Month: June 2019

The final port of call of our Alaska cruise is the beautiful Victoria.

We took an excursion to the beautiful Butchart Gardens in Victoria, B.C., Canada, the last port of call of the Alaska cruise. We took a picture by the Sunken Garden. It also has a Japanese garden, rose garden, Italian garden…

We arrived in Skagway, Alaska. It’s home to gold-rush-era buildings, now preserved as part of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. It is exciting to ride the White Pass Scenic Railroad vintage trains past the steep Chilkoot trail offering sweeping mountain views.

Alaska is the salmon capital of the world. After visiting Glacier Gardens, the bus took us to Macaulay Salmon Hatchery. The employees there introduced us to the hatchery operations and the life cycle of pacific salmons. It was fascinating to learn about the salmon spawning process.

The glacier gardens we visited in Juneau is incredible…

Juneau is called “Alaska’s peak experience,” due to its unparalleled glacier viewing. Al and I went to see the majestic Mendenhall Glacier that lies 12 miles outside Juneau.

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Our cruise ship is taking us close to the glaciers in Juneau, but the floating icebergs everywhere made it risky and captain decided to turn the ship around, not going further.

It’s 6am and the ship just pulled into the port of Juneau. Al and I have an excursion booked to see the Glaciers and salmon hatchery

This is our first time to be on a duck tour (this amphibian doubles as a boat and a bus). The driver took us through the rustic streets of Kietchikan, showing us new and historic sights.   Later we are literally driven into the scenic harbor of the Tongass Narrows. As we pass by their local fishing fleet, bald eagles, and Ketchikan’s waterfront community, we feel the energy of the “Salmon Capital of the World.” Later we went to check out the town ourselves.

It’s 6am, and the ship is pulling into the port of Ketchikan. I am standing on my balcony enjoying the view…

Day 2 on the ship, Al and I saw the Tony Award-nominated Footloose the Musical! It tells the story of a Chicago teen, Ren McCormack, who moves to a small midwestern town and finds that a local preacher has banned rock music and dancing. The Footloose is a feel-good, positive show that encourages people to embrace new ideas, stand up for what they believe in and dance their hearts out. We really enjoyed the show and went back to see it again the following day.

Our booking comes with premium beverage package for the entire cruise. We can have unlimited wine, cocktails…Our first drink on the ship: classic mojita for Al, and brugal ginger mojita for Judy. The truth is we are not able to drink much. We normally like to have a glass of red wine with our dinner.