Our trip to Alaska on Celebrity's Summit, May 2005
Alaska, May 2005. . .
We flew to Vancouver, BC, the land of that wonderful Canadian Dollar, and then boarded the "Summit" a panamax ship of mind boggling size and sailed up the Inside Passage stopping at interesting places in southeast Alaska.
Do you remember the old fairy tale about the old shoemaker who would find his work done and his house tidied up by good fairies? But when his wife made clothes for them, they never came back again.
Well, they have those on cruise ships. They call them "room stewards" and if you take a nap, eat a snack, or generally make a mess, they slip in and straighten everything up. The wastebasket gets emptied several times a day. In the evening, you come back to your room and find the bed turned back and chocolate on the pillow. The sheer curtains are drawn and the easy listening channel is on. If you have sailed with the same line a few times you may find fresh flowers, champaign, or fresh fruit. We got clean sheets and towels every day and the bathroom sparkled.
They have good fairies in the dining room too. If you don't like one of the five courses, they will take it back and bring you something else.
Unlike the ones in the fairy tale, the cruise ship fairies keep coming back.
Those long days. . .
We live about 36 degrees north of the equator, so we found this interesting.
As we traveled up the Inside Passage we notice that sunset got later and later. We came out of the evening show one night at 10:00 p.m. and there was a beautiful sunset just getting started. By the time we reached Seward, about 60 degrees north of the equator, the nights were very short indeed, considering the long twilight.
The shortest night will be in late June when the sun will circle the sky dipping below the horizon only briefly, and north of the Arctic Circle, it won't even do that.
On earlier Alaskan trips, we went in September very close to the fall equinox, and we did not see those long days and short nights.
Toward the end of the cruise, we would have had to get up at 1:30 a.m. or so to see any real darkness. No wonder we were tired! We stayed up late and got up early.
A great little town. . .
Skaguay is our favorite Alaskan town. It is four blocks wide and eight blocks long. They claim it is 16 blocks because they are counting alleys as if they were streets. It goes from 1st Avenue to 9th Avenue, but the business district is mostly a six block stretch of Broadway. Wooden side walks and wooden buildings are the norm in Skaguay. Logs are used as retaining walls, so I guess wood holds up better in that climate. I doubt that any termites live there.
We took a ride on the WPYL. That stands for White Pass and Yukon Line. It's a narrow gauge railroad that goes from Skaguay over White Pass and into the Yukon Territory. We only went as far as the Canadian border at White Pass. In 20 miles we gained about 6000 feet, sometimes on grades about as steep as a train can manage. We crossed both wood and steel trestles and went through two tunnels. Sometimes the track, which was first laid over 100 years ago, was hanging on the edge of a cliff. I was not very comfortable when everybody got up and went to that side of the train. I know that "narrow gauge" rails are only three feet apart instead of the normal 48.5 inches, and I had to wonder why the whole thing didn't tilt off that 2000 foot drop into the canyon. It was so scary, I would not even think of taking that trip again, but I wouldn't take anything for having done it once. Even the disembodied voice on the PA system admitted that it was a rare day when you could see mountains and the ocean many miles away. The blue-tinted glacier above the pass was normally hidden in the clouds, but we saw it gleaming in the sun. At the pass, we saw deep snow drifts and icy waterfalls. Twice, there was a bear on the tracks. Both times, they were smart enough to step aside and wait for the train to pass, however, the disembodied voice was facing backwards and called our attention to the wrong side of the train. I missed them both, but a few people saw them. (They were the same kind of bears that we see in the Smokies all the time.) The train was made up of "restored vintage and reproduction" cars and the engines were vintage diesel. Sometimes antique steam locomotives do the pulling. I'm never sure where to draw the line between vintage and antique. I think the cost of the ride was something like $2.50 cents a mile. Worth it. White Pass was part of the route taken by countless gold miners during the Alaskan gold rush days.
No rain in Ketchican. . .
Creek Street in Ketchican is more creek than street. There are bridges and wooden walkways on both sides, but no place to drive a car. The creek is wide and deep at high tide, but when the tide is out it plunges over rocks. The difference between high and low tide is at least 10 feet. When we were there in the fall, the creek was full of salmon. The houses along Creek Street are old. Some date back 100 years and a few are open to the public for a price. Most are occupied by artists and craftsmen.
It rains a lot in Southeast Alaska, but we saw very little bad weather on this trip. But it was foggy when we crossed the Gulf of Alaska to Seward. The sea was a little rough on that stretch, but in the passage it was very calm.
Searching for the ice. . .
Icy Strait had no ice. We tendered in to Icy Strait Point which is a village on the corner of an island that is 50 X 80 miles. There is an old cannery there, and they still have lots of canned salmon sitting around, but it was unclear as to how much of it was actually canned there. There was a lot of timber cut in the area about 100 years ago, but most of the second-growth forest consists of very large trees. One interesting custom there is to give each visitor a cedar chip and ask them to throw it into a ceremonial fire for good luck.
The visitor’s center is at the old cannery and this is only the second year that cruise ships have stopped there. We were the second ship this year. We walked some trails, saw a seal, or more properly, a sea lion, and watched bald eagles soar overhead. On one of the trails, a deer walked up to us and looked us over. Icy Strait Point is a very tranquil place and the natives are friendly.
When we sailed away, a pod of orcas, also known as “killer whales,” put on a show just off the point.
Hubbard Glacier. . .
While we saw no floating ice in Icy Strait, Hubbard Glacier made up for it. We saw ‘bergs up to the size of a small house. They say 90% is below the surface. Glacier ice can be black with rocks and soil, white with tiny air bubbles, or blue if it is pure ice. The glacier itself was about a mile wide and when a Holland American ship passed near the face, the glacier was twice the height of that 12 deck ship. That’s about 200 feet.
Near the glacier you hear what sounds like thunder. Hubbard is a noisy glacier and I suppose the crashing and booming was caused by cracking ice as it moved over rocks and around bends in the valley. Large chunks of ice could be seen falling off the face into the fiord. There were numerous waterfalls from snow and ice in the surrounding mountains.
There is a smaller glacier to the left of Hubbard and we heard a lot of noise from that direction too. This type of glacier is called a “tidal” glacier because they extend down to sea level. Mountain glaciers could be seen almost any time. In May, there is still a lot of snow, but not in towns. I guess they built towns in places where it melts early.
“Pretending to be rich folks. . .”
An old gentleman from Virginia once referred to cruising as “pretending to be rich folks.” It certainly seems that way. But cruising is the cheapest vacation of all. If you add up the cost of hotels, meals, transportation, etc. for a week’s vacation, it’s more than enough to pay for a week of cruising. The more you cruise, the more perks you get. We wound up in a high class cabin that we could never afford, simply because we are considered regular customers. That entitled us to “priority” boarding and debarkation. We got invitations to events that only old seasoned cruisers could attend. I believe some of those people were really rich. Maybe they thought we were too. I especially enjoyed their backstage tour, being the old theatre buff that I am.
The HydroSpa. . .
Swimming is no fun in Alaska, unless you are on a ship with an enclosed, heated pool like the HydroSpa. It had jets and bubbles and waterfalls to take away the soreness of over exertion. There were two hot tubs at the spa and four more out by the outdoor pool.
Summit is the sister ship of the one we took through the Panama Canal and we were even in the same cabin, 7191. Old 7191 is a higher class on Summit than it was on Infinity. What are the odds of getting the same numbered cabin on two different cruises?
Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but we are hoping to cruise to Hawaii next.
We flew to Vancouver, BC, the land of that wonderful Canadian Dollar, and then boarded the "Summit" a panamax ship of mind boggling size and sailed up the Inside Passage stopping at interesting places in southeast Alaska.
Do you remember the old fairy tale about the old shoemaker who would find his work done and his house tidied up by good fairies? But when his wife made clothes for them, they never came back again.
Well, they have those on cruise ships. They call them "room stewards" and if you take a nap, eat a snack, or generally make a mess, they slip in and straighten everything up. The wastebasket gets emptied several times a day. In the evening, you come back to your room and find the bed turned back and chocolate on the pillow. The sheer curtains are drawn and the easy listening channel is on. If you have sailed with the same line a few times you may find fresh flowers, champaign, or fresh fruit. We got clean sheets and towels every day and the bathroom sparkled.
They have good fairies in the dining room too. If you don't like one of the five courses, they will take it back and bring you something else.
Unlike the ones in the fairy tale, the cruise ship fairies keep coming back.
Those long days. . .
We live about 36 degrees north of the equator, so we found this interesting.
As we traveled up the Inside Passage we notice that sunset got later and later. We came out of the evening show one night at 10:00 p.m. and there was a beautiful sunset just getting started. By the time we reached Seward, about 60 degrees north of the equator, the nights were very short indeed, considering the long twilight.
The shortest night will be in late June when the sun will circle the sky dipping below the horizon only briefly, and north of the Arctic Circle, it won't even do that.
On earlier Alaskan trips, we went in September very close to the fall equinox, and we did not see those long days and short nights.
Toward the end of the cruise, we would have had to get up at 1:30 a.m. or so to see any real darkness. No wonder we were tired! We stayed up late and got up early.
A great little town. . .
Skaguay is our favorite Alaskan town. It is four blocks wide and eight blocks long. They claim it is 16 blocks because they are counting alleys as if they were streets. It goes from 1st Avenue to 9th Avenue, but the business district is mostly a six block stretch of Broadway. Wooden side walks and wooden buildings are the norm in Skaguay. Logs are used as retaining walls, so I guess wood holds up better in that climate. I doubt that any termites live there.
We took a ride on the WPYL. That stands for White Pass and Yukon Line. It's a narrow gauge railroad that goes from Skaguay over White Pass and into the Yukon Territory. We only went as far as the Canadian border at White Pass. In 20 miles we gained about 6000 feet, sometimes on grades about as steep as a train can manage. We crossed both wood and steel trestles and went through two tunnels. Sometimes the track, which was first laid over 100 years ago, was hanging on the edge of a cliff. I was not very comfortable when everybody got up and went to that side of the train. I know that "narrow gauge" rails are only three feet apart instead of the normal 48.5 inches, and I had to wonder why the whole thing didn't tilt off that 2000 foot drop into the canyon. It was so scary, I would not even think of taking that trip again, but I wouldn't take anything for having done it once. Even the disembodied voice on the PA system admitted that it was a rare day when you could see mountains and the ocean many miles away. The blue-tinted glacier above the pass was normally hidden in the clouds, but we saw it gleaming in the sun. At the pass, we saw deep snow drifts and icy waterfalls. Twice, there was a bear on the tracks. Both times, they were smart enough to step aside and wait for the train to pass, however, the disembodied voice was facing backwards and called our attention to the wrong side of the train. I missed them both, but a few people saw them. (They were the same kind of bears that we see in the Smokies all the time.) The train was made up of "restored vintage and reproduction" cars and the engines were vintage diesel. Sometimes antique steam locomotives do the pulling. I'm never sure where to draw the line between vintage and antique. I think the cost of the ride was something like $2.50 cents a mile. Worth it. White Pass was part of the route taken by countless gold miners during the Alaskan gold rush days.
No rain in Ketchican. . .
Creek Street in Ketchican is more creek than street. There are bridges and wooden walkways on both sides, but no place to drive a car. The creek is wide and deep at high tide, but when the tide is out it plunges over rocks. The difference between high and low tide is at least 10 feet. When we were there in the fall, the creek was full of salmon. The houses along Creek Street are old. Some date back 100 years and a few are open to the public for a price. Most are occupied by artists and craftsmen.
It rains a lot in Southeast Alaska, but we saw very little bad weather on this trip. But it was foggy when we crossed the Gulf of Alaska to Seward. The sea was a little rough on that stretch, but in the passage it was very calm.
Searching for the ice. . .
Icy Strait had no ice. We tendered in to Icy Strait Point which is a village on the corner of an island that is 50 X 80 miles. There is an old cannery there, and they still have lots of canned salmon sitting around, but it was unclear as to how much of it was actually canned there. There was a lot of timber cut in the area about 100 years ago, but most of the second-growth forest consists of very large trees. One interesting custom there is to give each visitor a cedar chip and ask them to throw it into a ceremonial fire for good luck.
The visitor’s center is at the old cannery and this is only the second year that cruise ships have stopped there. We were the second ship this year. We walked some trails, saw a seal, or more properly, a sea lion, and watched bald eagles soar overhead. On one of the trails, a deer walked up to us and looked us over. Icy Strait Point is a very tranquil place and the natives are friendly.
When we sailed away, a pod of orcas, also known as “killer whales,” put on a show just off the point.
Hubbard Glacier. . .
While we saw no floating ice in Icy Strait, Hubbard Glacier made up for it. We saw ‘bergs up to the size of a small house. They say 90% is below the surface. Glacier ice can be black with rocks and soil, white with tiny air bubbles, or blue if it is pure ice. The glacier itself was about a mile wide and when a Holland American ship passed near the face, the glacier was twice the height of that 12 deck ship. That’s about 200 feet.
Near the glacier you hear what sounds like thunder. Hubbard is a noisy glacier and I suppose the crashing and booming was caused by cracking ice as it moved over rocks and around bends in the valley. Large chunks of ice could be seen falling off the face into the fiord. There were numerous waterfalls from snow and ice in the surrounding mountains.
There is a smaller glacier to the left of Hubbard and we heard a lot of noise from that direction too. This type of glacier is called a “tidal” glacier because they extend down to sea level. Mountain glaciers could be seen almost any time. In May, there is still a lot of snow, but not in towns. I guess they built towns in places where it melts early.
“Pretending to be rich folks. . .”
An old gentleman from Virginia once referred to cruising as “pretending to be rich folks.” It certainly seems that way. But cruising is the cheapest vacation of all. If you add up the cost of hotels, meals, transportation, etc. for a week’s vacation, it’s more than enough to pay for a week of cruising. The more you cruise, the more perks you get. We wound up in a high class cabin that we could never afford, simply because we are considered regular customers. That entitled us to “priority” boarding and debarkation. We got invitations to events that only old seasoned cruisers could attend. I believe some of those people were really rich. Maybe they thought we were too. I especially enjoyed their backstage tour, being the old theatre buff that I am.
The HydroSpa. . .
Swimming is no fun in Alaska, unless you are on a ship with an enclosed, heated pool like the HydroSpa. It had jets and bubbles and waterfalls to take away the soreness of over exertion. There were two hot tubs at the spa and four more out by the outdoor pool.
Summit is the sister ship of the one we took through the Panama Canal and we were even in the same cabin, 7191. Old 7191 is a higher class on Summit than it was on Infinity. What are the odds of getting the same numbered cabin on two different cruises?
Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but we are hoping to cruise to Hawaii next.
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