The Train To Whittier

          

We spent 10 hours on the train from Denali to Whittier Monday.  It is a 295 mile trip, but the train had to stop several times to let other rail traffic pass, pick up and drop off crew/passengers.  Just outside of Whittier we stopped and then backed up.  No one seemed to know why.  A few minutes later a fire vehicle and paramedics pulled up on the road by the train and boarded.  Twenty minutes later they removed an Asian man on a stretcher and transported him and his wife back toward Anchorage.  He apparently was having symptoms of apossible heart attack.

We got to whittier, next to the Island Princess about an hour late.  Several hundred people from our train and another that was supposed to be behind us all emptied to the dock at the same time so there was a crowd to go through security. 

Janet Napolitano’s homeland security folks were waiting at three screening stations inside a warehouse next to the ship.  It was déjà vu of Disneyland, with the serpentine lines winding back and forth.  They checked our passports (again even though they were checked on the train) and our cruise cards before sending our bags through the scanners.  Then we had to empty pockets and walk through a metal detector before we could board, where they checked our cruise cards again.  At least we kept our shoes on.

Then the marketing began.  Discount tickets for coffee, internet, photos, tours, etc. before we went 15 feet.
We ran the gauntlet and got to our room.  Our bags beat us to the ship and were waiting in the cabin, even though they were trucked from Denali Lodge!  We missed the muster drill and our assigned seating for dinner for the first night, but got to the buffet (along with a hoard of other hungry passengers in a feeding frenzy.

Our room is near the top of the ship, so when the ship rolls or pitches the movements are exaggerated.  Mom got queasy when the ship moved out to sea and was on crackers, sodas and Dramamine most of Tuesday.  We spent most of our time at the lower levels of the ship where the movements aren’t as noticeable.

And what a scene it is was down there.  A virtual carnival of continuous pitchmen (and women) hawking everything from martinis to diamonds.  Our fellow passengers are made up mostly of folks older than us with lots of southern accents and MANY extra pounds.  It’s definitely not the Love Boat,  more like a floating nursing home. 

All that said, the views are amazing and the crew are all upbeat and helpful.  Mostly Philippino with a few eastern Europeans and English thrown in.  We’re heading for the Hubbard Glacier this afternoon where the water is smoother and hopefully less rocking and rolling.