Royal Princess / July 20 2024 / Semi-Live Trip Report w/ Pre Cruise AK Adventure … Let’s Go!

[Fishbone]

On 8/6/2024 at 10:19 AM, Hogladyrider said:

@Fishbone...your wonderful review continues!  Maybe consider adding on a land excursion witht he cruise line that would get you up to Denali - talk about amazing!  Denali is like no other place in Alaska for sure.

 

Hope you survived Hurricane Debby with little to no damage.  One of the many things we no longer miss about living in Florida!

 

@Hogladyrider

I got a free day off for Debby! They waited until the last minute to announce the closure. I slept through the whole thing! It rained & the temperature dropped a solid 10 degrees. Perfect sleeping conditions! My beloved banana trees took a hit, but otherwise no damage. Lots of flooding & now frogs. Thousands of frogs.

 

We were conflicted about Denali. It would have resulted in us giving up at least two days, which none of us wanted to do! Maybe someday!

[Fishbone]

2 hours ago, marne-c said:

@Fishbone  I loved your thread.  MANY thanks!!!!!

 

And today, when I saw the attached photo on FB, I thought of you and yourr fishing crew.  Perhaps you could use this on a future trip.

 

--Marne

 

 

 

@marne-c

This is epic! I love this! Thanks for your kind words! My guys sure do love to fish!

[Fishbone]

Day 16: Friday, July 26 - Gulf of Alaska

 

Last night, we selected the do not disturb option on our door panel, lowered the temperature in the room, & sailed off to dream land. We decided not to set the alarm so that we could catch up on some much needed sleep. When I woke & checked the time on my phone it was noon! NOON! I can’t believe the guys let me sleep so long!

 

I heard faint breathing & realized that my husband was still fast asleep next to me. And low & behold, Colt was up hanging up there on the wall too, totally conked out. Wow! We must really be tired!

 

I woke everyone up & we “got to gettin’”! While the guys were getting ready for the day, I started packing up the room. Colt headed out to meet up w/ his friends while my husband helped me finish packing. We spent the rest of the day enjoying our time on the ship. A little this, a little that, but mostly we just relaxed.

 

There were lots of fun activities scheduled, but we were dragging. We walked through the shops; listened to music in various venues, kicked back on deck; eyed the expensive “replicas” (w/ ostentatious frames) in the gallery (Who buys this stuff?); swung by the casino; & watched the wake from the back of the ship from the Horizon Terrace, which may be my favorite spot on the ship.

 

We stopped by Guest Services to ask them if there was anything special to do to just self embark first thing in the morning. We had been given little tags with the number 6 on them, but we have places to go & things to do. They gave us a little card to self embark & told us where to go to do so.

 

We checked our final bill & discovered that we still had a $2 credit! Oh no! Can’t let that happen! So I ordered a Coke & enjoyed every last drop, but it’s nothing compared to an ice cold Dr Pepper. We weren’t given any “credits” upon booking the cruise, but when we embarked, I noticed that we had been credited almost $70 for port fees. $50 of that was donated to the casino & the rest was used up on Cokes & Sprites. So, we ended up with a 51 CENT balance. Not bad!

 

We opted to skip the dining room again tonight & instead taste tested our way across the buffet. The dining room is fantastic, but the Lido enables you to sample … everything! At the end of the night, we headed to the International Cafe for one last … late night delight! As we were sitting there, my eyes welled up w/ tears. “What’s wrong,” asked my husband. “Are you sad that the cruise is over?” “Yes,” I responded. “‘Cause these little salami sandwiches are the bomb!”

 

I will say that although I really do enjoy the salami sandwiches at midnight, there’s something I like even more: the scones w/ cream in the bakery on the lido! They are NOT the scones that American bakeries try to pass off as scones. Those are muffins! I’m not sure who they think they’re foolin’! These were what I imagine to be legit scones! Straight outta a Maeve Binchy novel.

 

When we got back to the room just before midnight, Colt was there. “Oh that’s great,” I said to him. “We have to get up super early tomorrow.” “Thanks for coming back early.” He looked at me like I was straight up crazy. Apparently, I was not wrong. “Mom!” “Are you crazy?” “My friends & I are gettin’ ready to jump in the hot tub!" Clearly, one of us is having WAY more fun than the rest of us.

 

My husband fell asleep instantly. I packed up our remaining items, laid out all of our clothes for tomorrow, cleaned the room, showered up, & prepared for our imminent departure. Colt returned to the cabin at 1:30am on the dot w/ a great big smile on his face. I’m not sure why, but I was happy that he was happy.

 

Good night from the Royal Princess, which is currently en route to Vancouver, British Columbia! Oh Canada! Oh Canada!

[Fishbone]

Day 17: Saturday July 27 – Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

 

The worst part of any cruise? Debarkation.

 

Last night, I set my alarm for 5:00am. I set my husband’s alarm for 5:15am, & I set Colt’s alarm for 5:30am. I wasn’t messing around! When those alarms went off, we all got up & got ourselves ready without a word. None of us had enough energy to even grumble about the early morning rise!

 

We made our way down to the casino, where we were first in line at 7:02am. Eventually, the line grew very, very long behind us. Suddenly, another passenger appeared & rudely told us all to “move back” because her group of 35 people heading back to Minnesota had first dibs. I guess they had something arranged w/ the ship, but it was super annoying because a. She was super rude & b. the 35 gophers she was traveling with were nowhere to be found. They slowly strolled in over the next forty-five minutes. A guy in line behind us took GREAT offense & I loved every minute of it! He told her off like an Olympic champion! “Take it up w/ the captain!” the rude lady hissed back at him. He then slung a few final choice words at her with an eloquence that I have never witnessed before. A melodic symphony of expletives that waxed poetic. He must have practiced a lot to be that good! She was horrified & looked at me for support. I smirked at her & said “I agree w/ him.” My husband rolled his eyes at me & whispered for me to mind my own business. Sigh.

 

While I was enjoying the “show”, my husband was chatting w/ a couple immediately behind us from England. They were hoping to get off the ship as soon as possible, as they were entered in a foot race of some sort. They compete all across the world in these events & were resigned to the fact that they probably weren’t going to make it. We pushed them ahead of us & wished them well just as debarkation commenced at around 7:45am.

 

We walked off the ship w/out ever stopping. We handed our immigration form to someone, but nothing else was required. In all, it literally took us four minutes to get off the ship. Yes, you read that right. Four minutes. That was great, except I anticipated that it would take us much longer & now we had to wait.

 

We were scheduled to take a bus from inside the terminal to Bellingham, Washington. I asked someone where we could find “Bay 11” & he directed us to an elevator. “Get off on the ground floor,” he instructed. So we got on the elevator, but when the doors opened on the ground floor, there was nothing more than a parking garage. The guys started to head out, but I yanked them back. It was obviously not where we were supposed to be. How are they so oblivious? So we rode back up & I gave the guy who gave us the instructions “a look”. He apologized & told us to “wait here” while he figured it out. Note that if I had read our confirmation more carefully, I would have noticed that it clearly said “cruise terminal level”. Sigh.

 

Eventually, we made it to Bay 11, which was literally right there, on the same level on which we had arrived. First in line, we plopped down on the ground & waited. I noticed that my husband was super tired. I worried that something was wrong since he’s never tired. The guys are like Energizer bunnies, they keep going & going & going. I’m always tired, so it’s hard to gauge. Colt looked tired too, but he was in his own world, texting his new friends from the ship & his old friends back home.

 

We opted not to explore Vancouver on foot (like we did last year). Instead, we had planned to drive ourselves from Vancouver to Seattle, but the best-laid plans of mice & men  … oft’ go awry. Sigh.

 

My original plans for today definitely went “awry”! I had planned for us to walk over to Waterfront Station, where we would take the Canada Line (rapid transit sky train) over to the airport. Once at the airport, I planned to rent a car & drive across the border (w/ a required stop at Tim Horton’s for a box of Timbits). That was the “plan” until I attempted to reserve a car & discovered rates of almost $1000 for two days. That is definitely a “hell to the no”! I would rather walk across the border versus allowing myself to get scammed by greedy corporate monopolies.

 

I may have been partly to blame for the snafu, considering that I procrastinated until June before attempting to book the rental. But I think the rate would have been high regardless of when I booked. After researching various options (Amtrak, Greyhound, Princess transfer, flights, ferries, rollerblade rentals, etc), I decided to book us on a bus that would take us across the border, where I could rent a car for a fraction of the price. Don’t nobody wanna get bamboozled! At least not today!

 

We could have easily flown home from YVR, which is what we did last year. YVR was very quiet & very clean. And it had a Tim Hortons. But practically every flight had a 6⁺hr connection in Seattle & was uber expensive. If there’s one thing we all agree on, it’s that a six hour connection at any airport, especially Seattle … is a great big “nope”!

 

Note that I love Seattle. I lived in Tacoma for two years as a child when my dad was stationed at what was then Fort Lewis. I have wonderful memories. But after multiple delays & filthy conditions during last year’s connection, the Seattle airport is definitely not on our list of “most loved airports”. If you didn’t read my trip report from last year’s adventure, he’s an excerpt that perfectly summarizes our time at SeaTac: 

 

Minutes after sitting down in our new seats, a guy behind us let out the most massive fart I have ever heard. Growing up, I was never allowed to use the word “fart” because my super old German mom thought it was “unrefined”, but in this case, there’s no other way to say it. It was a fart. Pure and unadulterated. I looked at my husband and started to laugh. But he wasn’t laughing w/ me. His normally very blank expression had morphed into one of pure disgust. That made me laugh even more and once I started, I couldn’t stop. This obviously irritated my husband, because he got up & started to walk away. “Where are you going?”, I asked through bouts of laughter. “That guy just blasted out a burrito and you’re laughing like it’s funny!”, he said w/ a totally straight face. And then I really started laughing. Sigh.

 

Instead of sitting at the airport in Seattle waiting for a connection, we decided to drive our tired selves to Seattle via the scenic route. It was totally fart-free. Sorry mom.

 

So we woke up extra early & pulled ourselves together in an attempt to be one of the first off the ship & over to the “shuttle” at bay 11.  Departure was set for 9:10AM & we arrived with lots of time to spare. The express walk off option was ideal, but we now had over an hour wait.

 

Quick Shuttle: All we needed was to make it across the border, so I scheduled us for a short trip to the Bellingham, Washington airport (the bus’ first stop in the USA).

 

I purchased tickets on their website, which included a free checked bag promo. Unfortunately, once I received the tickets, the promo was not listed. I sent an email & assumed that I just got scammed. Two minutes later, I decided to call their 800 number because I’m impatient like that & was a little bit angry. My call was answered immediately (despite it being 6:30AM in Vancouver) & after I told the agent why I was calling, she told me that she had already responded to my email. I hadn’t even given her my name or reservation number yet. And it had literally only been two minutes since I sent the email. I was confused & ready to get super sassy, but she happily told me to check the new tickets while she was still on the line. Sure enough, there was an email w/ updated tickets & they now displayed the promo code. I was shocked. And delighted. In my 50 years, this was one of the best customer service experiences I’ve ever had. Bravo, Quick Shuttle, Bravo!!!

 

After a long wait in Canada Place, the bus finally arrived at around 9:15am. Some guy pushed me out of the way to get ahead. His wife was stuck behind me. She tapped me on the shoulder & said “I don’t want to cut you in line, but we’re together.” “Well your rude husband just pushed me out of the way to get ahead, so why don’t you just go right ahead & join your rude husband.” Her rude husband did not like that one bit & started to go on & on. I was amused. But I noticed that my sweet husband didn’t give me “the look”, or tell me to mind my own business, or anything really. He was just staring straight ahead. He such a nice guy. He’d have probably let everyone get on the bus ahead of him if it wasn’t for me telling him to “come on”.

 

I noticed that they did not separate the luggage in the holds on the bus as we were boarding, which surprised me as there were two end stops. After riding through the streets of Vancouver, we eventually hit the highway & very quickly thereafter, we arrived at the border crossing.

 

Pacific Highway Border Crossing: The bus pulled in & then parallel parked his way into a spot. I was super impressed. The only other person that I know that can parallel park like a champion is my sweet husband.

 

We were instructed to take everything off the bus w/ us & claim our luggage. We did so & walked into the building where they reviewed our passports & scanned our luggage. That entire process was completed very efficiently. When we got back to the bus, I asked the bus driver about the process of getting off in Bellingham. He explained that he was now going to sort the bags in the hold, so that they were easily retrievable. Ah, that explains it. There would have been no reason to sort the bags in the hold in advance of crossing the border as they all had to go through security before being reloaded. The entire border crossing took less than 15 minutes. It would have taken even less time had a border agent not ran out & boarded the bus. One of our fellow passengers had left their phone in the building & he graciously returned it.

 

BLI: Just before noon, we pulled up to the Bellingham airport. The bus dropped us off directly in front of the rental car area. It was a good bus ride - cheap & effective.

We gathered our stuff & got the heck out of dodge. I think only one other family got off with us. We could have just scheduled the bus to take us all the way to Seattle, but we always like to do our own thing. The airport was empty & there was no one in line at the rental car counters.

 

Avis:  The Avis guy told me that it gets busy, but that there were no current arrivals. Lucky for us. 1d18hr “intermediate” rental using my employer’s personal use discount. $96.97. So it was $100 from Bellingham, but it would have cost $1000 from Vancouver. What a scam. 

 

We loaded up the SUV, texted my dad pictures, & off we went. We were upgraded to a Jeep Cherokee. It had California plates, so I knew the upgrade was only because they were trying to get the SUV back home. I wish we had had it in Alaska. It had major room, heated seats, & lots of charging ports. Colt was happy about that. I was happy too until I noticed the large crack in the windshield. Sigh. I wished I had noticed it when we got in, but such is life. I guess this is pay back for the two cracks we got in Alaska that went unnoticed. Sigh.

 

USPS: Our first stop was at the post office. The fishing poles were getting on my nerves! It took 10 minutes & $28.09 to ship them back home. See ya in a few weeks!

 

Jack in the Box: We were hungry so we stopped here. We don’t have one in Florida. It was … edible.

 

A&W Root Beer: Root beer floats for each of us! Just like back in the day! At home, I keep three A&W glass mugs chilled in the freezer for times when I want to get a little nostalgic.

 

Chuckanut Scenic Byway: A short little scenic detour off the beaten track. As we drove along, I suddenly had an overwhelming urge to chuck some walnuts out the window. Get it? Sigh. My husband didn’t get it either.

 

The Byway was nerve racking. The SUV was enormous, the road was super tight & winding, & there was a lot of traffic. My husband’s hands clenched the steering wheel a few times. White knuckles & all. I guess it didn't help that I kept yelling "CAREFUL". I was surprised that my husband didn't get mad & ask me "Do YOU want to drive?"

 

Courtyard Seattle Sea-Tac Area: 2 nights in a “King w/ Sofa Bed”. Friends & family rate. We checked in, dropped our bags & immediately headed back out to grab dinner.

 

Westfield Southcenter: An old fashioned mall w/ an intriguing block of stores dedicated to Filipino products & food. Say no more!

 

Seafood City Supermarket: It reminded me of Don Quijote in Honolulu, but not quite as wonderful. We came here for one primary reason: Ube! Ube cookies to be precise – my husband’s favorite!

 

Grill City: Located within Seafood City. We shared a few chicken skewers.

 

Boba Smoothies: Colt said his throat was dry & scratchy, so he got himself a smoothie.

 

Valerio’s Tropical Bakeshop: A few minutes later, my husband said his throat was dry & scratchy too, so he also got himself a smoothie.

 

Palace Express: My husband got himself a teriyaki chicken bowl. Colt & I were not hungry despite not having eaten since this morning.

 

Jamba Juice: On our way out, I got myself a strawberry surfrider. “Is your throat dry & scratchy too?” the guys asked. “No,” I said. “I’m just thirsty”.

 

Back at the hotel, we settled into our spacious room. Every now & again, a train passed by. The hotel is adjacent to the tracks. It’s very faint though & we love it. Every time we hear it, we all run to the window to watch it pass by.

 

We turned down the temp & snuggled into bed. Goodnight from Seattle, Washington!

[Fishbone]

Day 18 – Sunday, July 28 – Seattle

 

We could have flown home today. We should have flown home today. But I don’t have to go back to work until Tuesday & thus wanted to spend every single day of my vacation … on vacation! No regrets! At least not today. On Tuesday … I’ll be totally regretting it!

 

I quickly checked us in for tomorrow’s flight & paid for our bags. We’re all set! Today was our grand finale … the “cherry” on top of a quickly melting “Sunday”.

 

We woke up late. Again.

 

Ivar’s Fish Bar: We stopped for lunch at this local chain & thought it was great. I wish we had an Ivar’s back home.

 

As we were driving along, we saw the Space Needle & I got super nostalgic. I first rode to the top of the Space Needle w/ my parents & brother way back when – around 1977 or so. And then again in the early 2000s while I was here on a work trip.

 

We had already decided that we weren’t going to ride up. Logistically, it was too late in the day & we knew the lines would be Disneyesque. The guys didn’t really care one way or the other as we’ve ridden to the top of many things … the Empire State Building in New York City, the Sears Tower in Chicago, & the Gateway Arch in St Louis.

 

My favorite was the Empire State Building, which we visited when Colt was 5. At that time, he was in love w/ trains & Curious George, so we took an Amtrak from Florida to New York City so that we could sail boats in Central Park - just like George & the man w/ the yellow hat. While we were there, we rode to the top of the Empire State Building. At the top, we just missed King Kong, who had made an appearance. When one of the employees saw Colt, she ran to the back, asked the guy who had just taken off the suit to put it back on, & a few minutes later, King Kong emerged to give my little Coltie a great big hug. Colt was over the moon & I was so very grateful for their kindness!

 

We’ll save the trip to the top of the Space Needle for an early morning the next time we visit. 

 

Volunteer Park: Short stop for a quick photo. The flowers here are amazing. Incredible hues of blue. We don’t have lots of blue flowers back home in Florida.

 

Black Sun by Isamu Noguchi: I really wanted a photo of the Space Needle encircled by the “Black Sun”. The guys were impressed w/ the results.

 

Seattle Japanese Garden: Small & expensive, but very pretty gardens.

 

University of Washington: We drove around campus, taking pictures along the way. I’m pretty sure Colt will never attend the University of Washington. Or maybe he will. Go Huskies?

 

I was surprised that the football stadium was closed. At UF, the football stadium is open. Lots of people climb the stairs to get in a great workout, take pictures, eat their lunch in the stands, etc. The Huskies had their stadium locked down. It wasn’t even possible to see the field through the many fences covered in tarps.

 

Carl S English Jr Botanical Garden: We walked the trails. So beautiful! The blue flowers are insanely gorgeous. The guys were sneezing & sniffling. With everything in bloom, it must be allergies.

 

Ballard Locks: Such a fun stop. We watched various sized boats traverse the locks & watched salmon climb the fish ladder. Amazing! We spent a long time here & it was worth every minute.

 

Fremont Troll: Photo opp! Getting here was a little complicated & parking was a pain. But it was worth it.

 

Gas Works Park: We tried, but the parking lot was closed for a private event. Sigh.

 

Quiznos: Oh my goodness! I love me some Quiznos! Sadly, all of our Quiznos have shuttered! I was over the moon for a Baja Chicken sub. It’s been years! So good!

We use to head over to the Atlantic every Friday for a day at the beach. At the end of the day, our sunburned, wet, & sandy selves would always stop at Quiznos, followed by a stop at the chocolate shop next door for a frozen key lime bar dipped in chocolate. Those were the days. We’re going to have to revive that tradition. Soon!

 

Safeway: The guys ran in & got a few grab ‘n go sandwiches for our flights tomorrow.

 

Our whirlwind day in Seattle has come to an end. We would have loved to go to a sporting event, but July is tough … the Mariners were playing away; the Sounders have the night off; the Seahawks & Kraken are out of season; & the Supersonics … well, that was once upon a time!  

 

We headed back to the hotel, where we packed up & prepared to head home. My husband weighed our bags in the lobby – each bag was way underweight.

 

Good night from Seattle, Washington!

 

Day 19: Monday, July 29 – Travel Day

 

This morning, we woke up at 3:30AM. We quickly pulled ourselves together & headed to the airport. To say that we were all disgruntled is an understatement. We are tired. Very tired. Super tired. Exhausted.

 

Avis: We returned our rental & high-tailed it into the airport. They did not notice the crack in the windshield. Hallelujah!

 

SEA: We did not realize that we’d have to take a bus from the rental car return center over to the terminal. Somehow I completely missed that. The lines were outrageous & everyone was grumbling. There seemed to be only two buses running. When we finally got to the terminal, it was hopping. The lines were packed and it was only 4:30AM! I think it took us over an hour to check our bags. Lots of people in line were saying that they had missed their flights due to the extensive delay & now had to rebook. My guys were happy that I got us here extra early!

 

The security lines weren’t that bad, but my backpack got pulled for secondary screening due to Colt’s Nintendo Switch. They were super nice about it & told me that it has to be taken out every time. We bought a few cold drinks & found our gate. Boarding began shortly thereafter.

 

Delta: I almost always book our trips as “one-way” tickets. This enables more flexibility in travel preferences, but also means that we’re usually flying on different carriers. I have no preference. Everyone’s generally really nice to us.   

 

One way on Delta from SEA > ATL > GNV = $1045.80/3=348.60pp

 

Our flight was uneventful until the end. Somewhere over AlaBama, the pilot informed us that weather in Atlanta we precluding us from landing. As a result, we went round & round & round & round & round. I counted five loops, but it could have been more. It seemed never-ending. We touched down very late, but it didn’t matter ‘cause every single flight in Atlanta was now delayed.

 

ATL: We found our gate. Our flight was delayed. And delayed. And delayed. There were so many people. It was so hot. We were miserable. Sigh.

 

We went to get something to eat & found a nice little table for three, which we sat at for hours. We eventually decided to rent a car & drive home. Just as I was about to finalize the reservation, Colt asked me how we were going to get our luggage. I had no idea. So we nixed the rental & just sat there.

 

Hours later, the concourse changed so we had to take the train over to our new gate, where we continued to wait. I texted my boss & told him that I wasn’t going to be able to come to work tomorrow as scheduled. I texted my dad & told him to go to sleep. I texted my super old German mom & told her to wake up my dad at midnight & have him head over to the airport to pick us up.

 

We got another text from Delta & I thought it was yet another delay. It was a meal voucher for $36. The guys tried to use it, but every place they went to, the employees proclaimed they were closing & refused service. One lady told my husband that she was willing to sell him a bag of chips, so he took her up on the offer & bought $36 worth of little bags of jalapeno potato chips. I was so very proud of him for not wasting one darn cent of the voucher, but also a little annoyed that they were all jalapeno!

 

At around 11:00PM, all of the gates in the concourse were full. Every seat was taken. Surprisingly, it was very quiet, which was so nice. All of a sudden, a lady got up, walked into the middle of the concourse & had a complete meltdown. “I NEED MY F***ING PSYCHIATRIC MEDICINE RIGHT NOW!” she screamed. Sigh. She proceeded to go on multiple tirades.

 

Shortly thereafter, our flight arrived. It was unloaded very quickly & we boarded even faster. I was surprised that they let the lady having the meltdowns board the flight.

 

Delta: The flight attendants were incredibly upbeat & kind. They were seated next to us at the gate & I’m sure they were just as tired & as frustrated as we were, but they didn’t let it show!

 

The plane had a 2X3 seat configuration. We slid into the three seats in our row in complete silence. The one lady was spewing all kinds of hate, but she was seated all the way in the back. Once we landed in Gainesville, she proceeded to call every single passenger out … “Hey you in the blue shirt … you better hurry the **** up!”. “Hey you in the red dress … what the **** is taking you so long?”   

 

GNV: Everything here runs as slow as molasses. I’m sure it’s not the case, but it always feels like there’s just one guy running the entire airport. Does he marshal in the plane, serve as the gate agent, unload the luggage, & service the jet all by himself? Sigh.

 

UberOpa was waiting for us right out front. He was checking his watch. We were so happy to see him!

 

Dad had taken out the trash, watered the plants, started the cars, bought us groceries, & set the AC colder in advance of our homecoming. What a grumpy old GEM!

 

We showered up & headed to bed. Another vacation in the record books.

 

Day 20: Tuesday, July 30 - Home Sweet Home

 

We woke up on Tuesday … with The Covid. All three of us. Despite each of us just getting a booster. That explains the exhaustion. Sigh.

 

Postlude

 

It’s taken us a few weeks to get to feeling better. We had an incredibly amazing trip. Colt is ready to cruise! I’m ready to cruise! My husband … sigh!

 

Thanks for coming along on our adventure! Wishing you all good health, much happiness, & safe travels!

[cocosmum]

Fantastic report!  Many thanks for the time and effort involved in writing this 😀

 

Hope you are all feeling better now and starting to plan the next adventure.

[Fishbone]

22 hours ago, cocosmum said:

Fantastic report!  Many thanks for the time and effort involved in writing this 😀

 

Hope you are all feeling better now and starting to plan the next adventure.

@cocosmum

Thank you so much! We’re all feeling much better! The guys don’t know it yet, but I’m already looking at a few potential cruises! 🤪

 

[Tyskie]

@Fishbone

 

So glad to read your "finished blog" it was delightful !!

Sorry about the covid - seems it has had a revival - no matter what you do.  Glad you are feeling better.

 

Until next time - thank you!

[Fishbone]

1 hour ago, Tyskie said:

@Fishbone

 

So glad to read your "finished blog" it was delightful !!

Sorry about the covid - seems it has had a revival - no matter what you do.  Glad you are feeling better.

 

Until next time - thank you!

@Tyskie

Thanks so much for reading along! Can’t wait for our next adventure sailing the high seas! 

[ninka26]

@Fishbone I am so very sorry to hear you got Covid. Hopefully you'll be feeling better soon. 

[Italy52]

On 8/14/2024 at 8:13 PM, Fishbone said:

 

@Italy52

I hope you had a wonderful cruise!?! I also hope you made it safely back home & are already planning your next voyage like me!

Thank you so much for your post, I appreciate it.  We just got home late Saturday and I am trying to play catch-up on all things.  So sorry to hear about COVID invading you and your family.  I do hope that everyone if feeling much better now.  On the southbound leg of our cruise there was a lot of coughing and sneezing going around.  So far we are OK so I thank God for that.   

 

Overall, our cruise was nice.  Our off the ship excursion for Hubbard Glacier was cancelled at the last minute due to fog.  We almost got fogged out of Glacier Bay but the sun started to peak out during the last portion of the transit.  No calving from the glaciers. 

 

The parfume store was a "no go" for me.  I tried a couple of times to enter the store but the smell was too over whelming for my delicate nose.  Never saw any customers inside unless there was a raffle going on.

 

Comedians were outstanding.

 

Bed was DEFINITELY way too soft. 

 

Whale watching tours in Juneau and Icy Strait were outstanding and the highlight of our trip.  The Black Bear, Wildlife and Nature Walk in Ketchikan was a bust; we will never repeat that one again.

 

Thanks again for sharing your journey with all of us here on Cruise Critic.  Your posts brought numerous smiles to me face as I read each and every one of them.  We can all use a little humor in our lives these days and I thank you for providing that.

[Fishbone]

14 hours ago, Italy52 said:

Thank you so much for your post, I appreciate it.  We just got home late Saturday and I am trying to play catch-up on all things.  So sorry to hear about COVID invading you and your family.  I do hope that everyone if feeling much better now.  On the southbound leg of our cruise there was a lot of coughing and sneezing going around.  So far we are OK so I thank God for that.   

 

Overall, our cruise was nice.  Our off the ship excursion for Hubbard Glacier was cancelled at the last minute due to fog.  We almost got fogged out of Glacier Bay but the sun started to peak out during the last portion of the transit.  No calving from the glaciers. 

 

The parfume store was a "no go" for me.  I tried a couple of times to enter the store but the smell was too over whelming for my delicate nose.  Never saw any customers inside unless there was a raffle going on.

 

Comedians were outstanding.

 

Bed was DEFINITELY way too soft. 

 

Whale watching tours in Juneau and Icy Strait were outstanding and the highlight of our trip.  The Black Bear, Wildlife and Nature Walk in Ketchikan was a bust; we will never repeat that one again.

 

Thanks again for sharing your journey with all of us here on Cruise Critic.  Your posts brought numerous smiles to me face as I read each and every one of them.  We can all use a little humor in our lives these days and I thank you for providing that.

@Italy52

Welcome back! Sorry to hear that the pesky fog rolled in! It made us miss Hubbard Glacier completely! Glad you had a good cruise otherwise!  Sounds like you had fantastic whale watching excursions! That’s wonderful! Have fun planning your next cruise!!!