Alaska Cruise 2025 - Sea Day #3 (08/14/25)

The clocks moved back an hour last night, and we still got up late for breakfast.  It's just as well, as neither of us were in the mood to do anything but relax.  Outside, we can see nothing but the Pacific Ocean, and it's nice to know that we'll have a nice continuous view of the inside passage when our ship leaves Skagway tomorrow.

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We got up late, and decided that our first meal would be lunch in the main dining room.  I wanted something simple to eat, as I knew I'd be having GI Tract issues later in the day.  So, I had some lentil soup followed by a gussied up hamburger.  Both were yummy.  But this would not be the focus of our day.

Sometime towards mid afternoon, we entered the Inside Passage, and had calm waters to sail on our way to Skagway.  From our balcony, we saw some snow covered mountains, while others nearby saw whales. Both of us broke out our binoculars to get a better view of things.  Even though the tops of the mountains were often covered with clouds, we enjoyed the view.  This is one cruise which I would always recommend a balcony cabin.

All too soon, dinner time came, and we had to stop enjoying the views from our balcony cabin.  So we trekked downstairs to the restaurant where I ordered the Crab Buccatini, the Seafood Antipasto, and the Tandori Chicken for dinner.  There was nothing that wasn't top notch. While having our appetizers a couple from the Denver area was seated at our shared table. I recommended the pasta, and the woman opposite me loved my suggestion.  The four of us had a nice conversation, even though the noise level in the restaurant made it hard to hear each other.  To finish the meal, I had the Apple Strudel, while RQS had the Cheesecake.  We could have kept talking for a while, but RQS had to go up to the room, and I wanted to go and capture the last minutes of our first Alaskan sunset. 

 What a nice way to close out a day, isn't it?

 

Why I'm not taking an Alaskan Cruise this year.

 

 

The above route is one I'd like to take this year, as it checks off all the places I want to see on a 7-day Alaska cruise.  The underlying price, inclusive of airfare, taxes, port fees and gratuities is more than acceptable for me as a solo traveler.  However, I won't even consider it due to circumstances not mentioned in any travel agency site, or the cruise line site itself.  (This is not just an NCL issue, as Princess, RCL and other cruise lines have the same problem.)  But what is the unadvertised problem?

Last year, there was a rock slide which made it unsafe to make port at Skagway's railroad pier.  At a moment's notice, cruise lines changed their ships' itineraries from Skagway to ports such as Icy Strait Point (Hoonah) and Sitka. This year, Skagway has done what it can to stabilize the rock face overlooking the railroad pier, but it is only a short term fix. And it is a fix that (at worst) can only give 12 seconds' warning before a rock slide.  Although Skagway can keep people safe, this is not enough for the people who run the cruise lines. They are just not comfortable bringing their newest and biggest ships to this port due to liability issues.

For me, a stop in Skagway is a must on any Inside Passage cruise. And I feel it almost criminal that at least one cruise line has failed to update its site to indicate itinerary changes that now bypass Skagway. As a result of this, I will not take a last minute Alaska cruise this year, no matter what discount I get, as the advertisement for these cruises no longer reflects the true itinerary that these cruises will follow.

 

 

PS: From what I've been told, there are still ships stopping at Skagway.  It seems as if only the older, smaller ships are making it to this port, as they can use an alternate way of bringing people into this little town. Hopefully, cruisers on these ships will get to enjoy this port the way I did 25 years ago.

Cruising issues

 

I don't want to belabor something that frustrated me today - billing issues from my doctor's office caused by the office sending paperwork to the wrong insurance company.  So I'll talk about something more pleasant, and deal with this issue tomorrow....

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The above cruise route has already been changed to deal with the problem at Skagway.  Many ships originally scheduled to port at Skagway are now going to other Alaskan ports due to multiple rock slides making it unsafe to use the Railroad Dock.  Hopefully, they will be able to stabilize the land above the dock before next year's cruise season.

Skagway is my favorite port in Alaska.  The White Pass & Yukon Railroad is a must for any Inside Passage trip.  And I'd like to take this train again, if I can find a way to get to Alaska on another cruise.  However, I had no intentions of taking this "2 bucket list trip" cruise, and coming back with Covid-19 as my souvenir. (I also did not want to pay a high price for airfare, given both the high cost and inconvenience of air travel this year.)  Now, with the Railroad Dock unavailable to most cruise ships, ships are either stopping at Haines or Icy Strait Point, or they are adding an extra Sea Day to their cruises.

Assuming all goes well with my current relationship, I expect that we will be in Alaska and/or Hawaii sometime in the next few years.  Will we take a repositioning cruise like the one in the route map at the top of this entry?  Will we take a Hawaii cruise (from the West Coast or from Oahu?)  Will we take an Alaska cruise (Inside Passage or Northbound/Southbound to/from Denali)?  RQS has never taken what I'd call a bucket list trip, and it would be nice to share one with her.

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Thinking about what is going right in my relationship with RQS makes me think about what went wrong in my previous long term relationship.  Strangely enough, learning the things that bothered XGFJ have made it possible not to make those mistakes with RQS.  All XGFJ needed to do was put me on the spot and make things clear.  Instead, she decided to take the "easy" way out and hint to me what her needs were - dooming the relationship via a lack of effective communication.  Yes, there are other issues I see in the rear view mirror. But I put the blame for our relationship's failure with a lack of effective communication - a mistake I intend to prevent myself or RQS from making in our current relationship.