You’ll never get me on a cruise. Unless it’s to ALASKA! Recap and New PTR Link! 2/1

[eandesmom]

Beautiful photos!

Thanks Jen!

What a great lunch! The lodge and the area around it are just beautiful, and the food sounded good too.

it couldn't have been lovelier all around!

I'll bet the boys loved it when the bear was "cleaning" the grill.

Your picture of those two dogs looks like a pet portrait!

The boys did love it! Although honestly, they loved the black labs almost as much, they were so adorable.

Wonderful trip report!! I came across a few nights ago and just now made my way back Loved all the pictures. Someone may have asked already, but what kind of camera did you guys have to take these wonderful shots? I am hoping your amazing pics are all it's going to take to persuade DH an Alaskan cruise is for us.

Thanks and

I have an Olympus Pen E-PL2 which I absolutely love!

 

[Flossbolna]

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas!

The update is just wonderful. What a special experience this excursion was. It seems so far away from the big cruise ship. I love the pictures of the moss in the trees, it looks so green and soft!

However, I am not sure whether I would not have been very frightened by the bears!! When I was in Canada we did sleep in a tent and I was always so frightened of forgetting something in the tent which would attract a bear - I was told food or soap would certainly get the bears to come. I did NOT want a bear to come wake me up!!!

 

[eandesmom]

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas!

The update is just wonderful. What a special experience this excursion was. It seems so far away from the big cruise ship. I love the pictures of the moss in the trees, it looks so green and soft!

However, I am not sure whether I would not have been very frightened by the bears!! When I was in Canada we did sleep in a tent and I was always so frightened of forgetting something in the tent which would attract a bear - I was told food or soap would certainly get the bears to come. I did NOT want a bear to come wake me up!!!

The bear fear is a valid one. We did have a run in with a small brown bear while camping in Whistler a few years back. Completely our fault mind you and in many many ways quite amusing but you do need to be very careful about locking everything in the car!

It did feel far away from the big cruise ship. It was magical and special and just wonderful! You can actually see moss like that here in WA if you get over to the Hoh Rain Forest. It's like it's dripping from the trees. Just gorgeous...I always feel like I'm in some fantasy land (and hope Legolas will show up. LOL!).

 

[mickeysmyboy]

Fabulous update Cynthia! What a spectacular setting!! I can only imagine how beautiful it was in real life!

 

[englishrose47]

Just checking in have been absent for a while !!!

 

[eandesmom]

Fabulous update Cynthia! What a spectacular setting!! I can only imagine how beautiful it was in real life!

Gorgeous Melissa, you'd need lots of SD cards!

Just checking in have been absent for a while !!!

Hi Rosie! I've been pretty absent as well.

 

[natebenma]

What a freakin' amazing excursion this is!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE your gorgeous pictures!

I'm glad someone asked about the growth on the trees- it looks so cool. I wondered if it was lichen (is that different from tree moss?) Is there a botanist in the house?

The glacier is beautiful, the cabin is spectacular, the walk looked so tranquil and the food pictures are making my mouth water!

Very cool about the bears coming up to the grill. Um, they do scrub the grill after the bears visit, right?

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Well, I for one, am glad that you took a while for that update, since I've been away too and I didn't want to fall too far behind!

Absolutely fabulous beautiful pictures!!! We are totally sold on an Alaskan cruise. Now I just have to find the $$ to go on DCL!

 

[eandesmom]

What a freakin' amazing excursion this is!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE your gorgeous pictures!

freakin' amazing is about right!

I'm glad someone asked about the growth on the trees- it looks so cool. I wondered if it was lichen (is that different from tree moss?) Is there a botanist in the house?

gosh I don't know. There are a bunch of different kinds of mosses and lichen and I honestly don't know the difference. I tried to google it and did find out that there is reindeer moss in the mix...lol!

The glacier is beautiful, the cabin is spectacular, the walk looked so tranquil and the food pictures are making my mouth water!

Very cool about the bears coming up to the grill. Um, they do scrub the grill after the bears visit, right?

They do scrub the grill, they made sure to tell us that! Before AND after the bears visit.

Well, I for one, am glad that you took a while for that update, since I've been away too and I didn't want to fall too far behind!

Absolutely fabulous beautiful pictures!!! We are totally sold on an Alaskan cruise. Now I just have to find the $$ to go on DCL!

Well between the holiday and my surgery on weds, I'm hoping to get a couple of updates up this week and stay on top of it. It was just a wonderful excursion, and cruise!

 

[eandesmom]

Bellies slightly less full after our lovely walk in the woods it was sadly, time to say goodbye to our adventure in the wilderness. But first, a picture of our placemats! I thought these were cool.

With that, it was off to our plane. Of course I had to take the mandatory loading shot.

Guess who got shotgun for the ride home?

He wasn’t excited about it at all

Bye bye Taku

It was wild to see colors already changing!

Bye Bye inlet

Bye bye icefields

Continued in next post

 

[eandesmom]

Wings 2 is coming in

Bye bye Carnival ship (leaving port)

Hello land

I can see our house from here!

My Celebrity, how BIG you are!

But we are SO much more WONDERful!

And with that…we landed. All aboard was at 4:30. We landed just before 4 and somehow ended up in the 2nd round of shuttles to take us back to the ship. As a result we boarded with not much time to spare. Though we weren’t “really” stressed about it since the excursion was booked through Disney, it was a little closer than we might have liked. Back on the ship, we split up. The boys for some pool time and the adults for some much needed gym time. We agreed to meet back at the room between 5:45-6.
Though I’d noticed the view from the gym on our first visit, it was even more exciting to be sitting on a bike right as we left port. They had the ships camera view on the TV, both on the bikes if you wanted that channel and on the screen. It matched the view from MY bike, exactly! This isn’t from our cruise but you get the idea. We could also see the crew on deck actually controlling the ship from a side area. Between that and chatty Cathy from Nebraska next to me, it wasn’t exactly the cardio fest I’d hoped for but it was certainly better than nothing and gosh, you couldn’t beat the view.

Nice and sweaty we headed back to get everyone cleaned up and enjoy a glass of wine. Our plan….Toy Story the Musical! Given our timeline I confess, I didn’t even bring my camera (though I did bring my wine!). The show gets some mixed reviews and the boys had a hard time getting past the fact that both Sid and Andy were played by girls. That being said, both Jeff and I really loved it and the kids liked it too! Top notch production in every way. And though I wish I had pictures, since it was a “first” I’m glad I left the camera in the room and just enjoyed the show. I “borrowed” a few pics so everyone could get a feel for the show.

Honestly, Sid and those mutant toys were seriously a highlight, not sure what that says about me but I loved it!

After the show we had a date. With a puppy!

Puppy picture accomplished, we attempted to take a semi formal picture (hideous, boys picked out the background and the end result was awful) and then headed down to Wave Bands to see David Williamson, the magician. He was quite enjoyable and Jeff and I decided that later that night, we’d check out the adult version of his show! Dinner was at Triton’s and after a quick swing by our room to refill our glasses and bring to dinner we headed in to enjoy the Captains gala menu. No food porn as I hadn’t brought the camera but I know this was a favorite meal for me. I had black forest mushroom soup and a seared tuna that was delish! The boys were pretty darn excited to try lobster. If memory serves we may have finished the wine left over from our dinner 2 nights prior. I did try the no sugar added apple pie but it was just meh. We learned from our table mates at dinner that there was the dessert buffet that night so of COURSE we were bullied into letting the kids stay up late enough for that. After some negotiation and assurances from our table mates that it was ok we agreed that the boys could go pin trade and “look” at the stores with the girls, we’d hit wavebands for the cool jazz group, then the adult magic adult show and then meet back up at the dessert gala. The cool jazz was just ok but the adult magic show…an absolute riot. The dessert buffet, like the cool jazz, didn’t really impress me much but was about what I’d expected. With 2nd seating it wasn’t like much of us had room for anything anyway. By the time it ended, it was getting close to midnight and all four of us were wiped out and so bed it was. Tomorrow was Ketchikan, our last port.

 

[MEK]

Just like the ride there - WOW! Those ice fields are amazing. Double WOW! Oh and those placemats are too cute. I can't believe they come complete with the rest room location. That IS important, ya know!

You picked a great excursion!

The show is so cute.

Great puppy pic!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Wow - what an amazing excursion! And Toy Story looks pretty impressive too!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Those placemats are super cute. I am all about things like that! LOL!

The ice fields are just amazing -- I never get tired of looking at them!

What a cool view from your exercise bike! I might be more inclined to exercise if that was my view! LOL!

Sounds like a lovely rest of the evening -- too bad the dessert buffet was just meh.

 

[manntra]

Hahaha Jackie...I agree about the view from the bike...it sure would make exercising more fun Or just fun at all

Love the ice fields....wow!! What a spectacular view!!! So cool I must say I was just on HD's cruise TR getting caught up everywhere and the experience is like night and day but I love them both! Love the TS show and the mutant toys

Tracy

 

[glennbo123]

It must be really cool to see that ice from the air like that. Really neat pictures.

I'm glad that Eric got his Pluto picture.

 

[mickeysmyboy]

Oh my! I love those views!! Amazing!!! I know I said it before but I can't even imagine what it must be like to see those views in person! One day!!!!!

It sounds like a nice night on the boat! Minus the hideous photo and the meh parts!

 

[KatMark]

What stunning views, Cynthia, and what a great day. Love the plane photos. Glad you enjoyed the adult version of the magician.

 

[tinacaplan]

Your pictures are amazing and really capture how unique Alaska is. And that picture of the port truly captures how beautiful the Disney ships are compared to the others.

 

[Flossbolna]

The flight back was spectacular again! And I very much understand how getting back to the ship with so little time to spare would be a bit scary! That is one of the things which I am thinking about when cruising. While I can imagine going off on my own instead of an official excursion I would always be afraid of not making it back to the ship in time...

Thanks for the info on the moss in the trees! It does indeed look like a fantasy world. The Pacific Northwest is definitely on the list of places I want to visit and I will make sure to include that park!