From Whitehorse to the Mothership

Tuesday started way too early! We were up and out of Whitehorse before eight a.m. and on our way through more of the Yukon gold rush territory to our first stop, a little town named Carcross which had the obligatory visitor’s center and gift shops. It was a nice little stop where we all took time to see the train exhibits and enjoy being out of the bear bus for a few minutes. It was tip day (we would lose the online bus driver Mike and tour director Michele) so the bus driver regaled us with stories of the gold rush as we continued down to the train in Frasier. Mike tried, bless his heart, but he can not tell a story and make it interesting.


When we arrived at Frazier, another small town, we stayed on the bus until the train was ready for us. We traveled in old passenger coaches on the narrow gauge railroad to Stagway, Alaska, covering much the same route as the prospectors of over a century ago. Our train hugged the mountains on one side and bordered deep ravines on the other. Klep got the window seat on this one as we crossed trestle after trestle and went through tunnels. I will look at the photos he took when we get home!

Arriving in Skagway, we transferred to another bus, cleared customs, and were welcomed aboard the Zuiderdam, our mother ship! We were ecstatic to be aboard the large vessel which carries over 1900 passengers and 600 crew members.

After locating our stateroom (main floor, 1069, ocean view) and freshening up we headed up to the Lido Deck for a late salad lunch. We ran into Sally and Tom and Phil and Nora from the bus. We all had lunch and went our separate ways. We were tired and did not feel the need to tour Skagway or to visit another gift shop. We would hold off until we got to Ketchikan. For us, it was explore the ship time.

As we wandered around the decks, we saw a coupla of seals in the water near the ship.

After the obligatory life boat drill (Ours is number seven.) we unpacked the clothes, had a rest, got the communicating door repaired so it would lock and keep our deer neighbors from barging in again, and dressed for dinner. While we were enjoying dinner with a couple of women from Switzerland, Nicole and her mother Rose Mary, the Zuiderdam began its way to Glacier Bay.

After dinner, we saw a good musical show and attended a lecture on glaciers. After that, we were proud to call it a day, knowing we did not have to meet luggage call the next morning. We did walk up on the top deck to see if there were any stars out or if we could see the moon. Alas, we saw only one star. The smooth seas made for good sleeping.