Thursday, September 12, 2019 - Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

I awoke looking forward to my breakfast in bed and a leisurely morning.  Allan was up and out already with his camera.  Breakfast came.  I opened the curtains to look out and it was surreal.  The mountain views were other worldly.

Moments later I saw two orcas swimming.  Unfortunately, I was not prepared to take a picture at that moment and it was my only Orca viewing. 

 There was an announcement that the best glacier viewing would be from 10 – 12.  It was explained that a couple of Glacier Bay National Park rangers would be boarding the ship and be available to share their knowledge.  Although I didn’t see it, apparently their boat pulled alongside the ship traveling at the same speed and they climbed up a rope ladder to board the ship.

My excitement was too much.  I immediately amended my plans for a lazy morning in bed followed by a shower.   I quickly ate some breakfast, grabbed some clothes, the binoculars, and headed up to the outside observation deck.

After 12 hours or so on the ship we purchased an app from the cruise line.  Using this app we could text each other and the other Oboes.  Since Allan and I often don’t keep the same hours it came in quite handy to locate each other.

In my haste and excitement this morning I left my phone in the room.  After being outside in the chilly 50-degree weather for an hour or so I realized the error of my ways. I returned to the room and found a love note form Allan explaining that I was not with my phone which isn’t handy when he is trying to text his location to me.  Shortly, thereafter we caught up with each other for a bit.  Cameraman Allan kept on the move.  I spent hours looking through my binoculars and taking iPhone pictures.  I saw more than I was able to get pictures of, including seals on an iceberg, the Marjorie Glacier calving ( it was small but loud) and a cute otter floating about.

After 12 hours or so on the ship we purchased an app from the cruise line.  Using this app we could text each other and the other Oboes.  Since Allan and I often don’t keep the same hours it came in quite handy to locate each other.

In my haste and excitement this morning I left my phone in the room.  After being outside in the chilly 50-degree weather for an hour or so I realized the error of my ways. I returned to the room and found a love note form Allan explaining that I was not with my phone which isn’t handy when he is trying to text his location to me.  Shortly, thereafter we caught up with each other for a bit.  Cameraman Allan kept on the move.  I spent hours looking through my binoculars and taking iPhone pictures.  I saw more than I was able to get pictures of, including seals on an iceberg, the Marjorie Glacier calving and a cute otter floating about.

It’s amazing how tiny this excursion ship looks from the 16^th floor of a cruise ship.  It does help to give a perspective on the size of the icebergs.  They were small but not the large ice cube size they looked with the naked eye.

In the bay the water was placid and calm.

The excitement of the glaciers lasted well into the afternoon.  Eventually, I did get that shower!  This was the night of our second “select” dinner.  This is a dinner at a restaurant that is not included in the basic ship package but a perk that we got.  Allan, Dave and Sue chose to dine at a Japanese, hibachi style restaurant. 

Despite all the on board hand-washing Sue came down with a cold.  She viewed the glaciers from her balcony and took a pass on the Japanese Restaurant.

Dawn, Rick and I dined at a fine French Restaurant, Le Bistro.  Above is pictured my veal tenderloin.  Our dinner was luscious.

Another extraordinary day in Alaska concludes and we are on to Ketchikan.