Wrangell and Hoonah

 Our first couple of stops were at smaller locations - Wrangell and Hoonah. Our ship is not one of those large vessels with many thousands of passengers which means we can enter smaller ports. It also means we skip some of the larger potential stops I suppose to avoid the crowding that can occur.

Wrangell

I assume Wrangell will be the smallest location we visit and may not have as much developed for tourists as some of the other locations. I did include a photo of our ship as this was first time I had a chance to find a location to take a photo of its entire length.

Alaska has large tidal variation which means that docks must be able to accommodate such changes in the height that boats may require.

I was able to find some interesting creations and totems to photograph.

Hoonah

Hoonah provided a very impressive gondola experience owned by the local indigenous people.

The landscape photo opportunities here seem to be everywhere.

Here is a bonus video Cindy shot from the ship.

Writing about writing

Trying to engage in some adult education, I attended a writing lesson titled “finding your muse.” I have been searching for my muse for decades and have pretty much given up, but I thought I would give it one more try.

I had hoped an experienced writer would explain her process and I would take careful notes, but no. She handed out pads of paper and pens and did that freshman comp thing where they tell you there is a writer in everyone struggling to be set free. I did not have the urge to be set free, but I was sitting towards the front and decided I was there for the duration. 

Her two prompts “I remember when” and “something about your street” did result in my being able to put words on paper for the 10 minutes provided. 

One thing I learned was that my cursive skills have seriously deteriorated. It was hard to decipher when it was time to share with others. I bet I haven’t written a dozen sentences using a pen at one time in a decade or more. I do need my keyboard. 

Since I don’t teach writing, I have never thought about what makes a good writing prompt. I started to consider this issue. First, it seems that the prompt should allow for writing without stressing your content knowledge. The focus should be on encouraging expression rather than function as a test of what you know. Perhaps, the openness of the question even serves to determine whether you can quickly assign yourself an appropriate topic. Second, I think the prompt should emphasize the type of writing the author should strive to produce. Should what is produced be funny, conjure feelings or imagery, or share information. I decided the goal of our prompts were a request for words arranged in a proper order. Perhaps it was a kind of “see if you can put words on paper” goal.

So, what did I write about? For the recollection question, I described my first foray into research that involved feeding the chickens I cared for different diets and keeping track of the number of eggs produced. For the recollection about a familiar street, I described the experience of watching the water slowing move up our street as the Red River of the North flooded Grand Forks, ND.  Why these choices? I have no idea, but I was under time pressure, these topics popped into my consciousness, and they seemed good enough. Maybe it was my muse. 

There will be more writing sessions. The leader and her husband who teaches bridge (beginner and intermediate) are here for the duration. I think I am done with writing sessions. Maybe I should try the free bridge lessons. 

Sea Days

 When you are stopped somewhere with the options to get off the boat for one thing or another, it is called a sea day. We will have multiple consecutive sea days when we make the transition from Alaska to Japan. Today, we were just moving to Alaska. 

Unless you have some content from previous days, which I don’t, it seems you have two or three options. You write about food, the ship, or what you can see from your surroundings. The final option was my choice. 

The following images collected south of Ketchikan.

Cruise ship problems

It was weird sitting in the Minneapolis airport yesterday. There are likely many reasons people would fly from Minneapolis to Vancouver, but I started to sense that most were going for the reason as us. You pick up bits of conversation commenting on past cruises, you caught sight of tags on carryons representing cruise lines, and most seemed about our age and maybe even a little older. 

We have always enjoyed and I think benefited from the opportunity to travel and have done so since first leaving college. We traveled with our kids and feel some satisfaction in their own travel adventures. In recent years, we are now 70 plus, we have transitioned to taking a few cruises. We like smaller boats, older people, and emphasis science, history, and culture. A mixed international crowd including the staff is great.

We do have to admit that are issues with cruise ships and although we are aware of these issues will do plan to continue with an occasional trip. Some of these issues have been in the news lately and I past the time doing some additional research to generate the following list. 

1. Environmental Impact

Cruise ships are massive polluters. A single large vessel can burn more than 150 tons of fuel a day, releasing greenhouse gases and sulfur oxides equivalent to millions of cars. Waste management is another issue: despite regulations, reports have surfaced of ships dumping sewage and graywater into oceans. Some ecosystems such as the Mediterranean or the Caribbean are more fragile than others. When we went on an Havila Norwegian cruise, we were on a boat that made use of electric power until the batteries were exhausted and then switched to more traditional power. 

2. Overtourism and Local Disruption

Cruise ships can carry more than 5,000 passengers, who often disembark en masse at small ports. This issue has recently been in the news with some locations imposing quotas. Many passengers spend only a few hours ashore, contributing little to local economies beyond souvenir shops and tour operators. Residents are left with crowded streets, inflated prices, and a declining quality of life. I remember from a previous trip to Alaska by car visiting Skagway going to sleep in a small hotel in which each room had a door to the outside. We arrived in the evening and there were very few people around and it was very quiet. I walked out the door the next morning to a mob of people. A cruise ship had arrived.

3. Health and Safety Risks

Cruise ships are notorious for outbreaks of illnesses like norovirus and, more recently, COVID-19. This happened to me during our river cruise on the Rhine and we spent a couple of days quarantined in our room. The enclosed environment, shared ventilation, and high passenger density make disease spread more likely. For older adults, who may be more vulnerable to infections and mobility challenges, this is not a minor concern. Moreover, medical care onboard is limited, and in emergencies, evacuation can be complicated.

4. Labor Practices and Hidden Costs

Behind the glitzy entertainment and buffets are thousands of workers, many from developing countries, who endure long hours, low wages, and limited labor protections. While passengers enjoy luxury, crew members often work under harsh conditions. Our experience with those who work the boats have been great and they tend to be positive about the opportunity even though they are away from their homes for month before getting a month of so off. 

Sources say river cruises, smaller boats staying longer during stops, and improved propulsion systems are ways to be address some of these issues.

Vancouver Departure

We are in Vancouver to begin a month long adventure. We are taking a Viking Cruise ship up the inside passage to make multiple stops in Alaska and then on to Japan. This sounds like a strange combination, but these ships work an area for a season and then move. This process of “repositioning” means multiple days on the open sea. We have done this type of trip once before and while some think the consecutive days at sea is a waste, we enjoy the calm and these trips end up being less expensive.

We have been to Alaska multiple times before and have explored the area in very different ways. Our first trip we drove and pulled a pop up trailer over the ALCAN highway. It was a very interesting way to explore back in the day as the distance is great and part of the road was gravel at that time. Lots of broken windshields and headlights. We did not have that problem, but the propane line under our trailer was punctured in multiple locations and that was the end of that way of cooking.

We made two trips by driving to the west coast (Bellingham, Washington, and Port Rupert, CA. This a ferry trip so your vehicle is in the bottom of the boat and we slept on the floor of the community room as a way to save money. This was a great way too see the Inside Passage and we expect the views on this trip will be similar. I wish I would have saved more of my photos from these trips.

The other trip was by plane up and the Canadian railroad on the way back to Winnepeg. Kim (youngest daughter) and Jim were working on a whale watching boat out of Ketchikan for a few months after college and this is where I captured so many black bear photos.

Vancuever was clear today which I guess runs counter to the stereotype. The photo opportunities walking the deck were great.