Alaska Adventures: Day 8--June 26

Sat June 26: Our bags were due out at 8:30 but we weren’t leaving until 11:00, so we built our third fire and ate our breakfast and read or computed for a few hours. After updating the blog online at the lodge, it was time to board the motor coach once again for the two hour drive to Whittier. As we drove along we spotted more moose. Just outside Whittier we passed through the one-way mountain tunnel which takes 6½ minutes. It was built for trains originally and, until it was recently paved along the tracks, buses and cars had to load onto the railcars to get to Whittier. There are still no other roads into Whittier, a tiny fishing town where nearly everyone lives in one large building of condos. It was the main port for Alaska until the earthquake of 1964 caused extensive damage and people turned to Anchorage. Traffic into town goes on the half hour and, after one quick stop to see our first glacier up close, we drove slowly through it and then through town until it was time for our bus to disembark and go through security to board the ship. We got onboard the Diamond Princess at about 1:00 and went straight to our first delicious buffet meal. We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the huge ship and its many decks. Ann and I managed to try two pools and two hot tubs on three different decks before we went for dinner. Our balcony cabin on the port side is quite luxurious and has all the comforts of home. From it we watched bald eagles soaring along the shoreline. Ann and Shelby have a similar cabin on the starboard side. We had hoped to have dinner in the Pacific Moon dining room but it was 6:45 and they were closing at 7:00 to prepare for the required emergency drill. Shelby needed to eat so we returned to Horizon Court for the dinner buffet. The drill (complete with donning of life jackets) took until 8:00 or so, when the ship cast off to cruise. We watched that from different decks. After we had seen enough, we got some dessert and coffee to enjoy. At 10:00 we went to the Explorers Lounge to watch the new “Alice in Wonderland” with Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway. Ann and Shelby went straight to bed afterwards while Marv and I walked on deck a bit more. When we returned to our cabin about midnight we sat on our balcony and marveled at the large chunks of ice, both white and dark, floating by in the twilight until we were cold and sleepy enough to seek our cozy bed.