More Alaska

We did and saw many interesting thing on our Alaskan cruise. We saw killer whales, humpback whales, sharks, sea lions, and bald eagles. We visited nearly 20 glaciers. I learned more about glaciers than I thought I ever would. I learned how they are formed, why they are blue, why their runoff is milky white and that some of them are advancing and some are retreating. (At some glaciers they had their highest snowfall on record last winter.)

We also met a lot of nice people. We met couples from New Zealand, Liverpool in the U K, and of course from Phoenix, Denver, Florida, California, Kansas, and many other spots in the U S.

I hadn’t been on a cruise in several years and was surprised at how the cruise companies operate. What I remembered from before was that you pay for the cruise, then everything is provided and you sit back and enjoy. Well, on this cruise it was similar except as soon as we got on the ship they started trying to sell us things. The first thing to purchase was a welcome drink. Then there was perfume, jewelry, furs, “better” food, souvenirs, health products and on and on. It became very annoying and several of the people we met on board felt the same way. Additionally, the cruise companies have set up tourist oriented shops in the cities they stop at and direct you to those spots when you get off. We always tried to find the establishments that were owned and operated by local people. The locals were always friendly, interesting and I highly recommend their shops.