I
like a good cup of coffee, but am also pretty tolerant about drinking
whatever gets called by that name. This ship claims to be serving
Italy's Best. If true, something is wrong with Italy's taste buds. I
am literally mixing it 50/50 with hot water, and it's still
strong.
Have never liked fees that trap people who don't know they are there. The worst of these is shipboard cellular. Suppose you are an American with a fine phone plan. You wisely kept your device off when in Canada, and then started using it again once you hit Alaska. That would be logical, but the trap has struck. Likely your smartphone will be merrily using the on board cell tower, and you are incurring big extra charges. It could add up to hundreds of dollars very quickly, and you wouldn't know until your next bill shows up. No plan covers these hidden charges.
Speaking of cell phones; I have both a Canadian plan and an account with a US carrier for whenever we're in the states. My device is an iPad, so they are both data-only plans, and my American is one where I only pay for what I need. Actually, part of it is free as they "give" me 200 megabytes a month. Yesterday I popped out my Canadian nano-sim and put in the Yankee one in preparation of arrival at our first American port-of-call.
Now I'm ashore and cannot get any cellular hookup. My US company is T-Mobile, and all there is here in the largest American state's airwaves is AT and T, and American companies refuse to play nice with one another. It is going to be this way for our entire time in Alaska.
Today it was a stop at "Icy Strait." This is an old fish cannery decked out to entertain cruise ship passengers. The actual town is about a mile away out of sight, and isn't a town at all; it's a village. Its name is Hoonah.
I didn't do any kind of tour, or even a shopping/museum visit to the cannery. Instead, I went for a run. To make it worthwhile, I settled on about an 8km distance. After riding the tender to the cannery, I headed off towards Hoonah. Passed all the landmarks; the hardware store, the school, the post office, the park station, and part way to the airfield. My fitbit told me it was about 4km, so I turned back and did it again all in reverse.
By this time, there were clumps of cruisers wandering around after having taken the shuttle bus over. They were literally standing with nothing to do, or wandering with nothing to do.
On the way out, passing local vehicles had ignored me as I was clearly a cruise person, and a weird, running one at that. On the way back, every driver waved at me or at least nodded. I guess they couldn't take the chance that I was a local who deserved a greeting, even if they couldn't quite place me.
So I got back, rode the tender to the ship, and was alone. All my buddies were off doing something somewhere. Pulled on my swim suit, headed to deck ten, and hopped into the indoor pool. It is magnificently heated and full of nozzles and bubbles. Truly a pool after my own heart.
Now I'm gazing out through a glass wall, drinking coffee, and wondering when my people will re-appear.
We've been here in Hoonah over a half-dozen times, and this has been my favourite visit. The run, and swim, and sit is a lovely and relaxing combination.
Tomorrow is Skagway day, and I've been running there for years. It just might be two favourite days in a row.
Have never liked fees that trap people who don't know they are there. The worst of these is shipboard cellular. Suppose you are an American with a fine phone plan. You wisely kept your device off when in Canada, and then started using it again once you hit Alaska. That would be logical, but the trap has struck. Likely your smartphone will be merrily using the on board cell tower, and you are incurring big extra charges. It could add up to hundreds of dollars very quickly, and you wouldn't know until your next bill shows up. No plan covers these hidden charges.
Speaking of cell phones; I have both a Canadian plan and an account with a US carrier for whenever we're in the states. My device is an iPad, so they are both data-only plans, and my American is one where I only pay for what I need. Actually, part of it is free as they "give" me 200 megabytes a month. Yesterday I popped out my Canadian nano-sim and put in the Yankee one in preparation of arrival at our first American port-of-call.
Now I'm ashore and cannot get any cellular hookup. My US company is T-Mobile, and all there is here in the largest American state's airwaves is AT and T, and American companies refuse to play nice with one another. It is going to be this way for our entire time in Alaska.
Today it was a stop at "Icy Strait." This is an old fish cannery decked out to entertain cruise ship passengers. The actual town is about a mile away out of sight, and isn't a town at all; it's a village. Its name is Hoonah.
I didn't do any kind of tour, or even a shopping/museum visit to the cannery. Instead, I went for a run. To make it worthwhile, I settled on about an 8km distance. After riding the tender to the cannery, I headed off towards Hoonah. Passed all the landmarks; the hardware store, the school, the post office, the park station, and part way to the airfield. My fitbit told me it was about 4km, so I turned back and did it again all in reverse.
By this time, there were clumps of cruisers wandering around after having taken the shuttle bus over. They were literally standing with nothing to do, or wandering with nothing to do.
On the way out, passing local vehicles had ignored me as I was clearly a cruise person, and a weird, running one at that. On the way back, every driver waved at me or at least nodded. I guess they couldn't take the chance that I was a local who deserved a greeting, even if they couldn't quite place me.
So I got back, rode the tender to the ship, and was alone. All my buddies were off doing something somewhere. Pulled on my swim suit, headed to deck ten, and hopped into the indoor pool. It is magnificently heated and full of nozzles and bubbles. Truly a pool after my own heart.
Now I'm gazing out through a glass wall, drinking coffee, and wondering when my people will re-appear.
We've been here in Hoonah over a half-dozen times, and this has been my favourite visit. The run, and swim, and sit is a lovely and relaxing combination.
Tomorrow is Skagway day, and I've been running there for years. It just might be two favourite days in a row.
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