We Did it Again!

Ruby Princess - Princess Cay - Eleuthera, Bahamas
Copyright Andy Richards 2012 - All Rights Reserved

I HAVE recently begun a series of posts going back to the beginning of cruising for us. It all started in Alaska in 2010. It has been quite a ride (er . . . cruise). We didn't know if we would like it (or maybe the proverbial "we" should be just me - pretty sure my wife not only loved it from the get-go but already knew she was going to). I covered all that in the first post if you didn't see that. For me, it was just a matter of time. A pretty short time, actually.

The Ruby Princess - Caribbean 2012
A very different "vibe" than Alaska - complete with "Bob Marley/Jimmy Buffet style music around the pool
Copyright Andy Richards 2012 - All Rights Reserved

AS IN the Alaska trip, my brother-in-law was also involved with our second cruise and its planning. He had been on a couple prior cruises over the years. They had all been in the Caribbean. He was definitely in for the Caribbean. On the first go-round, I had insisted that I would go, but only if I could choose the cruise. They were good with that and I chose Alaska. We all had a great time. But this time? Well they say "what goes around comes around." This time: his turn to choose. He made a short exercise of it. We were going to the Caribbean.

Ruby Princess - Caribbean 2012
There was no sunbathing or pool parties in Alaska
Copyright Andy Richards 2012 - All Rights Reserved

WE HAD thoroughly enjoyed our experience with Princess, and we were both already accumulating "status." So it was an easy choice to go on Princess again. The itinerary and timing that fit best for us meant our cruise would be on The Ruby Princess. Two years newer (2008) than our Alaska ship, The Diamond Princess (2006). Both are in Princess' Grand Class and thus essentially similar. The Ruby Princess does have one additional deck, however.

A CARIBBEAN cruise is almost everything opposite of an Alaska cruise. Instead of cool, overcast conditions, it is warm and sunny. Instead of a more "cultural" approach, it is beach party time (that is not to say that there are no cultural opportunities in the Caribbean - as we would later learn). For northerners (we lived in Michigan at the time and my brother-in-law lived in Virginia - still a cold weather climate during the winter months), the Caribbean in winter time is a little slice of heaven. Albeit short-lived, we began to look forward to our southern trips as a time to thaw out, get some color from the sun, drink the "boat drinks" Jimmy Buffet sang about, and just recharge the batteries. As you can see from the photo above, there is one huge difference between our first and second cruises. The Caribbean means sun and warm temperatures. I can assure you there were no sun-worshippers in bathing suits lounging around the pool aboard the Diamond Princess in Alaska. 😆

Princess Cay; Eleuthera, Bahamas
Copyright Andy Richards 2012 - All Rights Reserved

PRINCESS PIONEERED the idea of owning its own slice of paradise in the form of a day-visit tropical beach owned by the cruise line. In 1981 the cruise line acquired a beach property on Palm Island in the Grenadines and began calling there for day stops on its Caribbean itineraries. In 1986, Palm Island was replaced by "Princess Bay," at Saline Bay on the Caribbean island of Mayreau (part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines). Then, in 1991, the company acquired a large part of the northern tip of the island of Eleuthera, Bahamas., and opened its current (and only) exclusive beach destination: Princess Cay. Owned by Carnival Holding, Inc., it is shared by sister lines: Holland America and Carnival. I think that the location (technically The Bahamas are not part of "the Caribbean") was a major consideration, being much closer to all three cruise lines' U.S. ports. We stopped there on our second day (first was "at sea") out of Ft. Lauderdale and enjoyed a beautiful day on the white sandy beach. The opening image showing our Ruby Princess anchored out (the Cay is a "tendered" stop) in crystal blue waters. The cruise ship puts on a major "barbeque" style food setup. We rented one of the colorful little "cabana cabins" (ours is pictured) for the day, giving us a place to change and to get out of the sun (or rain, if necessary). Pretty nice beach day.

St. Maarten - On our first visit I counted 7 cruise ships in the port
Copyright Andy Richards 2012 - All Rights Reserved

THEN THE cruise began "in earnest." Our next stop was the island nation of Sint Maarten / St. Martin. The island is basically bisected north and south, with the southern part being Dutch territory and the northern part, French. The cruise ships all dock in Phillipsburg on the Dutch side because there is a deepwater port there which can accomodate multiple ships. For a number of reasons, we did not do a very good job of planning this cruise. We are not generally beach-goers, or water-adventure (like snorkeling) seekers. 2012 had also been a turbulent year for us (more for my wife and her brother than me). My mother-in-law, a formerly independent and self-sufficient single woman, had taken a turn in her health. No longer able to live independently, they shared the responsibility of caring for her. That year, they decided that it would be best for all to move her from her familiar Virginia, to Michigan, where my wife and I lived. Her brother was in the process of changing jobs and would eventually move to Florida. Only a day or two before we were scheduled to fly to Ft. Lauderdale and board our ship, she took a turn for the worse, and was hospitalized. Then on the day of our sceduled flight, she passed. Tumultous. My brother-in-law and his girlfriend were already at the hotel we were going to meet at in Ft. Lauderdale. I remember speaking to him that night by phone as he was walking on the beach, reflecting on things. The first thought every one of us had was that we would abandon the cruise. But we quickly realized there was no jonger any urgency. They were her only children. She wasn't at "home," so a service wasn't imminently necessary. There was time to plan. We had both paid for the cruise and were beyond any normal cancellation deadline. And we knew in our hearts that she would have wanted us to go. We did and I think all were glad we did. Packing was a blur, as was getting to the port on time for the sail-away. But we made it.

The center of Phillipsburg, Sint Maarten - Courthouse in the background
Copyright Andy Richards 2012 - All Rights Reserved

WE GOT off the ship in St. Maarten, bought some jewelry, and then rode the water taxi across the bay to the middle of Phillipsburg. My brother in law had booked some kind of excursion for them, so my wife and I walked around the "downtown" area of Phillipsburg and did some "window shopping." The first thing we learned about the Caribbean is that it mostly has a very laid back vibe contrasted with the "hard sell" approach the tourist vendors take in most cases). Just off the ship the water taxi that took you across the bay to the main dock in the downtown section of Philipsburg. It was maybe a 5 minute ride. But in that time, We were warmly greeted, offered a (very reasonably priced) beer, and whisked across the gorgeous bay to the dock.

St. Maarten Water Taxi
Copyright Andy Richards 2012 - All Rights Reserved

I LEARNED that in Phillipsburg you may walk around the town (and the beaches) with an open alcoholic container. "No worries, mon." 😁 So, once in town, I did just that. We window shopped and successfuly avoided buying the proverbial T-shirt. Evenually, we found our way to a shady little spot on a very small beach adjacent to a small marina where it looks like some local fishermen beached their boats, found a sandwich and a beer, and just relaxed. It was a fun and memorable day. Aside from Canada, this was my first time in a foreign country and my first time south of Orlando. It was a memorable day.

A quiet corner of the beach - St. Maarten, Dutch West Indies
Copyright Andy Richards 2012 - All Rights Reserved

SOON ENOUGH it was time to head back for the ship. It was nice to head back, get cleaned up, and have a cocktail before dinner at our assigned table for 4. I didn't know it at the time, but we would be back to St. Maarten several times over the next few years. I always enjoy it and have often though it would be my first choice of a place to stay for an extended period in the Caribbean.

These colorful "welcome" signs are seen today at most Caribbean Cruise Ports. This one was serendipitous, but in later years I have begun to make it a point to photograph them when the opportunity presents
Copyright Andy Richards 2012 - All Rights Reserved

OUR SHIP had a later departure that day and we were able to observe a gorgeous sunset as we watched a "ghost of our future," the brand new Celebrity Reflection leave port and sail off into the sunset. Stay tuned, as it is coming up soon.

The Celebrity Reflection - St. Maarten, Dutch West Indies
Copyright Andy Richards 2012 - All Rights Reserved

Glacier Bay: (a spot that wasn't really a "stop" and a National Park that didn't really feel like a "park")

National Park Service - Glacier Bay National Park - Icy Straits, Alaska
Copyright Andy Richards 2010 - All Rights Reserved

THE LAST "stop" on our itinerary before reaching our final port and debarkation, was Glacier Bay National Park. The park is actually over 3 million acres of rugged and essentially uninhabited mountains, glaciers, shorelines, and even rainforest. We didn't see any of that except on huge glacier making its way inexorably into the bay. Instead, we cruised into Glacer Bay, itself 65 miles long, primarily to observe The Margerie Glacier and maybe get lucky enough to see it "calving."

The Margerie Glacier - Glacier Bay National Park - Icy Straits, Alaska
Copyright Andy Richards 2010 - All Rights Reserved

THE BAY is open to only 2 cruise ships a day, and limited private boating (by permit only), in addition to the excursion boats operated by, or in contract with, the Park Service. As the ship enters the bay, it is boarded by Park Service Naturalists who accompany the boat during the time in the bay, as well as presenting to the passengers. We saw, in addition to the spectacular scenery, a fair amount of wildlife, including a couple black bears that were too far off to photography.

Floating Ice - Glacier Bay National Park - Icy Straits, Alaska
Copyright Andy Richards 2010

THE MARGERIE Glacier was the main event. Our ship cruised pretty close to the base of the glacier and then sat for a long time, turning once to allow all passengers a view. As we watched, we hoped for a significant calving event. Unfortunately we did not see a major "calving" event.

Floating Ice - Glacier Bay Natioal Park - Icy Straits, Alaska
Copyright Andy Richards 2010 - All Rights Reserved

AS I watched over the side, I was impressed by the huge chunks of ice floating in the clearly freezing-cold water, many of them displaying interesting and sometimes vivid colors.

Margerie Glacier - Glacier Bay National Park - Icy Straits, Alaska
Copyright Andy Richards 2010

THE BLUE color you see predominantly in the glaciers is caused by the dense icepack absorbing the colors of the "warm" spectrum (reds, oranges, yellows) and reflecting the cooler (blue) color spectrum.

The Margerie Glacier - Glacier Bay National Park - Icy Straits, Alaska
Copyright Andy Richards 2010 - All Rights Reserved

THE BLACK, mostly horizontal lines through the glaciers are made by deposits on top of the ice of minerals, smoke, dust and rock particles, recovered by snow and reformed ice. It all makes for a pretty photogenic, if pastel, palette.

Pilot Boat - Icy Straits, Alaska
Copyright Andy Richards 2010

SAILING OUT of Glacier Bay and on toward our final port of call, Whittier, we had calm seas, but very cold conditions. I couldn't help but think how brutal this environment can be and how incredibly cold it would be out there on a smaller craft. I thought the black and white rendering of this image got my primary thought - cold - across well.

Icy Straits Passage from Glacier Bay to Wittier, Alaska
Copyright Andy Richards 2010 - All Rights Reserved

WHITTIER IS a tiny Alaska town whose demographic is fascinating. Serving mainly the purpose of a small, sheltered seaport, the majority of Whittier's inhabitants work in the marine industry, mostly for the cruise port there which is operated by Princess (and is the point of beginning and end for the one-way inside passage cruises by Princess and Holland America cruise ships). Historically a portage point for the Chugach native people, it later was used by Russian and U.S. explorers, as well as serving as a launch point during the Klondike Gold Rush. During World War II, the United States built a military base (Camp Sullivan) nearby. Improvements, including a spur of the Alaska Railroad to Camp Sullivan, an oil terminal and a pipeline from Whitter to Anchorage. The army maintained its presence until 1960. In 1941, a tunnel was excavated through the mountain separating Whittier from other parts of Alaska, train travel (mostly industrial) was able to move between Whittier and Anchorage and other points. There were no roads in and out of Whittier. Previously mainly a military-industrial outpost and a port on the Alaska Marine Highway, Whittier was incorporated in 1968. It was not until 2000, however that the tunnel was converted into a "bi-modal" transportation route, for both passenger vehicles and train travel.

Begich Towers . . . continues today to be the primary housing in Whittier

IT WAS a very interesting trip from Whittier to Anchorage from where we would fly home the following day. The tunnel is regulated and is a basically one lane highway with train tracks in the middle of it. Obviously, only one mode of transport at a time can traverse the 2.5 mile stretch. And somebody has to be coordinating that! We took one of Princess' coaches, and fortunately met neither a vehicle nor a train coming into Whittier.

Sunrise from the aft deck of Diamond Princess in Whittier, Alaska
Copyright Andy Richards 2010

THE OTHER fascinating tidbit about Whittier is its population and housing situation. The population is less than 300. Almost all of them live in a single, high-rised condominium. As you can see from my photo of Whittier below, there is virtually no separate single family housing. In fact, aside from the two multi-occupancy buildings to the left and right of the image, there is essentially no other housing. Unique. Only two residential building were built in Whittier, the Buckner Building in 1953, and later, the Hodge Building in 1957. Both were multi-occupancy buildings. For reasons unknown to me, the Buckner Building was eventually abandoned. The Hodge Building was renamed to Begich Towers and continues today to be the primary housing in Whittier. On its ground floor, it houses the 3-person Whittier Police force, and a drugstore and grocery/convenience store. There is a tunnel from the building to the Whittier School, allowing students to go to and from school in any weather. It has become known as "the city under one roof." Sounds kind of like one of those "utopian" domes. As I said: Fascinating.

The city and port of Whittier, Alaska
Copyright Andy Richards 2010 - All Rights Reserved

ALTHOUGH WE took the Princess coach that morning back to our hotel in Anchorage, and we made a couple stops along the way, they were mostly anti-climactic and my lasting memory of the final day of that cruise will be that Whittier sunrise. It was a brand new adventure for us. Our first cruise. As I said at the beginning of this series of posts, I didn't know whether I would like it or not. It turns out we did. A lot. And even though it would be 2 more years before we cruised again, we began to look forward to the next one, and that has been the pattern ever since. Next up: The Caribbean.

Skagway - A Fantasy Town?

"Downtown" Skagway, Alaska
Copyright Andy Richards 2010 - All Rights Reserved

OUR NEXT port of call was Skagway. As you might have gleaned from my posts so far, this part of Alaska along the inside passage, though it is the geographically smallest part of the state, holds some of Alaska's most archetypal towns, including the state capitol of Juneau, and Ketchikan, Haines, Sitka (which I wish we could have visited there), and of course, Skagway.

Inside Passage - Skagway, Alaska
Copyright Andy Richards 2010 - All Rights Reserved

TO THE east of the inside passage is the vast, wild, undeveloped and largely uninhabitated Yukon territory, virtually all in Canada. Alaska occupies part of the coastline which stretches around 1,000 miles from Ketchikan (just north of Vancouver, Canada) up to Skagway, where the passage opens up into the Gulf of Alaska. On that coastline, the land reaches east to the Yukon - a scant 100 miles at its widest point. By comparison, the Yukon stretches some 400 miles from the coast to its eastern boarder with the Northwest Territories, which are similarly rugged and uninhabited and continue yet another 1,200 miles to Hudson Bay. If you click into the photo of "The White Pass," below, using the train in the left middle portion of the image for scale, you get a feel for the vastness of the Yukon. Most of the Alaskan coastline is rugged, mountainous, and very sparsely populated once you clear the immediate coastal areas.

White Pass - Alaska/Yukon Territory
Copyright Andy Richards 2010 - All Rights Reserved

WITH THE possible exception of Juneau, which is the capitol city, the primary industries here are very limited. Today: primarily fishing and tourism (while Alaska is known for its oil and gas production, most of that is done nearly 1,000 miles north at the very northern tip of the state, what is known as "The North Slope," on the Arctic Ocean). There is some hunting, trapping and timber production also. A lot of entrepeneurs have build these industries into tourist attractions (like our Aleutian Ballad "Deadliest Catch" adventure), involving so-called "hands-on" experiences with dogsledding, panning for gold, and visits into parts of the Yukon.

Camp Skagway Arctic Brotherhood Hall
Skagway, Alaska
Copyright Andy Richards 2010 - All Rights Reserved

CRUISE SHIPS (years back it was steamship companies) have been bringing sightseers and visitors to Skagway since its beginning in the lat 1800's. But modern lines - like Princess - started their Alaskan cruising in the late 1960s. The port is one of the best ports on the Inside Passage, with room for 4 large cruise ships, in addition to the ferries from the "Alaska Marine Highway." This clearly makes tourism a long-time important industry for Skagway. Pre-Covid, in excess of 1 million cruise passengers visited Skagway annually (and predictions are that we will shortly again exceed that number). A recent hiccup (a serious rockslide in 2023 impaired the cruise terminals - my understanding is that has now been fixed), curtailing some cruise traffic.

Diamond Princess Docked in Skagway, Alaska
Copyright Andy Richards 2010 - All Rights Reserved

TUCKED ALL the way at the northern end of a fjord, the waters are relatively calm and protected, and the port is a very nice facility. As is not uncommon, our Diamond Princess docked during the night, and since our excursion did not occur until later that morning, I was - as is my custom - up early and on shore. I could see the harbor and the town from the upper cruise ship deck and I wanted to explore.

Skagway Harbor, Alaska
Copyright Andy Richards 2010 - All Rights Reserved

SKAGWAY HARBOR is not huge, but it is impressively capable of lodging a substantial number of boats of all description. I was interested - in addition to seagoing personal craft to see several exploration and research "ships" (maybe boats?).

Skagway Harbor, Skagway, Alaska
Copyright Andy Richards 2010 - All Rights Reserved

THE MORNING light was good and there were some nice, saturated colors as well as some great reflections on the water.

Skagway Harbor, Skagway, Alaska
Copyright Andy Richards 2010 - All Rights Reserved

MY RESEARCH of this part our trip told me that most of the "things to do" along Alaska's inside passage involved outdoor activity (fishing, hiking, visiting the glaciers, airplane and helicopter rides, etc). The only other things were to explore the quaint downtowns, visit exhibits showing local native culture (totem poles are big in this area) and history. Much of that has - sadly - become more "theatre" for the tourists and the economic opportunists (though I don't criticize locals for making a living any way they can).

White Pass & Yukon Railroad Depot
Skagway, Alaska
Copyright Andy Richards 2010 - All Rights Reserved

FOR OUR visit to Skagway, my research had disclosed a major attraction that is probably the main event for the Skagway stop: The Whitepass Railroad. There is a good historical story there. But before we get there: Skagway and my "fantasy" reference. As a whole, Alaska is very wild and sparsely populated. It is highly influenced by the "Alaska Native" population and their cultures and traditions. For many years, Alaska was known primarily for its fisheries - mainly salmon - and by the 1940's the salmon canneries had primarily moved up to Alaska from the U.S. Northwest. But there was one other huge "vocation" that Alaska, and particularly, The Yukon became wildly famous for: gold. The discovery of gold in the Klondike region of the Yukon, right at the U.S. - Canadian border, trigger perhaps the first North American "Gold Rush" in 1896. It is estimated that during the rush, some 100,000 "stampeders" tried to reach Dawson City and Klondike, the region where the find was. 10,000 - 20,000 of them took the overland route from Skagway and through The White Pass over the summit of the mountain range (after Sir Thomas White, who was the Candian Minister of the Interior at the time). It was brutal trip, and there were many deaths (from numerous causes). Skagway, a very small outpost founded by a former steamboat captain. His tiny homestead was inundated by gold seekers and Skagway grew overnight to a tent city, soon adding "infrastructure" which largely involved provisioning and services for he tens of thousands of "new" residents.

Locomotive Check - White Pass & Yukon Railroad
Skagway, Alaska
Copyright Andy Richards 2010 - All Rights Reserved

IN MAY, 1898, construction was begun on "The White Pass and Yukon Railroad," whose purpose was to get passengers up over the White Pass. It was completed in July 1900 (from Skagway to White Horse), perhaps the proverbial "day late and dollar short." By then, just 4 years after it had begun, the gold rush was over. Claims had been made and in many cases exhausted. There was no more gold, and the prospectors moved on to the next "find." Perhaps unfortunately, Skagway began to decline and at one point was no longer inhabited. A 1898 census showed Skagway's polulation was 10,000. By 1900, it had dropped to just over 3,000. Even so, Skagway endured, and became Alaska's first incorporated city (just a day before Juneau). The next years were filled with "fits and starts," with the railroad primarily being used to ship freight and goods up and minerals from mines operated by Faro. Responsible for 95% of the railroad's revenues, Faro eventually closed down. Though they attempted to build a tourism trade, the railroad eventually ceased operations for some years.

One of hundreds of spectacular views from the White Pass & Yukon Railway Train
Copyright Andy Richards 2010 - All Rights Reserved

IN 1976, Congress passed legislation creating a "Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park." In June 1976 a temporary visitor center opened in the old depot. Still, for a number of reasons, it wasn't until 1988 that the railroad was reopened for a summer tourist operation with 3-hour round-trips to the summit. The former center city of Skagway, by the time we were there in 2010, was more of an amusement park attraction than a working city. The permanent resident population of Skagway today is just under 1,000. That swells to several thousand from temporary workers who come during the summer months to serve the tourists. There are numerous historical buildings there, some open for business, but clearly primarily serving the cruise passengers. It is pretty clear that without cruise ship passengers, there would no longer be a Skagway. You can read much more detail about the history of Skagway here.

White Pass & Yukon Railroad
Yukon Territory, Canada
Copyright Andy Richards 2010 - All Rights Reserved

AS YOU can see from the many photos here, we took the railroad trip. There are different iterations, but our involved riding the train up to Whitehorse, and then taking a bus back down, with a couple stops before being dropped of back by the cruise port. We stopped first at a "hokey," staged "camp" called Liarsville, where they performed a show with some folksy music. and let us "pan for gold." It was pretty fake and if lucky, you might get some gold flecks worth maybe pennies. I wouldn't recommend that you go out of your way to do this portion of your visit to Skagway.

THE SECOND stop (really our last) was more interesting, and involved a short, but personally narrated tour of the Red Onion Saloon. Wait. Tour of a Saloon? What could be that interesting about that? The Red Onion was not just a saloon, but was one of Alaska's most famous "Bordellos." Back during the gold rush. As I was doing some of my research, one commentator (unfortunately, I cannot remember the source to attribute it to - but it is sufficiently reminiscent of Mark Twain or Benjamin Franklin that I wouldn't be a bit surprised that what I read was not original either) said that during the Gold Rush there were two ways to get rich in Skagway: "work the goldmines or work the miners." Prostitution at the time was a booming vocation in Skagway. The Red Onion provided what they euphemistically called opportunities of "Negotiable Affection" in the upstairs area of the Saloon. What we saw was eye-opening. Rather than rooms, there were double-decker cubicles that were probably about 6 - 10 feet deep and not much higher or wider than that. They were referred to as "cribs," and our guide opined that it was the precursor of our current day use of the word "crib" to describe our own living quarters. Like all "legends," - maybe. 😉It's a good story anyway.

The Red Onion Saloon - Skagway, Alaska
Copyright Andy Richards 2010 - All Rights Reserved

FOLLOWING THE Red Onion tour, we found another saloon (or bar) that was just steps away from our boarding area for the Diamond Princess and in plain view. We had some time to kill before our all-aboard time, and it was a nice warm day (this was long before the days when we were routinely purchasing drink packages) and we decided to sit and have a drink or two. As time drew near we (perhaps unwittingly) started what might have become a "tradition" for us - last minute boarding. As we walked through the boarding gate, we heard one employee say to another, only two left (which meant we were almost the last on board). But on board we were, and it would be the last time our feet would be on terra firma until we disembarked from the ship a few days hence in Whittier.

Skagway, Alaska
Copyright Andy Richards 2010 - All Rights Reserved