This Alaska cruise was the perfect venue for a family reunion

By James Walsh The Minnesota Star Tribune Restless I wheeled up to the coffee shop and bar on the th deck at the bow of the Westerdam Through massive slanted windows a dense midmorning fog obscured everything as if the ship were crawling in the center of a heavy low cloud All around me people filled the comfy armchairs reading chatting sipping beverages Then the fog cleared and ahead smooth unbroken sea Until there feet off the bow was the unmistakable long back of a whale the first I d seen after days at sea As it slowly dipped beneath the surface its distinctive tail rose from the water as if to wave goodbye It was not my intent to take a second cruise so soon after my first a journey last year to Norway and the Arctic But the idea was spawned by my wife Heidi s countless cousins as an easy way to convene a condensed family reunion now that the majority of their parents including five Slen siblings from Madison Minnesota were gone Heidi s -year-old father is the only Slen kid remaining and he stayed home in Fargo Thirteen of us from across the country cousins and spouses gathered aboard Holland America s Westerdam for a weeklong cruise from Seattle to southeast Alaska and back It proved a perfect bus to get to know each other even better Our gatherings were small enough for deep conversations over dinner yet big enough for group sessions ranging from trivia games to comedy shows to dance performances And the trip was breathtaking enough from hypnotic open seas to a coastline comprising majestic peaks of granite and pine to plant seeds for returning And to think the wheels very nearly came off for us at least Until James Mounts The guy who saved our vacation Mounts to the rescue We d been at sea for a couple of days when our ship docked at Juneau Alaska s compact capital It was here that Heidi and I took our only guided shore excursion and the only wheelchair-accessible one not yet sold out a tour of an old gold mine After a small van with a wheelchair lift took us back to the harbor area Heidi and I intended to look around before our dinner reservations on board Then on the boardwalk a woman stopped us Did you know your tire is flat she demanded Sure enough my wheelchair s left rear tire was deflated The culprit a nail its head sticking out of the tread Heidi headed back to the ship to fetch our small air pump while I waited I called out to a passing pedal-cab driver to ask if there was a bike shop nearby There was stated Rob from Alaska Pedicab and he gave me the number But there was no answer James Mounts stopped to help Related Articles TSA bans chosen hairstyling tools from suitcases Which ones and why How to really relax in St Lucia Align with the island s time Red Rocks pro tips When to go where to park and how to leave hurriedly The enchantment of Santa Fe NM stands the test of time Enjoy epic adventures in Colorado s quadrant of the Four Corners I saw you and I reported myself if you were still here when I circled back I d see if you needed help he reported I did Mounts announced he used to work at the bike shop Now he s a harbor technician with Docks Harbors for the City and Borough of Juneau Helping is their job He called another nearby shop and within minutes arranged for a worker to pick up my chair and take it to the shop for repairs Heidi accompanied the repair tech Mounts stayed with me Less than an hour later my chair was back with the tire good as new We were saved from pushing a manual chair for the rest of the week We d even be on time for dinner You re a great ambassador for Juneau I reported Mounts We try he revealed The ship Since this was only our second cruise comparisons to our first were inevitable At feet the Westerdam is twice as long as Hurtigruten s M S Trollfjord which we took along the Norwegian coast last year It carries about three times as countless passengers around It had more elevators and more accessible bathrooms And it had multiple more onboard amenities and exercises More restaurants more bars a bigger fitness room and a larger auditorium with nightly entertainment dances comedy shows and concerts The Westerdam had two swimming pools compared with none on the Trollfjord Even a casino Alaska s coastline even resembles Norway s We preferred the Trollfjord and its more modest size It was more intimate allowing us to get to know more of the crew and our fellow passengers And the food locally produced in the regions of Norway we visited was better on the Trollfjord Still the Alaska cruise was a ton of fun And as a venue to reconnect with beloved family members we only get to see every couple of years the Westerdam was just about perfect Especially for a guy in a wheelchair Sitka and Ketchikan and a glacier With so much to do aboard the ship it could have been easy to forget we were there to see Alaska But a day after we left Juneau Alaska insisted that we look As the ship s engines slowed camera-wielding passengers crowded the railings of the aft deck to gawk at the ethereal blue-white river of ice that was the Dawes Glacier Can more than people fall silent in unison It sure seemed that way as ice fell into eerie green sea Not a peep Just reverence The next day we disembarked in Sitka once the seat of the Russian authorities before Alaska was sold to the United States in A shuttle took us into this compact and historic town where we stepped inside St Michael s Russian Orthodox Cathedral and later visited Totem Square and the Sheet ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi Tribal Public House The next day offered several hours in Ketchikan where once we passed the souvenir shops and tourist-trolling restaurants we followed signs to the historic Married Man s Trail the town s former red light district There looking down at the rushing waters of Ketchikan Creek we spied salmon muscling their way upriver to spawn Like the fish I could see myself someday returning The Minnesota Star Tribune Visit at startribune com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC