Day 1
-I am so glad our flight was only 1 1/2 hours. I am also glad we brought the nintendos.
-Waiting around is much easier with an umbrella stroller and previously mentioned nintendos.
-We got on the ship by 11:30 a.m. This gave us plenty of time to eat and unpack before the boat left port. I think I should also mention that I am a bit of magician. I fit the clothing for seven people into one room. This may sound unimpressive to those of you that have not cruised before. Let me assure you that this is not an easy feat and that I am quite amazing. Ok so I cheated a little bit. I filled two small drawers in my in-laws room as well as two hangers. I still think it was a miracle it all fit.
-Gabe had to explore every last inch of our room. His favorite was the shower.
-We learned a very important lesson. There is a smoking side and a non smoking side out side. Lunch was a little smokey.
-After having our muster station drill it was bon voyage and we were off.
-The first night we spent eating, getting registered for Adventure Ocean (the kid camp, and getting the kids faces painted. We then went happily off to bed.
Day 2
-Started the day bright and early. Kids were at "Adventure Ocean" by 9 a.m. They spend most of their days at sea hanging out there. It was packed with activities for them to do. Bella's and Mariah's favorite was getting their faces painted.
-My father-in-law earned the gold medal in ping pong. Good job Paul.
-It was very cold and windy on the deck. It was kind of fun jogging on the track. The wind kept me from getting too hot.
-This was the roughest day at sea. It wasn't too bad unless I was trying to walk down the halls. It was very had to walk in a straight line. Scott was sitting in a chair with uneven legs and kept tipping back and forth.
-It was our first formal night. It was fun to get all dressed up. I loved eating our dinner in the dining room. We always had the same waiter. By the second night he already knew what our favorite drinks were and brought them without asking. I wish we could have taken him home with us.
Day 3
-We docked in Juneau at 11 a.m. This gave the kids a couple of hours in the morning at Adventure Ocean. Just time enough for Mariah and Bella to become puppies for the day.
-We took a tram ride up the mountain. There was a small hike that we took.
-We saw "bear scat". It had a little sign next to us informing us that it was two days old. Gabe posed for a picture with it.
-Alaska is a temperate rainforest and the greenery is amazing.
-We went to the visitors center and watched a movie about the native people of Alaska. We also had a group of kids preform native dances for us.
-I can see why people might want to live in Alaska. In the summer that is.
Day 4
-This was by far my favorite day. We spent the day in Skagway.
-We got out and did an excursion this day. We found a touring agency that would take all of us on a "hike-and-float". The cruise line offered the same excursion for ages 7 and up and charged twice as much.
-We went on an amazing hike along the Chilkoot trail.
-Bella fell in love with our guide Cody and tried to remain near to him for much of the hike.
-Cody told us that if we saw a bear the first thing to do was to take a picture. He said it didn't really change the outcome. Luckily we did not see a bear. We did however see where a bear had marked a tree with his claw.
-Skagway's population overflows in the summer. To support this growth there are overflow campgrounds. If you want to spend the summer in Skagway you'll have to pay $300 a month to live in a tent. $500 if you have a trailer. It is beautiful there.
-After our hike we pulled on our rubber boots, put on our life jackets and headed down the river. It was freezing cold. Gabe was not to happy and screamed until he finally fell asleep.
-After we got back on the boat we dropped the kids off at their camp to have dinner and headed to the dining room for a kid free meal (except Gabe). There were three nights that the kids could eat with the camp and we took full advantage of this. They loved it too.
-While we were waiting for our nightly show to begin the kids all came marching to the theatre. They had a short program to put on that had us all laughing. The next day I heard Hayley singing bits of it while she showered.
Day 5
-In the morning when I woke up and opened my window the first thing I saw was icebergs floating in the water. We were cruising up Endicott Arm Fjord to see the Dawes Glacier.
-We ate breakfast with the view of the glacier right out the window.
-We saw crew members going out to gather an iceberg for all of us to touch.
-There were no ports to stop at today but our view was amazing.
-This day was our second formal night. The head waiter came to our table and did fun little tricks for the kids.
Day 6
-On this day we went to our final port which was Prince Rupert Canada. If you ever want to go on a cruise to Alaska and this is listed as a port DO NOT GO. It is a very small town and could not support excursions for the whole boat. If you didn't have an excursion you were out of luck. The town was horrible. We had such a good experience in Skagway booking our excursion with an independent agency that we didn't book anything through the cruise line. When we got off the ship we discovered that the only excursions offered were those through the cruise. The few that were left had age limits on them and we couldn't all go.
-We spend a few hours walking around the town looking for something interesting. We finally ended up on the beach and tried to find crabs. We didn't find any and after a very disappointing visit we headed back to the ship.
-I did manage to get some cute pictures at the beach.
-The other saving grace was that there were bald eagles everywhere. In fact earlier that day one had flown into a transformer and blown half the cities power.
-That night at dinner Bella fell asleep before we even got our food. All the pointless walking in Prince Rupert had worn her out.
-Every night after dinner the kids would go back to hang out at Adventure Ocean. They had an different theme every night and the kids loved to be there. Bella was the only one who was a little hesitant. I think she was worried we would never come get her. Once we told her we would for sure come and get her she was fine.
Day 7
-In the morning the kids had a talent show at Adventure Ocean. They did a musical number called "the mysterious ticking noise". We found it a couple of months ago on youtube and there was enough parts for each kid to participate. They all received a gold medal for participating.
-We finally went swimming on this day. Swimming at the outdoor pool is cold and the indoor one is only open to kids a few hours a day. Gabe couldn't join in because he has to wear swim diapers so him and I sat out.
-We spent the rest of the day hanging around the ship and enjoying the views.
-We also spend a couple of hours packing up.
-Gabe loved his ice cream every night. He also loved to stick things in his mouth. This night it was a cob of corn. He was a bit of a celebrity on the cruise. There are not that many kids under two years old. Wherever we went people would tell us how cute he was. He was especially popular among the staff. I am sure with them spending months away from their own families he was a welcome sight. One night while at one of the shows we ordered virgin piña coladas. We were giving Gabe sips of our drink. The next day a couple commented how cute Gabe was and how they had seen him drinking our drink. They wondered if he slept well after this. Scott didn't even bother to tell them that it was non-alcoholic.
Going Home
-The last day we got up early and headed out to breakfast. We had to pack up the night before and leave the bulk of our luggage outside our door for pick-up. So all that was left to do was getting ourselves up and out the door.
-We ate breakfast in the dining room and then headed to the theatre to await our disembark time. They really do have quite the system to make sure this is a smooth process.
-Before long we were on our way and coming home. It was a great trip and I am very grateful to my in-laws for taking us.
1 comment:
i reallllly want to go on a cruise to alaska now. bad. i'm glad you are all back safe!
happy anniversary to paul & judy!
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