Alaskan Cruise! Part 2

 Day 5: We woke up early to see the Endicott Arm & Dawes Glacier. The ship stopped as close to the glacier as was safe to do so, considering there was ice in the water. It was gorgeous! I took sooooo many pictures. We were pretty tired from the early morning, but we did still go to an evening cruise show to see a ventriloquist named Kevin Johnson. We would rate him as "okay". 

Super early in the morning in the Solarium--watching the ship sail towards the glacier

From the Solarium window, heading closer to the glacier area

Gorgeous views!!! Yes, those are pieces are ice floating in the water.

Grandma testing out a Solarium chair. Perfect for watching the scenery :)

Up on the running track deck to get better pictures

A zoomed-in picture of the glacier

Grandma and I with the glacier in between us

Floating blue ice, photo taken from our room balcony

Another balcony pic

Sailing away from the glacier area

Day 6: This was another cruising day. This very well may have been the day that we didn't have anything planned. It was a nice, relaxing day where we went to the Solarium again and played a long game of Mexican Train before getting kicked out of the dining room for cleaning. I also did a little bit of shopping on the ship while my grandma tried another round at the casino. I used some of the money that my parents gave me at my retirement ceremony to buy myself the quintessential retirement gift--a wrist watch! 

Grandma sunbathing. She said the chairs were comfortable, but hard to get in and out of.

Grandma enjoying the hot tub with front views of the ship.

I didn't feel like the hot tub again, so I lounged on a chair in the front of the ship.

Is that a crab or a frog? You decide!

Day 7: I was probably the most excited for this day above all of the other ones--going to Canada! Grandma treated me to an excursion having tea at Butchart Gardens and getting a city highlights tour of Victoria, British Columbia. There was lots of walking this day! After dinner this evening, we saw comedian Jeff Nease again perform his Farewell show. 

Early morning arrival to Victoria. Photo taken from our balcony. I liked the birds all lined up lol

My first time in Canada!

Taking the bus to the gardens. Victoria was such a cute place.

Tea time

It was very nice

Of course, I had to try one of everything. Yum!

After tea, we explored the gardens until it was time to head back to the bus.

Pretty hanging flowers

A sunken garden

So many paths, so much beauty

I can't remember the name of these trees, but I thought they looked unique.

Love!

Me at a fountain

The rose garden

Grandma and I at Butchart Gardens

My favorite picture

Grandma in the gardens

Here is the Japanese section of the gardens

Cute red bridge

More Japanese gardens

The star pond

Random staircase lol

Cute pond area

Tropical flowers

Chinatown in Victoria

They used to hang people on the stairs to the back right. Also, the city is known to have all of these baskets of flowers hanging all over Victoria. Someone has to go around at night and water each of them. The homeless will steal and sell them.

It's very expensive to live in Victoria. I think gas comes out to an equivalent of $9 USD/gallon. The houses and cost of living is very high too. 

Government building

Cute homes for afternoon tea

Day 8: We returned back to Seattle early in the morning. We ate breakfast and left the ship, where Tom was waiting to pick us up. 10/10 great cruise!

Seattle from the ship

Tiger and I relaxing

I took 631 pictures total from this trip and only posted about 69 of them. Thank you so much to my grandma and Tom! Lots of great memories! 

Alaskan Cruise! Part 1

 My grandma and I went on an Alaskan cruise this June and it was an amazing time! This was my military retirement present to myself. It was my very first time ever visiting Alaska or Canada. The weather, food, customer service, and scenery were all outstanding. We couldn't have asked for a better trip.

Day 1: We boarded the ship in the afternoon and Tom was kind enough to drop us off. Boarding was super easy and we spent the rest of the evening orienting ourselves, eating dinner, and going to see a Welcome Aboard comedy show by Jeff Nease. We thought he was funny. 

Our room on Deck 7 with an awesome balcony

Plenty of room in our room. Very happy!

Our ship was so large, it was difficult to get the whole thing in one picture

Day 2: We spent the day cruising at sea. We played Bingo, went to the Solarium (an ages 18+ area at the front of the ship with pools and hot tubs), watched a live gameshow called "60 Seconds Or Less", and grandma had a great time in the casino. 

Formal night in the main dining room. Excellent food!

Day 3: We arrived in Juneau, AK around noon. We spent a little bit of time exploring in the immediate area before heading to our first excursion--the Dog Sled Summer Camp! It was a neat experience. Then after dinner, we went to The Love & Marriage Game Show on the cruise--always super fun! 

The city of Juneau

Do I look like a tourist? lol

My grandma in Juneau

The Alaskan huskies travel to this summer camp to train from May to November. They're on strict diets and trained for speed. The different colored dog houses are for the different dog owners.

We went on a 1.5 mile "sleigh" ride! Grandma and I got front row seats. Those dogs LOVE their job.

Picture from my point-of-view. Our dogs are waiting for another sled to pass. They needed to take frequent breaks because it was about 100 degrees warmer than in the winter when they race.

Grandma on a dog sled

Then we got to hold the puppies! This little guy is named Aspen and he fell asleep in grandma's arms :)

Me and the adorable Aspen

Day 4: We arrived to Skagway, AK in the early morning. Skagway was part of the Klondike Gold Rush. We didn't book any excursions, but we had a lot of fun spending a few hours exploring the small town. We also ate delicious ice cream and bought color changing shirts. In the evening, we saw vocalist Earl Turner perform on the ship. He sang a large variety of genres and was very high energy and entertaining. 

Broadway Street in Skagway. It can best be described as a tourist town.

Grandma and a bear

Rawwr! lol

There were a lot of historical displays and museums throughout the town. Many people spent a lot of time and money in very harsh conditions to try to find gold. In the end, VERY few actually walked away with any money/wealth.

Grandma was excited and wanted a picture :)

One of the souvenir shops had a really nice museum in the back of it--so cool! 

Trading beads from 1865

Dog sled memorabilia 

We had to take a short bus ride to Skagway from our ship. This is the view from the dock outside of the ship.

Taken from our room balcony--sailing away to the next stop.