Glacier Bay

Since we would be cruising Glacier Bay on Thursday, we decided to sleep in, so we filled out a menu for breakfast in the room. We scheduled it for 8:45, just before cutoff time of 9:00,  so we could sleep as long as possible.

At 8am, we were all wakened by the voice of an assistant cruise director or someone, coming over the loudspeakers--and one was conveniently just outside our door.  She was pointing out glaciers and sites and educating everyone about what was out there.  With the door closed, we couldn't understand her words, but there was no way we were opening it just to hear.  I'm afraid we were less than grateful, for the first hour or so.

We did turn the TV to the front-of-the-ship channel, so we could see when a glacier was coming up, but we didn't need that.  A glacier was usually preceeded by chunks of ice floating by us.

So we munched our breakfast, taking turns going out on the balcony to take pictures, and coming back in to warm up.

I had my iPhone and my point-and-shoot and would alternate cameras. It was interesting the difference in the color perception between the two.

The bluish tint was the more realistic. I never knew glaciers were blue. I mean, ice cubes are white, right?

Just look at those striations of blue!

Even the color of the water is affected by the runoff from the glaciers.

See the "snow cave" in the center of the picture?

It made me want to explore it!

If you look closely, you can see that same lovely shade of bluish green just to the right of the mountain peak.

That's the same glacier--it flowed down and curved to the sea.

After a couple of hours, we were headed back down the coastline again.

I was trying to figure out what we just  HAD to wash, because we were running out of clothes, and had finally selected about 5-6 items, which would run us about $28.00. Laundry was so expensive on board. After I'd set the bag outside our door, our steward Herbert showed up with a flyer, which was offering a $25.00 flat fee for all you could stuff in the paper laundry bag. Geronimo! More options!

Herbert was a great steward.  Did I mention he does this 10 months of the year?  He's from the Phillipines and only gets to see his wife and little boy for 2 months every year.  When he left for one stint, his little boy was still crawling.  When he got back, the little guy was walking and talking. But the money is good, so he continues. 

One of the other crew members (I don't know what her job was), is saving to open her own motel in an area of her country (again, don't know where) that is a mecca for birdwatchers. I overheard her telling my brother her plans. She said tourists have to jeep in for quite a ways to get to where the best birdwatching is, and she feels if there is a motel closer in, she'd get lots of business.

She and Herbert are so goal-oriented. I have it so easy compared to them.

  

I spent a couple of hours in the library, because 3 adults in one stateroom can get a bit confining, and everywhere else on the ship was so noisy. In the library, it was quiet and peaceful, with huge picture windows and big soft chairs and sofas. There was a chess game going on in the corner, and lots of kindles to be seen. I was able to log on to the internet for a few minutes to check my email, but spent a lot more time just gazing out at the incredible scenery.

DD and I decided to go down to the Sushi bar for dinner and gorge ourselves, while Jack decided to stay in the room and read or watch TV. He really likes Chinese food, but is not a fan of sushi. I've not had much sushi in my life, and certainly not the really good kind, so I let DD order for us. We had spicy tuna, and some eel, and something called a "caterpillar" roll. I know it had avocado in it, but don't remember what else. It was delicious, though. I discovered I don't like sake, whether warmed or cool, but am totally sold on green tea cake and green tea ice cream. The color was not appetizing at all, but the taste was far better than I expected. I wish I'd thought about taking a picture of it.

After dinner, we went straight back to the stateroom rather than hang out at the piano bar or browse the jewelry sale, because our next stop would be Ketchikan, and excursions would be starting at 6:30 in the morning.  

(Next: Friday = Ketchikan)