Simplicity and Beauty, Glitz and Fun

Here are two glaciers which we saw from the boat. The bluer one is Hubbard Glacier as we were just approaching it. It is my favorite picture of the whole trip. It is true that this is a trip for those who are willing to wait for the good stuff and who are willing to travel, because Alaska is a huge state and you need a lot of patience to see anything worthwhile. Yet, for my money, these few views, the gorgeous mountains we saw, and the roaming wildlife are so worthwhile.

The second day on board, we spent watching the glaciers from my sister's balcony. It was cool and we stayed only long enough to get the views. It takes about an hour or so for the boat to pass a glacier from the first end to the last tail of it. I think that at the right season, you might be able to go and sit on board to do this.

Evenings were lots of fun. We "dressed for dinner." That's a joke because we didn't have enough room to take the fancy things I would have liked. Some people did. On "Formal Night." we were in the swing music area and a very old couple were dressed elegantly and doing a fancy two step. Then a couple come on and did the fox trot. (The music actually was from other eras, too.) They were perfect. They moved as one. Larry thought they might be the dance instructors on the ship. Whatever they were, they were great.

Another evening we saw a ventriloquist. We saw a very funny comedian named Scott Wyler. He had material that made me laugh out loud and it was pretty clean, too. We also enjoyed his act on the last night, an all different routine. There was a LasVegas style show with someone who used to be on T.V. and the movies. (Sorry, I forgot the name.) We saw a Motor City show, too. It was the 50s part of these shows that I liked best. The rest was good singing and dancing, but the costumes were too glitzy for my taste.

Each day, there was a ship newspaper with all of the events listed. We also played a trivia game (and won, or I should say, tied.) played Bingo, and enjoyed the shops that were on board.

Everyone wants to know about the food. Here's the deal: If you chose "anytime dining" as we did, you could eat at the buffet on the top of the ship and have lots of just about everything. The desserts were best and I did give up my "no sugar" for the cruise. There was a fancy place for evening, but you could have lunch there, too. Here we had elegant waiters, and that cute food I can "play food." They drizzle something on the plate and put a square of meat on top. But you get lots of courses and you can order whatever you want. I enjoyed halibut and salmon several times and even lobster. My favorite was when they finally got to Italian night and I had spaghetti.

Next time, I'll tell of going off the ship for two of our excursions. I'll leave with this tease. "Liarsville" What could that mean?