April 29 - At Sea

We've been hearing a lot about the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) lately.  They've been seen in the area over recent nights.  Last night I got up around 12:30 am and looked north from our cabin and saw a very light-colored greenish glow on the horizon.  If there had been a big city in that direction, I'd have thought it was the glow from that.  But there is no city and as I looked, the glow sort of changed shape very slowly.  I woke Michael and he saw it too.  We think it might have been the Lights.  A few hours later I was up again and the glow was still there, but had grown.  I told this story to another passenger and she said that on one of her cruises they were called out to the pool deck to see the Lights.  She described it as a sort of vague glow also.  However a professional photographer took their picture and with his fancy camera and proper settings, they could clearly see the Lights behind them in the picture.  So I'm sticking with my story that we saw the Northern Lights.

  Today was our last sea day.  The weather was dreary all day with gray rainy skies and gray rolling seas.  

We didn't get any calls about our Customs form, so I guess we're good to go.  And Naveen was able to get my eyeglasses repaired, so all is well.  Fortuately, I had brought a backup pair.

There were two lectures today.  The first by Terry Breen called "Devil Beneath the Sea: The Story of Ripple Rock" was really interesting.  We're sailing down the Inside Passage now.  Before 1958 there was a narrow passage along here that was the most direct route, but it had a big problem in that there were 2 mountain peaks just under water that caused wicked problems in the fast currents in the narrow passage.  Boats would have to wait for slack tide and then make a run for it hoping to avoid being thrown around or worse.  More than 100 people had died, ships had been destroyed and millions of dollars lost in time wasted waiting for slack tide or lost cargo.  In 1958 engineers devised a way, after 4 years of study and construction, of drilling tunnels under the channel and up into the underwater rock mountains to plant a massive amount of explosives.  As with any new undertaking, they were pretty sure it would work, but not 100%.  Fortunately, it did and we will sail through later tonight.  Terry had a movie produced by DuPont, who provided the blasting materials, that documented the whole affair.  It was most interesting.

The second lecture by Diana Preston was "The Evolution of Charles Darwin".  Diana and her husband have written a book about Darwin and this lecture was very good also.  I hadn't realized that his 5 year voyage on the HMS Beagle was his only venture outside of England.  Or that there was another naturalist, Alfred Wallace, who had come to almost identical conclusions as Darwin on evolution and was thought to be getting ready to publish his theory.  Darwin hurriedly finished and published his paper "On the Origin of Species" which he'd been sitting on for nearly 20 years for fear of criticism.  

While waiting for the lecture to start, I realized I had no pictures for today, so I took a photo of the theatre from my seat at the back.

Those brown posts are a real nuisance.  Whoever designed the theatre must not have ever sat in it.

Today was the last Trivia and again the women beat the men, but still out of the points.  We gave some of our points to Tom so he could get a jacket he was working for and the rest to Phil/Carol who are bringing their kids/grandkids on this ship to Alaska in July.  Their kids might be able to use them for T shirts.

Tonight was the Krew Kapers show, and again it was fun.  The same show as before, but still a fun event for all.  We were invited to join Brandon, the Food and Beverage Manager, for dinner in Chartreuse.  Also present were Mark and Arlene who we sailed the Grand Arctic with in 2022 and another couple whose names I didn't get.  Also there was Peachie, the Head of Housekeeping.  We had dinner with the two of them on the Voyager last year in the Eastern Med.  We think they must be an item.  It was a delightful evening where many stories were told and behind the scenes info shared.  We feel honored to be included.

April 28 - Ketchikan, Alaska

 We woke up to see this outside our cabin window.

We aren't docked right near town as we have been in years past.  RCL (the parent company of Regent Seven Seas Cruises) has its own dock now outside of town.  It's sort of a shame because we used to be able to just get off the ship and be steps from town.  Perhaps other ships dock there now.  A shuttle is provided so you can get into town about 5 miles down the road if you want.

Our tour today was Alaskan Lodge Adventure and Seafeast.  Phil and Norm/Margaret were also on our bus.  Norm/Margaret live in BC and were also on my pub tour yesterday.  We took a bus for 20 minutes north to meet a boat which took us to a lodge.  It was a nice, large, enclosed flat bottom boat so the ride was quick and smooth.  The tide was out so it was a very steep ramp down to the boat and then back up to the lodge.  There was no chance of slipping, but it was still a little hairy.  At the lodge (less National Park Lodge and more fishing lodge) there is a boardwalk through the forest which is beautiful.

The terminal is a converted mill building and is huge.  There is a very large souvenir and sundries store inside, although it's not heated, so it was rather chilly.

The boat to the lodge

One of the interesting chainsaw wood carvings along the walk.

The number of mosses around was amazing.

Ketchikan normally gets 8-10 feet of rain every year.  The record is 15 feet.

This spruce tree is estimated to be 1000-1500 years old and is 40 feet around and 180 feet tall. Forest fires don't happen because it's so wet and lightning storms are very rare. Wind is what does the most damage in the forests as the trees have very shallow roots and they all intermingle their roots.  If one goes down, it takes several others with it.  This tree was leaning towards us, but it was a calm day, so no worries.  

After our walk in the woods, we went back to the lodge for a shrimp/crab boil feast.  Very southern style with shrimp, crab, sausage, corn, and potatoes all served right on the table that was covered in old newspapers.  No plates or utensils required, but there were a few condiments.

After lunch, we took the boat back to the bus, and along the way we saw some more sea lions sunning themselves and an island with a bald eagle nest.  Those eagles began to stir as we approached in expectation of the fish that the guide threw out to bring them soaring near the boat.  This was the best shot I could get through the boat window. With at least 4 tour boats today, they got some easy meals.

We were very lucky with the weather today.  It rained just a little bit occasionally but passed on quickly.  We were told that it rained nonstop yesterday.

Again we played men vs women in Trivia and I think it was a draw between us, but neither team ended up in points territory.  We had 8/15 and supposedly at least one team had 14/15.  It's always the same team that has the highest score so we are a bit skeptical.

Nine of us went to Compass Rose for dinner and again they put us at the center Captain's Table.  We have been given Customs forms for Canada and we were comparing notes on having the forms rejected by the Reception Desk.  Even though the form clearly says members of the same household may use the same form, Regent is insisting on one form per person with no scratchouts or corrections.  The say CBC want perfect forms and one per person.  Every one of us had had returned forms. No use arguing, so we had to get 2 new forms on our way to dinner, and I folded them into thirds to fit into Michael's shirt pocket.  While filling them out "perfectly" after dinner, I noticed a red notice that said Do Not Fold Form.  Uh oh.  I submitted them anyway, and after a thorough check, they accepted them.  We may still get a call, but for now we're OK.

We lose our last hour of time tonight and have a sea day tomorrow.

April 27 - Sitka, Alaska

 I slept pretty well again and this time I didn't use the Nyquil, only a teaspoon of honey.  I think Naveen is on to something.  Unfortunately, Michael woke up with a muscular back problem, which is rather unusual for him.  He went for breakfast but wasn't moving very easily so he decided he better not do our tour today which was a Sitka Pub Pedal.  I decided to go on ahead into town on the shuttle and decide once I got there whether or not I'd go.

So after walking around town for an hour or so, I decided, what the heck, and joined the tour.

More cherry blossoms!

The Russian Orthodox Church

Front view of the church.  I think it looks better from the other side.

Spotted an endangered species.  According to the internet, there are only around 500 still in the US.

The pedal bike holds up to 12, but there were only 7 of us on this tour.  Not sure if that was good or bad: less weight, but fewer legs to pump the pedals.  It was harder than I had anticipated and by the time we got to the first stop, Ernie's Pub, about 10 minutes later I was pooped.  Fortunately, they offered glasses of water first thing.  We made 2 other stops and our guide Anthony did most of the hard work, sometimes jumping off his seat and just pushing us along.  At the second bar, The Pioneer, I struck up a conversation with the fellow next to me (not on our tour) and it turns out he is a pilot for Alaska Airlines.  I teased him that I hoped he wasn't flying today, as I looked at his half empty beer glass, and he was quick to assure me that he didn't take off for another 20 minutes - obviously just kidding.  (He'd flown in from Fairbanks that morning). He was an interesting guy.  We chatted a bit about the challenges of airport landings in Alaska.  He said when he first was stationed up there, his supervisor told him you better not make it long as there are either mountains or water at the end of the runway, neither of which are good for planes.

 I'm sure my legs will remind me of this outing tomorrow.  But it was fun and I'm glad I did it - one of those memorable tours that are different from the usual.

The seats were rather hard but at least we were covered from the occasional passing light shower.

This is a "Duck Fart" which is layers of Kahlua, Baileys, and Crown Royal.  You have to sling it back at once, otherwise you just get straight whisky in the first drink.  It was very nice.

The bar's menu had some interesting drinks.

Can't remember the last time I saw a cigarette machine.  Notice the price of $20 for a pack.

These are electronic dart machines.  For one of the oldest pubs in Sitka, Ernie's keeps up with the times.

Here's our guide Anthony pouring a few samples of local beers.  One was very smoky, almost like barbecue, and might have been good with barbecued chicken or hamburgers.

I got back around 2:30 and hadn't had lunch, so gimpy Michael and I went down to Coffee Connection for a snack.  He still wasn't moving very well, so he had a French Coffee (coffee with Cointreau and Grand Marnier) for medicinal purposes, of course.  That seemed to help because he made it to Trivia.  We had 8 players and played men vs women again, but, alas, the men beat us this time.  However, we did know that a baby rabbit is called a kit and they didn't, so we'll take that victory.

The others had dinner plans, so Michael and I elected to go to Sette Mari.  We got there about 5 minutes before opening and were lucky to get a table for 2.  It is very popular so you have to get there early.  I find that interesting because it is my least favorite venue and the menu doesn't change very much.  We got our own appetizers at the buffet, otherwise they bring too much food.  It used to be that everything they brought was available at the buffet anyway, but that is no longer the case.  We did find enough to choose from, however.  For my main, I had a small portion of penne bolognese, but the pasta was a little too al dente for my taste, so Michael finished my portion after his spaghetti with garlic and olive oil.  We were done by 7:45 so we stopped by the Explorer Lounge for an after-dinner drink and we saw Sarah leaving Compass Rose so called her over to join us.  Michael is feeling much better, thank goodness, but still it was off to the cabin by 8:30.  We're such party animals!

April 26 - Hubbard Glacier, Alaska

 Today was an absolutely gorgeous day.  We woke to partly cloudy skies but it just got better as the day went on.  I'm feeling much better, except for this horrible-sounding cough that comes on me if I laugh.  I blame my co-travelers for making me laugh too much.

We had 2 lectures this morning, the first by Jeana Rogers on "The True Beauty of Alaska's Wildlife" which was OK.  But the second, by Terry Breen on "Glaciers: Rivers of Ice" was wonderful.  She was so clear about what we would see at Hubbard Glacier and how glaciers are formed and the various types, I learned a lot.  The average glacier moves around 1-2 feet a day, but Hubbard moves 3-5 feet.  It is about 76 miles long and roughly 6 miles wide and is one of the few that is not retreating.  About 1/3 of the glacier is seen above sea level, and I believe she said we can see about 300-400 feet of Hubbard, so there is another 600-800 feet below the sea.  Calving, or the breaking of ice from the face, is often observed.  But ice also breaks free from below the surface and will come shooting out of the sea like a missile, which is another reason ships don't get too close.  We got to about 1.5 miles from the face.  On the way, we passed an area where lots of sea lions were sunning themselves.  We could hear them growling and grunting and diving into the water.  I tried to get a photo, but they were just too far away.  Other than a few stray birds, that was the only wildlife we saw.

The outside temperature was around 45 degrees and there was no wind.  We spent most of the viewing time on the back deck behind the buffet where there were almost no people and we had a perfect view as the Captain turned the ship around so we could get a 360 degree view.  The glacier was magnificent. We could hear it moving down the gorge and if we were looking just right, see calving.  The noise was sometimes like the crack of gunfire and sometimes like a crash of trucks or the roar of an airplane.  I loved it! Nothing like Mother Nature to put you in your place on this planet.

We spent about 2 hours hanging around and enjoying the beautiful day with blue skies and white snow.  Terry Breen gave a commentary occasionally on what we were seeing.

These bergs were as big as houses

I wish I could have recorded the sounds coming from the glacier.

These mountains were so beautiful, they looked fake.

One of these days I'll get the hang of selfies.

The Captain sent this lifeboat out on a mission to collect some glacial ice.  We didn't hear if they were successful.  If so, and it was clean, they would serve it in your drink.

Bye, bye Hubbard.  Thanks for the wonderful show.

We had dinner with Phil/Carol and Jan/Tom at Chartreuse.  Our time together is getting short.

Dinner at Chartreuse

It's another calm sea night and tomorrow we're in Sitka. 

April 25 - Seward, Alaska

 Last night I took a Nyquil and a tablespoon of honey (suggested by our butler, Naveen) and slept better than I have for a while.  I hope it was the honey since that is a healthier choice.  I woke up feeling much better so we went into town.  We had no tour booked and just caught the shuttle.  There is not much to this town, at least the downtown part, so it didn't take long to see.  We've been to the aquarium before, which is the prime attraction.  The day was mostly sunny so I got a few photos.  The Carnival Luminosa with 2200+ passengers was also in town so the gift stores were busy.  We've been very lucky on this trip as far as not being in town with other cruise ships - it's only been a few times.  

Seward's 4th Avenue - the main street

I think this is a juvenile bald eagle checking out the intruders

The view from the parking lot at the aquarium

After wandering through a few stores, we walked along the water for a bit, and then, as I was starting to feel a little tired, we took the shuttle back to the ship.  Lunch and a quick nap revived me.  Trivia was an average score of 8/15 again with no points.  I knew the number of keys on a standard piano (88) and the animal with no vocal cords (giraffe) so I contributed.  But a couple we missed were the year Elvis was born (1935, but we missed by a year) and the year Facebook was founded (2004 which surprised all of us).  

Today was inspection day and there were Coast Guard people all around.  Each one that I ran into was at least 6 feet tall and snappy looking.  I guess we passed because they let us leave on time and we are sailing towards Hubbard Glacier.

Another good dinner at Compass Rose.  Monica was able to rustle up some mint chocolate chip ice cream even though it wasn't on the menu.

April 24 - Homer, Alaska

 I've been fighting it for a few days, but the cold that is circulating finally caught up with me during the night.  I spent much of the night trying not to cough and woke up with almost no voice.  Michael got me some yogurt and muesli cereal from Coffee Connection and I spent the rest of the day dozing and watching movies on TV.

He went into town by the shuttle and bought me some cold medicine.  We didn't have a tour today as there was a very limited capacity because of the last-minute addition of Homer to the schedule.  

The only photos I have are of the majestic mountains as seen from our deck.

I didn't go to Trivia, but reportedly the score was a new low of 5/15.  We ordered dinner in and after watching most of the movie Casablanca, it was lights out around 10:00 pm.

April 23 - Kodiak, Alaska

 It was rather foggy when we anchored here this morning.  We cleared customs in just a few minutes as they had the agents come on board and they called groups to report to the upstairs Observation Lounge.  We were given back our passports (collected when we left Japan) and spent about 30 seconds with one of the 3 agents.  Easy peasy.

Our tour today was an hour ride around the area called "Panoramic Kodiak".  It was a school bus and our "guide" was also the regular bus driver for the school.  He's also a pastor, so a man of many hats.  There really isn't a lot to see, but he talked about life on Kodiak (he's been here 19 years) and I always find that interesting.  Kodiak is the largest island in Alaska and has a population of just under 13,000, half of whom live in the "city" area.

Our tour bus for the day

The local hospital where they handle minor surgeries.  There are 19 beds and 4 maternity beds.  He mentioned shoulder repair and hysterectomy surgeries which I'm not sure I would call minor.

The high school.  Together with the middle school, there are around 800 students

One of the defense bunkers from WWII that still dot the island.

Everything is at your own risk in Alaska, and there are lots of risks

t, 

This is a contraption which is used for boat repair.  You float your boat onto the grid and when the tide goes out, you have about 5 hours to fix it.

We walked around the marina a little bit and then headed back to the ship.  On our way into La Veranda for lunch, we bumped into Greg Moreland, the magician from last night, so we invited him to eat with us.  He's a pretty interesting guy, but I was a bit surprised and bothered by the way he interacted with the staff.  He would put down his fork and sit back, which usually means you're done eating.  But when a waiter would come by to see if he wanted his plate removed, Greg would be a little testy about it.  I finally did say that they were only doing their job and he might be being a little hard on them.  Probably won't change him, but I felt better for defending the staff.

All of us were there for Trivia, so we split up into men against women and once again we women were the victors with 8/15.  No prize points, however.

We feel like we've been eating too much, so we elected to stay in our suite and ordered room service.  It was nice to lounge around in our robes and watch a little TV.  

April 22 - At Sea

 Woke up at 9 am after a very restless night.  Michael was still sleeping after I'd showered, so I went up to La Veranda buffet for breakfast and ran into Phil/Carol in the elevator so we ate together.  I ate lightly and then returned to the cabin. Nothing much on the schedule this morning, so I took another rest and skipped lunch.  

After getting just a quick bite at the Coffee Connection I went to the presentation of the DoD movie about our military operations in the Aleutians.  Jan had told the speaker, Terry Breen, that we believe our father had been stationed in the hospital at Dutch Harbor so she reported on what she had found in her research.  The former hospital was just left behind and she had a photo of it in its crumbled state, but she also found some info about an "underground" hospital that was also used.  We have a photo of Dad in front of what looks like a Quonset hut, so that might be the other underground hospital.  That was nice of her to do.  

Next up was a lecture by Diana Preston on the Quest for the Northwest Passage.  I'd heard most of it before, but that is the sort of thing that you need reminders on.

Finally, we bombed at Trivia again with only 7/15.  I'm going to give Tom the recording duty because it seems whenever we get it wrong (eg. the year of Woodstock), he leans over and shows me that he had written down 1969 (correct) even though the group sort of thought it was 1968.  

Tonight we had 8 for dinner at Compass Rose - Jan is still being cautious about being around people until she gets rid of her occasional cough, and we invited Joanna and Johann from The Netherlands to join us. 

I actually made it to the show tonight since it was the magician who was pretty good last time and has a great sense of humor.  No time change tonight!  Yay!

April 21 - At Sea

 We had another hour lost last night.  This morning we didn't wake until 8:40.  Sunrise here is 6:49 am and sunset is 9:41 pm.  On sea day Sundays Regent often has a big brunch buffet from 10 - 1.  We headed there right at 10 and made that our morning/afternoon meal.

Here's Michael sampling my delicious pasta from last night.

There are always beautiful ice sculptures at the brunch buffet.

I only got pictures of a couple of the tables, but it is a fabulous spread.

I missed the morning lecture, but attended the second titled "Alaska: The Last Frontier" by Terry Breen.  She is really amazing in that she is organized enough to speak for 45 minutes with slides, but no notes.  It was a general overview of Alaska and very interesting.  She's probably my favorite speaker of the three which is no surprise since she's been speaking with Regent for 30 years.

Then it was "rest" time.  I don't think I actually slept, but got enough rest to be a bit refreshed to our weekly sibling Zoom call.  Since Jan is still not 100%, they called in from their suite, and we did from ours.  Unfortunately, it was a pretty poor connection so we sort of ended up just listening and not even trying to contribute.  But it is still great to see everyone once a week and catch up on the family news.  Since we've been on this cruise there has been one more grandchild born and we learned that the first great-grandchild (a boy) will be coming in October.  

After Zoom, I went to the 3rd lecture of the day: "Legends of Alaska's Gold Rush" by Jeana Rogers.  We learned about some of the notorious characters who profited from the time, and not necessarily from finding gold, but some were con artists and madams.

At Trivia the 5 of us got 11/15 which was not enough for points.  We play in the Observation Lounge and here are 3 of the bar menus.  I've had the Splendor the last 2 days since it is medicinal with honey, lemon and ginger.  I figure it might help ward off the cold going around.

We noticed when we arrived for Trivia that, for some unknown reason, we had come to a complete stop, but then started up again before the end of the game.  Must have been a stoplight. 😀

We had dinner at Prime 7 with Phi/Carol.  I had the seafood sampler again, but this time I asked if it was possible to have the crab taken out of the leg as I'd had a hard time with it the last time we were there. No problem, Madame.  And they took the lobster out of the shell also.  Nice.

We can now see one of the Aleutian islands off our starboard side.  We have been sailing on the north side of the islands, but tonight we will cut through to end up on the south side so we can get to Kodiak and the other ports.  Another hour forward again!