Our May 23rd call to Haines was special for the small Alaskan village, as we were the very first cruise vessel to visit for the 2012 season! We had a really fun welcome back celebration by way of a community vs. crew showdown! Members from the tourism board arranged locals to meet us in Tlingit Park for a variety of physical activities ranging from tug of war, a bigfoot relay race (where participants wore very large rain boots), “Banana Olympics” which involved several events with the fruit, and a bucket brigade with the passing of water from cup to cup over your shoulder. Everyone had a great time, and we enjoyed the interaction with the community members who came out to show their support for us.

The whole group.

Photo Team.

Engine Team.

Tug of war.

Brandi E. Johnson is Zaandam’s human resources manager.