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Vacation 2017 – Alaskan Cruise with Seattle too!

Been way too long since my last travel post. I have done travel, just have not spent anytime writing about it. Well, it stops now!

My wife and family friends decided last fall that it was time to travel to Alaska. We have heard from many folks that this is a trip of a lifetime. It is something that I have on my bucket list! So, we decided that the best way to get a sampling of Alaska was to cruise the inside passage. Our choice for this cruise was Royal Caribbean International. We have used them many times in the past with very positive results!

Our itinerary was

  • Day 1 – Seattle, Washington
  • Day 2 – Cruising the Alaskan Inside Passage
  • Day 3 – Juneau, Alaska
  • Day 4 – Skagway, Alaska
  • Day 5 – Tracey Arm Fjord, Alaska
  • Day 6 – Cruising
  • Day 7 – Victoria, BC Canada
  • Day 8 – 11 Seattle

If you have cruised before you know that Day 1 is just travel to the ship, check-in, board, eat and set

Mendenhall Glacier

sail. You hope that you luggage gets to your room early. Then you spend the day wondering around the ship trying to see as much as you can, so you know where everything is for later.

Our ports of call for Alaska we decided on tours to help us see as much as we could. In Juneau we did the bus tour to Mendenhall Glacier  and off to whale watching in Juneau. The Glacier and waterfall next to it were breathe taking. Our walk to the glacier was filled with signs of bear, but we did not see any up close or far away. In Skagway, we spent the morning shopping

White Pass & Yukon Pass

and then board the White Pass and Yukon Railway. Again, the views from the train were outstanding! Next up was the Tracy Arm Fjord, and the view of a glacier from the water is just unbelievable. We were lucky enough to actually see a piece of ice fall from the glacier into the water.

Our trip to Victoria, BC was a repeat visit from another time. We had already seen Butchart Gardens. They are definitely worth seeing! We went out to explore the rest of Victoria! A very clean and friendly city. Did plenty of shopping and just walking around in between the rain drops.

Tracey Arm Fjord

Seattle! It has been way too long since my last visit. 1989 or 1990… Some things have changed and some have not. First, I have to give a big shout out to the folks at El Gaucho Inn – this is an 18 room boutique hotel that is in the middle of Pike’s Market and the Space Needle. Easy access to transportation. The folks that work there were outstanding, friendly and very helpful. The place had a movie theater in the basement called the Big Picture. What an experience from ticket sales, to drinks, seating area before and after the show.

Pike Place Fish Market

We did the usual tourist stuff. Hit up Pike’s Market and enjoyed the show at the Pike Place Fish Market. We made a purchase and we received our crab and fish the very next day! Since it was a cruise ship weekend – we had plenty of people at the Market. We enjoyed the seafood and crab – as folks from Arizona don’t get to enjoy that very often. Since it was father’s day during our trip (and my wife’s birthday) we treated ourselves to Sunday brunch at SkyCity at the Space Needle. The food was outstanding. The views were pretty great too, but we did have some cloud cover over the mountains. My wife and I walked around to a lot of places and truly enjoyed our time.

Overall it was a great 10 or so days. I truly enjoyed the sights and sounds! The big shock to us was we saw that the temperatures back in Arizona were going to be extremely close to 120 degrees… Oh how the 60-70’s we had, we wish we could take home with us.

All images via – SteveBellNow! My camera phone folks.

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