Island to Alaska with Pictures (part 2)

[cworld]

Gail, sorry but no, you could probably see those animals, and Dianne, you can't smell it now or ever, and it wasn't available when we were on the SS Dolphin, Scourge of the Seas.

 

You're getting colder.

 

Ha, Ha.

[camperhawk]

Okay Carl..I am heading off to Montreal for a few days..but couldn't go without saying..it's obviously not as crude as my last suggestion, but it did get people thinking..........!!!

 

Oh and just one last thought before I finish packing..."IT" is a kiss between you two wonderful, happily married for 25 years!!! Let me know when my prize will arrive when I get home!

 

Oh crap just realized

it was something you couldn't get on that first cruise of yours..so can I elaborate? A Kiss on the balcony!!! Or the stunning Atrium?

 

Just had to guess before I left.....See you all when I return!

[Sea Fan]

Camperhawk, I like that one too, But if "IT" was a kiss and caused him irritation I would be surprised they were still married for 25 years.

 

Question Carl, could you ONLY get "IT" in port??

 

Dianne

[Sea Fan]

Oh BTW did any one else see Mr. C take his clue back? You know those controllers give you a clearance, then reroute you!:D

 

Dianne

[cworld]

Dianne,

 

You must be a pilot. All pilots misinterpret what controllers really mean. And yes, we only got "IT" when we were in port.

 

Gail,

 

Have a great trip. And we did kiss other than when we were in port, at least once. But it was a nice, thought that will hopefully encourage some of you other numb... (oops, better say something nice) wonderful silent types to participate in our little game.

 

See you tomorrow. Or not.

[Sea Fan]

Mr. C, Guilty, but just for fun. DH is the one that makes a living at it, Oh the stories. But since I have heard first hand what you have to put up with I truly understand the meaning of "patience."

But I can't help teasing!!

 

Waiting patiently, for the next chapter.....

 

Dianne

[cworld]

OK, I’m finally reading the calendar correctly. TODAY, May 7, 2006 is the first anniversary of our wonderful Alaskan adventure. In some ways it’s hard to believe it’s been a whole year, and in some ways it seems longer. It’s been great being able to relive it almost every day, but it also make me sad. I’ve got to figure a way for us to make this little adventure an annual happening.

 

Thank all of you for joining me in my recollections of our little trip.

[alwalaska]

Is "IT" the weather report for your day from the television? I seem to remember your saying you did not have a TV on your first cruise.

[cworld]

Her Majesty’s Magnificent Man-o-War Ryndam

Captain’s Log, May 12, 2005.

Former First Officer, now Supreme Commander Lars Johanasen reporting.

 

The secret dispatch from headquarters was good news. I, Lars Johanasen, future ruler of all of the North Seas and beyond, was ordered to take command of the Ryndam. It took a couple of days for me to complete to plan and implement the New Order. Just after we left Skagway I implement my brilliant plan for the takeover. Captain Larsen resisted, and finally after an epic battle which should go down in history for all to read, Captain Larson and his followers were consigned forever to the briny deep, Odin rest their wretched souls.

 

The next phase of the plan was to board and take in to custody the passengers and crew of the Island Princess, one of the Union’s most notorious ships. This would be the coup that would transform my career. We had been shadowing the IP for a couple of days. Now dead Captain Larson could have easily picked her off in Juneau or Skagway. He made some excuse about witnesses.

 

Headquarters and I suspected that she the Island was running undocumented Americans to work on the Promethus Project in Anchorage. My orders are to make sure the IP doesn’t reach Whittier where they can unload the stinky Mericans. If the IP succeeds, Promethus could succeed and the Federation would have big problems. It’s my job to make sure that doesn’t happen, and I’m very good at my job.

 

At 1947Z the radarman hollered out that the IP had taken a turn into the dangerous Glacier Bay area. We had some dealings with this area before. Since the big one, ice sheets had made this area all but impassable. After a spirited discussion with the tactical officer I ordered the helm to follow the IP in.

 

At 2030Z the watch spotted the IP. She was running shallow, hugging the coast. I hailed the captain and asked for a meeting. The IP ignored our hail and made a run for it. I immediately ordered the boarding parties into the Spyders and told them to be careful with the passengers. The Federation was looking for some new laborers for the camp in Kamtheria.

 

I had the watch take the helm while I watched the boarding party. For some reason they could never get close to the IP. It was as if a force field repelled them. After an hour chase the Spyders were getting low on fuel, and I ordered them to return for replenishment. While we were recovering the Spyders, the IP disappeared from radar. No problem, we’ll catch them outside College Fjord tomorrow.

[margord]

Wow, hard to believe it has been a year since your cruise. When did you actually start this thread?

 

Marilee

[JanaJohn]

1. They got it everyday when in port.

2. Highlight of their day.

3. Brought them moments of happiness.

4. Also brought a couple of moments of Irratation.

5. Mr.C couldn't wait until this happened!

 

Based on this wonderful recap I'll guess it was a Phone Call or E-mail from your kid(s).

[Sea Fan]

If any one can check out there Ship Cam the ISLAND PRINCESS is heading toward the Golden Gate. Real Pretty!

 

More Later, Dianne:)

[Bob-A-Loo]

Love this post! "IT" has to be a sunrise.

[Sea Fan]

Another Quick but probably not complete Recap of answers given to the question "What is IT"

1. Room Service

2. Getting a Dr. Pepper

3. Shopping for thimbles

4. Taking a nap

5. Getting a little Sunshine

6. Checking Email

7. Working ahead on CC Review

Hint from Carl " Gail was on the right track in post 233 (she guessed a phone call from home)

8. Cigarette

9. Receving or mailing a postcard

10. A breeze

11. A sunset

12. My personal favorite "An Audible discharge of the Intestinal track"

13. Having pictures taken at the bottom of the gangplank

14. A kiss on the balcony

15. Weather report

16. Email or phonecall

17. Sunrise

 

Carl, hope I'm not overstepping my bounds just want to give you plenty of time give us our next chapter. And I'm still trying to figure out "IT"

 

Dianne

[cworld]

Her Majesty’s Magnificent Man-o-War Ryndam

Captain’s Log, May 12, 2005.

Former First Officer, now Supreme Commander Lars Johanasen reporting.

 

 

Wow, how on earth did that get in there? Is someone out there posting in my name? Must be an alternate universe thing.

 

 

Really the only thing that happened as we were leaving Glacier Bay was that we saw the Ryndam again. I’m sure we were leaving so that the Ryndam could take our place. I’m sure that in the busier times of the year you can see several boats in Glacier Bay, but today we only saw one.

 

Pic of the HMMM Ryndam

 

As to the "IT" thing. Thanks Dianne for your wonder recap of our little contest. And yes, calls from home is very close, but not quite it. Here's another little hint, "IT" was neither hot nor cold.

 

Tomorrow - What's long narrow and filled with smiles?

[JanaJohn]

As to the "IT" thing. Thanks Dianne for your wonder recap of our little contest. And yes, calls from home is very close, but not quite it. Here's another little hint, "IT" was neither hot nor cold.

 

Carl, Since you say calls from home are close.....how about having your local newspaper delivered to each port?

 

Or what about the baseball scores for your sons team?

[margord]

Carl,

 

I lost track. What day are we on? How many more days of the cruise?

 

Marilee

[cworld]

Marliee, about 348 but whose counting. Really we are in the middle of the next to last day, however many that is.

 

John, nope.

 

Here's another hint. There was a national advertising campaign about "It".

 

I'll have more tonight.

[cworld]

Sorry I didn't get this up last night. Got a little virus.

 

Sometime during all of this we, Mrs. C and I, went to lunch. I’ve already described our companions HERE. So our lunch was pretty uneventful except that today when we got in to the Horizon Food Court there was a big surprise just for me. Right there in in the area where the piano sits, the staff had prepared a wonder display of great looking desserts.

 

The display was just a small 40-foot long display of cakes, fruits, and other tempting treats. Can you imagine being so important that the staff spends several hours making mounds desserts just for you? It’s good to be me. They had even made several carvings out of fruits as decorations just to impress me. In the middle was a fountain filled with strawberries. It was all very colorful and looked too good to eat, and they did this just for my benefit. Wow.

 

Since I had the wonder camera with me and so that I didn’t disappoint the staff, I snapped off a few pictures. They are HERE, and HERE, and HERE. The DECORATIONS were too cute. I really liked the OWL in the pineapple.

 

Being that I’m the gracious person that I am, I didn’t want any of the chefs feel bad that I didn’t try their creation, so I got me a plate and tried a little bit of each one of them. I found them all pretty tasteless. They really were too good looking to eat. One of them was just whipped cream with a small piece of fruit. Another was colored whipped cream with a smaller piece of fruit. This might have been OK if the whipped cream had any flavor, but it was flavorless. The cake thing was a carrot cake or a rhubarb cake or something that was not very flavorful. The only dish that really had any flavor was the chocolate thing. Now this was just pretty good. There is just something about a pile of dark chocolate and a spoon. They just go together.

 

Rating for the Dessert Extravaganza – C- just like me it was pretty dull and tasteless. Needed more chocolate.

 

More pics of the Dessert Extravaganza

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/351554714/1354033577070712923duYnqo

http://community.webshots.com/photo/351554714/1354035318070712923MzzKVQ

http://community.webshots.com/photo/351554714/1354036789070712923mQzpLQ

[camperhawk]

:) :) :) :) :)Hey Carl that's what is long, narrow and filled with smiles!!! Don't even think about trying to get all your loyal readers off track of "IT" ...So just back from Montreal, great city..haven't been there in a long time..But what darn thread do I check? Yes that's right, this crazy one and now must guess after coming home from our trip...

 

No Idea ! okay how about a moment of silence? or hearing the ship's horn blow when it was time to return to the ship?.... Good huh?

 

Oh and by the way Lars... not your place to be ..get your own thread!!

This is Carl's thread and novel only!!!

 

Patience ( a loyal reader)

[margord]

Maybe that is what "IT" is. Is it PATIENCE?

[Sea Fan]

Carl, what a beuitful desert display! I think from reading your posts we can all say You are NOT "dull or tasteless " Of course Mrs C has not weighed in on the issue.

 

Never can have too much chocolate!!!!!!

 

 

Dianne

[cworld]

Finally after about 3 weeks of travel the Island Princess departed Glacier Bay, and the casino opened. About time, Mrs. C said. So off we went again to the casino. It took Mrs. C about an hour to lose her $2.00 worth of nickels. I just watched. Do you know how boring it is to watch someone else play the slot machine? So after the last nickel disappeared we went back to the cabin and I took a nap.

 

This is a strange way to vacation. As I’ve said before our normal family vacation is a commando trip to Orlando where we go from sunup to sundown and then some. It’s not unusual for us to leave the hotel room at 7:00 am and not get back until midnight, with every minute of the day (whenever we’re not in line) filled with action. We are going people. I’m an AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER for goodness sake. We are the epitome of go-go-go people.

 

So here we are, Mrs. C and I, two grown (old) people, on vacation. And what are we doing during the afternoons? We’re taking naps. Naps, right in the middle of the day. And the funniest thing is that we’re not feeling guilty. It’s sacrilege. What’s wrong with us? Are we going to die? What are we missing? I think I may have said this before, but it bears repeating, we’re used to being very busy on vacations, not taking naps. This is all new to us. And it’s becoming a little addicting.

 

I think I might need to make one of those disclaimers you see in all of those medical commercials here. You know the annoying last half of every drug commercial. Something like, “The Super Drug Company would like to caution anyone taking our wonder drug, in our clinical tests a few test subjects, who weren’t very healthy to start with, and a majority of laboratory rats who we injected their body weight with our drug, reported some minor difficulties when taking our wonder drug. If you experience a loss of any of extremities, if you quit breathing, or if all your skin turns green after a few doses, if your dog starts mysteriously gnawing on you, or if judgment day comes immediately after you take a dose, call your doctor immediately (call the doctor wake him up and say DOCTOR) and inform him of the problem. Don’t take our wonder drug if you suspect you are, or if you have recently been diagnosed as being human or any related species. The Super Drug Company can not be held responsible for the proper use of our wonder drug.”

 

Here goes my version of a disclaimer –

 

Thank all of you who have recently taken one of our cruises. But, The Company cannot be held liable for any unexplained afternoon drowsiness after your return to the Mainland. The Company has conducted numerous studies but found no direct link between any of our cruises and the relatively new phenomena of passengers that have just returned needing afternoon naps upon returning home. We believe it is just coincidence that 99% of all of our passengers report experience some for of lethargy upon their return.

 

If you do display these symptoms, immediately call your travel agent and have them book the most expensive offering The Company has available. This has been proven to help, although it will not do anything for your drowsiness, it will help our bottom line. Thanks.

[cworld]

After our nap it was time to get ready for supper, I may have watched the movie Terminal in there somewhere, but we didn’t do anything significant during the afternoon. Inserting meaningless story here - It’s kinda funny we were watching the movie Kate and Leopold last night and there’s a scene where Kate (Meg Ryan) goes to sleep and Leopold (whatever his name is) picks her up and takes her to bed (in a perfectly plutonic way). She is completely limp. When Mrs. C saw that scene last night she immediately said “She must have just been on a cruise.” That’s the way we were beginning to feel. I know, I know, I’ve said all of this before, but I think it bears repeating. Cruising is a relaxing way to vacation.

 

On to supper. It was FORMAL NIGHT. Yuck. FORMAL NIGHT, I had been a little apprehensive about FORMAL NIGHT ever since we booked our cruise. I had suggested to Mrs. C in the planning phase that we might want to book with a cruise line whose dinner policies were a little more relaxed (there’s that word again). But Mrs. C was adamant about the itinerary. So here we were Ma and Pa Kettle getting ready for a FORMAL DINNER.

 

We spent a whole 20 minutes gussying up. I pulled out my best over-halls, and Mrs. C got on her best Sunday go-to-meeting jeans. And off we went. OK, not really, just wanted to see if I could get a big war started about jeans in the dining room. Seems to be a real popular topic in these here parts. Really I pulled on my wedding/funeral suit, and Mrs. C got on her best dress and off we went.

 

We were both still a little apprehensive. We had skipped the Monday night FORMAL NIGHT because our FORMAL NIGHT clothes were still somewhere in never-never land. Even as we walked down the hall we wondered, would we look like Ma and Pa Kettle? Would we be out of place? Would we feel like we didn’t belong? Would everyone be watching us? Would everyone be in Tuxes and whatever it is that women wear at these types of affairs? Would they even let us in? They had to, I had peeked at the menu earlier and we were having LOBSTER tonight. I wasn’t going to miss LOBSTER, even if I had to push a couple of Mafioso types out of the way and seat myself. I’m going to get my LOBSTERS.

 

I hate wearing suits.

[Mrs. cworld]

I hate wearing suits.

 

And I hate wearing dresses, hose, and heels!!!!!

 

Sounds like we were made for each other;)

 

P.S. I hope our dear readers realize how much we were dreading FORMAL NIGHT!