Happy July! Got back yesterday from a cruise to Alaska! It was an awesome week! Here's a little preview from our trip. 
Last Saturday Eric and I flew up to Seattle before the trip started. We spent the afternoon in downtown Seattle which included a stop to the public market place to see the original Starbucks :) and the fish market. It was really cool! The flowers were beautiful here! There were some awesome art items too! We got to see what happens when a fish is purchased at the fish market, video included! It was great! 
Sunday morning we had a little bit of time before we boarded the cruise ship. Eric found the Black Bear Diner so we had to go for breakfast :). My morning started early, I was up at 5:30 bursting with energy and excitement for the trip so I got in a workout at the hotel gym. After that we headed towards Black bear Diner. 
There ended up being a total wine and more store next to the restaurant so after we ate breakfast we headed to shop for a bottle of wine to bring on the ship. We had fun wandering the store looking at all the different labels on the wine bottles. With some help we ended up picking the Kinneybrook Zinfandel it was very good! 
Soon after we headed towards the cruise ship. We bought rain ponchos on the way but didn't end up needing them. On all of the excursions we did they ended up providing them when needed. Once we boarded the ship we went to the top of the cruise ship, deck 16 and explored each floor figuring out where everything was at. It was a huge ship and held about 3600 people. After that we of course headed to the buffet line for our first meal. 
Our first full day at sea was Monday. We did some wine tasting, enjoyed yummy food and watched the evening concert. They also started a singing competition similar to the Voice, so Monday night was heat 1 for guests to try out. It was pretty entertaining. 
Tuesday morning we were up bright and early for salmon fishing in Ketchikan. We met our boat captain Al and jumped on his boat with another family of 3 people. I'm excited to report that I caught the first fish of the trip! We ended up getting a total of 8 salmon between me and Eric. They were mostly pink salmon and I caught one king salmon. We got lucky with awesome weather & gorgeous views! After that we boarded the ship and enjoyed the view on the deck as we moved to the next stop. Wednesday morning we woke up in Tracy Arm with some great views! The water was turquoise, there were waterfalls and it was stunning. The nickname for this area is called "Little Yosemite." We sat on the deck with coffee in hand and got tons of pictures.
That afternoon we arrived in Juneau where we hoped in a van for our next excursion. We hiked to the Mendenhall glacier. We had a great tour guide and even met people from Canada, Spain and Socal on our hike. There was a chance of rain that afternoon but we got lucky and dodged it. It was nice to get outside and get some exercise after all that cruise food. I clocked almost 10 miles that day on my fitbit! Steps were not a problem on this cruise. The ship was so big I got at least my 10,000 steps in each day so that was great to off set all of the eating and wine a little. :)
Thursday morning we arrived in Skagway our original excursion had been cancelled so we signed up for the wild river tour. The weather had changed quite a bit on Thursday. We boarded the ferry over to Haines, Alaska and then boarded a bus. There we got a tour of Haines and got to see Parker Schnabel's parents house from the Alaskan Gold rush tv show! We then geared up for the rain in ponchos, blankets and jackets and boarded small boats to tour the river. Not going to lie it was freezing! I was glad I brought my scarf that day, it protected some of my face from the rain blasting it. We did get to see a moose and eagles so that was cool. When we got back they served everyone chili and homemade brownies in a heated tent. It was nice to get out of the rain. 
Soon after we rode back to Skagway and toured the downtown in the rain lol. I found a really cool turtle night light and we got some hot chocolate. The hot shower was much need after we got back on the ship. Friday was a much needed day at sea to recoup a little from all of the fun. We celebrated our anniversary (a little early) this day! The cruise put balloons on our room door and a sign to say happy anniversary! We got dressed up and went to a formal dinner that night. We even had professional pictures taken which was fun. It was a great night!
Saturday we spent the morning on the ship, I enjoyed a much needed workout. In the afternoon we went to a show on the ship by Steve Moris. It was a comedy/concert, he was awesome! We arrived in Victoria, B.C. in the evening for our last stop before home. It was beautiful here! We toured the Craigdarroch castle & the city. This is definitely a city we would like to spend more time in. They have a coffee chain called Tim Horton's that is said to be really good. I would like to try it some day.
After we got back on the ship on Saturday night we grabbed some goodies from the buffet area and headed to the top of the ship to see if we could see any fireworks. We were so close to the border for the U.S. that it was said that you could still see the fireworks. We didn't have any luck but the views were incredible.
The cruise ended on Sunday morning, feeling so blessed to be able to take this trip and unplug from reality. So many great memories made. Can't wait for the next trip! Hope you enjoyed hearing about our trip! Below are some more pictures from the trip.
