John’s Test Drive reports for our next Alaska Film Festival Cruise

John with conductor on the White Pass Railroad.

With 110 shore excursions to pick from in four different ports on our next cruise, I was in a bit of a panic trying to choose the best one for our group to experience as a group.  On each cruise we try to organize at least one shore-based group activity for our Pride of the Ocean Passengers to do while we are in port. (We deliberately plan the film festival not to interfere with the any shore excursions so don’t worry that you’ll miss one of the great films we’ll be showing.  You won’t.) I tried a few different excursions in different ports and they are all pretty much amazing.  There are a few silly ones, of course,  like watching lumberjacks jumping from log to log in a river.  It’s kind of hot—if you go for that sort of thing.  But Alaska is really about the wild, natural scenery and as much as I like looking at lumberjacks, the Alaskan mountains seemed to beckon to me.  As film lovers, we appreciate a good shot and good shots you will get from our very own railroad car. Pride of the Ocean has chartered an entire train car for our group on the White Pass Railway. What a trip this is going to be. The train actually comes to the ship at our stop in Skagway where it’s all aboard.  Then it climbs to almost 3,000 feet  to the summit of White Pass in just 20 miles. The dizzying grades reach 3.9% at times.  I took about a million pictures because everywhere I looked was one of those Kodak moments.  The railroad was built through White Pass in 1898 for the Gold Rush.  But thank goodness they saved it just for us.

And the railroad car we will rent seems to be as old as the hills but quite comfortable… with a pot belly stove and cushioned seats. You are going to love this, believe me.

So  for those coming with us on the Norwegian Pearl to Alaska for our fourth cruise, please join us on this scenic extravaganza.  Hey, when we say a film festival that caters to ALL your senses, we really mean it!
Below are a few of shots from the train. (They let you stand between cars so you can get some of these). Scary but worth the effort.  I felt like I was doing a National Geographic shoot.  Mr. Butch Camera man, moi, was leaning over the edge to get that perfect shot while some cute guy kept me from falling off the side of the mountain. But, that’s another story I’ll save for another time—perhaps in the Bliss Lounge on the ship after you buy me drink.