Alaska Cruise TR

[DK528]

A little delayed but here’s my Alaska report! It’ll take me a couple days to write it up but let’s get started.

My mom and stepdad both have milestone birthdays this year so they decided to take their families on a big trip. 14 of us went: mom and stepdad, two sisters, BIL, my two nieces, one stepsister with her son, and the other stepsister and her husband and his two kids from his first marriage. Those two kids came in from Israel, including one taking leave from the military!

Both travel days were not fun. Had booked a nonstop to Vancouver (6 hours) on Thursday 7/18. We find out a half hour before the flight that they switched airplanes on us and the new one couldn’t make it there without refueling. So we stopped in Denver.

Short version - turned into an 9+ hour flight ... and they only had snacks (Pringles, gummy bears, etc) for sale - no meals! My nieces did great in spite of this. And then we got to Vancouver and one of our crews’ bags was still in Newark! Two hours later we left the airport and our almost full day to explore Vancouver had disappeared.

Hotel was lovely and we had a great time exploring and also lounging before embarkation at noon Friday.













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[DK528]

July 19 - first day of cruise

I was very nervous for the cruise. I had a wide assortment of seasickness remedies - for me and also my fam.



Turned out to not really be an issue! Wore my seabands and took nondrowsy Dramamine most days and I was fine. Felt some rocking and a bit of nausea on the at sea days but much better than I expected.



Shared a balcony room with my sister. Was surprisingly larger than expected!

Cruised out of Vancouver and had a lovely day and a half at sea.










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[DK528]

Surprised at the amount of selling/up selling on the ship for drinks packages or specialty dining. The first day and a half, we were accosted more than 15 times about both things - at the buffet, walking around, at the pool.

Speaking of the pool. We had great weather. Clear almost every day, mostly sunny and in the 60s. We read on the pool deck often and my nieces and sisters went into the hot tub a few times.

My nieces also fell in love with a cover band that was on board. Young brits and we went to see them a bunch. My nieces went out and danced to most songs, even though no one else was dancing. Love their fearlessness. At the end of the cruise, the girls made the bands drawings, which they hung to the speakers/amps for a couple shows. The band even stopped a set when the girls had to leave for bedtime on the last night, to say bye.


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[DK528]

First port day. Ketchikan, Alaska. Fifth largest city in Alaska and its population ranges between 8k-9k depending on the season.



We all split up for excursions most days. This day, my mom and I did a “wildlife safari” and beach bonfire where we learned a lot about one of the native tribes living in the area (and which had priority fishing rights for the whole water area). Saw some eagles and seals but not much else.




















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[DK528]

Oh the photo of the RV in the water, there’s a backstory.

Apparently the owner retired and didn’t want to have to pay for a spot in an RV park, so he strapped his RV to a barge thingy and is just hanging out in Ketchikan bay.


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[michelelovesvegas]

Oh the photo of the RV in the water, there’s a backstory.

Apparently the owner retired and didn’t want to have to pay for a spot in an RV park, so he strapped his RV to a barge thingy and is just hanging out in Ketchikan bay.


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You think that will be @foamy one day at the camp ground?? HHH

What an amazing feat just to get that many people together from all over the place for a trip.

Looking forward to more of the TR.

[Penguin]

Great read so far.

[tee2green]

Wow, loving this TR so far. An Alaskan cruise might be in our future so really happy to read about your adventures! You also look lovely in the pic in your dress on deck.

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[zeus]

Thank you for taking the time to write this up for us! We all know how busy you are, so understand if it takes some time to complete. Loving it already!

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[charlie50]

Oh the photo of the RV in the water, there’s a backstory.

Apparently the owner retired and didn’t want to have to pay for a spot in an RV park, so he strapped his RV to a barge thingy and is just hanging out in Ketchikan bay.


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It give a whole new meaning to " if the house is a rockin dont come knock en "