Alaska, 2006
(or Northern Exposure)
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June 19, 2006 (Monday)
Helene and I woke up at sea at 8:00 this morning. Helene has thus far coped well with both motion sickness (thanks to Bonine) and her anxiety about being aboard anything on water larger than a cabin cruiser. If I'm reading the map correctly, we're somewhere off the Pacific coast of Canada en route to the inside passage of southeast Alaska. The Sun Princess had been steaming all night, and we couldn't see much but clouds and sea from our picture window. We showered in a bathroom smaller than most walk-in closets and headed up to Deck 14 for the Horizon Cafe and buffet breakfast. Incidentally, it will be at least a year before I want to eat cafeteria-style again. My general observation is that either the layout is less than efficient in the Horizon, or that the passengers there need to pay a little more attention to their surroundings instead of shuffling like a herd of zombified cattle toward the next tray of sausage. Seriously, I lost count of how many people cut me off or nearly dumped my tray.
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Anyway, we ate our breakfast and prepared to attend the naturalist's presentation "Introduction to Alaska" in the Princess Theatre at 11:15. Alan Cortash, thus far the only American employee I've seen on board, is a naturalist who goes with the ship and provides commentary throughout the trip on wildlife, scenery, and locales as the Sun Princess cruises. In this presentation, he covered much of the primary wildlife we should expect to see in on our trip: bald eagles, seals, whales, and black and brown bears. Incidentally, according to Alan, the way you can tell the difference between black and brown bears is size, or that "the black bear will climb up the tree after you; the brown bear will push the tree down." Good to know. He also mentioned the forward observation deck that I've been looking for can be found on Deck 10. Following the presentation, Helene and I went back to the stateroom to get slightly warmer clothing and went in search of the forward observation deck. We couldn't find it.
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I took a shot from the bow rail on Deck 11 anyway, but being in open water off Vancouver Island with hazy, overcast weather, there wasn't much to view. Also, being forward meant bearing the full brunt of the wind. Rather than stay out in that, we went back to the stateroom, changed into workout gear, and hit the Lotus Spa exercise room. I rode an exercise bike for the first time in I-don't-know-when and worked up a bit of a sweat. I still fail to see how anyone feels any kind of rush from physical exertion that doesn't involve a sport.
It's now 3:10, and I've returned from an impromptu round of Caribbean Stud. I bought $50 worth of chips and walked away from the table a half hour later with $155 worth of chips. This is a good streak; I'm gambling on house money now, and I'm up over $300. If this keeps up for five days, this vacation could pay for itself. Doubtful, but an interesting thought. I'm not about to let a two-day streak make me think I can do this for a living. And now, we're off to join the family for an afternoon tea in the Regency.
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We met the gang at 3:30 in the Regency dining room. Why does my wife order coffee at an afternoon tea? We had an okay time, but the tea and snacks were served by waiters moving from table to table instead of the more traditional presentation of having platters and kettles at each individual table. Also, the wait staff seemed a little put out by everything, which was odd given the usual graciousness of staff up to that point. Following that, we explored the ship some more with the Goodes and Christiansens. Once everyone split and Helene had returned to the stateroom, I found myself with a little time to kill before we were supposed to meet for the late seating. I sat in on another session of Caribbean Stud and lost $80. Proceeding over to the blackjack table, I made it back and a little extra.
We all met for dinner at 8:00. I had the sirloin, which was good (although it turned out a little more done than I'd anticipated). Helene and I went back up to the Riviera Deck and lounged in a couple of chairs watching the sea roll by before sunset. We didn't see any whales or dolphins, but our spot was sheltered from the breeze and warm enough to sit and enjoy the peace.
Helene turned in after that. I hit the tables at 11:00 to see if I could keep the streak alive. I ended up playing Blackjack at the table for an hour and a half; Cindi and Joel joined me for the last half hour. I started off losing $80 in chips, buying $60 more, and ended cashing in $305 in chips at the cage at 12:30. It's been two days aboard ship, and I'm up nearly $500 from table play. It seems like I'm playing well if I have the chips to ride out enough bad turns of the cards. Might as well enjoy it while it lasts. We're due to hit Ketchikan early tomorrow morning, and we'll likely have a pretty strenuous day ahead of us with our snorkeling excursion on the docket. I'm going to sign off for the evening.
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