Diamond Princess-Very Long trip report

[Larsea]

ALASKA

Randy and I went on an Alaska cruise to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. Robin & Steve joined us. We flew into Anchorage, boarded the Diamond Princess and cruised to Vancouver, Canada. We flew home from there. Our trip was from August 8-August 15, 2009.

Saturday, August 8th-We arrived at Robin & Steve’s at 7:00am. It was cloudy out. The cab was right behind us. We went to the airport for self check-in. We paid $30.00 to check in two pieces of luggage. We carried the rest on. The plane was supposed to leave at 9:20am, but actually left at 10:40am. We arrived in Anchorage to a mix of sun and clouds at approximately 12:45pm. (they are 3 hours behind us). Steve found their luggage right away, but we had a problem with ours. It was one of the last to come off, causing us to miss our bus transfer to Whittier. We had to catch the next bus, which was a 30 minute wait. We finally left at 2:00pm for the 1 ½ hour ride to Whittier. It was a very scenic route. We arrived at the ship at 3:45pm (6:45pm at home). We had room P308 and Robin & Steve had P300. We beat our luggage, so we went and had a drink in the Lobby Bar. Dinner was at 5:45pm. Our table mates did not join us tonight, so it was just the 4 of us. I had Prime Rib, Randy had some weird Chili! After this, we went back to the room. Our luggage had arrived, so we unpacked. We had a muster drill in the Casino at 7:45pm and were all very tired. We reluctantly forced our way out on deck for Bon Voyage. It was a nice evening and still quite light out for 10:00pm (1:00am at home). It was also very scenic. We hit the sack about a half hour later. Very tired!

Sunday August 9th- OUR ANNIVERSARY! We were up bright and early as we arrived at College Fjord at 6:00am. We had coffee delivered to our room and met Robin & Steve at 7:00am. We went outside and were awed by the spectacular beauty of this glacier. We did see some calving. It was crisp and cool and sunny! We were so lucky it wasn’t raining. After this we had breakfast at the buffet. It was very busy, but good food. We went back to our room for awhile and found balloons and a Happy Anniversary sign attached to our cabin door. How nice! We met Robin & Steve in the Casino at 10:30am. Randy and Steve stayed and Robin & I explored the ship. We went into a shop and I bought a necklace for myself (from Randy). Went back to the room and found a beautiful bouquet of a dozen red carnations from Randy! I told him about the pretty necklace I bought and he went back and got me the matching earrings. We had a wonderful lunch of Fish & Chips in the Savoy Dining room. After this we watched a port presentation in the Princess Theater. I noticed most people were snoozing. We want back to the room for a rest. We met Robin & Steve in their room at 4:45pm. We were all dressed up in our formal wear. We had professional portraits taken. We then went to the Explorers Lounge and had a before dinner drink. We met our tablemates this evening. Two brothers traveling with their wives. Bill & Dana Lynn and Ted and Gail. They were all from Canada. Tonight’s dinner: Beef Minions. We had a special recognition for our anniversary and a cute little cake was given to us. The staff delivered it to us while singing and clapping. We went to the show in the Princess Theatre and watched “Piano Man”. This was wonderful; it was a medley of songs by Billy Joel, Barry Manilow, Neil Sedaka and Elton John. The costumes were so beautiful. We sat in the second row and saw everything. After this, time to hit the Casino! We were there from 9:30-11:00pm. Randy and I each hit a $60.00 jackpot. Bed at 11:00pm.

Monday August 10th-We were up at 7:30am. Ordered coffee to our room. We had a breakfast in the international Dining Room at 8:45am. This was our day at Glacier Bay which we were expecting to arrive to at 10:30am. We went up to the 15th deck and wandered to the tail end of the ship (the wake) near the Oasis Bar. This turned out to be the perfect spot; we were in a little pocket of shelter with no wind. We all had coats on, but soon took them off. The rest of the passengers were cold in the other viewing areas as the wind crossed over them. We didn’t want any one to know of our secret spot, although we had a few that did. Some girls were actually in Bikinis! We stayed out here all day and enjoyed the scenery. It was sunny out and very beautiful. Robin and I went to the photo gallery to view our pictures from the night before. They turned out nice and we bought some. We also grabbed a hamburger and hotdog from the Trident grill. Hotdog was great, not so with the burger. We thought we would be surrounded by Glaciers and were surprised to only see a couple, although the scenery and the hills surrounding them were beautiful. We did see some calving of the Marjorie Glacier which made a thunderous sound when it broke into the water. We finally went back to our room to freshen up for the evening. We saw more scenic viewing from our room. It was really quite nice. Tonight Robin & Steve came to our room and we had drinks before dinner. Tonight: Smoked Pork and parsley potatoes. We watched a comedy show in the Explorers lounge at 8:15pm that could have been better, next stop the Casino. Randy won a $120.00 jackpot. In bed at 10:30pm.

Tuesday August 11th-SKAGWAY!-We were up at 6:30am, looked out the window and saw two ships were docked right next to us. We went to the buffet for breakfast at 7:30am. We left the ship at 8:30am and walked to the town of Skagway. It was pretty small. Population of 862. We went in a few shops and bought some souvenirs. We went to a little park and called Mom, Margaret, Brandon and Matt. Found out the good news that Randy and I are going to be GRANDMA & GRANDPA!!! We were so excited, I jumped up and screamed! Robin called Tim and Dan as well. Everything was OK at home. We got back to the ship at 11:00am, had another Hotdog at the Trident Grill because we knew we wouldn’t be eating again till dinner. We departed the ship again for our Noon reservation with Chilkoot Tours. They picked us up in a small 20 passenger bus and took us to the Train Station; We took the White Pass & Yukon Route train tour up to the summit and back... The day was cloudy, but we still were able to see spectacular scenery! It was kind of scary how close the tracks were at the edge of the mountain. It took 1 ½ hours to get to the top. We went a little further to Fraser, BC. Had to show our Passports. We took a bus down the mountain and stopped for several photo opportunities. Fog settled in at times and you couldn’t see a dam thing, but it only lasted a few seconds. We were most fortunate we saw what we did. No rain!! After the tour, we walked over to the Red Onion Saloon and had a drink. This was Skagway’s most exclusive bordello built in 1987. It is now a National Historic Building. We got back to the ship at 5:00pm, and freshened up for dinner. We saw another show after dinner and finished the night at the Casino. It was a lucky night for me. I hit two Red Seven’s and a double for a jackpot of $180.00!! Yahoo… Went to bed with a smile on my face because I was so happy I was going to be a first time Grandma!!!

Wednesday August 12th-JUNEAU!-We were up at 6:30am again. We had the breakfast buffet and left the ship at 8:45am. We immediately signed up for a City and Glacier tour from 9-11:45am. We walked to the town and waited a bit for our tour bus. Much to our surprise, we boarded an old city bus from the 1960’s. (Thought we were going on a Motor Coach with cushy seats!) This was a disappointment. Our guide showed us around the city; saw the Governor’s Mansion of Sarah Palin. We stopped at the Mendenhall Glacier. This was very beautiful. We could get very close to the Glacier. Randy Steve took a walk on the trail where they saw a small cub in a tree. I called Mary from here. Robin and I toured the Visitor Center. We stayed here for 45 minutes. It was quite nice. When we got back to Juneau, we split up from the guys. Robin & I took the Mt. Robert’s Tram ($27.00 each) for a scenic view of the city of Juneau. It was awesome. We could see all over the city. We stayed for 20 minutes and then went back down. We walked up and down the streets stopping in souvenir shops along the way. When we got back to the ship, we had an ice cream cone. We looked at the Spa and got prices for a treatment. We went back to the room for a rest. Tonight was our second formal night. We dressed up and had pictures taken again. We had our before diner drinks in the Skywalkers Lounge. This was so beautiful. We were exiting Juneau and the scenery was so pretty. We were in the Lounge with a few other couples, one of which was celebrating their 3rd wedding anniversary. They popped open a couple of bottles of Champaign and shared them with us all. How nice! We had another wonderful meal. Beef Wellington with Carrot Cake for desert. We went to the “Newlywed Show” tonight and had a few laughs. Afterwards, the Casino. Bed at 11:30pm.

Thursday August 13-KETCHIKAN! We were up at 8:00am. Had breakfast at 9:00am at the Buffet. We left the ship and booked a Ketchikan “Duck” tour. The tour did not start until 11:00am. We walked around the town a bit and did some sightseeing. The tour took us around the city, and then splashed into the water for the rest of the tour. It was a beautiful day and this was a unique way to see the town. After this, we went back to the ship for a quick lunch. We left the ship at 1:45pm and took a taxi to Saxman Native Village. This turned out to be quite disappointing, just a few totem poles. We thought there would be lots & lots. We then found out we could have taken a city bus to this park for $4.00. Needless to say, we took the city bus back. Randy and I and Robin shopped for souvenirs before heading back to the ship. We got back at 3:45pm. We went back to the room for a while. We met Robin & Steve at 5:00pm and had drinks in the Wagon Wheel Lounge. Tonight’s dinner, Pork Tenderloin. We then went to the Casino. We had to set our clocks ahead on hour tonight. Bed at 12:15am.

Friday, August 14-We slept in a bit today. Got up at 8:00am. We had made to order fresh Belgium Waffles this morning. They were being served on Deck 15 along with made to order Omelets. They were yummy! We then went to a Chefs Galley presentation and got to take a tour of the Kitchen. This was interesting. Robin and I bought some more photos, and then went back to our rooms to get a head start on our packing. We had lunch in the International Dining room at 12:30pm. Robin and I had “SPA” appointments at 2:00pm. Our first time! We paid $69.00 for a facial, scalp massage, hand and foot massage. With tip, cost was $80.00. It was very relaxing. We took showers afterwards and had a nice big roomy shower! What a treat after taking showers in our rooms. Randy and Steve were at the casino. We then got ready for our last dinner. Tonight was New York Steak and Turkey with all the trimmings. We said good-bye to our table mates and exchanged e-mail addresses. Robin & Steve went to the show after dinner. Randy and I went to the Casino. We each won Jackpots! We were in our room early because we had to have our entire luggage outside our door by 10:00pm.

Saturday August 15th-Up early! We went to our last buffet. We gathered our carry on bags and waited in the Club Fusion lounge for our time to depart the ship. Everything went very smoothly. We took a nice Motor Coach bus to the Vancouver airport. It took quite awhile to complete the security process. They actually confiscated my deodorant, hairspray, small scissors and very small bottle of Vodka. Total value of all $10.00. The flight home was uneventful and we arrived on time. It was raining! We were so luck to have no rain in Alaska, but were greeted with it for our homecoming!

We had a wonderful time, and loved ALASKA!

[karatemom2]

What a great report, thanks for sharing your experiences. It sounds like you had a wonderful Anniversary. Congratulations on being first-time Grandparents!!

[ARRTrain]

Sarah Palin is no longer the Governor. She quit. Didn't even make it to a 1 term wonder.

[Beach4me]

Send some of your casino mojo my way...please!!!

And, congrats on the baby news. What an extra special way to remember your Alaskan adventure.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for writing and sharing the summary of your trip and congratulations celebrating your 35 wedding anniversary.

Keith