Review Sapphire Princess and 7 Day Independent Land Tour

[kehlx2]

If you read down a few more posts, I had posted directions to view a slide show I completed last night. Here is a copy of that posting...

 

I am sorry to dissapoint, but I won't have my chapter posted until tomorrow (Tuesday June 12), but I do have a nice treat for you if this works.

 

I completed a music video slide show that I believe you all will like. To view it you may have to download some software called Photo Show Gold, but I'm not sure. I assure you it is a safe software. The website you need to go to is www.proshowgold.com.

 

Once there click on the "sharing" tab on top of the page. That will take you to a page titled "On-Line Sharing." On the left had column of that page click on the "browse member" tab. On the page that comes up next to the "member name" type in LarryF (be sure to capitalize the L and F) and press go. On the next page you will see an icon with "Our Alaska..." written underneath it. Press on that icon and a page will come up that says "Our Alaska Vacation." Press on the middle of that Icon and the slide show will play. If you right click on the show it will give you an option to press on full screen if you want to fill the screen. Be sure to turn up the volume. I hope this works...If so, enjoy!

 

WOW!!

slide show is AWESOME!!

[LarryF]

WOW!!

slide show is AWESOME!!

 

Thanks!!

[kehlx2]

Hello All,

 

To continue…

 

Thursday, May 25, 2007

 

You guessed it; I was up really early today, dressed and out on the deck around 6:00 a.m. One of the main reasons I chose this itinerary was so we could see Glacier Bay. I was one of the first on deck and it was cloudy and cold! I was rewarded for being the early worm, as shortly after I came on deck an we were treated to a sighting of an Orca whale about 400 feet from the ship! Some time around 6:30 a.m. the Captain announced that Park Rangers would be boarding the ship and setting themselves up in the back of the Calypso Pool area (indoor pool). One of the Park Rangers would also be guiding us through Glacier Bay and would be commentating and pointing out sights to us along the way. That’s when he also announced that the first Glacier viewing would be around 8:30 a.m. So for those of you who want a little extra sleep, I would recommend being out on your balcony or on deck between 8:00 and 8:15 a.m.

 

After the announcement I watched as the tender came alongside the ship and unloaded the Rangers. I then made my way to the Horizon Court for an early breakfast of my usual breakfast food.

 

I went down to the cabin around 7:00 a.m. and put on a couple of more layers as I planned to be out on the deck until we left Glacier Bay later in the day. My full ensemble was 5 layers of clothes consisting of long underwear; pull over turtle neck shirt, sweat shirt, fleece jacket and a light weight rain coat with hood, hiking pants, wool hat, wool socks and heavy Gortex winter gloves! The outside temperature was somewhere between 38 and 40 degrees, but with the wind chill factor on the front of the ship it felt like it was in the teens. While lots of others were shivering, I felt quite comfortable! :D

 

As mentioned before, it was a mostly cloudy day, but the clouds were mostly high in the sky with a few mystical low hanging clouds that just added another layer of beauty as they drifted in front of the snow capped mountains.

 

I went back up on deck around 7:30 a.m. while Amy went to breakfast and we met back up at 8:00 a.m. near the pool deck. I had read in some earlier posts most people viewed Glacier Bay on their balconies or from other areas inside the ship, but that wasn’t so in our case. By the time we got to the first Glacier, the decks on the front and Port side of the ship were full of passengers armed with their binoculars and cameras, and by the time we made it to Marjorie Glacier it was tough to find a spot along the railing!

 

Glacier Bay was just tantalizing and beautiful. The weather was about as good as it can get, in that the cloud cover was just about perfect to bring out the incredible blue colors to the surface of the Glacier Ice! The mixture of clouds and areas of blue sky cast awesome shadows on the calm smooth water. The ranger narrating our way through Glacier Bay was fantastic. If you wanted to stay on your balcony you could tune to one of the channels and turn the volume high and listen to her on the TV as well as out on deck.

 

The amount of people on the front of the ship had now grown to hundreds of people and the noise level was so loud you could not hear the Ranger talk. I was amazed at how rude a lot of people were with the amount of noise they made. :mad: We left and found a much quieter spot along the Port side railing mid ship before we got to Marjorie Glacier.:)

 

The face of Marjorie Glacier is about between 250 – 300 feet high, about the same size as a football field and is 1 mile wide. Because of the amount of calving activity and also the amount of ice in the water, the ship had stopped about ¼ mile from the Glacier.

 

As we slowly drifted toward Marjorie Glacier you could begin to hear the sounds of ice cracking and creaking and then we heard a loud shot gun sound as a 20 foot high sheet of ice broke off the glacier and crashed into the Bay with a thunderous roar! You could just feel the excitement and energy of everyone around us as we all anticipated where the next calving would occur. We were not disappointed as several times a 20 foot to 40 foot high sheet of ice would crash into the water. Everyone would just gasp and ooooh and awwww as the ice came tumbling down.

 

The sounds and sights from the calving of Glacier were unbelievable and boy, were we in for a surprise! About the time we had become accustomed to the ice falling, we heard a slow rumbling noise and then a massive cracking sound as at the very center of the Glacier a sheet of ice that had to be close to 250 feet high and at least 250 feet wide began to completely shear off the face of the Glacier. Think about it, it would take over five 48’ high semi trucks stacked one on top of the other and five more side by side to equal the amount of ice that began to fall. I cannot recall any visual effect in any high tech movie that could compare to this real life natural show right in front of our lucky eyes! I was viewing it from my camera as I held down the shutter that clicked 20 straight times capturing the entire sequence from start to finish! I remember it as if it all happened in slow motion. The thunderous roar produced by the ice crashing into the water was so loud it drowned out the Ranger on the PA system. The wake from the crash took about 30 seconds to reach the ship and then it actually rocked the massive ship gently back and forth! Afterwards, the Ranger was so excited it sounded like she was going to have a heart attack. It’s definitely a sight I will never forget and thankfully I’ve got the entire sequence in pictures.

 

We were not able to see John’s Hopkins Glacier as there was too much ice in the water to get there. Normally I would have been disappointed, but after the show Mother Nature gave us I could only be thankful at how lucky and blessed we had been so far on this glorious vacation!:)

 

As the ship began its journey to leave Glacier Bay, Amy and I headed to the Burger Station to load our tray with lunch and go sit at a table by the aft pool and just soak in the scenery as we cruised slowly between incredible gorgeous snow capped mountain and dozens of waterfalls and an occasional eagle soaring over us. We were absolutely famished from the excitement of the day. Amy had a grilled chicken sandwich and I had my usual cheeseburger and we shared fries and onion rings. There was little wind on the back of the ship and the temperatures had warmed up into the high 50’s. We then went to the Ranger’s information area they had set up in the Conservatory at the Calypso Pool. They had a lot of items on display as well as sold various gift items such as t-shirts, hats, books and audio CD’s. We bought an Alaskan music CD.

 

I was also totally exhausted at this point, so I made my way to the cabin and took a wonderful nap while Amy went to the Princess Theater to hear the Rangers talk about our cruise through Glacier Bay. She enjoyed the talk very much and recommends it highly.

 

There were a number of shipboard activities that afternoon including wine tasting, art auction, afternoon tea, fruit and vegetable carving demo, line dancing, trivia and bingo. Amy and I sat on the balcony most of the afternoon. I enjoyed sipping on some wine and smoking a nice cigar while Amy read her book. It was very relaxing. I then talked Amy into going in the Jacuzzi with me and we spent an hour or so soaking in the hot tub making new acquaintances and enjoying the scenery. Neither one of us wanted to leave it was just so enjoyable.

 

It was formal night, so I again begrudgingly wore my tuxedo to dinner. I say begrudgingly because dressing formal in Alaska is like an oxymoron. It just doesn’t seem to fit. Alaska is the last frontier where at this time of year, the sun doesn’t set until midnight and even then it doesn’t really get dark. Alaska is very rustic and it almost seems ludicrous to be formally dressed in this type of setting. I don’t pay much attention to what others wear, but I was happy to see others weren’t as gutless as me and wore much more comfortable clothes! Next time the tux is staying home!:D

 

We dined in the Savoy dining room. We liked this dining room the best (not sure why), but we felt most comfortable in the Savoy. As is the case on almost every cruise we’ve sailed, Lobster was the featured item on the menu for our second formal night. The menu also featured Beef Wellington. There were no large tables available, so we sat at a table for 2. We had twosomes on each side of us, so we were still able to meet some new people and have nice conversations during dinner. I again opted for the Shrimp Cocktail, Caesar Salad and chose the Lobster dinner for my entrée. Without asking, which I would have done, my waiter told me that he would bring me another order of the lobster when I had finished eating the first ones. Amy ordered a delicious duck appetizer along with a dinner salad and chose the Beef Wellington for her entrée. Both the Beef Wellington and Lobster were outstanding. I almost really made a pig of myself and thought of ordering a third order of Lobster, but thought better of it as I opted for chocolate mint ice cream instead! Amy had chocolate cake for dessert and both desserts were quite good.

 

We were done with dinner a little earlier tonight so we went to Club Fusion for the Marriage Game show (take off on the Newly Wed Game). The show was ok, but the variety of contestants was not up to par with others we have seen in the past.

 

Afterwards we met up with our friends from Chicago at the Princess Theatre for the 10:15 p.m. show. Tonight’s show was called “Piano Man” and featured the Princess Singers and Dancers and the Princess Orchestra. The show was fabulous and I felt was the best show of the week. They performed to songs written or performed by Billy Joel, Elton John, Barry Manilow and Liberace. The Liberace portion was really well done and enjoyable. We really enjoyed the entire performance.

 

After the performance we joined our friends in the Crooners bar again for a night cap before retiring for the evening.

 

It had been another incredible day. I wish days like this could just go on forever! Tomorrow would be our last day cruising and we would cruise through College Fjord. As we would not enter College Fjord until after 5:00 p.m. would this mean I could actually sleep a little longer?

I didn’t know what to expect in College Fjord as I had read posts that some people felt College Fjord was nicer than Glacier Bay. Could that be so? Stay tuned!

 

Too be continued….

 

Larry

 

WOW--(another wow) great review--I have my doubts if the glacier will have anything near that great when we come in Sept--it'll probably be starting to refreeze & not calve. You for sure were in the right place at the right time--THANKS!

[Nancyquilts]

Larry - thank you so much for your reviews and the slide show - what a great job of editing:D :D :D . I hope you'll be able to post some pictures of the calving later. Nancy

[SleevesEnd]

I can't see the slideshow on my mac :( I don't have the plug-in. But are loving the reviews and photos :)

[LarryF]

Larry - thank you so much for your reviews and the slide show - what a great job of editing:D :D :D . I hope you'll be able to post some pictures of the calving later. Nancy

 

If you click on my link to my photos below, go to page 13 and the first 7 slides show the large calving of Marjorie Glacier...

 

Larry

[jd618]

THANK YOU for sharing your wonderful Alaskan experience! You're a terrific story teller and photographer. We are taking this cruise in 1 year to celebrate our 20th anniv. We can't wait. Your review makes us even more excited. I'm taking notes and learning from your experiences. Thanks again!

[teejaybee]

Hi Larry

 

Thank you so much for the trip descriptions.

 

5 of us have just booked the Sapphire Princess for 23rd August 2008 with a landtour first followed by the cruise. We have decided to opt for the Penthouse Suites - what type of cabin did you choose and which deck? Sorry if you have mentioned it in your writings!

 

Also the picture show was very very classy, if you are not a professional you should be!

 

Thanks again.

[LarryF]

Hi Larry

 

Thank you so much for the trip descriptions.

 

5 of us have just booked the Sapphire Princess for 23rd August 2008 with a landtour first followed by the cruise. We have decided to opt for the Penthouse Suites - what type of cabin did you choose and which deck? Sorry if you have mentioned it in your writings!

 

Also the picture show was very very classy, if you are not a professional you should be!

 

Thanks again.

 

Thanks for your nice comments. I guess I missed my calling as I'm not a professional writer or graphic designer, but I have always like to tell stories and like to dabble with pictures and music.

 

We were in a balcony cabin midship, port side on the Baha deck and enjoyed the room and location. We were in the room very seldom, but did enjoy the balcony!

 

Have a great cruise...

 

Larry

[AkSusan]

Larry,

 

Great slideshow. Even though I've lived here close to a total of 30 years, I still love looking at my State.

 

Loving your review too as we're doing Sapphire southbound next June, so this just adds to that excitement.

 

Susan in Anchorage :)

[LarryF]

Thanks Susan. Coming from an almost "native Alaskan" your postive comments are tremendously appreciated.

 

Thank you for all your postings and comments on these boards, as you were also most helpful to me in my planning process.

 

Larry

[AkSusan]

Thanks Susan. Coming from an almost "native Alaskan" your postive comments are tremendously appreciated.

 

Thank you for all your postings and comments on these boards, as you were also most helpful to me in my planning process.

 

Larry

 

You're welcome and I figure the more I can help anyone the better. And soon I'll be one of those asking excursion questions for Skagway since I haven't been down there yet.

 

Susan in Anchorage :)

[SleevesEnd]

You're welcome and I figure the more I can help anyone the better. And soon I'll be one of those asking excursion questions for Skagway since I haven't been down there yet.

 

Susan in Anchorage :)

Hi Susan ... not many people can they they haven't been DOWN to Skagway! :eek:

[AkSusan]

There are still places that I want to visit up from Anchorage too, like Barrow. I've been very fortunate in havings jobs that have allowed me to visit various parts of Alaska, but still some out there that I haven't been.

 

Susan in Anchorage :)

[AkSusan]

Larry,

 

Do you remember which nights were formal nights (starting to plan for next June :) )? I'm thinking if it's like the other 7 day cruises I've been on they would be Sunday and Thursday.

 

Susan in Anchorage :)

[themerle]

Larry,

 

Just viewed the music slide show. WOW, great job!!!!! Thanks for all the time and effort you're spending on your reviews. I'm just so glad that I will be seeing these sites for myself in July. We were going to take the train/bus tour in Skagway but now we might rent a car if we haven't waited to long about getting the rental.

[gambit57]

Larry,

 

Do you remember which nights were formal nights (starting to plan for next June :) )? I'm thinking if it's like the other 7 day cruises I've been on they would be Sunday and Thursday.

 

Susan in Anchorage :)

 

I was on Larry's cruise. It was on Sunday and Thurs. Sea day and Glacier Bay day. Or 2nd nite and 6th nite.

 

It's funny, but my van driver in Anchorage also said he'd never been "down" to Skagway or Juneau. He mentioned the cost so I can see why many Anchorage residents would rather spend any travel time/money outside of Alaska to somewhere warm and sunny than to just another part of the state.

[AkSusan]

Thanks for the information. For us then it will be after College Fjords (basically a sea day) and after our day in Ketchikan.

 

Yeah it's amazing how much it can cost to go places in this state. And even worse is that you can't get to our state capital unless you fly or take a ferry.

 

Susan in Anchorage :)

[LarryF]

Hello All,

 

To continue…

 

Friday, May 25, 2007

 

Today would be the last day of our cruise and for the most part was like a sea day in the Caribbean, without the balmy temperatures. I finally was able to allow myself to sleep a little late and woke up around 8:00 a.m. I ventured on the balcony and the weather was partly cloudy and cold as the temperature felt like it was about 40 degrees.

 

We made our way to the Horizon Court around 9:00 a.m. and it was very crowded. There were at least 30 people in line just to get a plate :eek:, so we scooted through the middle entrance and picked up our own plate and silverware and headed to our different stations. Since it was the last day of the cruise, I added a lox and onion omelet to my normal breakfast fare. Other than the crowds, we enjoyed the food and service in the Horizon Court all week. All the food was fresh and tasty. We had all our breakfasts in there and Amy had most of her lunches in there as well. There are two sides to the Horizon Court and the food stations are the same on each side. The omelet station was on the Port side.

 

After breakfast I then made my way to the Pursers desk to go ahead and settle our account while Amy went to the Princess Theater to watch a culinary demonstration. The lines all day were about 10 to 15 people deep. I must say my dealings during the week with the Pursers desk were pleasant and I found most of the representatives to be very nice and patient, which has not always been the case on other cruises. Our charges for the week on the ship including the internet was a little over $475, but we had a $100 credit each that was included in our booking and we also had a $75 credit for the internet, so our out of pocket costs for the week were just over $200. The charges were $115 for the use of the Thermal Suite for the week that we only used once, $140 for tips, $40 for Sabatini’s and about $70 for wine and drinks. None of our tour excursions were through the cruise line. All other expenses for the week including our Hotel in Vancouver, all meals, taxis, snacks, gifts, tour excursions in Vancouver, Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway and all other miscellaneous charges was just under $1,700. We paid a total of $3,080 for our balcony cabin on the Baja deck, travel insurance and all port charges and taxes. So our grand total for our stay in Vancouver and the week cruise was right at $5,000 for the 8 days. We used frequent flyer miles for our flights to Vancouver and back from Anchorage.

 

Sorry for the digression, but I thought some of you might be interested getting an idea of what costs can be. We could have saved a lot of money by having an inside cabin and we could have also found less expensive excursions, but as this trip was for our 30th anniversary, we pushed our budget as far as possible and hopefully won’t regret it when I have to pay for our two kid’s college tuition payment! :eek:

 

While I was at the Pursers desk, I also addressed my concern about leaving the ship early enough to meet our pre-arranged private transportation to Anchorage in the morning. I had booked a private limo with Alaskan Transportation Group and we were supposed to meet them at 7:45 Saturday morning. I had checked with the Pursers office earlier in the week to see what time we were scheduled to leave the ship and were told our departure time was 8:15 a.m. I told the representative about our situation and he told me to just to get off the ship earlier and that it would not be a problem. I didn’t feel real comfortable with this, so I addressed it now with another representative. He told me the same thing as the previous representative, but seeing the concern on my face and wanting to please me, he went into the back office and came back with luggage tags for the 7:00 a.m. departures. That was very nice of him and it really eased my anxiety about missing our opportunity to leave Whittier by making the 8:00 a.m. tunnel schedule. So, if you have to be off the ship at a certain time, make sure to check with the Purser’s desk early in the week to insure you are scheduled at the proper time.

 

I made one last stop at the future cruise desk and found that the representative was busy, so I picked up a form to place a deposit down for a future Princess Cruise. Princess has a good future cruise program that allows you to place a $100 deposit for each passenger towards a future cruise on Princess. The deposit is good for 4 years. You can cancel the deposit at any time and get a refund. If you do not book a Princess Cruise in 4 years, you get the deposit back. The advantage of placing the deposit is that when you book a Princess Cruise, the deposit is normally about $900 for a 7 day cruise. You also get ship board credit by booking this way. You can also sign up friends or family to get this same deal for them as well and also earn more ship board credit for yourself by doing so. It’s not a bad deal as you have nothing to lose.

 

I met up with Amy by the Pursers desk after she got out of the Culinary Demo. She enjoyed the culinary demonstration that was led by Maitre d’ Hotel Daniela Saredi and Executive Chef Marcello Berardi. She said it was hokey but cute, and she enjoyed it. There was a tour to go through the Galley afterwards, but the lines were a mile long, so we passed. We noticed a sale going on in the Vivaldi Dining room. It was all the left over merchandise from the previous Sapphire sailings in Asia, Australia and New Zealand. They had bargain prices, but I only buy souvenirs from places we actually visit, but they were selling them at bargain prices!

 

The day was passing by before we knew it, it was time for lunch. We made our way on deck and saw the scenery had become nice as we had already entered Prince William Sound. The temperatures had risen slightly to the high 40’s and there was a mix of mostly dark clouds, but patches of blue scattered about. As it was a bit nippy, we ate in the Horizon Court. One last cheeseburger was a must while Amy had a salad and sandwich. We walked around the deck after lunch enjoying the scenery and putting off the inevitable task of packing! All bags must be placed outside your room no later than 9:00 p.m. Since cruising of College Fjord was between 5:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., you don’t have any choice but to pack sometime earlier in the day unless you choose to forego the sights of College Fjord, as I believe some unfortunate people did.:( So, we made our way back to the room at 2:00 p.m. to pack.

 

As we would be spending another week in Alaska on our own, we did our best to pack just one suitcase as our main suitcase for the week. We filled almost one complete 30” suitcase with clothes that we never wore during the week!! We tried to fill the other suitcase with dirty clothes and other items we would not need during the week. So, we managed to get most of what we needed for the upcoming week into one very packed suitcase (I had to sit on it while Amy zipped it closed)! We also had a smaller 20” suitcase for our shoes and toiletries. So with that task done with time to spare, it was time for one last soak and relaxation session in the Jacuzzi!

 

We then went back to the cabin to change into our layers for going back out on deck. I was really looking forward to College Fjord and wanted to stake out a claim on deck early to insure a good spot. Amy decided she wanted to stay on the balcony for the viewing so I made my way on deck around 5:00 p.m. dressed in 5 layers again and found my spot on the front of the ship. The decks were not quite as crowded as they were in Glacier Bay and there was not much noise. It was great not being as crowded in as we were in Glacier Bay because I found College Fjord to be a very spiritual special kind of place and welcomed the solitude.

 

College Fjord is in the northern section of Prince William Sound and is famous for it tidewater glaciers named after Ivy League colleges. We were guided through the Fjord by our naturalist on board, Kathy Slamp. She did a magnificent job of pointing out wildlife and telling us the history and information about all the Glaciers.

 

As we entered into the Glacier area we were greeted by about 8 to 10 sea otters swimming and playing right beside the ship. We passed several Glaciers on both the Port and Starboard side. As the ship continued to slowly advance forward, the beauty continued to multiply right before your eyes. After we rounded the last bend in the Bay, at the terminus of the Bay were both Harvard and Yale Glaciers almost together, but separated slightly by a low snow covered mountain. I had mentioned earlier the mixture of the dark clouds and the patches of blue scattered about and this was now joined by the Sun that shot arrows of alabaster colored rays through the blue patches of sky that made brilliant cascading shadows on both Glaciers and the mountains soaring above them. The calm icy waters were smooth as glass and reflected the same resplendent scene in the water… and to add to the perfection we were witnessing, a sole eagle glided effortlessly above the Glaciers. I cannot imagine this scene being created by just a freak of nature as God almighty had to have taken out his miraculous paint brush to create this awe inspiring sight! I was totally oblivious to anyone around me, and during an unknown amount of precious time, I was alone and experienced an inner peace that I hope I never forget.

 

Even the Naturalist allowed a good deal of time pass by before she began talking again. The ship stayed at this glorious sight for about an hour before it turned and slowly made its way toward Whittier. I went down to our cabin and got Amy to come up and join me by the aft pool area to share this incredible sight before we drifted to far away from it. She did not have the vantage point on the balcony to see the entire scene. As our cabin was on the port side of the ship, she could really only see Harvard Glacier. She was very thankful I brought her up on deck to get to see the wonderful sight of both Glaciers together. We stayed outside until we could no longer see the Glaciers and reluctantly made our way to dinner. Man, I just didn’t want this special time in College Fjord to end!:)

 

By the time we made it to dinner it was after 8:30 p.m. We went to the Sante Fe Dining Room and seated at a table for 6. The dining room was only about half full as most people had dined earlier and it looked as though we might dine alone. Very shortly, though, we were joined by a couple that was part of our cruise critic group, Pat and Don and then another couple from Arkansas. We had a very pleasant time with them and talked about all of our experiences during the week. Amy had salmon once again as she really enjoyed it and I had the Prime Rib again and like the first night of the cruise, it was cooked to perfection and tasted excellent. We had our final desserts, ice cream for me of course, and made our way to see if we could get into the show in the Princess Theater which had started about 20 minutes earlier.

 

We had sat in the same seats most nights in the Theatre with our friends Mike and Donna, so we were happy to see them in the same seats and they had saved two for us. We had not missed much. The final show was billed as a farewell variety show that had Michelle Murlin performing again and featured a comedian by the name of Cary Long. Michelle Murlin’s performance was even better in this show than her first. She sang a song from Les Miserable that just brought the house down it was so good. The comedian was just plain awful as were all the comedians we had seen on board during the week.

 

After the show we had a drink with our friends Donna and Mike in the Crooner’s Bar and ended the evening and said our goodbyes and promised each other to forward pictures and to stay in touch. We went down to the cabin and I went out on the balcony and you could already see the lights from Whittier as we neared the midnight hour. We were going to have to wake up at 5:30 a.m. so we could be ready for our departure in the morning.

 

It’s usually at this time on all previous cruises that I get incredibly upset that our vacation is ending. But if this was the last night of our vacation, I don’t know that I would have been real upset. I recalled the feeling like we were in Heaven as we soared above the majestical Misty Fjords; seeing mother nature at her best as whales gave us a show in the Juneau waters; driving through the most scenic drive ever to the Yukon and Emerald Lake; witnessing the awesome calving of tons of glacier ice from Marjorie Glacier in Glacier Park and having a close encounter with God almighty through the beauty of College Fjord. And even more endearing and enlightening than all of that was to share it all with my best friend and love of my life, my wife, Amy.

 

So, wipe away the tears and get ready for the next chapter in our great adventure. Would the one year of research pay off and come close to meeting our expectations? Would the rough waters on our Kenai Fjord tour result in massive sea sickness? Would Amy fall on her behind trekking on Matanuska Glacier? :D What surprises lay ahead in our journey to the Alaska interior? Stay tuned!

 

To be continued…

 

Larry

[cjnky]

So, wipe away the tears and get ready for the next chapter in our great adventure

 

OK Larry, I've already discovered you're a genius - but HOW did you know you actually had me in tears??? Yes, you definitely missed your calling! I don't know when I've ever enjoyed reading anything as much as I have your reports, and you have my excitement built up to the MAX!! Thanks you soooo much for the wonderful reports!! And now I'll await your land adventures! :)

[LarryF]

Hey, I shed a tear or two writing it so I know there had to be some other softies like me out there!

[qiangf2]

Larry,

 

It is like watching prime-time thriller show (like 24). I am hooked to your trip report. How you put a lot of minute details together so smoothly without getting people bored still amazes me. I am waiting for the next episode...

 

many, many thanks

[tapia]

About all I can say is: Wow

[LarryF]

Larry,

 

It is like watching prime-time thriller show (like 24). I am hooked to your trip report. How you put a lot of minute details together so smoothly without getting people bored still amazes me. I am waiting for the next episode...

 

many, many thanks

 

Thanks....Glad you're enjoying the review. Maybe I can sell it to the travel channel as and title it "Extreme Geriatrics in Alaska!"

 

Larry

[calbob]

OK...I am hooked too !!! Great review, comments, and overall writing skills...I just wish I could pull up your video. I downloaded the software but can't seem to get it...May be, because I am using Mozilla Firefox as my web browser...

On another note Larry, I congratulate you on that onboard bill...When my wife and I go for a 7 day cruise, we cannot get under $ 1,000 for the ship bill. Of course most of that is Liquor, drinks before dinner and wine with...In any event, your review is an award winner !!!! We are going to Alaska next year and this review as well as this outstanding website helps tremendously.

 

I will be waiting for your final words !!!!

 

Thanks again for the great review

CALBOB