone who loves passion fruit. Dinner that night was at Samba Grill, a first for me. It’s my understanding that very few ships still have it, so it felt like a now or never opportunity.