We docked at Petersburg, a Norwegian settlement, the next morning at about 8 AM. We walked the short distance to the Sons of Norway Hall. There was a replica of a Viking boat out front and a deck with a large statue of a fisherman. There were hundreds of plaques on the fence giving names and dates of fishermen and women who had lost their lives at sea. They all had an original saying on them.Inside the hall, we enjoyed a muggah(sp?). This was when a fisherman went out to fish early in the morning and would come in after a few hours to have cookies and coffee. Then, they go back out to fish. Some ladies had baked three different traditional Norwegian cookies for us to eat and served coffee. Then, we went outside on the deck where we were entertained by four boys and four girls dressed in native costume to do traditional folk dances for us. After their performance, we all made a big circle and danced. We all got on a yellow school bus and rode to a bog where we took a short walk. The moss in some places goes down 30 feet. It felt like walking on a waterbed. Cody and Aspen walked the short distance back to town with a few others, but my knee was bothering me so I rode back. We drove by a school and I was astonished that their baseball diamond was gravel! We also got a glimpse of a black tailed deer on the way to the bog. Back on the ship, it was cookie time. Today, we had white chocolate and macadamia cookies. Our stop the next day was to be Kake. For dinner that night, I had chicken cobb salad and tomato bisque soup. There was time to play games and cards and visit in the lounge. Jess, a very good artist, had different things for the young people(or anyone) to make. One night, we made a bracelet of white cedar and another night, Aspen made a small drum and drew Tlingit figures on it. There were many interesting books in the lounge for anyone to read. Mary gave a talk that evening about salmon and the hatchery we would see the next day. One of the sayings in that area is, ''Fishing is not a matter of life and death-it's more serious than that''. We learned about chum, red or sockeye, silver or coho, pink or Humpies, king or Chinook. We also learned there are no Omega 3's in farm raised salmon. That night, after most had gone to their cabins for the night, Mary read ,''The Strangest Story Ever Told'', which was set in Thomas Bay. We could listen through the speaker in our cabins.
Adventure Life has been an extraordinary travel resource for us over the years and today was no exception. Our River Cruise booking was handled by Jess (who has been our personal trip planner for several years) the same day as our inquiry. Suggestions were given for cabin choice and pre-trip options (that were not shown on the cruise line's website) like airport transfers and prepaid gratuities. Trip insurance recommendations followed and we were assigned a travel co-ordinator till the end of the tour. All we have to do is show up! Great service from friendly folks.
APtravelwell
1 day ago
My representative Kevin was very responsive generally and in crafting our itinerary to our specific priorities.
Rocco Labella
1 day ago
Although there was a lot of paper work, I received help and guidance when I needed it.
Donna Kirby
2 days ago
Our travel was flawless! The rider pickup (airport, hotel, ship) was seamless. Jane's recommendation for Emerald Cruise Sakara was everything I wanted but the experience was soooo much more. Adventure Life took care of each and every detail and this was the easiest of all my travels.
Anne Petty
3 days ago
Follow up was effective any questions were answered in a timely manner