Monday, our first full day on our Alaskan cruise, we were awakened at 6:00 by announcements over the loudspeaker that we were in College Fjord and it’s lovely so everyone go outside in the cold and look at it damn it. I put it off as long as possible then dragged my sorry body (groggy from too many days with no exercise save carrying heavy luggage, who brought all those books anyway?) up to the window, because we have a window, and looked outside at the glaciers. They were big and interesting and I could see them from my window and didn’t feel in the least compelled to dress or otherwise move from the bed and stand outside in the cold to see more ice. I knew it was cold because of the ice chips floating in the gray colored sea. Andrew and I worked out at the crowded gym – Oh that felt so much better! I’m not good at just sitting around on bus tours. The hair dryers on the ship look like vacuum hoses and carry 18 watts of pure styling power so we’ve given up on hair. I dressed up and dressed up the boys on Monday night for the first formal night and captain’s cocktail party. Now when I think of cocktail party, I think standing up and wandering around and if you’re very fortunate, and it’s my party and I’m in a good mood, I will generously place tables around the perimeter of the room so people can briefly set down their wine glasses and write another check to Untied Way. Here, however. We took a photo with the captain who was being a good sport (mom says he’s the nicest captain she’s sailed with, and she should know) and then we all, yes, sat down again. A few canapés were offered, drinks were ordered and we were introduced to the crew and welcomed aboard, that kind of thing. The boys looked wonderful in their jackets and slacks. Mom even cried when she saw how grown up Michael looked. Thomas looked elegant except for the toothpick in his mouth, which is his new chewing toy if he can’t find gum. The food on the cruise is good, not gourmet which is what we can find anywhere and which we had two dinners of in Portland. What I like best is seafood on a virtually unlimited basis for breakfast and lunch and there is always seafood on the menu at dinner. The dinners are controlled rather than a huge massive free for all, which actually suits us just fine. Portions are tiny so we can order the appetizer (I’ve ordered mussels and four big shrimp, salmon) Soup (French onion, salmon) salad (salmon) and the entrée (salmon), then dessert (not salmon, please, I crave a little variety). But it’s about seven to eight forkfuls of salad, a tiny cup of soup and a small bit of entrée, so we’re not about to stuff ourselves and that’s good. Now for breakfast and lunch we can eat ourselves into a coma if we so choose and at the full breakfast on Tues I ate French toast, a plateful of smoked salmon and just to balance the deal, bran cereal.