Alaskan Cruise Adventure

Our Alaskan cruise adventure was a great one, we are no longer cruise virgins!
We sailed from Vancouver with Holland America on the Zuiderdam - 1916 guests & 823 crew, a "mid-sized" ship. Eleven passenger decks, eight bars, five places to eat, an art gallery, a movie theater, shops, etc!

Overall a good time - our cabin was sufficiently spacious - a king bed, lots of closets, a mini fridge, plus a full bathroom with tub/shower & a cute little balcony. We ate in the buffet for most breakfasts & lunches, so many choices & great food. Dinners were in the dining room with full menus, sitting with different folks each time. Lots of variety & tried several new foods. We even went to Afternoon Tea one day. Entertainment was varied, from a hilarious comedian to a "dated" ventriloquist to singers & dancers in a large production. We didn't love the fact they there was always an "opportunity" to spend more money on the ship - jewelry, art, souvenirs, spa, etc. We did check out one art auction, truly just for the free champagne, didn't splurge on anything. We worried about Robin getting seasick, he was fine, I felt woozy in the head on a couple of days - we actually had to hang on while in the shower one morning & people walking in the corridors that day looked like staggering drunks! Generally you knew that there was motion but it wasn't an issue.

We cruised thru the Inside Passage both directions, quite close to shore, looked in vain for wildlife, did see beautiful scenery.

Our first port was Juneau, Alaska where we went gold panning at a creek - lots of fun & yes we brought home over a dozen flakes each. Our best shore excursion was a float plane trip over 5 glaciers, amazing views, so blue & vast! Everyone had a window seat, maybe 10 people with commentary over headphones. Another first for us.

Next stop was Skagway, an old gold mining town on the trip north to Dawson City. We took a bus up & over the White Pass, where miners carried (on their backs) a full years worth of supplies, 2000 lbs. over the pass taking many, many trips. Amazing stories. We traveled from Alaska, thru BC & into the Yukon where we stopped for a barbecue, checked out a museum that included a full size wooly mammoth & met sled dog puppies. For the trip back down we boarded the White Pass & Yukon train, riding in restored coaches, pulled by vintage Diesel engines. We stood on the platform between the cars taking photos & enjoying the spectacular scenery!

We then spent a full day cruising around Glacier Bay National park watching huge chunks of ice crash into the sea, listening to the rumbling & cracking & being amazed by the waves they created. Being that close to glaciers was fabulous!

We were lucky to sea a variety of ocean creatures - many humpback whales, orcas, sea otters, seals & bald eagles. Between our camera & the iPad we have hundreds of pictures & video.
Our last port was Ketchikan, we wandered around in the pouring rain, checking out the shops & Creek Street - built on stilts over a river, once home to the red light district.

We celebrated Robin's birthday on board, complete with cake & a song from the waiters in ?? Indonesian.

We met some wonderful people on board the ship, enjoyed being pampered & will definitely book another cruise in the future.
Our trip driving to Vancouver was great as we stopped to visit with old friends in Penticton & snuck a peak thru the fence at our old house ( the rhubarb was 4 ft tall).
Our trip home along Hiway 3 was very scenic, but a bit slow as it's very windy. Once we turned east it was another case of " the horse to the barn" & we were home in 2 days. Good to be back, busy gardening & still getting settled as we seem to not have been home much since we moved!
Still living the dream, thinking about our next adventure.