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Wind Whisperer
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Trips:
WindWhisperer's Travel Blog
Journey to Alaska: The Inside Passage
Shorthand link:
http://blogabond.com/WindWhisperer
Having lived and studied in Norway the last few years, I am now making another major transition, this time westward to my home country, the good ol' USA. What follows, is my day to day journal, with pictures and videos here and there.
Reservations are confirmed!
Albany
,
United States
Reservations are confirmed! We depart
Seattle
from Pier 91 at 4:00pm Saturday, May 18, 2013. We will spend 7 nights on board the Star Princess, with Princess Cruise Lines. Our itinerary is as follows:
Day 1: Ship departs
Seattle
at 4:00pm PST
Day 2: At sea
Day 3: Juneau, 11:00am - 10:00pm
Day 4:
Skagway
, 6:00am - 8:15pm
Day 5:
Tracy
Arm Fjord - 8:00am - 1:00pm (no port stops)
Day 6:
Ketchikan
, 6:00am - 12:30pm
Day 7: Victoria, Vancouver
Island
, Canada, 7:00pm - 11:00pm
Day 8: Ship arrives in
Seattle
at 7:00am
We plan to do some kayaking, biking, and a lot of walking while in port at Juneau,
Skagway
, and
Ketchikan
. There are no stops (as far as we know) in
Tracy
Arm Fjord, and we probably won't have much time to explore Victoria due to the late arrival and departure time. That said, we very much look forward to this trip, and hope to come home with a lot of memories from our time up
North
!
written by
Wind Whisperer
on April 21, 2013
from
Albany
,
United States
from the travel blog:
Journey to Alaska: The Inside Passage
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The Morning After
Gatwick
,
United Kingdom
After a long train trip yesterday and a following 2 hour flight, I finally arrived at London
Gatwick
airport. The flight was one of the best I've had in a long time, and was a pleasant
Surprise
at the end of a long day. Dinner was excellent, with rigatoni
Primavera
and a glass of red wine. The hotel room was equally so, and oh how I slept (something I really needed).
Today I will get to see England by day, as last night when I flew in, it was dark. Flying into London at night reminded me of Christmas, with the landscape beneath me lit up. Today, I will make my way by train from London-
Gatwick
to
Southampton
, and await the long, 2 week boat ride that lies ahead. I'll try and blog again later tonight, time and service permitting. I hope everyone's doing well, those I've had to say goodbye to and those of you awaiting my arrival.
Until then, ha det bra! ;)
written by
Wind Whisperer
on November 23, 2009
from
Gatwick
,
United Kingdom
from the travel blog:
WindWhisperer's Travel Blog
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Less than two weeks! (Trip outline)
Steinkjer
,
Norway
This is my first, actual BLOG here, so I will try and give an overview of the coming trip for those of you who have been so curious as to ask me to write this thing. ;) So! Here we go!
The morning of November 22nd, I will likely get no sleep as I rush around frantically trying to entirely repack all my already packed luggage because I didn't pack something I really needed (honestly, just wanted) to take with me. I'm sure it will be something stupid like an extra purse I don't need, or a book I'll not be able to find time to read... or perhaps summer clothes when winter (and of course Christmas) is just ahead... I never did say I was smart, only that I'm (Aubrey close your eyes) JUST A GIRL!
Ok. So I'll get in trouble for that one... but I'm still thousands of miles away.
Here in Norway, at this time of year, it is absolutely dark outside until about 9:30 am. I have to be down at the train station around 5:30 am though, which means I'll be bringing some nasty caffeine drink along or I just won't make it to Trondheim, where I have to switch trains.
No night train this time, since the train is running during day hours, which means I won't have the luxury of stretching out my legs much while sitting. Yes, I will be hiking up and down the aisles of the train throughout the overall 8 hour stretch between Steinkjer and Oslo.
Arriving in Oslo at just before 3pm in the afternoon, I'll get off at the airport and make my way through security and then to the gate where I'll be waiting for my 6:10pm flight to Gatwick. Thank god it's only a couple hours in the air... I hate flying anymore. Upon arriving in Gatwick (around 7:30p local time), I'll sleep over at the Airport hotel for the night. A hotel which, by the way, goes by the name of "Sofitel Gatwick".... yeah... the price wasn't so soft. I'm sure it will be just lovely, though!
Waking up the morning of Nov. 23rd, I'll have breakfast, checkout, and then head down to
the airport train station and catch an 11:30am train to Southampton. This train ride is about a couple of hours, and should find me in Southampton just after 1:30pm. Upon arriving in Southampton, I shall promptly call a taxi service to pick me up (along with my sorry luggage), and transport me to the dock where the boat will be towering above us like a floating city. I've only seen pictures thus far, such as the one I'm including here... so I imagine I'll be overwhelmed seeing the actual size of this thing in person.
The ship is a part of the Royal Caribbean fleet, and is called Independence of the Seas. It has room for some 4000 passengers, and is said to be 3 times the size of the Titanic. For those of you that don't know, Titanic also left out of Southampton port before making a stop in Ireland and moving on to its fatal end shortly thereafter. It's probably a good thing that RC's Independence is taking us on a more southerly journey... ;)
I will be aboard the ship for 13 nights, and this will truly be my first real cruise experience. I hear there are alot of silly rules like dressing up in fine formal attire a few nights for dinner, while other nights there's an
all-out masquerade party in the "streets" where shops and taverns line the promenade. I'll be sure to post some interesting pictures as the time comes. I think the fun part will be attending the napkin folding and towel folding workshops... I wonder how many people my age will be there... (I bet you'd be interested in this, Mom!)
There's certainly other things to do, such as rock climbing, boxing, ice skating, kareoke, attending art auctions, swimming (bit chilly, though...), dancing, attending a murder mystery dinner theatre, painting, jewelry making, and I'm sure an infinite number more that. Eventually, though, after 13 nights of fantastical fun, the Independence should arrive in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on the 6th of December, at 6:00am. Ft. Lauderdale is the end stop for the Independence, and as such, everyone disembarks here. The boat journey has ended, and this will begin the last and final segments of my journey to St. Louis... via AMTRAK!! (Yes, all those of you in shock, you have EVERY reason to be. I hear about the delays, and I'm scared too.)
I actually have ROOMETTES booked the whole trip (3 segments) with Amtrak, and it will be over 3 days and 2 nights, so it's a good thing I can stretch out or I'd be an avid sleep walker. The first segment has me on the train for nearly 24 hours, as we move north from Ft. Lauderdale to Washington D.C. The 2nd segment goes over another night, from DC to Chicago, and the last and final segment is a 5 hour stint from Chicago to St. Louis, arriving the same day at 7:30pm Dec. 8th.
written by
Wind Whisperer
on November 10, 2009
from
Steinkjer
,
Norway
from the travel blog:
WindWhisperer's Travel Blog
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