Cruisin' to Alaska 2010
Finally, in desperation, I looked on the air miles site at the ‘special deals.’ And there it was – an Alaskan cruise. One week. Up to Skagway – birth place of our favourite “I can’t believe she’s for real” politician, Sarah Palin (still going strong despite multiple bouts of foot-in-mouth and mis-speak).
The itinerary and map showed the boat going up through the ‘Inside Passage’ – a route that threads between the narrow passages and little islands between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia’s west coast. Having camped on numerous occasions on both sides of that coast-line, we were keen to see it from the decks of a ship. In fact, our very first sighting of a mega-cruise ship was from one such camping spot.
We were camped right on the beach at one of the narrowest spots in the passage. We were enjoying a before dinner drink and admiring the view when what looked like a giant cleaver came into view from behind a hilly rise. It didn’t take us long to realize whatever it was was in the water, was a boat, was a very big boat – an oil tanker? No, it was a massive cruise ship – at least 8 stories high. What amazed us most was that there was almost no one on deck. A beautiful sunny day, and no one out there enjoying it. Where were they all?
Or... at the trough. The food was good – excellent quality and great variety. But within a very short time we felt so sickened by the sight of overweight Americans bellying their way up to the bar and coming back with two or more plates overflowing with dogs and fries, pizzas, Chinese food, mini-mountains of ice-cream, and one of every kind of dessert on the menu that we completely lost our appetites.
There were six or eight food stations in the main eating area – a buffet bonanza. By far the least busy station was the salad station. As Homer Simpson says: “You can’t make friends with salad.”Evidently Americans agree. But hey, I never had to wait in line! And the salads were sensational.Lots of combos I’d never had or even thought to make – and I’m a salad aficionada.
The outside decks were usually almost empty - too cold for swimming or lying around on the deck chairs. We took frequent brisk walks. Our usual circuit of the outside decks took us about half an hour. Then we'd cruise around the inside, which was very richly appointed, with them rooms - our favourite was the Egyptian room (where Doug posed with the Pharaoh mummy). The gym was also good, and like the salad bar, usually empty. I went there pretty much daily and cycled off my salads. Had a couple of nice relaxing times in one of the many whirlpools. And did multiple laps of the promenade deck.
The scenery was often grey, but at times spectacular - brilliant aquamarine waters below giant slate grey cliffs, humpback whales, gliding along, their humpy backs just barely breaking the surface of the water, then suddenly breaching and smacking the water with their massive fins. And lots of ice-bergs. They are surprisingly blue, not white, and all different, like snowflakes. One could imagine them with distinct personalities – fairy-tale princesses, bellicose leviathans, shy toddlers – but all hiding the bulk of their ‘real selves’ below the surface.
The Alaskan towns we visited – Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan – were considerably less exciting. Basically excuses to shop. And most of the shops, especially the jewelry shops, of the seasonal variety, owned and run by out-of-state folks (from Ohio, Texas, Utah…) who cater exclusively to the cruise crowd. Skagway’s done a nice job of preserving and presenting its history as part of the Yukon gold rush. Several buildings have been restored, with great museum exhibitions.
But the best entertainment was on board. We saw three song and dance revues, all excellent with fantastic costumes. Reminiscent of Las Vegas style shows, or what we might imagine having seen at the Tropicana in Havana. Scantily clad showgirls wearing impossibly big head ornaments (‘hats’ just doesn’t do to describe them).
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