College Fjord (Friday, June 6)

The final day of the cruise...and our second day of "scenic cruising"...this time with College Fjord as the destination. During the night the ship had sailed into the Gulf of Alaska and for a change we were sailing in open water with not much else to see.

After breakfast the four of us attended a lecture by Susan Hazlett, the naturalist onboard, "Call of the Wild: Reality on the Last Frontier." Susan talked aout what life was like living off-the-grid in Alaska...interesting, but not something I would want to experience! Our Princess Patter (the newsletter delivered daily to our cabin) listed numerous other activities for the morning...a movie on the big screen outdoors, a culinary demonstration & galley tour, bingo, stringed music in the atrium, and even a seminar on teeth whitening. Laurel and I did stop by to check out the 3 hour "outlet sale" being held in the dining room but most of the merchandise was leftovers from other cruises...ones we hadn't been on. I was not even tempted to buy a t-shirt from a Princess Baltic cruise! 

Ideally the morning would have been spent leisurely attending the various events, but the reality of cruising is that luggage must be set out in the hallway the last evening of the cruise. If that was going to happen then I knew what my morning activity was…packing. Until that was done, I couldn’t enjoy the rest of the day.

Bob joined me, but it didn’t take long to realize that both of us trying to work in such a small space was not a good idea. After bumping into each other repeatedly, my frustration level was on the rise. From experience, he knew the morning would be much better for both of us if he just left, so he and Kent headed to the gym for a workout.

It is always a guessing game trying to decide what to pack and what to leave that will ultimately end up in the carry-on bags. I always worry that I will forget to keep out something important and then be in trouble the next morning. The process was a bit simpler than normal due to us not flying home the next day. Trying to abide by airline rules for liquids just complicates the matter further.

By lunchtime I felt like I had made sufficient progress on the packing and was ready to get something to eat. I had noticed in the newsletter that Sabatini’s was open for lunch and offered “complimentary” pizza. Usually the restaurant is only open for dinner and carries an extra fee of $25/person.

I absolutely love the pizza on Princess ships, but the gourmet pizzas that we were served at Sabatini’s were different. Not bad, but not the huge, thin slices served on the Lido deck. However it was nice to sit down and be served rather than fighting the crowds at the buffet.

After lunch, we parted ways. Kent & Laurel left to attend a lecture on Denali and I convinced Bob it would be fun to walk around the outer promenade deck. The Coral is unique in that you can completely circle the ship on the outer deck...2.8 laps = 1 mile. 

Well…we didn’t even complete one lap. Poor Bob. When I saw that we were sailing by such beautiful snow covered mountains, I made him wait while I ran back up to our 11^th deck cabin to grab my camera. Then I made him wait some more while I fiddled with the settings. 

We finally did a "little" bit of walking, but it was in short segments as I stopped frequently to take more photos. Just about the time I decided I had enough pictures...we started seeing whales!

Kent & Laurel caught up with us after their lecture and it was back to our cabins as the ship approached College Fjord in Prince William Sound. College Fjord not only boasts the world's largest collection of tidewater glaciers, but also has snowcapped mountains as far as the eyes can see. The glaciers in the fjord are primarily named for east coast colleges...hence the name College Fjord. 

The TV was tuned in to hear the naturalist speaking and we were ready with our binoculars as we approached the fjord. 

Sea otters floated by the ship in abundance including some mothers holding their babies.

Some were bobbing up and down on their iceberg rafts!

To get a better view of the glaciers, we moved to the front viewing area of the ship. 

Glacier Bay usually gets top billing for Alaska cruises...and definitely has larger glaciers, but I do believe seeing so many glaciers side by side in College Fjord was more stunning.

It is interesting how the caves form on the face of the glaciers.

And I took a LOT of photos just because I thought the iceberg shapes were so intriguing!

I enjoyed the last views of College Fjord from our balcony...but felt sad knowing that the cruise was almost over.

Sailing through College Fjord took place between 5 pm and 7 pm so to get to the evening show on time we opted for dinner at the buffet. "What a Swell Party" was the production show scheduled in the Princess Theater and was actually one we had seen performed on the Emerald Princess back in December. The sets were the same as before, but it was interesting to see the show performed on the much smaller stage on the Coral. Laurel took a few photos to compare to the ones she had taken on the Emerald.

Having a balcony was a real splurge for us and when we booked the cabin I dreamed of sitting out there in the evenings enjoying a plate of exotic cheese and fruit while sailing by the snow covered mountains. But...we were so busy...it just didn't happen. So...on the last night of the cruise I was DETERMINED! I put together a wonderful cheese platter at the buffet with all sorts of cheeses, dried fruit, and breadsticks and then NO ONE would join me! By golly...I didn't care that it was near midnight. I ATE MY CHEESE...ON THE BALCONY!

The cruise was over...but we weren't leaving Alaska just yet. Coming up next...our visit to Seward!