Cruise to Alaska

My husband and I went on a cruise to Alaska when I was six months pregnant with Zoe. She is now 13, so it was a long time ago.

The ship was huge and beautiful. One full week on the ship sounded fabulous to me. All the wonderful food and the great ice sculptures were a plus! LOL

We left out of Vancouver and headed to Alaska. Our cabin was upgraded. We had a nice window (port hole) to admire the view from. We met some really great people and had dinner with the same two couples every night. Luckily, we liked them. One couple was from the Bahamas and another from Ohio.

It was quite something when we finally got to Alaska and it didn't get dark til nearly midnight. Really throws off a person's body clock. I was awake often in the middle of the night. I would head up to the Eagle's Nest bar at the top of the ship. It was closed and I was not drinking at the time anyhow. I would sit in a spot in the bar that was walled with windows. Looking out at the glaciers was so relaxing and they looked blue in the moon light. I did that every night of the cruise. Just the cleaning crew and me, hanging out in the middle of the night, while my husband slept.

We stopped in Juneau and got off the ship. We walked around Juneau and had to buy an umbrella because it was raining. The rain didn't stop us from walking around. At one point we were walking behind a couple of women who were speaking a foreign language. My husband started talking to them in Portuguese and they were shocked and excited that somebody in Alaska knew their language. It was pretty awesome.

We also took a tour to some small inlets that the ship could not fit it. I had never seen so many bald eagles. Which at one time were almost extinct. It was nice to know they were thriving. And so much unspoiled wilderness was fantastic to see, as we don't have much of that left here in California!

We also stopped in Ketchikan. Got off the ship again. This time to go fishing. I love to fish. We got on a local fisherman's boat and went out into the deep water. Everybody was given a rod to fish with and it was freezing! We spent several hours out there and nobody was catching any fish. Finally, I got a halibut on the line and the local fisherman put a belt around my pregnant belly and I worked hard to finally land my 45 pound halibut. I was the woman on the boat filled with men and I was the ONLY person to catch a fish! We had it smoked and sent home. Fortunately, the fish, packed in dry ice, arrived home after we did.

When we got to the glaciers, I was napping. Remember, I was six months pregnant! My husband came down to tell me to I had to see the glaciers. I was so out of it, I told him to take pictures. He left the cabin and I knew I had to get up. I found him and it was such an awesome experience floating through the huge glaciers. To this day, I hear the phrase, "Take pictures" come out of my husband's mouth. Never to live it down, but I did get up! LOL

We took a helicopter ride to a glacier. First time in a helicopter. We got to the hangar and we were given a form to fill out. Had to tell our weight! I was horrified. "Good God, I have to put down my weight on paper and somebody has to read it?" was all I could think. I did it though, I wrote the number, and you can't lie about your weight when they have to know the total weight that the helicopter can handle!

When we were about to land on the glacier, it was all white and I had no sense of direction. Luckily, the pilot did. We walked around on the glacier and it was truly spectacular.

We finally arrived back to Vancouver. Actually glad to be off the ship. Seven days was a long time. We got a room in Vancouver and got to tour the gardens and take the ferry to Seattle. I was not too keen about being on another vessel. That night, I got sick. High fever, shakes. I sat under the heat lamp in the bathroom and didn't want to go back to bed. The next day, we were supposed to go shopping. When we got to the parking structure and I told my husband I needed to sleep. I got in the back seat of the car and slept til he came back from shopping.

Still out of it, we waited for hours at the airport for our flight. I was as miserable as I could ever recall being. Then on the flight home, my ears popped and it took weeks for my hearing to return to normal.

The last leg of our trip was not so great. But the cruise and seeing BC was outstanding and unforgettable.