Monday, November 4, 2024

The Final Day

What an epic way to wrap up the cruise! On the final day, the entire crew came out and lined the pool deck, stretching around the whole area. It's pretty wild to see just how many people it takes to keep everything running so smoothly. 




Out on deck, they’d set up different tables with all sorts of delicious bites to try. We decided to skip the formal dinner that night and just graze on appetizers, letting the endless little treats count as our meal.


 A perfect end to an amazing trip!





Thursday, October 24, 2024

Cruising through Rudyerd Bay

Heading back to Alaska, we got an unexpected treat for Husby's birthday! While having breakfast at our usual spot on the aft, the crew pulled off a surprise—heart-shaped pancakes, a candle, and even a birthday song! How they managed to plan this without us knowing, I’ll never figure out. Then, later, we walked into our room to find it all decked out for the occasion. These folks really know how to make a birthday at sea unforgettable!




A beautiful and scenic day cruising back to Vancouver. 





Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Wrangell Alaska

This is Mt Dewey that we hiked up to. 

So, Wrangell, Alaska—yeah, I didn’t know much about it either, but I sure heard a lot of jokes! This tiny port, wedged between Ketchikan and Skagway, was even the punchline for our cruise director.


Wrangell’s got one tiny main street, and it’s mostly hardware stores. No souvenir shops here! The storefronts looked like they sold second-hand goods, and the windows were a little... dusty. 

We decided to hike the Mt. Dewey Trail, just a few blocks from the main street. The trail is super cute, with well-maintained wooden steps, and the weather was perfect—no rain! It was a peaceful, green, serene walk with birds singing all around us. Luckily, no bears joined us! At the top, we were treated to an amazing view, snapped a few pics, and made our way back down.









As we reached the bottom, we spotted a neighborhood kid selling lemonade with a sign pointing us to his sister’s table a little further down. Naturally, we had to check it out! Not only did we score some lemonade, but also some freshly baked snickerdoodles. So adorable!

We wandered through town and didn’t stop at any of the shops, so we set out for the Petroglyph Beach State Historic Park. It’s a flat, easy 20-30 minute walk to the beach. There were a few faded petroglyphs, but it was still a nice stroll. Along the way, some kids were selling garnet. Apparently, there’s a local rule that only the kids can sell it because the land is passed down to them. I try to avoid collecting too much stuff while traveling, so I passed on the gems, but it was a fun little side adventure. Here is a great article I found about the story of selling the garnets. 










Kids history on selling garnets

Overall, it was a leisurely day, and I clocked about 18,000 steps!

That evening, we caught N'Kenge's show in the production salon, and wow—she’s super talented! Her stories and singing were fantastic, and it was hilarious afterward watching all the guys lining up for photos and autographs at the exit. Classic!

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Endicott Arm Alaska

 Today we are cruising Endicott Arm Alaska and it did not disappoint. 

This narrow fjord is located approximately 50 miles southeast of Juneau and is part of the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness area. Breathtaking Endicott Arm extends over 30 miles long, with nearly one-fifth of its area covered in ice. At the head of the fjord, tidewater glaciers, such as the Dawes Glacier, regularly expel enormous chunks of ice into the waters below in a magnificent process known as calving. During the summer when Princess ships visit, icebergs float along the surface of the glistening water in an array of sizes, from just a few inches up to three stories wide.










Tonight’s dinner theme was 50s diner, and it was a total blast! The dancers came in swinging—literally—decked out in fun 50s-style clothes, and the whole place was decorated like we’d stepped back in time. This was clearly the hot spot for the night because there was a line to get in. We ended up sharing a table with some new friends because it was packed.

Now, let’s talk about the ship’s version of a lobster roll... not quite what I was expecting. I’m usually super easy to please, but this? It was more like a roll with a tiny lobster mixture on top. Even the person next to me was like, “This is not a real lobster roll.” East Coast purists, beware! But no worries—there’s always plenty of other delicious stuff to eat, so I definitely didn’t go hungry.

Tonight was the comedian Phil Tag who looks like Bing /Matthew Perry from friends and he was hilarious. He just came off another cruise lie and hoppe on ours. I think it's funny when they make fun of cruise passengers.