Northwest Passage 2017!

Crystal came up with the idea of offering Unexpected Adventures as part of their excursions. We had to sign up for them in advance with 4 options - zodiac, high speed boat, kayak or helicopter. We chose the first 2. We have never been in kayaks so doing so in the Arctic did not seem wise. And the helicopter option is $600 for less than an hour, we did not need to do that either. We were told we would be advised of our trip 12 to 24 hours before it happened. As luck would have it, we were in the first group of zodiacs, needing to meet at 8:10. Even after a long day the day before and having lost an hour due to time change, we made it. We can sleep when we get home! Hot Chocolate Zodiac For this adventure I finally put on a thermal top. I wore our water proof boots since they are extremely warm. I had on a gator and a hat as well as warm gloves. Hand and feet warmers were in my backpack jic. When we exited the ship onto the loading platform, snow was coming down almost horizontally, oh b...

Once again we were up way too early. We met in the lounge at 7:30 for the first wave of zodiacs. We were taken to a pebbly shore with nothing other than small hunting cabins near by. We boarded a bus to go into town. I forgot to change from the water proof boots into my sneakers but ended up being glad I did. It was very muddy in town. It was about 15 minutes to get to the drop off site. We got out and looked around. There was nothing but some unmarked buildings. Where were we supposed to go? A local arrived and led us to the community center just around the corner. They had tables set up for selling, one was still covered with fabric. The other was a woman who worked for the visitors bureau and was selling logo caps, shirts, etc.  After about 15 minutes a woman rushed in with credit card equipment and proceeded to uncover her tables. They were covered with soapstone carvings, jewelry, felt stuffed animals and crocheted hats and mittens. I searched thru all the bears for any musk o...

I really need to write about our last 2 days before writing about today but this is too exciting. I was watching one of the lectures in our cabin when I heard the Capt come on and announce that there was a "friendly" polar bear ahead. I did not hear which side of the ship it was on but when I raced out of our cabin, camera in hand, there was a stream of passengers headed to the port side. He was actually quite a bit in front of us but with my new camera I was able to zoom in on him. The ship in the background is another expedition ship wanting to go thru the opening in the ice with us.  The ice was passing on the port side so I followed down the ship to get better shots. Mel said he was at the lecture and when the announcement came in, everyone got up and left. When we were right beside the bear he must have finally gotten spooked and started running, then jumped into the water. Great sighting!!! I was out on the deck with only the outer parka on and no socks in my shoes. It ...

In order to not overwhelm the small communities we are visiting in the Arctic, Crystal arranged complimentary Community Visits, limiting the number of people ashore at any given time. I signed up for the first visit in every port to have first opportunity to shop. Mel and I both like the Inuit art so we're looking forward to getting it from the source. We were up at 6:30, dressed and ready to go at 7:30. We had water proof pants and boots, prepared for the zodiac wet landings. Sitting in the lounge, waiting to go they announced that they were not yet prepared for us ashore so we would be held a few minutes. We did not leave the lounge until almost 8. It was pretty uncomfortable sitting around with all those clothes on! The zodiac ride was less than 15 min. They had a step to help you get out of the zodiac so you could almost step from that to dry land. It was good to have the boots on though, just in case. We had brought other shoes to use to walk around town so changed into those....

Ulukhaktok with the Shackleton on the right. The zodiacs are tiny to the left of the ship.  We have just spent 4 days at sea looking at fog, nothing but fog and water. I did see a couple of birds while walking on deck. The capt pointed out Point Barrow as we passed. We saw fog. He also pointed out the smoking hills which have been burning for thousands of years, fog. While we were entertained onboard with excellent lectures about the northwest passage, northern Canada and polar bears, seeing fog for 4 days gets old. We were fed very well also of course. But this morning when we could almost see the sun, it was quite a relief! Then the Earnest Shackleton came into view around noon. This ice breaker is usually stationed in Antarctica but is in the Arctic this summer to accompany us thru the passage. As well as keeping us safe, they are carrying all the equipment for our excursions. The 2 helicopters and dozen or so zodiacs were all out to great us. The excitement level on the ship we...

    This was on the Main Street of Nome! We arrived in Nome around 9 am. We had a complimentary community visit at 10:30 so did not have to rush to get off the ship. It was a beautiful day, full sunshine. Apparently it had been pouring rain in this port during last year's cruise. We took the tender ashore and boarded a school bus, the only means of transportation they had to offer us. Our first stop was to pan for gold. They had gravel, water buckets and pans set up on tables for us. One pan had dried gravel in it so I put it in the sun and there was a fleck of gold shining back at me. I found 2 more tiny pieces then headed to the beach across the street. The guide has said they find a lot of sea glass there. We had 2 guides, one was a student home for the summer. She went with me. She was much better at spotting the glass but we both collected a fair amount. She told me that it is more plentiful further down the beach and that she has found pieces of floral porcelain and even...

                                    I had wanted to take the ferry to Dutch Harbor when we drove to AK but it was just too far. It would have taken up a lot of days in an already long trip. Now I am glad we didn't since we were able to see the place this time. It was lovely but not somewhere one needs to return to! We arrived at 8 am but did not hurry to get off the ship. We were docked, so no tenders which was nice. I think it will be tender ports from now until Maine. They were using school buses to transport us into town. They were very regularly scheduled so we never had to wait.  We were dropped off at the Grand Aleutian Hotel. We discovered there was no free wifi and no cell service, our only disappointments of the day. We looked in the gift shop for a few minutes then headed to the Museum of the Aleutians. It was a small museum but nicely done. There have been humans in the area for 10,...

                They are going to keep us busy for sure. The first lecture was at 10. They introduced the expedition leaders and future speakers. They also held an expedition logo sale in the atrium at 10:30 so I missed some of the lecture. The sale was a feeding frenzy, as usual. They did have some nice merchandise. The first lecture at 11 was about the early Coast Guard in Alaska, like in the early 1800's. It was interesting. After lunch I hoped to walk on the deck but it was closed due to high winds. I went outside anyway to see how bad it was. I have walked in a LOT higher winds. Crystal cruisers must be wimps. There were 2 people walking anyway. If they keep closing it I will join them. Instead I walked around our inside corridor. It wasn't too bad. Twelve laps around was 2 miles.  The afternoon lecture was done by a woman who has climbed to the top of many of the highest mountains, mainly Everest. All the lectures are broadcast in our c...

                               We spent 3 days in Kodiak when we drove up to Alaska several years ago so did not plan to do much more than walk around. We arrived into town via tender at around 10. It was raining so not ideal weather for walking. First stop was a craft market at their very small convention center. There was not much that was very interesting. We headed to the center of town where we found a yarn shop. It had a better variety of yarn than I had ever seen! The woman working there said they have nothing else to do in Kodiak for 9 months out of the year so do very well. They also sell online.  By now it was raining harder so we hoped to just find a coffee shop to sit in to use our phones. Verizon still works! We ended up at the Alutiiq Museum, the native people of Kodiak. We sat and watched videos of elders talking about different foods they prepare, while looking at emails. We visited the ...

                 We were up and out of our room by 9. Our bags were picked up just before we left so that was encouraging. We drove a few blocks to drop off the rental car then walked to the convention center where we were meeting to be bused to the ship. It was very well organized with tables and chairs, rolls and coffee. We had about an hr before our bus would leave so checked our hand luggage, which was nice option, and headed to the National Park Visitor Center. They had a nice display of Alaskan animals. Amazing how many dead animals are everywhere, in restaurants, hotels, etc, everywhere!!! From there we stopped at a store then just want back to wait. We boarded the bus at 10:30 and were on our way. We sat next to a couple from Alamo, near where we live in CA. We are now having dinner with them in 2 days. It is so easy to meet people on cruises!  We arrived in Seward at 1:30. The guide on our bus said there is a baby walrus in the ...

      Our granddaughter drove us to the airport yesterday. Next time we see her will be at her Navy boot camp graduation in Nov! I realized that I had not flown in over 2 years. In that time Delta upgraded it's Crown Rooms by a LOT! They are very large, modern, and have a variety of food. Before it was pretzels and coffee! They are very nice. I walked for a mile in the Seattle airport after having been sitting all day. It is really a beautiful airport with a lot of art.  We arrived in Anchorage on time at 9:30. We had a beautiful view of mountains and glaciers from the plane. It was still light out which was nice. We got our luggage without any problems but then had to find the car rental desks. We went down one elevator but could not find a way over to where they were so got into another elevator to go back up. I was in the elevator with the cart with most of the luggage. Mel pushed his carry on in when the door closed on the handle. I was able to pull the handle in...