Gopack/Ginny:

Thanks Mush for the info. I'm going to print it and save it.

Cheers! Ray

Thanks Ginny. Maybe it was not a Captain Larry group I saw go out on a private excursion. There were more than 20 people that on the boat I was referring to in my post.

There are a lot of independent operators.I have probably just heard the name Captain Larry on the posts.

Alaska is a great place that is for sure and there are so many options to choose from too. All the hints you can give will be greatly appreciated. Hang around on MUSH and be one of our experts!

Send Karen your picture - dying to see it.

Bubble-feeding - "Humpbacks cooperate in hunting and have developed a method of rounding up highly concentrated masses of prey that is called bubble-net feeding. The hunting members of a pod form a circle 10-100 feet (3.1-31 m) across and about 50 feet (15 m) under the water. Then the humpbacks blow a wall of bubbles as they swim to the surface in a spiral path. The cylindrical wall of bubbles makes the trapped krill, plankton, and/or small fish move to the surface of the water in a giant, concentrated mass. The humpbacks then eat a large, hearty meal. "

Masaki

Masaki: What did score on your SAT'S??? Or did you google that info??? Joanna

Mark asked me for more info on Salmon fishing. Is it a precruise excursion or is it something offered during the cruise?

Tony is gung ho, too, about salmon fishing - Joanna

Mark and Tony need to go fishing with my Mark and the boys, this August. They are going out for three days, staying in a place called Soldotna (about 2 1/2 hours from Anchorage).

Joanna - you crack me up! I put that in quotes to indicate that I had copied it from somewhere else. I did know what bubble feeding was (I've done around 3 whale watching tours now all together - I SHOULD know what bubble feeding is by now!) but the web page that I quoted the definition from said it much better than I would have. :D

Masaki

I know I was teasing you Masaki - thank you for your private messages to me - all is fine with the back for now - hope it continues - Joanna

Yes, they offer Salmon fishing Karen AND then you bring back your salmon and the kitchen cooks it for you and serves it in the Compass Rose. Had some of the best salmon I have ever eaten in Alaska caught by some of our group. YES - bring Alaska on and and lets INSIST all the boys go fishing for our dinner.

Hi Guys!!! I'm a friend of Colonel Wes & Ida - and he directed me to your website and I'm really enjoying your messages to each other. I'm also trying to go on your Alaskan cruise with all of you (altho I'm a single) - since Wes spoke so highly of your website - and I can see why (wish I was joining them in Tahiti!) Anyway, I'm compiling my "Intro" - and will get that out soon. I love to cruise - and just wanted to add a few things about Alaska - I've gone there on my own (no cruise), and have cruised there twice recently (am also going again this May - on a "Back-to-Back"). Whittier is a new port that just recently opened up - as Seward is becoming too popular (ie too many cruise ships) and have raised their port fees. It actually is much closer to Anchorage than Seward (only about an hour), and you can either catch a train or a shuttle/bus down (which also stops at a wildlife preserve that shelters animals that had been injured). When we went - there was a tunnel pass that is only one way - thus open to traffic at certain times only. That may have changed in the last year. Both drop you off near/at the port - when we were there last May, there wasn't a whole lot in Whittier, but they were building things up. Seward has a lot more going on - to include a glacier that you can walk up to, and wildlife cruises and/or fishing expeditions (my sister did the wildlife cruise and saw all sorts of great sea creatures - including a pod of orcas, and a sea otter that was hamming it up for the cameras. Whereas I did the halibut fishing - not too successful). Denali is great - but a bit of a drive to get there (easily managable in one day - if you don't make too many stops). There is also a train that goes to Denali that really has some fantastic views (ran @$100 each way). We LOVED Denali - and the park may be open to auto's in early May or late summer (*they close it to auto's at a certain point - only busses can continue on during the summer). My first trip to Alaska was in late Aug (no cruise) - and we could see the Northern Lights in Denali. Anchorage has a great craft fair every Saturday during the summer - not sure how long it runs till in Aug/Sep, but it has all sorts of great items. Anyway - just some thoughts - hope you don't mind!!

Ms Marie

Ms Marie,

Welcome aboard!!

Hi Ms Marie! Welcome to the board! I hope that you will join us in Alaska!

Marie, great to see you posting..welcome aboard gal...r/wes

Ms Marie,

Welcome to this board. You are a wealth of knowledge about Alaska! You will be very popular on the MUSH board!

Ginny

Also, welcome to a fellow Texan!

Welcome, Thank you for posting.

KAren,
I am sure that it can be arranged for him to hire a boat and get some boys from the ship to go play with.. I know that hired boats 9 tours would be alot more fun then the ships ones).. plus whoever goes brings back dinner for LCT group.. or they don't come back

Not me. If I get aboard the fishing boat, it'll scare all the salmon away for miles. I'm easily the worst fisherman ever - I can chase away fish like nobody's business!

Welcome, Marie!! And I love the avatar! :)

And Joanna - good to hear about your back!

Masaki

I love this idea of making the boys catch our dinner! Masaki, Mark is no Babe Winkleman so I might end up eating minnows for dinner! I think you should reconsider being a member of the Hunt and Fish Club!

Ms. Marie!
It really is nice to see another fellow single on the board!! :D
Sheri

Not to be a killjoy, but I thought that Radisson was forced to discontinue the "bring your catch on board for dinner" policy because of the new FDA policies regarding raw food items on cruise ships. The mass market lines have had severe sanitation problems and so now all food items must be pre-frozen before being brought on board. I may be wrong about this applying to the salmon fishing (and I really hope I am because I would love to go fishing as well), but I think Chef Tobias had mentioned that they couldn't do it any more. :(

barbeque on the dock? lol

I did a search today for the picture of my Grandmother and her prize winning 41-pounder salmon (wish I had a scanner) that won her a frigidaire! It's a newspaper clip from 1936 and she is wearing a DRESS!! :rolleyes:
I will bring it to show on MUSH. My family were great salmon fishermen and women (me too!) The fish and my Grandmother were from Portland, Oregon.

How cool is THAT! It's definitely worth a trip to your local copy shop to have it scanned!

That's somewhat depressing, Lawrence - I was getting all excited about the possibilities of *fresh* fish on board.

Suzie - that's awesome. I'd love to see the photo myself (at least, I can dream about catching big fish)

Masaki

Oops sorry , missed your post Ms. Marie- so welcome to the board and hope you will be a merry Musher too!

Our family (3 generations ranging in age from 4 - 70) will be going on the Mariner in June, '05, so I'll let you all know how our trip goes and which excursions we enjoyed.

Alli, Welcome to the board!
We will be waiting to hear every detail! How wonderful that you will have 3 generations on board!

Yo!!! As for Salmon fishing (or halibut, etc) - I do know that some of the local hotels will cook your "fresh fish" catch after a fishing excursion - ours did in Seward (we booked that hotel on our own prior to our cruise - not sure what they offer on pre/post cruise excursions). Of course, I didn't catch anything (probably scared them away as well!!), but others on our fishing trip did, and LOVED their snapper that nite.

Keep Smiling!!!

Alli - welcome!!

Masaki

Alli, a hearty welcome to LCT to you too..r/wes

Not sure about the rules or when they were supposed to take effect, but I can tell you that on our Mariner cruise this past August, our tablemates had their freshly caught salmon cooked on board and served for dinner.

Dreps - good to know!

Masaki

Its been a few years since I was on the Navigator in Alaska but my memory of the salmon fishing excursion offered by Radisson is that they are very expensive. Not positive of the amount but it seems that it was about $200 pp for a half day of fishing. (I used to pay half of that to fish a WHOLE day out of Westport Washington) It might be better, if you have several from the group that want to fish, to arrange a private charter. Depending on the size of the group & the size of the fishing boat, you should be able to find a charter with a per person cost a lot less. One of the biggest salmon fishing ports is Ketchikan.

And with a private charter, if you can't or don't want to take your catch on board for dinner, they can usually arrange for it to be cleaned, cut, vacuuum packed, flash frozen, and shipped to your home. Not cheap tho.

Since Radisson's excursions aren't listed yet, I went to Holland America to see what sort of things might be offered. Holy smokes, the choices! My question, is it possible to hike on a glacier without forcing Mark on a Helicopter to get there?

This next question might be dumb because I don't even know if there is snow where we are going in late summer but is there any kind of snowmobile excursions?

I don't even have my Med excursions picked out yet for this year and I am looking at excursions for 2006 already :)

Karen, I don't recall any snowmobile excursions. The glaciers were all "inland" - the port cities are no right up close to where the glaciers were. So we flew to them. There was one excursion to the Taku Glacier Lodge. That was my favorite. We took a 45 minute plane ride over quite a few glaciers. We took off in the water and landed in water too. I have never seen scenery more breathtaking than I did on that plane ride. It was narrated (recorded) and you heard the narration via headphones. The weather at the lodge was maybe 60 degrees and right across the lake or river was the glacier. There was a live bear and we had a salmon barbeque.
Here is the info: (Bear included)
http://www.alaskaone.com/takulodge/

In Juneau, it's possible to take a bus to get to the Mendenhall Visitors Center which is located right in front of Mendenhall Glacier - so if you want to get up close and personal with a glacier without a helicopter ride, it's possible ... but you won't get the same effect. :)

Masaki

I suppose we will have to helicopter in, then. Poor dear Mark has a morbid fear of flying. Since he has never been on a helicopter, perhaps he will find some joy in the scenery around him and and unclench his blue fists for a minute :)

We normally sedate him for longer flights but I don't think I would want him tipsy on a glacier :eek:

We did just fly to South Carolina a few weeks ago and he was the calmest I have ever seen him on an airplane. I think he really liked this airline, the flight was on Independence air, it was half full and very comfortable. I have a new favorite airline for East coast jaunts to take the place of Air Tran!

Maybe in a helicopter he won't feel so anxious and will be able to enjoy himself!

Karen - I can supply the drugs if needed ... :)

Masaki

Masaki, perhaps we can just conk him on the head and drag him behind us :)

Since I am bound and determined to walk on a glacier and I have NO fear of flying (but I do have a huge a fear of the dentist!!), I am sure I can talk him into it.