Day Six

(Yeah, this is late. Fridays are tough.)

This was the first day that we set the wake up call. We'd heard that a prime whale spotting place would pass by around 545a. We almost ran up to the balcony but no luck. At least not with whales, lots of luck in watching beautiful scenery roll past.
This day we sailed up the Endicott Arm, a beautiful fjord. You can see how close the valley walls were on each side. This type of destination is what makes an Alaskan cruise special. You can just get so close to natural beauty. The only tropical destinations that really compare are the Panama canal, Napali coast in Hawaii and the Great Barrier Reef. At the end of the arm, we got about a mile away from the glacier. All the while sailing up here we passed incredibly blue chunks of ice that had already fallen off and were floating away.
Then the ship pivoted and sailed back out. As soon as we cleared the arm, the clouds rolled in and the weather took a turn. We went up the Viking lounge to try and get a clear view for whales. The place was pretty full but we found a place on the port side and began to search. Some vibration from the ship was interacting with a light somewhere and it gave off a rhythmic tone. It felt like the soundtrack had become tense, as if something was going to happen soon.
The tension was amazing. It felt like a call of 'whale!' would shift everyone on the boat and capsize us. This was the other time I saw one. It spouted and flipped a tail and then was gone. The call went up and people rushed over and that was it.
Mom offered to watch Relia for awhile and we took advantage of it. I'd been wanting to hot tub out on the deck while watching Alaska sail past us. We changed and went on up. The temp was just above 50 and it the rain was spitting. The wind was somewhere around 25 knots (for conversion to mph, add 32 and divide by 1.8). Yeah, not so pleasant. Actually, it wasn't that bad if you could get down in there past your shoulders.
After about twenty minutes we gave up and went into the solarium. This is a glassed in area with a pool and two hot tubs. They fill the pool with seawater so they can drain and refill it more easily. It wasn't cold. It was very active. The ship had a very definite forward/backward motion and you could see the wave setting up in the pool. Quite cool.
That night we hit some very active water, someone said it was the worst the ship had encountered all season. I think the number I heard was 15-18 foot waves. Anytime you could see a long distance, down the hall or in a big room, you could see it move way up and then way back down. There was plenty of motion sickness. I put the FP Gal to bed early. I didn't get sick but I did feel almost drunk. You'd walk and have to pause every few seconds. Then you lurch to one side until gravity returns to normal. Everyone did this and it was kind of amusing to watch.
This was the second night for karoke so I did that again. I'd met up with Heidi and Chad and we all met the bulk of our group coming out of the main dining room. Most of them joined us for the singing. This time I made certain to delay putting my song in so I'd be closer to the back. I was trying to choose between 'Sea of Love' and 'Walk Away Renee'. The later is one of my favorite songs to sing but I thought the former would be an easier sell. This time I was chosen as a finalist.