First Sight of the Coral Princess

The next morning, September 10 we boarded a train near the Denali Princess Lodge for the trip to Whittier, where we would meet our ship, the Coral Princess. It is amazing that we had already done so much, and had not even yet officially begun our cruise. As we traveled South, our guide, Matt, gave a wonderful narrative of the natural history of Alaska. Mount McKinley (I prefer to call it Denali) remained clear, and Glenda and I both got some excellent photo shots. As we turned southeast of Anchorage, we saw the site of the town of Portage, which was destroyed in the earthquake of 1964. Only the roof of one building remained. Looking south across Turnagain Arm, I was impressed with one mountain, which, when viewed from the northwest looking southeast, resembles a truncated pyramid. It kept my attention for several minutes. There in the water we made our first significant sighting of aquatic mammals, a pod of belugas. A trip through the one-lane tunnel soon gave us our first view of our ship, the Coral Princess waiting for us in Whittier.Read more