ALASKA CRUISE
LAKEWOOD YACHT CLUB
COMMODORE'S CRUISE
July 5 - 17, 2004

Houston, TX to Fairbanks, AK, Monday, July 5, 2004

     Angela and I flew to Fairbanks via Minneapolis, MN, arriving at 5pm local time (three hours earlier than Houston time).  We went a day earlier than some others to see a customer of mine in Fairbanks.  Our cruise was on the Princess Cruise Line, and the hotels we used for the land cruise were also owned by Princess.

Fairbanks, AK, Tuesday, July 6, 2004

     We spent the day with my customer and had dinner with him that evening.  He showed us the oil pipeline I had heard so much about.  It was very interesting to actually see it.  There were 39 LYC members who elected to take the pre-cruise land package, and they began arriving during the day and evening.

Fairbanks to Denali National Park, AK, Wednesday, July 7, 2004

     We left the hotel at 7am and took a bus to the train, where we planned to have breakfast.  The train ride began about 9:30am, and we arrived about 12:30pm.  It was different than I expected, because the train was not in the mountains.  The train was really, most of the time, in the flat country, running alongside a stream or river, with the mountains visible in the far away distance. 

     We had lunch about 2pm.  The hotel was large and spread out, with flowers all over the place.  We saw a whitewater rafting river alongside the train as we approached the stop, so we decided to go rafting, which we did at 6pm.  It was a great trip!  We had dry suits on, and they did keep us dry.  The water had a murky, gray appearance; and we were told that was caused by glacier melt in the water, which had a lot of sediment in it.  The run was 11 miles long; the river name was the Nenana River.

      

        

     We had dinner at 10pm, and we went to sleep about 1am.  It didn't get dark until very late, and I'm not really sure it ever got completely dark.  My impression was there was no air conditioning in the room, and we didn't need it.  The altitude was not all that high, maybe 1200 feet above sea level.

Denali National Park to Mt. McKinley Lodge, Thursday, July 8, 2004

       

     There was a tour of Denali Park, but we were tired and slept in.  Apparently a lot of others did, too.  We had breakfast and caught the bus at 11am.  The train pulled out at 12:30pm.  We arrived in Talkeetna, the town closest to Mt. McKinley, about 4:30pm.  We found out that Talkeetna is a center for outdoor activity in that part of Alaska, and people fly in there to go fishing, see Mt. McKinley by plane, mountain climb, camp out, etc.  We rode a bus for an hour from Talkeetna to the Wilderness Lodge owned by Princess.

     After checking in at the lodge, we arranged excursions for the next day.  Then we watched a photo presentation by one of Alaska's citizens who had some excellent slides.  Then we had dinner and went to bed.  We could not see Mt. McKinley due to the clouds around the peaks of the mountains there, which was the usual situation we were told.  Mt. McKinley was the highest peak in North America at an elevation of over 20,000 feet above sea level.

Mt. McKinley Lodge, Friday, July, 9, 2004

     One of our chosen excursions was fishing for salmon, and we left the lodge about 7am to go into Talkeetna and go fishing with one of the outfitters there.  We bought fishing licenses which allowed us to catch and keep only one salmon, and we both caught one.  Angela caught several, but once she decided to keep one, she quit fishing.  I took a longer time catching one and bringing it in, but it was recommended that I not take it home with me.  The guide said it would not be good to eat.  Angela's fish was, though.  The fishing guide company cut it up, froze it, and sent it to us to arrive the day after we returned from Alaska.  It was very tasty, and salmon is one of our favorite foods.

     

     Lunch was a hurried affair  at a hamburger place in Talkeetna, and we walked a few blocks to the airfield.  Next we flew up to Mt. McKinley and around it, stopping on a glacier at about 5500 feet above sea level.  That was an excellent experience, and we were thrilled to be able to land and walk around the plane in the snow.

      

     The bus to the lodge picked us up at 5:20pm, and we were back at the lodge an hour later.  We showered and changed for dinner, and we met a number of the LYC members in the bar waiting for tables for dinner.  The lodge did not handle the crowd very well that night.  We had a large table, and the one they promised us was full for hours.  The other party would not get up and leave, and the hotel did not try to get them to move to the bar, etc. so we could eat.  Angela and I and a few more just ate in the bar rather than wait any more for a more expensive meal in the dining room.

     Mt. McKinley was still hidden by clouds.  The lodge had a porch outside where you could see the mountains, but up 'til then the clouds obscured the tallest ones.  We did not have air conditioning but wished we had.  Our room faced the west, and the sun was hot and bright for hours.  The lodge was at an elevation of about 750 feet above sea level, so we were not really up in the mountains.  In fact, Mt. McKinley, called Denali by the natives, appears quite high because its base is so low relative to sea level and compared to other mountains.

Mt. McKinley Lodge to Whittier, AK, Saturday, July 10, 2004

     On the way to breakfast we got a clear view of Mt. McKinley (Denali) and took a few pictures of it.  It was a beautiful sight.  The mountains around it were quite tall as well.  Alaska had 17 out of the 20 highest peaks in North America.

     Whittier was the name of the small town where our ship was docked, so that was the day to board the ship.  We ate a hurried breakfast and caught the 7:00am bus (actually left at 7:30am).  The bus took us down to Anchorage and then on to Whittier, and we stopped at a park featuring wild game along the way.  Actually we stopped at two places; the first was a museum dedicated to the Iditarod Trail Race and the dogs and humans who run that annual event.  We saw huskies, young ones and adults, too.  The second one had lots of wild game.  We saw a moose, owls, caribou, wolves, eagles, etc.

     

      

     Getting to Whittier required going through a tunnel in the mountains, and what an experience that was.  The tunnel was built by and was owned by the railroad, so a train track through the mountain was its main reason for existence.  But the railroad would allow buses and cars to go through the tunnel for a fee, a toll.  The only hitch was it was one way traffic, as the tunnel was not very wide; and it had to be a time when the railroad did not have any rail traffic scheduled for the tunnel.  So you went through by appointment, which Princess handled, of course.

     When we came out of the tunnel, we could see our ship; it was the only one there.  Princess had built this dock and made those arrangements with the railroad in order to use this location for boarding and disembarkation of the ship at their dock.  Whittier was a small town nearby, and we only saw it from the deck of the ship.

      

     The following are Princess photos of some of the major points of interest on the Coral Princess.

     

     

   



     The ship was named the CORAL PRINCESS, and it was pretty.  It was also a big ship with a lot of passengers, and we sometimes felt crowded in the public spaces.  It was 2 years old, or less; so it was fairly new and in good shape.  We were pleased with our cabin, although not pleasantly surprised like we had been on Holland American on our 2002 cruise.  That cruise was so good I doubted anything could equal it, much less surpass it.

     Lunch was available as soon as got aboard at 1pm, but our luggage took forever to get there (8pm).  We toured the ship and tried to get to know our way around.  After a nap and dinner we had a safety drill.  Our luggage arrived after that.  We attended the entertainment, a singer/comedian; and we took photos of the ship departing that fjord in the waning light.

      

College Fjord, Sunday, July 11, 2004

     As we moved south, there was a stop or a highlight to almost every day.  That first day outbound, and southbound, we toured College Fjord, going into the fjord to the end and coming back again.  There were a number of glaciers there, and each one was named for a college, such as Harvard.  We were up at 5:15am to see the entrance at 6:30am.

      

     That evening we had photos made, and we saw a comic in the Universal Lounge.  I took a nap, too.  The land portion of our trip had been tiring, as we were on the go a lot, getting up early and going to bed late.  The ship and a chance to relax were very welcome, and I was glad we had done the land portion first and the cruise ship second instead of the other way around.

Glacier Bay, Monday, July 12, 2004

     The big event of the day was seeing Glacier Bay.  We literally spent hours at the end of the bay, watching a large glacier calve off sections of frozen ice into the water.  We also had a group photo of the LYC group, which was an impressive size.  Apparently the Captain of the CORAL PRINCESS turned the ship so we could have out photo with the glacier in the background.  According to the Lakewood newsletter, the Captain also entertained the higher-ups from LYC on the bridge of the ship, too, although we were not in that number.



      

     A lot of us bought special jackets with a special Commodore's Cruise logo to wear for that group photo.  It was generally much warmer than I had expected.  Of course, you had to pack for anything - Fairbanks was 90 degrees F.

     We ate at our chosen early seating, but we knew no one at our table before we sat down.  Later we had some photos taken; Princess did have photographers all over the place.  We watched for whales, saw the entertainment, and downloaded our photos from our digital camera onto a CD at the ship photo shop.  We had purchased an extra chip for the cruise, but left it at home; so we were glad to know we could download and empty the chip we did have and use it again.

      

Skagway, AK, Tuesday, July 13, 2004

     Skagway was a town of 800 persons.  When we pulled in, there were a total of 5 cruise ships in the port.  If each one had 2000 guests headed ashore, like we did, the town would have 10,000 guests for a day. 

       

     Our excursion for the day was to take a bus to Yukon Territory, in Canada, and return via the railroad used by the gold rush miners to get to White Pass.  We got on the bus about 8:30am.  The bus driver scared us; she was racing other buses and acting irrationally.  She took the fun out of the trip for us.  Some of our pictures suffered from smoke coming from numerous forest fires at that time in Alaska. 

        

     We did see some interesting scenery, and we ate lunch at an interesting place.  The owner was a taxidermist, and he had a museum of stuffed animals available for a tour.  We took the tour and were very impressed with the excellent work he had done.  He had a bison, which was much taller than I knew they were.  He had moose, caribou, etc.  All were very well done.

     The train ride back was unbelievable.  The sheer drop off beside the train was unnerving, and the cut in the mountain to make way for the tracks was very impressive as well.  Angela stood out on the little platform between the cars the whole time so as to get the best views.  All of our digital photos were for naught; we left the camera in a bar before dinner the last night on board.  When we returned to collect it, it could not be located.  Someone picked it up and did not turn it in to lost and found.  So we never saw those photos.

       

       

     We walked to the boat about 5pm and had our early seating with a couple we were starting to get to know - Leo and Judy, from MI and FL.  After dinner we met with some LYC people and watched a quartet play classical music.  The show was spoiled by a few of the lights crew who were laughing and cutting up behind us; we asked them to be quiet but they would not.

     We had desert up in the Horizon area.  A very nice man helped us to get something we might like.  We did not like the food as much as we did on Holland America, and the deserts all seemed to have some kind of booze in all of them.  Many nights I just got ice cream.  Of course, I would have better off just to skip that.  We were active, and I think I didn't gain any weight on the trip, or maybe only a few pounds.

Juneau, AK, Wednesday, July 14, 2004

     At 8:30am we boarded a bus for a tour of Juneau, Alaska's capital.  It was a great tour, for four and one half hours.  We saw the Mendenhall Glacier, a salmon fishery, and a rain forest that was fascinating.  We had lunch on the ship.  Then we went to the tram that carried us 1800 feet up the nearby mountain.  We could see the City and the surrounding countryside from the top.  The ship departed at 4:30pm.

      

     That evening we were invited to eat with some of the LYC folks, at the late seating; so we did that.  We all went to the show at 10:30pm - a comic.  After that, it was time to turn in for the night.  We missed the trio we used to listen to on Holland America.  We saw them every night, and we enjoyed their music selections.  Also, the very nice wait staff brought us chocolates and drinks, all at no charge.  On Princess we could find nothing to match that, in music or in staff; and their were no good chocolates anytime.  Princess even charged for their ice cream bar, which Holland America served everyday for free.

Ketchikan, AK, Thursday, July 15, 2004

     We had two great excursions planned for Ketchikan.  The first was a plane flight to Misty Fjords, a national monument.  The plane was a sea plane, and it was Angela's first experience, and my second, in a sea plane.  Ketchikan was a port where we anchored in the small harbor and used the ship's tenders to get shore.  Sea planes were taking off and landing regularly in that harbor.  Indeed, Alaska is so large that small planes are a major way to get around the state (Alaska is 2.5 times the size of the State of Texas.)  The Misty Fjords were very pretty, and we landed and got out of the plane, standing on the floats, in order to take some more pictures.

      

     We had a rushed hamburger in town, and then we boarded a bus that took us to a boat for a harbor tour.  It was great.  We saw lots of wildlife - eagles, seals, etc.  About 4:30pm we went back to the ship, and I took a little nap.

       

     That evening LYC had a cocktail party in one of the ship's lounges.  (They had had another one earlier, but we missed it because we had early seating dinner.)  The officers and other dignitaries were in uniforms.  It was a dress-up night, and the ship's photographers were all over taking pictures of couples, families, and groups.  The lines waiting for the photographers were hard to discern, and they were long.  The photographers had more to do than one might expect, and they displayed good humor about the pressing crowds.

     We had dinner at the late seating with some of the LYC members, and then we saw a juggler in the Universe Lounge.

Day At Sea, Friday, July 16, 2004

     We slept late and skipped breakfast.  After lunch Angela shopped for bargains and for gifts for the family - hers and mine.  I read and relaxed.  Later we packed some of the suitcases and filled out the forms we would need upon disembarkation in Vancouver.

     We bought all the photos we could stand, and we met some of the LYC crowd at what was becoming our favorite watering hole - a bar just outside the restaurant.  We could gather there and get ready for dinner.  The folks we had been eating with had a full table, so we formed up another table with some new friends.  However, Angela realized she had failed to bring the digital camera with her from the bar.  When she went back to get it, no one had seen it. 

     We went to the front desk and stood in a long line to ask for Lost and Found.  They had no information on the camera, and we never did get it back.  After we got home I sent an email, but Princess did not have it and could offer no help to us.  Someone just saw it and picked it up and took it with them.

     We got our final bill and took it to the same long line to ask a couple of questions about it.  It was a shock, but we had gone to quite a number of excursions and tours.  Part of the shock also was the fact that almost everything on the land portion of the trip was paid for at the time, like all the meals, the fishing trip, the plane trip to see Mt. McKinley, etc.  So, the big expense for the cruise, including the land portion, did not cover many things which were extra.

Vancouver, BC, Canada and Fly Home to Houston, TX, Saturday, July 17, 2004

     Up at 5:15am, we had only our carry on luggage to take off the ship after breakfast.  Angela checked the Lost and Found again, but they had nothing for us on the camera.  We hated to lose those pictures.

     Princess had a bus for us to transfer to the airport, where we flew home at 11:30am.  We completed the customs and immigration formalities in Vancouver.  We arrived about 6:30pm, Central Daylight Time.

     Alaska was wonderful, spectacular.  One of the movies we bought said something like "...Alaska always holds on to a part of you" after you have visited there.  I felt that.  I went on to read Michener's ALASKA, and I appreciated the state and its people more and more.  I hope to return someday.

                                                                    ITINERARY