The day dawned fairly well in Anchorage. Cold, a little wet, but no rain to speak of. We got our morning coffee then headed out for a morning walk around Lake Hood where all the float planes were moored and took off. It was a great walk, passing hundreds upon hundreds of float planes, all tied up on the shore. Each plane had a little storage shed/hut with it that we decided were “man rooms” – ala our friend Mark who has converted his garage into his “man room” with TV, refrigerator and all the comforts of home…well…sort of….but at least home is right upstairs for Mark. These man rooms were probably a long way from home.
After about 1 hour of exploring the float plane lake and private little landing strip behind the lake, we headed back to the hotel. Showered up, interenet complete, we packed our bags into the little Dodge Caliper and headed back to the airport for our shuttle to the ship.
Drop off, check in a breeze. The airport is very small and compact, making everything easy to find and walk to. Got into baggage claim and found Princess right away. In true Princess style, our doc’s and TA told us to be at the airport by about 10:15, first shuttle would be at 10:30. Of course, we were early, and of course, the first shuttle didn’t really leave until 11:45. Yea! 2 hours at the Anchorage airport! That’s a joy.
We found a little restaurant bar in the next concourse and sat there with coffee and free internet to while away the hours. Headed back down to the shuttle loading area and waiting for another 20 minutes or so. Then, of course, had to do the elbows out, run for the bus, get knocked over and tripped by the 80 year old who would not give up her right to get on that bus in front of me, no matter what. Yep, if this is any indication of the people on the ship – oh boy! Old and Japanese. We’re going to have a fun 4 weeks!
The drive to Whittier takes an hour to an hour and a half. The scenery is beautiful – typical Alaskan mountain ranges, dusted with new snow. The Turnagain arm and Cook Inlet on our right. Changing colors. It was all just brilliant to watch. The driver said that every day the tide comes into Turnagain Arm in a surge and that it will come right up to the road. People come out to watch it all the time when it’s going to be a big tide.
After about an hour, we finally approached the turn off for Whittier. Here is where the bottle neck occurs and you can add a ½ hour to the trip. To get to Whittier, you have to go through the Whittier Tunnel, 2.5 miles of one-lane, one-way traffic. The Whittier Tunnel is the world’s longest dual use tunnel, for cars and trains. When you drive through the tunnel, you are driving right on the train tracks. It’s pretty wild – once you can get in there. The Tunnel only opens every ½ hour for opposing traffic. We hit the tunnel at 1:03 – just missing the 1:00 cut off for traffic going into Whittier. So there we sat – for 27 minutes until the tunnel reopened for incoming traffic.
We had our books and we could see a couple glaciers from the bus, so it wasn’t as obnoxious as it could have been. But it was still a little frustrating since we knew the ship was right on the other side!
Finally made it into the port terminal, and hopped out of the bus as quickly as we could. While everyone was waiting for their carry on luggage that was stowed under the bus, we hot footed it into the terminal and checked in. That part of the day went smooth as silk. Walked right up, turned in our papers, got our key cards and off we went.
Straight to the cabin – AWESOME. The last mini-suite on Emerald Deck – covered balcony that looks directly aft. The balcony is double sized – we could have a huge party out there if we wanted to! The location will be fabulous once we hit warmer climes – even now, just walking out there in our coats and mufflers is great.
Dumped our backpacks and started wandering around the ship. Since we’ve sailed on the Sapphire, the Diamond is no surprise for us. Headed to the internet café to buy our packages and had our first disappointment – or I should say huge issue – Internet service is down and they don’t know when they will be able to fix it. Uh oh. Houston – we have a problem. With all the work I have to do, not having Internet for 5 days while we sail to Japan is a major snafu in the plans here.
After that disappointment, headed to the coffee bar on deck 5 to buy our coffee card. At least that went according to plan! Next up – the library. Missed the opening there by 5 minutes – oh – we are doomed! Books picked over like you wouldn’t believe – and here we go with the people…..man…what turns normal people into complete idiots on a cruise ship? Maybe they aren’t “normal” in their every day lives, but come on. I was pushed, shoved, and blocked out of the way of the stacks. Too much- it’s a book – for heaven’s sake – not a sack full of money or gold! Made it out of there alive, but just barely. Both of us got books, they’re ok, and we have plenty of other reading materials, so hopefully, when it’s a little calmer down there, maybe we’ll go back and see if we can refresh our reading.
Next, of course, the buffet. Typical first day food, always good, and we were hungry. Cookies decent – not the best – but they’re ok (my bellwether for the buffet!!). Back to the cabin, one suitcase here, always the panic – will they all arrive? Will they be intact? Will things (we won’t put a name to what things) be taken out of them? In the end, the answer is yes – all arrive, no- nothing went missing.
Safety drill, more unpacking, gym – it’s crazy up there – way too many people, way too few machines (there are only 9 treadmills – what were they thinking?), ship sailed, too cold to go out and watch, then shower and dinner. Went to the first show to see all the entertainment staff, comedian who wasn’t all that great and then to bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment