Happy Trails For Us: My Reluctant Blog

There are several train rides up into the mountain range; one to the Yukon itself, but when I booked these excursions, that one was full, but luckily for David, a steam train fan, there was room on the steam train, which took us up steeply some 3,000 feet, through the wooded terrain of this glaciated valley, which included a few tunnels and a few narrow tressles, up into a bleaker landscape into British Columbia. At the top we had a champagne toast; on the way back we saw a black bear, my first sighting of same in Alaska. David has the picture; again, when we get home, I am going to share some of his photos.

David's train ride:

Old suspension bridge, which we did NOT take:

VIew of ship from the train:

We were back on the Mariner in time for the 5 o’clock sailing to today’s port, Sitka. While we might have sat in the Observation Deck for hours watching the progress through the picture windows, especially given the longest day of the year viewing opportunity, we actually had reservations for one of the two specialty restaurants on the ship, Signatures, a Cordon Bleu French restaurant.

A note about the food on the Regent Mariner; it has been wonderful, almost a little too wonderful. There is a main dining room called the Compass Rose, the most formal of the venues, as well as a more casual room called La Verandah, at the back of the ship, which also has outdoor seating – this one has a buffet three times a day. In addition, lunch is served on the pool deck, one can grab a continental breakfast all day in the library, there is 24 hours room service and the two specialty restaurants, the above mentioned Signatures and a steak house called Prime 7. Like the excursions, we were able to make reservations for these two restaurants online before sailing – passengers are guaranteed one slot per restaurant per voyage – each room seats 100 – there are waiting lists for second reservations. Tonight we have reservations at Prime 7 – I have eaten no red meat on this trip, the seafood has been wonderful, but I think I will have to fall of the cart this evening.

This is an all inclusive ship, so there are no additional charges for the specialty restaurants, as there are no charges for bar service, for wine at meals, for room service, etc. It has been one of the things most appealing for us with this ship line. Yes, you can charge a reserve bottle of wine from their appealing list, but honestly, what they offer each day as part of the package has been more than drinkable, it has been fine – we have had a range of wines from all regions, including New Zealand and Australia, France & Italy, California, etc. I feel like we have been on a daily wine tasting and tour of the world.

I digress from our meal at Signatures which was perhaps one of the finer French meals I have had, from the perfectly grilled scallops to start, straight through to the warm chocolate and raspberry tart. For main courses we had breast of duck and grilled halibut. The halibut was unusually paired with a red wine reduction sauce; David asked our waiter if the chef would share his recipe and I was surprised when he returned to say it would be delivered to our suite in the next day or so. The service is amazing aboard this ship.

I see that we approach Sitka, time to dress for our early morning Sea Otter and Wildlife tour, actually our last excursion of the cruise.