You Are What You Eat.

Breakfast and coffee delivered to our room.................... oh how we love this cruise feature!!!! One great thing about being in a small ship is the awesome docking space we get. Our ship was smack dab in the middle of the dock and all we had to do was walk down the gangway and into the town. Ketchican is a cute little town and we spent a few hours walking through shops, going to the museum, and walking along Creek Street. We walked across one waterway that contained so many Salmon, you could see them practically stacked on top of each other.

P-  Let's go look at that totem pole over there.  The one with the bird on the top.

G- Hmmmm.  Chief Johnson Totem Pole.  Isn't that redundant?

P- Ha!

Sickness is such a worry for cruise ships that there are Purell dispensers located all over this ship. As you show your card to walk back up the gangway, there is a ship worker who squirts Purell into your hand. It kind've reminded me of kindergarten but is comforting to know that Holland America is doing everything possible to keep their ships healthy.

Back on board we ate lunch, read, enjoyed champagne happy hour in The Mix (not to be confused with The Mix in San Francisco) and went to dinner. To our surprise and good fortune, we ran into Jackie and Hal at the Maitre d's desk, so we asked to sit together. We expected to sit at a 4 top, but were sat at a round 8 top with the 4 other people already there.  We went through the standard introductions...... to Phyl's left, Dave & his wife Leigh (approximately late 60's, from Michigan but currently living in Tucson, AZ) and to their left, their daughter, Diane & her husband Rick (approximately early - mid 40's, living in Baltimore, MD). 
 
We were initially unhappy about this seating arrangement, but after the conversation began, were reminded to stop judging based on looks.  Not sure how many times we're gonna have to be reminded of this before it sticks, but we're workin on it. Dave & Leigh were very cool and interesting; they are retired and currently traveling the US in a large van.  They seemed much younger than their ages and had good travel stories. After we ordered dinner, we began to talk about the kinds of food eaten in different areas.
 
Rick - I love seafood, especially the crabs in Baltimore.
 
P - We love Louisiana blue crabs and can't wait to get home to eat a ton of Louisiana seafood. Hopefully there will be some after BP has killed most of it.
 
Rick - Do you eat raw oysters?
 

Diane - Ugh!  That is one thing I cannot eat........raw oysters!
 
G- I love raw oysters.  As N'awlins girls, we will pretty much eat anything that you can shuck, boil, fry, or cook in a nice gravy.
 
Dave - Have you ever eaten alligator?
 
P- Yes.  Some of it tastes like chicken, some parts like pork...  When we went home for Mardi Gras this year, my brother roasted a pig and it was divine!! 
 
Dinner was served, causing a lull in the conversation.  As we each focused on our meal, Dave leaned to Phyl ............
 
Dave- Have you ever tasted beaver?
 
P- (jerks her head, kicks Gina under the table, and lets out a tiny gasp) No, I can't say that I have......but my brother eats Raccoon......he's like Jethro Bodine.....
 

G- (eyes bulging, turns head so fast to look at Dave, almost gets whiplash) What does it taste like?
 
Dave- Oh, it's a red, succulent, sweet meat.  You should really try it, if you get the chance.
 
P- (still gasping for air)  Ok, Dave, I would love to have some beaver. (looks conspiratorially at Gina)
 
Dinner concluded without additional excitement and we left the dining room in search of a strong drink. 
 

Come quickly!!

The day dawned, or maybe it didn't.  Our cave remained dark as pitch, so we never knew if it was day or night, or had any inkling of the time. Certainly we slept in, and we had coffee delivered to our room................room service is a fantastic thing!!! We thoroughly enjoyed lounging and not having to pack up Stormy.  We were in the middle of enjoying this restfulness, sitting in bed, drinking our coffee ..............

G- What is that sound?

P- Sounds like water.  Did the toilet flush properly?

G- Yes, it flushed normally (I am saying as I walk to the bathroom)..... Holy shit! The toilet is overflowing!!!  It flushed normally, but the water keeps running to refill it.  There is no valve to shut the water off.  SHIT!!!!!

P- Move over and let me see.  OMG!  The water is getting deep!  I hope it doesn't go into the room!! (Phyl flushed it, and the water goes down a little, but keeps running.)  Go call someone!!!!

G- Yes!!  This is room 364, the toilet is overflowing and water is just running over the bowl like a waterfall!!  Send someone quick!!!!!  (I hang up the phone and run back to the bathroom.  The water continues to flow and there is about 2-3 inches on the bathroom floor.  Fortunately, the ship is tilted in the direction of the wall and not the doorway, and the water was not spilling into the room.

P- I've flushed this bitch about 10 times and I'm just going to keep flushing it until someone gets here!  There is no way to turn the water off!!!

G- No shit!  What do you think I was doing when I had my head practically under the toilet?  I was trying to find a valve.  Just keep flushing!  At least you're stopping more water from spilling over.  Throw me those towels so I can make a dam by the door.

P-  Listen!  I think it has stopped running. 

G-  Ugh!!!  Thank you, Jesus!!!

Just then, Moose, the room steward knocks on the door.  We explain what happened and go sit back down on the bed.  He flushes the toilet several times and it flushes and refills normally.  He tells us he is going to have the plumber look at it, uses a plastic jug to scoop up the water, wipes everything and gives us new towels.  And, just like that he disappears.

G- I'm not sure he believed our account of that incident.

P - WTF?!  We certainly didn't just let the shower run and flood the bathroom.

G- Just like when you bring your car to a mechanic when it's making a noise, but when you get to the mechanic, the noise stops and the damn car is fine.  Damn toilet!!!

The remainder of the day was very uneventful.  It was a day at sea, and it rained all day. We did what people on cruises do, we ate constantly. We went to a lecture on art history and one on Tai Chi. Otherwise, we spent the afternoon reading in the Library. Neither of us could recall if the very young and wild Carnival cruise ships that we had sailed out of Nola had Libraries. We kind've doubt it. That crowd was considerably younger and the activities leaned to those poolside, including contests to see who can put the most fruit into his or her bathing suit. On this Alaskan cruise, it is far too cool for poolside activities and the passengers don't play with fruit. They eat it. Prunes especially; to keep themselves regular!! I'm not sure exactly what it says about us that we were very happy to sit in the library and read. I guess we were tired from traveling and we're not as young as we use to be. At least we know that when the mood takes us, we can still be wild and stuff fruit down our pants.

This night was formal night and we dressed as formally as we could with the limited amount of formal clothes we had. We didn't see Jackie and Hal at dinner and instead were sat with 4 women. It is ironic that there are some people you run into everywhere you go on the ship and other people you never see. 2 of the ladies we had dinner with we have subsequently seen all over the ship and the other 2 we have never seen again.

After dinner we went to the show, a sing and dance number one would expect on a cruise ship, then went up to the Crow's Nest for Motown and 50's and 60's dancing. We had an awesome few hours dancing and knocked out when we hit the bed.

Mr. BIG the drug mule.

As insane as this sounds, Sunday morning we got up and were at the bus stop for 9 am to catch the bus to the airport. Even though we had just driven from Vancouver to Seattle in the prior 2 days, we were now catching a motor coach at the Seattle airport to take us back to Vancouver to get on the cruise ship. We wanted to just stay in Vancouver, catch the cruise there, then fly back to Vancouver from Anchorage, but the cost of a flight to Vancouver is 3 times as much as the cost of a flight to Seattle, so it was considerably cheaper to drive back to Seattle and take a bus to Vancouver. Also, we left Stormy with Alyce & Dave.

P- I hope the Canadians don't become suspicious of our intentions since we just left yesterday and we're returning today.

G- I don't think we seem very suspicious so we should be fine. Besides, it's way more difficult to get into America, even if you're American, than Canada. Well, you might look suspicious since you're funny looking.

P- Shut up, ass. Let me in your country, bitch!! (this should be read like "say my name, bitch" from American Pie).  What's going on up there?  Are they gonna take us off the bus to go through customs?

G- Yes. In a minute.  The bus driver just told them that the BIG guy on the "mobility scooter" and the woman with the walker need someone to come to the bus to check them in.  We're all going inside in a minute.

After going through customs, half of the bus riders are back on the bus, Mr.BIG and walker lady have been cleared, and we're just waiting for the rest of the people.

P- Did you hear that? Mr. BIG just told the bus driver he has to use the bathroom, so he's going to go inside to pee.  Oh, and walker lady is going to go pee too.

G-  H-E-L-L-O!!!!  Did they not just tell the customs guy that they had to be checked on the bus because they were too immobile to get off?  And now they're going to get off the bus to go in and pee?  I mean, I understand that they have to pee, but they could have peed and been checked in like the rest of us.

P- And there is no way in hell Mr. BIG is getting his huge ass down the bus isle to the bathroom in the back.

G- Sweet baby Jesus!  If Mr. BIG tried to wedge himself into that bathroom, even sideways, he'd be stuck in there for weeks!!!  They'd have to bring a vat of oil and a crane to try and pry him out!!  I practically had to turn sideways to get in.

P- The Canadians are probably thinking something fishy is going on.............if Mr. BIG is a drug mule!!  Maybe he really only weights 140 pounds, and the remaining 400 pounds is cocaine!!

G- You watch too much TV.  I've never seen cocaine look like whale blubber, and if some drug lord has accomplished that, he's a genius. 

We finally got to see Vancouver while we drove across the city to the cruise ship dock. The weather was beautiful as the ship pulled away from the dock. We got a great spot on the deck and enjoyed the scenery and several Alaskan beers as we watched Vancouver fade into the distance. Jeffrey, the bartender, sensed immediately that we were people who enjoyed a cold beverage now and again, and stuck to us like white on rice.

Booking the cruise at the last minute could have been dangerous, and we did have an inside cabin, but it was very spacious with a King size bed, a sofa, large shower, and ample storage. We were happy to be able to put our clothes in closets and be in one place for a whole week.



Our most fortunate event of the day came when we went to dinner and were sat, via open dining, with an adorable couple (Jackie & Hal) who would become our cruise buddies and favorite people we met on the cruise. Hal just celebrated his 80th birthday, Jackie has the sweetest British accent, and they have wonderful senses of humor!