Alaskan Cruise -- Days 1 and 2

Day 1 – Monday, July 15

How early is too early? I suppose that depends on whether you stayed awake really late packing and then didn’t end up falling asleep until after 2a.m. Yikes!! Yep, 5a.m. was feeling pretty extra early to me, but we needed to leave to the airport with Cindy at 5:30, so we were up and going, bright and early. Let the records show that I did indeed get that cucumber and butternut squash planted in our garden the night before we left (even if it was nearly dark and they might not survive the week). And I watered all the plants, and washed the dishes, too. Good job, me!

One great “extra” for this cruise was that Brian was able to use frequent flyer miles so we could FLY to our departure port, Vancouver, Canada. Phew! We were at first planning to DRIVE there, which would have added an extra couple of days to our trip, to make the 10+ hour drive there, and back again! I was soooo happy and relieved that we got to fly right out of our Boise airport. That was a much more convenient way to get there, for sure!

We grabbed bagel/egg sandwiches for breakfast at the airport, once we got through security. Then we took a flight through Seattle, and quickly on to Vancouver. Once we arrived, we took a train/subway over to the port where the ship was docked and dropped off our luggage. (For the record, our ship’s luggage check system was lame and we were not very happy after waiting in line for 1/2hr to get a luggage tag, when all they did was write our name and room number on a tag –which we certainly could have done on our own. Not the best first impression, huh?) We were very glad to get rid of the luggage so we could do some exploring around the port and around Vancouver city center.

We went into this amazingly fancy hotel right on the water, and walked through some of their meeting areas and restaurants, then out on a deck area, checking out the gorgeous harbor scenery. They had some awesome water features and fountains in their lobby, which we loved seeing. Then we walked across to another outdoor square where there was another beautiful waterfall sculpture garden thing. It seemed like a relaxing place to hang out, so we made a point to come back there later and buy a soda and hamburger for lunch.

We also walked into the city center for several blocks, and went into another fancy hotel to have a peek. They had some glorious old-school ballrooms, and an empty vestibule on their meeting rooms floor, with a lovely grand piano. I was soooo tempted to sit down and play a bit, but I resisted.

Vancouver looked like a fun city! Lots of really pretty flowers and trees, lots of greenery, even in the middle of the skyscrapers. We would have liked to have a bit more time to look around, but it was time to check in for our cruise. So, we made our way back to the boat area, and stood in a long line in a big room. It looked like we’d be there for a half hour or so, but instead, we’d only been in line for a few minutes and they swished us into a different line that pushed us right to the front really quickly. That was a nice little treat!

Next thing we knew, we were on the boat, walking down a long, narrow hallway to our room with a view! Yahoo!! Since we booked sooo last-minute, we got a really good rate, and decided to splurge on a BALCONY room. BEST. SPLURGE. EVER!!! We have both just LOVED having a balcony! We got a room on the ninth deck—nine stories above the water! It’s been magnificent, looking out at that amazing water, day after day. It’s been a bit chilly, but we’ve even slept with the balcony door ajar most of the nights, just to listen to the gentle gliding as the ship slices through the water. Since we’ve been sailing up the coast of Alaska, we’ve had lots of times where we’ve passed tree-covered islands and even a couple of glaciers we’ve been able to see from our room. (We even passed through a really narrow passageway where there were big mountains really close by, right next to the ship -- but it was during the night, and I didn't get to see it at all. But Brian stood on the balcony and watched it for awhile.)

After we got our room settled, we went to a restaurant called O’Sheehans for an afternoon snack. It was kind of like a pub or sports bar. Brian got a fajita, and I got a chicken Caesar salad, and we both got dessert, of course! – strawberries and cream on a vanilla pound cake for Brian, and a chocolate brownie cheesecake with caramel sauce for me, sooo delicious!

It was almost time to leave port, so we decided to go for a swim as we were departing. Vancouver was plenty warm and sunny, so the water sounded especially nice. There were tons of people on the deck and walkways around the pool area, and they were playing lots of loud music and people were dancing. But not many people were actually in the pool. They probably thought it looked cold. But really, the water was sooo nice and warm. We practically had the pool to ourselves, which was fun!

After our swim, we went back to our room and just enjoyed the waves and the water for a bit. We took a few minutes to call the kids and check in. They were all having a fun time at Grandma’s, and were eager to hear about our time. We did a facetime video for a few minutes and showed them our fancy room and balcony. As you can imagine, Natalie was oohing and ahhing! Haha!

For dinner, we decided to go to a different restaurant, called Tsar’s Palace. We weren’t extremely hungry, but we had some fun appetizers anyway. I got bruschetta, which was amazing! And Brian got a salmon filet that was really delicious (even to me, and I’m a girl who just doesn’t always love salmon, surprise). We both got dessert again – a chocolate lava cake and a salted-caramel chocolate tart. Both sooo tasty!

They had a welcome show in a huge auditorium, so we went to that. They told us about some of the different programs and amenities on the ship, and a gave us sneak previews of some of the entertainment options that would be happening throughout the week. Spoiler alert – the five-minute previews of the two shows we saw were enough to let us know the entertainment was on the raunchy side and not really our style. Bummer.

Back to the room, back to the waves, and a good night’s sleep on our king bed, listening to the water and watching islands pass us in the night. Such a great first day!!

Day 2 – Tuesday, July 16 – Day at Sea

What does one do on a day at sea? Well, pretty much whatever one WANTS to do! Talk about a day of leisure! It’s all become a bit of a blur to me, actually. But we slept in, after our very long day arriving. Then we got up and went for a fun breakfast at a humongous buffet called The Garden. They have every breakfast item you might imagine, all displayed so nicely. I got the makings of an English breakfast – eggs, broiled tomatoes, bacon and sausage, potatoes and toast, along with a side of oatmeal with brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Oh so good! Brian got something similar, but with more bacon, and a side of a Belgian waffle with some kind of banana sauce. I’m telling you --- it’s all about the food! Especially the days at sea!

After breakfast, we went for a swim again, and had the pool to ourselves again. Lucky us!! It was super warm and sooo nice, but the outside air was starting to feel a bit colder, as we were traveling north. We were still sailing by Vancouver island – which is HUGE, it turns out – so we had beautiful views of mountains and islands on either side of the ship.

What else did we do that day? We explored most of the different floors of the ship, discovering the library and game room on deck 12 – both of which have big comfy chairs facing the windows; we took a nice nap with our balcony door open; we went in the enormous duty free shop and found some lovely smelling perfumes that we didn’t buy; and Brian booked a fun little “ladies pamper party” for me to go to! That was interesting. The workers from the ship’s spa were giving instructions and samples of the various skin care products available for purchase. So, they had us use their face cleanser and toner, and eye/wrinkle cream and moisturizer. Then they had the medi-spa doctor come talk to us about all the mini surgeries they could do onboard, to eliminate wrinkles and asymmetrical facial features. “What happens on the ship, stays on the ship!” That’s what they told us – so apparently, I could book a mini cosmetic surgery and go home looking fabulous, and no one would EVER know?! Ha!

Tuesday afternoon, while walking the deck with Brian, I discovered my favorite treat… hot chocolate, with a dollop of softserv ice cream on top! It’s soooo delicious, I’ve had it most every day of the trip since then and am still loving it. I make up the regular hot choco powder mix, using about 2/3 as much water as it calls for, and I use the burning hot water from the tea/coffee dispenser. Then I walk over to the ice cream dispenser and put a dollop on top of the chocolate – straight chocolate ice cream is my favorite, but I also liked twist, vanilla, and even tried strawberry once. Deliciousness! It cools down the nearly boiling hot chocolate and makes it immediately drinkable and sooo creamy and rich. Another guest was filling his coffee and he saw me add ice cream, and decided it was a brilliant idea! So he copied me and added a chocolate dollop to his coffee. Guess I’m setting a new trend here! Heheh.

Early in the evening, we went to a dance class to learn some kind of Cuban cha-cha dance. Ha ha! It was kind of a train wreck -- way too many people on the floor, and one guy (who may have had a couple of drinks already?) kept trying to make our instructor lady laugh with funny jokes, comments and dance moves. She kept getting distracted and laughing nervously and had trouble really teaching the right steps, it seemed. We didn't get too far with our Cuban dance skills, unfortunately. But we had a good laugh together. Then we left and went out on the deck where we could do our own slow dance, away from the crowd. That was nicer!

We ended our day-at-sea on Tues with a nice long time in the ship’s library, looking at a travel guide to Alaska cruises... We looked up lots of info on points of interest at the different ports where we were stopping and talked about what kinds of things we’d like to see. Most people start planning those kinds of things months before they arrive, right? Well, our last-minute approach turned out pretty well for us!

Dinner at The Garden buffet restaurant was delicious! I got a whitefish curry that was amazing, along with tomato masala over green beans. I love Indian food, so that was a treat! We each had a big dinner salad (mine had beets, blue cheese, and balsamic vinegar -- which I sooo love all together, yum!), and picked several potato options, fruit, meats, etc. And I chose a chocolate mousse for dessert. Brian got a lemon pound cake with whipped cream and berries. Mmmm, good! We skipped the entertainment option that night—a show called “Velvet,” that we already knew was a bit too skanky for us (the shirtless male angel dude walking around with golden fairy wings on his back during the preview the night before tipped us off that it wasn't really our style)—and instead we went to our room and watched an episode of “Psych” that Brian had downloaded, and started the movie, “Pink Panther” with Steve Martin, that I had downloaded. We were falling asleep, though so we finished “Pink Panther” the next morning… “I would like to buy a ham-bur-ger!!” haha! It was a good day -- our first "day at sea" ever! ha!