Click here to view the pictures of this wonderful trip.
A trip to Alaska had been a vacation that had been on our minds for many years. In early 2007, Sudhir was telling Meera about the "dream vacation", at which time Meera told Sudhir that she too had been wanting to go to Alaska. It was very quickly decided that we would all go together in 2008. Sudhir and Aman started to "plan" the trip in mid-2007.
By October 2007, the trip had been fully planned. We would do a land tour thru Alaska, then take a cruise down the coast of Alaska. As we started telling people about the trip, many of Aman's family members also decided to join u, as well as many of our friends. We had been waiting for almost 1 year for this trip. Below is a summary and photo album of our wonderful experiences in Alaska.
June 1, 2008 - Sunday - Fairbanks, Alaska
As we were planning for the trip, we realized that we had to pack in as few suitcases as possible. With the current terrorism threats, airlines only allow 1 suitcase per person for domestic flights, but ours was an international flight (we were coming back from Vancouver, Canada). On international flights, we are allowed 2 suitcases per person. All of us encountered some dimwits at the airport, who insisted that Vancouver was part of the US !!! Despite this encouter with our country's TSA, we all boarded the flights on time. Since we were all coming from different parts of the country, we did not see each other until we all boarded the second airplane in Utah. The flight was very tiring, as it was almost 4 hours to Salt Lake City, then another 4-1/2 hours to Fairbanks.
When we landed in Fairbanks, it was still bright daylight, even though it was mid-night !! While picking up our suitcases, there was an Oriental man who insisted that all of Sudhir's suitcases were his. Personally, I think it would have been fun to exchange suitcases, but somehow the family did not agree :-)
The first thing we all noticed at the airport was that it was filled with Alaska's state bird - Mosquitos!! They seemed to love Aman more than anyone else :-)
There was a Princess bus waiting for us, who took care of our suitcases, and brought us to the lodge. Although we checked in, our suitcases did not arrive for a couple of hours, so we all slept in our jeans during the first night.
June 2, 2008 - Monday - Fairbanks, Alaska
Since Fairbanks is 4 hours behind EST, and it is constant sunlight, most of us were quite jet lagged. The Athni family rented an official military Hummer, and took a drive thru the mountains off road!! This was a lot of fun, with a lot of bumps in the road. The scenery was absolutely fantastic. What is amazing is that even though we were in the middle of no-where, there was cell-phone service available. We were then taken to the Alaska Pipeline, as well as to see some migratory birds at Creamer Fields.
The Shah and Bhatt family went to downtown Fairbanks, which is a very sleepy town. The hotel had a courtesy bus to take people to downtown. They walked into every souvenier shop in Fairbanks! They found the souvenier of their dreams - a shot-glass with a "Fairbanks" label on it.
At around 2 pm, we boarded a bus to tour the "Museum of the North". We saw a 36,000 year old "Ox" that was found in fairbanks. We saw a movie about how people survive the "Winter" in Fairbanks. The museum is built in a modern architecture, which is very visually appealing. At the museum, Girish and Asha posed for pictures and looked like movie stars - they were nicknamed "Shah Ruhk Khan and Gowri".
In the evening, many folks were very tired and slept early. To be more specific, only Sudhir slept at 7 pm, while everyone else played cards late into the night.
June 3, 2008 - Tuesday - Fairbanks, Alaska
We woke up early, and got ready for the day's tour. At around 8:30 am, we all boarded a tour bus to head off to the El-Dorado Gold Mine. What a FUN place !! At the gold mine, we all boarded a mining train, and headed towards the gold mine, where we were given lessons on how to mine for gold. Each of us actually found some real gold !! Meera found about 11 grains worth of gold, while the Athni family, in total, found about 37 grains of gold. We were then brought back to the hotel, where we all ate a hearty lunch.
After lunch, we once again boarded our tour bus, and were taken to the Discovery Riverboat. This boat slowly meandered down the Chena river. We saw some wonderful homes built along the river. We saw a snow-glider plane take-off right next to us, as well as the plane landing on a sand dune. We then went to the dog training grounds of the world famous Iditarod winner, Susan Butcher. Although she died 2 years ago from Leukemia, her husband continues to train snow mush dogs. He showed us some new-born snow mush dogs, as well as gave us a demonstration of the dogs pulling a sled as they would in a race ... this was truly amazing !!
The boat then stopped at an Indian-Eskimo village, where we saw some flying reindeer (for those of you who are not educated on these matters, yes, reindeers can fly, while caribou are grounded and unable to fly). We were also introduced to the ancient craft of weaving fur coats. We were then shown how the eskimos "skinned" salmon in less than 1 minute, preparing it for a meal. On the boat, they served fresh salmon / crackers - but us vegetarians just watched the carnivores eat.
When we returned, the desi-group decided to eat authentic Mexican food. After a lot of deliberation, we decided to eat at the world famous restaurant - Taco Bell. After dinner, everyone decided to pack their suitcases for the next leg of the journey, and retire early as the next day would be a busy one.
June 4, 2008 - Wednesday - Denali National Park
Everyone had to get up early, and put our suitcases outside our rooms. At 6 am sharp, the tour crew came around and picked up our suitcases. We were then taken to the Princess Rail Lines at 8 am. These rail cars were double decker, with an all glass top and sides, so we can see all around us without any obstruction. We rode about 4 hours thru the interior of Alaska to Denali National Park. The ride was stunning with the broad beautiful vistas of the Brooks mountain range. We also saw a moose running along the side of the train.
On the train we played cards, ate some breakfast, and played a couple rounds of Chinese Whispers. By the time we arrived in Denali National Park, we had all decided to go white water rafting on the Nanana River. We booked our tour as soon as we arrived, but the next available tour was for 6 pm. One would think that would be late in the day, so it would be dark and cold. But since we were in Alaska in June, the sun was "very high" at 6 pm. In fact the locals told us that 6 pm was similar to Noon in the lower 48. We were also afraid of rain showers, but we were extremely lucky with no rain, and with only warm, sunny weather.
EVERYONE (except for Meera due to her pregnancy and Tejas due to his age) decided to go white water rafting, with our frends and family members in their teenage years, twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, and seventies !! A total of 17 people from our group got suited up in a "dry suit" which kept us dry during the raft ride. Although we stayed dry, the water was ICE cold. It was a balmy 38 degrees F, freshly melted from the glaciers just a few miles away. We divided the rafts into 2 groups, with fantastic raft guides. The river was rated a class 4, with some fun, rough rapids. We all got a wonderful dousing of the cold water. We rafted for more than 2 hours, thru some large canyons, surrounded by some ice capped mountains. Even the older folks, who were initially very scared, had loads of fun. This was an evening we will never forget.
June 5, 2008 - Thursday - Denali National Park
We were all extremely tired the night before, so we all had a wonderful night's sleep. In the morning, we decided to go hiking down to Horshoe Lake. This was a fun hike, which was quite steep at times. Going down the incline was quite easy, but the return hike was taxing to some folks. When we arrived at the lake, we saw a beaver dam, as well as an orange bellied Robin.
After the hike, we prepared for the Tundra Wilderness Tour. This was a 7 hour tour which was unbelievable. We boarded a bus, and drove along the "The Park Road" which is the only road within the Denali National Park and Preserve. It is a 90 mile road, of which we traveled 50 miles. After the first 17 miles, the road was unpaved and quite narrow. In this wilderness, there are no stores, no homes, no man-made buildings (except for rest areas every 20 miles). The wide tundra vistas with a mountainous background was an amazing sight permanently engraved in our memories.
The weather was beautiful, with clear skies, no rain, and a balmy 70 degrees. The clear blue sky enabled us to see quite far. We were able to see Mt McKinley, which was 90 miles away. Along the road, our goal was to try to see wild moose, Dall sheep, grizzley bears, and caribou. The park being over 6 million square miles, it is quite rare and difficult to see these animals. BUT, we were truly blessed to see all these animals, which our tour guide labeled as "the grand slam" of the Tundra!
We saw a moose next to the road, having lunch on some bushes. We saw over 100 Dall sheep roaming the various hills, as well as a family of Dall sheep slowly crossing the road, with new born sheep as well amma and appa sheep. Out in the wilderness, we saw over a dozen caribou grazing in numerous locations across the tundra. Throughout the day, we saw numerous horse-show hares, which are apparently in abundance his year. We also saw 2 baby owls that had just been born, as well as a near-extinct bird called the Merlin. The special moment came when we saw the ever rare grizzly bear with her 2 cubs early in the afternoon, as well as another grizzly bear fighting 2 foxes later in the evening. The whole bus crowd became very excited seeing these wild animals !! What a day!
Looking back, it is hard to imagine we were truly out in the middle of "nowhere", in the wild Alaskan tundra, seeing untouched wilderness, amongst trees which are over 300 years old. Another day for our ever lasting memory banks.
We returned to the hotel around 10:30 pm, and obviously we were all tired. We slept immediately to get ready for the next day.
June 6, 2008 - Friday - Mt. McKinley
By the morning, we were all rested. They picked up our suitcases at 8 am, getting ready for the next leg of our tour - Mt. McKinley Lodge, which is Denali State Park. We traveled by motor coach to the rail station, where we hopped on the Princess Railways, heading south towards Talkeetna, then onto Mt. McKinley Lodge, which is located in Denali State Park.
The train ride was beautiful, with ever closer views of Mt. McKinley. Also called Mt. Denali, it is the tallest peak in North America, at 20,320'. Halfway between Denali and Talkeetna, we crossed a place called the "watershed". North of this point, the rivers flow North, while south of this point, the rivers flow south. When you think about this concept for a few minutes, it is quite amazing.
The train arrived in Talkeetna, from where we took a bus ride to our lodge. We were initially planning on walking around downtown Talkeetna, but when we got our first glimpse of the city, we realized it was all of 3 or 4 small "buildings". Since we had "seen" downtown thru the window of the bus, we went straight to the lodge.
The lodge is situated on a bluff, overlooking Mt. McKinley. As soon as we walk out of the main lobby, we see the full grandeur of the peak. What an unbelievable site! Once again the weather was very cooperative, with bright sun, clear skies, temperature around 65 F, and most importantly, no rain!!
After settling into our rooms, we all watched a movie called the "Aurora - A PhotoSymphony", which was a beautiful movie based on the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights), set to harmonious classical music. We then took a nice late night walk thru some of the trails, allowing us to get looks of some fantastic vistas. Although we took this walk "late at night" (around 10 pm), it was still bright sunlight. I remain amused at the fact that we have sunlight almost 21 hours a day up here in Alaska during June. Since the next day would be a busy one, we all retired "early" (around 11 pm).
June 7, 2008 - Saturday - Mt. McKinley to Whittier
When we all got up, the sun was once again bright, with clear skies, and absolutely gorgeous. We had scheduled a horse ride thru the hills, so we all got ready quickly, and "saddled up"!! Before the horse ride, we took some wonderful group pictures in front of Mt. McKinley. Apparently only 20% of people get to see the top fo the mountain (due to low lying clouds and rain). We were very lucky to have such great weather allowing us to see the peak with clarity. We then boarded a small bus and were taken to the horse ranch. We were each given a horse, on which we mounted. The horses were very well trained, and very well behaved. Tejas led the pack while riding on Toby. Sudhir was riding on Donner, which was on "auto-pilot", thus allowing Sudhir to take pictures. The horses took us all down a nice trail, ending up on a cliff over-looking Mt. McKinley.
As soon as the horse ride was over, we were rushed back to the lodge, where we got on a bus to head off to the train station. We boarded the train, heading south towards Anchorage. On the train, we all had lots of fun just sitting around and chit-chatting. We made some new friends, and ate our lunch while riding the train.
Shortly after passing thru Anchorage, we went thru a 2 mile long mountain tunnel. At the other end of the tunnel, our cruise ship, the Princess Sapphire, was waitng for us. We were pre-registered while on the train, and hence the boarding process was very quick and efficient. Once on the ship, the ship set sail pretty quickly.
Pramod, who was unable to join us for the land tour, was able to join us for the cruise. He flew into Anchorage the night before, and met us on the ship.
After settling into our rooms, we all got together for dinner. Our waiter was initially a bit confused as to what we all wanted for dinner, mainly due to a language barrier. Once we got him to understand, we were able to get a fine Indian dinner. We had loads of fun conversations during dinner.
June 8, 2008 - Sunday - College Fjord
This was our first "day at sea". With meals being served 24 hours a day, we started our 7 day "grazing" feast. Early in the morning, around 5:30 am, the ship stopped at College Fjord. This area is called "College Fjord" because all the glaciers in this area are named after Ivy League colleges. The ship stayed at College Fjord for about 4 hours, allowing us to soak in the beautiful views of the Fjords. College Fjord is the "hidden jewel" of Prince William Sound. The water was pristine, and calm. The early morning sun, reflecting onto the water, along with snow capped mountains reflecting onto the serene water was truly heavenly. Some of us got up at 5:30 am to watch the sun slowly rise over the mountains. Our visual memory banks are overflowing with stunning images !!
The weather was once again fantastic. The sky was clear, minimal clouds, no rain, and excellent balmy temperature. We have been truly lucky during this trip.
During the day, some of us entered a Table Tennis tournament - we were beaten quite handily. Some of us also took dancing lessons. By the end of the afternoon, we were enthusiastically doing some country line dances, as well as the Cha-Cha-Cha. If you did not know any better, you would think we were the new line-up for the next season of "Dancing with the Stars".
Sunday was also our first "Formal Dinner". We all dressed up in our suits and dresses, and spent a few hours with each other, having a lot of fun while eating dinner. Once again, we were served a delicious Indian dinner. We also enjoyed a couple of bottles of champagne during the meal.
June 9, 2008 - Monday - Glacier Bay
Glaciers!! This is what Alaska is all about! We entered Bartlett Cove early in the morning to pick up some National Park Rangers. These park rangers stayed with us on the ship the entire day, educating us on glaciers. We made our way to Margerie Glacier, then onto Grand Pacific Glacier. These glaciers are quite breathtaking! We were also fortunate enough to witness the calving of some icebergs (the act of a large chink of ice breaking off the glacier, and falling into the bay to become an iceberg). When these icebergs fall into the water, the sound is quite thunderous, especially with the backdrop of such a quiet, remote bay.
While in Glacier Bay, we also saw a few bald eagles soaring in front of our ship, as well as a baby (2 year old) bald eagle resting on an iceberg. Once we left Glacier Bay, the ship dropped off the Park Rangers. They were quite an asset for us during this remarkable day.
Early on, it was drizzling a bit, quite windy, and cold. We all bundled up to see these glaciers. As soon as we arrived at Margerie Glacier, the wind subsided, the temperature warmed a bit (around 40 degrees), it stopped raining, and the sun came out!! Once again, we were blessed with wonderful weather.
After the viewing, we all decided to "rest" in an outdoor hot tub. This was a wonderful experience - we were hot-tubbing, in the middle of Alaska, inside Glacier Bay, surrounded by glaciers. Tejas also joined us in the hot tub. In fact, Tejas, Aman, and Pramod had a nice round of pizza while sitting in the hot tub.
Since dancing lessons was so much fun the day before, we decided to go to Country Line Dancing again today. Once again, we had loads of fun learning and doing the various line dances. We also went to Trivia, where we were called "Team Desi". On this first day of trivia, we scored a dismal 9 out of 20. After trivia, we went to a "game show" called Peer Factor. Aman, Pramod and Sudhir volunteered to be contestants on the show. This was a lot of fun, in which Pramod was asked to wear as many boxer underwears as quickly as possible, while Aman and Sudhir were "stuffed" with balloons in a given amount of time. As the final event on the show, the 3 Desi contestants (Aman, Pramod & Sudhir) all performe the "River Dance" to the audience. What a fun day !!
June 10, 2008 - Tuesday - Skagway
We arrived in Skagway around 8 am. This is a small town, which seems to be centered around cruise tourism. We did not take any shore excursins. We just walked around the city for a few hours and did some shopping. Later in the afternoon, we entered the trivia contest again, and this time we scored 12 out of 20.
Many of us played ping pong. Others went to the spa to get facials, manicures, and pedicures. Meanwhile, some others just relaxed in their rooms and slept. Some of us attended additional dance lessons, to improve our line dancing skills. Overall, a low-key day.
June 11, 208 - Wednesday - Juneau
We arrived in Juneau around 8:00 am. Each family had our tours booked for different times. So, we each ate breakfast separately. We were all very excited about our Juneau excursion - Helicopter and Dog Sled. We were taken by bus to the Juneau airport, where we put on waterproof pants, snow boots, and snow jackets. We then boarded a helicopter, that took to a remote glacier. The helicopter landed on top of the glacier, where a dog camp is situated. When we got off the helipcopter, we were on top of 100 feet of fresh snow, which was on top of over 2000 feet of packed ice. The glacier was over 1-1/2 miles wide, but due to lack of visual perspective, it seemed as if it were only a few hundred feet wide.
We then met the mush dogs and professional dog trainers. They taught us how to start and stop the mush dogs, then off we go! We boarded the dog sleigh, and let the mush dogs drag us along the glacier, on a 2 mile ride. Unbelievable !! This was probably one of the highlights of our vacation. Each person was allowed to lead the mush dogs, by being the sleigh driver. After the dog sledding, we were taken by helicopter back to the airport, from where we returned back to the city via bus. In the city, most of us just walked around, and did some shopping. T-shirts, jewelry, and Ulu's were all the rage.
The ship set sail at 4pm, so we all had to be back on the ship by 3:30 pm. Later in the evening, we once again got dressed up for the seocond formal night. We got ready by 6 pm, which allowed us some time before dinner to take some nice "formal" pictures. During dinner, we had some wine along with our fine Indian-Italian cuisine.
After dinner, some people attended a broadway style show and a comedy show. The comedy show was a lot of fun, although some of the jokes flew over some of our heads. At 11:30 pm, we attended a "Champagne Party". The ship's maitre'd stacked champagne glasses in a pyramid fashion, then having the passengers pour champagne over these glasses. This was followed by a fun, loud, noisy party in the atrium of the ship.
June 12, 2008 - Thursday - Kethickan
We had not booked any shore excursions for Ketchikan, but had planned on considering some excursions if weather permits. We met at 8:00 am, but when we went ashore, it was pouring rain. This was our first "rain day" in 2 weeks. Most of us returned to the ship, but a few "brave souls" decided to shop in the rain.
Those that stayed on the ship attended some trivia contests, pictionary contests, and continued to "graze" on the never ending food. By late morning, the rain stopped, at which time some members of the group decided to go shopping. This was an exercise in "smart shopping". We had to go to the correct store, to cash in some coupons for free gifts as well as fairly inexpensive gifts. In this regard, the Shah & Bhatt family are experts in shopping. The rest of us just followed along, and were able to get some great bargains with their advice.
During dinner, we once again had a hearty meal, followed by a fun "show" put on by the waiters. They all sang and marched thru the dining hall carrying large "baked Alaskan" dessert. Later in the evening, after dinner, we attended some comedy shows and broadway shows. We also continued to partake in line dancing and trivia contests.
Around 11, there was "open mic karaoke". We decided to sing Karaoke as a big group, and called ouselves the "Baja's" (named after the location of our cabins - Baja Deck). We sang"I saw the Sign" as well as "Staying Alive". Tejas became inspired and sang a duet with Pramod - "Who let the dog's out"! Although we sang miserably, it was a lot of fun getting up on stage and letting loose! After karaoke, we all went to bed late at night. Some people in the group sat at the sports bar and watched baseball games late into the night.
June 13, 2008 - Friday - At Sea
This was a transition day, with no land stops, and heading towards Vancouver. The captain had informed us that we would be passing by some "wonderful glaciers" at 4 am. Some of us crazy guys actually got up at 4 am, but it was too foggy to see anything, so we went back to bed. Most of us then got up late in the morning.
The day was filled with more trivia contests, more line dancing, more ping-pong tournaments, and more food. Since this was to be our last day on the ship, we had to also pack our suitcases. All suitcases were properly packed and left outside our rooms for pick up at 8 pm.
As a side note - we came on this trip with over-flowing, packed suitcases. During the trip, we all purchased a bunch of souveniers and clothing (as well as some coats). The goal was to take the same, previously full suitcases, and re-pack them with the additional purchased stuff!! All suitcases were successfully packed, without having to leave anything behind.
While packing the suitcases, Sripad spotted a shale swimming a few hundred yards away from the ship. We quickly got our binoculars and saw the whale's tail splash into the water !! A few minutes later, we saw a handful of seals resting along the shoreline. What a fun way to cap off 2 weeks of our Alaska adventure.
After packing, we attended some more trivia contests and then off to dinner. Although we attended trivia contests every day, we did not win a single contest. There was another guest (George) who won each and every trivia contest. This would seem to be a very impressive feat, until you realize that he has cruised over 30 times, and has heard many of these trivia questions on prior cruises.
After the day's events, we had our last sit-down dinner, which we capped off with some champagne. After dinner, we all retired early as we would have to get up early the next day to leave the ship on our scheduled disembarkation times.
June 14, 2008 - Saturday - Vancouver
The ship arrived in Vancouver around 7:30 am. We were each given a set time to disembark. We all smoothly and efficiently left the ship, cleared customs quickly, and picked up our luggage. The Athni family dropped off their luggage at the terminal, and started on a Big-Bus city tour. The Shah and Bhatt family went to their hotel, dropped off their luggage, and met up with the Athni family at Stanley park. We all had a nice walk thru the park, seeing the nice harbor and Vancouver skyline. We walked thru the Totem Pole park and took some nice pictures. Since this would be our very last day together, we had our final group picture taken in the park.
The Athni family headed off to the airport, while the Shah and Bhatt family headed off to China Town to have dinner and have more fun and merriment during the evening.
The Athni family started their return journey on Saturday evening, while the Shah and Bhatt family started their return journey on Sunday morning.
Summary
The land portion of the tour extremely well organized. From the moment we got off the airplane on the first day, till the moment we entered our ship cabins, every minute of the tour was planned and organzied. We were all very impressed by Princess' organizing skills.
The cruise portion was extremely memorable. Although the cruise itself was typical of most other cruises, the location of the cruise (down the coast of Alaska) made it very memorable.
Each night during the cruise, we had asked the head waiter to cook us some special Indian meals. Over the course of the 7 cruise days, we had a combnation of Italian food, Mexican food, Indian food, and generic American food for dinner. This last day was the best tasting Indian-Italian-Mexican food!! Looking back, each night we were served papad, Mexican corn chips, garlic bread, raitha, white rice, various types of pasta, as well as 3 types of Indian dishes. This variety was served each and every night! Each night's dinner was also capped off by a great tasting dessert and Darjeeling tea. Additionally, we all ate a full breakfast and a full lunch each day. Many of us also had Pizza, Nachos, and Ice Cream for an afternoon snack. Some of us also had "Tea and Crumpets" in the afternoons, served with "white glove service"! If we all look a little plumper at the end of the vacation, you now know why.
Our head waiter for the entire week, Gabriel, was very funny and nice. He made sure we each got what we wanted, and were able to eat to our heart's content. Our junior waiter, Frederico, was around 50, and was quite confused with our food requirements early in the week. By the end of the week, he understood our desires, and was quite proficient at serving our Indian dishes.
Any vacation is only as good as the company you keep. The people that attended this vacation - The Athni Family (Sudhir, Ashwini, Tejas, Sripad, Indira), The Shah Family (Meera, Aman, Tejal, Chirag, Girish, Asha), The Bhatt Family (Mona, Deepak, Sunny, Kim) and Pramod Shankar - had a lot of fun together. We all planned every day's events together, went shopping together, ate dinner together, did shore excursions together, and did all of the ship's events together. We have already started to plan our next group vacation!! Maybe, more family members will decide to join us on the next group-vacation.
Tejas' Kid Camp
You may be wondering what Tejas was doing during this cruise. He came along on all activities during the land portion of the trip. He also came along on all shore excursions during the cruise. But most of the on-board ship events are meant for adults.
To keep children occupied, Princess has a program called Kid Camp. This is meant for any child under the age of 17. Tejas was grouped with the 3-7 year olds. We dropped him off every day at around 9 am, and picked him up at noon for lunch. We dropped him off again at 2 pm, and picked him up at 5 pm for dinner. We once again dropped him off at 7 pm and picked him up at 10 pm to sleep. If sleep and food were not an issue, he would have loved to spend 24 hours with his Kid Camp friends.
There were 20 children in his age group, with 5 counselors looking after them. Below is brief summary of his activities and events during the cruise.
Kid's Camp - June 8, 2008 - Sunday
In the morning - they played Bug-a-loons, Eye Spy games, Funny Sailors, and had a Lego building challenge.
In the afternoon - they designed their own T-shirts, played with playdough, and had an ice-cream party. They also watched "Bubble Magic" and played "freeze dance".
In the evening - they had a Mexican Fiesta, and watched a movie on the big screen.
Kid's Camp - June 9, 2008 - Monday
In the morning - they played a memory game, and watched glaciers in Glacier Bay. They played mini-golf, as well as watched a video on Glacier Bay.
In the afternoon - they met with the Park Ranger, and watched "Planet Patrol" movie. They then had an ice-cream party, as well as play Alaskan Ice Worms and Pictionary.
In the evening - they had a Pajama party, played Freeze dance, did the Mummy Wrap, and sang Karaoke.
Kid's Camp - June 10, 2008 - Tuesday
There were no formal events planned for the children during the day, since we were docked in Skagway.
In the eveing - they had Pirates night, where they made pirate hats, had face painting, and played pirate games. They learned how to do line dancing (macarena, YMCA, Cotton Eyed Joe). This was followed by a Pirates' movie.
Kid's Camp - June 11, 2008 - Wednesday
There were no formal events planned for the children during the day, since we were docked in Juneau.
In the evening - they had face and hair painting, did tattoo's, and had a Disco Party.
Kid's Camp - June 12, 2008 - Thursday
There were no formal events planned for the children during the day, since we were docked in Ketchikan.
In the evening - they played Bingo and Cards. They had a connect 4 tournament, and played Fooseball challenge. They also created paper bag puppets, as well asplay chess and checkers.
Kid's Camp - June 13, 2008 - Friday
In the morning - they played Jenga and did some clay creations. They played mini-golf, as well as played in the jungle gym.
In the afternoon - they made a shark-toothed necklace, followed by an ice cream party. They played hangman, as well as played Star Wars on the Playstation.
In the evening - they had a farewell dinner and watched a movie.
Summary
Overall, Tejas had a great time during the cruise. He made many new friends, including William and Shaan. Almost immediately after leavinig the cruise, he was saying that he missed his new "best friends". But, he has created some wonderful memories to cherish the rest of his life.