North to Alaska

Day 1 : Embarkation.

We met in the Marriot lobby at 8:15 for a pickup by LandSea Tours . Greg, our driver and tour guide, loaded a mountain of luggage into the back of his van and we set off for a city tour which would end at the cruiseport. For the next 4 hours we listened to Greg's entertaining narrative as he showed us around his city. With stops at Granville Island, Stanley Park, and several scenic lookouts, the tour was a great overview of this beautiful city.

After being dropped off at the port, we breezed through the embarkation process and were soon onboard. where we were warmly greeted by Dorothy and Barry, more of our extended Pirate family. We had lunch in the Windjammer, the highlight of which was , as always, the Honey Stung Fried Chicken. We then joined an informal Cruise Critic social with our 'Alaska Gold Rush' group at the Pool bar, where a familiar voice boomed out behind me "Hey, I'd know those tattoos anywhere!" I turned to hug Roger and Kathlene, more Pirate friends from Long Island.

At sailaway we greeted our Pirate buddies on our aft balcony for champagne and a chance to get re-acquainted. This was followed by more socializing in the Concierge Lounge before dinner, and carried on through an enjoyable meal at 7:30 in the Cascades Dining Room. After dinner Dave and I sat down at the Schooner Bar for a chat with friends from the Mariner Repo cruise, and finished our evening in the Centrum listening to the excellent City Lights Band. A great day and a great way to begin our trip to Alaska.

Tomorrow: A day at Sea

North to Alaska

August 27th, Vancouver : Friends come together.

After a few fitful hours of sleep and a final good-bye to Chico the cat, I set my luggage outside the front door and waited for the cab. At 4:30 a.m. the driver chided me as he hoisted bag after bag into the trunk. "Just you going?" . (It seems that whether I cruise for 2 weeks or 7, I take the same amount of luggage.) As he unloaded them 20 minutes later at the airport, he made one parting remark that the big red bag "must be the one with the kitchen sink in it".

The flights to Toronto and Vancouver were smooth and uneventful, and I passed the time watching movies on the in-flight entertainment system. "Star Trek" was a feast for the sense to this former Trekkie, and "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" was equally entertaining. Upon arrival in Vancouver I gathered my bags and set off for the Airport Marriot. Dave was less than an hour behind me arriving from Connecticut, and we met for cold beer and smoked meat sandwiches at Harold's Bar and Bistro, where Nancy and David also headed after their arrival from Georgia.

Dave connected with his friend John and the five of us agreed to meet at 5 for a ride on the newly-opened Canada Line subway and a water taxi to Granville Island, where we did a round of tasters at the local Brewpub and sat down for a light dinner at the Keg. Five weary travellers then decided to call it a night.

Tomorrow: Embarkation

Alaska, Radiance of the Seas, August 28th to September 11th, 2009

Prologue

"North to Alaska, go north, the rush is on".

The lyrics to the 1960 Johnny Horton song "North to Alaska" have been running through my head these last few days as I prepare for my next cruising adventure. The music brings back childhood memories, as my older brothers were big country music fans and I grew up listening to their favourite artists from the 50's and 60's.

On Thursday, August 27th, 2009, I will once again be at the Fredericton airport awaiting an Air Canada flight at an hour when most of my friends are still asleep. With a connection through Pearson Airport in Toronto, I will be on the West Coast by 10:00 a.m. local time, ahead of my travelling companions who are flying in from various states in the U.S. It will be somewhat of a treat for me to travel to a cruise port without going through Customs, as the path to embarkation ports usually leads me to or through 'the States'.

This cruise on the beautiful Radiance of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean ship on which I have had the pleasure to sail 14 days in 2007, will depart Vancouver on Friday August 28th and sail to Seward, Alaska with stops in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Icy Strait Point, as well as a day cruising past the Hubbard Glacier. Once onboard, we will be united with friends from Florida who are sailing this week and next for the trip northward.We will bid them farewell in Seward, and I along with 4 others in our travelling group will re-board the ship for the southbound journey back to Vancouver.

This will be also be a mini-reunion cruise for my "Pirates of the Mariner" mateys, which include myself, my 'significant other' Dave from Connecticut, Dorothy and Barry from Florida, David and Nancy from Georgia, and Roger and Kathlene from New York. We first met on the Mariner of the Seas in September of 2007 and get together whenever we can to play Pirate and hoist a mug of 'grog'.

On September 4th, Dave and I will be joined by Bill and Mariana from California, fellow "Hornblowers" who sailed with me for 46 nights on my South American adventure on the Mariner. Cruising as much as we do means that we gather not only great memories of our travels, but lifelong friends along the way.

Dave and I have signed up for some amazing excursions for our first , but probably not last, trip to Alaska. Weather permitting, we will be flying via helicoptor onto a glacier, soaring via floatplane over fjords and lakes, whale watching, sailing with crab fisherman, panning for gold, and visiting a summer musher's camp to spend some time with the remarkable working dogs. And hopefully the skies will be clear for a ride on the mile-long Zipline at Icy Strait Point :)

So join me here in the next few days and weeks as I head "North to Alaska". See you onboard !