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Up late and took breakfast in the Lido.
We plowed across the Gulf of Alaska most of the day, arriving at Hubbard Glacier around 1500. Then Glenn came in, and we all sat on the verandah watching the glacier. We saw several calvings of ice off the glacier, usually hearing a big CRACK and then seeing ice slide into the water.
When the ship left the bay we sat. Around 1900 we changed for dinner. At 1930 we waited at the door to the dining room with many others. We were then escorted to table of us, Teters, and Glenn.
Then the fun began. We ordered drinks. The waiter came and took our food order. We waited and talked. Some drinks arrived. I got a Gimlet instead of a Gibson. The soup course arrived. I ate my French Onion soup. Tom yelled at the waiter to fetch my drink. He ran off and returned with it immediately as though it had been waiting somewhere. The entree came. Everyone praised the food. We received our desserts; D had port, I passed.
The poor service may have had to do with a large crowd all at once. Food 4.0, service 2.2.
We wandered off to the Wheelhouse and ran into more of the clan. We had a drink, then Dolores quit for the evening. I sat for another drink, reminiscing with Beak Warner on the SSEP characters we'd met and our careers.
We arose late and took breakfast in the Lido again. It's pretty good food, but hard to find a table.
At 1100 we were far enough into Glacier Bay that the running commentary began. The commentator pointed out brown bears, mountain goats, a humpback whale.
At 1300 we were at the head of the bay. The commentator noted it is 63 miles to the nearest sign of habitation. Within the 63-mile circle there are no roads, no cabins, no huts, nothing done by man.
But the captain put us a couple of cables from the Marjorite Glacier and allowed plenty of time for picture taking. In the midst of the time there, Glenn came to the cabin and helped us enjoy it. We sent for beer and chatted while the Park Service guy gave his commentary.
He noted the difference between hanging glaciers and valley glaciers. He went on and on about human-caused global warming. Climate change is happening but I'm a skeptic regarding human involvement.
The little thing to the right is a sea otter.
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Island Princess (IP) docked at the long pier behind Volundam and the railroad tracks next to her. We hiked the pier and boarded a long-haul bus (part of the tour) at 0921.
The tour deal was to take us to Carcross, Yukon Territory, Canada and return. The bus climbed the narrow road up the grade toward White Pass Summit. We had glimpses of scenery through the clouds and fog as we ascended. At Canadian Customs, an agent came aboard to examine passports. Then we drove through a bit of British Columbia to to Carcross in Yukon Territory.
We had time to walk the town. D headed for gift shops and the general store while Glenn & I went tot the bakery and split a HUGE cinnamon bun. When we returned to the depot, the White Pass and Yukon (WP&Y) train had moved to the depot and was ready for boarding. We hopped on and waited.
The train departed and slithered along the south shore of Lake Bennett, a famous place where gold-seekers in '98 built rafts to drift down the Yukon after ice breakup to Dawson and the streets made of gold. If interested in Klondike history, read "Klondike; the Last Great Gold Rush" by Pierre Berton, who actually grew up in Dawson.
Upon reaching Bennett station, the train stopped so we could walk through the various exhibits in the old depot. For a real understanding of this railroad, read "Along the White Pass High Iron" by J. D. True, an engineer on the line in the days of long freight trains and rotary snowplows.
The photo shows the train stopped at Bennett.
Then the train cautiously topped the summit and started coasting down to Skagway. We went down the steep gradient by going through tunnels and across bridges built over 1,000 foot deep chasms (right). Note the railroad across the canyon and the road on the far side of the valley.
Finally we reached Skagway in the rain. We boarded the bus to the pier, reached it, and hiked the distance to the ship. There we climbed to normal decks and to our cabin. It was about 1750, so we were ready to rest.
Later, we did dinner in Open Seating with a British couple whom we enjoyed immensely. Lots of fun and information-swapping. Then to Crooners for a drink with Glenn and then to bed.