Friday August 10

Sent a day late as I just got the internet hooked up!!

Well today is definitely travel day!! First we are boarding the train that will take us down to the ship in Seward- pronounce Suwerd. We pack up our luggage and head down to check out of the Sheraton and take a cab to the Marriott where we will check in for the train.

We end up waiting a couple of hours before we can get the bus out but we have lots of people who come and sit and chat. One couple was from Manitoba - retired teachers.

The trip to the airport was maybe 15 minutes and we jump on this awesome train which is mostly windows!! We all have designated seating and Kelly and I are on car 5, table 6, seats A and B. A couple from Tucson Arizona joined us.

The train stewardess? Was a 4 1/2' spitfire named Winny. She was full of fun and lots of information. We purchased beer and lunch and settled in for the 5 hour journey. Along the way we saw mountain glaciers, glacier streams and rivers, an eagle in her nest, absolute beautiful scenery and not one wild animal!! Oh well that's why we purchased excursions J

We went through lots of tunnels, alongside many mountains and across a few bridges.

The journey ended at the pier where our ship the Radiance of the Seas was waiting for us. I never realized how large these ships are now!!

We had to go through processing - getting our ship passes, verifying our identities against the passports, etc. Finally we go through the security screening and head for the gang plank.

We have our photo taken which ends up matching our ship pass and then we get a photo done that we can later purchase.

Finally we find our way to the 9th deck and room 9528 which is to be our home for the next 7 days. We drop our carry on and then a couple of suitcases arrive. Paulu our cabin attendant is cute and very nice of course. Kelly and I spend the next couple of hours exploring and searching for place for a drink and a place to eat. Finally we head back to our stateroom where I find my suitcase has finally arrived and YES!!...they did not detect my "Rumrunner Flask" My raspberry Smirnoff was safely brought on board!!

We headed down later to the bar on the 4th deck and meet Lucy the bar keep and a couple of the other fellas who are too cute. One of them called Kelly "Stella" because that is what she had been ordering…lol. Now they call her Not Stella J

Tomorrow is a full day sailing to the Hubbard Glacier. Promises to be quite the site!!