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The 2010 Night Rustic Reunion – Cruise to by Don
‘Over’ Mercer, Rustic 41
Seven Night Rustics and their wives joined together in Jeff and Michele Boston drove across the state from The spread of food, coupled with excellent company, was
5-star by my standards and included smoked salmon that Goose had caught and
prepared himself. Accompanied by
several We departed the party at just past 10 PM and headed
back to The next morning, folks headed out on their own prior
to boarding the ship between 11 AM and 2 PM for a 4 PM departure. I ran into Mike and Lynn Davenport while
browsing in the Pike Place Market.
More than a few of us got to see the vendors throw the fish that were
being bought that morning, a spectacle for which the Market is known. Some made it to the original Starbucks,
while others went out for breakfast. Then it was time to head for the ship. Zeke assisted a number of couples by using
the van to haul luggage and take passengers to the cruise terminal. Boarding the ship was a seamless exercise with cabins
ready for occupancy by 1 PM. While
some congregated in the open air on Decks 8 and 9, we cast off just a few
minutes past 4 PM. A number of us, including Jim and June Hetherington and
Merle and Margaret Shields, joined others for the first round of drinks. Jack
and Judy Strickland, Dave and Linda Hull, and Dave and Sue Dekoker were also
there and raised glasses with the rest of us. In addition to Jim and June, and Merle and Margaret, John and
Vicky Litton flew in on Friday to board ship. Compliments of It’s difficult to say that anything is routine about a
cruise to By Saturday morning, we were out in the Pacific for a
day at sea en route to By the next morning, we had entered the Gastineau
Channel on our way to dock in The array of excursions at each of our planned stops
was substantial. In addition to a
number of wildlife encounters with bears, eagles, seals, sea lions, otters,
and more, there were opportunities to take helicopter rides to the glaciers,
fly in floatplanes, fish, and take a number of sightseeing tours of the city
and towns, along with adjacent surroundings. Later that afternoon, my crew took the Then
it was back to the ship for an 8:30 PM castoff. Some in our group got together from time to time or ran into
each other at one of the several bars, restaurants, pools, fitness center,
shops on board, and the casino. The
next day continued with our arriving at the Hubbard Glacier around noon after
having taken aboard a National Park Service Ranger, together with a Native
American from the region. A number of
most informative details surrounding the glacier, as well as native tales,
were delivered over the public address system on board. Pea soup was served on the open decks and
in the Crow’s Nest, as all aboard took in the spectacular scenery. As
we approached the glacier, muffled sounds could be heard intermittently, as
calving took place, with large pieces of dark blue glacial ice breaking off. Some of the rather large chunks of ice fell
from close to three hundred feet up on the glacier’s lip, and they created
sizable splashes once hitting the water.
I
had been prepared to view the exceptional scenery, but I figured that
watching ice move might fall into a similar category as watching paint dry or
grass grow. I could not have been
more wrong, as the calving was just another example of God’s majesty. The setting could not have been more
inspiring, as we viewed large chunks of ice plunge seaward, coupled with
distant roars in the background. In
the late afternoon, the ms Zaandam put the Hubbard Glacier at its stern, as
we turned west to depart first I
was out on deck by 6 AM the next morning to see a 200 to 300 foot overcast
cloud layer extend all the way to the end of Sitka Sound, as we approached
the town. The mountaintops were
completely shrouded in cloud cover.
However, as we approached the spot at which we were to anchor, the sun
began to poke through small openings, and patches of blue sky could be seen. Dave
and Linda Hull were off to kayak and hopefully see some of Following
a delicious breakfast on board, four in my party headed into town after we
got tickets to take the ship’s tender to the docks. While we walked around After
a delicious lunch in town, we boarded a small fishing boat and headed out
eight miles into the Sound to try to snag some salmon. By noon, the clouds had moved off for the
most part; and clear skies were the order of the day. All that was left were some small white
puffies and a bloom of cloud that hugged the Fortunately,
our captain got us on some salmon.
Each of us caught one with the total being two pinks and two
silvers. Earlier this week, we began
to eat some of the catch that I had shipped.
The fish are outstanding. After
taking the tender back to our ship, most all in our Night Rustic group headed
to dinner. Another evening passed
with a delicious meal followed by a number of various activities: the casino;
walking on the open decks; visiting one of several bars for a nightcap;
taking in the nightly show; or attending a movie presentation. On
Wednesday, we awoke in That
night, we all gathered in The Atrium to have Mo, the manager of the ship’s
photo shop, take a few pictures of the eight men as a group, and then all us
with our wives. The photos turned out
exceptionally well. Then
it was off to dinner for six couples and another delicious meal, as two
couples had already eaten. As we
entered the On
Thursday, our last full day aboard ship, we sailed toward The
only problem which arose turned out to be that a couple of us forgot to turn
our watches back an hour. What fun it
is showing up for a 9 AM breakfast at 9:35.
However, the wait staff made allowances for the tardy one. John Litton’s discussion was most
interesting, as he detailed each of the three engine failures he experienced
in combat, one of which took him to a landing at Once
we docked in Numerous
shops remained open until 9 PM, which allowed for some last minute
shopping. All had to be back on board
by 11:30 PM for our final leg that night to With
the need to have all our bags, which we were not hand carrying off the ship
the next morning, outside our cabins by 1 AM, most of us returned to our
cabins for that last minute closing of suitcases and garment bags. For some of us, that time back aboard ship
also included a final trip to one of the ship’s numerous bars. Dave
and Linda Hull took the unusual approach of shipping some bags and purchases
home. They arrived outside The
next morning, we docked in All
in all, the 2010 Night Rustic Reunion was a grand time. Drake and Suzie Greene set the
enthusiastic tone for our entire week together with their Bon Voyage Party. General Cruise Details
Itinerary
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