The Rest of the Story

Our Alaskan Cruise According to Our Captain's Log
(with commentary and photos from ME!)

Day 1   SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

















16:18   Commenced sea voyage to Tracy Arm

Waiters came around the deck, pushing carts with beer and wine. Greg and I each bought a beer, stretched out in our lounge chairs and watched as the ship headed out of port. I didn't even know we were moving until Greg pointed it out.

 (not our ship but an incredible facsimile)

Not much happened the first day, since we left left port at about 4:00pm, but we did have our first fancy dinner in the fancy restaurant. We requested a private table before ever leaving home and by golly, we got it. Yay!



(not my photo. It's from hollandamerican.com)

Day 2   AT SEA

We spent the day exploring the ship.

They had a presentation in the theater about the shore excursions:

and then we just walked around.

It's amazing what they can fit on a cruise ship: a spa, a casino, shops, restaurants, lounges, a coffee shop, a library, pools and a basketball court! When we got back to our room in the evening, we found that elves had folded a towel into an animal and the next day's itinerary was laid out on the bed.

Day 3   TRACY ARM, ALASKA

"Land, ho!" (Who you callin' a ho?)

Our destination was the Mendenhall Glacier. Our captain announced that we probably wouldn't be able to get too close due to the chunks of ice in the water. (Are you also thinking about Titanic?)

Those lovely cruise people thought of everything as we stood out on deck in the rain, enjoying the scenery: hot chocolate, coffee, Bailey's, etc...

I saw the glacier, took a picture and went inside to shower for dinner. You gotta understand- I've seen glaciers in Canada. Heck, I WALKED on a glacier in Canada. And I really needed a shower.

But when I came out of the bathroom and checked the ship's cameras on our TV, we were practically next to the glacier! And the darned thing was a shade of blue I've never seen in Canada.

I threw on clothes and ran outside- hair dripping wet. Other people were in the hallways, running to Deck 3, the best spot for viewing.

The ship stayed in this spot for a while. An hour or two, in fact. Later we watched the blue ice glide further and further away as we sat enjoying our dinner.

21:10    Exited Tracy Arm and continued sea voyage to Juneau, Alaska

Day 4   JUNEAU, ALASKA
05:51   Safely docked

 We were signed up for a shore excursion. It couldn't have been easier. We registered online for the tour days before we left Calgary, a representative met us with a sign as we walked off the ship and then a bus took us to the boat that would take us whale watching. (I wrote in detail about this excursion here.)

We also had time to walk around Juneau a bit before heading back to the ship. A great day!

17:54   Commenced sea voyage to Sitka, Alaska

Day 5   SITKA, ALASKA
06:55   Safely at anchor

Sitka, Alaska, doesn't have a dock for anything as big as a cruise ship, so we had to anchor off shore and take a lifeboat in. It was very well managed, but it still sucked. The enclosed life boat bobbed on the water while we waited for everyone to get on and sit the heck down. We were smart to sit by the only open window, sucking in that good fresh air while keeping our eyes on the horizon.

Unfortunately, we traded in one bobbing boat for another.  I signed us up for a ride on a “semi-sub” which would give us great views of the underwater world in Alaska. I’ve been on a glass-bottom boat in Florida and expected it to be similar. Well, it wasn’t!
















We sat down here...
















(Not my photo. This is from their website)

...and looked out the windows as weird looking jellyfish and starfish went by.



That was fine. It was later, while we were in deeper water, that the fun began. We cruised through a “kelp forest”- all this wavy, yellow, sea-weedy stuff- and started to rock. Whoa.

Woozy. Nauseous. I looked frantically around but there was nowhere to go. Then I remembered something about a bathroom upstairs and asked if I could go up there. 

Thank goodness it was above water and I was able to get some fresh air. I never saw the inside of the bathroom, I just stayed up on deck for the duration of the tour. Even when it started to rain, I stayed.

Although I missed the divers’ ‘show’, I got to see them get ready and jump overboard. The nice crew offered me hot tea and a jacket. I moved to a covered space with benches where a closed circuit TV showed the the images the divers sent back via video cameras on their masks.

(again, this is from their website)

In the end, I think I enjoyed our excursion more than Greg did.

15:52   Commenced sea voyage to Ketchikan

Day 6   KETCHIKAN, ALASKA
06:54   Safely docked

Look at all the cruise ships! Ours is the big, hulking, blue mass on the left.

Greg met a friendly lumberjack lady who insisted on taking a picture with him. Not sure what that was about, but later his wallet was missing. (Har har.) Of course, this is someone from our ship posing with passengers as they disembarked. They sort of force these photo ops on you throughout the cruise. Guess how much I loved that? No, go ahead and guess. I’ll wait.

Now that you’ve thought long and hard about your answer, there’s a clue within this very photo. See the feet behind Greg, inappropriately clad in flip flops? That’s me scurrying by.

12:56   Commenced sea voyage to Victoria

We spent the day enjoying the ship. this was our favorite spot to sit and read, but it was chilly!



We also finally checked out the casino, but only played a couple of slots. We're not big gamblers.

“Oh, we are cruising to Victoria…Victoria…Victoria

Oh we are cruising to Victoria, Victoria today!”

Day 7   VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA

20:30   Safely docked

In case you aren’t paying attention to the schedule I so painstakingly copied from our captain’s manifesto, I’ll spell it out for you. We arrived in Victoria late in the evening. We didn’t have a shore excursion scheduled because we were in Victoria last summer, but those who did were disappointed to find out that all excursions were cancelled. There wasn’t enough time.

We arrived behind schedule due to some malfunction which I chose not to speculate about. (eek!) I’m sure it was no biggie, but this just reminds you that nothing is carved in stone on a cruise. A boat is a boat, even if it is a ship. Things happen, plans change.

I was inexplicably fascinated by this pilot boat that came out to meet us. It reminded me of those parasite fish that swim along with bigger fish. Or an annoying little sister that insists on tagging along. Not that I know anything about that.

The pilot boat circled the ship while we passengers watched and ran from one side of the deck to the other (we had obviously been at sea a long time) before pulling up alongside. 

And then it took off again like that little sister who finally yells, “Oh yeah?? Then I don’t want to play with YOU!!” Or so I’ve heard.

A shuttle took us into town where we walked around, making a wide arch around this statue which wasn’t a statue at all (don’tcha hate when they come to life? creepy).

We looked at the boats and checked out the vendors.

We walked around long enough for this to happen...

and then took the shuttle back to the mother ship.

Waiting in our room was our last fun towel-animal:



23:50   Commenced sea voyage to Seattle

Day 8   SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
07:00   Safely docked
08:30   Disembark 

Time to go! We showered, ate breakfast and waited for our turn to leave the ship.



We had a tour of Seattle booked through Holland America. They met us after disembarktation, drove us around the city for a couple of hours and then dropped us at the airport. Very convenient!

During the tour, we visited the Space Needle, where we zoomed up to the top and took in the views:

Then we stopped at the Farmer's Market where we bought the obligatory cup of coffee.

Next stop- the airport. We had some time to kill at the airport during which I enjoyed my last few moments in the US by using everything my iPhone data plan had to offer. We also watched airport security get nervous about a bag someone left on a seat at our gate. An airport employee asked if it belonged to anyone and then called security. A policeman showed up and took the bag with him out the door to the tarmac and sped away in a police car.

Drama over. Sort of. Our flight was cancelled. Not because of the mysterious bag! There were mechanical issues that would take too long to resolve. After some angry moments among the passengers, we were put on another flight, which actually got us home earlier. Sweet!

Our first cruise, first time in Alaska and first last-minute booking of anything won't be our last. Wait. What? What I'm trying to say is...I had the time of my life and no, I never felt like this before. Yes! It's the truth! And I owe it all to you, Holland America.

But I can't be exclusive. I think we should see other destinations. It's not you- it's me. You've opened up a world of possibilities to me that I need to explore. But just remember, you'll always be my first.

Cruise to Alaska

We just got back from a last minute cruise to Alaska. First cruise. First time in Alaska. First "last minute" booking of anything. Lots of firsts and lots of anxiety for the poor woman who had to make all the decisions about every little thing. That would be me. Ha.

But everything went smoothly and I even got kudos from the husband. And I ain't talking about the candy. He actually said, "I had nothing to do with planning this. You did a great job." He may have been drunk on Lido Deck at the time, but I'll take it.

Five Quick Facts:

1. Our first night out, there was a medical emergency. While we slept, the ship came to a complete stop out at sea to meet a coast guard boat which would take a passenger to the nearest hospital. The captain announced in the morning that our actions saved his/her life. wow

2. Alaska is cold even in the summer! Don't say, "well, duh." We get a very nice summer in Calgary so I assumed it would be the same. We were lucky to get 2 sunny days and one of them was during a whale- watching excursion. But we'll get to that.

3. I got sea-sick one night. Oddly enough, it was 4 days into the cruise. During a shore excursion that day, we had been down in the bowels of a semi-sub, looking at the marine life through big windows when it started to rock and roll. I felt queasy but survived. Later when the cruise ship started to bob and weave I thought I was gonna throw up. Two Dramamine later I was fine. Asleep, actually. We're thinking the semi-sub incident sort of opened the door to sea sickness because the motion of the ship didn't bother me before or after that day.

4. We left out of Seattle and were able to do a bit of sightseeing upon our return:
















5. Day 2 we got fairly close to the Mendenhall Glacier. What's so remarkable about it is the color. These photos aren't touched up at all. It really is that blue:

So let's get on with the highlight of the entire trip. We took a whale watching excursion out of Juneau and though we lost count, we estimate that we saw twenty whales.

Our guide became excited when we happened upon about 5 whales involved in 'bubblenet feeding." She told us it took 4 months of working full time on the whale watching tour before she got to see it.

First you see a blast of water on the surface. Then you'll see the whales' backs as they seem to be milling around on the surface.

They dive-



Silence. You wait. Scan the water.

And suddenly they shoot, mouths first, straight up out of the water!



We were told that the whales dive deep into the water and work together to round up a school of fish. Then they move fast, straight up towards the surface, swallowing as many fish as possible.

My photos aren't perfect, as you can imagine. We were never sure where they would reappear.

After about thirty minutes of watching the whales perform this feeding ritual over and over again, it was time to move on. Much to our surprise, our adventure wasn't over. We started to spot bursts of water and black masses on the surface again. But this time, they were all around us.

(No, that isn't our boat! Ours was much bigger.)

But hold on to your rain jacket. While we stood on deck and watched, three whales headed straight for our boat.





















and dove:

That silence again as we waited and watched.

"Ladies and gentleman," our tour guide whispered over the loudspeaker, "you're now standing on top of a humpback whale."

Don't misunderstand- we weren't in any danger. The whales seemed to be playing with us. In fact, one whale looked like he was waving a fin at all the boats gathering to watch them:





He did this over and over again.

It was an extraordinary experience. We consider ourselves very lucky to have been there.

By the time our last day of the cruise rolled around, I was ready to go. I enjoyed it but missed being able to walk outside (yes, I could walk all the way around the ship but it's not the same), I was weary of the crowds and the strict schedules. Overall though, I give cruising a hearty thumbs-up. How could you possibly dislike a place that cooks and cleans for you while gorgeous scenery rolls by?