The cruise begins...

Day 19
Friday 18 September

Well today we leave land for a while. We started the day with breakfast at the Bakery in Seward – a popular spot for locals and visitors alike. With winter approaching and lots of places closed already in preparation for the impending snow and closing summer tourist season, there were not many options anyway.

After checking out we went to the Sea Life Centre. As Seward is not a very big place it was just down the road a bit. The hotel had a shuttle to take us there so it was an easy little tour to do before embarking at 1pm.

The Centre was set up with money paid by Exxon to a trust fund for the rehabilitation of the whole area following the oil spill in 1989. It is both a rehab. Centre for sick and injured birds and aquatic animals – seals, otters, etc. and a research centre. They have been, and will continue to monitor the health of the area, and assess which animal/bird populations are still recovering, not recovering or have recovered following the oil spill. The Bald eagles are the only animal species that has fully recovered and doing better than before the spill. Quite devastating really! We really enjoyed the exhibits and reading the history of the environmental issues both past and future. We could have spent some more time there but the ship was waiting for us.

Getting onto the ship was really simple as I had done the online check-in a few months back. I love the internet! We got through security with ease. There I was ready to take off my shoes, present my feet for inspection, waiting for the patting down procedure, the explosives wipe over and the palava that they go on with each time I beep going through their scanners. I didn’t beep this time so I’m not sure what level of security they actually have. Perhaps it is all for show.

Anyway we got to our ‘stateroom’ and were pleasantly surprised at its size. It is a disabled room so we have a large bathroom and lounge area. Good for spreading out when we get unpacked. As usual the suitcases come later so we had time to go exploring and checked out where everything is on the ship. We are at the pointy end and will be among the first to know if we hit an iceberg. The ship is quite palatial and almost completely crewed by Filipinos and Indonesians. We have only seen a couple of English looking officers and know that the captain is English.
We had to attend the mandatory life boat drill. This entailed dressing up in a stylish orange foam device designed to save us if we need to swim. Firstly we did it up incorrectly, so we failed that test. It was Richard’s fault as he didn’t read the notice behind the door. After standing around for 15 minutes, looking rather odd we were told to leave and remember what to do if it was necessary. We’ll be right now because we know how to put the things on, but we would likely freeze to death if we had to go out in the cold icy water.

We also did our first onboard class. Imagine that! We were only on the ship for 2 hours and we had the chance to attend a computer class on how to make your photos look better. I dragged Richard along – but he enjoyed it in the end. It was very good and easy to do.

Dinner was in the swish dining room tonight. We are supposed to be dressed in smart casual or formal wear to go to the dining room, but everything is crushed and still in the suitcases. We went anyway, as did others. It was a nice 4 course meal shared with our table companions. They were from west Texas (as opposed to everywhere else in Texas) Charles and Wilma. He is a typical Texan – arrogant. Tomorrow night we are skipping the formal dinner as we don’t have formal clothes, and will do the casual dining.

The ship has set sail and we have hit the open waters of the Alaskan Gulf. How do I know this you ask? Well Richard has gone to bed feeling queasy (only 2 hours into the sailing part of the cruise) and we are rolling about a fair bit. I won’t be walking anywhere just yet – need to get my sea legs first.

Tomorrow we will sail to the Hubbard Glacier. It is supposed to be very large and impressive. I’ll let you know. It’s time for bed for me too. Another installment to follow in the next day or so.

Love
Mum and Dad