Vacation: Destination, Alaska

Last month, my family set sail on our second Carnival cruise.  We were headed to Alaska and excited to stop at Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan and Victoria which is in British Columbia, Canada.    

We flew to Seattle to catch our boat and I instantly fell in love. The weather was mild- not at all like the humid Midwest or South that we’re used too. Nestled between the mountains and water, Seattle couldn’t be in a better location.

We spent time exploring Pioneer Square, the Waterfront and Downtown, but I couldn’t resist thinking that someday I’d love to make a second trip to Seattle to see everything I didn’t have time for this time around- like the troll that lives under the bridge!

The weather was beautiful while we were there. It didn’t rain at all. It was so clear on the day that we sailed out of the port that we were able to catch a glimpse of Mt. Rainier.   

Our cruise was a seven day cruise. Two days would be spent at sea but unlike the Caribbean, there was plenty to see for most of the journey.  Like the whales in this picture:

  

You did see them didn’t you? Well, maybe I didn’t get the best picture but I promise, we really did see a few whales and it was so neat!

If we weren’t whale watching, there was beautiful scenery to view, especially as we made our way through Endicott Arm. Our boat was scheduled to travel through Tracy Arm Fjord, but conditions weren’t favorable for passage so we made a detour.

Floating ice burgs…

waterfalls…

and beautiful glaciers.

Our first stop in Skagway was our favorite. Quaint and historic, we enjoyed a quick visit to the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park followed by a stop to the Visitor’s Center to find out what the locals consider “must see sites”. We took several of their suggestions. One led us on a quick hike outside of town to Yakutania Point which was stunning. I could have stayed there all day but after relaxing for about 30 minutes, taking in the incredible view,  it began to rain.

  

As we were making our way back to the boat, we noticed that the tide was coming in. Guess what appeared with the high tide? SEALS! One of the highlights of our trip – we watched the seals as they played and then as they began to hunt their dinner- salmon!

  

Next stop: Juneau, where we were able to get a glimpse of true Alaskan weather. Overcast, chilly and rainy. Good thing I packed our umbrellas and ponchos. They certainly came in handy.

We ventured out to explore but didn’t make it further than the Alaska State Museum. We enjoyed our visit, but definitely would have gotten more out of if we’d taken the time to learn more about Alaska before we went. Of course, I had intended to do that before things got so crazy. 

Our next stop, Ketchikan is the Salmon Capital of the World but we didn’t see any salmon. Not from the salmon viewing area anyway. We tried to visit the eagle viewing area that was on our map but didn’t find it. Too late we learned that we could have taken a 45- minute walk through the rainforest.

It also rained and since we weren’t enjoying yet one more day out in the rain we decided to walk back to the boat and call it a day. Still, we did see some pretty views.

Back on the boat we headed for home. Our boat was only scheduled to be in Victoria for a short time but high winds caused a bit of delay so it was already dark by the time we arrived so we opted to stay on the ship.

Have you been to Alaska? What were some of the highlights from your visit?

Our Very First Cruise, Mainly in Pictures

I guess it’s time to quit putting it off and share with you all the nitty gritty details of our trip. I’ve put it off because frankly, I’m just not sure where to begin, so allow me to start by asking YOU a question.

Have you ever been on a vacation that seemed better AFTER it was over?

If so than you will understand how I feel about the cruise.

Though it certainly had some enjoyable moments, it had some equally un-enjoyable ones as well.

Thankfully we all survived and we’ll be able to hopefully laugh about those not-so-fun moments sometime in the future.

Remember when?…. Haha ha ha hehehe…Yeah…that’s what I’m hoping for….

Where to begin? Well you already heard about the turmoil leading up to the cruise so I guess I better share some of the highlights.

Thankfully, we all made it on the ship! I don’t think I breathed a breathe until we all stepped off the gangplank and into the atrium.   

We had fun exploring our new floating accommodations and couldn’t wait to leave the port and get the show on the road…

   

Checking out our tiny room where six of us slept…shhh…there were only supposed to be five of us but the kids were out late each night and I didn’t want them to disturb my parents’ in their room. 

My husband, daughter and mother-in-law pretending to be sea sick. Little did we know most of us would genuinely experience sea sickness at some point during our cruise.

Showing off my delicious yam, pumpkin, squash something or other that I had in the dining room the first night…and our adorable towel creature that we found in our room at bedtime…

Our cruise started a bit rocky and got much worse as the week went by. Little did we know there was a hurricane brewing in the Gulf which had stirred up some choppy waters. As a result, some of us got really queasy. 

We enjoyed dressing up for dinner our second night on the ship…and I had fun goofing off with the kids afterward…

  

We docked in Progresso and exited the ship with my mother-in-law to view some of the Mayan ruins…we enjoyed the Mexican folk dancers and driving through the town of Progresso on our tour bus… 

   

Hiking to the ruins in the hot, humid tropical weather that oddly enough reminded us of home…not only did we see the ruins but we also saw tarantulas (thankfully dead by the time we got to them) and iguanas though I failed to get a good picture of them. 

After climbing the stairs to the House of the Seven Dolls, we rested by the cenote while the kids dove in and tiny fishes nibbled at my toes...

We loved visiting the ruin and my husband was so thankful to find that the gift shop sold Pepsi!

Our next stop was to Cozumel and we were excited to snorkel with sting rays! That was truly an experience!

 

One of the few pictures I got with my dad…who didn’t feel well on the ship…and a picture with my mother-in-law and my mom…

 

Beautiful sunset before the choppy seas began. We couldn’t wait to get back on land but it took us nearly three hours to get off the boat. Uggghhh…

We were so happy to get back on dry land that my daughter even allowed her brother to give her a kiss on the cheek! Rare indeed between the two of them…

This about sums up our trip. We got off the boat thinking we’d never take another cruise again…EVER…but have decided that maybe we’ll give it one more try and take a super short trip…but certainly not in hurricane season!   

If you’d like to see more pictures, you can stop by the Live the Adventure Facebook fan page. I’ll be posting them over the next couple days.  While you’re here, did you read about the car trip home? 

Will We Even Make it to the Boat?

I’m not one to stress out and get anxious over ever little thing but I have to say that our recent vacation plans to embark on our first cruise nearly freaked me out- to the point that I had really begun to dread the cruise. I didn’t want to talk about it, plan for it anymore or pack. Every mention of the cruise nearly reduced me to tears. Of course it didn’t start out that way, I vaguely remember being excited at one point.

I’d heard about the cruise through our cover school in Alabama. It seems they like to take part in a not-back-to-school cruise which is open to all interested families- regardless of  your homeschool cover. The price was right and a cruise sounded like fun so I spoke to my husband and he agreed that it was something we should certainly try out. 

Of course I thought it was such a great deal that I had a hard time keeping it to myself so I invited a family from Ohio that we are close to.  Then I thought it would be great if we could treat my parent’s to a fun vacation. But we didn’t stop there. Nope, if my parent’s were going, maybe my mother-in-law would enjoy it as well.

Now, this is where my blood pressure starts to rise. We were going to Mexico. We did not need passports. Some of you will be shocked. Some of you will think I have no idea what I’m talking about. Some of you will think I lost my mind. Allow me to assure you that I just got off this ship and stepped foot in Mexico and NO, I did not need a passport. So how is this possible?

Our cruise is what is called a closed loop route. Meaning we depart from one port in the US, sail to our destination(s) and when all is said and done arrive back to the same US port on the same vessel. Since this was the case, AND we are US citizens, we did not need passports. I understood this. I had spoken to our travel agent at great length, I’d even read Carnival’s website regarding passports to make sure that I was perfectly clear PRIOR to booking our cruise.

So why is this frustrating? Because when everyone found out about our plans EVERYONE, even people that we don’t normally talk to called to tell us how stupid we were. OK, maybe those weren’t the words that they used but I can assure you that is exactly what they were thinking. It happened frequently enough that my husband didn’t even believe me when I told him that passports weren’t required. So he called Carnival and the US Customs to find out for himself (which bothered me just a teeny, tiny bit) and no, they were not required. Not a bad idea and I will tell you they are recommended, but not required.  

Now I do know that each and every person that called us meant well, but after the first… ummm…ten calls, I really cringed when the word PASSPORT was mentioned.

So, if we didn’t need passports, just what was needed?  A picture ID for everyone over the age of 16 and a certified copy of everyone’s birth certificate to even get on the boat. This is NOT a recommendation. No birth certificate equals no sailing.  A certified birth certificate is a huge deal.

We were finally down to the last week before we were to leave, I called my mom to check on my parent’s and find out exactly when they’d arrive at our house and to ask if they wanted to join us on any of the excursions. It was then that she shared with me that there was an error on her birth certificate and her name was misspelled.  I could have died right there.

We had less than a week before we were to leave on what I had hoped would be the vacation of a lifetime and now I wasn’t even sure that my mom would be able to go…which meant that my dad also would not go…which meant that my mother-in-law wouldn’t have a ride to our home in Alabama and the cruise would basically suck since they had really looked forward to going and the last thing I wanted was to  go without them. Oh, and did I mention that we had elected NOT to purchase travel insurance? If we didn’t depart on this cruise,  we were out the entire cost. No refunds.

I explained to my mom why she needed the birth certificate and got of the phone and bawled like a baby. I cried and I cried and I cried until my husband finally told me that I needed to calm down before I had a heart attack.  This was Saturday.

I spent some time in prayer, calmed down, and came to my senses. I knew for better or worse, ultimately God was in control. At this point we needed a miracle for my mom to get on that boat but I accepted the fact that if things couldn’t be resolved for whatever reason, it just wasn’t meant for them to go with us however heartbreaking that would be.  

On Monday my mom went to the city building armed with everything from her social security card, driver’s license, school records, marriage license and anything else she could think of and you know what? We got our miracle! They knew that someone had made a typo and typed an ‘a’ where an ‘o’ should have been and after receiving an OK from the state, made the changes and issued a new birth certificate the same day!

Of course everyone in the city building thought my mom was silly for worrying about her birth certificate because after all, she didn’t even have a passport…

From oil spills to passports, to birth certificates with typos and vehicle problems, I wondered if we’d even make it to the boat. Of course it all worked out but this post is long enough so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to hear the rest of the story.   

Bon Voyage!

Well, I told you I’d be away for a few days and that my family was going somewhere very special…did you guess where we were going?

We sailed away to Mexico with Carnival Cruise Lines!

Just take a peek at our beautiful sailing vessel….Elation!

With a name like you’d think that we would have been elated to take this trip but honestly, I can’t say that it was all smooth sailing, before, during or even after the cruise, but it certainly was memorable. 

Stay tuned for more details to come….