Saturday July 25 - August 1, 2009

We woke up early this morning and were off to our ship, The Diamond Princess, which was docked in Whittier, Alaska, for the cruise. We boarded the bus by 9 AM and were on our way to Whittier. The scenery from Kenai to Whittier was not that spectacular, compared to what we have experienced over the past week. We arrived in Whittier at approximately 12:30 PM and were on the ship by 1:15.

Once we arrived on the ship and found our room, we headed to the lido deck for some food. As on most cruise ships, the selection was rather extensive. After eating we walked around the ship for awhile to learn where everything was located. It is a rather large ship with all of the expected cruise ship amenities; dining rooms, lounges, bars, gym, pools, hot tubs, sauna, etc. The selection of food was diversified and we generally had no problem choosing off of the menu. We tended to vary our meals mostly between beef, chicken and fish. The desserts were especially good!

The next two days we were at sea and we all found plenty of things to occupy ourselves, whether it be people watching on deck, browsing the shops, snacking, snoozing or just enjoying the scenery from our private verandah. Monday was especially scenic as we entered “College Fjords” and Glacier Bay National Park. The sights were great........seeing all the blue glaciers, snow capped mountains, waterfalls, etc. The ship took its time through the fjords so everyone could enjoy the sights and take photos. The range in temperature was amazing..........at one point we were all bundled up and freezing on deck, and an hour or so later we were sitting in the hot sun on our balcony. At one point it was so hot that Alan even took his shirt off and just had shorts on. The amazing thing about this was that he sat like this on the verandah as we passed snow capped mountains, and maybe a half hour later, he was wearing three layers of shirts & jackets in order to keep warm.










On Tuesday, we arrived quite early in Skagway. Gail and I took the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway. The train, of vintage parlor cars, took us from the dock on a 20 mile trip, past waterfalls pine forests, steep mountain slopes, etc. to the White Pass Summit, the boundary between the United States and Canada. Again, the scenery was great..........typical of the beauty we saw throughout Alaska. Once back in Skagway we met Alan and Pamm in town and walked around checking out the tourists shops........ a lot of T-shirts, and other typical tourist oriented junk. In the later afternoon we were back on the ship for a light snack, snooze, dinner, show, etc.

Wednesday morning we arrived in Juneau, the capital of Alaska. Today was a short day.....the ship was leaving port at 3:30 PM. After getting off the ship we took a bus out to the famous Mendenhall Glacier. We avoided the pricey excursions that Princess was selling and found a local bus that took us to the glacier for $14 each, round trip. At the site of the glacier, not only did we see the glacier but were surprised to see a momma black bear with her two cubs. It was neat seeing the cubs asleep way up in a tree, while momma sat at the base of the tree protecting them. After our visit to the glacier we headed back into the city of Juneau to browse the shops and do a bit of shopping. Along the route back to the city we passed two bald eagles sitting along the shore of one of the rivers. Once back into the city we had some Russian potato dumplings, browsed more of the typical tourist shops and headed back to the ship. Once on board, Alan and I headed to the sauna, hot tub, pool, and steam room for a little afternoon “schvitz”. The evening on board was typical; shower, dinner and show in the “Princess Theater”.

Thursday was our 3rd and final port stop...... Ketchikan, Alaska. Ketchikan is a very old town, known as the “Salmon Capital” of Alaska. Of the three ports, this was the most quaint and interesting. There were many totem poles located throughout the town. We did not plan any extensive excursions, but choose to do a walking tour of the town. The visitor center provided a walking tour map which took us through many of the towns highlights, the most interesting being the “salmon ladder”. Here, salmon were attempting to make their way from the sea to the spawning grounds at the top of Ketchikan Creek. We could actually see the salmon jumping up and trying to get passed various rock obstacles on the creek. Along the creek we even saw a bald eagle sitting on the shore. After finishing the walking tour, again, we stopped into the “junk” shops in the town, had a bite to eat and a beer in a local “gin mill”, and then boarded the ship. Today, Gail & Pamm joined Alan and I as we headed for the spa & “schvitz” routine. Gail and Pamm were not interested in the sauna and steam room, so they met us in the hot tub & pool. After a relaxing time at the spa facilities, we relaxed in our rooms prior to going to dinner and the evening show. Tonight the show was a variety show, performed by the ships crew. This was fun and amusing.

Friday, was our last full day on the ship. It was our last "day at sea" as we headed south for Vancouver. The day was rather uneventful, but extremely relaxing. It was a beautiful day and after browsing the onboard shops and having lunch, we spent most of the day relaxing on our balconies. We sat in the sun, shared a bottle of wine and even saw a few whales at one point. The rest of the day was typical, with showers, dinner and entertainment before retiring for the final night. We all had a great time and were quite sad the cruise was now coming to an end.