Epilogue

What to write. I have had very mixed feelings over the last year and about my canceling and later rescheduling part of my trip. Now back I think the cruise was exactly what I needed at this time and it was the perfect length and mix for a "short" Holiday.

Alaska

It is by far the most scenic place I have ever been, especially Glacier Bay is something to remember. Sailing to some 50 meters of the Glaciers itself is unforgettable. I cannot imagine this will stay for much longer, as less ships will be allowed in and so close I think in the (near) future.

The people I met in the ports were, although rather American, also very real and sometimes rough on the edges, something to go with the territory I think.

Going by ship is extremely comfortable traveling, but I also miss going places by car I was not able to go by ship.

• What did I like most? Especially the diversity of the landscape, especially Glacier Bay.
• What did I dislike most? Not much, actually nothing this time.
• Which city was best? I loved Ketchikan, the mix of a port and old houses and not too small and in an extremely nice scenic environment.
• What activity was best? The Eagle Preserve floating boat tour.
  Best overall day? Glacier Bay.

Overall score, a 9 out of 10, the perfect 10 I will reserve for Antarctica :-).

Day 9 : Ending in style .... although ....

From the pier (made some great pictures in the morning Sun ...) I took the Shuttle Bus to the airport.

Had to wait a long time, but was not able to do something else in that time, so did some reading and met my Maltese friends again. They were flying to Montreal first.

My flight was to Calgary. In Calgary I got me a free upgrade to Business Class, great KLM service. I could not end in Economy of course, due to my experience at the ship :-).

At Schiphol no luggage though, several people who did the transfer had the same problem, bad KLM service.

So with mixed feelings I am at home again, back from overall a great Holiday with some sad and strange days.

Day 8 : The Inside Passage

Leaving Ketchikan already does give a feeling of an ending Holiday. All day sailing, first mostly at open sea, later in the Inside Passage.

I met most of my ladies again today and exchanged e-mail addresses. It was an relaxed day, a bit too relaxed, most people were tired from the days before.

During the day I gave some gratuities to some of the people I “used” most, the coffee guy and the bartender.

The cruise itself was rough again, although the wind was coming from the front. Not a lot of people were outside, several decks were closed, but it gave nice pictures with waves from 2 to 6 meters high.

The last dinner I gave copies with some personal messages to my table ladies, strange ending …

End of the evening was with the last show, partly done by guests. One last drink and that’s it. Tomorrow at 7 AM debarkation and off to the airport. Flying at 1 PM, first to Calgary, returning Thursday in Amsterdam.

Will update the entry with some pictures later (Internet is slow and I am out of minutes) and will add an epilogue later.

Day 7 : Ketchikan and Misty Fjord

After the very strange evening yesterday, which ended in the Dancing though, this morning we are sailing to Ketchikan, our last port of call. This evening at eight pm we will depart for the last part of the trip, the Inside Passage again ending in Vancouver Wednesday morning very early at seven AM.

My excursion today will start at 12.30 so I will have some time to explore Ketchikan as we will dock most probably before eleven. A lot of people go of the boat just to visit the town; their enjoyment is different than mine. I will take the Misty Fjord excursion that will hopefully give me some new options to encounter Whales, Orca’s, Seals and Eagles again.

A very fast catamaran again, almost fully booked at high speed to Misty Fjord. Again an almost perfect day, sunny, dry and with a non polluted air to breath in, great way to spend your day.

We saw several Bald Eagles again, still trying to make the perfect picture. But I have several now, although a bit artificial as there was one in Ketchikan very close to my camera, nevertheless a perfect shot ….

Today was a typical scenic nature day again, just what I need after yesterday. The Mystic Fjord itself and the way in and out are beautiful, although we had some rain and mist in the fjords itself, what’s in a name :-).

Tomorrow I hope to see some whales on the way back; in Canada there are more sightings. I only missed the bears and the moose, well most I will se in the future as I will go back to this part of the world, will it be British Columbia, Yukon Territory or Alaska more North and West.

Day 6 : Skagway

We docked rather early, half past six in Skagway. I was one of the first out, we had to go for the second excursion at 08.00am.

When leaving Amsterdam the weather forecast was bas, seven days rain. Until now, no rain at all, well yesterday afternoon a bit, but that was during cruising.

Today again it seems to be a very bad day, but the guides were telling, the worse the weather, the more animals you will see, and guess what … No rain though just very cloudy, the perfect day to spot Bald Eagles. And what it day it was, we saw I think close to a hundred younger and older Bold Eagles. They have very distinguished white heads, but until they become thee years of age they are rather brown.

We started with going out by a catamaran ferry from Skagway to Haines, about half an hour by boat. After that we met the extremely engaging guide Tom Lang, who was not only able to talk about our upcoming trip but also about the local customs and specialties.

Actually I did not even know what we were actually planning to do, I only knew we were going to the Eagle Preserve and do a floating boat tour. So we took the bus to go upstream for 20 miles or so and got a lesson in how to board and stay in a raft. Normally that needs some technique, especially when going ion a white water river, this one was rather easy as sometime the water was only a few centimeters high, a great float though.

Going we stopped once and already experienced a lot of birds, several Bald Eagles. It was just a teaser ….

At the rafting platform we got instructions and went down the river with eight persons per boat, we had all together four rafts.

Almost every corner gave some opportunities to see Eagles, most too far away to make good pictures. But I made many new friends as lot’s of Americans came up to me after the trip to give me their e-mails as I was the only one, making some “perfect” pictures. To my opinion by far not perfect, but I have to say, I am getting better and better.

I now met many people and they all want to see my pictures, great feeling that is. At the same time I am collecting many new addresses to stay for in the future. Added Texas, California and Oregon to the list, next to Australia and Malta. Not bad for a first cruise :-).