Photos From Nome, Alaska 2016

As part of the 2016 Crystal Serenity Northwest Passage Cruise we were fortunate to visit Nome, Alaska. We are the largest cruise ship to visit there.

Nome is a relatively small city with a population of around 4,000 residents. Its size is 21 square miles.

Nome has retained quite a bit of its charm and feel from the past as it is frontier-like town. It is actually located closer to Siberia than to Anchorage.

We took what is called a community visit shore excursion.

We were escorted around the town on a school bus. The driver, Dave, along with his brother owns all the school buses and provides buses for all of the schools. In fact, school begins tomorrow. The guide, Bob, works most of the year diving for gold. He also does other jobs from time to time when he is not diving for the gold. We made several stops.

The first one was where we met Mayor Richard Beneville who showed us how to pan for gold. He was a hoot. He was an actor in New York City theatre but eventually made his way to Alaska.

Our next stop was to a facility where we Gay Sheffield whose expertise involves sea life spoke to us about the sea creatures that live in this area of the world. This included Seals, Whales. Walruses as well as other animals such as Polar Bears who can be found on land at at sea. She spoke about changes that are occurring; some of which cannot be explained. For example certain types of seals have become ill since 2011. At the same time because of changes in water temperature certain sea life is leaving the area while other sea life is arriving to Nome. Kay also noted that the depth of the water in this area is only 90 feet and that crabs, and clam beds can be found at the bottom of the sea and they attract the sea life such as the seals and there is concern that changes in the environment could impact the clams and the crabs which, in turn, could impact the source of food for some of the sea life.

She along with Bob the tour guide spoke about the importance and nutritional value of the sea life and animals on land to the people who live in this area of Alaska. They make up about 70% of the food that is eaten by the locals. This is because other items are very expensive. For example, one artichoke costs $8.00 and one ear of corn cost $3.00.

Our next stop was to see the pack of dogs that pull a dog sled. We met a family that owns this pack. This includes a husband, wife and daughter. He gave us a very thorough talk about raising the pack and dog sledding.

Our next stop was to see a herd of Musk Ox. There are a few hundred in the area.

We made another stop and then they showed us around town. Many items were for sale at the community center. Our visit was a big to do for the community. They receive about six expedition ships per year that carry up to 200 people on each vessel. The largest ship to ever visit Nome prior to today’s visit was The World, which carries significantly fewer people than Serenity. They have been preparing for our visit for quite sometime.

We also learned about life in Nome. It’s not an easy life but for many it is their life and they are happy to be here. Many have lived in Nome their entire lives. Some moved to Nome from other parts of Alaska and still others such as the Mayor moved to Nome from areas outside of Alaska. Unless you are in industries such as Oil, your income is relatively low Yes, there are some subsidies but not as large as we had thought and this varies by area.

There was a light rain for parts of our visit but it didn’t dampen our spirits. We walked away with a very nice impression of Nome and its people. This is true Alaska. We hope that we (Crystal Serenity and its guests and crew) left the residents of Nome a good impression of all of us.

Photos coming up.

Keith

Our tour bus. We did not need air conditioning.

Meet the Mayor of Nome.

He explained panning for gold.

You are not going to retire doing this.

Simple homes. I wanted to note that it is very expensive to live there given the cost to bring goods and services in.

Keith,

Thanks for posting your photos. We have our 4th Alaska cruise booked for May 2019. We haven’t been to Nome though. Possibly on the 5th visit way in the future you never know.

Thanks for posting, Jean.

Jean, you very welcome.

Wishing you a wonderful trip next May. A great time to visit Alaska in my humble opinion.

Keith

Thanks Keith,

Yes it’s a first time to be there in May for us. The previous cruises have been August and September and actually the last one in August 2016 weather was wonderful. Being Scottish and living in the north east we are used to all seasons in one day so weather is not a problem for us, but we are very excited at the prospect of seeing Alaska in May. Jean.

liptastic, that's great. It's nice to visit Alaska different time of the year.

Yes I am sure you are used to all seasons in one day.

My deceased Sister In Law moved to Scotland where she lived for close to 20 years and was married to someone from Scotland. They lived right outside Edinburgh. On one trip we drove from Edinburgh in August with moderate temperature so we didn't have jackets on.

We drove to St. Andrews and stopped along the way for a picnic. We were freezing and thank goodness they had blankets in the trunk. Arrive to St. Andrews and still cold and overcast. Later in the day when back to Edinburgh it was sunny and even warm.

Keith

Nome in March....It is actually better in the winter....the light is long...bad thing/good thing you have to get there in a plane or a dog sled....No cruises at that time of the year...:)

Local kids coming home from school in March. It was about -10F that afternoon.....

Thanks for those great photo's! I would like to port there just once as we have watched Bering Sea Gold for several years. I couldn't imagine living there though, it's beautiful but so brutal.

Keith,

Great photos! Thanks for sharing!

Keith,

 

Great photos! Thanks for sharing!

You are very welcome.

Keith