Colorado Cruiser: Day 6

Glacier Bay

Nannette has been enjoying breakfast in bed every morning of the cruise. She says it makes her feel like a queen to wake up and have her breakfast delivered, then lounge in her bath robe, eating breakfast, reading, and having control of the remote. I'm not sure what that last part is supposed to mean.

But this morning Nan didn't order breakfast. We both dressed and headed up to the Lido deck to find the others. But we didn't find them. We got our breakfast and ate and kept scanning the crowd until we finally left.

The ship was nearing Glacier Bay so we went out onto the bow of the ship to watch the passage. The temp was about 48 degrees and with the breeze it felt more like 40 degrees. We took a few pictures, then headed back inside.

A couple of National Park rangers had come on board the ship early in the morning, and starting at 9:00 they began broadcasting throughout the ship a running commentary on the glaciers, mountains, and other extraordinary sights around us. People all around the ship began spotting seals, otters, dolphins, and whales. I lost track of just how many whales, otters, and seals I saw. I watched 4 whales slowly circling an island as we sailed past. Each whale would blow 3 times, then their back would raise out of the water as they began to dive, and lastly their tail would rise up out of the water.

We finally reached the head of the bay while we were eating lunch. We couldn't quite see the glacier, from where we sat, but it didn't really matter because the ship slowly began to spin in place and the glacier slowly came into view. We sat eating and watching the glacier slowly move around us.

We saw one large chunk of ice break off the face of the glacier and make a huge splash in the water. We didn't hear the big crack and rumble that you can sometimes get, but it was still pretty cool to see a hundred tons of ice break off. And behind it was the deep blue ice we were told to expect. I guess the perfect crystals of water show blue, but within a few hours the crystal begins to degrade and turns white.

We continued watching the boat pirouette in front of the glacier until the captain turned us back down the channel and we began to make our way out of glacier bay.

At about the same time we all split off to our separate destinations. I wanted a short nap and to finish off the previous day's blog. So, back in my cabin I propped the door open and positioned the table and computer so I could watch out and hear any more commentary on the TV.

Once the blog was done, I went up to the Crows nest. John showed up at about the same time so we found seats and watched out the windows. Nearby us were the 2 park rangers that had been giving commentary. I guess they were done and were now just chatting. One lady had only been doing glacier bay for the current season. Someone asked her what her scariest experience was, and she said it was getting back off of ships like ours.

To get on the ship, her boat pulls up, a ladder is lowered onto the deck and she climbs up. But to get off, she has to reach her foot around backward to start down the ladder and she has to feel the whole way down until with a final hop she lands on her boat. She says it terrifies her every time.

We sat watching even more whales, otters, and mountain goats along the route. We reached another large glacier and once again, the ship slowly spun about so that every side of the ship could see the views. We didn't see another block of ice break off, but it was still great views.

After a couple of spins the ship headed out a different channel and a short time later we saw the Park Service boat pull up to offload the rangers. Having heard the description of how scary it was, we hung over the side to watch them leave. No one took a plunge in the very cold water and it didn't seem all that scary to me, but I wasn't the one climbing down a ladder backward on a rocking ship.

After dinner some of us were planning to meet in the lounge for a few hands of cards before the evening's entertainment. I ran back to the room to get something and wound up laying on the bed nearly comatose. I really needed that nap but I was a bit late getting down to the entertainment.

We watched an hour of performers sing and dance to some of the top love songs. It was pretty good.

Afterward we went up to the Crow's Nest because Nannette was going to sing karaoke. She took a long time to pick a song, so she was one of the last ones to sing. There were some OK singers and a few really bad ones. Nan sang pretty good compared to the rest. The rest of the evening was spent chatting and watching the sun set.

Yet more beautiful scenery