At the end of May, we went on a 7-day Alaskan cruise for his mom's birthday. There was a time when Matt and I cruised a lot, but this was our first non-Caribbean cruise. I think this trip taught me I've outgrown cruises in general, and I'd definitely prefer to go back to Alaska without the time-constraints that naturally come with being on the cruise's schedule at each port.
That said, I keep referencing this cruise in posts, so I feel I should at least recap the highlights!
May 24 (Day 1: cast off and day at sea)
We took the Norwegian Bliss out of Seattle. Our sailing day was gorgeous, but I'd checked the weather and knew we were in for rain and cooler temperatures for the majority of our trip. The check-in process was so smooth and easy.
Once onboard, we ate lunch, then went to our cabin. We had a balcony room, which I think is a must for a cruise (even if it's going to be cold) because it's nice to be able to enjoy a view while avoiding the thousands of people in the public areas. I'd forgotten how loud and crowded cruises are.
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| The view from our room. |
Dramamine was a must, and I'm glad I remembered to bring it with me. I needed it the first two days.
Norwegian handles food restrictions by providing you with the opportunity to order your meals a day ahead of time. This was frustrating at times, but also felt like special treatment. I wasn't a big fan of how this destroyed any sense of spontaneity around eating, and I had to guess what I'd be in the mood to eat the next day, but it was nice to be able to order anything at all off the menu and know they'd be prepared to make a gluten free version when mealtime arrived.
May 25 (Day 2: day at sea)
Matt and I requested a coffee service for our room so we could make our morning protein/creatine coffees before real breakfast.
We spent some time on the balcony, since this was likely our last sunny day as we left Washington and headed into the Pacific. We spotted a few whale spouts, but the whales were too far to see. That was okay with me!
I finished reading The Midnight Library and began Rouge. Matt and I hit the gym, which quickly became the highlight of this trip for me. I joked with Nick afterward that maybe I'm a gym rat now, because lifting weights really helped adjust my mood in a much-needed way, and going to the gym a few times over the trip was truly one of the best parts.
May 26 (Day 3: Sitka, AK)
Our first port was Sitka, where Matt and I had planned an excursion that had been described as a hike. Our guides took us and three others to Camp Coogan Bay via a little skiff. We saw some seals chilling on a buoy.
When we arrived on shore, we quickly figured out the "hike" was really more of a nature walk. That was disappointing, but the excursion was still enjoyable.
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| Eureka Falls |
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| The estuary |
We walked through the Tongass National Forest to Eureka Falls, then about half a mile more to a campsite where our guides started a fire. Matt and I continued along the trail a ways to see what else was out there in the estuary. When we returned to camp, we made hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire. Honestly, can't complain about that!
After our excursion, Matt and I split a pizza at Mean Queen, then returned to the ship to rest in the room a bit. After dinner, we sat on the observation deck and I worked on novel revisions while Matt played some Switch.
We ended the evening by catching Divas, the only show we managed to see on the ship. It was a medley performance of songs from our favorite divas, from Elton John to Lady Gaga, and it was a blast.
May 27 (Day 4: Juneau, AK)
We had an early day, so we had room service for breakfast, then caught up with the rest of the group to make it out to our excursion to the Mendenhall Glacier.
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| The texture of the glacier is so crazy, it looks like a drawing. |
Matt had hoped we'd get a chance to do a real hike out there, but time was short. (This was the moment we agreed we'd return to Alaska on our own terms in the future and get some real hiking in.)
We walked down to Nugget Falls, then caught our tour bus down to a salmon bake. This was a true highlight of the trip—most of the food was gluten free, including the chowder, and it was plentiful and delicious! And the area was gorgeous, too. A friend of mine had highly recommended we spend the money to do a salmon bake, and I'm glad I listened!
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| Nugget Falls |
Back on the ship, Matt and I hit the gym before we all went out to the bow as we went through Endicott Arm, a fjord which ends at the Dawes Glacier. The view was spectacular and it was really cool to get out onto the bow of the ship.
May 28 (Day 5: Icy Strait Point, Hoonah, AK)
After breakfast at the buffet, we all headed out to catch the gondola into town. The line for the gondola was pretty long, and there was a nature trail we could've taken instead; we ended up taking it on the way back.
I think this spot would've been nice in the summer, because the shops in the old cannery were fairly open to the elements and most of the restaurants seemed to prioritize outdoor seating. There are excursions we opted out of (like the zipline and rafting) that would have been fun in warmer weather.
While I did get Zoe a salmon stuffy and a nice new mug for myself (my first souvenir of the trip), I wasn't blown away by this stop. It felt like our most touristy stop yet, and was completely centered around shopping.
The history of Glacier Bay and the cannery were very interesting to learn.
Matt, Robby, and I took the nature trail back to the cruise. Matt and I grabbed lunch, then spent time on the observation deck, where I finished Rouge.
May 29 (Day 6: Ketchikan, AK)
I hate to be a downer, but this was by far the most poorly organized port visit I've ever experienced. Weather aside (Norwegian can't be blamed for the rain), we were only there from 6am to 1pm. By the time we got off the boat and waited in the incredibly long line for a shuttle into town, we barely had an hour before we had to get back into another incredibly long line to get back!
(I'm not exaggerating—the line was hundreds of people long and we were all late for our call time. They had tour guides assuring us they were in contact with our captain and we wouldn't be left behind.)
The history of Ketchikan and its crazy stair-streets was pretty cool to hear about during our shuttle ride. In town, there were more of the same souvenir shops with the same touristy junk. But once we left the pier and walked to Mission Street, we found a local art gallery and I got myself a candle while Matt hunted down the fire station to buy a shirt.
Then it was right back to the dock to stand in line in the rain. We didn't have time to see the historic areas or Creek Street.
After that, I wanted some downtime. I worked on novel revisions in the room a bit and Matt and I played mini bowling after dinner, which was fun. This was by far our worst night on the ship due to high winds; we were getting tossed around a bit and the wind through our balcony door was extremely loud. We slept like shit.
May 30 (Day 7: day at sea/ Victoria, BC)
We were mostly at sea this day. I'd have liked to have slept in, but we didn't want to miss breakfast. Afterward, we went to the gym, grabbed lunch, and started packing for disembarkation the next morning.
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| I finally learned how to use the smith machine! |
We arrived in Victoria at 8pm. At the pier, there was a small market with local artists, and I picked up a couple pairs of earrings. Then we took a cab into downtown. I've been to Victoria before and there wasn't much to do at that time of night (just more souvenir shops), but it gave us a chance to get off the ship one last time.
The next morning, we were off the boat by 9:30am and back to real life. I gave Zoe her salmon, and she was thrilled. It may even be her new favorite toy.
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| She really likes to groom its little fins. |
Ali
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