Pre-cruise: After training to become a “Commodore” with Princess Cruises. So, I was invited to take a cruise with them. I would use the word ‘free’, but there is no such thing. The cruise I chose was a 14 trip to the Amazon River, with 9 ports-of-call, which left from Fort Lauderdale on Dec. 16th. My mate was a friend from 1955, when we taught together at a USAF school in Chateauroux, France. Barbara Levinson proved to be a good choice of mates, as she was willing to jump thru all the hoops required for such a cruise.

The two things required by Princess, and Brazil, are a yellow fever shot and a Visa. Barbara found out from her doctor that when you pass 60 (ahem!), you don’t need the yellow fever shot, as it’s a live virus and would not attack us. However, the Visa was a challenge to get. I sent for mine in October, and was starting to sweat it out as it only arrived days before we left. However, I met some fellow onboard, who arrived in Fort Lauderdale without the visa, as they were sending it to the ship to pick up. Fortunately, he did get it, but I wondered if others arrived without it, as they would not let you board the ship without it (and a letter from doctor regarding the yellow fever shot). We also took out travel insurance with Travelguard.com, because you never know, and were glad to not have to use it.

Check-in: I arrived in Miami a day early, and took the SuperShuttle to our hotel in Fort Lauderdale, where I met up with Barbara, who flew in with Virgin Airlines later in the day. In the morning, we taxi-ed to the Port for check-in. This is never easy on any cruise, but it did go rather smoothly, as we whizzed past the photographer, and anyone else we could. The garage atmosphere prevailed, as were herded into several lines, whereas all they really wanted was a copy of our credit card, and they kept our passport – a thing that always makes me ‘uncomfortable’. They didn’t give it back until the last day . .. perhaps to be sure we wouldn’t jump ship.

The ship: We found our cabin quite easily, as the Pacific Princess is considered a ‘little ship’ and we were in the center. This was my first time on a ship with under 700 passengers, and it proved to be very convenient to have meals in the aft section, and shows/casino/library/spa in fore section. The swimming pool was in the mid section together with a small running track, and snack bar. The library had a decent collection of books, plus they put out crossword puzzles, Sudoku, trivia questions each morning. The spa and internet section was just a deck below, and I was given 240 minutes (complimentary) online, since I have “elite” status, with Princess. We found this enough time for both of us to check our email. . . and home town paper.

A daily newsletter was left each evening at our door, and this “Princess Patter” listed all the activities for the next day. So we got into the routine quickly, covering the bridge play, trivia games, Zumba Dance Classes, Ping Pong, afternoon tea, and showtime. Each evening, the shows were introduced by a delightful Australian gal, Susan Rawlings, and every show was excellent. The lead duo was a great fellow from San Francisco and girl from Oklahoma, who were backed by 3 guys and 3 gals who were excellent dancers. The advantage of a small ship is that they all mingled with us throughout the day and even offered to dance with us at the sock hop one night. I suspect they were forced into this by their contract, but it was really welcomed. The two comedian/magicians on two other nights were also great, and there was music onboard in the Casino Lounge by Manda Vincent, a Scottish/Irish gal, and the Pete Nilson Duo, in the Pacific Lounge.

I had difficulty understanding our Captain, Andrea Poggi, as he was from from Rigoroso, Italy, but he was aimable at two formal parties, and introduced all the staff. The Senior Doctor, James Pape was well received, altho’ neither of us had to use him. One day, we viewed the galley, and met the executive Chef, Remo Bolis, another handsome Italian, and the kitchen crew, who were unbelieveably great and the meals and presentations were first class.

St. Maarten: We reached this beautiful island on the 19th, and were glad to see land again. . . the temperature was 27° C (81°F). We took a short tour by van around the island, and did some shopping at one of their many markets.

St. Lucia – The temperature was 29° C (84°F). The Caribbean Princess beat us to the dock, so we had further to walk for our 8 hour visit. This was also their opportunity for trading entertainers, ie. the magician, etc. I’ve been here before and it is not unlike the other Caribbean islands.

Tobago (Scarborough): The temperature was the same, ie. 29° C (84°F). This is the ‘sister’ island of Trinidad and had the usual scenery, shops, beaches, etc. At 5 p.m., we set sail for Devil’s Island.

Devil’s Island: after another 2 days at sea, we arrived here, but the sea was rough, so rough in fact that we didn’t dock here, so skipped this island . .. The temperature was 30° C (86°F), we learned later that it happens more than half the time. . .we were getting used to walking with a swagger by now. We took pictures from the ship, but it’ll look like any old jungle, I think.

At Sea: We sailed east of Barra Norte, and the coast of French Guiana to the northern entrance of the Amazon. The water is shallow here, so we went slower than usual. The temperature was 29° C (82°F).

At Sea: Christmas at Santana Clearance: the delayed arrival of the Amazon Pilots, caused us to be late at the next port. Perhaps because of the holiday, but we did reach Santarem on the 26th a bit late.
Santarem: The sky was cloudy here and the temperature was cooler. It is actually built along the south shore of the Rio Tapajos, which flows into the Amazon about 2 miles from town. The river differs from the Amazon, because it is a so-called ‘clear’ or ‘black’ river, and you can clearly see the line of division from the brown water of the Amazon. The brown and black river waters flow side-by-side for many miles downstream before eventually mixing. “the meeting of the waters” are best observed here, but also can be seen in Manaus, where the Rio Negro enters the brown Rio Solimoes. Mosquitoes and other biting insects are prevalent in unbelievable hores along the brown stream, while the black rivera are almost insect-free. Fish vendors in small boats are everywhere, and the sell everything from armored catfish to piranhas to pirarucu (the codfish of the Amazon). There are more than 2 million people in the Amazon Basin, including Indians (mixed with European blood), prospectors (garimpeiros), rubber tappers, river dwellers (ribeirnhos), nut gatherers, and herb collectors. I also noted some butterflies, and saw a Blue Morpho Butterly, which is a good-luck sign for me. Here we find also the hammock. . .the campbed of choice. . . manufactured here and more popular than mattresses, which will mildew and are uncomfortably hot.

Boca De Valeria: The temperature was 26° C (79°F). We stayed in Boca from 7 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. which gave us enough time for a side-trip in a smaller river boat. We were close up to some pink dolphins and other sea-life, but the highlight of our ride, was stopping to throw a fishing line in the water, and 3 of our 25 or so passengers caught some piranhas ranging from 6″ to 12″ but they all had big sharp teeth. We took pictures of this, and threw them back into the river….

Perintins: The temperature was 29° C (84°F). We arrived the evening before our 1/2 day on Perintins, and were tendered to shore. Since the Amazon is the principal means of access, it was not surprising to see the dock cluttered with boats of all sizes. It has become known for its flamboyant expression of music, dance, and drama, as we witnessed the Boi Burmá show put on for us, exclusively. It is usually part of the June Festival Folchórico, which tells the good-natured competition between the red Garantido team and blue Caprichoso team. The larger floats go up to 40′ high, and are decorated with local flower, tree barks and feathers, and our performance was sold out.

Manaus: Our final port-of-call, and we arrived in the evening in time to spend 1 1/2 days there. This is a huge city, next to Rio de Janiero in size (I think?) and we started out by taking a shuttle to a large hotel on the edge of town, which was on the banks of the Amazon, and was a complex for shops, restaurants, condos, rooms. The half hour drive on the bus gave us an opportunity to see a lot of the city, and after a non-buying spree at the hotel, we took the bus back to the famous Opera House. This was a beautiful building that seemed out of place with the luxury of gold and fancy trim next to what was close to a slum area. We took a tour and were impressed the opulance of this beautiful building.

We had lunch in a very attractive restaurant, which seemed out of place in this part of town. Then, walking back to the ship in 100° heat was a disaster, and a big rainstorm started out of nowhere, so we gave up and took a taxi back.

Disembarking: A motorcoach took us to the airport in Manaus, where we boarded a charter flight on a Boeing 737 for the flight on Air Miami, to Miami. It was a pleasure to be served hot meal, and have no baggage fee. We didn’t even knowingly go thru customs. The best part tho’ was that both Barbara and I had 3 seats to ourselves to spread out on the 4 1/2 hour flight back to US. We took the hotel shuttle to our room, and were glad to get a good night’s rest, and a free day before flying back to our respective homes.

Uneven rocks form streets-Manaus

I would highly recommend this cruise. While this is an annual cruise, Princess publishes attrative brochures for all their cruises, and of course, you can always peruse www.princesscruises.com. I am always happy to do your bookings to anywhere, as I specialize in knowing ALASKA best, having lived here for 46 years.

It seems like I posted just yesterday, but here it is mid-June. Anchorage has been buzzing with summer excitement. Take today, for example. While I biked over to the Spenard Farmer’s Market, and enjoyed all the booths, neighborhood friends, fresh produce and plants . . . at the same time, in midtown, 7200 women were running in the annual cancer benefit. Also, we had my club’s annual picnic, and there’s another big one this weekend in Wasilla at Snyder Park, a 40 acre parcel right downtown which was donated to the Pioneers of Alaska.

The other regular markets were open, of course, and the downtown streets are flooded with tourists. The two local baseball teams had games at Mulcahy Park, which really crowded the parking lot, which doubled as the take-off point for the women’s run. Whew!

We have been blessed with sunny weather and this summer promises to be one of the memorable ones. One bummer for the locals is the installation of new parking meters – one per block where you simply insert your credit card. It’s hard to swallow that one, expecially when downtown parking on the streets was free, and ample, just a few years ago. Putting in two-bits wasn’t too bad for 60 minutes, than 30 minutes, then 12 minutes. Did you ever think you’d see the day when you used a credit card to park, and to pay for a fast food meal. Well, it’s happened!

Another recent change is the docking of cruise ships. Whereas both Holland America Lines and Princess Cruises used to dock in Seward, well, that’s over. Seward is a delight small town where you could spend a few hours looking around or visiting the Sea Life Center, and many art and craft shops. It’s a pleasure to visit there anytime. However, now the cruise lines have built a new dock in Whittier, which is many miles closer to Anchorage, but it takes the same amount of time to reach Anchorage by boach or train.

This is because there is a huge mountain interrupting the only path to the Seward Highway. Several years ago, they built a one land railroad track thru the mountain, and if you were driving, you needed to put your car and/or boat on the train to get to Whittier. About 4 yrs. ago, they decided to pave this one lane, 3 mile tunnel, and you now take turns on direction to and from. I don’t know what the price is for cars, but the coach I was on this week, where I visited the Island Princess, paid $125. I think it’s free the other direction. But you wait inline not unlike the ferries out of Seattle, and you may or may not get to drive thru on your half hour, as there’s way too much traffic.

These are just some of the changes of late, but we are definitely making a buck on ‘travel’. Now, that’s the editorial ‘we’.

You know my baseball team is the Anchorage Bucs (dot-com) but they have yet to show their strength as the short season is just started. So give ‘em a rah, rah, and see you later.

The first cruise ship arrives tomorrow I hear and the local merchants are quite ready! I think I’ve mentioned that the cruisetours following the cruises are the best part of all, or at least equal to the cruise itself, as you get to see old Alaska. Some take you for a ride down part of the Yukon River where you reach Dawson City, in Canada, that is. They have a wonderful, popular dance hall with talented girls they import from Eastern Canada. Well, I won’t go into that now, but at least I hope I inspired you to research this fun loop.
On a personal basis, I’m gearing up for a family biking day to benefit Hostelling Internaional, and it does take a lot of planning. I never knew!

NEW NAME – http:veracrews.wordpress.com
This site ends with this blog, as there are other Alaska before you die blogs around, so I’m reverting to my real, legal name. Hope you find this helpful.
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The beautiful weather waited until September this year. Warm sunny days, plus friends and fellowship. The tourist numbers may be down, but there is plenty of activity without them. The Pioneers of Alaska had their annual convention in Ketchikan this year, and the Anchorage Igloos were well represented.

We had a few windy days, which doesn’t help on the golf course, unless you’re going the right direction. However, the winds didn’t compare to the hurricanes I experienced on my trip to San Antonio.

One of the recent delights on the campus of the University of Alaska Anchorage, is the new planetarium. Dr. Rector is the director who puts on shows every few weeks, and there is a great variety. Most recently, the Black Holes were shown and that is not my favorite part of the Solar System, but I guess I can accept that they do exist way out there.

The other ongoing events in September is the startup on the concert season with the Symphony back playing, together with the Sitka Music Series that comes to Anchorage at the same time. Also, the Concert Association has the big production of Mama Mia in October, plus a full schedule of other offerings. So September is the start of ‘my’ fiscal year, even without back to school activities. The football season is in full swing, and my club is back to Sunday football breakfasts . .. and Monday night, too . . . and more.

So, if you’re thinking of visiting Anchorage, the shoulder season can be just as much fun as the busy summer. Come on up, and when you do, don’t forget to get some of my Travel Insurance online.

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The Alaska State Fair is a sure sign that summer has come to an end. This summer has been memorable in some ways, namely, with the amount of rain that has fallen. That is most unusual for Anchorage, but the sun showed it’s face a few times, and we were able to squeeze in outdoor activies, namely, the baseball season was a success, and the many golf tournaments, foot races, bike relays, hiking, and berry picking. The fishing season was spotty, and some lodges notified their regulars not to come this year. So the tourists are waning. Of course, the hunting season is just starting, and no way to predict how that will go.

In Anchorage, the public schools starts in the middle of August, which hasn’t helped the mid-week attendence at the state fair, but the fair did start on time, with their usual big veggies, and minimal number of livestock. It’s always fun, nevertheless, and opening day drew truant students, and lovers of all ages.

Another developing activity is an increasing number of Saturday Farmer’s Markets. The original one downtown has become more of a flea market, with the farmer’s produce for sale at four or more locations around town.

As autumn approaches, the calendar is out for the winter offerings. This always starts with the Champagne Pops concert, which the Symphony sells out regularly. Then comes the Concert Association programs, the Anchorage Community Theatre, and other groups. The Petroleum Club is starting their Football Sunday Brunches, with the Peanut Farm, Arctic Roadrunner, Moose’s Tooth not far behind.

As the days get shorter, we also look forward to watching the Northern Lights play. I think they’re out in the summer, but it’s too light to see them. This is a good time to visit Anchorage, as it’s not too cold yet, but there’s still plenty to do . . . or not do.

Anchorage has set the dubious record of the most consecutive days of (measurable) rainfall in its history. This does not mean that we haven’t seen the sunshine, and somedays, it appears that it will be a nice, sunny day. Wrong! Perhaps the skies are crying for all the sadness this month in the wake of several plane crashes. The most noted crash is one near Dillingham, where our long-time Senator – Ted Stevens – was killed, together with some fishing buddies and an experience pilot.

I’m sure you’ve all heard about this already, so I won’t go into details. This is supposed to be a travel blog, of sorts, and encourage visits to Alaska. I will say that we’ve been able to do so many things thru this bad weather. The baseball teams did not have to cancel any games, as our new drain and dry ball field has enabled the games to continue.

Also golfing is going great, and we have a most successful cancer tournament in the rain, and just last week a Wacky Women tournament that I was lucky enough to draw a great team to play with. Other activities include a wonderful fish fry on a most sunny day, and a miracle that I had friends from Massachusetts visiting at the time that may have thought that it was sunny all the time here. I lied.

So closing out this blog a little early, as it’s time for another funeral service. Please come back and check my blog for a happier one next time, I promise.

Posted by Alaska Vera at 4:09 PM 0 comments
Labels: activities, Anchorage, Golfing, rain, summer weather.

Oh, my gosh. . . it’s August already. As the summer is slipping away, I’m still waiting for some sunny weather. This would hardly be an ‘inspirational travel blog’ if we can’t produce some sunshine, but on the plus side, it is cool, and pleasant most of the time. The sun appears just enough to tell you to hustle out and play 9 holes, because that’s what I’ve been doing everytime I see the yellow ball up there.

I’m not playing much golf due to my new knees, but they seem to be working fine, and I will give a cheer for the local medical teams. The physical therapists help too. I am also close to West High School, where there’s a super swimming pool.
The USAF hosted “Arctic Thunder” airshow this weekend, and we had both the USA team of Blue Devils and the Canadian team of Snow Devils. This was put on with a sad note, as earlier in the week, a C-19 with 4 men on board came down, but they went ahead and had the show, which is always quite thrilling.

The political scene is jumping with a fund raiser nightly for governor, lieutenant governor, and some propositions. Being non-political, I won’t elaborate on this, but I will tell you that Anchorage keeps up with the lower states in such events as Socrates Cafe, which is facilitated weekly by a great guy, who draws more in each week.

The fish are biting, too . . . I have a freezer full, but all were given to me. I just found out the difference between flounder and halibut, as we had a big debate over this. They are both flatfish, but similarities end there, as flounder are smaller. They both have eyes on one side of their head, too.

So we’re keeping plenty busy here, and note that I haven’t mentional the too-many funerals, but that’s part of life, too.

The Alaska Golf Association is running the State Golf Tournament now, with many groups having private tournaments, including the big Petroleum Club tournament, which has over 400 entries.

Then there is an assortment bike races and foot races … biathalons
and Special Olympics competitions. Of course, you can just visit and do none of these. Relax and have a cool drink on one of the great outdoor patios at the downtown restaurants that provide a wonderful view of Mt. Susitna to the West, McKinley to the North, and the Chugach Range to the East.

Come and check us out, and you’ll see why we love living here.

We’re having such great weather, I can only hope it lasts until baseball season is over. This means August 1st, as the players come up for such a short time each summer. We have our usual influx of tourists, and this year marks the return of some cruiseships embarking at the Port of Anchorage. This is within a mile of downtown, so they can clutter Fourth Avenue – tee shirt row — faster now. We feel the downturn of the economy this summer, but we still have a saturated state with several hundred climbing Mt. McKinley, and an equal number fishing, and just plain sight-seeing. There’s plenty to do here indoors and out. This is a long way to come to watch baseball, but it is done, as is playing our local golf courses. Fishing is king, and speaking of that, the catch and releast is ended now, and you can keep your kings, so life is good.