I have always dreamed of taking an Alaskan cruise, and decided to give myself one as a present for my 65th birthday. I decided to go on the Empress of the North, which is a relatively small paddlewheel ship I had seen coming in and out of Friday Harbor. On the second day of a seven-day cruise, the ship hit a rock in the middle of the night, waking everyone up. We were told to get dressed, get our life preservers, and go to our muster stations. The ship was taking on water (although not sinking), and the captain decided it would be best to evacuate all of us. So we were loaded onto a group of smaller boats that had answered the "mayday" call, and waited for a large Alaskan state ferry (which was large enough to accommodate all 250+ of us) to come get us. During the four-hour wait for the ferry, I was initially in a small fishing boat, then in a tugboat, then in a Coast Guard cutter. Once the ferry arrived on the scene, we were all transferred there and then made our way back to Juneau. The cruise line arranged to fly all of us back to Seattle that afternoon and evening. By the time I got to my hotel room at Seatac, I had been awake a full 24 hours!

All the people I met along the way were just wonderful to us, from the cruise ship crew to the fishermen, to the tugboat captain, to the Coast Guard, to the passengers and crew on the Alaskan ferry, to the Red Cross workers who met us in Juneau. The cruise line gave each of us $100 in cash when we arrived in Juneau (many of the passengers -- including me -- had left our money and credit cards in our staterooms when we evacuated), and has promised us a full refund of what we paid for the cruise, plus another free cruise.

Everyone has been asking me if I was scared, and basically the answer is no. I felt a bit uneasy only twice, first when we were told to get dressed and get our life preservers, and then again when the captain told us we were taking on water (even though he calmly assured us that the ship wasn't sinking and everyone would be o.k.). I always felt safe and cared about. The whole thing was an incredible experience, and I was fascinated as I watched the rescue efforts unfold. My primary regret was that I had left my camera in my stateroom, and missed all the amazing photo ops! It was really disappointing that the cruise ended after such a short time. We were all really having fun and were looking forward to being in Glacier Bay the next morning, a place everyone said was going to be the highlight of our entire trip. Alaska is just awesome. I can't wait to go back.

Lori Stokes