Hi all. We are in Ketchican today with another warm and sunny day. The locals are all smiling, saying they have seen as much sun in the last few days as all last summer. Maybe an exaggeration, but you get the point. We just came down from the pool deck and it looks more like a Med cruise, with people lying out in the sun.

We wandered Ketchican this morning and then took a float plane excursion to Misty Fiords this afternoon. Amazing scenery. When we set down on the water in a remote lake to "listen to the quiet" I could have stayed all day.

Someone asked about embarkation in Vancouver. It was seamless, first through security -- a little busy because a Holland America ship was boarding that day also -- and then calm and quiet and efficient once we turned toward the Mariner embarkation point. Couldn't have been easier.

Tomorrow I may not get a chance to write because we have THREE excursions -- Tracy Arm cruising on a catamaran starting at 7:30, then a four-glacier helicopter ride from Juneau in the afternoon, then an evening whale-watching tour. We may be tired puppies by tomorrow night.

Must run for now. We are meeting some people in the observation lounge shortly, for sailaway. I'll check back in when I can. Life is good!

Enjoy Priscilla! We are leaving on our Alaska cruise (Celebrity) on July 9 with 20 other family members. Can't wait. Second time for us, first for most of the others. Happy to hear you are having such great weather!
---------------
Helen

Great Priscilla! Helen you'll have wonderful time too - 20 family members how neat!

Yay - SeaMail from Priscilla. Soungs like you are having the perfect cruise Priscilla, keep enjoying and check in when you can. It also sounds like you lucked into perfect weather.

Oh how I wish I could see Ketchikan without rain, I bet it was beautiful!
Thanks for checking in, I am looking forward to your next seamail!

Three excursions--terrific!
Alaska is one of my favorite favorite places

Priscilla, 3 excursions in one day? You must be 29 again. The float plane excursion to Misty Fjords has my attention. Can't wait to hear more from you. Have fun!

Good to see how much you are enjoying this cruise, Priscilla. Wishing you and John continued great times. Misty Fjords is really something to experience. Wonderful weather is the icing on the cake.

Our float plane trip to the Misty Fjords was awesome - wish we would have had a bright beautiful day like you! I am missing Alaska already. Have a great cruise (I'm sure you will!)

We spent 4 days in Ketchikan a few years ago--warm and sunny every single day. Go figure--I had packed all my rain gear and never needed it.

Priscilla, I'm so glad you are having such a nice cruise and that the weather is cooperating. Keep having fun and sending us SeaMail!

Priscilla, is this the back end of the Mariner in Juneau? And I must say again, you are getting some crazy nice weather!!!!

Wow Priscilla dying to hear how you made out with 3 excursions - good for you!!!!

Hi Priscilla,

Wow, weather looks gorgeous!

I am in awe of you... 3 excursions!! The problem is, now you have to tell us all about them.

Priscilla, we see you!!!


Skagway cam

Hi, Priscilla! Looking for you and John!

Weather appears to be fantastic. I hope your day in Skagway was terrific.

Three excursions in one day! Impressive!

I just sent you an email in reply to the email you just sent me, Priscilla. Thanks for thinking of us.

Continue to have the greatest of times! :hug:

Hello everyone -- from SUNNY Skagway today. We are having the most unbelievable weather. Sun, sun and more sun. We've hardly seen a cloud in the sky.

This morning in Skagway we took the scenic train ride, which was very nice, then gave the town a quick look and headed back to the Mariner for lunch and to relax after our marathon excursion day yesterday. Of course, for me that means I headed for the computer corner after a nice lunch in the Compass Rose. (We rarely have had lunch in the Compass Rose in all our Regent trips, but it was nice and relaxing. We had to go there to change a Prime 7 reservation and decided to stay. I had a nice grilled salmon and vegetables, and was proud of myself for not overeating for once. Now, however, I'm sitting at a computer directly opposite from the coffee corner with its display of cookies and other goodies. Not sure how long my resolve will last.)

Okay, enough of today and on (back?) to yesterday with our three excursions. We started the morning at 7:20 embarking a water-jet catamaran from the Mariner for a Tracy Arm excursion. Ice was too thick in Tracy Arm, so the catamaran captain said we would be heading to Endicott Arm. What a stroke of luck! As we traveled toward Dawes (sp?) glacier we went past beautiful scenery, with the mountains rising steeply along the sides of the water. At one point, although we were very close to shore, we were told we were in 700 feet of water, so that gives you an idea of the steep glacial formations. Along our way to the glacier the water was dotted with glacial ice, and on a number of the pieces harbor seals, mothers with babies in some cases, relaxed, getting worried only if we were too close. We saw loads of bald eagles too. The only other vessel in the entire Endicott Arm was a National Geographic boat, so we had things virtually to ourselves. Eventually we approached Dawes Glacier, and the crew was absolutely giddy with how close we were able to get. I'm not certain of the exact distance, but we were as close as is safe. (One of the crew said that a week or two ago they were able to get only within a couple of miles, so this was really special.) We saw calving of one very large piece of ice and several smaller ones. One of the things that struck me was how vividly blue the glacier was. I had no idea. The naturalist onboard explained that as the glacial ice is pressed down further and further by new ice and snow on top, all of the air molecules are pushed out, leaving only blue water molecules. By the way, we had a wonderful naturalist along -- he looked very VERY young but was a great narrator and a real font of knowledge. The captain did a great job of positioning and turning the boat, and the entire crew was as pleasant as could be. I recommend this excursion highly.

We arrived back at the Mariner shortly after it docked in Juneau, then left immediately for our four-glacier helicopter ride. I loved this excursion even more than I expected. We hovered over the rivers and mountain lakes and glaciers, then set down on one glacier next to a deep deep crevass. The pilot estimated it was at least 200 feet deep. By flying over so closely and setting down on the glacier itself, it was possible to see the ridges and crevasses. Very interesting. I have seen glaciers before and thought they looked simply like large dirty ice fields, but this excursion allowed us to see much more of the formations. Spectacular.

For our third excursion of the day, the evening whale watching expedition, "spectacular" again is an apt description. We saw several humpbacks, including one that we watched for I think almost half an hour. He rolled and flapped his fins, raised his head and looked around, opened his mouth, jumped and splashed. Unbelievable to get such a show. The crew was really excited, so we knew we truly were seeing something special. Then as we were about to head back we came upon a pod of orcas, probably five or six. The were not as exuberant as the playful humpback, but the were apparent for several minutes, at one point with at least four fins showing in a row. (Unfortunately I didn't get that photo; it was very bright and hard to see the camera viewer.)

So, all in all, tired though we were when we returned to the Mariner about 10 p.m., it was a wonderful day, one I won't forget ever. When we get home, I'll post some photos.

We are really enjoying the Mariner. I love this coffee corner area. (By the way, I broke down about the cookies a few minutes ago.) :rolleyes:

Tonight we are having dinner with the cruise director, Lorraine Weimerskirck (editing to correct the spelling I butchered before, finally getting it right). Those of you on the Voyager crossing in November 2007 (and many others, no doubt) will remember Lorraine, I'm sure. Lovely person.

We haven't been to Prime 7 yet but have reservations for tomorrow evening. Looking forward to that.

Well, I've rambled much longer than I meant, so I'll sign off for now. Karen, you are so GOOD, finding us in every port! I like knowing that some of my LCT friends are along vicariously.

:hug: :hug: :hello1: :hello1: Love your seamail Priscilla - your trip sounds wonderful and you sure had full day of A plus excursions!! XXOO Joanna and Tony

Fantastic excursions, making lots of new and wonderful memories! Thanks for sharing, my dear friend!

How fun for you Priscilla ! Your excursions sound like they've all be FABUOUS ! So happy you're having lots of sunshine too.

Eat cookies and keep checking in....we love hearing from you.

Wow, Priscilla - it all sounds terrific. How lucky to have all the sunshine. You are really packing it all in! can't wait to read more.

Hi Priscilla,

Gret job describing the beauty of what you are seeing! Enjoy!

I tried to tell you the coffee bar will get to you every time! :)
So many of your excursions not available when we go but I'm loving every word. Enjoy your rest from 3 a day excursions and keep that wonderful seamail coming!

Great reporting Priscilla that was a VERY full day. Love reading keep posting it is like being there.

Priscilla, after having done 3 cruises to Alaska, I have to say, I know you appreciate that you are getting the plus ultimate Alaskan experience, all those great excursions with great weather. It just doesn't get any better than this! I know others going there this summer know that this is NOT the norm for weather port after port and I'm elated to know you have been so lucky!

Wow, I am impressed with 3 excursions in one day. I am so happy you are having great weather. Your description of the glaciers calving and of the orca showing off brought back great memories.

Your "three excursion day" made me exhausted just reading it Priscilla, but it sounds like it was a wonderful day.

Lorraine is such a sweetheart and we always love boarding a ship and finding her there. I was wondering where she was, so I will email her and quick hello - but if you are still on the ship and can, give her a hug for us.

Thanks for all your SeaMail, it has brought back great memories of MUSH.

Priscilla, I'm loving your reports. You're giving me great ideas for September. I'm still amazed at your 3-excursion day, envy your energy. With all the wonderful weather, I bet your photos will be fantastic. Can't wait to see them. Keep having fun.

Priscilla, I apologize if this was asked and answered, but I cannot tell from the rssc site whether your cruise included the "free" excusions, or your wonderfully described excursions have been a combination of Regent full-price excursions and/or your own independently booked excursions?

Regardless, it sounds like you're having a great time.

-------------

Eugene

Priscilla, I think we see you way off in the distance!

I'm sure she is the one waving. :)

Priscilla,
It sounds as if you really are having the ultimate Alaskan cruise. I really want to go again, when there is good weather.
Keep the seamail coming. It brings back some good memories, and really makes me want to go back.
Lynn

Hello again, this time from a more cloudy and cold Alaska than earlier in the week, but still a gorgeous place -- and it's nice finally to be wearing some of the cold weather gear we had packed. Despite the weather and ice on the bay, we were able to get in close to see Hubbard glacier this morning, which was a treat. Again, we were lucky. Dr. Charles Iliff, the very informative lecturer on board, said that at 8 a.m. it wasn't clear whether we would be able to go on into the bay, but Captain Philippe managed the trip. The captain clearly loves Alaska and has made some great maneuvers during this cruise. We are told he is called "Captain 360," and I can see why. He is a master at rotating the ship.

Anyway, Hubbard Bay was a completely different look from our Endicott Arm trip to Dawes glacier a few days ago near Juneau. Instead of bright sun and long distance views like the Endicott trip, today we saw mountaintops shrouded in clouds and mist, a gray and white vista spotted with blue glacial ice. This no doubt is a more typical view, and I'm glad to have seen things both ways.

I have another excursion to recommend, the Sea Otter and Wildlife excursion from Sitka. Yesterday morning on that excursion we saw whales again -- this time gray whales -- and I actually got a breach picture! The gray whales move more slowly but apparently rarely breach, so again we were lucky to see a couple of breaches. We'll see what my photo is like when I get home and can magnify and edit it, but I hope it turns out. We also saw sea lions and eagles. Like with the Endicott Arm (Tracy Arm in the excursion title) excursion, the commentary was fantastic. Both of those excursions are operated by a Sitka-based company named Allen Marine, and for anyone coming later this year I would recommended those two excursions and probably anything else operated by that company. They obviously place a big emphasis on imparting information and on personable staff. My impressions in this regard were confirmed by Dr. Iliff and Professor Blanche Iliff (both of them an absolute delight to talk with), who spoke very highly of Allen Marine. FYI, we boarded the catamaran for the excursion directly from the ship and were delivered at the end to the pier in Sitka, which worked out great because then we were able to explore that very interesting town. (As many of you know, but perhaps someone coming later doesn't realize, Sitka is the one port where the ship anchors and tenders passengers into town.)

Eugene, you asked about the source of our excursions. All of them have been Regent excursions, several free and a couple -- the four-glacier helicopter ride and the evening whale-watching tour out of Juneau -- at a very reasonable reduced cost from previous years. I believe, although I'm not positive without looking back at our information, that our other excursions were free.

Thanks, all, for your comments. If I've missed answering any questions, which is entirely possible, please let me know. JoAnn, if I see Lorraine again I will pass along your hello. We had a really lovely dinner with her the other night. Oh, speaking of food, we were in Prime 7 last night. What a fantastic dinner! I had the Alaskan king crab legs -- a half order and honestly I can't imagine how anyone could eat a full order! -- and John had the surf and turf, which he said was perfect. I'm not much of a steakhouse person and was ambivalent when Regent announced the change to Prime 7, but I am a convert! It was an absolutely perfect dinner.

Well, the suitcases were placed on the bed this morning by our really super steward, Marte. It's always a sobering sight to see, knowing that the cruise is almost at an end. Tomorrow morning we disembark for the Grandview scenic train ride to Anchorage, then back to Dallas by Thursday morning. Sigh. Who will tidy up for us after we leave Marte behind?

Priscilla it sounds like you and John hit the jackpot for weather and great excursions this week in Alaska. Thanks for taking time to send Sea Mail! :)

Ditto what Sue said - have loved your enthusiastic seamail!!!

Priscilla you and John obviously had a wonderfult time on your Alaska trip, I am so glad as I know how much you were looking forward to it.

Thanks for your wonderfully detailed posts.

Not only am I thrilled you all had such a great time, I feel like I've learned so much about what to do and expect in Sept. Thanks for it all.
I'll let the pilot tell you the temperature in Dallas!

Priscilla, thanks so much for posting during your cruise. I'm so glad that you and John had such a great time.

Nancy

Priscilla and John, so happy you had a great trip, it sounded wonderful. Have a safe trip home.

I never did give this thread "closure." One week ago today we disembarked the Mariner, and we still are smiling with the good memories. I've uploaded our photos to the computer, and many turned out well. I'm editing them and will provide a link soon.

Thanks to everyone for their posts on this thread. Your comments made it fun for me to post.

Betty, I had to laugh at your comment about letting the pilot tell us the temperature in Dallas. We came back the day of big storms and were delayed because of that, but now the typical high-90s are in place for the near future. And to think that in August, when it's over 100, we will be wishing for 98 degrees!