We have been gone most of the summer and the trips have been wonderful and yet I am so glad that now I get to be home for the month of August!! We were blessed to be invited on a cruise with my husband's parents to Alaska and I wanted to put out a review of that cruise in case anyone is looking to go to Alaska. Also, so I can keep it all in my memory bank a lil better!!
This is the first time I have been on a cruise, so I really can't compare it to any other experience, but I can tell you what we were able to see on this particular route and about our experience on this specific cruise line. The route was called the "Inside Passage with Tracy Arm Fjord" with Princess Cruise lines. My mother in law says that you actually see more glaciers from the boat on the "Voyage of the Glaciers" cruise, which is a one way cruise, starting from Anchorage, Alaska and ending in Seattle. The route we took was round trip starting from Seattle and ending in Seattle 7 days later and was very beautiful. The Ruby Princess is huge, holding about 3,000 people. We boarded on a Sunday morning.
Here are our first views of the ship, inside and out and looking back at Seattle! The travel agent, who booked our trip had chocolate strawberries sent to our room!
It was so great to be able to look out of our balcony and see something different each time! I guess that is what a cruise is all about, but it was a new experience for me! We were in sight of land that first day for awhile after leaving the dock, but the next day we were out at sea. We were never very far from land, but that second day, it was far enough away, that it was difficult to see it in any direction. The boat was a bit bumpy that day and there were many sea sick peeps walking around. We took some Dramamine, but it would have worked better had we taken it the night before. Lunch wasn't quite as exciting that day. Ahhh well, after a good night's sleep, we all felt better and when we woke up the next morning, we were pulling into Ketchikan. So was another cruise boat behind us (see pic below). It seems that the cruise boats are constantly pulling in and out of these towns all summer. We got off the ship after breakfast and walked around the town, passing up the numerous jewelry stores that are the first things you see when you disembark the ship. I learned that many of them are owned by the cruise lines and that is why you get jewelry coupons on the boat too! A beautiful little creek flows through the center of town:
Then it was off to the Lumberjack show, which was the excursion that we did in Ketchikan. It was staged as a contest between two lumberjack camps and they did various sawing, chainsaw, axe-throwing and log balancing stunts, always trying to be the fastest finishers out of the two teams. (Below: At the show, and a random, but cool salmon statue by the creek.)
The all aboard time was 2:30 and then the boat headed northward. The next morning we were in Tracy Arm Fjord, which is 29 miles long, but only 1.5 miles wide. It was a great place to get some beautiful views of the mountainside and waterfalls:
We didn't get out of the boat 'till mid morning, when we pulled into Juneau. In Juneau, we did a bus trip to the Mendenhall Glacier. There were sprinkles all morning, but not enough to prevent our short hike (about a mile) from the visitor center for a closer view of the glacier. We didn't see glaciers like this from the ship, so it was great that we got to go on this particular excursion. Pictures: The waterfall (below) was just to the right of the glacier. Matt stopped in front of the famous (or infamous Red Dog Saloon). No time to go in though...we did peek inside. Interesting decor....lots to look at....I even saw a pair of underwear tacked up on the wall. I guess things are hard to come by in Alaska? You use what you have?
The next day, Thursday, we arrived in Skagway. I think this was my favorite town. We took a bus tour up the Klondike Summit, imagining what it was like for all those gold seekers in the mid 1800's. We saw "Tormented Valley" which gained its name because of all the trouble it caused a miner (with his load of supplies) to travel through such treacherous country. There is also an area called "Dead Horse Gulch" because thousands of horses fell to their death, unable to transport the load they were hitched to. We got to stop in "Liarsville" and pan for gold along with seeing an enactment.
The Skagway brewing Co. had yummy food! The building on the right is famous because it is covered with individual pieces of driftwood!!
Back on the boat by 4:30 and we were headed back south now. The following day we were at sea again all day, with a teensy bit of sea sickness again, but not as bad as on the way up. Views from the boat (clockwise): mountain views, pictures never do those rainbows justice, pool at the back of the ship, talk about living in the middle of no-where! (I think it really was a house- a plus would be no solicitors!!)
Saturday evening we were able to get off at Victoria Island for a short walk around from about 7-11pm. It was great to stretch the legs. We saw the capital building and the famous Empress Hotel.
The harbor and hotel by night. This is about 10pm and it was still fairly bright outside!:
It truly was an adventure of a lifetime! It felt like a taste of Alaska even if we didn't see any brown bears or Orcas. We did see lots of new birds (my husband and son keep an ongoing birdlist) and we saw a few whale fins pop out (most likely hump back whale). The cruise line and the food was amazing...I think I came off a different person than when I went on, if you know what I mean. The only thing I would make note of with the cruise line is that it didn't seem to have many shows that were specifically aimed at children. There was a children's program, where you could bring your kids and drop them off for activities and games. But as far as family shows or entertainment, there is probably more of that on somthing like a Disney Cruise. With the scenery on this route, there wasn't a need for much entertainment though, the views off of the boat were spectacular. Thank you G&G K!
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