Alaska Cruise, Day 2, on the Golden Princess, May 2011

At sea
A restful day at sea as we head north into the Inside Passage and on to Juneau in the morning.

The sea isn't very rough but the stabilizers are on most of the time because of the light chop. Weather is damp and gray with temperatures in the low 50s. It's a good day to read, relax, get to know the ship and nap a bit. Most of the time we can see land, far away snow-capped mountains with cliffs along the shore.

At noon today we were half way to Juneau. So far we have gone 450 nautical miles since we left Seattle. We had breakfast in Donatello Dining Room. It has waiter service and everything is cooked to order. Lunch was in the International Cafe in the Atrium. Very good choice of soup, salads and sandwiches and best of all great coffee and French pastries. Excellent food. Tonight is "formal" night and we don't dress up. Dinner was in the Crown Grill Steak House. Excellent as always. And well worth the $25 per person cover charge for the peace and quiet and fantastic service and food.


"Hamilton" on the life preserver indicates the ship is
registered in Bermuda.



This pink flower is a ceiling light in the four-story atrium.
The blossom is huge, about 12 feet across.


We have been reading the Alaska Cruise Handbook by Joe Upton. It came with a handy fold out map of our route. There's a mile-by-mile numbering system in the book and on the map that Princess uses as well so we can follow along when announcements are made on board. When we get to Glacier Bay National Park Rangers join us on the Golden Princess to answer questions and point out interesting things via the ship's loud speakers and TV channels.

Tonight we must set our clocks ahead one hour -- we will be in the Alaska Time Zone.