Alaska

Thought I would write and let everyone know about my recent trip to Alaska aboard the Holland America’s Ryndam.

We started at CWA with a 2 hour delay, but because we had a 3 ½ hour layover in MSP, we were ok…whew.  Great flights, arrived in Vancouver a little after midnight on July 15, where we called a taxi and went to the River Rock Resort Casino.  For all of our many gambling guests, this is a great resort.  The rooms are wonderful, full living room, bath and french doors to the bedroom, really cool.  After dropping off our luggage, we headed downstairs to the casino, where my husband won a jackpot, great way to start.  The next day we needed a ride to the pier, so went to the Concierge and she arranged a stretch limo for us, so we arrived in style!!!

While standing in line to check into the ship, we were given fliers that there had been a virus on the previous cruise and we were all to keep sanitizing our hands and never shake hands, just bump elbows.  This was a very big deal and strictly enforced on the ship, they had sanitizers before every shop, lounge, etc. and someone was there to distribute it at each meal.  Worked for us, we were healthy and happy!!!

We left Vancouver in the mid-70’s, and sun.  Beautiful to sit on the deck and watch the beautiful scenery pass by.  Our cabin was upgraded to a Verandah, so we spent a lot of time there as well.  The room was very nice, the bathroom quite large by ship standards, and we had a whirlpool tub.  As usual, the staff was great.

Our first stop was Ketchikan.  It was a beautiful sunny day in the low 70’s.  We toured Saxman, a totem pole park.  After seeing a short video in the community center, we walked to a clan house where a ceremony was performed.  Of course my husband had to participate, if you want a laugh, I’ll show you his picture.   From there we looked at the totems, all of which had a story to accompany them, shopped briefly in the store and watched a wood carver.  After being taken back to the ship, we went shopping in the town.  This is a great shopping town and the ship docks right in the middle of it.  My husband bought a totem pole signed by the Alaskan artist who carved it.  There went our jackpot money!!!

Next we stopped in Juneau.  We were greeted by float planes taking off and landing right off our verandah.  There are no roads leading in or out of Juneau, so planes and boats are their source of travel.  At this stop, we were taken to a bus where we visited Mendenhall Glacier State Park and then to a boat where we did the whale quest.  This was my first up close and personal sighting of a glacier and it was beautiful.  Not exactly what I expected, I thought the entire mountain would be covered in snow, but they actually meander down through the valleys before they break off into the sea.  The whale quest was spectacular.  The guide told us they’d only seen the whales bubble feed 7 times and we saw 3 different pods feeding that way.  The whales get together in a circle and go below water and blow air out.  This confuses the fish, they swim to the top and the whales come up out of the water and eat the fish.  We saw pods of 17 whales, 12 whales and another of 7.  Pretty impressive, we watched each pod for about an hour and got great pictures.  Of course we did more shopping and sat on our deck and watched the fish jump.  We saw hundreds jump, the naturalist told me the salmon are spawning, it feels good to smack their stomachs on the water (I wonder how they know that) and it loosens the eggs to be released easier. 

The next day was Skagway.  The weather really turned on us this day and we encountered rain and much cooler temps…low 60’s.  We spent the morning shopping along all the different types of shops and then boarded a train that took us up into the mountains.  More beautiful scenery, waterfalls, snow, rivers, you name it, it was there.  The higher we climbed, the higher into the clouds we got, until we really couldn’t see all that much.  Very pretty.  Of course, after this we had to shop more!!!

Those were our 3 stops, from there we sailed through Glacier National Park and College Fiords.  Both were incredible.  In the park they brought aboard a park ranger that spoke over the PA of all that we were seeing.  Besides being breathtaking, it was very informative, she told of how some of the glaciers are melting down, some are growing and some are just maintaining their current size.  What I found most fascinating was the sound they made.  You would hear very loud thunder-type noise as they were moving, large sharp cracks that sounded like gunshots as they broke and when all was quiet, they sounded like very loud rice crispies, snapping.  During this time, our daytime temps went down to 43, we were wearing our winter coats.

After our 2 days of sailing, we docked in Seward and took a train to Anchorage.  While on the train we saw more eagles, a bear and a moose, along with the beautiful scenery.  In Anchorage, we could see (very clearly) Mount McKinley, which is 260 miles away.  Awesome.  We spent the night in Anchorage and returned home the following day.

Through our trip, we saw a lot and loved it all.  The ship was very nice, I would recommend it to anyone.  I would suggest that between the warm sunny days, the cool days, the casual days, the rainy days and the formal nights on the ship, that you might as well just pack about everything you own!!! 

Submitted by:  Nancy Skalecke