well due to the fact that i am still on alaska time, i have been up til 3 the last two nights..so my brief trip report is done
Thursday June 25
Our flight to Seattle was not until evening, so we spent the morning doing the “last minute preperations.” We finally left for the airport and waited for our 6pm flight. About an hour into the 6 hour flight, the bathrooms on the plane stopped working and we couldn’t use them the entire flight! We landed, got all 8 pieces of luggage and checked in at the hotel in Seattle. We chose a hotel right near the airport. We had dinner at their karaoke bar, since that is all that was open that late at night. We went to bed and next thing I know, it is 5am (Seattle time). I am wide awake and wait for my brother to wake up and we just watched tv and got ready to go to the port.
Friday June 26
We left the hotel around 9:30 and got right to the ship. We were meeting our family friends for lunch so we wanted to check in at the pier before the crowds. We met up with our friend and the pictures began! We checked in and then got right off the ship and headed for Cheesecake Factory. We had lunch with a bunch of family friends that were getting off the ship as we were getting on. After lunch, my brother and I walked around Seattle and checked out the firehouse. We also went to Pike Place Market and each held a fish. In one of my teaching workshops this year, this place was featured on a video we had to watch about having fun at work—so I had to go there! We got back on the ship in time for the sailaway party! We did the muster drill and got to wear the lovely life jackets. We went to dinner (we had the early seating, so 6pm). After dinner, we checked out our rooms, started unpacking, and then headed to the “Welcome Aboard Show.” Tonight’s show was Kelly McDonald, a comedian. He was somewhat funny, but not my favorite comedy show on the ship. We also went to “Sebay” which is like Ebay on the ship. I ended up bidding on and winning a facial at the spa. At the end of the auction, they told us that we got our prizes for free, so that was a nice treat! I visited the casino, met up with some friends and just enjoyed the first night sailing away!'
Saturday June 27
Today was a day at sea. My brother and I met for some bingo. On the ships, we always each buy a bingo card, then we will split anything that we may win. We lost all four games this morning and decided to go have some lunch. As the day went on, the seas got rougher and rougher. I had never been in seas this rough in all 9 of my cruises! They said we were experiencing 20-25 foot waves. Many people were sick. Luckily, I had heard that the week before was a bit rough so we brought some seasickness patches with us. Noone in my family got sick, thankfully , but we were definitely feeling the movement. I ended up taking a nap because of the medicine in the patch, but woke up feeling okay. Tonight was formal night and the dining room was over half empty! But my family got all dressed up and off to dinner we went! After dinner, we had the captain’s welcome aboard reception where we met the captain and listened to him speak for a bit. We then headed to the night’s show. The show tonight was the comedian “Etta May” She was absolutely hysterical! We got the chance to meet her after the show and she was as nice as could be. Such a nice woman and we really enjoyed the show. We went and watched some Karaoke for a bit and then went to the casino. I ended up watching a movie with a friend for awhile and went to sleep
Sunday June 28
Today we were in Juneau and the temp was about 61 degrees. It was a bit rainy in the morning, but we did not dock til about 11:00. I spent the morning relaxing with some friends and had some lunch before getting off the ship. My mom and I went whale watching today while my dad and brother did some fishing. Whale watching as great! We got a few good shots of some eagles and were able to see several humpback whales. It was a nice trip and we got some nice pictures. On the bus on the way back to the ship, the driver stopped at a area to let us get a good view of the Mendenhall Glacier, which was amazing! We got back to the ship and decided to relax a bit before dinner.After dinner, I headed to the casino for the 70s night giveaways, where I won a prize bucket. It had a couple of free drink coupons, keychains, coins for a couple of the slots, and some match play coupons. I used them and won some money at roulette! The entire family went to the show which was a production called “Piano Man”-This cast of singers and dancers was the best cast I have seen on any ship! They were absolutely amazing. It was 70s night on the hsip so we headed to the centrum for the dance party! Everyone was dancing, singing, and having a great time. It was a fun night. We ended up at the Lounge for the after party where jelllo shots were making rounds. The 70s music was blasting and everyone was having fun from the kids to the 85 year old man that was dancing around!
Monday June 29
Today we were in Skagway with a temperature of 59 degrees. Our excursion was not til about 11:30 so we all took our time getting up in the morning. I know I went to breakfast I the Café before leaving the ship. We all were doing the same excursion today—dogsledding! We were on the tour with just the five of us, and one other group of 6. It was about a 40 minute drive and we really enjoyed the scenery on the way. We were on the lookout for bears, as our driver saw one before she picked us up. We got to the Musher’s camp and right away met with our team of 16 dogs. The five of us were on one dog sled for the journey. After, we got to pet one of the dogs on our team and we went over to listen to a man who actually races in the Yukon Quest. After was my favorite part—We got to play with the puppies at the camp. We all took turns holding the puppies and taking pictures until it was time to go. On the way back to the bus, we took many pictures as it was absolutely gorgeous outside! As we drove back, we were telling our driver about a place we stopped last year to take pictures and asked if we could stop again. She agreed and we stopped for more great pictures! We got dropped off in town and went to a local place for lunch, did some shopping , and headed back to the ship for country night! I love country music so I was really looking forward to tonight’s plans. We had dinner then I headed to Country Name that Tune—I joined a family that I had just met and we got pretty close to winning. By the time that was over, we were off for the second production show with the singers and dancers. It was a country show and it seemed that everyone enjoyed it. We all ended up going to the country dance party and listened to some songs before headed to karaoke. We ended the night with room service eand watching a movie with a friend.
Tuesday June 30
Today we were cruising Tracy Arm Fjord. We started going through at 5am so it was a bit of an early day. I was out on deck by 6am to check out the sights. It was absolutely gorgeous. We saw waterfalls and trees coming out from the mountains, icebergs and glaciers, whales and seals, and some people even saw bears!( of course, I missed the bears!) After we cruised through, I ended up getting in the hot tub and again saw whales, so that was a pretty cool experience. I wnet to the “finish the lyric” game show and just watched, but it was fun watching the people I met play this game. By the time that was over, it was time for my brother and I to again lose at bingo! Then I had to hurry up and get ready for our second formal night! We took some pictures before dinner and a gain after. It was also secret agent night in the casino and I ended up winning another prize! After that, I went ot the love and marriage game show, which is very much like the newlywed game. It is always fun watching that—but it was even better this time since my grandparents were not on the stage! We ended the night again with room service and a movie with my friend.
Wednesday July 1
Today was our last day at sea. I couldn’t believe we were at the end of the trip. I started to pack when I woke up just to get it out of the way. Next thing I know, my brother is calling me and I am late for bingo—so we go and we both lose,,again! After bingo, I went back in the hot tub and read a book for awhile, which was nice and relaxing. I then headed to the final bingo of the cruise. The last one is “jackpot bingo” and the jackpot must go. My brother and I always buy 2 cards each and this time, my mom was in on it. So Joe and I sat in the front and my parents were in the back as the game started. The first three games were 300-400 dollar pots. The last game was for the jackpot. We sat there playing and I realized that I was 2 numbers away on one of my cards. The rest of my boxes all had 5 or 6 numbers away. Next thing I know is I am one number away, I needed number 4. They called four and I looked at my brother and threw the card at him! He called bingo and they started checking the numbers. I was looking at my brother and we were just smiling like crazy. My parents finally realized it was us when they called it a good claim to bingo and we got so excited! Then they announced the jackpot was over 2,800.00! So Joe had to sign all the paperwork and we went to the casino to collect our prize. We split it up and took some pictures holding the money before it went in the safe. I was So excited!! We went to dinner and we were stopped the entire night asking if it was us that won the jackpot. We went to the show, which was the final one with the singers and dancers and then headed to the Quest. The Quest is the adult scavenger hunt so we got a team and had a blast, as always. After that it was movie night with my friend and bed!
Thursday July 2
Our last full day—I was so bummed! It had been such an amazing trip so far that I didn’t want it to end. But it wasn’t over so we had things to do! Today we were in Victoria, British Columbia where it was 80 degrees!! We got off the ship with our friends and family and went to a small local pizza place for lunch, which was excellent! After that, my parents went back to the ship and my brother and I stayed with our friends for the day. We went through Chinatown and walked through the town for awhile. The town was absolutely gorgeous. The government building looked like a castle with a huge green lawn—We spent a lot of time there and at the waterfront taking pictures. It was a 40 minute walk back to the ship but we decided to just take our time and walk. As we were getting closer to the ship, we noticed this worn out path and d ecided to take it . It took us to the water and it was amazing! We took some pictures on the rocks and just took our time getting back to the ship.
We had to all finish packing by 11pm so I decided to do some before dinner. I ended up finishing so I put my luggage uot in the hall to be picked up. We went to dinne rand I headed back to my room to get my final things together. The plan was to get back to the casino by 830. I left my room then was second guessing if I shut my safe so I went to go back in my room and my door would not open! My room attendant tried and couldn’t get the door open so he called maintenance who couldn’t get the door open. It is now 830 and we had to call security to get me in. The final show started at 9 and I wanted to be there so it was cutting it close. Finally security came and got me in the room so I could check the safe (which was locked!) and I ran o the farewell show. The show was awesome! It was Los Pampas gauchos which were amazing. After, the cruise director gives a speech and the staff goes on stage to say goodbye. After the show, we went to karaoke (no , I didn’t sing) and then met up in the bar to say goodbye to our friends. There were a lot of pictures and some tears. I ended the night in my friends room where we copied each others pictures, watched a movie, and then I went back to my room to sleep around 4am.
Friday July 3
Last day We got up and ready to be off the ship by 8am. We stopped to say goodbye to our friend, who within the last few years has become like family to us. It was hard leaving him, as always. We got off the ship and got to the airport without incident . they had first class available for cheap so all four of us upgraded! It was great having some extra room for the long flight! We got home and our trip was officially over
Well that was just a very brief trip report—If you have any questions just let me know! I had an amazing time and hated getting off the ship. I have pictures on facebook, if you are on there…if not, I can email them to you if you want, just let me know! And if there is anything specific you want a picture of , let me know
Maybe Gap. Hmm.
My wonderful husband cleaned our house today. 
I managed to panel 1/2 the bathroom. I'll hopefully finish it tomorrow afternoon. Today we removed the sink and vanity to work on that wall then everything had to be reconnected. Tomorrow I need to remove the toilet 
To work behind it.
I haven't had time to even think about that so I guess not. At least my suitcases are already out.
