Happy 4th of July! Yesterday afternoon we boarded the Alaska Marine Highway System M/V Malaspina and got underway at 5:00 PM Alaska time. We saw a display area on one of the bulkheads explaining the ship, which was built in 1962. There was a menu there listing Alaskan King Crab for $3.75, steak meal for $5.00, alcoholic drinks ranging from 75 cents to $1.25. We were so excited and just couldn’t believe it. It took us a while to realize that menu was from 1962. Oh well, reality hit us when we finally got to the cafeteria and found a hamburger was $7.25, fish and ships $8.00, etc.
The M/V Malaspina is 408 feet long, 74 feet wide and has a draft of 15 feet. She has two 4061 HP turbo charged diesels and burns 320 gallons per hour. She also has three 800 HP Caterpillar generators that burn 42 gallons per hour. Her passenger capacity is 701, has 86 staterooms and can carry 120 vehicles.
Passengers with pets must leave them in their vehicles. They do allow you to go down to the car deck four times a day: 8:30 AM, 2:30 PM and 8:30 PM which are announced. Then at 12:30 AM they allow us to go down, but that one is unannounced. The dogs all think is it party time for them!
Early this morning (around 3:15 AM) we were awakened by the fog horn. It blows for 5 seconds every 2 minutes. And is it loud!. It lasted until about 7:00 AM this morning. Fortunately we got a chance to get a nap during the day.
It’s been a very very cloudy day with some showers. The high temperature was 55 degrees. I didn’t know they had a thermometer on board until this afternoon, so didn’t get a low temp.
Pictures: Click here
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
wow! this is quite an adventure. i can't wait to hear how the rest of your boat ride goes. keep us posted. no luck with finding out the sex of the baby today. it had it's legs locked. i was so diappointed! i think it's a lesson in flexibility for me. enjoy your trip. miss you & love you.
ReplyDelete