We never actually pulled up to a port yesterday. Hubbard glacier was to be admired from afar – and admired, it was. I’ll cover the experience in tonight’s Lockergnome report – an afternoon that will be forever etched in memory. I never thought something in nature could be so… naturally amazing. I spend my life looking for artificial creations and virtual pleasures, so this formation of snow and ice was a breath of fresh air (literally). I enjoyed watching it for well over three hours – without once thinking of the time, without once feeling bored or restless. I will return one day, mark my words.

Ponzi and I played casual all the way through the evening, though we did miss another opportunity for group trivia and bingo. I’ve got a few more cruise tips to add to my list, and I think Ponzi’s got a few of her own. Holland America still strikes me as one of the better cruise companies around – in Alaska or otherwise. Being able to connect to the Internet in the middle of the day is nice, too – thanks, Pluggd!

• Alaska Cruise Tips
• Do you know Juneau?
• What can You do in Alaska?
• Alaska Vacation Help
• Alaska Photos
• Victoria, Victoria
• Catch Me, Ketchikan
• Sitting in Sitka
• Blocking Skype
• The Alaskan Adventure Continues

You aggitatin’ my dots? Turns out, Holland America is blocking Skype – wholesale. I went to download the VoIP client, only to be met with a message (on Skype.com) saying that it was blocked. I can only assume they’re blocking Skype traffic, too – considering they charge (no joke) over $7 per minute for voice calls from your room phone. It ain’t cheap to communicate on a cruise ship. I’ve got Google Talk installed, so I might try dialing through that in a few minutes – assuming they’re not going to cut in on the call. So much for recording a conversation with Pluggd from sea.

• TeamSpeak vs Ventrilo vs Mumble Audio for Gamers
• Skype on the iPhone / iPod Touch
• How to FAX over VOIP on the Internet
• VoIP Tips Skype, Phones, Gizmo, and Ventrilo
• What is Ventrilo?
• Are You a Skype Supernode?
• Skype Audio Problems on the MacBook Pro
• Skype and VOIP Thoughts
• Top 10 Skype Problems for OS X
• Skype on Windows Vista

Today marks the first day we’ll be stepping off the ship. We’re in Juneau, Alaska – ready to embark on our first dogsledding adventure! I hope to have a few good photos from that excursion. We haven’t quite yet docked for the day, though the views outside our stateroom window have been absolutely amazing. It’s been like watching a long, scrolling postcard from the time we woke up a few hours ago until now. It’s true what they say – the landscape is pretty amazing. The weather is pretty temperate right now, too – haven’t seen a single iceberg float by. I’m a little disappointed that we won’t be touching the Arctic Ocean before turning around and heading back south. It would’ve been “cool” to say that I had been there.

I guess Alaska loves tourists – given the amount of primping and priming the cruise shopping director is giving us through the ship’s closed-network video channel. Ponzi can’t wait to hit the shops, if only to find a totem pole “face” that we can hang on our wall at home. She’s also looking forward to finding a few tanzanite pieces. I think I’m spelling that correctly? I guess it’s a gem that’s native to the area. Maybe I can convince her to go panning for gold at some point during this trip? I did it once in Colorado when I was a kid, turning up a gold flake or two (planted for the kiddies, no doubt).

Thanks again to Pluggd for giving us the opportunity to get online during this cruise on Holland America’s Oosterdam!

• Catch Me, Ketchikan
• The Alaskan Adventure Continues
• Pluggd Keeps Us Plugged In
• What can You do in Alaska?
• Alaska Vacation Help
• Alaska Photos
• Victoria, Victoria
• Sitting in Sitka
• Hubbard Glacier
• Alaska Cruise Tips

As I mentioned a few days ago, Ponzi and I are taking an Alaskan cruise next week. Normally, this would mean we’d be cut off from civilization – but our Holland America liner is Internet-enabled! That’s the good news: a cruise with connectivity. The bad news? It’s rather expensive. I received Internet package rates from our travel agent today, and if I calculated the numbers properly – I’m going to be incommunicado unless I can find a sponsor.

For $1k, I’ll give you a week’s worth of coverage in my blog (here). I’ll be uploading experiences and photos every single day – with YOUR link appended to the end of every single entry (which also includes the week’s impending Lockergnome reports). “Our Cruise Internet connectivity is sponsored by YOUR COMPANY.” Hey, I really want to get online out there – and I’d be crazy if I didn’t at least extend this sponsorship opportunity to everybody. $1k for a week’s worth of links that’ll live on forever.

It’s all about the Alaskan Cruise next week!

• Hubbard Glacier
• Blocking Skype
• Do you know Juneau?