Endicott/Dawes Glacier and Juneau

We entered Endicott at 5 AM.  We were up as the clocks turned back an hour and we've been getting up early anyway.  The water is glacier blue and the skies are clear.  No marine fog today.  We were followed by a National Geographic boat up the channel.   We were here in early May and couldn't even get up the channel.  We couldn't get to the glacier as there were too many icebergs!  It's almost July and there is still a lot of ice in the water.

We got to Juneau and went up Mt. Robson on the tram.  The sky was clear and the view was amazing!  The picture below is looking south.

This picture is looking north.  There were four ships in town.  Discovery Princess, Majestic Princess Noordam and Splendor of the Seas.  Lots of people.

After our trip up the mountain we purchased a ticket to Mendenhall Glacier along with a city tour.  It didn't leave until 4:30 and that worked out so well.  Our 53 passenger bus had 17 passengers and Mendenhall was very quiet.  The scenery is amazing.  Pictures of Mendenhall Glacier will have to be on tomorrow's blog.  Have I mentioned the horrible internet?

Day 3 - Ketchikan

We had a great day in Ketchikan.  It was cloudy but when we got to Creek Street, it started to rain.  We didn't have rain gear or umbrella's.  It didn't look like rain but hey, we are in a rain forest.  It didn't last all that long and we didn't get too wet.

When Lexie found out there was a Walmart, she wanted to go.  She bought seven books to read.  She's an avid reader!  We went for a nice walk early in the morning before the rain and then caught the free shuttle to Walmart.  

We had lunch on board at Gigi's Pizza.  We tried to get in before but there was always a lineup.  Yesterday we got there at 11:30 and there were 20 people ahead of us in the line.  No problem to get a table for us, but others behind us had to wait.  It's well worth the wait.

Afternoon tea was lovely.  We didn't eat much but really enjoyed the tea.  Dinner was prime rib and I must say it was delicious!  It was just as good as The Keg.  So far the meals have been excellent!   

A magician was in the theatre and he put on a great show.  We did two rounds of Trivia and saw the Liars Club last night.  So much to do on this ship.

They haven't given us the passenger count but I'm guessing it's almost at full capacity.  We never wait long for anything and the staff is friendly and very efficient!

Today Endicott/Dawes Glacier in the morning and Juneau all afternoon until late!  

A beautiful sunset from our balcony on Monday night.  The pictures didn't upload so I couldn't post it before.  Internet is horrible.  I tried for 30 minutes to post a nice picture to Myrna Clark for her birthday and it wouldn't post.  Sorry, Myrna but glad you got my email so you knew I didn't forget your birthday!
 

Day two - At Sea

I enjoy sea days.  We sailed on the west coast of Vancouver Island.  The seas were calm but we had marine fog.  There is always lots to do on a sea day.  We went to the Enrichment Presentation:  The Life of a Bering Sea Crab Fisherman.  His name was Steve but I can't remember his last name.  He was featured on The Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel.  I didn't watch the series but his stories were fascinating,  Then the Naturalist had a presentation:  Alaska the last frontier.  It was very informative.  

After a delicious lunch in the dining room we did the long awaited "Deal or No Deal".  I've heard how everyone loves it and it didn't disappoint.  You purchase one card for $20.00 or 3 for $50.00.  They select two people to play and the audience plays along for prizes.  When the contestant picks a suitcase, you open the same one on your card and if you match two or more, you get a prize.  It's a good cash grab for Princess but they have a lot of money to recover and I didn't mind.  They let under age people play and Lexie was so excited!

This is the card you buy, the numbers open up and if you match the contestant you can win a prize

This is the contestants board and it's played in the theatre.

This is the final results, and Lexie was one of the 17 people who won a bingo card
I won a $5 scratch.  Cec was "on his way".
Lexie was hoping for the free cruise!  Maybe next time.

We are going back on the next sea day when they have the next game!

At noon they announced we will not be able to dock in Skagway.  It wasn't a surprise as the rock slide last Thursday did a lot of damage.  I wondered why I hadn't received my Skagway shore excursion tickets.  So we are spending 12 hours at Icy Strait Point.  If you saw my May blog, I really enjoy this port.  

Last night was the first Formal Night.  We opted to eat at Sabatini's the Italian specialty restaurant.  We've eaten here before and it didn't disappoint.  After dinner we attended the production show:  Spotlight Bar.  This is a new production and the costumes and voices were excellent.   After the show we saw the Yes/No game.  Always fun.  Great way to end a lovely day.

Day One - Discovery Princess

 

This is my happy place.  The Discovery Princess is two months old.  It does 7 days return to Alaska from Seattle.  There are no more 7 day return trips to Alaska from Vancouver only 14 days so we decided to try the newest ship Princess has to offer.  

We left Vancouver at 7:30 AM to drive to the port in Seattle because we were worried about the border lineup.  Cheryl drove us through Pacific Highway and drove right up to the Nexus lane.  We got to Pier 91 at 10 and there were a lot of people already there,  Boarding started at 10:30 and we were on the ship by 11!  Lunch in the Skagway Dining Room and then time to discover this gorgeous ship.

Infinity Pool at the aft!

Two pools on Deck 16

The temperature is 29C and it says it's going up to 31C/89F!  Cheryl got home safe with a nice shopping trip at Costco.  There is a sign in the Bellingham Costco, raw chicken and eggs are not allowed across the US/Canada border.  I assume that's because of bird flu.

Dinner was delicious.  The entertainment on the ship is great!  Tonight we saw a wonderful comedian Steve Caouette in the theatre  He worked the crowd and was very funny.  If you ever see him, don't be late!

A wonderful first day at sea.

Goodbye Seattle

Elvis the Movie 2022!

 

Yesterday Sapphire Sisters met for lunch and then went to the afternoon movie of Elvis! We went to the theatre with the reclining lazy boys!  The air conditioning was a plus.  

I missed this picture as I went right out of the theatre after the movie ended to get organized for tomorrow.

The movie was fabulous!  I read it received a 10 minute standing ovation at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.   I also read an article that Priscilla and Lisa Maria saw the movie and said it was factual and they both agreed it was very good.  The cast and directors were welcomed at Graceland to meet the living Presley's.  

I won't spoil it but there were things I didn't know about Elvis and Colonel Tom Parker.  The costumes and make up were excellent and I think Tom Hanks deserves an Oscar for his portrayal of Colonel Tom.  Austin Butler played Elvis and did all the singing.  He was exceptional.  It was interesting to see he was friends with BB King and other great country and gospel stars.   It was in the south and race played a huge part in his early life.  

A movie well with seeing and going with the girls made it so much fun!   I've promised Cec I'll take him to Top Gun when we return from vacation.  

Now back to packing.

Happy Saturday - it's joke time

 

Discovery Princess

On Sunday, in Seattle, we board the Discovery Princess for a seven day cruise to Alaska with Lexie.   I didn't plan on posting anything until we left until I read the news yesterday.

Thursday is Skagway port day.  I love Skagway as it's very unique and in a pristine valley.  The White Pass and Yukon train takes passengers to the summit but this year doesn't cross the US/Canada border.  We plan a coach tour to Carcross, Yukon as the scenery is spectacular and Carcross is a lovely little unincorporated community.  Hopefully we will get there next Thursday.

If you've ever sailed to Skagway you will see the rock face that borders the pier.  Yesterday as the Discovery was just starting to depart passengers there was a rock slide!

That's the gangway!   From the ship someone posted only 13 passengers had disembarked and one had very minor injuries.  The ship moved out of the dock and assessed the damage.  An hour later they were tendering the passengers into Skagway.

This is from the Skagway newspaper:

A rockslide occurred at Railroad Dock at approximately 6:30 a.m., within close proximity of the Discovery Princess. No one was injured and according to Jacqueline Taylor-Rose, marketing manager for White Pass & Yukon Route, the ship received “slight cosmetic damage.”

The slide happened south of the current mitigation area. Steward Stephens, port manager for Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska, said that while landslides “could happen anywhere,” Thursday’s incident “was a surprise.”

Stu and Amy Eddings, passengers from California, were on the starboard side of the Discovery when the rocks hit.

“We were heading down into the elevator,” Stu said. “All of a sudden, the ship shuttered. But we knew the ship was already tied up at the dock. So, we didn’t know if we’d been hit by another ship.”

Eddings said when he looked down off a balcony, he saw the landslide just 30 feet to the right of a small group of people. From the 15th level, Eddings noted chipped windows and pieces of broken rock.

“It could have been catastrophic. It could have been a mess,” Eddings surmised, if the slide had happened later in the day with a busier dock.

Passengers from the Discovery were tendered to the Small Boat Harbor, 190 people at a time. The cruise has an estimated 3,500 people on board. The Quantum of the Sea, scheduled to dock on Railroad at 9 a.m., turned back after the slide.

Tyler-Rose said a geo-engineer arrives tomorrow to assess the hillside so White Pass may “begin repairs.” Railroad Dock will remain closed to passenger and vehicle traffic.

For June 24, the Carnival Miracle is assigned to the Railroad Aft with guests tendered to the Small Boat Harbor. The Ruby Princess will dock at Broadway and the Norwegian Jewel will dock at Ore Dock.

The Eddings plan on enjoying their time in Skagway.

“We’ll be fine,” Stu said. “We’re happy to be here.”

Today we get our COVID tests and as long as we are all negative we're off once again!

I'm Thankful

 

Are you flying anytime soon?

I worked for an airline for 15 years.  I knew many flight attendants.  They work very hard they know the industry.  I found this online and thought it was excellent advice especially the information about booking through third party sites!

Airline issues are affecting all passengers  These are things to ponder.  

Flying this summer is ROUGH!!! I feel like as a Flight Attendant I should attempt to share some tips to get you through airline travel for the foreseeable future. ✈️✈️

1.  Things are not good..... if its less than 7 hours - DRIVE! I'm not kidding. There is nothing enjoyable about flying right now. On any airline. If you must fly, keep reading. 🚗

2. Download and use the app of the airline you are flying. You can do everything on it - get your boarding pass, track your bags, see your incoming plane, and change a flight. It sure beats waiting in the long line to talk to an agent! Trust me - Usually these apps will tell you a flight is cancelled before the crew even knows! 📲

3. Fly MUCH earlier than you need to - a whole day early if its important!!  This week I saw many people miss important things like weddings, funerals, cruises, international connections, and graduations. The tears were very real, for very real reasons, and there was nothing I could do! If you have to be somewhere, spend the extra money, go a day early. Have a glass of wine and stay in a hotel, enjoy your night not being stressed while everyone else misses their events. 🍷

4. ALWAYS fly the first flight in the morning so you have all day to be rebooked if the shit hits the fan. Yes, that means it might be a 3:00 alarm, but morning flights don't cancel nearly as often.⏰

5. This is not unique to this year, but keep in mind summer is thunderstorm season. A single storm can shut down a whole airport. We can't fly through them. Storms usually build as the day gets later. Book early flights! ⛈

6. Schedule long layovers - Your 1 hour layover is NOT enough anymore. 30 minutes, not a chance. 3 hours minimum. 🏃‍♀️🏃🏃‍♂️

7. What you see on the news is an understatement. We are short staffed and overworked. Not just pilots and flight attendants, but also ground crews. Without ground crews there is no one to park the planes, drive jetways, get your bags on/off planes, or scan boarding passes. This causes many delays that snowball throughout the day. Sometimes HOURS.(Another reason morning flights are best!)  👀

8. When flight crews get delayed we time out. We can NOT fly longer than 16 hours. Its illegal. So it doesn't matter if you have a wedding to get to, when we are done we are done. The way things are now, there are no back up crews, so when this happens your flight cancels. (Now you are starting to see why those morning flights are best!) 😴

9. Avoid connecting in Newark (Or any New York airport for that matter). It is literal hell. You have a 50/50 chance your flight will cancel or missing your connection. They have been cancelling flights at their starting points just to keep the planes out, because there just aren't enough people to manage the planes, so the gates stay full. Also the restaurants are expensive, it is not a great place to be stuck. 💩

10. Be nice. As stated above, we are overworked and tired. We will not help you if you are mean. No one cares that you are going to miss your cruise if you are an asshole. So even if we can help, we will save our help for someone nice. Tensions are high. Our patience is gone. If you make us mad - you will not be flying on our planes. We will leave you behind without a second thought, and laugh about you later. 🥰

11. Being drunk on an airplane is a federal offense, so don't overdo it. If you drink too much at the bar waiting for your delayed flight you risk not being allowed to fly at all. We are too tired to deal with your drunk ass when we have legitimate issues to deal with. 🍻

12. Get trip insurance if you have a lot of money invested. I hate the whole idea of this, but I also hate the idea of losing money.  Example: I was working a flight yesterday that waited over an hour for a gate. A family of 8 missed their flight to Rome. The only flight of the day. They were going to a cruise which they would now miss. They were all crying, there was nothing I could do. (Also a reason to fly a day early!) 🛳

13. Flights are FULL. If you buy the cheap seats you will not be able to sit with your family. It says so when you purchase your ticket!! Flight Attendants aren't there to rearrange the whole plane just so you can sit with your family because you tried to save $100 on a third party website. 💸

14. Speaking of third party websites and saving money..... Like I said flights are FULL. If a flight is oversold, and no one volunteers to give up their seats, who do you think is the first to be bumped? You guessed it, the family that saved a few $$ by using sites like Expedia, Kayak, Hotwire etc. 🤷‍♀️

15. Pack smart. Don't be "That guy" Don't hold up boarding because you have your extenders open till they are busting and you can't figure out how to make it fit in the overhead. (Passengers are stressed too, they can be aggressive when boarding a delayed flight) 🛍

16. Take showers, brush your teeth, leave the perfume off, don't eat stinky food (caesar salad and tuna fish I'm talking to you!), and bring headphones. Trust me. These things sound basic, but add to stress on crowded planes. If you are stuck on the tarmac for 3 hours after a 4 hour flight, you will thank me for this. 💜

17. Bring a sweater if you tend to be cold. So tired of half naked girls asking me to turn the heat up. NO. Wear clothes!!  Side note: If you dress like this and ask for heat, there's a chance I will turn the AC up. 🥶

18. Thats not water on the bathroom floor. For the love of God wear shoes to the bathroom!!! 🤮

19. Don't tell a Flight Attendant they look tired. We are and we know. You may cause us to ugly cry right there in galley. 😭

20. Happy Travels!

Roll out those lazy hazy crazy days of Summer

Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer 

Those days of soda and pretzels and beer
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
Dust off the sun and moon and sing a song of cheer

Just fill your basket full of sandwiches and weenies
Then lock the house up, now you're set
And on the beach you'll see the girls in their bikinis
As cute as ever but they never get 'em wet

Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
Those days of soda and pretzels and beer
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
You'll wish that summer could always be here

Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
Those days of soda and pretzels and beer
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
Dust off the sun and moon and sing a song of cheer

Don't have to tell a girl and fella about a drive-in
Are some romantic movie scene
Right from the moment that those lovers start arrivin'
You'll see more kissin' in the car than on the screen

Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
Those days of soda and pretzels and beer
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
You'll wish that summer could always be here

You'll wish that summer could always be here
You'll wish that summer could always be here

Thank you Nat King Cole, I sing this every year!

Those were the days

 

Happy Father's Day

Royal Canadian Navy 1941 - 1945

My dad passed away at age 51.  It's been 51 years since he passed and I still miss him.  My dad loved a deal and enjoyed the stock market.  Brad is just like his grandfather!  I wish he could see Brad now.  He would be proud of all his grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Cheryl and Lexie are taking Dave to Bard on the Beach for an afternoon performance.  We are meeting them for dinner at our favorite sushi restaurant!  
 

Pictures with statues

 This is funny.  If you take another picture with a statue, beware:

Happy last day of high school!

 

Who said men can't decorate.....

 

Dentist

When we moved to Richmond in 1969, a lady my husband worked with recommended her dentist.  He was a twin and together with his twin brother they had a thriving practise.  When his brother was in his late 50's he passed away with a fatal heart attack.  I then worked with his next door neighbour.  He suddenly closed his practise and she told me why.  My dentist couldn't handle working without his brother.  Apparently he took his dental chair and put it in his living room!  His wife was not pleased.

I saw a dentist ad in the newspaper and this dentist worked nights.  That worked great for us as we didn't need to take time off work so we started going to him.  He was renting a dental practise after they closed at 5.  He opened his own office years ago in a residential area and it's got great free parking.  He is a wonderful dentist. 

He loves to travel.  We always talk about our trips.  Four years ago when I told him we were going to Ireland he asked if we were going to Cork.  We were and he was going to be there at the same time.  He was taking his daughter to Cork University Dental School.  He was very proud of her and so he should be!

Yesterday when I went for my cleaning, he was on vacation.  I was only seeing the hygienist and she told me he was in Cork to see his daughter graduate!  

She's coming back to Canada and will join him in his practise.  Sounds like he will retire and pass it on to her.  I'm sure he will be one proud dad when I see him in six months! 

Some olds ones and some new ones