An Alaskan Glacier: Real or Fake?

Only one of today's pictures existed in reality.  The top photo was created with AI software last week. I asked Midjourney to create a picture taken on the bow of a cruise ship. I added that I wanted it to be of two sisters from Texas on an Alaskan cruise. I specified they have on hats and gloves. The second photo was scanned from an actual old photograph. It shows Jay on our very first Alaskan cruise.  The image was shot on short-lived APS film format in 2001.  

We have subsequently been a number of times because catching a cruise from downtown Vancouver is a delight.  In addition, later this summer, my sister and friend will come to visit us.  It will give us an excuse to go yet again!

Nights at Sea

Next Monday, we'll be in Juneau. I like the idea of a state capital with no road access. I wondered if I could find a photo of our last and only other visit to the Alaskan city and I did.

This was taken in 2001 on our first cruise adventure ever. This photo would have been after our second night aboard the ship. At the end our upcoming 7-day revisit, I calculated we will have spent exactly 100 nights aboard cruise ships.

Watching Glacier Calving

The last time Jay and I were on an Alaskan cruise, I was 41 years old.



Might taking another be a good gift for my upcoming 60th birthday?

Bon Voyage!

I just got an email from friends in Vancouver stating they had booked passage on one of the early Alaskan cruises leaving town in a few weeks. The other weekend, other friends had informed all of us that they were boarding a Holland America cruise. Of course, we were invited to check out the dates as well. Unfortunately, we just cannot get away even for a week right now. How sad! It would surely be fun to do something like that all together!

It did make me think of the time we did do an Alaskan cruise. It is really hard for me to wrap my head around the fact our boat left twelve years ago. A whole dozen years is much longer ago than I would've guessed. The year 2001 was several years before this blog was created and even a year before I had a digital camera! Yet, I did find these old scanned images in my Flickr collections.

Dynamic Dino

I just found an album of Dean Martin's best songs. Actually, I already have many of them on my media drive (and more recently in the cloud with Google's Music Beta). I am mature but I don't think my interest in the music of Dean Martin is typical for someone my age.

I can, of course, remember Dean from B&W television. He used to show up on variety and musical shows a lot in the late 60's and early 70's. I remember him as the cool one who always looked about three sheets to the wind. I definitely don't remember listening to his music as a kid though.



Yet, I've really learned to appreciate his pure voice. I've come to appreciate him through visits to Las Vegas, and of course, Italy too. It's not really that I heard him in either place, but I now have the cultural knowledge to put his music into better context. Even on an Alaskan cruise a decade ago one of his songs was a part of Princess Cruise's tradition. On the journey through the Inside Passage, after one dinner, Baked Alaska is traditionally served. The lights were dimmed, candles lit, and waiters paraded with the flaming dessert throughout the entire dining area. That's Amore was the accompanying music.

The Last Big Ship - Five Years Back

In the past, I blogged about when Jay and I took an Alaskan Cruise. Some of my readers may not realize how important the Vancouver-Alaska route [link expired] is to the cruise industry.


I have mentioned cruises a number of times this week. This is simply in anticipation of a coastal cruise that we'll do in May. We'll head north from San Diego until we arrive at the home port.

Bragging: My Adopted City

By a stroke of luck, I'm able to continue discussing yesterday's topic. I mentioned how hard it is to stay excited about where one lives after being there for a long time. Then, out of the blue, a way to do so fell right into my lap.

Playing tour guide and giving advice is perhaps the best way to rekindle pride in one's home. Being able to suggest activities to out-of-towners can get one reacquainted with the joys of an area. Vancouver, BC is a beautiful place and merits a lot of bragging. It's blessed with geography, an environment, and a multicultural society, which makes it special.

I received an email from a retired teacher who taught me in Grade 5 in Sunapee, NH. He was a relatively new teacher in 1969/70! Ken Greenbaum and his wife will be coming out to catch one of the avalanches of Alaskan cruise ships that depart from here. Jay and I recall a stunning time aboard one. As the Greenbaums will be arriving two days early for their August departure, they asked for suggestions on what to do. There's a lot.

The picture to the right shows Jay before the quite formal, famous 'Captain's Party' on board an Alaskan Cruise in 2001.

Greeting a Glacier

Yesterday's entry caused me to consider some of our especially interesting vacations. Additionally, I was in email contact with a friend whom I worked with in the Gulf. He is taking some time off and asked for suggestions about travelling in India. That was surely an interesting summer but a full decade ago! My last statement in the response to Daragh stated, "If you do manage to go to India, you will return as a different person."

Jay and I took very different type of vacation in May 2001. We really enjoyed a Princess cruise to Alaska. Going up the BC coast and into Alaskan waters is breathtakingly beautiful. The cruise was great. The ships are so much more than simply floating hotel rooms; they're a complete experience! There's wonderful dining, onboard entertainment, lots of activities, and of course, fun day-trips ashore.

No Highway to this Capital

I searched for a photo to include as today's entry. This pictures was
taken in Juneau, AK. Vancouver is a huge port for summertime cruise
ships to Alaska. We took a 7-day trip in 2001 and loved it. The
Inside Passage makes for an impressive voyage.