LIVE from Fairbanks to Vancouver cruisetour 9/6/09

[coo359a2]

Must be a long day for Pia, Donna and the guys. Hopefully they will have wi-fi in Kenai so they can check in and let us know how their day went.

[paul929207]

Must be a long day for Pia, Donna and the guys. Hopefully they will have wi-fi in Kenai so they can check in and let us know how their day went.

I think Pia or Donah said today would be a long day.

[Pia1913]

Up at 5:00, breakfast before 6:00 and away we went on the bus at 7:00. It started as a dark and drizzly day; cold, but not bitter cold. Our 2 ½ hour ride to Valdez was on a smooth road and we had some wildlife sightings of one bald eagle, one red fox and of course the usual one squirrel. We think the aforementioned squirrel was breakfast for the fox. Ewwwwwwwwww…..

We boarded the Klondike Express for our 2 ½ hour catamaran ride to Whittier. Almost immediately there were sea otters greeting us. Three. One floating on his back and the others diving. Crossing Prince Sound was quite smooth and time passed quickly. The rain finally caught up with us in Whittier, but we were prepared for it. Our tour director told us it always rains in Whittier. We boarded our coach for a short ride to our lunch stop in Portage. In order to get there we needed to go through a 2 ½ mile railroad tunnel. This tunnel runs one way only on schedule, so we made the 1:00 PM run to the other side. The bus actually rides straddling the tracks. After lunch it was about an hour’s drive to Kenai Princess Lodge. Our accomodations are in individual 2 room cabins; a bedroom and a living room. We also have a private deck with a table and two chairs facing a forest/wilderness. We were given instructions and started our own fire in our livingroom in a Ben Franklin type fireplace. The weather has cleared; hopefully it will stay that way. Our cabin is way back in the woods and we will need to call the shuttle every time we have to get to the main building.

I am typing this in my cabin and will try to post it from the main building, where we were told there is internet capability.

[Colo Cruiser]

Sounds like a great day.

[Pia1913]

Now I am live on my little Asus. Wifi only available in main building only. It was a long day, but not really tired. Could it be that the nap on the bus helped? :rolleyes: What isn't good is that I am getting a little sniffly and throat feels a bit scratchy; hope it passes. I took some Tylenol Cold caps and will hope for the best.

 

This lodge is so nice and rustic; probably the nicest of all of them. We have nothing specific planned for tomorrow; certainly don't want to do any water things in cold weather. We will just wait and see how the weather pans out.

 

Princess is treating us to cocktails now, so I'm signing off.

[regnig]

Pia feel better NOW!

 

Don't worry about that squirrel, you'll see him again tomorrow. Just think of him like the hard rolls you get at the continental breakfasts in Europe. If you don't eat it at breakfast it will show up again the next time you have breakfast regardless of what city you are in. Same with that "usual one squirrel", he'll reappear. :D

 

Barb

[paul929207]

Pia,

 

Hope you feel better. Perhaps the alcohol will kill some germs?

[rdsqrl]

. . . . we had some wildlife sightings of one bald eagle, one red fox and of course the usual one squirrel. We think the aforementioned squirrel was breakfast for the fox. ...

ReD SQuirreL says, YIKES!!!

Really loving your Live From; it sounds like a wonderful trip so far -- except for those early mornings -- who planned this tour, the Army?? (Remember their old ads, "We do more before 9am than most people do all day"? They sure lost this officer candidate with that tagline!)

Hope the cocktails took care of whatever was causing that scratchy throat.

Edited September 13, 2009 by rdsqrl

[Tweedy]

Only a couple of more days and you'll be boarding the Coral. You've done a great thread with providing online insight to your vacation.

[Pia1913]

Only a couple of more days and you'll be boarding the Coral. You've done a great thread with providing online insight to your vacation.

 

I will be continuing this on the Coral, all the way to Vancouver. Then I will start a new one from Vancouver to FLL.

[California Native]

Pia and Donna...

As always I love your live from posts

I feel that I'm there with you, which of course I wish I was...

It's too bad you aren't stopping in SFO, everyone else is on the way through canal..why not you?????

It would have been great to rendezvous...

I've got next years date marked on the calendar!

Pia, I hope you feel better quickly!

K.

Edited September 13, 2009 by where2next

[Lynda90]

Pia, load up on meds and feel better tomorrow. Get a good night's sleep and stay warm! :p

[Pia1913]

Good Sunday morning from Kenai.....

 

Very quiet around here, but dry. For now. Rain is anticipated later. We all slept in until 8:00. Wow, what a treat! We just finished breakfast and our foursome still has one healthy person; Donna. Dennis started it, I came next and my DH suffered all through the night. We are all taking Tylenol Cold caps and hoping this bug doesn't travel south.

 

As for today, we intend to do nothing. Maybe walk down to the river. Will see how the weather holds up. Our cabin is warm and comfy and maybe the best thing for us to do would be just to relax, read and rest.

 

Unless something happens that I must report, the next time you will probably hear from me will be from the ship tomorrow night, or Tuesday morning. Thanks for travelling with us thus far and we'll "talk" to you soon.

[paul929207]

Pia,

 

I hope you, DH and Dennis get over it quickly.

Thanks for sharing your adventure with us poor smucks back home. :)

[Toto2Kansas]

Pia, hopefully the cold symptoms will pass soon for the three of you.

 

Did the same thing when we took the Alaska cruise/tour some years ago. Came down with something just at the end of the tour, and by the time we boarded the ship, I had to quarantine myself to the stateroom for a few days, as I didn't want to spread it around. :( Hopefully you all have just caught a mild bug. Feel better soon!

[Sailkeywest]

Thank You for taking the time to post your report despite the fact that you are feeling 'under the weather.' Hubby and I won't be taking any land tours during our time with Princess next year, so is nice to live vicariously through reading all about it! Take care and feel better :)

[mississauga]

Pia, feel better soon!

 

Looking forward to cruising vicariously with you.

[Francine]

Pia and Donna,

Loved sharing this adventure with you. Can't wait for the cruise.

Hope you are all feeling better soon.

Fran

[coo359a2]

Pia, Mike and Dennis - ya'll get well fast Stay healthy Donna. Be waiting for ya'll to board the Coral P and began your "cruisin' " live. Thanks for taking us all along on the land tour.

 

Hi Fran:)

[Clutterlady]

Thank you Pia and Donna. Love following this terrific trip:) Hope everyone is feeling better, get some rest!!!

[Francine]

Hi Tina, :)

I sure hope they are all feeling better. Can't wait to hear about the rest of their adventure in the Wilderness. A cruise ship would certainly be a wonderful place to rest up. ;)

Fran

[Pia1913]

Good Monday Morning...........we are ready to go!

 

Dennis feels better, I am so so, but better; Mike is coughing, but not sniffling. Donna is wonderful. (shhhhhhhhhhh)

 

Just finished breakfast and we will depart from the lodge at 10:30. We are due to go through the tunnel at 12:30 (remember that tunnel?) and I imagine we should be on the ship before 2:00. It will be wonderful to finally unpack and stay put for a while.

 

Will check in again asap.

[FritzG]

I hope you're feeling better soon! It's so awful to have a cold while you're cruising. I got a very nasty cold towards the end of our TA in April. I was coughing so badly that I was afraid they wouldn't let me on the plane, but I had no problem with any of my flights. From Barcelona to Milan I don't think I stopped coughing for more than 5 min. at a time. I was so embarrassed; I even asked the flight attendant if they had a mask I could wear. By the time our TA was over there was a large number of people with colds. I'm quite sure I caught mine the time we were in an elevator with a very rude "share it with the world" sneezer.

[dforeigner]

Awesome live review/report. Thanks.

[Kiwi Kruzer]