We were up and adam and off the ship by 9:30 am. We had the day in Vancouver because our flight wasn’t until 11:40 pm. We visited Vancouver 2 years ago, so we didn’t really want to tour around, especially since we had our luggage to deal with - a lot of luggage. Fortunately, last week Andy remembered that we had a voucher for a free whale watching tour because when we were here before we did a tour but didn’t see any whales. We called the Prince of Whales tours, and yes we co

It’s 10:30 in the evening and our bags are packed and sitting in the hall outside our suite ready to be taken off the ship. We hope we have everything we need for the morning. Wouldn’t it be funny if someone forgot to leave themselves pants to wear off the ship. I just checked, we’re good!! We spent the day in Victoria, BC. It is a beautiful little city. We walked from the cruise ship pier to the downtown, past the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. We explored the dow

Leaving Alaska. We have one port day left. Tomorrow we’ll be in Victoria, British Columbia, then they kick us off the ship. Today we used the fitness center, played euchre and walked on deck. Because we will be in port until late tomorrow they did the final show tonight. The ship singers and band preformed and the captain made an appearance. The crew, butlers, waiters… paraded in so we could clap and show our appreciation. The staff has been very good, our room is always clea

Today we toured Ketchikan. Our last Alaska stop. We we’re scheduled for a 10:30 am kayaking shore excursion so we got going early so we could see a little of the town before heading out on our adventure. It is a neat spot. The Ketchikan Creek cascades right through the town and old buildings are built overhanging the rushing water. They are cute tourist shops now. After one wrong turn and a missed bridge, we found the Totem Heritage Center. The old totem poles, now protected

Today was an “at sea” day. We cruised into Endicott Arm. The ship moved up the narrow fjord to the glacier; it was cloudy with rain, but the views were still spectacular. We watched from the forward deck as we approached the glacier. The ship turned a full 360 degrees so everyone had a chance to see the views. Numerous waterfalls cascaded down the steep mountains surrounding the glacier and icebergs floated past. It was beautiful in spite of the weather. So beautiful that I (

Today we toured Mendenhall Glacier and Juneau. We didn’t book a shore excursion through the ship because we wanted to have time to explore on our own. After tendering to shore we booked a ride on a shuttle up to the glacier ($80 each). The shuttle driver was entertaining with information and jokes. We had hoped we’d be able to shuttle up then back whenever we wanted, but unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. We had 2 hours to explore the glacier area then we had to catch ou

Today we were in Sitka. The area was originally home to the Tlingit people. Russia moved in and basically, stole it from the Tlingit. Sitka was the site of both a Russian fort and a Tlingit fort. Descendents of the Tlingit people still live in the area. We walked up Baronaf Castle Hill a short distance away from where our cruise ship tender dropped us off. The views of Sitka Sound were beautiful. The day was cool and clear, not typical weather for the rain forest. Castle Hill

Woke up docked at the Icy Strait dock. Quick breakfast and we hit the gym to attempt to mitigate the endless food we have been eating. Icy Straight is a modern generated dedicated cruise ship stop complete with zip line and wilderness tours. It was built at the site of an old cannery. We walked around the area, toured the cannery museum, and saw a whale and some eagles. We had lunch back at the ship. At 2:30 we headed out for our sea raft wildlife tour. The guide, a young ma

We woke up in Haines this morning. One of the best things about traveling by cruise ship is the ship moves to new places while you sleep in a comfy bed. We had reserved bikes at the Sockeye Cycle Shop for a morning ride. We road up the valley created by a glacier for about 5 miles. The views of the fjord around us were wonderful. We spotted an eagle with a fish, it flew into its nest! It was cold and windy so we didn’t go too far especially because the wind was at our backs a

Today we sailed in to see Hubbard Glacier. We started the day with a quick breakfast and a visit to the fitness center. We had just returned to the suite when an announcement came over the ship broadcast system. Whales spotted on the port side! Wait, port side, that’s our side. We grabbed the binoculars, camera and phones and stepped onto our balcony. It was sunny and the water had a little chop to it. We noticed the spray from a whales spout first. The little puff of spray

This is the tale of two meals, lunch and dinner. We’ll start with dinner. We ate at La Terrazza, the ships Italian restaurant. It’s fancy with 4 courses plus dessert. It was one of the two (optional) formal nights, so we made a little effort. There are fancy names for everything we had, but I’ll list the common ones. We both started with seafood stew, very yummy, but I only ate the broth and small shrimp out of mine. Andy was more adventuresome. Next came the lentil soup, the

We got a good nights sleep and caught up from the night before. We woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed. We packed up our bags and left them at the appointed spot in the lobby for transfer to the ship. After a quick stop at the hotel cafe for coffee and a bagel for breakfast we walked over to the Egan Center to get a spot on the bus to Seward. We had time before catching the bus for a walk along the coastal trail. The road between Anchorage and Seward was beautiful. We saw on

We spent the day exploring Anchorage. We woke up hungry after our, not so great airplane dinner and headed out for breakfast. The Snow City Cafe fit the bill beautifully. A cool place with a large breakfast menu. We both ordered pancakes and eggs, Andy added bacon. After breakfast we went for a long walk on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. The weather was cool, but beautifully clear. Water fowl were busy on the mud flats of Knick Arm and the views of the mountains were spectac

We’re off on another adventure. This time for an Alaskan cruise. Megan and the grandkids drove us to the airport so there was no time to get nervous and continually check that my passport was where I’d packed it. Our send off was full of giggles and smiles! We headed out at 2:00 in the afternoon. I don’t like flying. I think it’s the constant hum of the engines and the closed in space. (I don’t like caves either). We flew first class this time and it was a little better, bu