I've never been on a cruise

I get seasick.

I’ve gotten seasick on a sailboat in Lake Murray. I’ve gotten seasick on a sailboat in Charleston Harbor. I’ve gotten seasick on a fishing boat off of Murrell’s Inlet.

I used to be ashamed of motion sickness until I learned that all of the astronauts get airsick.

Still I don’t think I ready for a cruise.

Anne, quite wisely, suggested that a ferry from Alaska to Washington might be a good way to rest up for the ride home. That was after I had rejected suggestions to sell the bike in Alaska and fly home.

Anne said the ferry ride would be fun, and she would fly to Alaska to join me. How lucky can one guy get? I tell everyone that I had to marry Anne because she was the only woman I knew who would go to Hawaii on her honeymoon and sleep in a tent on the side of a volcano.

Three days and three nights on a ferry sounded like it might be too confining, but I was game.

Three days and three nights on a ferry might not have been enough time.

The original plan was for me to board the MV Malaspina at Haines to be joined by Anne several hours later at Juneau.

My initial plan had been to sail from Skagway, but concern over being able to make it to Skagway in time to board the ferry caused me to change the departure to Haines. As a consequence of the change I wasn’t able to retain the outside two-bunk stateroom that I had reserved.

In Haines I stayed at a very scenic campground about a mile from the ferry terminal and had fish and chips, the signature dish, in the world famous Bamboo Room. The Bamboo Room got its name when the proprietor hung a bamboo curtain between the dining room and the bar portions of a building that had been a saloon, pool hall and bordello in its very recent past before Alaska went straight.

When I got to the ferry terminal the computers were down. I identified. Told to come back in 30 minutes I rode to town to get some flowers for Anne and a cup of coffee. The flowers were no problem bungeed to the back of the bike, but since the lid on the coffee cup had a hole in it, I was a sight riding one-handed with a thumb plugging the hole in the cup.

When the ferry docked from Skagway I got a most pleasant surprise. Anne came down the ramp. Being a veteran of overnight train travel in Europe to avoid a hotel room, Anne took the Malaspina from Anchorage to Skagway and then to Haines. She didn’t have to have a hotel room and she got to surprise me.

The ferry is named after an Alaskan glacier that is bigger than the state of Rhode Island. While it is the oldest in the Alaska Marine Highway fleet it has been refurbished several times and was clean and attractive.

The boat carries passengers and vehicles. The vehicles ranged from tractor-trailer rigs to motorhomes and bicycles. Two motorcycles completed the manifest.

In addition to her surprise appearance, Anne had changed the accommodations so that we had a four-person outside stateroom. We had a window.

We probably could have rented out the extra bunks to the people sleeping on the upper deck once the wind picked up and the rain started.

There was a cafeteria. There was a movie theater. There was an observation deck complete with Andrea, a U.S. Forest Service ranger, who gave talks on the flora and fauna of the Tsongas National Park through which we sailed for most of the trip.

The food was good. The crew was excellent and friendly. The bar mixed a spicy Bloody Mary. Several in fact. Hey, I wasn’t riding the bike.

We read books. We napped. We went to Andrea’s talks. We talked. And in between we napped some more.

At the cocktail hour on the first night Anne pulled out a miniature Martini shaker, Bombay Sapphire gin, olives and some Vermouth. Perfect.

We looked out our window at the passing scenery, and for whales. We saw five Orca as we pulled into the Ketchikan harbor. Andrea said there are thought to be only 85 Orca in Alaskan waters, and while not rare, a sighting is special. We agreed.

Cruise ships regularly travel the Inside Passage from Seattle or Vancouver to Alaska. When they land the passengers fill the town. When several dock at one time you find yourself in a crowd.

A cabby in Ketchikan told us that the cruise ships pass out lists of shops that are recommended in each port. The locals aren’t happy about the lists because the shops on the lists are owned by the cruise lines.

The ferry, on the other hand, is owned by the people of Alaska. It travels at a slower pace with fewer people on board. You get to see the same waters, the same mountains and the same whales. If you want to you can sleep in your own tent on the top deck or in your sleeping bag in one of the lounges.

I’ve never been on a cruise, but the ferry suited me just fine.