June 9 June 10 June 11 June 12 June 13 June 14 June 15 June 16 June 17 June 18	Monday June 11, 2007 Our hotel room was slightly cooler than the previous night, but still very warm. Mom prefers it that way. I got up about 6:30, dressed, and went to fetch breakfast (tea, coffee cake, and bananas). When I returned, I found that Mom had gotten up and finished packing her suitcase - the one to be checked to the ship. We had breakfast, then I finished packing my suitcase and got her walker all bungee-ed together for shipment. The bags are now ready. They will be picked up some time after 8 this morning. We're to leave them in the room when we check out (if they haven't picked them up yet). The bellman picked them up about 8:30. So, Mom laid down for a while longer while I took care of email, called a customer, and got caught up with this document. We're to be downstairs, ready to board a bus, a bit before 11:00 am, which means we need to leave the room in a couple of hours. Then on to the ship. We left the room about 10:20. I noticed one of the rooms downstairs had a sign for checking in for the transfers to Whittier, so we stood in line for that. After verifying we were on the list, the lady checking us in handed us cards for the 1:30 bus. I mentioned that our earlier documentation said we were on the 11:00 bus. Oh, did we stay in this hotel last night? Yes. Then you don't need to check in at this desk. You're already taken care of. Just wait at the curb for the bus. So much for paying attention to the signs!! So I parked Mom on one of the concrete benches outside the main door and went to the front desk to check out. Simple. Then to the gift shop to get a bottle of water for the ride. Rejoined Mom outside and waited for the bus. When it arrived, I noticed one of the Princess people talking to some older people with canes. It looked like she was going to board them early, so I got her attention, mentioned that my mother was on a cane and she told me to have Mom follow her. We were among the very first to board and immediately grabbed the first row on the door side of the bus so that we could look out the front window as well as the side one. Perfect! And there was enough room in the overhead for our larger carry-ons. After the bus finished loading, we took off for Whittier. After getting out of town, the road paralleled the train tracks, so we got some of the same views as we did yesterday. However, it was partly cloudy today and the views were more muted. At Portage, the bus stopped for almost an hour at an animal rehab place. We drove through part of it with a guide pointing out some of the animals and why they had them there. Then there was the inevitable stop at the gift shop... And there were restrooms. We took advantage of those and browsed the gift shop, then reboarded the bus. Our driver informed us that Alaska has four seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and construction. It was a short drive to the entrance to the tunnel to Whittier. This tunnel is 2.5 miles long, one lane wide, and shared by trains and cars. Naturally, only one type of vehicle can go through at a time and it's one way. So, we queued up and waited our turn. This is all controlled by traffic lights. How they determine that it's safe to start the other direction, I don't know and didn't get a chance to ask. Once the traffic outbound cleared, the light in our lane turned green and the buses went through one by one. They were spaced out carefully so that, in the event of an emergency, each bus could pull into the emergency pullouts and the tunnel would be clear for the emergency vehicles. When we went through the tunnel yesterday, it was very difficult to see anything. It was just dark. With the bus, we were a bit farther away from the walls and could see the walls, roof, and road in front of us. The lighting was designed more for motor vehicles than trains. Very interesting to ride through. Our front row seats gave us the best view. We had just spotted the end of the tunnel and someone behind us said they could see the light at the end of the tunnel and the driver quipped, that's the train.... We soon arrived at the dock and there was a wheelchair waiting for Mom. The pusher whisked us to the front of the check-in line and our documentation was quickly taken care of. Through security (which isn't as stringent as the airlines - computer could stay in the bag and shoes could stay on feet, for example) and on to the ship. Stopping, of course, for the obligatory embarkation photo (see right)... At the top of the gangway, we were stopped by the next level of security - stick our key into the slot, remove glasses, and get a picture taken for the security people. This will be used when in port to verify no one unauthorized gets on the ship. We went straight to our room, which is near the stern of the ship on the starboard side, and found our suitcases blocking the door. Our steward, Chris (from Poland and over 6' 6" tall), moved the bags into the cabin and helped Mom move in. The walker was already inside. We checked out the view from the balcony - very nice, but the door is hard to slide - one section of the bottom track has been bent and it's all I can do to get it past that 6-8 inches of bent track. Tomorrow, I'll see if there's anything Chris can do about it (there wasn't). After a minimal time in the cabin, we headed up for deck 14 (we're on deck 11) where the buffet is for a bite of lunch. We may be close to an elevator (it's just around the corner), but all the places to eat and 80% of the entertainment is at the other end of the ship! Mom's very glad she brought the walker. We discovered quickly that going straight to deck 14 and across isn't that convenient. The only way to get from our elevator to the rest of the ship is through the spa, which isn't always open to non-spa guests. Once past the spa, you go through the indoor swimming pool (and hot tub), past the outdoor pool (and three hot tubs), and you're at the buffet line. We filled up on salads and fruit, then back to the cabin. I've got to find a different route... We unpacked our suitcases and got settled into the cabin, then I spent some time on the balcony watching the loading process, which was still going on. We were among the first people on board, so we watched bus after bus arrive - about four buses at a time, every couple of hours. Then a train pulled in, disgorging another bunch of people. A couple of hours later, a second train, even longer, downloaded another batch. And we watched the Klondike Express (our ship from the 26 Glacier tour) pull in for the day. And the train to Anchorage pull out. Lots to watch. This photo shows the town of Whittier with the train at the make-shift station. The buses arriving from Anchorage pull into the parking lot on the left, in front of the large building. The large building is the check-in area for the ship. In the foreground is the Klondike Express. The large building in the background (with the orange trim) houses most of the permanent residents of Whittier as well as their school, grocery store, cinema, etc. Mom watched for a while, then laid down to rest her legs. I went exploring, mainly to verify the location of our muster station (for the emergency drill to be held later today), verify the location and pricing for the Internet Café, and to see if it was possible to switch from late seating (8 pm) to early seating (5:45 pm). Mom prefers the early one. We're to find out if this is possible around 2 pm tomorrow. On the first day, dinner assignments were determined by when you came on board. We were scheduled for early dinner tonight (5:30) only. Mom woke up at 5:28... Neither of us was hungry, so she rested some more and I watched the goings on outside some more. About 7, she got up and got ready for the muster drill so that we could go to our muster station early, taking the elevator, which is off limits during the drill itself. We loaded the life vests onto the walker and rode down four floors to the Universe Lounge, where our muster station is located. Mom played up the no stairs bit and we got seated on a sofa that did not involve any steps at all. We just sat and people watched as others came in. We weren't the first ones there and we weren't the only ones to come early to catch elevators. The drill was more of a lecture and a practice on how to put on the life vest than anything else. They claimed that they didn't call roll because they have a way to electronically know if everyone was out of their cabins. Don't know how they managed that... After the drill, it was a madhouse getting back to rooms. All the muster stations are on deck 7, so everyone that was aboard was on deck 7 at the same time and trying to get to the other decks. Most, fortunately, headed for the stairs. We waited for an elevator. By then, Mom felt we needed to get some dinner so that she could take her evening pills, so we took a different route to the buffet line. It worked a little better, but we still wound up going outside for part of it and the wind was getting nippy. We had a very nice snack - the scallops were especially good - and a very entertaining waiter. I think he was trying to imitate Borak... Coffee, tea, water, credit cards, watches... He may have had a lively patter going and entertaining everyone, but he was still an attentive waiter and we lacked nothing. Also found my favorite Darjeeling tea on the buffet line. Took yet another route back to the room. I've got to find some way to get from one end of this ship to the other without going through the stateroom corridors. They seem very, very long and Mom gets pretty tired. The ship has a short ramp set up against the balcony door so that a wheelchair can roll outside. Seems like a good idea, but it's got a lip along both sides that I've tripped over several times. After discussing it with Mom, I pulled the ramp up (it wasn't very heavy) and set it behind the main door. That leaves the floor flat with a small step up to the balcony. Shouldn't be a problem for either of us and will keep me from tripping on the damned thing! The ship set sail about 10. This is the view we had from our balcony room. We finally crawled into bed about 11. Still pretty light out, so we left the curtains open. Good idea? I don't know. We'll see. Next...