By Bob Hyten, Jr. ©2009
I had wanted to cruise Alaska’s Inland Passage for years but cruise ships don’t like single passengers, i.e., people who don’t share a cabin with another person. If you travel alone they expect you to pay for both beds. They advertise “Cruise for fun and romance” but they don’t want single people. They would rather a room be empty than sell just one bed in the room. I've heard that there is a cruise line that will sell to a single person on the condition that if they find you a roommate you must except that person. That’s seems fair enough, but I can’t find which line that is.
After years of asking people to join me, my old running buddy Eric Gyaki agreed to fill that other bed ... maybe because I found a $605 rate for the seven day cruise. In the 1980s Eric was a regular member of our running team till career opportunities took him to the Washington-Baltimore area. We kept in touch when he returned to the St, Louis area to visit relatives.
We decided to meet in Vancouver three days before the ship’s departure. I wanted to see Vancouver, but I also needed a little travel leeway since I fly non-revenue, standby on Delta ... my son Mark is a Delta pilot. Eric searched the Internet for cheap flights and saved himself over $250 compared to Holland America Cruise Line’s fly-cruise rate.
Sitting just outside the Canadian customs area waiting for Eric, I saw him hand over his passport ... and then commence to have an animated conversation with the border agent. After five minutes ... or what seemed like that long ... I began to think he was talking his way into a back room holding area. Bearded Eric loves to tell stories. Customs agents don’t like to hear them. I was more worried about him than I had been that morning waiting for a standby seat on a heavily booked flight.
When he finally cleared customs, we made our way curbside to Vancouver’s Airporter bus for our 50 minute trip into the city. Again we had saved money as a round trip Airporter ticket is $22 while H-A wanted $75 for a similar service.
I like bus rides into cities as it gives you an all-round introduction to the place. Regular city busses take longer but give you even more local flavor.
The Airporter dropped us off less than five blocks for the HI Downtown Hostel our home for three nights in Vancouver. Again, it was a big savings. Holland America offered a room for $200 plus a night and HI wanted $31 per person per night. Granted it is a hostel with four beds in a rooms and the bathroom down the hall, but I find hostels to be generally clean and certainly more friendly. This one was particularly nice as it sat on a quiet corner right in the heart of downtown Vancouver.
Vancouver was a wonderful surprise. It is a clean, vibrant city which is rapidly growing. It is full of great architecture, both old and new. No other major city has a park to compare to Stanley Park. The city has miles of beaches lining its miles of shoreline. The downtown area is not much more than one and a half miles across in either direction. People were friendly and courteous, happy to share their city with tourists.It was nearly five o’clock before we were ready to hit the streets of Vancouver. We headed straight down to the harbor waterfront at the city’s convention center ... 13 blocks from the hostel. Adjacent to the convention center is the cruise ship dock at Canadian Place. We read historical markers about the city’s history, and saw seaplanes coming and going to Victoria and Vancouver Island, cruise ships heading out to sea, ferries to North Vancouver, and a big demonstration protesting Iran’s ‘fixed’ election. It seemed that there may have been more locals than tourists enjoying the 65-70 degree, sunny evening as the year’s longest day approached.
The next morning, after a peaceful night’s sleep with no roommates, we rented bicycles for $26 a day from the hostel and set out to see the city. I can’t imagine that there is a big city anywhere in the world easier to see by bike than Vancouver. A bike trail follows the shoreline form the downtown waterfront around Stanley Park, around False Creek, a former industrial harbor, past Granville Island and along the open water out to the end of the city’s westernmost suburbs and the University of British Columbia .... over twenty miles.
There was never a time without a view of some kind. On the six miles around Stanley Park there was water on the right and a forest of giant trees on the left. False Creek is now lined by apartment buildings in all states of finish. Passing the Granville Island tourist area and under the Burrard Street Bridge you come to the Maritime Museum and then five miles of continuous beaches. At the end of the peninsula UBC sits high above the ocean ... and when I say high, I mean high. It took 20 minutes to pedal up there and 3 minutes to coast back down. The UBC Botanical Garden and the separate Rose Garden made it worth the trip. Except for the UBC visit, the whole route was virtually flat. The 33 mile, nine hour excursion was as nice an urban day on a bike as you could ever spend.
Our plans for the next day hadn’t been finalized when at the hostel’s free breakfast a guy asked for our attention and asked us to join him on a tour of the city and a hike in Lynn Valley Forrest across the harbor ... at a cost of $12. What a bargain that turned out to be. John led us through downtown telling about the city’s history and its buildings. We took a local bus across the harbor and on to the the Lynn Valley Forrest were we hiked among the trees to a ice-cold creek where we ate the lunch we each had brought. We hiked across a very, very high suspension bridge, past the park’s offices, and out of the forrest on to a North Vancouver city street where a city bus whisked us to the ferry terminal. A ferry ride with great views dropped us off near a train that took us to Chinatown. Another bus took us back to the city library and the tour’s end ... all eight hours for $12.
On our third day in Vancouver we had till three o’clock to see the city before boarding our cruise ship. Most of that time was spent on Granville Island in the middle of False Creek which you can reach by taking the littlest ferry boat you’ve every seen ... less than 15 feet long. Granville is all about the tourist experience, but it is a good one. It has a great market which locals use extensively. It was like the local markets in Central America except in price. The price points in the two market places are at the extremes.
The walk to the cruise ship that afternoon took less than an hour including stopping at a sculpture exhibit at a bank and a visit to an art gallery. The only entrance to the cruise ship embarkation hall is hidden deep below the Pan Pacific Hotel with only the smallest of signs to the right of the hotel entry doors to direct you down a ramp to the area where the cruise line buses empty their passengers.
We boarded the Holland American Line’s Voldendam around 3:00 after a quick trip through a very long line at Canadian customs. Since we had only carryon luggage we were able to settle in our room quicker than if we had let porters bring our things to our cabin.
Having managed to have purchased our cruise for the ridiculously low price of $605 including all taxes, we were shocked to find we had been upgraded three grades to a nice size room with a huge window overlooking the promenade deck. Of course being on that deck meant we had to keep our drapes pulled most of the time. Actually the window had one-way glass but you still kept the drapes pulled.
Unlike my previous cruises, this cabin had room to move around. It even had a desk, love seat, chair and table ... and a TV. The latter is actually a good thing because, in addition to a few satellite channels, it kept you up to date as to where we were, what the weather and seas were like, and what activities were available on the ship ... all handy information to occupy you while your roommate showers.
By 4:00 we were in our first buffet line ... let the eating begin. Knowing it was but four hours to our first sit-down dinner, I was able to use a little restraint. Before we could finish eating the ship was under way.
Harbor cruises are always interesting but the view from high atop a modern cruise ship is special. Sea planes buzzed right overhead. At sea the temperature dropped at least ten degrees partially because going 15-20 MPH into a 10-15 MPH breeze creates a bit of a wind chill factor out on the top deck. When we went down to eat at 8:30 the sun was still higher the sky.
We had chosen open seating’ for our evening meals. That means you can call before 4:00 and reserve a time or just show up when ever you like from 5:00 to 9:00 risking a bit of a wait. We ate late every night and waited five minutes only the first night. A nice thing about open seating is the chance to eat with different people each might. That being said, all the people we ate with would have been great company every day.
Cruise ship food is legendary. There are things you would never have at home. There are things you have at home, cooked in a way to make them completely different. Sometimes tiny helpings are placed in an elaborate display. Sometimes huge helpings fill their plates. The one constant is that by the time you eat the appetizer soup or salad, entree, and dessert, you’ve eaten way too much.
Over the week I had seafood and fruit appetizers. I had soups made of fruit and salads made out of weeds ... I think. I had entrees of duck, salmon, steak, quail, surf and turf, venison, and lamb. I had desserts of chocolate in forms unimaginable. While I can’t say every item was delicious, I can say every meal was in the end more than satisfying. Eating is the number one on-board pleasure.
Our first full day was at sea. I have to say that I am not big fan of days at sea. I’m not a gambler so the casino isn’t an attraction. I'm not shopping for art work or diamond jewelry nor do I want to attend a workshop on why I should buy these items. I don’t want to buy a picture of myself for $19.95. They had photo workshops but they were about using PC programs not Mac programs. There were cooking programs but I am not a gourmet cook.
They had a nice little library but you could not take to book out of the room. They showed movies each evening but not during the day. Now that I think about it, almost every activity was a profit center for the ship. Free activities were quite limited.
When we were close to land I spent time on deck even though it was quite windy and cool there ... but that’s were I met like-minded travelers. The other good side to that weather was that I had the top deck pretty much to myself between 6:00 and 7:00 when I wanted to run. The first night and both days at sea I ran 22 laps or about two miles around the wood-floored 9th deck. On one side the wind pushed me to a fast pace and on the other I had to work hard to maintain my momentum into the wind. Even on the rainy last day the footing on the wet deck was very good. I did try the treadmill and step machines one rainy day but I can’t get comfortable on them. I rode an excise bike instead.
After diner there were two entertainment opportunities not available during the day. There was a different stage show and different movie each night but eating late made it impossible to do both. I’m not big on stage shows other than comedians. One of the comedians, a juggler named Barnaby, was great. The other shows were a bit like watching TV on the nights when your favorite shows aren’t on ... were and there are moments of entertainment, but on the whole you are just killing time.
Another way of killing ten to fifty minutes is to put a dollar in a penny slot machine and see how long you can make it last by playing a single penny on a single line on each pull. You can usually get 15-20 minutes out of a dollar. The first dollar I played had zero winners in one hundred pulls. There were no signs around advertising ‘the loosest slots in town’ so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. To be fair, the next night I quit after forty minutes, $1 ahead.
I was only tempted to the late night buffet twice because of my late dinner times. Can you guess the body type of those who frequented it?
As the second day dawned we entered Tracey Arm. Unfortunately ice flows kept us from getting all the way in to the glaciers there. Still, the chunks of ice radiating shades of blue in the sun light were nice and the mountains lining the narrow gorge were beautiful. Southeast Alaska’s high rainfall keeps everything green.By 2:00 we were docked in Juneau and by 2:45 we were on a bus to Mendenhall Glacier. We bought our $14 ticket right at the bottom of the gangplank saving at least 50% over the price on the boat. The twenty minute ride out to the glacier gives you a quick view of the city including their very own Wal-Mart complete with real eagles sitting on the light standards out in front.
Mendenhall is a good place to start your glacier viewing because it turns out to be about the smallest we would see. It was impressive at the time ... marred only by a steady string of helicopters heading past to set tourists down on the glacier itself. Given the very low cloud deck each day I can’t imagine that any air ride was as full an experience as could be possible. It made me wonder about how bush pilots manage to fly over cloud capped mountains to land in high valleys.
Mendenhall’s park center had exhibits showing the glacier’s advances and retreats in recent times. It’s most recent retreat began well before we started hearing about global warming ... speaking of which, the temperature did not reach sixty that sunny afternoon.
Back at the docks by 5:50, we set out on an 1800 foot climb to the Mt. Roberts tram’s upper station. Walking out of town in the only rain to mar off-boat days, we reached the lower trail head in about twenty minutes. As we started our climb the rain stopped and sweat began to dampen our shirts. The trail climbed unceasingly over rocks and roots and switch-backs.
We were told that the hike was an hour to two hours and we felt we were proceeding at the faster pace. It was nearly a half hour before we got our first glimpse done to Juneau’s waterfront and the Voldendam. Fifteen minutes later we began to worry as the ship was now well behind us, yet we knew the lower tram station was right next to the ship. The trail had no markings. Three times we had chosen paths which went higher rather than lower. We began to wonder if we might be on the way to Mt. Roberts’ peak rather than the tram station. We decided that at one hour we would probably have begin retracing our footsteps if we were to return to the boat before it cast off that evening ... back down that unmarked trail with unmarked options. And then at 59 minute, we rounded a switch back and there were people ... and the tram station ... and joy ... and relief ... and finally exhaustion.
The tram’s round trip costs $22 if you buy it off the ship but if you only need a ticket down it costs only $5 ... and if you buy $5 worth of stuff in the gift shop the ride down is free. Imagine that ... you can save $22 by hiking up 1800 feet on a steep muddy trail. All kidding aside, it was a great hike if you are fit. Only after we were done and someone wanted to kwon if we had seen any bears did we think about the possibility of meeting one in the wilderness above Juneau.
On Day Three we docked in Skagway before we ever got out of bed. Sleeping on the ship was great. In part that may have been due to the time zone changes which had us going to bed a couple hours later than usual or maybe it was the gentle rocking of the ship. Both times that we were in open sea rather than the inland passages, I worried about sea sickness, but never did the ship roll enough to feel the least bit uncomfortable.
Skagway has four streets which are about fifteen blocks long. About a quarter of those blocks are dedicated to getting your tourist dollar. Thankfully there are also four nice, small museums there. They occupied our time till the 12:45 boarding of the Skagway & White Pass Railroad’s summit tour.
For $103 on-line or at the ticket office versus $130 or so on the boat, it was a trip well worth either price. The train’s route followed the 1889 gold rush miner’s path over the summit into Canada. Finished just as the gold ran out, it remained a supply line to the interior until the construction of the Alaska highway during WW II. Now it runs on tourist gold.There is not a moment on this trip when there isn’t a terrific vista. I stayed out on the end-of-car platform snapping picture after picture. It is a trip made for digital cameras ... much to the dismay of friends and relatives back home. I can’t imagine that anyone on that trip experienced anything but awe ... except maybe those trapped in the car with the screaming kid and his indulging parents. A call for volunteers to toss the kid over the edge would have resulted in a riot of volunteers.
Back at the ship well before our 8:00 departure time, I disembarked again for a run though town. Running end-to-end on the streets flanking the tourist shops I was able to see a little of how locals live. I think it is safe to say that not many people are getting rich there. While things there were a might better than I would see later in Ketchikan, the housing stock is small and generally rundown and unpainted. I was told that many people only summer there, heading south when the winter winds blow.
The sunny day was the warmest of the trip at around 65 degrees.
Day Four was spent slowly cruising in Glacier Bay. I have to admit seeing the day’s schedule did not inspire me but in the end I knew that is is what Alaska is about. By 10:00 we were at the deepest part of the bay looking at the Margerie Glacier. It’s face was huge and it curled back up the mountain valley as far as the eye could see. The only disappointment was not getting to see any great chunks of ice calf off in the sea. Several small ice slides sent water into the air but no major iceberg was born while we were there.What was surprising was a very small sailboat creeping very near the ice face. I wasn’t as surprised to see kayakers treading through the ice flows having seen that on TV before. At times I envied them and at times I shivered for them.
Later that day as we exited Glacier Bay we passed an island fill of seals ... at least that was what the park ranger said those brown dots were. Actually I could see them with my super powerful binoculars, just as earlier in the day I had seen two grizzlies that no one else could see. Shortly later, when he excitedly announced a whale sighting, I was as disappointed as everyone else to see only an occasional white or black dot on the horizon. I guess we’ll have to take his word for that.
That was the day I tested the gym’s equipment as the ship rolled a bit as we entered the open ocean.
By breakfast the next morning we were off of the open sea headed for Kechikan’s harbor. While Ketchikan seemed to have more commercial docks lined with warehouses and factories, it also seemed less prosperous than Juneau or Skagway. There were four cruise ships in port that day, disembarking over 7000 people, yet the stores didn’t seem over crowded nor their clerks rushed. Maybe everyone had signed up for one last plane ride or fishing trip, by-passing the town.After visiting the town’s three museums we had intended to rent bicycles to ride the town’s water front road to nowhere end-to-end. Apparently the bike rental businesses have all gone belly-up because none were to be found. That left us with only shops to kill our time ... and death came only after repeated, slow, torturous viewing of T-shirts, sweatshirts and stuffed animals. A couple mile run along the waterfront didn’t brighten my day either.
Our last day was all at sea under wet skies and low hanging fog. Every day could have been like that so I can’t complain too much. I spent much of the morning sitting on a bench under an overhang at the back of he boat talking to a guy from Singapore. I'm pretty good at sitting and talking to strangers so I had a good time. I met Aussies, Brits, and a surprising number of Canadians from Vancouver. Half the 1400 passengers were American but more than half my contacts were with other nationalities. That’s another nice thing about a cruise ship.
On the final morning I awoke as the ship gently bumped the dock in Vancouver. One last buffet breakfast, some final packing and off the ship by 9:00. We road the Airporter back to the airport with a British couple who were also savvy enough to skip Holland America’s expensive transfer offer.
At the airport, the longest customs line I have ever been in took us out of Canadian customs and into American customs right there on Canadian soil. Behind me in line was the Philippine Islands only winter Olympics hopeful, Serina Eden, a downhill snow boarder. Maybe she will be this winter’s Jamaican bobsled team story.
The hour in line shortened the nervous wait for my standby seat on Delta’s full Salt Lake CIty flight. A breakneck walk from one far end of the SLC airport to the other got me the last seat on the already boarding flight to St. Louis. Needless to say, I arrived home quite tired. I has in bed by 8:30 Pacific time.
If Holland America’s people ever read this I doubt they’ll ever give me an upgrade again. They make their money on selling you booze and tours and a few diamonds on the side .... I didn’t realize how important these extras were to them till I saw an CNBC program ”Cruise,Inc.“ a week after I got home. If you don’t spend any money on the ship, cruising is the greatest travel bargain out there ... and this is from a guy who backpacks and stays in hostels on most of his trips.
I can highly endorse the Alaska inland passage cruise and Holland America in particular ... and if you buy a couple land packages from them I won’t be mad and neither will they.
4115 Words written after a trip to Vancouver and Alaska, June14-24, 2009 by ...
