After Thoughts
Overall, the cruise experience was excellent. I believe part of that had to do with having the one on one time with my daughter and us chilling out so often. This cruise was her idea and she paid for herself, which made it easy for me to just pay my own way. If my husband came along, that would have added too many costs to be able to go, not just because of his airfare and cruise fare, but then we would have to pay for pet sitting (which is over $100/day, sometimes as high as $200/day) and my husband drinks probably $50 - $100 per day.
I had some health issues in the past few years that seem to go away from this trip. Not sure how it is even possible, but read on if you are interested. In 2013, I had a really bad infection and when it went away, I had severe exhaustion for a very long time. It was diagnosed as exhaustion. I was told that I needed to rest for a year. I didn't have to stay in bed, but I couldn't do much. I was supposed to sleep as much as possible. There were a few months where just taking my dogs for a short walk did me in for the day. When I'd drive to visit my other daughter (about 90 miles away), I'd be crash and burn for the next 2 days. It took me over a year to completely get over it, but I only truly rested for about 8 months and then started doing some things again, rather than waiting the whole 12 months. While it sounds like I was just laying around with no energy (actually true for some of the time), I was having a lot of panic like attacks. Whenever I had any caffeine, no matter how small or whenever I ate anything that had tomato sauce, I had a panic attack. I was told to stay away from those things as the panic like attacks took up all my energy and then my exhaustion would be worse.
In addition to that, I had been having vertigo for about 4 years. Originally, I was diagnosed with fluid in my inner ear, but when I was better a few months later, I went to the ENT. He said I had the crystals in my inner ear and gave me some exercises to do. It helped. I also started using Flonase for allergies every day. That helped a lot. If I ever forgot a day, I'd know the next day because my vertigo would be much worse. The ENT did a sinus surgery on me and the Flonase was supposed to help me dry out whatever was going on and the exercises were supposed to help the crystals. I say supposed to because all that stuff helped, but my vertigo was never completely gone. Anytime, for about 4 years, that I laid back or came upright, or turned my head too far to the side, I'd get a strong wave of vertigo. My eyes would shake back and forth, according to people who saw that happen.
My first night in Vancouver, when I laid my head on the pillow, expecting to have my normal wave of vertigo, it didn't happen. I was very surprised, but figured I just lucked out for the moment. Earlier that day, I did a guided meditation at the airport and did another one while on the plane. Traveling always makes me nervous and I put some meditations on my phone to see if that would help me this time. I did feel unusually calm that day. We went to Capilano Supension Bridge park and while I have feared heights for most of my life, I wasn't bothered by the heights this time. I was able to 100% enjoy the beauty there and take in all of nature's wonders. I thought it was odd that I didn't have the fear of heights and that I didn't have any vertigo when I looked down, but I didn't think too much of it. I was just very grateful that I was able to enjoy the moment and really "be here now."
My vertigo didn't come back the rest of the vacation. I began to wonder if the NorthWest was just very healing for me and if so, maybe I should seriously consider relocating there. I expected the vertigo to come back when I came home. It's been a month and it hasn't come back. I went from vertigo every day for four years to none for a month.
I still think it could come back, but I am eternally thankful for each day that I don't have it.
Some other things came to me on this trip. This may all be TMI or maybe not even appropriate for this forum, so perhaps you'd like to stop reading now. I have been doing a lot of prayer and meditation for about a year. There are times when I get messages that make no sense to me at all and while I disagree from a logical standpoint, I go ahead and accept the message and do what it says. Last November, I got the message that I should start working out with weights again. I didn't want to, but I went ahead and did it. I've been doing it 3 days/week since and haven't lost any weight and haven't changed my dress size at all. It's discouraging and since I didn't want to do it in the first place, it would be easy for me to give up. I kept it up because there had to be some unknown reason for it. While on a hike in Ketchikan, I realized that had I not been doing the workouts at home, I would have not been able to do any of the hikes I did on this trip. My stamina was great and I kept reflecting back to just a couple years ago that I was too tired to do anything. During my time of exhaustion, if someone told me I'd be hiking in Alaska and taking stairs on the Wonder every day, I wouldn't have believed it. My best times in my life are experiences. If I wasn't able to experience all that I had, this would not have been the greatest vacation I ever had. It's nice to look at a waterfall, but I want to get to the bottom of it and touch it. I don't want to go to a port to shop. I want to feel the vibe of the place and experience it without puttering out. I was able to do that. I honestly don't think I'd be able to do that if I wasn't working out for 6 months prior.
Another message I got a few before the trip was to detach from my daughter. I am the type of mom that thinks and worries about my kids all the time. They are adults who live on their own, but I still worry about them constantly. The daughter that took this trip with my has had several unusual health problems in the past couple years. One, she had for many years, but was only diagnosed a couple years ago. The diagnosis was exercise induced anaphylaxis. She can honestly say she is allergic to running. I think she used to say that when she was younger, but the condition is so rare, that teachers would tell her that it wasn't possible. I was able to get a doctor's note to keep her out of running in Phys Ed, but the true diagnosis didn't come until she was 17. She's had other rare things and was in the hospital for a few days about a month before our trip. Of course, I was concerned that she wouldn't do well on the trip, but I detached from my worries. She is a responsible adult and takes care of herself. My concerns only make things worse. On the vacation, I had already detached from my worries and we both had a really good time and there weren't any health issues. She and I both just feel so much better being in really tall trees and being around waterfalls. It's actually very sad to think about it now, because I don't know when I will be in that type of environment again.
I know there were other things that came to me while hiking in Alaska, but I just can't think of what they were right now. I do still notice daily that I don't have vertigo. My head used to spin when I'd do my workouts, even just from laying on the floor doing crunches. Going up would cause a flash of vertigo, going down another flash. Laying back on a bench, vertigo time. Getting back up, vertigo time. I hope it doesn't come back, but if it does, I'll probably want to fly to Vancouver to see that cures it again.
The first few days of the cruise, my daughter and I were so happy and having such a good time that we considered booking the exact same cruise for next year. I already had plans for a double dip cruise with my husband in early June, so I was going to have to alter something. We decided not to do it. The cruise I really want is the 9 night Alaska cruise next July, but I won't be on it. It's just too much money and too much time away from my animals and my business. I do plan on checking the 2018 Alaska cruises for my husband and I. I also want to go back to Hawaii. I don't know which of those 2 is more important to me. Right now, I am leaning towards Alaska. I know I would enjoy a
DCL Alaska cruise, but may choose to go with Princess if I enjoy my short Princess cruise next year. My husband had dietary restrictions and DCL has been great with that. We need to see if Princess is good with that stuff, too. If I take Princess to Alaska, I'd likely do one of their one way cruises and try to spend a couple extra days on land in Alaska.
I've looked at land/sea Alaska packages and I've looked at just staying in Anchorage or Juneau and taking excursions from there. Alaska is just a very expensive vacation. I know everyone posts about Disney prices being too high for Alaska, but I counter that any type of Alaska vacation (aside from camping) is very expensive and Disney is not out of line (for them). I've pretty much decided after many hours of internet searching and planning, that when I go to Alaska, my best choice is to be on a cruise. It's just so much easier and more convenient. I love camping, but I don't want to camp in Alaska.
The other vacation that I would love is the Southern Caribbean on DCL. I already know I like the cruise and I love the constant ports. I won't be able to do it next year (already have plenty of stuff planned), but would seriously consider it for future. I looked at some other cruise lines and I didn't like the ports as much, so I will wait for Disney do schedule some more. Too bad I couldn't do the 9 day Alaska, the Southern Caribbean and a land vacation to Hawaii in the same year. First world problems! I am actually very thankful and blessed for what I've already done and what I have planned in the future. If I never made it back to Alaska, it would be okay because I had such a great time. Same thing with Hawaii. I used to think that I 'needed' to go to Hawaii, but the truth is, I've been 6 times and that's way more than I ever dreamed I would go. I live in San Diego and I have plenty of amazing things to do right here. I am pretty much just lacking in waterfalls.
It's always a little sad on that last day. Canadian customs was very easy again. I had some packaged food items from Alaska that we told them about and they didn't seem to care. Then, it was off to the buses. We followed the white gloves, but didn't go the way of the buses at first because one of them told us to go out some doors and walk up to the street. When we went through the doors, it didn't seem right, so I went back and asked a different white glove person where the 
I tried to meet up with the agent that day and next day, but he was always gone or someone was there asking questions. I finally just circled what they wrote down (which is what you do if you want them to book it for you) and put it in the box at the desk, knowing I'd have to have my TA fix it when I got home. It was a year out, so I wasn't too worried about it.
and you can't put a price on that - it makes it all the more special. 
