Our 10 Year Anniversary Alaskan Cruise

A few weeks ago we took an Alaskan Cruise for our 10 Year Anniversary, and here are the highlights of our trip.

First I would highly recommend seeing Alaska via Cruise Ship.  If cost and time were not a factor, I would’ve taken a longer cruise that took both land and Sea.  We did not have enough time to really enjoy the port and cities at each stop.  I would’ve loved to be able to spend an entire day at each port to take in the beauty and the culture of the town.

Our first port was Juneau, Alaska.

It was a beautiful day in Juneau, 66* and sunny.  We decided to do a bike a brew tour in Juneau.  The tour consisted of biking 9 miles to Mendenhall Glacier, viewing the glacier and shuttled to a local brewery.  We met some great couples on this tour, a special shout out to Mike and Kayla!  I also tasted some really GOOD Alaskan beer.  It’s probably a good thing that I can’t buy this locally.  I was also educated of IPA beer. (Thanks to Mike!)  This was Randy’s 50th state;  he has met his goal of 50 States before turning 50, now it is my turn with 11 left.  We did a little shopping to find a charm for my Anniversary bracelet and also stopped in the Red Dog Saloon.

The next day was cruising through Glacier Bay.

What beauty!  This was really hard to select 5 pictures to capture how breathtaking this was.  It was 55* and sunny while we cruised through the bay.  We sat on the back deck and enjoyed the view.  What peace and beauty just relaxing and seeing what beauty passed in front of us.  The 4th picture puts the glacier in perspective about how big it really is.

Our next stop was Sitka, Alaska.

We had nothing planned for this port and what an incredible day we had.  Sitka was 52* with partly sunny skies in the morning with cloud cover moving in as the day progressed.  We walked to the outskirts of town where they had a totem pole nature trail.  We took the self-guided tour and walked through the trails as our cell phone explained about the different poles.  We came across about 5 or 6 bald eagles soaring above our heads in the trees.  They were talking to each other making a lot of noise.  It was an awesome experience to be part of this type of nature.  As we continued to walk, we came across a local who showed us the  eagle’s nest in the picture above.  It is a huge nest, although you can not tell by this picture.  We then walked to the Raptor Center where they rehabilitate wounded eagles and other flying creatures.   This was very fitting as we experience the bald eagles in their natural habitat and then we experienced them up close and personal.

The next day we took in Ketchikan, Alaska.

Again, this was an unplanned port and this turned out to be another venture.  We only had 6 hours in port in Ketchikan so we decided to check out a walking trail that was close.  In order to get to the beginning of the trail, we had to hike up a street that went straight up.  When I say straight up, I am not joking.  It is so bad that they have a gate that closes the road off in the winter.   The stairway above is the start of the trail and it led to more climbing.   Mr. DD  kept saying we have to go down at some point.  It turned out to be a beautiful hike with great views.   This was not a populated hike, so I was getting a little concerned about running across a few animals that would not be excited to see us.  All turned out well and we ended back at our ship safely.

The final stop is Victoria, Canada.

The Vessel docked at 6:30 but with the other Cruise ship and a delay with customs, we only had a few hours in this beautiful town.   We hoofed it quite quickly to  the downtown area.  Found our favorite couple, Mike, and Kayla along the walk and decided to join them in the pub hopping!  We stopped at 3 different pubs along the way, sampling as we went.  I managed to snap a few pictures as we came and went.  This was one fast-paced port and now I need to return to this area so I can take in all the sites.  It was a beautiful town but we had no time to really enjoy it.

In between all the ports, we managed to take on a few activities while we cruised.

Relaxing and just enjoying the beautiful views and the beautiful weather we had the entire week!

Taking in a sunset at 10:30 was very strange.  What beauty!

The Dancing – OH, the dancing!  You will have to wait to hear about the dancing and our chance to win a free Cruise in January.  You will have to come back for this one, it will be worth the wait to hear this story!

Anniversary Trips – Part 1

Anniversary Trips – Part 2

Anniversay Trip #11

Anniversay Trip #12