Our transportation, accommodation, food and entertainment cost so far
|
June 10 ~Day #31
|
Budget to date
|
Spent today
|
Total to date
|
Daily average
|
|
Total
|
$3100
|
$222.76
|
$4172.42
|
$134.59
|
|
Miles by Road
|
Nautical Miles
|
Miles by Air
|
Miles by Train
|
Total Statute Miles
|
|
4917
|
2709 + 303 = 3012
|
000
|
000
|
8380.80
|
Location: Hubbard Glacier
Today’s Total Expenses: $222.76
Daily Cruse Expense: $222.76
More Time at Sea
We left Kodiak early yesterday – just after 1:00pm – in order to get to the Hubbard Glacier by about noon today.
Hubbard Glacier
Right around noon we entered Yakutat Bay and headed directly for Disenchantment Bay and the Hubbard Glacier. You could already feel the air getting colder and we started seeing some small ice flows going past the ship.
As we got our first glimpse of the Hubbard Glacier the temperature was definitely frosty and the wind was also quite strong.
Although we did go out on deck, we didn’t stand out in the wind for very long and looked for places to stand that were sheltered from the wind,
We were hoping to see more calving at this glacier but because it is pupping season for the harbor seals and because there was quite a bit of ice, we couldn’t go very close to the face of the glacier.
Still we could actually hear when calving took place. It’s actually quite loud and sounds a lot like thunder. Apparently this calving noise is referred to as “White Thunder”, which seems totally appropriate.
However, by the time you hear the White Thunder you may have already missed the chunks of glacier that have fallen into the sea.
We did see some calving but got much better pictures of this kind of event while we were in Glacier Bay.
Rangers and Native Cultural Interpreters
Two Rangers and two Native Cultural Interpreters from Yakutat boarded the ship earlier in the day along with a pilot.
While at the glacier we were given a running commentary by one of the Rangers and one of the Natives. Both were very interesting.
Later in the day, in the Queen’s Lounge, the Native Interpreters gave us a glimpse of their life and cultural with a talk and slide show.
Watching the Native Interpreters, Rangers and Pilot Leave the Ship
Just after 4:00pm the local guests and pilot left the ship and we were lucky enough to be in the Crow’s Nest at the time to see the transfer happen. It was really quite fascinating.
The shuttle boat pulled along side the hull of our ship and matched its speed, then nudged its bow against the hull. It didn’t look like they used any lines to secure the smaller boat to the ship.
Then, one by one, the guests and pilot boarded the smaller boat. It looked like a pretty dangerous maneuver to me, but it all went off without a hitch and then the launch drifted away from our ship and sped off towards land.
It was fascinating to watch.
Food Poisoning?
Geoff felt well enough today to get back into the swing of things and so we had dinner in the main dining room tonight.
We learned that one of our dinner companions also had tummy problems at the same time Geoff did.
We also learned from our other dinner companions that the main dining room seemed pretty empty the two nights we had not been there.
It seems pretty obvious that Geoff was not the only person onboard experiencing illness.
This leads us to believe that there must have been something that Geoff ate that was a bit off. Particularly because he’s absolutely fine now, so that probably rules out the possibility of a bug or flu.
Full Entertainment Evening
It seemed we had a full evening of entertainment this evening and we enjoyed all of it immensely.
Stand Up Comedian
First up was John Knight, a stand up comedian who got us all laughing and set the pace for the balance of evening.
We caught his act at the early show and then headed off to dinner still chuckling.
The Marriage Game
Next up the was an audience participation game show run by the Cruise Director, Party Planner and DJ.
The chose three couples from the audience that spanned quite a range. One couple had been married just 3 years, one couple 22 years and the last couple had been married 57 years!
If you are at all familiar with the old TV program, The Newlywed Game, this was run using that program as an example.
The replies to some of the questions put to these couples had us rolling in the aisles!
The winners of the game was the couple that had been married 57 years. Yes, they really did seem to know each other and, believe it or not, they both accurately remembered their first kiss!
Indonesian Crew Show
But the night was not yet over and we remained in our seats for the Indonesian Crew Show.
The service staff on this ship work so hard that it seems incredible that they could find the time to put together something like this but it was well done and both entertaining and funny.
We were unable to attend the Philipinno Crew Show earlier in the cruise, but we’re sure it would have been just as enjoyable.