I finally have all my photos. I picked up Linda’s CDs of photos on Friday after work. I can’t wait to start ordering! I was going to begin the planning phase today but I had a nap and finished up some DT projects.
So here we go!
Alaska May 4-11, 2007
Inside Passage Royal Caribbean Vision of the Seas
May 3 Linda and I flew to Vancouver and stayed overnight at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport. OMG if you ever get the chance to stay there take it. It is an amazing property! The beds are so comfy and the bathroom is amazing. We couldn’t figure out the lights though – but once we got that there was a little control thing on the nightstand for everything in the room it was cool.
May 4 we slept in and went downstairs to the airport food court for breakfast (we didn’t want to pay $29 for a continental breakfast in the room!). Around noon we checked out and then took a cab to the Belentyne Pier. There are 2 in Vancouver – Canada Place which is awesome and Belentyne which is just a big old warehouse lol Check in was a breeze. We had all of our paperwork done online prior to arriving and printed. There was a guy checking everyone in line to make sure they had everything. He also advised that this was their first departure of the season and that 20 out of 24 of his staff were new this season. That was all good – we moved through quickly. We chatted with our check in agent who was really nice but really nervous.
Once we got onboard we looked around. Took some photos. Headed upstairs for some lunch in the Windjammer buffet. After we headed downstairs to our :”Cave” NEVER book an inside cabin. I had sailed one before and this time gave Linda the choice which she decided to book it to use the extra money for shore excursions……after our balcony on Disney we dubbed our cabin the “Cave.” No natural light at all. We were tired all the time. Hence it will be called that for the rest of the review lol We checked out our room and then went out for the mandatory lifeboat drill. It is hilarious to see 1500 people in bright orange lifevests and all lined up pretty. Haha They are so not flattering on someone my size.
After the drill, we returned the vests to the Cave and went to Deck 10 to take photos of Vancouver as we sailed away. It was pretty cool to get photos of Stanley Park and the Lions Gate Bridge from the ship. We sailed by Canada Place and there were 3 ships there – Princess, NCL and Celebrity. The Vancouver skyline is so pretty. After our photos we returned to the Cave. It was about 6pm and both of us ended up having a nap. We did get up around 815pm and decided to head to the dining room for supper and to meet our table mates.
Tablemates - OMG what a joke! I am sure they have stories and thoughts on us, but really, I have to say they were even worse than New York from our Disney cruise!!! We were at a table of 10. So here are the descriptions. To Lindas left there was a couple from Georgia. Linda tried to talk to them but he said nothing and she said very little. Linda was in Georgia in the fall and she was asking and talking about that and I would be surprised if she answered more than one word at a time. Across the table from me was a newly wed couple from Mexico. They didn’t stop making out the entire meal! Get a room already! Then beside them (kitty corner to us) was the only cool couple at our table. They were from San Diego and she is in FBI training and they were on the trip so she had time to refresh her mind. It is pretty intense training. They were really nice, but the way the table was we couldn’t talk to them much cuz they seemed so far away. Next to me on my right was a couple of young girls (would have to be 25 or so). All they talked about was “Oh my God….I should have brought my mud pack. When I travel with my boyfriend I cant sit around with my mask on cuz he thinks it is gross, but we are friends we could totally have a girls night and sit around with the masks on……..” Like OMG I am so not feeling that conversation. Needless to say we ate at the buffet for the rest of the week! Well because of the people but also the service was kinda crappy too.
May 5 We were at sea this day. I just looked through Lindas photos and saw that she took photos of the waves and grey weather we had that day! I don’t remember it! It totally didn’t bother me. We started the day with 6 foot swells and later in the day they became 15 foot. Lots of people were lined up at the pursers desk for Dramamine but we were fine. We totally spent the day taking photos around the ship and reading.
May 6 was Juneau. What a gong show!
We arrived late. It look forever to get clearance from the officials. People were panicing to get off bc a lot of them had booked shore excursions on their own. Personel were telling the passengers to stay away from Deck 1 bc that was holding up clearance. Linda and I were up on Deck 5 taking photos, trying to stay dry. Finally the clearance came through and so we got in line. The line was all the way to Deck 5 where we joined. Insane! It took us almost 30 min to get off the ship! It was 1210 when we finally hit the dock and started to look for our shore excursion.
Looking looking looking……are you kidding me? No one knew of our tour, no one had seen it. Ok we couldn’t be the only ones on it. I continued to look while Linda ran into the info center. Apparently they were there but left without us! How rude! We talked to the info lade, she called the tour operator, they had no idea why their name was printed on the tour voucher cuz they didn’t offer this tour! LOL Oh ya……..so we go back onto the ship and to the Pursers desk to get this cleared up. They cant help us cuz it is Shore Excursions and they are – yup, out on the pier! So the Purser dude radios to the SE manager and we are to meet her out there. Ok so out we go again.
On a side note, as we were getting back onboard to get this fixed, we were behind 5 big black guys. We got to chatting with a couple of them in the elevator and they were some of the entertainment – a Tribute to the Temptations. Oh they were awesome! So nice and funny. They joked with us while we waited for them to get checked in and they even sang to us! Well not a full song but bits and pieces from misc songs – inc Who Let the Dogs Out and Just My Imagination (cuz at the time it seemed like the Musher Camp was just going to be imaginary!).
We finally find the SE gal on the pier – after searching for about 10 min….grrrr Really, as an agent, do I want to promote this company???? She was like what happened? We explained to her that we were moved from the 1230pm to the 1130am tour. Our ship didn’t clear until 1145am and we were not off the ship until 1210pm. It wasn’t like we were straggling off either. We were trying to hustle. It isn’t like we were the only ones coming off – there were still tons of people getting off the ship! Se she says “Well I don’t know what I can do” I was like “We called the tour operator, they are not operating this tour. They do not know why RCCL has their name on the vouchers. They are going to call Miami and take care of that. We spoke to so and so, so and so and so and so. You will either refund our money or you will move us to a later tour. Which one works better for you?” haha We were moved to a later tour.
So we finally got to the Mushers Camp. It was so FREAKING amamzing!!! We took the bust to the meeting point (where the driver says “it’s a good thing you weren’t on this mornings tour bc I got lost and we were about 30 min late.” ) The van met us and drove us down the path to the camp. We then climbed into these special carts. They are like golf carts with 6 seats and seatbelts. There were 18 dogs attached and off we went! They were so fast! We drove around for about 10-15 min or so and then we got to go and tour the rest of the camp and play with the puppies! They brought 4 puppies from the Skagway litter. They were 8 weeks old and so adorable!
After our tour we went back to the pier and we took off to look in the little shops and went to the Red Dog Saloon for drinks. We had hot apple pies. They were hot cider with lots of alcohol and whipped cream. So fun!
May 7 we were in Skagway. Home of the 1898 Gold Rush. It was so cool. We did 2 tours here. In the morning we did the Street Car tour where we learned about the Gold Rush history while we toured down town (all 1 main street of it!), the Gold Rush cemetery and then up the mountain to a lookout point overlooking the town. We then went back into town and went to a multi media presentation which gave a bit more info on the Gold Rush and also traced 12 families still living in Skagway back to Gold Rush time. It was very cool. Oh and we became members of the Arctic Brothers.
After a quick bite to eat on board, we met for the Ghosts and Goodtime Girls tour. This was a walking tour around the town. We were let by the “working ladies” all decked out in costume and learned so much about the Women of the Gold Rush. They told us that women were promised jobs for $3 a day and rushed up only to find out that it cost $6 a day to live. Well, in come the madams of the brothels and help them earn that extra money. These women were not treated well. They were branded if they got pregnant or contracted a STD. it was horrific!
They showed us some of the places around town that are said to be haunted too. One of the stories was a home of a lady who moved up there. She moved up and began to bake apple pies for the men. She charged $10 ($100 by today’s standards). As the Gold Rush was slowing down, she continued her entrepreneurism and opened up a hotel. She would have a bon fire out back and tell stories of the Gold Rush. Her only rule was that there were to be no locals around. In 1949 the hotel burned down. To this day when people walk by there, they claim to smell the smoke from the bon fire and hear the laughing of the guests.
There was also a staff quarters across the street. It still stands, but is all boarded up. Apparently the family who worked at the house had a daughter who was young and got pregnant. She lost the child but claimed to hear it crying outside the windows. As she moved to one, it would come from across the room. She would walk out in the woods and look for the crying baby. Her parents sent her off to a hospital where she passed away. Then one night the father was home alone and heard a baby crying. He searched the house, the yard and the woods. He started to go crazy too, but went up into one of the upstairs bedrooms and shot himself. Very freaky.
We ended our tour at the Red Onion Saloon where we went upstairs to visit the Brothel Museum. I wish we would have had longer to poke around and see the stuff, but we were shuffled through pretty quick. I did get some cool photos though. Very exciting. After that, Linda and I just walked around and took photos. We then went back to the ship to our Cave and had a nap before supper.
May 8 was a sea day through Tracey Arm Fjord and Sawyer Glacier. Not much to tell here. We spent 6 hours cruising in. I was fascinated by the snow topped mountains, the icebergs in the water and the glacier. It was so serene and peaceful to sail through there.
May 9 we were in Prince Rupert. As dad says “We don’t have to go back there any time soon” It was prcturesque but nothing special. It was here that we did our $150 Not So Whale Whale Watching Tour. We saw villages, sea lions, eagles, lighthouses, islands, lots of water – BUT NO WHALES. Not that we are bitter or anything
May 10 was a sea day. Because we were ahead of schedule, the Captain detoured and went through the islands instead of around them. There were dolphins (porpoises) jumping around the ship, beautiful scenery and lots of relaxation.
May 11 we arrived into Seattle and once we were off the ship, we stashed our luggage at the concierge desk outside of the terminal and then went touring the city. We walked to Pike Place Market. Everyone told us that we would want to spend days there. We were done in about an hour lol Lots of flowers, some flying fish (but not lots cuz they only throw when people buy) and lots of people. We walked the side streets and saw lots of neat little shops. After, we walked down to Pioneer Square. Lots of homeless people, so we quickly took some photos and then left. As we walked back to the terminal, we stopped at Red Robin for lunch. Matt was our server and he rocked! It was his 1st day but we were so surprised, we never would have guessed! After picking up our luggage we headed off to the airport and vowed never to book such a late flight again no matter how much we wanted to see the city! LOL
And that in a very long nutshell is my wrap up of my Alaska Cruise!
1 comment:
Hey, Mel! Sorry it's taken me so long to catch up to you but life (and work!) got in the way. Thanks for giving such a detailed commentary of your cruise. It totally helps me to hear your comments when we are thinking of going some day. Do you think it would be worth it to cruise all the way to Anchorage (or wherever it is that the ships go on the peninsula)? Thanks for your advice.
Post a Comment