Cruise to Alaska

On Thursday August 6, I had just gotten into Vancouver the previous night. I stayed at the JW Marriott with my parents and my uncle Jeff. It was my uncle Jeff’s seventy-first birthday. That morning, I had breakfast with Jeff. Later in the day, my parents, Jeff, and I went to the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. The hardest part of being at the park was crossing the suspension bridge. The suspension bridge felt wobbly to me and I held onto the handrail the whole time. At first, I headed back halfway across the bridge. I was convinced to try the bridge again. This time, I managed to cross to the other side thanks to a guy named JC who I held hands with. On the other side of the suspension bridge, I tried out the Treetops Adventure which was a series of bridges connected to trees. The Treetops Adventure was much more comfortable for me since the bridges were more narrow and they only went in one direction. My parents, Jeff, and I managed to cross the suspension bridge again. That night, we had dinner at a restaurant called the Victor. We celebrated my uncle Jeff’s birthday at dinner.

On Friday August 7, we checked out of the JW Marriott shortly after breakfast. It was the day we boarded the Seabourn Encore. Of course, we had to cut through all the red tape just to get on board. The room my uncle Jeff and I shared had two beds, a television, an outdoor patio, a walk-in closet, and a bathroom with a shower and a bathtub. The ship left port around 4:00. My parents on the other hand got a suite with a living area, a bed, a walk-in closet, and a bar. For dinner, we went to a restaurant called The Colonade.

On Saturday August 8, I had a day of relaxation to try to help with my seasickness. We were at sea the entire day. The main thing, I did all day was go to the spa for this spa treatment. The first part was rinsing off in a shower. Then I sat in a sauna for a few minutes. Next, I sat in another room which was hot. The last part of the excercise was laying down on this bed that had these hot little tiles on it. I layed down for a few minutes before deciding to head back to my room. At dinner, we had this etiquette dinner at a place simply called The Restaurant. We had a five course meal. The main course for me was the beef tenderloin. At the end of the night, we saw a magician perform. The magician’s name was Mark Haslam. He had two acts involving two decks of cards. The acts also involved a volunteer from the audience.

On Sunday August 9, we came to a town called Ketchikan, Alaska. I went walking around with my uncle and we bought some merchandise from stores. The main thing, I did that day was see a lumberjack show. It was the first lumberjack show I had seen since 2006. The lumberjacks did all kinds of things including sawing and chopping wood.

On Monday August 10, the cruise came to Sitka, Alaska. We had to take tenders from the ship to get to the mainland. All my uncle Jeff and I did was look around at the town. We also took a picture of a totem pole. We came back to the ship before noon. For dinner that night, we ate out by the main pool and I ate beef.

On Tuesday August 11, we went to the Catamaran Hubbard Glacier. The boat we went on had at least three floors. The third floor of it was just empty for a bunch of passengers to stand around and get the best view. At night, I saw another show of Mark Haslam. This time, he did an act called Mysteries. He supposedly solved a murder case.

On Wednesday August 12, we went whale watching on a similar boat to the one from the previous day. This boat only had two floors. I managed to snap a few pictures of the whales popping out of the water.

On Thursday August 13, my uncle Jeff, my dad, and I went rafting early in the morning. It was known as the Eagle Preserve Float Adventure. My mom stayed behind for the trip. During the trip, we saw some bald eagles. The rafting ended sooner than I expected. The reason being, we did something they called the delta walk which was getting out of the raft and walking on a river delta. We saw bear and moose tracks. The four of us had dinner at a restaurant named Solis.

On Friday August 14, the four of us arrived in Juneau. Some of the passengers got off in Juneau which made room for new passengers. The four of us rented a jeep to go see the Hubbard Glacier. I bought a new sweatshirt from its gift shop. We saw the lake created by the glacier and a waterfall that contained the water from the glacier. My uncle and I saw Mufasa: The Lion King. He told me he wasn’t too intrigued by the songs he heard but he seemed to appreciate the fact it was an original lion king story.

On Saturday August 15, I had a day of relaxation. The main thing I did that day was get a shave. They were able to take me in almost immediately. Apparently, they were very busy that day. That night, my uncle Jeff and I saw Captain America: The First Avenger.

On Sunday August 16, the ship came to a town called Wrangell, Alaska. My uncle Jeff and I went around the town. That night we watched Hoppers.

On Monday August 17, we spent the day at sea surfing through the fjords. I had a massage late in the day so I had to cut dinner short. The last thing I did that day was see a comedian named Ralph Harris perform.

On Tuesday August 18, my uncle Jeff and I went into a town called Prince Rupert. It was also my dad’s seventy-sixth birthday. The four of us had lunch in town together. At dinner, my mom couldn’t attend because she was having a massage so it was me, my dad, and uncle Jeff.

On Wednesday August 19, we mostly had another day at sea. The cell service was terrible which was how it was mostly out at sea. The main thing I did was at night watching the Seabourne Six perform. They were singing. I wish I could still remember the songs they sang to us.

On Thursday August 20, my dad, uncle Jeff, and I went into town on an island called Alert Bay. There really wasn’t much to do there except purchase things. At the end of the day, we got packed up to go home the next day. My uncle Jeff and I watched The American President that night.

Overall, I liked the tour and the cruise. I would do it again if it was in a different location next time. I was surprised to find out that Seabourne cruises are more expensive than Royal Caribbean cruises. It was also my first cruise since 2009.