Ship life

Here are a few photos from our daily life on the ship.

Mom and Dad as we leave Vancouver.
The hub and I - same place!Half of our state room. The other half was a sitting area with a full sofa, desk area, flat screen television, table and chair along with floor to ceiling windows leading to our private verandah.

Each evening we were greeted by towel animals. Here are a few.

The last night on the ship was the dining crew's night to shine with theatrical presentation of dinner. We all got chef's toque to wear.

Here's the hub:
And Dad:
And the ladies!
Our waiter Bobby.
"Yum-Yum" was there each night to supply us with after dinner mints and fruits. He was the crew member of the month for August.
The hub with our room stewards Sy and Henky (also know as Hanky Panky). They were responsible for the towel animals that greeted us each evening.
Our ship, the Statendam of Holland America Lines was wonderful. Our accommodations were roomy, the food was fabulous and the service was beyond excellent. The crew was so accommodating and helpful with my mom who needed a wheelchair to make the trip. I would recommend this line if you are looking for a smaller, more intimate experience (about 1250 guests versus over 3000 in some of the big ships). There were no climbing walls or wave pools but understated elegance and a wonderful relaxing atmosphere.

What do "Juneau?"

The second stop on our cruise was Juneau. Here's a view of the town from our ship.

At the top of the Robert's Tramway, just a block from the cruise ship docks, we saw this little lady. She had been shot and lost the vision in her left eye.

The hub, my dad and I took a little hike up the mountain. The walk down was a little easier!

Here's the view from the tram car. Our ship is the smaller one on the right.

Later that day we took a helicopter ride over the Taku glacier. Our pilot gave us a great tour of the area. And yes, the glaciers are that blue!

When we landed, my mom was going to wait inside the helicopter.

She decided that at 80, she wasn't likely to get back to Alaska, so she climbed out and here we are, standing on the Taku glacier.

Love this photo. I think my husband was jealous that he didn't get the front seat.

Here's a glacial river. It looked like a slide in a water park.

Our second stop was on a ridge overlooking the glacier. The temp was about 20 degrees warmer here. That's our pilot on the right.

This is one side trip that I would recommend. There was just something magical about actually walking on a glacier.

Ketchikan Alaska

Here's a peek at our first stop in Alaska - Ketchikan. Beautiful town - with lots of history.

I know this isn't the most clear photo, but if you look closely, you'll see tons of salmon. It was still spawning time in southern Alaska and the salmon were so thick in this creek you couldn't see the bottom.

Saw this water fountain made of old spigots. I would love to put something like this in my backyard.

Looking down Creek Street, the famous "red light" district in Ketchikan. There's a brothel museum which we didn't tour (we had an outing planned and didn't have time) and most of the buildings, whether shop or residence, had a red light bulb in their outdoor lighting fixture.

More later.