Dateline Pacific Ocean somewhere off the Alaskan Coast-Saturday, August 25

We departed Seward last night just as dusk was settling in. We headed southbound into the Pacific Ocean for Juneau on Sunday. We applied motion sickness patches to ward off the ill effects of the sea, at least until we get our sea legs.

Our accommodations are very nice and the service on board is excellent. It seems there is something for everyone. John spent a few hours working out in the fitness center this morning while Nickie read her novel. The only negative so far is that the internet service aboard ship will not let us upload our photos to this blog, so our dear readers will have to use their imaginations.

Saturday is a day of cruising. However, this afternoon our captain maneuvered the ship for an hour and a half into a narrowing bay with two magnificent glaciers at the end. The bigger of the two, Hubbard Glacier, is the largest in American. It begins over a hundred miles up in the huge, snow capped mountains, and terminates in the bay. The crew took the ship within a few hundred yards of the face of the glacier where it enters the sea, and powered down the boat. The size and colors of the glacier were inspiring. As we watched, the glacier made cracking sounds which for all the world could have been rifle shots. Periodically, a chunk of glacier ice would fall off of the face and crash into the sea, followed by a sound like thunder and a large wave that rocked the ship. The beauty of Alaska is forever amazing.

This evening we visited the onboard casino, where as usual Nickie won at the slots, and John lost playing video poker.

All in all, the cruise is shaping up great. The weather has been sunny and the winds just a breeze. There is some motion to the boat due to the Pacific swells, but our patches seem to be doing their job and it’s actually kind of soothing.

We’re looking forward to tomorrow, our visit to Juneau for the day and a scheduled white water rafting excursion.