WalleyeLJ

We just came back from our 4th cruise to Alaska and I still couldn't sleep. I kept jumping up and looking out so I wouldn't miss anything good. At least it was dark a few hours a night when we were there. Otherwise I don't know what would have happened. LOL! That is really one of the best things about an Alaska cruise. You are often near land with beautiful things to see. In the Caribbean it is just water and more water. We are in serious Alaska withdrawl right now. I'm not sure if this thread is helping me to relive it or making me depressed I am not there again right now! :D:(

LMZ - I know what you mean - doing these reviews is a love/hate event for me:mad::D! I love reliving the trip - I HATE that we won't be going back until at least 2015... I also agree on the Caribbean cruises. We really enjoy them, but I've never had an interest in doing a post trip review like these for Alaska. I think it's because for so many people, Alaska is a one time, or at least infrequent visit for the most part, so there's more mystery and more questions about it than Carib trips. It's SO much more fun to talk about best places to go see wild bears and whales than it is to discuss which all inclusive resort has the best day pass:p:D - but that's just me.

L.J.

Do you remember the cost for the Space Needle and the Duck tour?

crusin,

When we went the cost to go up on the Needle was $16, but the site says the cost is now $19pp. For the Ducks, I think it was $26, + $2 for the Duck Quacker (whistle that makes a "quack" sound instead of a whistle - what can I say - sometimes I like to be a kid again). Current pricing is $28/$30 for the Ducks of Seattle.

L.J.

After a good long stretch running tight along the coastline, we came into a section that meandered back and forth between the water and a ways inland. While I had of course heard of Washington State apples, I never really thought about farm land along our coastal route. There were, however, many farms large and small that we encountered along our route. Similar to the piedmont region in upstate Vermont between the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain where Burlington sits, the farming areas we passed through were similar - the Cascade Range to the east, the farmland flats, and then the coastline. The area was very lush, green everywhere, and pockets of cows, sheep, etc as we went along. We even caught a brief glimpse of a deer in one of the little pocket meadows. As the Pacific Northwest is famous for it's timer industry, we saw plenty of log yards and saw mills along the way too. It's fascinating to see hundreds and thousands of logs piled up awaiting processing or shipping. In addition to being scenic, the landscape was ever changing, which made for an enjoyable and seemingly quick ride.

Washington Farm, snow covered Olympic Range in the distance

One of several timber yards we passed en route to Vancouver, "The Claw" hard at work...

After a while we ended up running tight along the coastline for a bit. Bev spotted the first Bald Eagle on the beach, then we saw another, then bunches. At one point we saw close to a dozen hanging out, but juveniles and mature birds. We hadn't left Washington State yet, and I'd already seen more Bald Eagles than I thought I might the whole trip! A short bit after that, we came across a huge tidal flat that stretched for several miles. It was cool to see the folks walking way out on the flats. It must have had a pretty sandy base or would have thought they all would have needed hip waders...

A mature Bald Eagle prepares to alight on a shoreline...

Coastal Washington Dog Park!

Hittin' the beach - Pacific NW Style...

At last, after lots of small towns, farms and family homes, Vancouver appeared in the distance. We actually saw it a few minutes before this but the photos were a mess. The only down side was that just as the excitement started to build that we were almost ready to get off and head to the ship, the train slowed to a crawl on the final 10-15 minutes of its approach to the station. We were right on schedule, or even a few minutes early, but those final few were killer!

Vancouver here we come!

We got off the train, collected our bags, passed through customs without any issues and headed out to get a taxi. That turned out to be the most difficult part of the entire trip! Tons of people arriving on the train, less than a handful of taxis - then nothing...and we waited...and we waited...and we waited...

One taxi here, one there...we probably waited a half hour before we finally got one. Then - it was, I swear, one of those clown cars you'd see in a circus. Bev & I looked at the cab, looked at our 4 large suitcases and assorted carryon's (yes, I know there are people who go to Alaska for two weeks with a single carry on - we are NOT those people, so the one thing folks won't get from me here are any good space saving packing tips). So, totally confused how this is going to work - there really wasn't enough room, I watch the driver load three of the bags in the little truck space - and no lie - pulls out a series of bungee cords to create a makeshift cargo net to keep our bags from falling out. I SO wish I took a picture of it. He then shoved the last big bag in the front passenger seat, and off like a shot we go for the ship - and I mean like a shot - as in pedal to the metal, no brakes, no stopping for stop signs, red lights, or as Bev noted in her travel blog - little old ladies crossing the street. We HAD to have made it in record time form the train station to the Ballantyne Pier. While I was certainly surprised at the wait we had at the train station due to the lack of taxi cabs, I certainly think they need to work out a better, safer system for getting enough rides staged up there than having drivers that treat the streets of Vancouver like it an Summer X Games rally car course. That said - we DID make it there in one piece - with ALL our luggage - just in time to hit the boarding peak with 2,000 of our new best friends!

L.J.

Thanks for that I am going to not sleep LOL I am also going to try to do some shooting by holding my momo pod in the air and taking the pictures with my remote We will see Less than a month to go..

 

Now I have to decide if I am going to take the new Canon 1 d x with me or not

 

thanks again

JD,

I'm with you - I really only slept about 3 hours a night our first Alaska cruise. The 1Dx wwill be great for landscapes. As long as you've got an APS-C sensor camera for the crop factor for extra reach for wilddlife, you'll pretty muh have all your bases covered!

L.J.

The next morning we were up bright and early - 5:30am (we don't normally get up at 5:30am back in the world). We grabbed breakfast inn the hotel lobby and caught a ride to the Amtrak station. We arrived to find ourselves 10th in line. Upon a few seconds of chatting it turned out to be several CC members that I'd "met" online on our roll call board - very cool! I went to get tickets while Bev watched the bags. One of the things we found interesting was how much more lax security was riding the train. All we needed to do to board the train was present our ticket. No one looked in/at our carryon bags, or us for that matter. We could have smuggled a family of yellow wooly red-banded leaping lemurs into Canada and no one would have been the wiser! That said, nothing weird happened on the ride, so I guess all was well. Anyhow, now settled into our comfy seats on the left/water side of the train, we prepared to invade Canada... (note: some of the photos won't be so great, between the sometimes dirty windows and the moving train, but hopefully they'll give you a decent sense of place)

The Dynamic Duo Heading Off to Canada Eh!?

For those that ponder the choices between Seattle and Vancouver, and how to get between the two, we can't recommend the train highly enough. There is a ton of legroom compared to an airplane, you can get up and walk around whenever you want, and there's even a service car with food and beverage and a place to hang out, play cards, or just watch the scenery go by.

Riding the train is like having First Class for everyone!

Checking out the service car - treats for all (ok, not really, but it's nice to have options, especially if you didn't get a chance to eat before boarding the train.)

We knew the train ride would be scenic, but it was still an amazing experience, at least to us. The first part of the trip ran pretty close to the coast to begin with. Dark green forests to the right, and out our side of the train, wonderful views of Puget Sound and the waters north of Seattle, snow-capped mountains framing the distant horizon. Watching the placid waters of the Sound, the boats, large and small, fishing and freighters, making their way to parts unknown. Along the way, we passed small towns, factories, and waterfront homes tucked into tiny coves.

Bev enjoying the water's edge views

One of those many boats heading to parts unknown...

Roll tide roll...

Next up - we roll on into farm country...

L.J.

As you can see, we had a wonderful time on our Duck Tour of Seattle. I've seen them in many cities but I'd never been on one before. This one set the bar very high. If would absolutely recommend taking one of these tours while you're visiting Seattle if you've got the time. It was much interesting than a traditional bus tour because it was upbeat, fun, the windows opened wide, and you get to float your Duck Boat!

If you thought the parallel parking in the last post was a challenge - check this out! Stack'em, pack'em and rack'em...

A close up look at one of the smaller houseboats right near the boat launch. Maybe it's still for sale...

We made our way back to the Duck Boat office, wrapping up right around 7pm, but with one more mission for the day. We hopped off the Duck, hailed a taxi, and made our way to Queen Anne Park on top of the Queen Anne district NNW of downtown Seattle. I was looking for places to get an overlook view of the city, and thanks to some online research, I found that this is one of if not the best places to do that. It's a very small little park nestled into a residential neighborhood, but I was thankful that they had preserved the space for everyone to be able to enjoy the views. With the setting sun on the Space Needle, downtown Seattle, and Mt. Rainier as a backdrop, it was a wonderful way to end a long but thoroughly enjoyable first day in Seattle.

A wide angle view from Queen Anne Park of Seattle

No, this seaplane did not fly into the Space Needle - but it sure looked like it was going to for a minute a few seconds before I took the shot!

Post Card Perfect...

Our touring done, we hopped back in the taxi and made our way to the REI super store. As Bev said, I think we could have lived there. It was huge, with multiple levels and an endless array of gear, clothing, and displays. By this point we were famished, so we left the REI store and walked a couple blocks to Mad Pizza. The pizza was very good and service was quick, which was great since our big first day was catching up with us. A short walk back to the hotel, we repacked to get ready for our early morning departure via train for Vancouver and Radiance. We tumbled into bed that night exhausted but thrilled with our fantastic introduction to Seattle, ready to see what we'd see and experience the next day...

L.J.

The weather continued to stay comfortable, even on the water. There was a good amount of activity on the lake, as well as a shore side park called Gas Works Park that was packed people enjoying the early evening sunshine, flying kites, picnicking, etc. One of the very cool things about the Lake Union are all the houseboats that it's famous for. They were all over the lake, including the one which was used as the location shoot for Tom' Hanks' character in "Sleepless in Seattle". We couldn't get quite close enough for a good photo, but here are some shots of life on the water, including some other houseboat homes.

I'd HATE to have to parallel park one of those when I got home...

Would you still consider this "waterfront" property, or would you call it something else?

Livin' La Vida Loca...

Makes me want to take up sailing...and move to Seattle

The world famous Seattle skyline - what a view!

A closer shot of downtown. With all those construction cranes it reminds me of Washington, D.C. - but with much taller buildings!

Our tour almost complete, we made our way back towards the boat launch and dry land...

L.J.

Having covered the waterfront area and the sports stadiums, we began making our way through midtown back towards the Space Needle and ultimately Lake Union. The whole way our Duck kept rockin' between history and info from our guide and the karaoke jams. We had plenty of time for singing as we went thanks to a wee bit of traffic:

One of the things I found most enjoyable on our tour was that our guide discussed the prevalence of Starbucks around Seattle. She said that since Starbucks was so important to the Seattle economy, every time was saw a Starbucks - or anything related to it, that we were supposed to yell out "Cha-ching!!!" Well let me tell you - I LOVE following the rules, so I (and most everyone else on board) kept and eye out andd yelled "Cha-ching!" every chance we got. Here was one of the many sights that instigated such vocal outbursts.

Like They Need to Advertise...

Clearing the north end of downtown, we crossed over a bridge and saw that we were getting closer to the duck portion of our tour...blue water, blue skies and snowy mountains - I love Seattle!

As we made our way to the boat launch area, our guide started the Gilligan's Island theme song, hich was a hoot. When we got there, it was funny to see the looks on the faces of the folks at the boat launch as we drove face first into the water. Our guide asked us if we want to go in fast or slow and everyone shouted "Fast!", so she said..."slow it is...". She also reminded us to make sure we were familiar with those emergency exits in case things didn't go well

On final approach for our water landing. Much less stressed about this one than if was in a plane...

The little ones on board LOVED going in the water - check out that smile!

Our glimpse of the famous Seattle skyline from the water

L.J.

Subscribing! We'll be in Vancouver 4 weeks from Thursday, departing on the Radiance and finishing up with 4 nights at Denali! Very excited to see this review (read your other one Thursday night for MANY hours) going in the same direction! Thanks

Fantastic - hae a wonderful trip. 4 days in Denali sounds awesome! Our general goal for 2015 (L.J. & Bev Part III) is to split our two weeks between the Kenai and Denali end of August/beginning of September.

L.J.

Sorry LJ but I just couldn't resist responding to this. I've received several proposals in my life but none comes close to this. :D

Sigh...:o:o:o

Well, in any case, for some reason she still said yes!!!:D

L.J.

We were on the August 10-17, 2012 Southbound from Seward to Vancouver on the Radiance.

Ahhh...You're username seemed familiar, and I couldn't remember if it was from my last review of our Roll Call boar dlast summer. How was the August weather for you all?

L.J.

We were on the August 10-17, 2012 Southbound from Seward to Vancouver on the Radiance.

Ahhh...You're username seemed familiar, and I couldn't remember if it was from my last review of our Roll Call boar dlast summer. How was the August weather for you all?

L.J.

Another great review I cant wait to get to Alaska .... Love all of the pics... I hope I can take some great ones.

 

I now have acess to the new Canon 1D-X I am not sure if i will be ready to take it with me because there is one hell of a learning curve.

 

I think I have asked you this in the past On glacier day what do you see as the best spot to shoot pics of the glacier? Please share thoughts

 

 

Thanks

JD

JD,

Two main spots for me. One is to be out early and right up in the off the helicopter deck (Deck 5). That's a bit more intimate an experence - lots of people around/behind you, but no one in front. Otherwise, the fonrt section of Deck 12, with a walk down to the Deck 11 sundeck from Deck 12. Get there early enough to be at the front so you aren't trying to shoot over/around people. That'll also allow you to get the people crowded on the bow into you shot. (see below)

L.J.

We enjoyed the Radiance last summer. What a fantastic cruise!

 

Thanks for posting your review.

Jim,

Were you on the 7/6/13 southbound with us last summer?

L.J.

Thanks for sharing your wonderful pictures and narrative. We are on Rhapsody of the Seas May 31st. We can only hope that the weather is this good for us, but it isn't looking like it will be.

I look forward to the rest of your pictures.

Sherril,

If it's any consolation, the weather forecast was unsettled at best almost every day of our cruise, and we ended up with generally great weather. Here's to hoping you'll have the same luck!

L.J.

So, it turns out that 5PM was the LAST Duck Tour of the day. We paid the fare and hopped in line. We were lucky (at least to me) to get seats in the very back on the right side. We had great views of the city and got to enjoy the show on board as well. We had a fabulous young woman as our tour guide. She was, hands down, the BEST tour guide I ever had. She was a hoot, witty with an endless supply of knowledge about the city - plus she had about a dozen costume changes WHILE driving - here's the first one she wore while giving us our safety briefing. The best part was when she explained where the emergency exits were (if you've never been on a duck boat, check out the second photo - you too should be able to find the emergency exits)!

One highlight of the tour was the high energy music and the live karaoke sing-along's we had the whole trip - from the classic "YMCA" to Brooks & Dunn's "Boot Scootin' Boogie" to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" - sung as we stopped to check out Safeco Field!

We had a very eclectic mix of people on the bus from several different countries, but we had a blast with everyone singing the songs the whole way - none more than me. Fortunately I can' t post videos on here as easily as I can photos - which is probably better for everyone. I can't carry a tune in a bucket, but I can have some fun trying! In between recording sessions, we saw all sorts of cool things in and around the city. One of the cool things we loved about Seattle is all the different type of public art displays. This one was part of a series of displays of office and technology items:

Name That Office Supply Item!!!

After leaving Seattle Center, our loop took us down the hill to the Seattle waterfront where we turned left and ran down Alaska Way, checking out the sights along the water, including the Seattle cruise ship terminal!

Checking out the sights on Alaska Way - loving the roll up windows!

Seattle Cruise Ship terminal Entrance

L.J.

The sun was high over Puget Sound, so it caused a lot of lens flare and really washed out the shots I took, but the view was still amazing. working on completing the circle, you can see that a lot of people were taking advantage of the great weather:

Looking for Pacific Northwest Pirates or better yet Bigfoot!

Mount Rainier - Up Close & Personal - from 60 miles away. Would we get to see Denali so clearly??? Fingers crossed!

Before we headed back down, we took in one last moment. Even if we get to come back to Seattle, we may never get this great a view again!

Much more comfortable on the descent, I kept my eyes open the whole time - who says travel can't help your personal growth & development! As we reached the bottom, the elevator opened up in to the gift shop. They had a lot of cool things, but again we were only on Day 2, and I still had a t-shirt to buy in every port (or at least that was the plan)!

So, feet back on solid ground, we spent a few minute wandering the park underneath the Space Needle, admiring the views and the amazing feat of engineering one last time. By this time, it was around 5pm or so and we were wondering what to do next when we spied the Seattle Duck Boat Tours right next to the Park!

L.J.

I'm only up to page 27 after a day and a half. In between patients I'm reading...My absolute favorite is the series of pics of the eagle. Fantastic photography! Loving the entire review and your quips.

So did you make it to the end yet;)?

L.J.

So, 520' of gravity-defying riding later, we step off the elevator. Even though the elevator ride is almost entirely on the outside of the Needle, it winds up inside the space ship ("he come the Men In Black...") er,.. observation deck, so you don't just immediately walk outside. This is a good thing as it allowed me to take a lap around the seating/lounge area once before taking it outside for the main event. Fortunately, unlike last my tall building experience at King Kong's house, I didn't feel like a palm tree swaying in the breeze this time! So, we headed outside on the SSE side of the Needle. Up on the Empire State building, there was a brisk breeze, which makes sense being that high in the sky. So while I was braced for it, the weather outside was quite calm and warm - very comfortable. Despite my procrastination, the terrific visibility and generally clear skies had held up.

Our first look at beautiful downtown Seattle from the 520' high Space Needle Observation Deck.

In the upper right corner you can make out Quest Field, Safeco Field, and looming in the distance, massive Mt. Rainier.

I think the wire catch fence helped! I'm actually almost as calm and happy as I look...

After a few minutes of gazing at downtown Seattle, we started to make our way counterclockwise around the deck. As I grew bolder, I began to look down into Seattle Center Park. I even stuck my DSLR out over the edge and took a few shots. I had the camera strap wrapped around my hand and wrist so tight so I didn't lose the camera that I was lucky I could squeeze off a few shots!

A top down view of Seattle Center, including the rollercoaster and the EMP Pop Culture Museum - and the shadow of the Space Needle!

Continuing around the deck we were treated to our first views of Lake Union - which we'd get A LOT closer to before the day was over!

L.J.

So you may have noticed I mentioned in the previous post "the dreaded Space Needle". So, the Space Needle is just about the most iconic image of Seattle - at least in my mind. World famous, with towering, 520 foot high views of Seattle, Puget Sound, and the Cascade & Olympic mountain ranges. So here we are, standing at the base of this massive, amazing feat of science and engineering and human creativity, and me a photographer on just about the most picture perfect day possible. It's an absolutely perfect moment that couldn't have been scripted any better.

Except for one teeny, tiny, silly little thing, a bit of a fly in the ointment so to speak...

I have a nearly debilitating fear of heights!

Like heart stopping, rubber-legged, I'm going to pass out, pulse racing 200 beats a minute kind of fear.

Two previous examples of similar circumstances . First, I proposed to Bev on the top of Whiteface Mountain near Lake Placid, NY in the middle of fall foliage season. Now being on top of a mountain generally isn't a problem. However, after pooping the question, I took Bev into Lake Placid to check out the Olympic sights. One of those was going up in the ski jump towers. 70m - less than half the height of the Space Needle. We rode up in the elevator, stepped out...and I couldn't move more than a couple of steps. Not proud of it, not happy about it, but it was like I was glued to the floor around the main concrete pillar holding the whole thing up. Bev went right out into the actually ski jump area and took photos so I could see what the view looked liked. Even the photos made me ill. It's a wonder she didn't hand me the ring back after we got down to terra firma!

Second, the Empire State Building. Got out on the 86th, or 89th floor, took about 5 steps, and froze. I SWEAR the whole building was swaying 2-3 feet. Mind you, I know that skyscrapers are built to move in the wind, but NO one else in our group felt what I felt. When I FINALLY made it into the next elevator and up to the main observation deck, I had to kneel initially at the edge of the deck wall because I couldn't stand - even though it was about 3 feet thick.

So, now that I've embarrassed myself completely - back to my dilemma at the Space Needle - or rather Bev's dilemma. After 20 or so minutes of my sitting and staring at the thing, I'm sure her patience was wearing thin, but she didn't show it. She Kept telling me if I didn't want to go up, it was fine. But I didn't want her to miss the experience either. Watching the external elevators glide up and down the skeletal tripod legs of the Needle was not helping calm my fears. All I could picture was being halfway up and an earthquake striking at that exact moment.

Abstract Beauty

So, learning that the Needle was built to withstand a CAT 5 hurricane and a 9.1+ earthquake, and knowing I was likely never going to get a perfect day like this again, even if I was fortunate enough to make it back to Seattle again, I finally decided to just go for it!

A shot of the happy moment of facing my fears...

We had a bit of a wait as there was a long line, but it was like that when we got there, so no harm, no fowl (that came later;)).

It did, of course, allow me plenty of time to amp my fears back up again, but I persevered - sort of! When it was finally time for us to board our elevator, I had decided to video the ride up. But I was so stressed out that I just closed my eyes, stuck the video camera up over my head, and clenched my teeth for the whole ride up to the top. The funny thing is you'd figure that it would be 45-60 seconds of the most useless video in history - but when we got back from the trip and I went through the video clips, it was probably the most rock solid, steady footage I shot the whole trip - go figure!

L.J.

Train tickets acquired, we took a quick taxi ride back to West Lake Center. We were headed to the world famous Space Needle next, but not only did we want to save money going that far across town - we also wanted to try a pretty unique public transit opportunity - the Seattle Monorail! Built for the World's Fair in 1962, it still runs the cars originally built for the project in 1961, and carries around 2 million passengers a year. It runs a little over a mile between West Lake Center and Seattle Center, where the Space Needle and a number of other attractions are located. You can't beat the experience for $2.25! With service every 10 minutes, we didn't have to wait long. It wasn't too crowded, and in a matter of minutes we were at our next destination...the dreaded Space Needle!

My Bestest Travelling Transit Companion!

The Monorail Station in Seattle Center

The Monorail Leaving the Station...

A first look at the Needle

If the Seattle Space Needle were the Leaning Tower of Pisa...

L.J.

I'm so excited that you are doing this review. I leave for Seattle June22nd and our cruise is June 25th. Looking forward to reading another wonderful review by LJ

Thanks Flounder315!

You're lucky - 3 days pre cruise in Seattle - wahoo! I wish we'd had more than one day to explore Seattle, but also thankful we had that - and such great weather to boot! Hopefully you'll be as lucky:).

L.J.

Over the years I've developed a fairly wide ranging taste for coffee. Not coffee drinks (although I like some), just straight up coffee. Some people will only drink their brand the way soda drinkers are die hard Coke or Pepsi (Coke for me please!). I grew up in New England, so I was born and raised on Dunkin' Donuts. While I did have the occasional Starbucks, I often found it a bit to bitter for my taste. That said, Starbucks was better than no name gas station coffee by a mile. When I moved to where we are now in North Carolina almost 10 years ago, there were no Dunkin' Donuts - or Starbucks, or Seattle's Best, or fill in the blank - not a single coffee chain shop for miles. Then a year or so after we moved here, Starbucks opened a store. Since other coffee options in the area were limited, I started to go to Starbucks on a regular basis. As we started cruising regularly, I found I loved the Seattle's Best that I've found on most RCI ships. Now, I enjoy finding new coffee shops and chains to try out wherever my travels take me (i.e. Port City Java inn he Wilmington, NC area). So, even though Starbucks has now grown to be worldwide cultural coffee phenomenon, it still started with a lone shop at Pike Place, so before we headed to the Amtrak station to get our tickets for our trip up to Vancouver the next morning.

The storefront of the very first Starbucks

My goofy self posing in front of the commemorative seal inside the store

Energized by a fresh cup of Starbuck's Pike's Place brew (not normally a fan of that particular roast, but getting anything else while at the Pike's Place store for the first time just seemed wrong), we made our way out of Pike's Place and down to the Amtrak station, an easy 8 or 9 blocks or so. We found out that 1) of business class seat purchase was refunded to us because the train the next day wouldn't have those cars on it, and 2) no assigned seats. In the end it did save us waiting in line the next morning to get ticketed, so it was still worth it.

L.J.

Right near the Cafe was a great candy shop. I picked up some gummy bears (favorite travel food), but just not THIS one...

One thing we did do in terms of souvenirs was that we started picking up Christmas ornaments. We try and pick up one in new places we go in our travels, and since this was our first time in Seattle, we started collecting...

While there were many different and unique things in Pike's, I wanted to close out our visit there with one pretty unique - at least to me. Amidst all the fresh, fish and produce, there was one location that sold all sorts of pastas. Different shapes, sizes, colors, textures AND - flavors! While foodies out there may not find that unusual, it was a first for me. I can't imagine wanting chocolate pasta...and I LOVE pasta - it's my main food group...

Having finally completed our tour of Pike's we headed outside to find the very first Starbuck's - the only chain type store allowed in the whole Pike's area - since it started off as one of kind:D.

L.J.

So excited to read your review. I read your very thorough and most enjoyable review from your trip last summer and enjoyed it very much. We're cruising to Alaska from Seattle to Vancouver in September. So I can't wait to check the rest of your review. Thanks so much for doing it! :)

You're very welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed the last one. This is a little older, so I've got some work to do on remembering some of the details - thank god for photos!

L.J.