Mommypig

So we got hubs glasses fixed and had a nice dinner at the Captain Cook in Fletchers. I was really too bushed to eat much but the berry basket dessert was good.

Then, this morning, we were bussed to the airport where we met with the Princess staff and waited for the first shuttle to the ship at noon. Everything went fairly smoothly, and boarding the ship was a dream compared to Vancouver. We are in a sideways interior on the Aloha deck. Much better layout I think than the other interiors, and actually feel like there is more room than our balcony stateroom. There is definitely more storage.

I hate getting sick on vacation. :(

Me too, but I guess I would rather respiratory than digestive, although I guess I did that on the Ketchican fishing trip...

The locals at Copper River thought it could be a combination of high pollen count and dehydration that was exacerbating everyone. It's very dry up here and you have to work hard to stay hydrated. I am also asthmatic so respiratory stuff can hang on longer. I do get my nebulizer back tonight so I can switch to that from the inhalers. Stopped in Palmer for lunch and spoke with a pharmacist who thought the real Sudafed would help my ears.

The road from Copper River to Palmer on our way to Anchorage was gorgeous. The snow capped mountains, the golden birches, fall is definitely the time to visit Alaska.

Hope you feel better ASAP! We have a place called Fast Fix in Anchorage that might be able to repair your hubby's glasses. They're located in the 5th Ave Mall downtown, and if your Cruisetour includes hotel, you'll be staying downtown. It would be walking distance. I've never used them, but it's worth a try. Good luck!

Thanks! We are staying at the Captain Cook which I have been told is lose to the mall. Feel a tad better today, and we haven't had fevers so we should be OK for getting on the Star tomorrow.

Well getting chilled and having ear issues have plagued us on the journey to Copper River and the first day here. No fever but have semi-isolated ourselves for the day. There were so many coughing and hacking on the bus that the busdriver stopped at an IGA rather than the Santa store in North Pole. Half the bus was in the Health and Beauty aisle checking out the Nyquil, Dayquil, etc. Found some sugar free Robitussin and Ricola drops.

Voice is fluctuating between none, growly, and Minnie Mouse.

Copper River is by far my favorite Princess Lodge. It is nestled on a hill overlooking the Whrangell and St Elias mountains. Gorgeous view. And since our Panoramic flight tour was cancelled due to low ceilingl, and our jet sky tour due to low numbers, we basically are having a "sea day" in a little slice of heaven.

Tomorrow we depart for Anchorage and hopefully will be able to find a place to get hubs glasses fixed before we head to Whittier Saturday to catch the Star Princess

My husband and I took a 15 day cruise two years ago and decided to go extreme-low-carb for the entire cruise. We did quite well and found the HC easier to navigate than sitting at a table in the dining room looking at a basket of bread and watching others enjoy their desserts. :( We both lost weight on that cruise and didn't ever feel hungry or deprived.

Actually I find this easier to do on the longer cruises than the shorter ones. You do get a tad tired of the menu. The only problem is that of protein. On the Pacific Princess there is a small Panorama buffet. I generally would have a lovely salad for lunch, but there were times that the protein choices were simply not palatable or loaded with sauce. I am going to try to work with the staff to find out what the salad theme is going to be that day, and if necessary will filch a hard boiled egg or two at breakfast.

Flew up to north of the Arctic Circle last night to Coldfoot, and then driven to Wiseman which is a community of 13 year round residents. We were given a presentation about subsistence living in a climate where the growing season is 2 short months. Then visited the Coldfoot truck stop before being flown back to Fairbanks. On the way back we saw the northern lights pretty much the whole way. Very worth the money. Now we were below the Antarctic Circle and above the Arctic in the same year. Only bad part is plane is not pressurized so my ears are now plugged.

Well, what it boils down to is that I will be taking my own syrups for flavoring and sweetening coffee, sugar free jam, and protein shakes.

I wish they would get the diet cranberry juice, but I can live without that for a few months. That is pretty much the only juice that I drink as the others have too much sugar.

Will have a standing order for sugar free jello in the MDR and will see if I can get it in the Panorama buffet (Pacific Princess). Also a standing order for steamed broccoli every night as I think the entrees are very vegetable deficient.

trading one poison for another

True if you have normal blood sugar. But if you have diabetes or hypoglycemia the sugared syrups are worse.

We just got off the Grand as part of our Alaskan adventure. I bought the coffee card because I prefer brewed coffee, and I wanted to try the "premium teas". They had some very interesting drinks, but not a single sugar free syrup. Not for the coffee, not for the specialty teas.

So no punches on my card.

We are going on the world cruise in January so I guess I am bringing my own syrups.

Also, the head waiter told me that the jello was all sugar free. But the chef at the buffet said that no it was all sugared. The only sugar free desserts were all still pretty high carb. In dough or crusts or whatever. Sugar free jello with a smidge of whipped cream is the easiest sugar free dessert ever.

There is some overlap of dishes between the various Princess Lodge eateries. That being said, after reviewing the offerings at the two restaurants on site at the Fairbanks Lodge, my grandson who is stationed with the Army in Fairbanks said "let's go to the Pump House". This place was awesome. One would probably have to arrange for a cab or something if you don't know a local, but it was great. Hubs had red deer (there was also elk on the menu) and I had a lovely scampi. Almost had king crab again but decided I needed to vary the diet a little. And a wonderful strawberry rhubarb crumble for dessert.

Went out to the bus this morning to tour the national park and found it was an old school bus and the only remaining seats were in the back. Tried my best on the way to the entrance where we were going to stop and watch a movie, but there was no way I could spend 4 hours back there. The bus driver said we keep the same seats the whole time and there was no slack for people who get car sick. He said don't worry they don't go fast, but the slow rolling motion was made worse by going slow. So, I took the shuttle back to the lodge and let hubs go on the tour. At least this one was included in the price and not one we had to pay extra for.

On the transfer buses the drivers let me sit in the second row, in one of the reserved seats. They are also tour buses that have better suspensions that the school buses.

We ate lunch at the King Salmon, I had the 4 cheese mac and cheese with king crab and shrimp. Was very tasty.

Lots of shopping at Denali, although mostly mass market stuff.

McKinley Lodge was nice, small compared with Denali lodge. Shampoo was a nice invigorating one, and they actually have conditioner. Had to have luggage out by 7 AM and be ready for bus at 9:30. So we had a nice breakfast in the 20232 or however tall Denali is cafe. All the sausage is reindeer sausage, made me feel like I was eating Rudolph. But the fried potatoes were awesome.

When we were gathering to board the bus Denali started to lift the skirts of her cloud cover. Then she took her hat off and there was just a scarf of clouds left. The morning sun was so bright on the white snow.

FYI the restaurant across the highway from the Denali Princess Lodge called "The Salmon Bake" is incredible. A full pound plus of King crab for $44, twice as much as we got in the Mountain View and $11 less. The ambiance is much more like Hollings bar. Hubs had a pork loin stuffed with crab and he said it was awesome.

Disembarkation wasn't too bad. Had to be in the Michelangelo dining room at 6:30 AM, Tim is NOT a morning person so he was a tad cranky. The train we were supposed to take to Talkeetna was stuck in Seward due to washed out tracks between Seward and Whittier, so we had to take a motor coach. Made it to Talkeetna and found our glacier landing excursion was cancelled, so we just wandered around the little bitty town (the inspiration town for Northern Exposure). Did a little shopping and had lunch. Then took shuttle to McKinley lodge. Had a nice dinner in the Mountain View Restaurant. Denali was shrouded in clouds and not showing her face.

Got a little bonus last night after dinner. We did some brief scenic cruising near the Hubbard? Glacier. Watched a huge tower begin to split off, with very loud cracks, but it did not fall. Another area near where I was filming did calve and I managed to get video of that. Blue ice is sooooo pretty.

Finally got a crappy foggy cloudy sea day. Visited the sauna, aka the "laundromat" for an extended period so that we would not offend others on our land tour. One washer was tied up for an extended period while the owner of its clothes tried to get laundry powder from the machine. Offered her a tide pod but she doesn't like liquids apparently. So rather than doing two loads at a time I got to do one after the other. And the dryers of course take twice as long as the washers. Sigh. Hopefully when we get on the Star a week from tomorrow we will not have such a problem. We are staying in the Vancouver area for a few days after disembarking the Star so I guess worst case is we will do a load there.

The Pacific Princess will be doing some cruises from Venice in 2016.

And we overnite there on the world cruise in 2016

I bring my own:D:D

I have the regular size, a small size and a travel "stick". Great stuff, but too expensive for everyday use.:eek:

Got some that is sort of piney lemony (and much lighter than pine sol) called called Crapper Trapper for our Alaskan adventure.

Steward the other way is a man's name!!

Our steward is always Stewart, the muster drill is the mustard drill, and public restrooms are mine fields. Gosh I wish they provided poo pouree!

Stewart made a funny.

We always swear we will keep the stateroom tidy "next time". Well it was its usual disaster, the Grand balcony stateroom being a tad shorter than the Pacific Princess and less drawer storage. So dear Stewart TRIES to make it look nice around our disarray.

So Stewart comes in to do turn down and there is stuff all over the bed as usual. When we came back from dinner everything was arranged artfully around my knitting bag which says "I am CREATIVE. That doesn't mean I am NEAT".

What more can you ask for in a cruise when the sea day includes a top to toe massage and facial, followed by a mani pedi while watching glaciers calving and glorious scenery?

Formal night was lobster night (which is nice but no biggie to this girl who has spent plenty of time eating the real deal with gallons of fresh drawn butter and wearing a bib made of giant cloth diapers (purchased years ago just for this purpose). Frozen south African lobster tails are nice but not fantastic. Still wonder why they would serve something with drippy butter sauce when people are probably wearing dry clean only stuff.

Of course we had to eat in Skagway. Stopped at the Red Onion for pizza and clam chowder. The brothel ambiance was very amusing. Also picked up some more locally dyed yarn, yak and silk fiber for spinning, and some Alaskan themed batik quilt kits. Returned to ship for a nice nap before dinner.