If anyone had told me years ago that I would visit both Hawaii and Alaska, I would have rolled my eyes and said "sure" in my best sarcastic voice, but I have done just that. I visited Hawaii with my husband and good friends in 2012, and now I've seen part of Alaska with one son and a group of friends in August.
The trip was a cruise on Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Sea. I cruised twice on Carnival ships in the 1990's, on Norwegian in 2012 and on Disney in 2016. Carnival may be different today, but based on my experiences, Carnival was #2, Norwegian was #3, Royal Caribbean was last in my overall experience and Disney was far ahead of everyone in the #1 position. It wouldn't be fair to compare every part of the cruise experience when over 20 years have passed since the first Carnival cruise. Some things about that will always stand out because it was our first cruise. I am not going to bash anything about Royal Caribbean or staying in a home in Vancouver through Airbnb. Everyone's taste and expectations vary. There wasn't any one thing wrong with a capital W on either the cruise or the house in Vancouver the night before the cruise, I simply won't use either company again. Maybe it is true that we get set in our ways as we age. All I know is that I have certain expectations and want to relax when on vacation.
There is beauty in every state, province, island, and neighborhood I've visited. Alaska was certainly no exception. Most of the excursions were in ports that featured rugged outdoorsy events. That is so not me, but neither is an endless line of stores selling items labeled "Alaska" with made in China or the Phillippines on their labels, nor the high-end jewelry stores. Personally, if I am buying something pricey, I'd rather buy it close to home in case there is a problem.
What were the best parts of the vacation?
Towel creatures appeared a few evenings.
This music was lively but sadly the actual shows and the comedian were not.
Lots of peaceful views of water and sky, nearly always with clouds. Alaska has precipitation 300 days per year.
Flowers were gorgeous. My baskets at home are fried despite daily watering.
When it came to eating, lunch at
The Twisted Fish in Juneau and lunch at
Club Paris in Anchorage were both great. Even if dining onboard is wonderful, it is nice to have a change of scenery and the food at both places was very good.
The best part of the whale watching excursion (through Liquid Alaska, Juneau tours) was seeing 6 whales and learning so much about them. I don't have a good photo of a whale breaching but here are some of my travel companions dressed for the weather.
The best part of the cruise itself was seeing the Hubbard Glacier. With some knowledge of art and colors, I was familiar with the color "glacier blue" but seeing the actual source...oh my!
The weather changed before our eyes. Mist, then clear. Dark clouds, then a bright haze.
I think the one block of time I enjoyed the most was the
scenic train from Seward to Anchorage. Seward was where we disembarked at 6:00 AM. Our return flight home was later that day from Anchorage. A shuttle would have taken us there in a shorter amount of time but the almost 6-hour train ride was lovely. My son and I were part of a travel group of six, but each of the three family pairs were seated across from other passengers. Our travel mates were a couple from Texas that had traveled extensively and were great conversationalists. Breakfast on the train was reasonably priced and good. The information shared by the tour guide was excellent.
I didn't think to take a photo of the train before we got on or immediately afterward. Getting up at 5:00 AM may have had something to do with that. If anyone knows Thomas the Train videos, doesn't this conductor remind you of Sir Topham Hatt?
Traveling can teach us so much about things we aware of in other parts of our country or the world, and also makes us appreciate what we have at home. No matter how comfortable your lodgings were, is there anything better than your own bed and pillow after a week or more away?
