GFMPH Alaska -- June 2014

My lovely wife and I are going on a cruise to Alaska next June and several people have expressed an interest in joining us and making it a GFMPH gathering.

The trip we have booked is a 13 day combination land and sea tour/cruise with a six day escorted motor coach/railroad tour of Fairbanks, Denali National Park, Anchorage and Homer, Alaska (includes sightseeing, ritzy hotels, transportation, a stop at an Iditarod contestant's house to meet the dogs, etc. etc..) PLUS a seven day cruise of the Alaska inland passage offering spectacular views from the boat of tidewater glaciers, killer whales, sea lions, and some of the most scenic landscape anywhere.

People who would like to go with us can book either the whole 13 day trip which we are told is a once-in-a-lifetime event (but not inexpensive) or can join us only for the cruise which is also spectacular and rather more affordable.

Option 1: 7 Day Sawyer Glacier Cruise from Whittier, AK to Vancouver, BC on Norwegian Sun: June 16-23, 2014
Prices start at around $750 per person (double occupancy) taxes and insurance additional.

Option 2: 13 Day Authentic Alaska Cruisetour June 11-15, 2014
Five day escorted motor coach and railroad tour. Includes accommodations, tours, guides, some (most?) meals. Then joins cruise from option 1 (above)
Prices start at around $2250 per person (including the cruise) again, taxes and insurance are extra.

Various discounts are available (Military, AARP, etc.) Be sure to contact me before you book so I can give you the latest info on discounts, etc. and so you can get hooked up to our group. If we get enough people going we will get perqs like a meeting room on the boat for our business meetings or a cocktail party, or ... I dunno, stuff like that.

For the wife and I this will be the third cruise of Alaska. Yes, we like it that much. We've never done Dinali before but it's time. We're not going to live forever.

If you contact me I will provide contact information for our cruise consultant and give you an email address for my wife who is doing most of our planning.

Oh man! What bad timing for me. I've been wanting to do that trip but me and my wife have already promised to take our grandson to Europe in June 2014 so I'll be on a plane going the other way while you're all on your way up north.

Enjoy the trip!

Andrew

An Alaska trip is on my "short" bucket list, but alas June is not good. My wife is a teacher and can't vacation until the end of June.

This sounds really cool; my parents did an Alaskan cruise some years ago and their pictures were amazing. It's something I've had in the back of my mind ever since, and it's on my bucket list now. (PCa dx, especially with the severity of mine, has suddenly made me see the reality of having a bucket list, sigh...).

I'm going to look into this one, though probably only for the cruise portion. With my current job demands, getting two weeks off in June would be tough.

One year from today...

The brochure for the cruise/tour said...

Day 3 Denali
open morning for optional activities such as whitewater rafting, helicopter flightseeing, hiking or one of the Park Service programs. Today travel deep into Denali National Park on the included seven hour Tundra Wilderness Tour bus tour. Overnight Denali. (Itinerary may be altered to do Morning Tundra Wilderness Tour)

Denali Highlights:
Mt McKinley • Wildlife Viewing Opportunities • Denali National Park • Hiking Trails • Lots of Optional Tours: Rafting, Fly Fishing, Golfing, Flightseeing, Dog Demonstrations, Jetboats • Murie Science Center • Denali Visitors Center • Bus Tours

Send me an email for more info on seeing Alaska with a bunch of leaky and/or flaccid cranky old guys and the heroic women who, somehow, manage to put up with them. (I'm trying to set expectations low here so I can deliver. Chances are, we'll have a blast!)

Todd,

Yes, that can be done in several ways. The cruise leaves from Whittier, Alaska and there are fishing charters that operate out of the same port. There are also fishing charters out of Vancouver. You could book a fishing charter just before the cruise departs or after it arrives. They do all day Halibut trips out of Whittier for around $300 per fisherman.

There are also fishing trips you can do as excursions during the cruise. You can go Halibut fishing out of Ketchican. You can book the excursion through the cruise line or you can also book directly (which is cheaper). In theory, if you book through the cruise line they guarantee that the cruise ship won't leave until you get back (or at least they will deal with the problem if it does).

Here's how the Norwegian web site describes the Halibut fishing trip:

Halibut Fishing
This is the experience many anglers dream of when planning an Alaskan vacation, fishing for the largest flatfish in the world, the Pacific Halibut. Imagine catching your first wild halibut with your friends or family and the bragging rights that will come with sharing this delectable fish back home. Unlike many other Alaska destinations, Ketchikan fishing is in protected waters, a short ride from the marina. No matter your skill level, you'll fish like a local, with a Penn rod and Penn 114 reel in your own two hands, working the sandy flats, drifting with the current, jigging in waters as deep as 300 feet. Spend the day with an experienced Alaskan guide, in pursuit of the elusive halibut, learning the secrets of fishing circle hooks, working the tides and battling your leviathan. You can choose to custom process your halibut, as well as purchase a selection of local Alaskan seafood to include with the shipment of your bounty home. Note: Participants must be at least 5 years of age, weigh a minimum of 30 lbs and a maximum of 300 lbs. Deck or rubber soled shoes must be worn on board. We recommend that you wear warm, layered clothing. Rain gear, rubber boots, comfortable float jackets, wool socks, hat and gloves. Halibut fishing equipment and tackle are provided. Actual fishing duration is 4 1/2 hours. Alaska State Law requires a fishing license that can be purchased in cash at the outfitting room for $20. You’ll need a credit card in order to have your catch processed and sent home (U.S. only). Fish cannot be stored on board the ship.

One note of caution: not all excursions are offered for all sailing dates of these cruises. Often the longer-duration excursions are only offered in the middle of the season when the days are longer. Since we are sailing in mid-June we should be OK there. Weather is also a factor but reviews say that the charter companies provide foul weather gear so a bit of rain probably won't deter them.

Post Edited (PeterDisAbelard) : 6/13/2013 10:12:46 AM (GMT-6)

Todd,

I sent you an email with some information. I forgot to give it a subject and I sent it from my real name so you may have to look for it. Let me know if you don't find it so I can send it again.

One of the things I mention in the note is a page I am putting together with info about the trip. I have added a couple of links to charter operators who do halibut fishing charters out of Ketchican.

June 17, 2014:

On year from today will be our first full day on the boat. They will pull up close enough to the face of a tidewater glacier to hear the crack and the splash as chunks of ice fall off into the sea. The itenerary for the day says:

Hubbard Glacier Get up close and personal with the gigantic Hubbard Glacier, North America’s largest tidewater glacier. It’s 1350 square miles of blue ice and one of the most active in Alaska.

An aside and a request for help:

When my son was in Cub Scouts I thought the Cubmaster looked like the worlds biggest dork standing in front of a room full of young boys and their parents, dressed in a silly uniform and taking the scouting rituals very seriously. His name was Tom and I thanked God for him every meeting. He could do something I could never do. I am plagued with self-consciousness and if I had put on that uniform and stood up in front of the room I would have been paralyzed by the awareness of how idiotic I must have looked. Scouting is a wonderful program and scouters are some of the best people I have ever met. Somebody had to be scoutmaster and I am glad there was Tom to do it. I supported the pack, and later the troop, in a number of roles but I never put on a uniform. It's a disability.

Which brings me to my problem. I am aware that we will absolutely need someone to flack for the GFMPH Alaska get together who is comfortable with the word "gooderer". It has an honored history -- it's a huge part of who we are right now -- but it just doesn't sound right when I type it.

Volunteers?

Thanks for the bump, Jim. I've been resisting the temptation to bump my Alaska thread every time Terry's Mexico cruise comes to the top. That cruise is four months out and getting towards the end of most people's planning window. But the Alaska cruise is only ten months out and it is not too early to start reminding people to think about it.

Hope you can join us.

If you've never done the Alaskan inland passage I can guarantee it will be quite the experience. If you have done it before then you know.

Peter, thanks for the bump up and the reminder. Sherry and I have been discussing the possibility.

For planning purposes, I will throw one more date into the mix. Don't forget GFMPH Florida Style, March 20-24, 2014. Sherry and I are looking forward to hosting the event. Putting the contract on the pool to bed on Thursday.

Trying to get everything done for departure Sunday for GFMPH NY. Look forward to seeing you there.

Sonny

I had a great time at the GFMPH in Rochester this past weekend. It was too much fun. There oughta be a law. ... Oh, wait... Maybe there is a law... or are some laws.... There might be a couple that got kinda stretched a bit. I imagine that Jeff's neighbors were more patient with us than the local noise ordinances require, for instance. (Except for the dog next door who did bring the subject up once or twice, as I recall.) And, I guess it was a good thing that nobody was there from Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Or from the NY state deposit can enforcers. I'm pretty sure there was a non-deposit Sprite can in there with all the Genesee Cream Ale cans.

But anyway, it was swell and I can't thank Jeff and Barb enough for hosting.

While I was there I was twisting arms to get people thinking about GFMPH Alaska next June -- 9 months from now plus a week or two. (That's six months after the December cruise and three months after GRMPH Florida in March. We seem to be scheduling things on a quarterly basis.)

The main excuse people were giving me is motion sickness. So, in an effort to help out...

Here is an interesting, but ultimately useless study on different theories about what causes seasickness: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3686767/

Here is a study by the Israeli Navy where they compare a transdermal scopolamine patch with seasickness pills: (The patch wins.) www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22139622

Since we have two GFMPH cruises coming up this year, next time you see your doctor you should talk about the seasickness remedy of your choice.

Beejane,

Sorry, didn't see your question. The usual way it works is to fly into Fairbanks, cruise to Vancouver, and then fly out of Vancouver to return home. Alternatively you can take the train or bus from Vancouver to Seattle and terminate all your flights in the US. That will allow the use of frequent flyer miles which can't be used on international flights.

Send me an email (click the envelope icon on the left) and I will send you a link to some information.

Oh, and thanks for the excuse to ...

bump.