2012 July 6-20 Alaska Land and Cruise Adventure Review with LOTS of photos!

[WalleyeLJ]

So, breakfast complete (and no Ravens stealing food of the balcony this time!), so just had a lazy day around the ship. The weather was glorious (as noted by the balcony breakfast in robes). It was a beautiful, bright, sunny, blue sky, nearly cloud free day all day. It felt more like a day in the Caribbean, but surrounded by towering green mountains with snow and waterfalls. The last time we came through most of this section of the Inside Passage & British Columbia, it was mostly in the middle of the night - and when I woke up it was drizzly and dreary and cold. Beautiful in and of itself, but the total opposite of what we experienced today. One of the other cool things about this part of the Inside Passage is that you cruise through some VERY narrow sections, with some tight twists and turns, which is a lot of fun. Here are a few mid morning views heading south towards Victoria, B.C. (not a stop for us).

 

 

 

Crazy Ivan in the distance (not the mountain, but rather the hard maneuvering trough the Passage coming up near the base of the mountain in the distance)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bev soaking up the warm rays while shore gazing

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting ready to take a sharp left turn (check out the two kayaks and a canoe in from what I can tell is the middle of NOWHERE!!!). That is the definition of getting away from it all - except for the occasional giant cruise part...

 

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[DizzyDallasDi]

Hi L.J. - I'm trying to get my bearings of where you are. From what I remember, your last port was Ketchikan and know you're headed up the inside passage between British Columbia and Vancouver Island toward Vancouver. What time did you leave Ketchikan and when did you enter this passage?

 

On my last trip, I departed Ketchikan at 6pm but confined myself to my cabin for the rest of the evening tending to a sprained ankle. When I managed to hobble/hop to the balcony for a view, I wasn't getting the full effect of any

manueuvering because I was in an aft (stern facing) cabin. And, then it was getting dark and I had to pack for debarkation the next morning.

After midnight, it was very pretty seeing the lights from cities and lighthouses along the way, but, it didn't hold a candle to going through this same area in daylight with the mountains soaring above on both sides....so close you could smell and almost touch them.

[WalleyeLJ]

Thank you so much for your review! The pictures are wonderful and really add to the excitement of visiting Alaska next summer...

 

Thanks Fishfish! Will this be your first trip to Alaska, and with a username like that, are you planning on fishing:D?

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Hi L.J. - I'm trying to get my bearings of where you are. From what I remember, your last port was Ketchikan and know you're headed up the inside passage between British Columbia and Vancouver Island toward Vancouver. What time did you leave Ketchikan and when did you enter this passage?

 

Di, we left at 6pm like you. Once we left I headed to dinner, the show for the evening, and then bed. I think we missed our transit through Hecate Strait & Queen Charlotte Sound in the middle of the night, because the area where I took the last set of photos I remembered passing through around 5am heading north last time, and having open water around us in the afternoon that trip. I think the spot we enjoyed all afternoon this trip was between Vancouver ISland and mainland British Columbia, south of Port Hardy and north of Campbell River.

 

On my last trip, I departed Ketchikan at 6pm but confined myself to my cabin for the rest of the evening tending to a sprained ankle. When I managed to hobble/hop to the balcony for a view, I wasn't getting the full effect of any

manueuvering because I was in an aft (stern facing) cabin. And, then it was getting dark and I had to pack for debarkation the next morning.

 

After midnight, it was very pretty seeing the lights from cities and lighthouses along the way, but, it didn't hold a candle to going through this same area in daylight with the mountains soaring above on both sides....so close you could smell and almost touch them.

 

Di, did you go straight from Ketchikan to Vancouver with no at sea day? We had a sea day both times heading through this area. I definitely liked heading south more as we were "Inside" the whole day, rather than spending several hours in open water on the northbound trip.

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

I have to apologize to everyone following as looking at my last few posts I have some silly typos and word drops - like leaving "ship" out of the line "except for the occasional giant cruise __________ part..." I will try and pay better attention! I am my own worst editor:D. So, back to the wonderful weather and views. Here are a couple more shots from this particularly memorable sharp left turn in the Passage.

 

Looking back longingly back towards Ketchikan and Alaska. Take a look at the surface of the water. It may look at first like the waves are caused by a windy day. There was, however, barely a breeze to break up the warm air and create the slight ripples you see on the water. The waves and white water are created from the very strong currents meeting and shearing near the spot where the kayakers were, the place where we turned left/south. Even in a giant cruise ship, I bet they can feel the effects up in the bridge as they navigate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the cool by-products of all that mayhem where the two currents met were these really big whirlpools and swirling eddies that were all over the surface in this particular area. The scale is hard to judge, but of some this were close to the size of a Mini Cooper!

 

 

 

 

 

 

More and more people came out on their balconies to soak in the warm sunshine and the beautiful scenery. I tend to be warm natured so I'll often be in a t-shirt when others are in a sweatshirt, but as you can see here, a lot of people found the weather very comfortable. You can also see lots of binoculars and cameras out as people checked out the kayakers fading in the distance, and scanning for last sightings of wildlife and we churned south...

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the next several hours we continued to weave our way through the Inside Passage. For most of the day, we saw few signs of permanent civilization - just the occasional fish camp nestled along the shoreline, and a fishing boat here and there. All around us, the mountains hemmed us in, the constantly changing landscape entertaining us much of the day and we leisurely packed in preparation for departure the next morning (boo!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we didn't see a lot of built impacts on the landscape, we did see the hand of man often during the day in the form of timber harvesting. At numerous time during the day, it was easy to see where large sections of mountainsides had been clear-cut for timber. While almost all the areas we saw had some new growth beginning, it was still amazing to see that much impact in some areas, and think of what it must have looked like right after everything had been clear out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

There a couple of other new restaurants on Radiance that I've mentioned but we did not try - Izumi's and Rita's Cantina. While we did not eat at either this trip, I did want to get a couple of photos so people could at least see what they look like. They are each located in parts of what use to be part of The Windjammer, between the newly condensed part of the Windjammer and the outside seating area at the very back of Deck 11. For folks that have been on Radiance in the past but not since the renovations, this is a bit of a chance - especially in terms of the WJ being even MORE crowded than it already was on busy days, particularly embarkation day. These two options are available for a fee - $3 per person plus ala carte pricing for some menu items, and $5 per person for Izumi, plus ala carte pricing for some menu items. One thing to remember is that you cannot get to the rear deck open air covered seating area on the fantail to eat from Windjammer staying on Deck 11 without going through one of these two spaces. Even though they are "closed" much of the time, you can always walk through them and head out to the great dining space if the weather is good enough - and you'll have a great chance of finding a seat out there.

 

 

 

Here's the entrance to Izumi. If you are standing in the Windjammer and facing the rear of the ship, Izumi is located on the right back corner of the WJ. Rita's Cantina is located in the same spot of the opposite side in the left rear corner of the WJ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Izumi Sushi Bar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rita's Cantina Entrance

 

 

 

 

 

 

A view of Rita's seating area from the rear deck entrance. Izumi has a very similar layout, just with a slightly more modern, less festive decor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Cruise Compass, Day 6, Ketchikan

 

 

 

Day 6 - Cover

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 6 - Inside Page 2

 

 

 

 

 

Day 6 - Inside Page 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 6 - Back Cover

 

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

We saw small boats and commercial fishing vessels of and on all day, plying their way through the nooks and crannies of the Inside Passage. We wondered if they we just heading north to start fishing, or if they had just dropped off a hold full of fish and were heading back out for more, or just starting their way far north into the Alaska Gulf. We'll never know, but it was fun imagining what adventures they'd already had, and what might lay ahead.

 

 

 

Comin' 'round the point

 

 

 

 

 

 

Along mid ship - I don't think we have to worry that these fisherman/pirates will board us! May their nets be full...

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just got a kick out of this lone tree which for some reason didn't make the cut - which is probably one of the only times that NOT making the cut is a good thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we got later into the afternoon, we started to see more and more signs that we were getting closer to more populated areas. Here's a look at one of the timber processing facilities that pop up every so often along the course of your journey through the IP, and many parts of southeast Alaska.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earlier I said that we were making our way towards Victoria, but thanks to the wonder of Google Earth and some closer examination, I think what I THOUGHT was Victoria was actually Campbell River. Seasoned Alaska travelers - go ahead and laugh at me - I have! I didn't hear any announcements of what community it was, and it seemed pretty large, but headed south along Vancouver Island, and given where we should have been on the journey and where the sun set, it's the only logical answer. In any case, we just cruised by, but it looked lovely bathed in the late afternoon sunshine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having already had our last dinner onboard, we headed out to enjoy the views before heading into the last night of entertainment. Here's my Dad and I. For those of you who've read the whole thread, you'll see we're dressed a LITTLE differently than when we posed for our picture in Seward...

 

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

We headed back into the Aurora Theater to watch the Sail Away show, which is a montage of several of the performances over the course of the week. We usually catch this show even if we missed some of them during the week. It was also our last time seeing our cruise director, Paul Rutter. He was one of the more memorable CD's we've had. No over the top, but he had just the right energy level for this cruise. FYI for the camera folks - these photos were the only Theater shots I brought my 7D and 70-200mm in for during thr trip. You can decide what you think in terms of quality between these shots and the ones I took earlier in the week with the 40SX.

 

 

 

Some of the many faces of Cruise Director Paul...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple shots of the Radiance of the Seas orchestra. This was the first trip we've been on where the band leader was a woman, and she was very energetic & funny over the course of the week when interacting with the guest performers - and a terrific sax player to boot!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Up next was the return of world record holding juggler and comedian Adam Kario. He was amazing to watch juggle, very funny, and he was a cruise crush for more than a few members of the audience...

 

 

 

Check out the orange ping pong ball. He popped a couple in his mouth and "juggled" those one a t a time - just using his mouth. Then - he used the ping pong balls to turn the mini xylophone into a harmonica - sort of - and played a couple songs. May not sound so good in words, but it was a blast to watch/listen to...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up some straight up juggling of an interesting assortment or large, small, light and heavy - and dangerous objects! If you think it's no big deal - try just try juggling a ping pong ball and a bowling ball - never mind the pointy garden tool too!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next trick was really funny to us - just not the guy who volunteered for the gig...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adam spent a good deal of time working up to the actually juggling. The best part was that right before putting the blindfold over the man lying on the ground - who did not exactly seem totally thrilled to be there to being with when he saw what was going on - was that instead of juggling pins, he had big knives! So, the kicker was that after a few seconds of juggling the swapped out pins, Adam "dropped" one of the pins onto the unsuspecting man's stomach!!! He snapped up off the floor and was he ANGRY!!! Adam was laughing and tried to thank the man for his part in the show while the audience was roaring with laughter too, but the guy just stormed off stage and back to his seat (I think).

 

 

 

The last bit was this shot juggling the knives he didn't use on the angry man, while balancing on the plank on top of this tube. It was amazing to watch as he rolled back and forth along the staging while juggling. I can't imagine what it would be like on a night with the ship pounding through some big swells...

 

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[sue402001]

Up next was the return of world record holding juggler and comedian Adam Kario. He was amazing to watch juggle, very funny, and he was a cruise crush for more than a few members of the audience...

 

The last bit was this shot juggling the knives he didn't use on the angry man, while balancing on the plank on top of this tube. It was amazing to watch as he rolled back and forth along the staging while juggling. I can't imagine what it would be like on a night with the ship pounding through some big swells...

 

L.J.

 

Love the eye candy LJ! :D

 

I know it was hard enough trying to bowl on a cruise ship, no way would I juggle knives!

[DizzyDallasDi]

Di, did you go straight from Ketchikan to Vancouver with no at sea day? We had a sea day both times heading through this area. I definitely liked heading south more as we were "Inside" the whole day, rather than spending several hours in open water on the northbound trip.

 

L.J.

 

We had a sea day between Ketchikan and Vancouver. Both of my trips to Alaska have been 7-day RT from Vancouver and I completely agree with you that being "inside" the whole day is a sight to behold.

[WalleyeLJ]

The last part of the show featured the Royal Caribbean Singers & Dancers. They were a pretty good crew - not the best we've seen, but certainly not the worst. They did a medley of their various shows, and a couple new songs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The good thing was that the show was nice and early, so we still had time to enjoy the warm weather and the last light of day - and one of the most fantastic sunsets we've had a chance to see on a cruise...

 

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Love the eye candy LJ! :D

 

I know it was hard enough trying to bowl on a cruise ship, no way would I juggle knives!

 

I hear that! I still can't figure out how the skaters stay on their feet on the RCI ships with the ice rinks!!!

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

We had a sea day between Ketchikan and Vancouver. Both of my trips to Alaska have been 7-day RT from Vancouver and I completely agree with you that being "inside" the whole day is a sight to behold.

 

Ahhh...hopefully you'll get to do a north or southbound next!!!

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Cruise Compass, Day 7, At Sea Inside Passage (Last One!)

 

 

 

Day 7 - Cover

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 7 - Inside Page 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 7 - Inside Page 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 7 - Back Cover

 

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

The weather was unbelievably balmy. The water was just about dead calm, the air still except for a little breeze every once and a while just from the ship being in motion. After starting off in 41 degree weather when we landed in Anchorage, it was a nice way to end the trip with spa-like temps. I don't know exactly how warm it was, but at 8:30pm at night, it was very comfortable in short sleeves and I could've had shorts on!

 

 

 

Stepping out form the Aurora Theater out onto the starboard Promenade, Deck 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since we weren't planning on seeing my parents in the morning (they were planning in getting off early to get to the airport), and we were scheduled near the very end (bus to Seattle for a red eye), we walked them up to their room to see them off. I never got a good shot of their D1 the whole week, but I did get this shot of their balcony set up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bev & I spent a few minutes out on their balcony while they worked on finishing up packing, and then we left them to settle in for the evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since we still had a bit more time before the sun set, I went back to the room to get a few camera items and then we headed to my favorite spot on the back of Deck 11 to watch the sun sink over the horizon...

 

 

 

L.J.

[olemissreb]

 

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

 

My DH will probably have this same shot of me on our balcony on our last night. Only difference is I'll probably have tears running down my cheeks because it'll be the end of a wonderful 2 weeks! Happens to me the last day of every cruise!:o

[thecruisers723]

I've been reading your amazing review for days and just got caught up. Thanks for taking the time to write such an amazing review. I've enjoyed to so much. It helps me to get excited about our upcoming Alaska cruise in September and to relive moments of our last Alaska cruise almost 9 years ago in 2004. Thanks again! You've done an awesome job!!! :)

[WalleyeLJ]

Well, its time...the last post of the trip...(same say "boo!" and some say "about time!" - to both sides I say "Amen!")

 

 

So, as the sun continued to sink towards the horizon, we settled in to the mostly empty outdoor dining area on Deck 11 aft. After a wonderful, long to weeks with lots of on the run adventure and fun, it was nice to just decompress a bit in the warm evening air and watch the sun set for the final time on our trip. Having travelled south this time, the sun was setting a lot closer to our normal time back home in NC, so it was a little less jarring to transition back to the Lower 48 this time. A look at the last few minutes of the magic hour in the Inside Passage...

 

 

 

The Golden Hour...

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rich, colorful drama of the final moments!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even the Pacific Northwest can be Big Sky Country...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cotton candy colored Alpenglow reflecting in the water (people often exit like a Texas stock yard stampede 10 seconds after the sun sets). Some of the best, richest, most exotic colors are after the sun actually sets and continues to dip farther and farther below the horizon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We wander a few minutes through the ship and headed back to the room, NOT faced with the task of packing until midnight (ok, that only applies to me). After a pretty decent night's sleep, I awoke to find us approaching Canada Place and downtown Vancouver, on a decidedly grey, wet day. Knowing we were in no rush since we were leaving in group #30 (of #36), we made our way up to the Windjammer for one last breakfast - and of course two (or three) more sourdough rolls and butter. Even though it was dim and rainy out, the air was very comfortable, so we sat out on Deck 11. Radiance had backed into its berth, so we had a great view of the grey skyline and buildings of Vancouver set against the ...grey sky! There we no photos worth taking that day except a snapshot of how rainy it was - and one last wildlife photo...

 

 

 

Meet the Canadian Breakfast Gull! Smaller and less aggressive than its northerly Raven neighbors in Juneau, this crazy critter hung out not 5 feet from us at times, just waiting for us to get up and leave some scraps behind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, debarkation went easily enough, winding our way down Deck 5 and into Canada Place. Once inside and into the baggage area, we found most of our bags right away - but not two of them. The baggage was laid out not by name but by debarkation group. I looked through everything in our area (about 8 groups worth), but they just weren't there. After 10 increasingly stressful minutes and searching almost all the areas that help baggage, we found one in what was left of the Group 8 pile, and I think the other one in Group 6. They were misplaced because somehow the RCI tags were missing. Our names were clearly marked on our luggage tags, but since they didn't break them down by last name, they just sort of got dumped. A little annoying, but no harm, no foul in the end. We made our way down to the GotoBus.com/Quick Shuttle departure area. We were first for our bus, and I think 3 other couples joined us. An interesting group overall, we chatted amiably (I stayed out of the political discussion that developed) until our bus arrived.

 

Our customer service rep though the bus was coming to us first, but instead we were one of the last pickups, so we had to hunt to find seats together, but we did. The trip was supposed to get us to SeaTac a bit before 4pm, which still was going to leave us hours before our 10:40pm red eye departure back to Charlotte. Well, let's just say I'm glad we didn't have a 5pm flight. We wandered seemingly all over Vancouver's suburbs until we made our final pick up in the area. It was very cool to get to see all the homes, especially all the nice gardens and flowers that people had, but it took longer than scheduled. That was ok as another vehicle with some folks going south had broken down and we were going to pick them up and transfer them to our bus. The real fun part was the border crossing. We pulled into the border checkpoint and waited as there were a few buses in front of us.

 

and we waited...

 

and we waited...

 

and we waited some more...

 

After nearly an hour and a half just sitting on the bus, unmoving except to pull up one bus length after the first hour or so (false hope!), we piled off the bus, carried all our bags inside (everything had to be pulled out from underneath and carried inside), we stood in line, had all our bags scanned by x-ray, turned in our declaration paperwork we had filled out on the bus, went back out to the bus, gave the diver our luggage to store underneath again, and climbed back on the bus. 2 hours we were at Customs. The driver said he hadn't had that kind of delay in forever - that it was normally a much faster process, and he had no idea why it took so long. I truly understand that it was an anomaly, but we will likely always schedule in time to take the trained between Seattle and Vancouver on future trips. We didn't this time was we weren't able to catch the morning train to Seattle, and the only other train that would allow extra baggage like we had was the evening run, that would have gotten in too late to catch our evening flight. We really wanted to have the Sunday at home before going to work on Monday, but I think next time we'll stay overnight in Seattle and fly out early on Sunday morning.

 

After making a few short stops along the way including downtown Seattle, we finally arrived at SeaTac (Seattle Tacoma Airport if you haven't flown to/from Seattle before). about an hour and a half late. So, we still had nearly 5 hours until departure. We found our gate and settle in early, grabbing a spot with an electrical outlet to charge all our stuff up while we waited. We ate at one of the several spots available in the airport, and I wandered the shopping areas and newsstands off and on to kill the time until our flight boarded. One neat things for fans like us was that there was a "Life Is Good" clothing store in the airport. While I didn't find anything for me, I got one for Bev and surprised her with it. Finally, it was time to board the flight and head home. Fortunately, the one thing with the red eye was that it was a non-stop. We left right on schedule, and a little over four hours later, staggered off the plane ad into the early morning light of Charlotte, NC, exhausted but happy to had had another great adventure in Alaska. Now bring on 2015!

 

I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read part of even all of our trip review. Your kind words and encouragement were a great help and inspiration. I know several people have mentioned that our trip review has helped them look forward to or even helped in the planning of their own trip to Alaska. That was the intent of doing my first trip review, because people posting before me, be a short post on a single point of information, excursion, or travel tip, or a full on review of their own adventures, were a huge help and terrific inspiration for putting our trips together. For folks considering Alaska, or looking to return, find the things that interest you, look at all the options, sometimes find others to share in the adventure (fishing charters come to mind if you have less than 4 - see "L.J. & Bev - North to Alaska - The Rush Is On" coming to the CC Alaska forum near you soon!), and plan for anything to change, especially the weather. We've been very lucky with weather in Alaska so far, but even then we've had it affect some plans. Don't look at it as a bad thing - think of it as part of the adventure!!! For those interested and our first Alaska adventure, I will post the link to the thread here once I get it started. Even as this post ages, if anyone reads through it and has any questions, please feel free to post on here, or you can email me as well - ljweslowski@gmail.com. Good luck, have fun, and May The North Be With You!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bev & L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

I've been reading your amazing review for days and just got caught up. Thanks for taking the time to write such an amazing review. I've enjoyed to so much. It helps me to get excited about our upcoming Alaska cruise in September and to relive moments of our last Alaska cruise almost 9 years ago in 2004. Thanks again! You've done an awesome job!!! :)

Thanks! At least you've caught up right at the end! Next Alaska cruise we'll probably look at early September - let us know how your trip is!

L.J.

[world_traveler_et]

I have a Storm Jacket for rainy conditions, but I have yet to need to use it - which is more luck than anything. The couple of days we've had a lot of rain, it was ALOT of rain and pretty windy - so photography was pretty much out of the question. The few shots I wanted in those conditions I used our waterproof Olympus instead. Any day you just get some list misty or rain showers, it'll be great to have the Kata.

 

L.J.

 

Have you had an opportunity to try the storm jacket? What model did you go with the standard or the pro model? Did you get it on line?

 

I am looking for something to protect my canon rebel 4ti while traveling in Alaska. I have heard some people mention they used inexpensive rain sleeves, others like yourself have bought storm jackets or kata.

 

Any helpful tips?

[KruisinKath]

Awww, it's over!!!?? :(

 

Thanks for taking so much time to provide such a detailed and entertaining trip report - it's a lot of work! I looked forward to seeing each new chapter, and your and Bev's experience makes me even more excited to get on our trip!

 

While I'm heartbroken that you haven't posted a pic a day like you promised me months ago, I'm heartened by the fact that I can just come back on this thread to get my fill until June! :D

 

Thanks again - excellent job!

[WalleyeLJ]

I have a Storm Jacket for rainy conditions, but I have yet to need to use it - which is more luck than anything. The couple of days we've had a lot of rain, it was ALOT of rain and pretty windy - so photography was pretty much out of the question. The few shots I wanted in those conditions I used our waterproof Olympus instead. Any day you just get some list misty or rain showers, it'll be great to have the Kata.

 

L.J.

 

Have you had an opportunity to try the storm jacket? What model did you go with the standard or the pro model? Did you get it on line?

 

I am looking for something to protect my canon rebel 4ti while traveling in Alaska. I have heard some people mention they used inexpensive rain sleeves, others like yourself have bought storm jackets or kata.

 

Any helpful tips?

 

Hey WT,

I've used both the Optech Rainsleeve (the inexpensive option) and the Storm Jacket. Both worked well. I went with the standard with the Storm Jacket which has been enough for my 7D and assorted lenses. I still keep a couple Optechs for back up and to share if I find someone who needs one (that's how I was introduced to them - on a Caribbean cruise by another cruiser who just gave me his spare). I just got the Storm Jacket just in case I ever get caught in hevy rain and to make sure I had enough coverage for my more expensive lenses.

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Awww, it's over!!!?? :(

 

Thanks for taking so much time to provide such a detailed and entertaining trip report - it's a lot of work! I looked forward to seeing each new chapter, and your and Bev's experience makes me even more excited to get on our trip!

 

While I'm heartbroken that you haven't posted a pic a day like you promised me months ago, I'm heartened by the fact that I can just come back on this thread to get my fill until June! :D

 

Thanks again - excellent job!

 

Hey Kath!

I never expected to end up posting SO many photos in my actual review. That was labor intensive enough, so I failed my mission to post one a day seperately. Hopefully yo'll get a chance to check out my next Alaska review, and you'll get to see some different things - and a bunch more photos!

L.J.