Cruise Stories

Making Towel Stingrays

Posted on September 28, 2012 by LBcruiseshipblogger

two different styles of towel stingrays

This blog has two different types of stingrays. The first shows how our cabin steward on the Carnival Liberty, Astika, made a super easy stingray. The second is from the towel animal folding book available for passengers on Carnival ships to buy.

Astika’s Super Easy Towel Stingray

Supplies Needed

1. Hand Towel

2. Bath Towel

3. Eyes (bits of cloth or paper or googly eyes)

How to Fold Astika’s Stingray

Folding the Stingray Tail

roll hand towel lengthwise into one roll

Roll the hand towel lengthwise. The whole towel in one roll. Yup, it’s that easy.

rolled towel stingray tail

Making the Stingray Body

step by step instructions on how to fold a towel stingray

fold towel in half crosswise

Fold Towel in half crosswise.

fold in half diagonally

Fold in half on the diagonal so it makes a triangle.

Assembling the Towel Stingray

drape the triangular folded towel over the rolled tail and shape the towel to the edges of the roll

Place the body over the tail so the long side is centered over one end of the tail and the point sits on the tail roll.

Shape the towel body along the edges of the towel roll.

Fold back the tip on each side of the triangle, add eyes and it’s done!

Fold over the tips on each side.

Add eyes.

This is a great one for beginning towel animal folders because it is so easy.

Carnival Towel Animal Book Stingray

Supplies Needed

1. Bath Towel

2. Hand Towel

3. Eyes

Folding the Stingray Body

roll both sides of bath towel to middle from the short ends

Lay the bath towel out flat and roll both ends to the middle.

step by step towel animal folding instructions with photos

put the rolled part on the bottom and fold one end back over the top

Flip it over so the rolls are on the bottom. Fold one end up about a third of the way over the upside down rolls.

turn towel over so the folded bit is on the bottom

Turn it over so the folded side is on the bottom.

partially unroll the towel starting from the ends farthest from the fold

Unroll the ends farthest away from the folded part.

unroll enough to spread the towel out into a stingray body

Keep unrolling until it spreads the width you want your stingray to be. The folded under part may unroll a bit while you do this until it is about a fourth of the way under the towel instead of a third as it started. (Note: the book directions say only to fold it back a forth to start with, but their sketches show it from a third to nearly halfway.)

Making the Towel Stingray Tail

hold one corner of the hand towel down with a finger while rolling towel from the short side

Lay the hand towel out flat. Use a finger to hold down a corner, and roll the short side from that corner.

rolling the stingray tail

Continue rolling from that corner until the whole towel becomes one roll.

towel rolled into stingray tail

Assembling the Towel Stingray

put the rolled tail under the body so the wide end reaches the backs of the folded-under rolls

Put the rolled tail under the body so the corner where the roll started hangs out as the tip of its tail and the other end reaches the ends of the rolls folded underneath its body.

decorate the stingray with the eyes of your choice

finished stingray with googly eyes

Shape as desired and add eyes.

choose the eyes that look best on the towel animal

finished stingray with felt eyes – they stand out better against the striped towel

Next Animal in this Cruise Ship Towel Animal Folding Series: Cat

Towel Cat on Atrium Stairs, Carnival Liberty

For instructions on how to fold other towel animals, click this link.

Posted in Towel Animals | Tagged photos, stingray, towel animal instructions, towel animals, video | 8 Comments

Carnival Liberty Private Tour

Posted on September 22, 2012 by LBcruiseshipblogger

champagne and fruit basket - gifts from the crew

We had gifts waiting in our room when we arrived.

Writing does have its advantages. The crew on the Carnival Liberty treated us like royalty. When we arrived our room greeted us with champagne and fruit baskets, gifts from some of the ship’s staff. Every afternoon we got random deliveries of a variety of tasty treats. Everything from hors d’ oeuvres to fancy pastries to chocolate covered strawberries came knocking at our door. After John commented on how much he would like some cookies destined for the children’s area that we saw on a kitchen tour, the next day we had our very own plate of chocolate chip cookies with frosting happy faces delivered to our door.

happy chocolate chip cookies in the ship’s bakery

Private tours are another writer’s perk. The maitre d escorted us on a private tour of the kitchens just ahead of the public tour other passengers could take. Just the sheer size of the galley is pretty amazing, and the amount of food that passes through there.

in the galley

It had separate rooms for just about everything. One for meat, one for fish, areas for baking, for plating, for preparing vegetables, each in their own space. They even had pictures hanging on the wall of what each dish on the main menu should look like when ready to serve to the passengers.

the galley staff can check these pictures to make sure the meals look right

Following the kitchen tour, we went below decks where we saw all sorts of things passengers don’t normally get to see. The ship had quite a number of refrigerators and freezers holding a seemingly endless supply of food and drinks.

creative welcome sign

A peek into the laundry leaves one wondering how the crew there doesn’t get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of it. Enough mountainous piles of things waiting to get washed to fill an entire house to the satisfaction of a hoarder who could become so lost under all that laundry that no-one would ever find them. The ship, of course, has much more room than a house and a multitude of large washers and dryers, so they aren’t likely to loose any crew in the dirty laundry.

Most of the laundry consisted of things like sheets and towels, but they do wash clothes for passengers who request laundry service as well, and had racks for those items. Laundry service on cruise ships tends to cost more than I care to spend so I’ve never used it. Carnival’s ships all have launderettes where passengers can do their own laundry in coin-operated machines for a lot less money than having their things washed by the crew.

bales of recycling waiting to unload in port

Carnival Liberty recycles everything

The Liberty had a large space dedicated to recycling. Stacks of cardboard bales dominated the view, but they recycle just about everything. At one port we even saw them taking many mattresses off the ship, which they donated somewhere local when they got new ones for the crew.

The most interesting part of the tour (I thought anyway) was getting a glimpse into the life of the crew. We didn’t see any of their actual rooms where they live, just a peek down the hallway, but we did get to see other crew spaces. They had more than one dining room, so different nationalities had places to go that serve the type of food they eat at home. The people who are considered staff rather than crew – that is those who live and work on the ship employed by outside vendors rather than the cruise line – had a separate dining room from the crew. It looked somewhat fancier, and is where the new wait staff trains before serving the passengers.

Captain on the bridge by the floor window.

The crew bar was empty when we toured, but gets lively during their time off. Our tour guide said the bartenders consider the crew bar the best place to work because they leave better tips than most passengers. The crew bar had a porthole window, likely a popular spot since most crew live in inside rooms with no view. It also had some video games. They need to have some fun and relaxation since they will spend at least several months on board working between each trip back home.

We also got a chance to meet the captain and have a tour of the bridge. It had the usual tiny steering wheel. Old fashioned large ones are no longer needed as modern ships run on a computer system rather than hand steering. It also had some interesting windows in the floor so the captain can view the life boats and any activity in that area.

Posted in Carnival, Liberty, Shipboard Life | Tagged behind the scenes on cruise ship, Carnival Liberty, cruise ship bridge | 9 Comments

Gluten-Free Pancakes Three Ways

Posted on September 16, 2012 by LBcruiseshipblogger

gluten-free pancakes with brown rice flour

If you don’t tell people these tasty pancakes are gluten free, they probably won’t even notice. They taste pretty much the same as regular pancakes. Better actually than some I’ve had at restaurants. I’m not a big fan of most restaurant pancakes, they often seem to taste like a bad industrialized mix. These taste more like regular homemade pancakes. This recipe serves about 1-2 people.

Gluten Free Pancake Recipe

1 egg, separated

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 cup milk (doesn’t have to be cow’s milk)

2 Tablespoons canola oil

1/3 cup sorghum flour

1/3 cup tapioca flour

1/3 cup brown rice flour or buckwheat flour or amaranth flour

1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Crack the egg at the center with a knife so the shell splits into two equal halves. Use the shell to hold the yolk while tipping yolk back and forth from one side to the other of shell and letting the white run down into a very small mixing bowl to separate egg. When done, place yolk in somewhat larger mixing bowl.

Add cream of tartar to egg white and beat until eggwhite is fluffy and will stand in stiff peaks. Set aside.

Add milk to egg yolk and beat until thoroughly mixed. Add all remaining dry ingredients and beat until smooth. Fold in eggwhite gently with spoon or spatula, do not beat in with mixer.

Spoon onto hot greased griddle, flip when down side cooks to desired shade of brown and cook other side just like with any pancake.

If you want to add anything like nuts or berries to the dough, stir that in before the egg white because once the egg white is added it should be stirred as little as possible.

Makes about 6 – 8 small pancakes. I like the flavor better with the buckwheat flour, but if you have kids that don’t like dark colored breads, the brown rice flour makes a lighter colored pancake. The amaranth also makes a lighter colored pancake and has more flavor than the brown rice.

For those on lactose-free diets, use your favorite non-dairy milk in place of the regular milk.

one-griddle breakfast, gluten-free pancakes with fried egg and turkey sausage

Making Your Own Gluten Free Pancake Mix

For camping trips, pre-measure all the dry ingredients into a zip-lock bag for a pancake mix. Leave out the cream of tartar and just add the whole egg with the milk and oil and stir the whole thing at once. For extra convenience, add powdered milk to the dry ingredients and then you can just add water instead of milk at the campsite.

buckwheat pancake breakfast cooked on the camp stove

I tried the pre-mix three different ways on a recent camping trip with my sister, one for each morning. I had intended to do the brown rice and buckwheat which I had tried at home. She’s not a big fan of brown rice flour though and I didn’t know if she’d like the buckwheat since she’d never tried it so on a whim I used amaranth flour instead of either of those for the third morning. We both liked it better than the brown rice. She has issues with dairy as well as wheat so instead of mixing in powdered milk ahead of time, I made the pancakes with almond milk at the campsite.

amaranth pancakes cooking on the camp stove

copyright My Cruise Stories 2012

Posted in recipes | Tagged camp food, camping gluten free, cooking, food, gluten free, pancakes, photo, recipe | 4 Comments

Lilla Rose Hair Clips Online Mystery Hostess Party

Posted on September 14, 2012 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Princess Tiara Dangle Lilla Rose Hair Clip Holds Hair on a Windy Beach

Not long ago, I posted a blog all about the Lilla Rose hair clips, which included a giveaway of a free clip. If you didn’t win then, but are thinking about buying something, now is a great time to get it. A purchase through the link to the online party below automatically enters you into a mystery hostess drawing where you could win so much more than one free clip. Read on for details.

Lilla Rose Independent Consultant, Linda Menke, is sponsoring a special Mystery Hostess Party starting Sept 15^th and ending at midnight on Sept 29^th. Everyone that orders will have a chance to be the Mystery Hostess and receive all the Hostess Rewards! In addition, due to a vendor swap also going on this month, the party is guaranteed to earn at least $450 in sales and all other orders will only increase that amount. This is a great chance to order that new Flexi or other item you’ve been wanting (Check out the Flexi of the Month for Sept. – it’s beautiful) AND, if you are chosen as the Mystery Hostess, you can get lots of Lilla Rose loot for the holidays or for yourself.

Don’t forget that Flexi Clips also make great scarf clips so a great gift idea is to give

Flexi Clip on a Scarf

one with a pretty scarf. Better yet get two of the same clip in different sizes to have matching clips for scarf and hair. The XS, S, and M sizes are best for scarves. Also the smaller Flexis and O-Rings make adorable napkin rings and curtain ties as well.

To order from the party, Click Here. Add yourself as a guest by entering your information under “New Guests Register Here.” From there, simply shop and check-out. NOTE: Items ordered through the party will not ship until after the party closes on the 29^th. Then I will select a Mystery Hostess, get the Hostesses Rewards ordered, and close the party. If you order, be sure to check your e-mail early on Sept 30^th as you won’t have more than a few hours to decide what items you want for your Hostess Rewards before I have to close the party (by midnight on the 30^th). Items will probably ship by Oct. 2^nd. If you have problems or questions, please e-mail Linda at cliptomania@ymail.com. Have Fun!”

THE WINNER of the Lilla Rose Mystery Hostess Party is………ME! Of course if this was a giveaway through my own blog I would not have entered, but this one was through Linda Menke’s website so I entered the contest as well as posting it for her. WOO-HOO now I get to go shopping!!!!!!!!

Here are the Hostess Rewards for Lilla Rose Parties:

Sales	Free Items	½ Priced Items	Special Gift
$100-199		1	Yes
$200-299	$30	2	Yes
$300-399	$45	2	Yes
$400-499	$60	3	Yes
$500-599	$75	3	Yes
$600-699	$90	4	Yes
$700-799	$105	4	Yes
$800-899	$120	5	Yes
$900-999	$135	5	Yes
$1000+	$150	6	Yes

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged free stuff, gift ideas, hair clips, Lilla Rose, online party | 3 Comments

Swine Flu and the Voyage Home

Posted on September 8, 2012 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Sunset in Alaska

My son Chris, grandson Justin, and I took our cruise on the Norwegian Sun early in the Alaska cruising season in 2009, the year of the big swine flu epidemic. At that time many of the ships on the Alaska run in the summer cruised Mexico throughout the winter. Whether or not our particular ship had just come up from Mexico (where the swine flu outbreak started) or not, we were bound to run into people in port that came from ships freshly out of Mexican waters.

Despite my daughter’s warnings of quarantined ships not allowed to dock in Australia, we decided to take our cruise anyway. The crew did everything under their power to stop the spread of germs. They had people stationed at the entrance to every food venue armed with hand sanitizer who would not let passengers pass without a squirt. Some crew members spent the whole day going up and down the stairways repeatedly cleaning the railings. Anything passengers touched frequently was bound to get cleaned multiple times daily.

By the time we reached our last port in Skagway, Chris had started feeling a bit under the weather, though not enough to miss our train ride. Shortly after, Justin and I did not feel well either. Instead of enjoying all the ship has to offer on the voyage home, we mostly just stayed in our cabin. Our dark little interior cabin, as we did not want to spend the extra money for one with a view.

Leela, Bender, and Fry from Futurama

I tried reading, but after reading the same paragraph several times and then realizing I had read the same page at least five times and still comprehended nothing, I gave up on that. Chris had DVD’s with every episode of Futurama, and we probably watched all of them several times.

Every now and then either Chris or I managed to drag ourselves up to the buffet and gather a tray of soup and drinks for us all. Although this flu did not include the upset stomach or emesis associated with the 24-hour flu, none of us much felt like eating, but we knew we had to at least try and stay hydrated. At least Chris and I did. We could hardly get Justin to take so much as a sip of water or spoonful of jello.

Towel Rabbit

Once we even mustered up the energy to try and attend a towel animal folding lecture. We did not get there early enough to get good seats and we couldn’t see much. English definitely was not the presenter’s first language so we didn’t really understand what he said either. I gave up early on and went back to the cabin to lie down. Chris and Justin soon followed. How to make towel animals remained a mystery to us at that time.

Other than the free cruise drawing from the tickets we got playing bingo, which I went to by myself and missed winning the cruise by one number, we spent the rest of the journey home in our room.

I don’t know if anyone else got sick on this cruise since we spent the majority of the last portion of it in our cabin.

The one adjustment I have made due to this is that I now get a flu shot every fall, at least 6 weeks before any scheduled cruise. Not only have I not been sick on a cruise since, I also have not gotten sick from airplane flights or when many of my co-workers do. Before that I had never gotten a flu shot, but having the swine flu once is one time too many so I try to make sure it won’t happen again.

Posted in Alaska, Norwegian, Sun | Tagged Alaska, cruise, futurama, sick, sick on a cruise, swine flu, travel | 11 Comments

Spotlight Award and Beautiful Blogger Award

Posted on September 6, 2012 by LBcruiseshipblogger

My Blog has recently received two new awards. I’ve been given the Spotlight Award from Nicole at NMNPHX.

This very special award differs from other blog awards in that it is not passed around from blogger to blogger, but only awarded to those blogs Nicole chooses to highlight in her monthly spotlight.

Thank you Nicole for honoring my blog with the spotlight award.

My other new award is the Beautiful Blogger award from Meg at Meg Travels.

The requirements for the Beautiful Blogger award are:

Copy the Beautiful Blogger Award logo and place it in your post.
Thank the person who nominated you and create a link back to their blog.
Nominate 7 other bloggers for their own Beautiful Blogger Award.

Thank you Meg for the Beautiful Blogger award.

My Nominees Are:

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged awards, Beautiful Blogger award, blog awards, blogging, blogs, spotlight award | 6 Comments

How To Fold a Towel Dog

Posted on September 1, 2012 by LBcruiseshipblogger

bulldog does what dogs do best - beg for food

Bulldog in Carnival Liberty’s Lido Resturant

Supplies Needed to Make a Towel Dog

1. Bath Towel

2. Hand Towel

3. Wash Cloth

4. Eyes

5. Tongue, collar, or any other decorations desired

Video – Carnival Liberty Stateroom Steward Folding Towel Dog

How To Fold a Towel Dog Body

The dog takes the standard towel animal body.

roll both ends of bath towel to middle

Lay the bath towel out flat and roll both sides to the middle from the short ends. Fold the towel in half with the rolls to the outside. Pull the tips out of the end of each roll.

pull the ends of all four rolls at once

Take the two tips from each end of the same roll in one hand and the two tips from either end of the other roll in the other hand and pull all four at once until the rolls pull out into legs and it makes a body. (If you don’t have the hand strength to pull all four at once you can just start them that way and then pull each half individually to the finished position.)

how to make the standard towel animal body

pulling rolled towel into 4-legged towel animal body

For more detailed instructions on how to fold a standard towel animal body refer to My Cruise Stories pig or gorilla cruise ship towel animal folding blogs.

How to Make a Towel Dog Head

how to fold a towel dog head from a hand towel

fold hand towel in half lengthwise

Lay the hand towel out flat and fold in half the long way.

put a finger on the center of the folded side and pick up corner of top layer only

Put one finger in the center of the folded side to hold the towel flat.

pull the top corner to the middle making a triangle out of one side of the towel

Take one corner of just the top layer of towel and bring it to the center so the end with your finger becomes the pointed end of that side of the towel which now looks like a triangle.

fold the top layer of the other side into a second triangle

towel looks like two side-by-side triangles

Repeat with the other side. Now you have two side by side triangles.

fold the pointy tips under

Fold the tip of the pointed end under the towel.

fold the edges of both sides toward the center

Fold the edges of both sides toward the center, but not all the way to the middle on the top side of the towel.

roll both sides to the center at the same time

Roll both sides to the middle at the same time.

towel dog head ready for nose sculpting

Turn the head around. Shape the nose as desired.

One side tucked in

Take the top ear bits and tuck them in under the sides of the nose. This both defines the top of the face and makes ears. Place the head onto the body.

How to Fold a Washcloth Dog Tail

roll the washcloth diagonally from corner

For optional towel dog tail, lay a washcloth out flat. Start from any corner and roll on the diagonal until whole washcloth is rolled.

washcloth rolled into dog tail

Place tail under dog body and position as desired.

putting together the parts of the towel dog

make the tail the length you want by putting the rest of the rolled washcloth under the towel dog so only the part you want showing sticks out

Finishing the Towel Dog

finished towel dog decorated with eyes and tongue

Decorate towel dog as desired with eyes, nostrils, tongue, collar, etc.

Next up in this Towel Animal folding series: Stingray

towel stingray

For more towel animal folding instructions on a variety of animals please visit My Cruise Stories Towel Animal Page.

Posted in Towel Animals | Tagged crafts, how to, photos, towel animals, towel art, towel dog, towel origami | 4 Comments

White Pass and Yukon Railroad in Skagway Alaska

Posted on August 25, 2012 by LBcruiseshipblogger

White Pass and Yukon Railroad in Skagway

Skagway History

Skagway began as a gold rush boom town during the late 1800’s. Miners poured through town on their way to the gold fields of the Yukon. White Pass acquired the nickname of the Dead Horse Trail as overworked horses got sold from one miner to the next without getting a chance to rest or have enough to eat between trips up the pass. The Canadian government required each person to have a large supply of provisions before crossing the boarder, so it often took multiple trips up the pass with pack animals before loading supplies on a barge they built to float downriver to the gold fields near Dawson City. The White Pass and Yukon Railway was built to accommodate the miners, however its completion in 1898 happened near the end of the Klondike gold rush.

Steam engine, White Pass and Yukon railway

Old Steam Engine in train yard, photo taken while riding train

The railway was an engineering marvel for its time with its steep grade, sharp turns, and bridges, one of which was the tallest of its kind in the world at the time. (This bridge has since been replaced with a much simpler bridge spanning a far smaller gap just a short distance away from the original.)

Old Railroad Bridge

The white horse and yukon narrow gauge railway was designed for the gold rush as a means to make the trip up the pass far easier for the miners and their massive load of supplies. Following the end of the gold rush the trains hauled cargo for a number of years before becoming shutting down in 1892 when the mining industry in the Yukon collapsed due to low prices for minerals.

Once an engineering marvel, now a wreck

The trains re-opened in 1988 as a seasonal tourist attraction and now mine a new kind of gold. It comes from the sea in the form of cruise ships full of tourists willing to spend their money. Summertime in Skagway brings seasonal workers and a cruise ship population that far outnumbers the actual population of the town. The railway has become the most popular shore excursion in all of Alaska.

the train snakes up the mountain

Riding the Rails in Skagway

We booked the train excursion online within days of booking our Alaskan cruise on the Norwegian Sun. After all, we specifically picked an itinerary that included Skagway so we could take Justin on the train since he loves trains. The ship offered a variety of excursions involving the train, however the ones that actually went somewhere that you could get out of the train all seemed to involve a bus ride in one direction. We opted for the basic ride the train up the pass and back down trip since our whole purpose was just to ride the train.

when the trains worked in winter, tracks had to be cleared of snow

Justin standing in front of old train snow plow

This excursion had a number of start times, so we picked a middle of the day sort of one that did not involve getting up early to catch the train or rushing back to the ship before it left port. The train has tracks that run down to each cruise ship dock, so whichever ship you came to town on, you board near that ship with other passengers from the same ship. It also has a station in town for people who either did not come on a cruise or book through their ship. Everyone gets off at the town station. That’s where all the shops are. Sort of how rides in theme parks always exit through the gift shop.

The town had a display of things from the train’s working era including a snow remover and a hand-pumped cart.

no matter how hard we pump this handle, the cart never moves

We had some time to look around town before we got on the train. We’d heard about tanzanite in the jewelry lectures, so we went to a jewelry store to look at some. The shops there had blue tanzanite stones. The ones in the Caribbean on the cruises I’ve been on since all have purple tanzanite. I could have had a very nice tanzanite and white gold bracelet for $500, the sort that is pretty much a solid line of stones without a whole lot of metal between them. Nice stones too, not just a shallow inlay. I could kick myself for not spending the $500 because the price has gone up and up since and a bracelet that is not nearly as nice costs at least three or four times that much now.

We had kept hearing throughout our cruise how great Alaskan sourdough bread is, but had not had the opportunity to try any. We found a little bakery down one of the side streets and bought a loaf. We didn’t have time to take it back to the ship before our train ride, and also are pretty much too cheap to buy lunch when we could have had it on the ship for free. It was beside the point that we were not on the ship at the time, nor did we have time to go there for lunch.

We ate our loaf of sourdough bread on the train. It made a good enough lunch for us and even Justin actually ate it. It was good bread, but we weren’t really sure what the difference was between that and any other sourdough bread.

diesel engines pull the train now

The trains are pulled by diesel engines now rather than the original steam engines, but the some of the passenger cars are restored originals. Others are replicas.

river seen from the train

Once they check the tickets and get all aboard, the train begins its journey up the mountain. There’s always something to see whether its great scenery, historic landmarks, or another part of the train going around a bend. Sometimes we saw other trains above or below us when the tracks zigzagged up the mountain. A guide on the train pointed out any important things as we chugged past them.

glacier seen from train

On the way up the mountain the train passed over a number of bridges and through many tunnels. We saw all sorts of wildflowers and even some glaciers. We rumbled past the huge old steel bridge spanning a long gap. Once an engineering marvel, it has now fallen into disrepair. As the train crossed the new bridge we wondered why the people of old didn’t just go the few hundred feet farther to the narrow in the gap where they could have built a much smaller bridge as their modern counterparts did.

At the end of the climb the train just crossed over the border into Canada. It stopped there awhile, but as this excursion did not require passports, and there is no customs in the middle of nowhere, we were not allowed to get off the train. Three trains had come up the mountain, each from a different cruise ship dock. There’s only one set of tracks so they had to wait until all three arrived before heading back down.

Early on Justin saw the thing that fascinated him most on this whole journey. While randomly looking out the window, we saw lying in a ditch next to the track a rusty old steam engine that had derailed many years before.

All the way back down Justin stood eagerly at the window, camera in hand, waiting for the derailed train. We tried reminding him we had seen that on the flat land before the train even started uphill, but nothing would deter him from his post. By the time we got there he nearly missed the shot. That was a disposable camera that used actual film rather than a digital camera so I’m not sure what happened to the picture.

Skagway, Akaska

Things to do in Skagway

The Skagway Chamber of Commerce lists a variety of activities for visitors to do on their website. Everything from jeep adventures, zip lines, bus tours, boat or fishing charters, to gold panning or helicopter rides.

Shore excursions in Skagway can be booked through the cruise ship, or through outside companies in town. There were also plenty of places that had signs on the sidewalk offering a variety of tours to book on the spot for people who got off the ship with no definite plans.

Cruise ship shore excursions offer plenty of choices. Train excursions include many options including hiking, biking, kayaking and gold mining. Or just ride the train. Other excursions offer dog sled adventures, zip lines, salmon bake, walking tour of the city, horseback riding, river or other water based adventures, glass blowing, rock climbing, riding 4×4’s, helicopter rides, fishing and more.

Posted in Alaska, Norwegian, Shore Excursions, Sun | Tagged Alaska, cruise, narrow gauge railway, photos, shore excursion, Skagway, train, travel, White Pass and Yukon Railroad | 11 Comments

Taking a Twilight Tour in Forks, Washington

Posted on August 18, 2012 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Twilight Tour Bus

Many of the cruise ships heading for Alaska each summer depart from Seattle. Passengers who have a bit of extra time to spend in the Seattle area before or after their cruise find numerous things to see. Seattle, of course, has its major icons like Pike Place Market and the Space Needle. It also has lesser-known delights like the Underground Tour or the Freemont troll.

Some folks venture out a bit farther to visit Mt. Rainer, the area’s largest mountain, or her more famous sister Mt. St. Helens, who blew her top in a 1980 volcanic eruption. What about the many Twilight fans though? There’s something extra special for them to see. You don’t even have to be a Twilight fan to enjoy a Twilight tour in Forks. Randy, our tour guide and bus driver, had lots of tidbits of information to share about the local area and the book that saved a town.

Forks High School sign

We booked an evening tour with Team Forks that included a hot dog roast on the beach. The tour met at a flower shop right across the street from Forks High School. The school itself has been rebuilt, but it still has the original sign. The flower shop has mostly been taken over by Twilight merchandise. Forks may be a small town, but there’s no shortage of places to buy all things Twilight.

City of Forks police car

We had a group of five, and were joined by two other people on our tour. Our friendly bus driver/tour guide Randy gave us all plenty of time for photos at the school sign before boarding the bus, and even brought out his cardboard cutouts of Bella and Edward to join in the posing. Sometimes they have actual live look-alikes for the movie characters, but none joined our tour.

Here it is….the Forks City Hall Sign

The bus stopped first at Forks City Hall, home of the police station where Bella’s dad Charlie (Chief Swan) works. We had plenty of opportunities for photos inside and out. When a real live Forks cop pulled into the parking lot he posed for photos with tourists as well. Just about everyone in Forks welcomes Twilight fans.

Randy said that before Twilight, Forks was a dying town. Mainly only fishing or hunting brought visitors in the pre-Twilight era. With the town’s main source of employment – logging – on the fritz many people had been laid off and the town itself had so little money it considered unincorporating because the town could not pay its bills.

B&B in Forks better known as Cullens' house

Miller Tree Inn B&B, AKA the Cullens’ house

Just a few hundred yards down the road from City Hall we found the Cullens’ house. Apparently the team Forks tour does not have a monopoly on cardboard cut-outs of the movie characters as Edward peered out of an upstairs window. People who really want to immerse themselves into the Twilight experience can stay at the Cullen’s house, as it is a Bed and Breakfast.

Edward looks out the upstairs window

In between stops Randy added more tidbits of information about either Forks or Twilight. He said the whole concept of the books started with Stephanie Myers having recurring dreams about a misty clouded shadowy place.

Forks Hospital, Dr. Cullen’s parking space

Next the bus stopped at the Forks Hospital where the head of the vampire family works. Randy mentioned a need to relocate Dr. Cullen’s parking space sign due to its original location causing tourists to interfere with the arrival of ambulances. With the looming possibility of an emergency occurring right when tourists have stopped to take photos, the ambulance gets precedence.

Bella’s injured, get Dr. Cullen quick!

Twilight author Stephanie Myers literally discovered the place of her dreams in an online search for the setting of her books. Not having actually been to Forks at the time, she based the character’s homes on actual places in “for sale” listings. Bella and Jacob’s houses on the tour are those very houses from the original descriptions. The house described in the book as the Cullen’s house was a ways out of town and later burned down. Needing a suitable replacement for the tours, they found one right in town that fit the description.

Bella Swan’s house in Forks WA

Following a short drive through the backstreets of Forks, we stopped at Bella’s house. This house remains a private residence, but they have placed a sign in the yard proclaiming it as the home of the Swans. While we were there a couple of Mormons out on their proselytizing duties walked by. They seemed amused by the Twilight bus, but did not object to having their picture taken even though they are not part of the story. Perhaps even vampires or vampires to be need a bit of religion in their lives.

Do Vampires Bite Mormons?

Stephanie did her research well, finding later when she actually did come to visit Forks that the descriptions in her books fit the actual places they intended to describe as well as if she had actually seen them.

Bella's trucks at the Forks Visitor's Center

Bella’s trucks, movie version and book version

Parked in front of the visitor’s center sit two old trucks. The oldest and reddest one looks like Bella’s truck as described in the book. The more oranger-looking and somewhat newer one is of the type used in the movie. Apparently they could not find one from the book that actually ran when filming the movies. The first movie was too low-budget to have a replica made. We had lots of time for posing with both trucks and the cardboard cut-outs. Jacob came out to join Bella at this stop.

Forks Chamber of Commerce / Visitor's Center

Bella’s truck, book version

Before the filming of the first Twilight movie, crews came to Forks to do the prep work for filming there. Then the state of Washington stepped in demanding a hefty tax. Unable to afford it at that time, the film crews moved to Vancouver B.C. and Oregon instead. After the first movie became so successful, the state wanted a piece of the action, but by then the movie makers had soured on Washington and did not care to make a deal.

Jacob and Edward at the treaty line

As we headed out of town, Randy gave options of which Twilight movie to play. I thought the how-it-was-made one sounded interesting, but got out-voted by everyone else who preferred watching the first movie. We stopped at the Treaty Line, which was a sign at the entrance to a campground. The campground also offered restrooms, a store, and a small cafe.

Forks has embraced everything Twilight. The success of the books and movies brought enough tourists to the area to revive Forks from a dying town to a thriving town, thus becoming the book that saved a town.

Jacob the werewolf's house from Twilight

Jacob Black’s house, La Push WA

Jacob Black’s house offers Twilight fans another opportunity to immerse themselves in the story. It operates as a vacation rental home, sleeping up to 10 people. The tour still stops there, with photo ops on a motorcycle as well as in front of the house.

Rialto beach at La Push

We stopped at a different beach than where the tour normally goes, as Jacob’s people, the Quileute tribe, had some sort of ceremony going on where the tour usually stops. We went to a sort of mystical beach with huge logs to climb over and a nearby flat-topped island with trees only in a ring around the edge while the center remains a sacred burial ground to the tribe. The surf crashed into shore with great force and a heavy undertow. A kind of mist surrounded the rocky stacks in the water.

Randy cooking hot dogs on Rialto Beach

Randy cooked the hot dogs while the rest of us explored and enjoyed the beach. We had our choice of beef or turkey hot dogs roasted over a fire and plenty of logs to sit on. A couple seagulls came begging and enjoyed the leftovers, one running off with an entire hot dog which it swallowed whole. It looked like enough to choke a seagull, but then again they probably eat whole fish that way too. It gulped it right down without any trouble.

Rialto Beach, La Push WA

On the way back we stopped at the “Welcome to Forks” sign for night photos when it is lit up.

Welcome to Forks sign at night

Forks has two different Twilight Tour operators. The original Twilight Tours in Forks, and Twilight Tours by Team Forks. We had nothing to go on but the websites, and went with Team Forks because it looked like more fun and had the tour including the hot dog roast on the beach. Our guide said both tours go to the same places, and will actually work together by sending guests that want to book when they are already full to each other. In his opinion, his tour is more fun and the other more informative. The cardboard cut-outs of the movie characters for picture posing are only on the Team Forks tour.

Some people prefer to tour the area on their own rather than taking an organized tour. The Forks Visitor Information Center provides maps of all of the Twilight destinations to assist with do-it-yourself Twilight Tours.

Forks sits just about 140 miles from Seattle, so many visitors get there by rental car. A day tour that includes transportation provides another option. Those who choose to drive themselves also have the option of spending the night in the Cullen’s house B&B or renting Jacob’s house. Forks has several motels as well.

GPS or mapquest will tell you it takes just over 3 hours drive time to get from Seattle to Forks, but that does not include the state ferry where you have to add waiting time and loading and unloading time as well as the time it takes for the actual crossing.

Another option is to bypass the ferry and drive around crossing on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge instead. It is a toll bridge, though the toll is less than the ferry fare. When the ferry lines and waiting times are long you can drive around before you would have even gotten on the ferry, but when it is not peak time the ferry makes a nicer and faster trip.

Lavender farms sell an assortment of lavender products

lavender in Sequim, WA

Things to see on the way to or from Forks include the lavender farms of Sequim, Hurricane Ridge near Port Angeles, and the historic town of Port Gamble.

Posted in Day Trips, Port City Side Trips, Washington | Tagged #TwilightTour, Bella's house, Cullens house, Forks WA, Jacob's house, photos, travel, Twilight, Twilight Tour, Twilight Tour in Forks | 15 Comments

Nothing to Eat at the Chocolate Buffet

Posted on August 11, 2012 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Norwegian Sun

We had good meals on the Norwegian Sun. On the one-week cruise I took with my son and grandson, they served lobster twice. The ship had all sorts of different eateries, but since a number of them cost extra we pretty much stuck with the dining room or the buffet. Chris did try the sushi and said it was well worth the nominal fee. Justin had either pizza or a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner every night. If anyone could starve on a cruise ship full of food, he could. So much to choose from, and the picky six-year-old wouldn’t try hardly anything. He insisted he didn’t like it without even giving it a chance.

One thing I did notice though, was that while we had a lot of tasty dessert choices each meal, none of them were ever chocolate. I wondered what was up with that until finally the daily events paper mentioned a late-night chocolate buffet. This we must attend, Chris and I agreed. Justin didn’t seem so thrilled about it, but really, what’s not to love about a whole room full of chocolate choices in every cake, cookie, pie, mousse, or pudding type imaginable. Even Justin could find something he liked there.

We waited in a bit of a line to get in, Justin grumbling about not wanting to go. Once through the door, they had three rows of tables piled high with chocolate goodies of every shape and variety. Another passenger said all three lines had the same things, so we grabbed plates and went down one of the ones on the side. As Chris and I filled our plates, we kept offering Justin things, while he said no to everything. Finally I just put some things like chocolate pudding on his plate that I know he likes, and a few things that looked like the sort of thing he would eat such as chocolate rice krispie cookies.

“There’s nothing to eat at the Chocolate Buffet.”

After we got to the end of the line and Justin still had said no to everything, we found out the tortes and fancy cakes were all in the middle line, just the outer two were the same. I figured I had more on my plate already than I could ever eat and decided to skip those no matter how good they looked (and they did look good.) Chris found a couple things to try there, and Justin still said no to everything. We figured once we sat down he’d at least eat the pudding.

We found an open table, which was not easy as the room had quite a crowd. Justin refused to eat anything, I suppose just to be stubborn since he said he didn’t want to go to the chocolate buffet in the first place. Then we noticed a table with a crewmember behind it, serving ice cream. We took Justin there to see what they had. Surprisingly enough, since this was after all a chocolate buffet, they had strawberry or vanilla. No chocolate ice cream at all, although they did have things like m&m’s or chocolate sprinkles people could put on top.

Justin settled for a bowl of strawberry ice cream, and did actually eat that. I can’t imagine anyone else going to a chocolate buffet and eating nothing but strawberry ice cream. Justin is one of a kind. (I do realize there are people who can’t eat chocolate, but what are the odds they would actually go to a chocolate buffet?)

Posted in Cruise Food, Norwegian, Shipboard Life, Sun | Tagged cartoon, chocolate buffet, cruise, dessert, food, picky eater | 6 Comments

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Taking a Twilight Tour in Forks, Washington

Nothing to Eat at the Chocolate Buffet

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