John Delach

July 2026

Glacier Bay and Icey Strait

Tuesday, June 9^th – From Juneau, we sailed into the waters of Glacier Bay National Park accompanied by Park Rangers who began their narrations beginning at 7:00 am. The Eurodam made its way up to the northern end of Glacier Bay where the Margerie Glacier empties into the bay. Like all the other glaciers, the Margerie Glacier has greatly shrunk in size since 1750 when the last ice age froze parts of our planet.

Our new age of global warming will only exacerbate this retreat, so I recommend you consider any plans you have to go to Alaska will be sooner rather than later.

Holland American Lines (HAL) has a wonderful policy that allows passengers like Mary Ann and me to remain in our cabins and see this glacier. As we were on the port side, (left), we saw the Margerie Glacier first, then the ship made a U-turn allowing the folks in the starboard side (right) cabins to have their turn.

The Briggs family took to the Crow’s Nest to listen to the Rangers describe the Glacier Bay scene then made their way to the open bow area to see the glacier. (The bow is accessible only for special reasons.)

We rendezvoused for lunch on the Lido deck. This was the second glacier they saw and they were impressed. On the contrary, Mary Ann announced that she was not impressed and considered glaciers to be rivers of dirty ice.

We went our separate ways after lunch and didn’t meet up until dinner time. The Briggs were in somewhat of a hurry as they had signed on for a trip to tour Icy Strait Point located at the southern entrance to Glacier Bay. The Eurodam reached the docking area at 6:00 pm and our family boarded a car, part of an aerial tramway that carried them up to the top of a very steep mountain.

Beth told us their goal was to enjoy smores that she understood would be served there but this turned out to be a myth. Icy Point is owned and operated by the Tlingit native tribe who have developed various  forms of adventure including the world’s longest ziprider, ATVs and back country jeep trails and ocean raft trips. Time was not on my family’s side but they did take a tour of the area in a large golf cart.

Tom later told me that they passed remnants of a World War II project known as the White Alice Project. Actually, it was a Cold War era communications system that stretched from the Artic south to the Aleutian Islands and was part of the Cold War DEW Line ( Distant Early Warning Line.) “Alice” stood for Alaska Integrated Communications Enterprise and it lasted from the early 1950s until surpassed by satellites in the late 1970s.

Our ship departed Icy Strait at 9:30 with everyone safely on board.

Sitka

June 10^th– Our next stop was Sitka, the oldest city in Alaska, the ancestral home of the Tlingit people for upwards of 10,000 years and the capital of Russian North America. Mary Ann and I visited this port in 2005 and frankly there wasn’t much going on. Back then there weren’t any piers to dock cruise ships and all passengers had to use shuttle boats to reach the port.

Today, there is a massive dock out of town that can handle three ships and shuttle buses for the 15-minute ride into town. There still isn’t much to do in Sitka. We hiked into the forested area the last time we were there which is what the Briggs family did this time. We found a Wells Fargo bank where I withdrew some cash before returning to the bus and the ship.

That night we used our reservations to eat in the ship’s premier restaurant, The Pinnacle Room. Dinner was excellent and we were eating while the Knicks were playing the Spurs in Game Four of the NBA Championship series. The Knicks led the series two games to one and like the previous three games, they had to rally from being down by 29 points to win.

Tom was able to pick up the broadcast on his phone and shared viewing the last seconds with me.

 “The game came down to seconds left on the clock when Jalen Brunson’s took a long 3-point shot that bounced off the front of the rim. Out of nowhere, Knicks center, Karl-Anthony Towns stretched his right hand as a far as it would go and softly flicked the ball in!”

“Right hand from God!” said Towns. Knicks 107, Spurs 106. Knicks now led three games to one.

I stayed silent in this elegant dining room but threw my arms around like a mad man in celebration. 

Ketchikan

June 11^th – Ketchikan is a lively town with lots of places to spend your money. Today was a sunny day with mild temperatures, perfect for the excursion Beth arranged for their family to ride two-seater ATVs along a course with two stops. It took 30 minutes to reach the half-way point and another 30 minutes to return. They encountered dirt, some mud and plenty of dusts that the ATVs kicked up. The pleasant surprise was that Cace was allowed to drive even though he didn’t have a license. He did have a learner’s permit and he drove with Beth who has a license. They had a great time and were protected with helmets and goggles.

The Eurodam departed Ketchikan at 12:15 pm beginning our last voyage southbound to Seattle.

After lunch, Beth arranged for me to have a massage in the ship’s spa. It was a delightful experience, but I must admit that I fell asleep during it. I only hope that my masseur, Grace, was not insulted by my actions as I did increase her tip.

That night we participated in the ship’s Alaska Seafood boil served in a reserved section of the Lido Market. I regret to report that this experience was awful. The waiters were nothing like the caliber of those who served us in the Pinnacle Grill. They must have been rookies learning while on the job and the seafood was terrible. The crabs they served were too small to be edible. Too bad, it was our only bad meal.  

We retreated to our cabin while the Briggs played trivia. Then enjoyed a Chocolate Surprise that a parade of waiters distributed at the Pinnacle Bar. Every waiter had chocolate, milk, dark and white, each served on a spoon.   

Victoria, BC, Canada

June 12^th – Our last full day at sea. The Eurodam continued to make its way south to Seattle  where we would disembark the morning of June 13^th .

In a curiously, lowkey announcement, HAL advised they were participating in a new service with an unnamed provider to pick up our bags and deliver them to our airlines of choice, in our case, Alaska for Tom, Marlowe and Cace and Delta for me, Mary Ann and Beth. The cost was $45 per bag, the same amount we would have paid to the airlines when we checked in. We wouldn’t see our bags again until we reached our destinations. Long story, short. It worked 100%!

We had one last port of call on our agenda, Victoria, British Columbia. Unfortunately, it was a short visit. Eurodam arrived at 8:30 pm and left at 11:30 pm. The center of town was a ½ hour walk rom the pier leaving my family unhappy with the time available to see the sights, but they did find an ice cream shop that dipped their cones in one of six different types of chocolate. All of them agreed that Victoria looked like a town that would be nice to see again, but with time to explore it.

Seattle

June 13th – We disembarked at the same area where we arrived and hired a Chevy Suburban for the ride to the airport. It was a pleasure not having large suitcases to lug over to check-in. Tom, Marlowe and Cace made their way over to Alaska Airlines departure lounge where Beth had bought them passes for entry into the airlines lounge. Mary Ann, Beth and I found an eatery where we had a morning meal that was better than we thought it would be.

We all flew Comfort Class, the A-321 left on time and reached JFK twenty-minutes early. Fortunately, our gate was empty and waiting for us as was a wheel chair for me. We actually saw our luggage as we reached the baggage carousel. As if by magic, it had made it from the ship to JFK without a hitch. 

Beth headed home to Brooklyn and our car from DeLux took us back to Port Washington without any hassle allowing us to see the end of the Knicks game, another come-from-behind effort that made them the 2026 NBA Champions.

Our family had a terrific time and that made our cruise a total success for us too. Way to go Knicks!