Gravitating to the glaciers

That night there was a formal dress-up dinner. There were beautiful flower arrangements everywhere. The dining room staff was seen setting up a huge round table in the lounge. On this table they arranged 500 stemmed champagne glasses to form a grand pyramid for the Champagne Shower.

Left: The Sea Princess in Arctic waters; Entertainment aboard the cruise ship

Although it was August 19, 2011, the event was not in honor of the Shahenshahi New Year, or the 13 Zoroastrians aboard the Sea Princess. The spirited scene marked the formal welcome by Captain Martin Stenzel, who announced, "We will be traveling 3,411 nautical miles as we sail from San Francisco to Juneau, Glacier Bay, Haines, Ketchikan, Victoria and back to ’Frisco. There are 2,113 passengers on our ship, looked after by a crew of 868. The passengers are from 31 countries across the globe, the greatest number being from USA.” He continued with a nationality breakdown of the passenger list. Indian nationals were the eighth largest in number and they consisted of nine members of our family! (There were a number of other passengers of Indian origin who were now US citizens.) Dressed in distinctive Indian attire — saris, embroidered kurtis and Jodhpuri jackets — we let out a wild "Hurrah!” when India was mentioned.

Constituting the Zoroastrian contingent were Dr Maneck Wadia, a former professor at Stanford and his charming wife Harriet. They were American citizens, (now retired) and living in San Francisco. The Wadias had taken many a cruise and were treated like royalty by the ship’s crew. Loyalty is obviously well rewarded on the Princess Lines. Bejan Malbari, formerly from Pakistan, his daughter and two grandchildren, American citizens all, completed the Parsi roster.

When our family boarded the Sea Princess in San Francisco for the 10-day Alaskan Cruise the day before we had expected there to be total chaos and confusion at Pier 35 as over 2,000 passengers checked in and their luggage was screened. To our surprise and delight, the procedure took no more than 20 minutes. With bated breath, we boarded the great, big ship, spectacular in size and empyrean in elegance.

Carved totem pole in Ketchikan (left) and (above) an Alaskan brown bear

After the initial rush of excitement and exploring, we were directed for lunch to the Horizon Court on Deck 14, the topmost deck on ship. The Sea Princess has 13 decks but after Deck 12 it jumps to Deck 14, avoiding the jinx of number 13. The buffet lunch was a visual and culinary delight.

After lunch we wound our way to our cabins. Stateroom 704 on the Baja Deck was to be our abode for the next 10 days. It was large, comfortable and well appointed, with its own TV, fridge, writing desk, beds, wardrobes and attached bathroom. The cabin opened out on to a balcony with chairs and a table. The sound of wind and wave, and the blue of sea and sky viewed from our own private balcony was a heady experience.

An hour prior to departure everyone gravitated to the topmost deck. There was a palpable excitement in the air. A lively band played, as younger folk danced and kids pranced. On the dot of 4 p.m. the ship’s horn blew and amid wild cheers the Sea Princess moved forward, gliding regally from Pier 35, past the island of Alcatraz, under the Golden Gate Bridge and out to sea. That moment remains an enduring memory.

By the third day at sea we could find our way around the ship and terms like ‘aft’ and ‘fore,’ ‘starboard’ and ‘portside’ came easily to us. We went about exploring the incredible variety of activities, dining and entertainment options. A couple of us ladies went to the sweet smelling Lotus Spa to attend a lecture on "How to Avoid a Bad Hair Day.” Later we were joined by the men folk for a talk on the subject, "Bad Posture and Back Problems Go Together.” In the afternoon we played a fun game of Bingo at the Vista Lounge. It might have been more fun if we had won the generous dollar prizes but we consoled ourselves by saying "We are lucky in love!”

Our first port of call was Juneau, the capital city of the state of Alaska. Two hundred years ago only the Tlingit natives inhabited the place, living off the abundant salmon found in the waters. Around the year 1880 prospectors struck a belt of gold, which set off the Gold Rush.

The morning dawned grey and laden with heavy clouds. Soon there was a steady drizzle. The sea was choppy and the ship lurched from side to side. A lot of people felt sea sick and did not attempt lunch. The marquee attraction at Juneau is the Mendenhall Glacier. One can go up by helicopter and come back by dog sledge, take a coach tour, bike or hike. The first option would break our wallets; the last two would break our backs. So we took the coach. Our coach driver-cum-guide was both knowledgeable and humorous. But he could not lift the heavy grey clouds. Our first viewing of a glacier was a bit of a letdown. It was not as spectacular as we expected and it was cold and wet. Adding to the discomfort was the tooth that came out with a bit of chewing gum just when we were trying to keep our jaws moving and not freezing over!

Majestic, white wilderness enveloped the ship as it glided into Glacier Bay and National Park the next morning. We were in front of Margerie Glacier by 10 a.m. and alongside the Johns Hopkins and Lamplugh Glaciers at noon. The Margerie Glacier, one of the most photographed glaciers in the world, is about one mile wide, with an ice face 250 ft high above the water line. It is incomparable in scale and magnificence. The incredible sound of the calving of a glacier is like a crack of thunder from the heavens above. It is a sound and a sight never to be forgotten, as huge, multi-storied-building-sized portions of the glacier break into the icy sea. Almost everyone from the ship was on the cold and windy decks, braving the 7° C temperature, clad in jackets and hoods and armed with cameras.

At the Butchart Gardens in Victoria

On our sixth day at sea at 6 a.m. the Sea Princess slid into the small town of Haines (population 2,399). "But,” informed our guide, "there are 1,897 dogs and about 4,000 eagles in summer. Haines has the largest population of Bald Eagles. They have such keen eye-sight they can spot a fish in the river from distances of up to a mile.” The rivers over here are crowded with salmon swimming upstream to lay their eggs. Brown bears come down from the Tundra to feast on the fresh fish. Driving towards the Chilkoot Lake with our guide, a local, native Indian, we saw a whole family of bears wading in the shallow waters which were shimmering with red salmon. With a powerful swipe of her paws, mama bear was catching the salmon and feeding it to her cubs. During the course of that one morning, we saw not two or three but 13 brown bears at very close quarters.

The next morning our ship docked at Ketchikan. It is known as the First City of Alaska because it is the first stop for northbound ships along the famed Inside Passage. Fishing and fish related canneries were the early occupation of the Tlingits. Even today Ketchikan is known for its fresh, smoked or canned salmon and halibut. By the late 19th century gold and copper were discovered. The Main Street we walked down was full of designer jewelry shops, selling beautiful pieces set with diamonds, tanzanite and many other precious and semi-precious stones.

To our great amazement we saw limes and green chillies strung together, hanging over the doorway of a jewelry shop. Sure enough, on stepping inside we found it belonged to an Indian.

The last halt of our wonderful voyage was in the harbor city of Victoria in British Columbia. One could take seven days to see this beautiful town but we had only seven hours. We were forewarned by the crew that we would have to swim behind the Sea Princess all the way to San Francisco if we were so much as 15 minutes late! We narrowed down our sight-seeing to the famous Butchart Gardens and Craigdarroch Castle.

L to R: The author with a game warden and a friend Shirazi Kanga at Chilkoot Lake

Craigdarroch Castle is a designated National Historic Site. It was built in 1890 by an enterprising Scotsman, Robert Dunsmuir who made his fortune mining ‘black gold’ — coal. The 39 rooms of Craigdarroch Castle are filled with priceless antiques, intricate woodwork, lavish Victorian era furnishings and exquisite stained glass windows, said to be the finest in North America.

After a tour of the Castle we proceeded to the Butchart Gardens. These have to be seen to be believed because no words could do them full justice. Made to bloom in the hollow of a former worked-out limestone quarry and spread over a humongous 55 acres, they are a riot of color and skilful juxtaposition of trees, exotic shrubs, hanging baskets and flower beds. Separate areas are marked out with special themes. There is a Rose Garden, a Japanese Garden, an Italian and a Mediterranean Layout.

With half an hour left before the Sea Princess was set to sail, we stopped at the picturesque harbor from where we could see the stately Parliament Building and the iconic Fairmont Empress Hotel, where royalty and dignitaries usually stay. From its regal name (named after the Empress Victoria) to its stately buildings, grand gardens and the ultimate British tradition of high tea with cucumber sandwiches, scones and clotted cream at the Empress Hotel, Victoria is steeped in English tradition and charm!

Alaska was amazing and its natural beauty incredible but the bottom line was that we enjoyed the ship experience even more. Booking on this trip was not an easy decision. To spend over a lakh of rupees per person on the 10-day Alaskan Cruise starting from San Francisco, another almost equal amount for the airfare to USA and back and then some more for the tours at every port we landed, the travel insurance and other expenses. At every place that we disembarked we preferred to do our sight-seeing with local guides rather than register for the ship arranged tours. By doing it on our own, we could customize it to our liking and make it more economical. On the penultimate day of our Alaskan Cruise as we sat in the atrium, swirling our martinis, we decided unanimously it was paisa vasool (value for money)!