wishIweretravelling

Yesterday was, for me, the highlight of the cruise. A Wildlife Quest excursion that included sea otters, sea lions, a humpback whale, and a rare sighting of a pod of orcas. According to the boat’s captain, they see these maybe twice a season. But even rarer was what they were doing. They had cornered a harbor seal and were on the attack to make a meal of it. While the seal and its fate were (thankfully) not visible to us, the seeming dance of the pod members was. We were able to watch for an extended period this show of raw nature. I am trying to post a video snippet of this , as well as of a sea otter. Others got much better video and photo s of them, but I thought I’d share what I have. If any others who were there have photos or video of it, I encourage you to post. my effort now doesn’t seem to be working. If they don’t come through now, I’ll try later when there is less demand on the WiFi.

As the sun sets over Juneau

Like so many places, they seem to have problems with personnel shortages. With the covid-related uncertainties of the season, they must bring people in (Hoonah cannot provide all the staff needed), and that is tough when it is not clear if there is no certainty there will be a season, much less how strong it will be.

Hubbard Glacier

Today was a sea day, concentrating primarily on Hubbard Glacier. The weather was sunny and clear—a rarity—which made for even lovelier sightseeing than usual. I am trying to enjoy this trip in the moment, rather than living through a lens, so have taken few pictures. I may try to post a couple I did get when the Wi-Fi is a bit livelier. Our wonderful lecturer, Dr Dave, narrated the Hubbard visit. He truly is terrific. And, rather than just talking through the whole thing, he came through in sporadic 5-minute bites, which really was perfect for the experience. As always, he was quite informative. Yesterday was a stop at Icy Strait Point (aka, ISP). It’s a small port set-up a bit outside the town of Hoonah (population approx 950). It was cold (42 degrees), but the rain held off until the evening so most excursions were back before it got nasty. Unfortunately, the port was not really ready to receive visitors. Little by little, the operators canceled most of the excursions. Mine was a common experience. I’d signed up for one excursion, but it was canceled “by the operator” a few weeks before the cruise. So I signed up for another. It was canceled “by the operator” the second day of the cruise. So I signed up for about the only thing left—“Mountain Tram Adventure.” Unfortunately, the operator was having great difficulties. The Regent agent would tell us to go one place. We’d go there, and the ground operator would tell us someplace different. We’d go there, and they’d have no idea why we were sent there. So we went back to the Regent agent, who then consulted the ground operator who then announced that he’d misunderstood (?) and the Regent agent had been right all along. Then the guide was missing. We waited about half an hour, with the Regent agent trying to give us updates, which largely consisted of “the ground operator doesn’t know where the guide is.” As I was about to give up and leave, the guide turned up. With no apologies. The tram turned out to be open air, which was not pleasant in the cold. Fortunately, everyone carries face masks these days, so they were useful for keeping the face from freezing. Our tram rode around Hoonah for a bit, but the tour had to be cut short because of the lateness of the guide—they had to get back for the next tour. In this case, the truncation was merciful. Fortunately, the outing was rescued by a subsequent gondola ride to a mountaintop with a spectacular view. Oh well, you can’t win them all. At least we didn’t get wet.

A day of perfect weather in Alaska! 61 degrees F and sunny. There were even people in the pool, though most (like us) hit the hot tubs after returning for our day’s outings. This was supposed to be Ketchikan, but unfortunately we docked about 8 miles out of town at Wade Cove, where NCL has built a pier. Not much here except some industrial type buildings. It was just a place to board buses to get somewhere else. There was a shuttle to Ketchikan, but the charm of getting off the ship right into town was absent. I hope this is not a permanent arrangement, but given NCL’s investment in the port, I fear it might be. For my part, I took the native canoe excursion, which made for a wonderful day on a beautiful mountain lake in rare ideal weather. I do highly recommend this excursion.

No, if it’s $1600, you get a check from the TA for $1600. My understanding is that this arrangement is just with Regent, but I could be wrong on that. I do have some trouble understanding why this is so bothersome to some. It’s the same cash, no matter how it is delivered.

We started with a sea day, and then yesterday in port at Astoria, Oregon. We took the wine tasting excursion to Willamette Valley, and discovered some new wines, some of them unexpected for the area. For dinner, as we approached the maitre d’ table, we encountered a couple we’d met previously and decided to dine together. We were then asked if we’d like to dine in Chartreuse instead, and that it would not interfere with our reservation there. We took the offer. Dinner at Chartreuse? The best escargots I have ever eaten. It is prepared untraditionally, in a lightly creamy broth with perfect flavors and textures. I’d meant to order the rack of lamb, but the waiter discouraged that dish, so went with the tenderloin instead. Also very good. Today is another sea day as we make our way to Ketchikan.

My friend and I boarded Mariner yesterday in San Francisco for her first Alaska sailing of the season. We had flown in the previous day, staying at a hotel close to the pier. We had a lovely walk around town, and got together for a bit with a friend who was to disembark the world(ish) cruise the next day (Mariner was overnighting in SF). As we arrived at the port, the porters were friendly and efficient, whisking away our luggage in a blink. Then came check-in for the ship. Probably the worst I’ve experienced on Regent (though I’ve experienced worse on Crystal). But it was still not awful—just not up to pre-covid (or even post-shutdown when running at less than half capacity) standards. They apparently had opened late. Plus, multiple documents had to be scanned with hand-helds that were not working particularly well. Overall, it took about 40 minutes to get through the process. The time is not that big a deal. But the table area where check-in occurred was very cramped, with workers and passengers alike jammed into close proximity to each other. Not great in this omicron era. When we got to the ship, the security officer checking us in noted that the shore agent had put my photo on both my and my friend’s accounts. A quick trip to Reception sorted this out quickly. So now we were truly aboard! We had lunch in La Veranda, and had no sooner sat down than it was announced that the cabins were ready. Our luggage arrived in our cabin not long after we did. We then encountered another odd glitch—the account on the television was for two other people and a different cabin. This stumped both the front desk and Engineering, but a nice young man from Engineering eventually sorted it out. We unpacked quickly, then we were truly on our cruise.