Alaska 7.0 - June 29

Cruise Train From Anchorage To Whittier
      Board The MS Noordam - Concierge Stateroom 8058

Kim and I were both surprised at how quickly we adapted to the time change as we stayed up until 10pm / 11:30 pm Alaska time and both were up around 7am - which is normal for us.  The Aviator Hotel in Anchorage was "nice" - and the room was large & clean.  Certainly wasn't the 5-Star luxury resort that is typically provided on a Viking Oceans, but then again....we were in Anchorage.  

We spent the morning with Kim in the gym (shocking) and I working on the computer (even more shocking LOL).  We had to be out of the room by 11am and we were to meet in the lobby at noon for departure to the train station.  While we were waiting, Kim did THE coolest thing.  She and her girlfriend Andrea play cribbage frequently at the house.  They discovered there is an online version and so the two "met" at 11am our time / 3pm EST and the two played cribbage together as we waited on the train.  Loaded on the bus around noon and after a short tour of Anchorage we boarded the cruise train with high dome windows allowing for a nearly panoramic view of the amazing Alaska scenery for the two and a half hour trip to Whittier.

We were treated to oh so many snow-capped mountains sitting on large bodies of water and several waterfalls as well.  I was clicking away with photos and videos nearly the entire time and it was quite a chore to reduce the number of finished photos for today's journal page let me tell you.

As we arrived at the port in Whittier the clouds had moved in and it had begun to rain.  But, thanks to the service onboard the train we were pre-checked in and only had to go through security screening before getting onboard the Noordam.  We quickly found our stateroom on the 8th deck (of ten) - it's one of the things we love about Holland America (in addition to the smaller number of guests it holds) is to get one of these upgraded balcony staterooms.  When we arrived we had two of our four pieces of luggage but Kim's big bag had been "withheld" because they would not allow her steamer device.  We had to go down to Deck "A" and have it stored before bringing her bag up.  And when we arrived, there was my big bag.  Smooth as can be to get on board and moved in.

About 5:15 we headed to the Pinnacle Lounge to get dinner drinks - if you're reading this you KNOW that I got the traditional mudslide :)  We then had dinner in the dining room before doing a little exploring around the ship and heading back to our room.  Tomorrow SHOULD be one of the most amazing days we've had in Alaska as we will cruise up to Hubbard Glacier in the early afternoon and then Kim & I will board a small catamaran to get "up close and personal" to the massive glacier - one of the few that is ADVANCING, not receeding.