We boarded the ferry this morning in Skagway, Alaska, and departed a little after seven o’clock. When we left Skagway, there were four cruise ships docked there, with names like Sapphire Princess and Golden Princess. The ferries, operated by the Alaska Marine Highway Company, are named after Alaskan glaciers. The two we boarded today were named Malaspina and Taku. Skagway is the stereotypical tourist town, with a disproportionate number of jewelry shops, art stores, and eateries. The town’s population is around 800, but when several cruise ships are docked, there may be 10,000 people in town.
We traveled about an hour before docking again at Haines. During this part of the trip, we saw some beautiful waterfalls coming down out of the mountains on both sides of the Inside Passage (Alaska Marine Highway). Though the schedule indicated we were supposed to be docked at Haines about an hour, we were there a couple. Once we got going again, there were more great sights to see, including being able to watch a couple of hump-back whales for about ten minutes. They surfaced numerous times, and one of them “jumped” out of the water once. There were a couple of whale-watching boats shadowing the whales and those folks were really getting an up-close view of the huge animals’ activities.
When we got to Juneau about 1:40 p.m., one of the two ferries docked there was having some minor repairs being done. The other ferry was the boat that we were to transfer to and ride to Prince Rupert. It was to depart at 3:15 p.m. We circled out in the harbor for about an hour and a half. We weren’t sure the other ferry would wait for us, so our anxiety levels rose a little bit. (We weren’t the only ones onboard making the transfer.) We decided it wouldn’t be bad to spend the afternoon and night in Juneau and catch a ferry tomorrow, and about the time we were resolved to that plan, we finally got to dock and transfer.
Temperatures out on the decks are a little cool, but easily bearable to enjoy the views. Folks have been very friendly and inviting, thus many stories have been shared. For a while during the trip, it has been misting/sprinkling, so visibility hasn’t been optimal. We ended up playing a couple games of spades, and it’s been entertaining to learn each others’ playing styles. We ended the day tied at one game apiece, so tomorrow we’ll have to play the deciding game. No money on the table, but (knowing a couple of the players) there may be some bragging rights involved.
Accommodations are small, but fine. The two-person cabins have everything you need, but space is at a premium. It’s been a long time since any of us have slept in bunk beds, so getting up and down the ladders may be a challenge for Ed and Carey. (They didn’t lose at straws, they’re just nice guys. And, to hear the other two talk, Mark and Tom are afraid of heights. Blah, blah, blah… It’s probably more accurate that they’re more full of you-know-what than they are afraid of heights.)
We had all three meals on the ferries, and all three were pretty dang good. We all had good-sized brownies for dessert after lunch, and there were few crumbs left as evidence of that indulgence. The beef brisket three of us had for dinner was really tasty and the chef was very liberal with the serving size. Actually, for the entire trip, we’ve all been pleasantly surprised with the consistently good quality of the food we’ve sampled from various locales, but Mark has commented several times, it’s just not as good as the chicken wings from the Four-Way QuikStop in Scranton. There’s a movie theater onboard, and Tom and Carey enjoyed the “late” movie about Alaskan neighbors – eagles, bears, and whales.