In the days before the trip, I prepped Soren with the line that we were going "up to Alaska" on a "huge ship," with the result that when he wanted to talk about our voyage, he pointed "up" in the air and then held his arms very wide apart.
This is our mighty cruise liner -- with a capacity of around 2000 persons; on this run, with about 1300 passengers and 400 crew! -- at anchor in the bay off Sitka, Ala. We see a parade of these ships passing Port Townsend every night through the summer weekends, and we were thrilled to finally be a passenger aboard one. [More photos of our ship.]
The trip was the brainstorm of Jeff's mother Gloria. She had the wish to see Alaska, Jeff handled the trip planning, and Gloria and Jim invited us three to go along as their guests. Here we are on their private veranda deck before departing Seattle.
The ship was a near-perfect vacation venue for a super-active toddler and his not-so-mobile grandparents. We were always on the move, there was always room to run, run, run, and yet the distance between their stateroom and the dining room was not too far. I'll let Soren tell you about the other big perk: the pool!We had two separate rooms on different decks, and Soren slept better in ours than he did at home -- I think because the ship was one big, vibrating, white-noise machine. We also didn't fret about keeping to a sleep schedule, which was kind of freeing.
The above map shows our route. We stopped at three Alaska ports for visits of half a day each: Juneau, where Soren admired the Native art (below) in the Alaska State Museum; Sitka (our favorite -- felt kind of like Port Townsend, and Soren and I garnered the compliment of being mistaken for locals by an art gallery owner); and Ketchikan (had a nice playground within walking distance of the waterfront).
Here's Jeff and his mother on the dock in Juneau. Believe it or not, there were three more cruise ships the same size or larger docked behind ours! We followed or were followed by these three other ships all week long, but the captains did an admirable job of keeping our distance at sea, and taking turns at the glacier viewpoint.
So, northward to the glacier! We lucked out with the weather -- clear skies and very warm temperatures for this time of year. So we could see all the mountains surrounding us -- often on both sides, as we wove our way up the Inside Passage. Jeff got up early one morning to watch the sunrise.
Finally we reached the apex of our journey -- Hubbard Glacier, one of the largest and fastest-moving glaciers on the continent: 5 miles wide and 40 stories tall. We whispered through a slushy ice field in Disenchantment Bay...
...quite close to the glacier's face, and then the engines were cut and we could hear the thunder and booming of calving chunks of ice. A truly awesome sight!
May I just note that the lack of crowds of people in these deck pictures is both accurate and telling. There was a bigger rush of sightseers on the bow as we approached the glacier, but most soon retired to the dining room (with its constant buffet) or the bars or the library or their rooms... Let's just say it was not the hardiest crowd. But it was also an older crowd. We estimated there were maybe only 50 children aboard under the age of 18.But our family gamely joined in the tradition of dressing up for two "formal" nights on board the ship. The first night, we dressed up Soren to get his picture taken with us, then Jeff and I went to dinner by ourselves. The second night, we roped Soren and Gloria into accompanying us to the formal dining room.
I'm afraid to say Soren didn't last the meal. Jeff had to take him away because he was just too fussy, and Gloria and I had to eat our baked Alaska without the boys.
However, before Soren defaulted, we were treated to the sight of at least three humpback whales crossing our wake in the sunset light. By some good fortune, we were seated at one of the best tables in the ship, right next to the stern windows. That was our big wildlife sighting.
Our most memorable shore excursion was a horse-and-carriage ride around the inner harbor of Victoria, BC -- our one foreign port of call, on the last night before returning to Seattle.
We really enjoyed this mode of transport, and the sights of this lovely British-inspired provincial capital (which of course Jeff and I are fairly familiar with, as it's just across the strait from Port Townsend). Here's our view of the Parliament Buildings.
And a happy family on the final day of the cruise. So glad we did it. Thanks, Jim & Gloria -- this trip will hold a special place in our memories.
