Iceland by sea

 So yesterday, Kate, Mackenzie, and I set out on a northern European cruise on the Norwegian Cruise Lines Prima. Jack decided to sit this one out and stay at home.  This trip starts in Reykjavik, and we are currently docked in Isafordur for the day. We have shaken off most of our jetlag and finally have a few minutes to start documenting our trip.  

The trip started with a flight to Calgary, Canada, and then on to Reykjavik. We arrived just before 9 a.m. local time and bused over to the cruise terminal, where we basically walked right onto the ship—the easiest boarding ever! But it was a long day, and we were spent. We persevered, however, and explored the ship and sampled the cuisine before finally retiring for the night around 9 p.m.  Today we all felt a bit more rested and have been getting better acquainted with the ship and learning more about her.  It's a pretty large ship, but not anything like some of the mega cruise ships they have running around.  I believe that there are somewhere just over three thousand guests on board.  Our room is nice and we opted for a balcony to take in the amazing views!  As the ship is pretty new, everything feels fresh and modern.  The staff is also pretty awesome.  

Day 1

So our flight takes off from SFO at 12:50 p.m.  We flew WestJet to Calgary and then on to Reykjavik. The first leg of the flight ran almost an hour late, but we had plenty of time to spare so it did not really impact us. After a couple more hours, we were back on board a Westjet 737 for our final leg.  The second leg is basically a red eye as we fly overnight and arrive right around 9 a.m. the next day. Reykjavik is about a 45-minute bus ride from the Keflavik airport and NCL had buses to get us from the airport to the ship.  Reykjavik is a large town slash small city but it has a nice vibe to it.  While we did not really get the opportunity to venture out, we were provided a fantastic view of it from the upper decks of the Prima.  There are snow-covered mountains, and it has a coastal Alaskan vibe, which I find very beautiful.  

Day 2

Today we are in Isafordur, Iceland.  This is a small coastal fishing village and is surrounded by snow-covered mountains.  Today, I am told, is typical Iceland weather with low clouds and rain.  The temps are hovering in the upper 40's and there is just enough wind to make your umbrella difficult to handle. We decided to venture out into the town after lunch despite the weather and did a bit of shopping.  It was a nice walk from the ship and we did not get too wet.  We found a book store and Kate found a Harry Potter book written in Icelandic.  Afterwards Mac and I hit the ship to try and find a place to hang out.  So far, it has proven difficult as the ship is pretty much packed!  The Prima has lots of cool spaces to enjoy, but they are all full of people.  Finding a place to sit for dinner or have a coffee is not as easy as it should be.  Compared to the Disney ships, the Prima feels crowded.  So not going to give it high marks for the common spaces, but only because we don't always have the opportunity to enjoy them.  Also not a fan of people sleeping in these spaces and occupying them for hours at a time.  Maybe when the weather improves, everyone will have a chance to spread out a bit.  

Tomorrow is a planned activity and we will be away from the ship for about eight hours.  Looking forward to seeing more of Iceland!

La Fin

We are at the twilight of our trip and leave for home in the morning.  Some of us are more eager to go home than others, but all of us are excited to be heading out.  It has been a fantastic week in Paris.

Yesterday (Sunday) we went to see Sacre Coeur and Montmartre.  There is a large cemetery in Montmartre that Kate really wanted to see that had the grave of Degas.  It was very large and well kept, with lots and lots of tombs and grave markers.  The area was home to many artists of the bohemian era such as Vincent Van Gogh and Pierre Renoir.   We came back to the hotel early and had dinner at a nice Chinese restaurant, but the food was only so-so.  After dinner, we left our daughter with her electronic pacifier (iPad) and my wife and I took a nice long stroll alone the Seine river with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop.  It was a nice way to end our evening.

This morning we had our final breakfast at the hotel as we will be leaving early tomorrow morning.  As usual, we make it down just before it closes at 11am.  We again take off towards the Metro and take a number of trains until we reach the St Germain area.  We were here several times already, but have always been rushing through it on our way someplace else.  Today we spent time exploring several of the places on our list, such as the Shakespeare bookstore and cafe.  The place resembles something you might imagine from a Harry Potter book and is situated in a small narrow alley off the main drag.  There were many rooms full of nooks and crannies where people could wander or stop and read.  Small narrow staircases lead to tiny rooms packed floor to ceiling with books.  Nicknacks, posters and signs filled any spaces where books could not fit and you could spend hours in there exploring everything.  How anyone could find what they were looking for in there is beyond me, but it was a blast to run through it.

For those who are in to fashion, we covered that today as well.  The first stop was a Karl Lagerfeld book store called 7L.  Unfortunately it was closed, but it was interesting to see.  After that, we decided to seek out Coco Chanel's very first store.  Of course when we discovered it was open today, we had to drag ourselves inside (blah...), but even I have to admit it was very nice.  The staff treated us like our pockets were filled with Euro's and we were out to spend it all.  It is nice to experience customer service at that level, even it we only purchased some nail polish.  I think Mackenzie is thrilled just to have the bag it came in!  Very cute...

We are off for what is likely our last meal in Paris now, so I will sign out here.  Looking forward to returning home and seeing Jack and our animals.  It will be nice to sleep in our own bed again, though I understand there is a bit of a heat wave going on at the moment.  Not looking forward to that!

-Scott

Metro

So I did promise to talk about the Metro here in Paris.  It is our magic carpet for getting around the city and I don't know how we would do without it.  On our first day here, we purchased a five day pass so we could ride as often as we wished, and it turned out to be a great decision.  While our first venture in to the bowels of the Metro was less than successful, we very quickly learned its ways and are now able to travel easily from station to station.  I am honestly confused about any advice that tells you that you don't need a Metro pass if you are going to be spending any time within Paris.  In my opinion, it is essential!  We descend in to the bowels of the underground Metro system and very quickly emerge at our destination.  There are maps that make it easy to figure out your route and I carry one in my pocket all the time.  The trains are usually crowded as they are very popular, but people will make enough room for you to stand or sit.  I love riding the Metro as it I find it very nostalgic, not to mention super convenient.

One of the many things I really enjoy about traveling abroad is how different things are from what we are used to in the states.  The light switches, toilets and bathroom fixtures all seem to have a unique flavor to them which always take a few extra minutes to navigate.  The things we do everyday without thinking, demand your attention here.  Crossing the street, making a call, or finding a store that sells something you need can be tough.  Everything seems strange and confusing at first and I like having to figure it all out.  Vive la Difference!

The language difference in Paris has not really been much of a factor as we have had almost zero issues with communicating.  Most people here speak at least a little English, and Kate has been pretty good at filling in with her rusty French when we get stuck.  My understanding of French has improved quite a bit (from pretty much zero knowledge) and I am able to understand many of the common words such as sortie (exit), bonjour, merci and figure out quite a few others.

More later - Scott

Mise a jour (update)

So sorry for the delay in updating the blog, but so much going on I literally have not had any free time.  We are up for breakfast and then off to see the sights, only returning late at night.  Dinners have been after nine at night and we are not getting to bed until at least eleven.  Days have been well spent however.  Time is flying and our feet are hurting, but we are taking in as much as we possibly can with the time we have.  

So, where did I leave off...

THE LOUVRE!  Holy crap, this place is huge!  It is just so impressive both inside and out that it really is something you have to see in person.  Words can't really do justice to the place and I won't try here.  I'll just say we really enjoyed the tour and probably would not have seen half of the famous works of art we did without someone showing us the way.  Ear phones were issued out to everyone and we went from room to room listening to the descriptions and backgrounds of the different art pieces.  

Next day we get up and head out to Sainte Chapelle, Notre Dame and Musee Orsey, and finished the day by ascending to the top of the Eiffel Tower at dusk.  The first two are really impressive churches. The stained glass and architecture was very impressive, with Sainte Chapelle having the most impressive stained glass and Notre Dame just being beyond impressive.  It is a massive church, no hunch back that I could see however.  Disney may have mislead me!  The Musee Orsey is an old train station that has been converted in to a museum and it really is wonderful.  It may have been our favorite museum to date.  While the Louvre is crazy big and has probably the most impressive art collection in the world, the Musee Orsey has smaller display spaces and a more personal feel to it.  You can tell it was once a train station, but it must have been one hell of a station!  There are at least five stories, and you can look down on the first floor from the top.  

We took a Fat Tire tour up to the summit of the Eiffel Tower that night and the view of Paris was every bit as good as the tower itself.  I loved the old feel of the tower and it really looked like it has been there for a long time.  While I am sure it is structurally sound, you are almost taken back 70 or 80 years by the feel and smell of the place.  The tower itself is painted a brownish color, but they put something in the paint to make it stand out at night when the lights come on.  While it might be touristy, it is absolutely something you need to do when coming to Paris.  Don't miss seeing the sights from such a lofty vantage point.  

Okay?  Tired yet?  

The very next morning we get up early and and head out to the town and palace of Versailles.  Again we took a Fat Tire tour, this time on bicycles.  We met up close to the Eiffel Tower and boarded a train to the town of Versailles where we picked up our bikes.  From the bike shop, we headed over to the towns open air market to grab our lunch supplies.  There was everything there and we ended up with some Lebanese food and crepes.  From there, we took off to the palace grounds and rode around the open fields to different locations and finally to a large canal in the form of a cross.  It is a mile long, a kilometer across and surrounded by grass and trees.  It is here we spread a tarp on the grass and have our lunch while admiring the palace in the distance.  After lunch we continue around the canal and back to the bike shop to return our bikes.  We are then lead back to the palace and given our tickets to tour the palace itself without having to wait in line.  The palace is world famous and it is very nice, but when you have seen one castle, you have seen them all.  Personally I enjoyed the bike ride around the grounds more than the palace itself.  

Still hanging in there?  Not done yet, but we are almost caught up.  Deep breaths!

This morning after our daily breakfast buffet at our hotel, we took the metro (more about the metro later) over to give our regards to Napoleon Bonaparte at Les Invalides.  There is also a military museum and exhibits in the same location that we decided to walk through.  Even with all that, my wife and daughter were more impressed with the cute little bunny rabbits running all over the grass there.  They were completely unafraid of people and you could get within just a couple of feet of some of them.  

On the metro again to arrive in the district of St Germain.  This is a cute little area over by Notre Dame with lots of shops and places to eat.  There is also a very large park called Jardin du Luxembourg that we walked over to so we could sit and relax.  The park is packed with Parisians and tourists hanging out and enjoying the day.  There are plenty of seats and benches about that you can use to get off your feet for a while.  Kids are playing and people walk about just taking it easy.  It is like a painting.

So we finally take the metro back to our hotel, close to the Avenue des Champs-Élysées where we go have a quick dinner out.  Each time we cross the street, we are rewarded with a beautiful view of the Arc de Triomphe just down the street a few blocks.  The Champs-Elysées is a very busy street with lots of shops and restaurants and it is also where we catch the metro.  Tonight is probably the earliest we have been back to the hotel and it is still after 9 before we finish dinner.  

Whew, I think that is enough for the night.  I will upload photos in the morning.  

Le Voyage

We are now just about half way through our first whole day in Paris.  We are resting up before touring the Louvre in a couple of hours and we won't be back until fairly late tonight.  Good time to catch up on what has been going on and get it down on to the blog.

Our journey went about as well as you could expect from a 10 hour flight in economy on a budget airline.  The first leg from SFO to Dublin was uneventful (which is a good thing) and we were able to entertain ourselves with movies, magazines and other distractions.  Not much in the way of sleep however.  The second leg from Dublin to Paris was full of excited soccer fans on their way to the tournament that France is hosting.  I must say that the Irish fans are a happy group in general and not a single soccer hooligan was seen.  They tend to be super friendly as well.

Paris is awesome, but we are still in the "deer in the headlights" stage at the moment.  I think all of us are still just a little rummy from the flight, but at least we feel pretty good.  We slept in this morning and had to wake ourselves up at 10 so we could go have our breakfast.  The day is hot and humid, but still comfortable.  Today has been spent getting oriented with our surroundings.  We took the metro to the Louvre so we knew were we were going tonight.  Sort of a test run.  It took some time, but we finally figured out how to purchase a 5-day metro pass so we can take it as much as we want.

Paris is a busy place!  Buses, cars and motorcycles zip by on the streets and people crowd the side walks.  The place is full of activity.  But as busy as it is, we have found that people have been very kind and helpful.  When we were having trouble with our metro passes, several people stopped to help, with one even going as far as to buy our tickets with his credit card (we paid him back in cash). So much for the snotty Parisian stereotype!  The recent flooding that hit Paris has left almost no trace except for a fast and muddy Seine.  The landscape is lush and very green, which is a nice change from our dry and dusty conditions at home.  There is a very  large police presence here, but I believe that it has more to due with the previously mentioned soccer tournament than it does with terrorism or crime.  You can hear chanting from wandering groups of soccer fans as you walk the city.  The fans are easily identified by their jerseys representing their home teams.  One moment you are swarmed in a sea of red, then the next yellow or green as you past through one group and then on to the next.  All are laughing and seem to be having a great time.

Our tour tonight will last three hours and I am pretty excited to go.  The Louvre is very impressive from the outside and I can hardly wait to see what the inside is like.

Check out our photos using the link in the upper right of the page.

- Scott

Day 1- Visiting the Louvre

Tonight we are going to Louvre (Inside) ! we took the Metro for the first time. Getting tickets was really hard since our credit card didn't work, but we got a 5 day pass after trying 3 times. We toured more of the city, getting to the metro. We have noticed the locals can be polite, and lots of them speak English which is super helpful !. Well the weather, is very hot and humid. Last night we were not able to sleep due to the heat, we had a window open which turned the air conditioning off ! when you were suppose to leave it closed to activate the cool air. Haha. Everybody here is for the soccer tournament the Euro 2016, lots of screaming on the streets and people wearing jerseys, lots of people with Italian jerseys. The french culture and the people are defiantly different from the U.S. !

Write Later - Mackenzie 

L'arrive

The view from close to our hotel.  We are within walking distance to many of the monuments and museums of Paris.

France is calling!

...and it is telling us to bring lots of money when we come over!

Not kidding, this city is pretty expensive!

Anyhow, tomorrow at this time, three of the four Marin County Slagle's are heading over to SFO to board an Are Lingus flight to Paris France for a week long adventure.  This trip is a long time coming and we are very excited to finally be going.  Our youngest Slagle has decided it would be more fun to hang out with the Elder Eureka Slagle's and ride the quad up in McKinleyville.  Tough to compete with the grandparents.  Max also decided to accompany Jack, just to make sure he stayed out of trouble.  The cats will hold down the home fort (with an assist from our good friend Tammy).

Highlights will include the Eiffel tower (evening assent to the top), The Louvere, a bike tour of Versailles and many others.

Both Mackenzie and I will be blogging and posting photos, so stay tuned...

Day - 16 Ketchikan

Character breakfast morning!  We got up a little early to go and have breakfast with some of the characters this morning.  It was in Parrot Cay where we just had our dinner the night before, but it was a little less crowded.  Parrot Cay is Caribbean style and I like it, but it tends to be very noisy.  And this morning even with a smaller crowd, but was still very loud in there.  But we were able to have Micky, Minnie, Pluto and Goofy all come over one at a time to take our pictures with them.  I even got a kiss from Minnie!  Oh, and everyone gets a napkin hat made for them.  Kate and Mackenzie got a Minnie bow and Jack was Peter Pan.  I got a Goofy hat and a pair of ears…

(L)Petra and (R)Emily

Our excursion today was a rain forest adventure.  We board a bus and head out of town towards our excursion, but it turns out that our bus driver took us to the wrong place and we ended up almost an hour late for our trip.  In the end it was fine and we did not miss out on anything.  Our server Petra and another cruise employee joined our group as tourist as well.  They were both super nice and fun to hang out with.  The trip started with a  boat ride out to an island over at the Tongus National forest.  Along the way we spotted Bald Eagles.  Once back on land, the trip turned out to be rather bland, but we did get smoked salmon and smores.  Our tour guide was a little less charismatic than what we were expected and the walk consisted of a short walk through the forest.  It was beautiful, but not much different than what we have back home.  We returned by the same boat and spotted a few more eagles, including a family of four on a very small little island.  The guy driving the boat was much more entertaining and should have been the one leading the group.  Once back in town we went to see Creek Street.  This is a small little boardwalk that goes along a creek that is full of salmon.  We saw quite a few fish, though there were many that had fulfilled their life’s mission (spawned) and had passed on.

I had the Elk at Triton’s for dinner tonight and enjoyed it.  It’s a little funny that Triton’s tends to be the fancier restaurant, but it is the kids favorite.  I don’t know if the food is any better or worse than the other places, but it is very nice inside.  The staff spent a little extra time with us tonight and showed us some their tricks.  All of them like to play around and Emily carries around a little squeaker that she teases everyone with.  Mehmet is the head guy at all the restaurants and also carries a squeaker.  He has taken Jack’s hat several times and plays around with him a bit before giving it back and Jack has finally started taking his hat off inside the restaurant.  He high fives Jack every time he sees him now.  Emily had brain teasers and the server from the next table was doing card tricks.  

The show tonight was a two man group called Buckets and Boards.  They were a musical comedy group and were very good.  Their schtick is that they use plastic buckets as drums, but their comedy was the main draw.  They also play on board Disney boats quite often, so their show was full of Disney and cruise ship humor.  Apparently they have their own theater in Branson Missouri.  Jack was the only one that missed out on it as he decided to hang out in the kids area and play with his buddy (also named Jack), but the rest of us laughed pretty hard for the entire show.  

The ship departed around 7:30 and we are headed back to Vancouver.  Tomorrow will be a day at sea, so we get to hang out on ship and have fun.  After all the trips ashore, I am looking forward to relaxing a bit.  The ship has all sorts of ways to keep us busy, but I might just hang out and walk around and eat everything I run across.  Kate has mentioned seeing a movie, so I might join her.  One thing is for sure, I will definitely be eating a lot today!

Day - 15 Juno!

Today we took what probably will be our favorite excursion.  We took a seaplane for about a 45 minute flight and flew up to the Juno Ice Fields, and it was incredible!  We have been seeing glaciers for several days now, but the ice fields were crazy.  It is so huge that even from the air you just don’t see it all.  I believe that they mentioned that it was a thousand square miles in size and it looks it!  Our flight was in a turbine Otter seaplane and it was very well run.  The plane was clean and the staff was super friendly.  We flew over a number of glaciers including Mendenhall.  

Juno was much larger that Skagway, although it is the state capital, so it should not be a big surprise.  We did a little shopping around town and Jack and I took the Mount Roberts tram up to the top of the peak to check out the view.  The view is great, but probably not worth the price they charge for tickets ($35+ per adult).  Still, it was fun and we got a great birds eye view of the ship.  

Dinner tonight was at the Parrot Cay again and our breakfast was the normal buffet up on the fan tail.  There are other options for breakfast, but we like having a large buffet, plus they have the smoked salmon that Kate likes.  Lunch was in town today at a local Mexican restaurant and it was fine, but a little pricey.  As almost everything has to be shipped in, we understand the additional expense.  

Home sweet home!

After dinner we went to see the Toy Story Musical broadway style show.  It was pretty decent, but not as good as the Golden Micky’s we attended the second night.  There was also a Pixar dance party just prior to the show in the main lobby area that had a lot of the Pixar characters present.  It was a lot of fun seeing them all.  I was a little surprised at all the characters that are on-board the ship.  It seems like they are always running about or making an appearance to sign autographs and have their picture taken with everyone.  There is a schedule so you can find your favorite character where ever they are appearing.  The appearances almost always have a line of some length with everyone wanting to meet them.  

Day - 14 Skagway!

We finally get to step foot on dry ground today.  I love the boat, but I have to admit it will be good to walk on some good old fashion dirt.  Shortly after breakfast, we join our group in the forward section of the third deck and are quickly put on a bus and taken out of town to a place called Carcross (short for caribou crossing).  It is our tour guide’s final trip of the season and he was great.  Turns out he is reporting to the Air Force in a couple of weeks for flight training in Texas and is leaving.  His wife is also here with him and is driving another bus with the rest of our group.  

We make several stops along the only highway (road) out of town.  Lots of glaciers, mountains and lakes as we follow the old Dawson trail out of Skagway.  Thousands of would be prospectors took this very path on their way to the gold fields hundreds of miles away.  We entered the Yukon by bus and continued on to lunch at a small little tourist stop just outside Carcross.  It had dog sled teams pulling buggies with tourist around and a small petting zoo.  It also had some great ice-cream.  

We watch a train come in to town to get turned around and we get our passports stamped (we are in BC at this point), but before we leave, our driver starts to tell us of the Carcross dolphins.  Almost all of us are skeptical, but he and his wife both get out of the bus and start walking towards the water and clapping to call the dolphins.  They get to the waters edge and then both jump in fully clothed and start jumping around in the water like… well, you know, dolphins!.  We are all a bit shocked, but it is their last tour and this is Alaska, so it’s as good as a way of celebrating as any.  They both come back to the buses and dry off a bit before driving us off to catch our train.  

After about an hour, we pull up to a train station to catch our ride back to Skagway.  The White Horse pass train is a narrow gage railway that served the minors in the years after the big gold rush.  I was surprised at how many actual trains and cars there are as it is very busy and you see trains going back and forth all over the place.  Most are restored to back to almost new condition and are a lot of fun to ride in and offer a fantastic view.  The ride last about an hour and a half, with a couple of stops along the way to pick up some hikers.  We pass back through US customs and take a quick walk through town before heading back to the ship.  

Honestly, you can probably see all you want of Skagway in a hour or two as long as you don’t need to spend any time in the jewelry stores that are everywhere.  The town has about 500 full time residences, but swells up to several thousand with workers for the tourist season.  Add on top of that the three to five cruise ships that stop multiple times per week with several thousand people each on board and you start to see what drives the economy in this town.  But in another month the snow will start to fall and this place will return to being a tiny little remote village.  

Dinner tonight was in the Animators Palate and was pretty cool.  After the meal, the entire wait staff put on a short show along with Fantasia Micky.  The whole place went from black and white to color over the course of dinner.  We were thinking about seeing a movie, but all of us are too tired and we retire early.  

Day - 13 ICE!

More beautiful scenery this morning, but all I want to see is ICE!  The plan is for us to enter the Fiord around noon and sail up until we reach the Tracy Arm glacier.  Just after lunch we start to notice people taking their places up on the upper decks.  We grab a spot on the upper deck and watch the show as we cruise up the narrow channel towards the glacier.  The wind is cold, but we are rewarded with lots of Humpback whale spottings.  After entering the fiord, the shore line on both sides of the ship gets very close.  The ship snakes along and we have to look almost straight up to see the tops of the mountains that guide us along our route.  Soon enough we start to spot ice floating in the water.  First only a few small ones, but very quickly we start seeing many more.  There is a naturalist that is giving us information on what we are looking at on the PA system and he is very good at story telling.  We finally decide to duck back down to our room, but the show continues from there.  If we did not already appreciate the veranda in our room, it more that paid for itself today.  We relax in the deck chairs on our very own balcony and watch the world roll silently by.  

After a few hours in the channel, we finally arrive at Tracy Arm.  Now due to the fact I have never heard of this glacier, I did not hold out much hope of being impressed.  I was wrong!  Wow!  With crystal blue skies and sunny conditions, we sail within a quarter mile of this amazing glacier.  There are seals everywhere relaxing on floating ice.  My guess is there were well over a hundred, but it is probably closer to double that number.  The glacier flows down from up the mountain somewhere beyond our view, but it cascades down like the worlds slowest waterfall until it breaks apart in deep blue shards.  Even the naturalist was excited as he babbled on and on how it simply does not get any better than the conditions we were treated to today.  And just to finish it off, the glacier decided to calf a large chuck of itself in front of us.  We were in our room and I was taking a picture from our bed and out through the veranda when I hear a loud noise and see the glacier calving.  I simply pointed my camera and took a couple very quick shots, but I did get a little piece of it splashing.  It was huge and amazing!

Another excellent dinner finished off our day.  We are getting very spoiled by our wait staff of Emily (from France) and Petra (from the Czech Republic)  Petra is our waiter and Emily is her assistant and they are both great.  Emily is young and chatters on in a heavy French accent while she teases and plays around with all of us.  Petra keeps everything coming on schedule and makes sure we have what we need.  They are both funny and are constantly fussing about making sure we don’t want for anything.  Petra is also our crew insider and makes sure we know what is coming up or to make sure we know to order Micky Bars from room service (even though they are not on the menu).  

Every night before we retire back to our room, the house keeping staff prepares our room for sleep.  They lower Jacks and Mackenzie’s bunk beds and turn our bed down, leaving chocolates for all.  But what we really look forward to is the animals and shape they create with the towels.  Each night we come back to a different animal sitting on our bed waiting for us.  We have had elephants, a squid and a couple of bears.  It’s a nice way to end each day.  

Tomorrow is Skagway!

Day 12 - Day at Sea

This morning there was no land to be seen and the ocean was rough enough to toss the ship around a little bit.  Luckily for us, we weren’t bothered by the movement, but we did see a number of people that were not feeling well.  Everything calmed down again after noon as we cruised back in to the inland passage.  After getting cleaned up a bit, we headed to the aft end of the ship for breakfast.  Breakfast and Lunch is a matter of choice aboard ship, but we decided to eat on the fan tail buffet.  The food in a word is…Wow!  There was pretty much anything you might want and as much of it as you could eat.  Food is available pretty much anytime you want it.  In addition to the different restaurants and buffets on the ship, room service is also included in the price and is open 24 hours a day.  There literally is no reason for anyone to go wanting for anything on this boat.  After breakfast we discovered the coffee bar on the bow of the ship.  While premium drinks are charged, it was worth it for a good latte.  Oh, while Kate and Jack were away from the table during breakfast, the captain came by and spoke with Mackenzie and I for a couple of minutes.  The entire staff here is pretty much out and about and is always asking how you’re doing and if you need anything.  It was pretty cool the captain came by, but we keep running in to the ships officers and they are all awesome.  Disney has always impressed us with their customer services, but they take it to a new level on the cruise line.  

The boat passed through some very tight passages today and we watched the scenery pass by from the comfort of our balcony.  It pretty much justified the upgrade to a veranda as it sure beat competing for rail space up on the upper decks.  Wildlife spotted was a small whale and fish jumping from time to time.  The rest of the day was movies, swimming, or playing until dinner.  

Tonight was formal night and the Golden Micky’s and that meant jacket and tie.  Dinner was a formal affair at Tritians and the food rocked!  We stuffed ourselves and then went to see the Golden Micky’s show at the theater.  Lot’s of singing and dancing.  We finished the night was ice cream bars delivered to our rooms.  Tomorrow is the Tracy Arm glacier and we have to get up early and start looking for whales.  

Day - 11 Boarding Call

Oh yeah!  Finally get to board our ship to Alaska!  We load up for the 10 minute trip to the Pan Pacific Center and find our parking.  Of course we are a couple of hours early, but it beats the heck out of being late.  So the boarding process pretty much goes as follows:  First we take all our luggage and drop it off at the baggage area.  Once that is done, we hit US immigration (you know, as we are going to Alaska and all).  After that, we check in with Disney and get our boarding assignments and ID cards.  We are giving a boarding number of 22, so we are told we will have some time to wait in the holding area.  Soon enough they call out group one, then two and three.  After an hour or so, we are up to twelve and we are settling in for long haul when they call out they are boarding all groups.  Yee Haw!  

As we are boarding, I notice the attention they are putting in to germ control.  We are giving disinfecting wipes and there are signs about keeping everything clean.  They are taking on board virus control pretty seriously.  At every entrance to dining facilities they are passing out those wipes.  They don’t force it on you, but they sure make it easy to keep your hands clean.  

As a Disney tradition, they will call out each families name over the PA and welcome you aboard.  When you get to the entrance, you are asked how to pronounce your name and they will announce your family and a small line of Disney staff will clap and welcome you on board.  This goes on for the entire boarding process and you will hear the announcements over the next several hours as you are moving around the ship.  It made the kids cringe a bit, but I thought it was a nice touch.  

Once on board, you are welcome to have your lunch at one of several buffets (or at all of them if you wish as it is all you can eat) while you wait for your room to be ready.  We filled our bellies and started finding our way around the ship.  It has ten decks and takes a bit to figure out.  Some decks are entirely made up of rooms, while others are public decks where the restaurants and other areas are located.  Jack quickly found the play area for his age group and made himself right at home.  We also took a quick guided tour of the ship from one of the crew members.  Before we knew it, our room was ready and we quickly went to see what it looked like.  While probably small in comparison to a standard room, we found it to be fantastic.  It consists of a single room partitioned in to two areas.  One partition has our large bed and the other has a couch and a bunk bed that folds down from the ceiling.  There is a desk and quite a lot of storage areas.  Once we unpacked and put everything away, it was very nice.  Of course the best feature is the balcony.  We decided to upgrade to a veranda and are very happy with our decision to do so.  

Our first nights dinner was at a place called the Parrot Cay.  It was one of the three main dinning rooms that we will be eating in and we were introduced to our wait staff who will follow us from restaurant to restaurant for the remainder of our trip.  We have the choice to eat elsewhere or to have the included room service, but most seem to stick with their assigned dinning room for dinner.  To put it simply, there is far too much food to eat, but so far it is very good.  

It was when we finally went to bed that I noticed how smooth the ride of the ship was.  At times, it was difficult to even know we were moving.  Later that night however, we hit open ocean and finally felt the ship rock a bit.  All of us felt great, but I especially enjoyed the movement of the ship as I laid in bed.  It was relaxing to hear the room softly creaking and feel the gentle rocking of the ship as I laid in the dark.  

Day 10 - Tea for two!

Today was the day for high tea at the Empress hotel.  We left our luxurious accommodations and ventured downtown ahead of our scheduled tea time so we could visit the Victoria BC Museum.

Before long, it was time to take the girls over for their tea.  We walked across the street to the hotel and were immediately impressed with Empress.  It is a historic old hotel perched on the waterfront and is immaculate.  We ventured inside and it was just as impressive as the outside was.  High tea proved to be very popular and it was a good thing we had made our reservations months earlier as it was completely packed.  I'll leave the actual description of tea to those who attended it as Jack and I decided to pass on it, but it certainly impressed Kate and Mackenzie!

Jack and I spent our tea time back over at the museum going through the areas we missed or rushed through earlier that morning.

After tea, we walked down Government street looking for a tea shop and just happened to stumble on Murchies (murchies.com).  Turns out that this is where the Empress gets its tea, so the girls went in and stocked up on several teas while Jack and I warmed a bench for a bit.

Victoria turned out to be one of our favorite cities.  It was beautiful and full of interesting things to do and places to visit.

The day ended with a swim at the hotel pool, where we watched the boats sail by.  

Day - 9 Time for a hike

So after a fun filled day in Victoria we awoke fresh this morning and regrettably left our swank digs at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel for Vancouver.  The Oak Bay Hotel was one of the nicest places we have stayed and we hated to leave it.  Last night we soaked our tired bodies in the pool that overlooks the ocean and finish up with an invigorating hot tub soak.

Today was our forth ferry ride and I think our kids have had just about enough of them for this trip.  While I really loved riding them, everyone else was getting bored with all the waiting around.  Unlike the previous ferry trips using the Washington State Ferry system, today we rode on the British Columbia ferry and had a much easier trip.  The wait was less than an hour and the ferry was pretty modern.  It was also a very large boat and had a lot of modern amenities aboard.

Once back on the mainland, we headed to Vancouver and to our hotel.  After a short drive, we found our lodging and quickly checked in and went off to take a quick hike in the woods.  There is a famous suspension bridge, but the clerk that checked us in warned us it was expensive to visit and could be very crowed.  Instead, he pointed us to a closer site that also had a suspension bridge and was free.  Once we found the place, it turned out to be a great little hike in the woods.  While there were still a lot of people, we had a great time getting out and stretching our legs.

Well, we get back to our hotel and notice that the room has a very strong oder.  It smelled of cigarette smoke, even though the place has been non-smoking for over a year.  Kate was able to talk her way in to another room despite the place being booked solid.  So now, while we are not living quite the highlife we have been the last few days, we are all tucked in and doing well.

Day 8 - Tea for two

A couple of things to add about yesterday...The hotel we are staying at the "Oak Bay Beach Hotel" is beyond our expectations. The heater in the our room is a faux fire place with a big screen T.V. above the fireplace. The bathroom has a sunken bathtub with a sliding window above the tub, made of two wooden panels, that you can open up into the bedroom. No we haven't kept it open. The bathroom has a separate shower and a separate toilet that has it's own door. As you can guess we are very impressed and are enjoying the luxury of the hotel. There is also a beautiful outside swimming pool with an ocean view that is heated and a small beach with tide pools.
Today we slept in until 8:30am and had breakfast at the little cafe on the main floor. It had a very "Harry Potter" feel. We went to the Royal BC Museum. What a great museum! It was a bigger version of the Oakland museum. Not far away from the museum was the Empress Hotel where Kate and Mackenzie had late tea. Scott and Jack went back to the museum and saw beautiful totem poles.
We all went to the IMAX theater which is part of the Royal museum and saw "The Lemurs of Madagascar". This was Mackenzie's and Jack's first IMAX movie, it was great. Too bad all movies aren't IMAX movies. - Kate

Day 7 - Ferry Well!

Well today was basically all about ferry's in waiting, or was that waiting for ferry's?  Anyhow, the game plan for the day was getting ourselves from Orcas Island over to Victoria BC.  And though is sounds simple (and it sort of was in the end), it came with a bit of stress.

Seems that to get to Victoria (well Sidney actually, but we are going to Victoria) from Orcas, the best way is to take an inter-island ferry over to Friday Harbor and then catch the bigger boat over to Victoria.  The only issue was that we were not at all sure we would be able to get on the Victoria ferry.  I called the night before and asked about the route and was assured that everything was cool by the operator at the Washington State Ferry system, but I got a strange look this morning when I told the lady at the terminal I did not have a reservation.  Reservation?  Nobody said anything about a reservation last night!  I double checked with her!  Damn, there goes any sense of peace and tranquility for the rest of the day.  

So we get our tickets for Friday Harbor for free because the ticket agent felt bad for us, so a bit of a win to start.  But then, fog has rolled in and the boats are all running late.  Not too bad normally, but we only have an hour and fifteen minutes to catch the Victoria boat in Friday Harbor and it tends to be packed this time of year, so we sit in line at Orcas and sweat it out a bit.  Bummer!  Oh wait, did I mention that there is only one boat a day going to Victoria?  Yeah, double bummer and a potential disaster if we don't make it!  Finally we get on the boat and make it over to Friday Harbor and run over to the ticket and we were able to buy our tickets to Victoria!  Another win!  Oh oh, too soon to celebrate however as we bring our car in to the line the attendant assigning lanes is surprised at our lack of reservations and puts us in a lane with just one other car, so we get to sweat it out again wondering if we are going to make it on the boat or what.  

So the departure time for our ferry to Victoria comes and goes and then departure time plus one hour comes and goes.  I guess we needed a little extra time to sit and wonder our fate.  Finally we hear the horn and the ferry arrives and surprise, we are one of the first to load.  Whew!  We make it to Victoria a bit late, but we are here.  Quickly enough we find our hotel (another win as it is awesome) and check in and go out to have a fantastic dinner (after getting lost and running around aimlessly for a while first).  So that finishes out our day.  Tomorrow is high tea at the Empress Hotel for the girls and Jack and I will find something to fill a few hours.  

Day 6 - Eastsound and down!

Orcas Island managed to live up to its name, for today we be seeing Orcas!  We awoke to a steady rain this morning at our hotel in Eastsound, but we were undeterred and boarded our tiny craft in search of whales!  Our clothes were damp but our sprites were, uh, well they were sort of damp too (it was really raining hard ;-)  Anyhow, we cruised through some very beautiful scenery on our way in to Canadian waters were there were reports of recent sightings.  Our boat had two naturalist that provided information about everything we were seeing along with our captain who was the historian.

After a short 30 minute cruise, we spotted.....Boats!  Not bad news actually, as this was a flotilla of Orca watching boats that were following a pod of Orcas!  We joined in and quickly spotted a whole pod of Orcas swimming along in the rain.  We all jumped outside and got an eyeful of these awesome mammals.  The naturalists on board were able to tell us their names and all about how old each of them were and how they were related (or not).  Lots of stories and information on what we were seeing and why they were doing what they were doing.  One cool little side note: our captain was on the radio with a small little research boat that had four people on it monitoring the Orcas.  There were cold and exposed out in the weather, so we pulled alongside and provided them with hot coffee!  

All too soon, the Orcas were left for others to watch and we turned off to go and see other things.  Lots of Bald Eagles and sea lions as well as a couple of exotic deer left over from an old hunting island.  The area is littered with small little islands and outcroppings and it makes for some very cool sightseeing.  All in all, the tour was highly successful and equally highly recommended!  Fantastic boat and crew!  Our experience must not be too unique as the front desk clerk at our hotel was noticeably relieved when we told her which boat we were taking the tour on.  It was Eclipse Charters if you're ever in the area and are interested www.orcasislandwhales.com    (The Orca in the photo is named Mike and he is a member of the J-pod)

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and getting our stuff together for our early morning trip to Friday Harbor.  From there we are hoping to catch another ferry to Sidney BC where we can then drive down to Victoria.  For the next two days we will be at the Oak Bay Beach hotel.  

Alaska Cruise 2014! Day: 5

Today we made our way to the Washington International Ferry Terminal. We waited a few hours in the line of parked cars to board the ferry until about 10:20 A.M. We drove onto the ferry and headed to Orcas Island. The ferry ride was only a hour, but we enjoyed it. We were passing one of the islands with a fairly large house, it looked like a hunting lodge, a canon suddenly went off from the front porch. The ferry answered the canon with a loud tout from the ferry horn.

As we got off the ferry, we headed to Eastsound, a small town that had shops and our hotel " The Outlook Inn". It has really cute shops and its very touristy. We walked around and ate at an Asian food place called " The Kitchen". The food took forever too come, but to me it was worth the wait. We walked along the beach and noticed Jack picking up tiny crabs. I was surprised he was not afraid. If you picked up big rocks there were a lot of tiny, dark crabs scrambling to get back under the rock. It was a great little beach with lots of shells and crabs. The water was like glass, perfect for kayaking.
We had dinner at the Madrone Bar and Grill; fish and chips, burgers, and crab bisque soup, oh and of course clam chowder. Dad had a beer called "Mac and Jack".
We have a great room, more like a suite. Not much of a view but nice accommodations.