Jim & Noni's 1998
Alaska Princess Cruise Vacation

Hi Everyone, We are back and, as promised, here is my report on our trip.. As you know, it was a trip of a lifetime. I am now putting this message on the internet so you can see pictures of our trip as well.. Here is a map of our entire trip. Hope you enjoy this report... As in the email I sent, I am dividing this in 2 parts. This is the ship part.

Click here to see pictures taken on the ship

The first 2 days was spent getting familiar with the ship.. The elevator went as high as the 14th floor.. However, it really was the 13th floor.. Our bedroom was in the 'middle' of the ship on the 9th level..and, of course, no window.. One level above the Casino, -however, didn't spend much time there.. (Money went too quickly).. Our TINY room had a TV, refrigerator, 2 single beds abutted together, and a tiny bathroom with shower.. The TV had a few stations that showed a live picture of the front of the ship, movies, and many Love Boat reruns.. We noticed that any time the show had a bedroom scene.. that the bedrooms looked a 'bit' larger in the show than our room.. Our Dinners were mostly in formal and semi-formal attire.. We were served things like lobster tail, king crab, shrimp cocktail, escargot, salmon, and huge steaks.. Things we saw on hometown restaurant menus and never ordered because of the prices..

The INSIDE PASSAGE route that the ship took was beautiful.. Always something to see. ( Bald Eagles, tree covered islands, lighthouses and light buoys.) The first days were sunny.

Our first stop was Ketchikan .. It is famous for being one of the wettest places on the continent. and having the most totem poles.. It was not raining the day we were there! All the towns we visited we noticed that 3 out of 4 stores were gift shops. We skipped the usual tours which included the totem pole and fish hatchery tours.. Took an impromptu 1+ mile hike uphill for the START of the 1.5 mile uphill hike.. Pat knows the story.. hot... no water.. I haven't changed, Pat.. I eventually let Jim continue to the viewpoint and I went back to visit the shops.. Jim said that the part of the trip that I missed became very steep and very difficult.. He made it though! He was glad for the ship's Jacuzzi upon his return..

The next stop was Juneau, the State Capitol.. There was a tram that took you up Mt Roberts, high above the city.. There were trails that went higher up the mountain, so Jim and I went on another uphill hike.. Jim was moving a bit slower. This time with water and snacks.. Jim, however, still continued after I was ready to stop.. Great view.. A Bald Eagle flew right past me as I sat waiting for Jim's return.. We also took a tour bus of the town and also Mendenhall Glacier.. There are no roads to take you out of Juneau.. You must enter and leave by ship or plane. We also visited the "Red Dog Saloon". (Red Dog beer is not permitted to be sold in Alaska... They are angry about the name being used without the Saloon's permission)

The next stop was Skagway.. A town that has seen many BOOMS and BUSTS in population. When gold was discovered in the Yukon, (100 years ago.. celebrating the centennial while we were there) it was through Skagway (Trail of '98) that the stampede started. Many interesting stories and pictures about this town and the people. The whole town is a National Park.. The people asked the government to buy and preserve the town when it was in a BUST period.. Now the government rents back the property to shop keepers.. They must be doing well with the tourism BOOM the town is in now..
Also, while in Skagway we took a ride on a narrow gage railroad that hugs the slopes of the mountainous area. It was an engineering feat to have the railroad built.. It was made for the use of the gold rush, but did not profit the people that had it built.. The White Pass & Yukon Route is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.. Only 22 worldwide.. Like the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, and Panama Canal.

The last part of ship tour we had to stay on the boat.. We had seen spouting while eating dinner one night but had not seen any whales breach. Even after staying hours on deck one day with our binoculars.. However, one night after dinner we took a walk and we were excited to see more spouting.. This time we could see the whales breach, but quite a distance away.. Still we were delighted.. The last part of our tour was to Glacier Bay and College Fjord. (It was called that because all the Glaciers in this area were named after colleges. The biggest was Harvard Glacier.. The small glaciers had women college names) Here we saw many animals (harbor seals and sea otters) and birds that somehow could live in this frozen land and water. The glaciers had chunks fall off into the water.. This is called "Calving". When it hit the water a thunderous sound could be heard.. called "White Thunder". The glaciers had areas that had a deep blue hue. The color was caused by the compression of the snow.

That's it.. Click here for the Land part of our vacation.

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