Alaska

Time for a new adventure!

This 5th trip traveling with Claudie and Dean was certainly an adventure, too!  We all acknowledged that packing for cold weather in the summer is the most difficult travel experience we've ever had.  Our very first cruise, to celebrate Claudia's cancer remission (not once, but unexpectedly TWICE) in two years, was planned for 7 nights on Princess' Ruby cruise ship for an inside passage to Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan with a day cruising Endicott Arm's Dawes Glacier.

We flew Air Canada to Vancouver, British Columbia to meet Ruby.  The first day on a cruise ship is so interesting, with all the levels to explore and sights to visit around the ship, but we were fortunate to have a balcony, port side, and could watch Alaska roll right by us without leaving our bed, if we wished.  

Our first full day on ship was at sea.  While "inside passage" to Alaska never gets you too far land, we enjoyed the snow capped mountains and the small ripples we left behind.

By July 4th, we arrived in Alaska's capital city of Juneau.  While it was the largest port we would visit, it was also inaccessible by car - only by air or sea. It was about 58 degrees and overcast, but we headed out to find some crab for lunch and to stroll through town.

The following day, we found ourselves in Skagway, unable to port properly.  Rockslides the year before altered the way that Princess docks here.  We needed to use tender boats to get to shore leaving Dean and Claudia behind. 😑  We strolled through Skagway, dined at the Red Onion (a former brothel during Gold Rush times) and enjoyed Alaskan Fry Bread before boarding the White Pass train into Yukon territory - which was AMAZING. Check out our TikTok video: White Pass

Our following morning was at sea.  We ordered breakfast to our room and stayed on the balcony as we traveled down Endicott Arm on the lookout for icebergs (no joke) and the arrival of the Dawes Glacier.  Just after these pictures were taken, we had the rare opportunity to experience "calving" - where the outer edges of the glacier crack (quite loudly)  enough to crash into the waters below.  

That evening, we enjoyed a formal dinner in the main dining room.  We are not very good at being "all-inclusive" people.  We wander and find as we go along. This cruise gave us no choice but to sit and experience.  Our cruise staff, especially our waiter, learn our likes and dislikes almost immediately.  If there was a special request or something wasn't to our liking - it was placed or replaced immediately.  Needless to say, there were very few things that disagreed with us and Dino took it to the max by trying anything and everything that had never touched his palate before.  Boy, did we enjoy watching him enjoy it all!  Here's just a peek at a little of what hit our plates...

The next morning was our last port in Ketchikan.  The sun was out and we were excited to all get off at the port.  Dean was attacked by a bear while waiting to dock, though...

...but we were able to rescue him and get outside into the sunshine.  Our first order of business was to get ourselves over to the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show where the guys learned to yell "Yo Ho!" We were overwhelmed with the crowds of 6 cruise ships being docked at the same time and could not find anywhere to enjoy a salmon themed lunch like we had planned on doing without standing in long lines or battling the masses.  

 

It wasn't long before our entire week was gone.  We disembarked exactly one week after we began.  We said goodbye to Ruby and headed out to see Vancouver.  Our next adventures would lead us south to Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon.