Life as J

We had our last day on board the Norwegian Sun today, but there were still tons of things to do! First, we had a light breakfast before attending the disembarkation briefing. The cruise director just went through the steps of the process for tomorrow so that everyone knew what to do and where to go. We also passed by the Native village of Bella Bella , closely enough that we were able to snap a couple of photos. Right afterwards, they had a draw for a free cruise to the Caribbean. Unfortunately, we didn't win, but we did see a couple of games of electronic bingo. That basically took us to lunch, which we enjoyed in The Seven Seas. The meal was one of our best... almost perfect service, except for the end when more people started showing up! Our post-lunch activities included the final art auction (where we won a piece of art... though we did have to pay for framing and shipping...) and a show featuring the crew members. The show was, for the most part, bordering on terrible. H...

Ahh... relaxation. As soon as we left Skagway last night, we began our long journey back to Vancouver. Thus, today was spent entirely at sea so there was no fixed program... and sleeping in was actually a valid option! I took full advantage and didn't rouse myself from bed until around 11:30am. That gave us just enough time to get washed up for lunch. We tried the self-serve pizza and pasta in Pacific Heights, which was pretty decent - you were given the choice of ingredients and pasta and they would cook it for you on the spot. Following that, we wobbled to the Dazzles Lounge for an Art History seminar. (Wobbled because the seas were a bit rough due to our first day of rain.) The seminar was very informative, covering around 35,000 years of art history (from cave drawings to pop art) in just under two hours. Not only did we receive a very valuable lesson, but we also received a free piece of modern art! For the rest of the afternoon, we tried to do as little as possible, wh...

Each day seems to be more and more exhausting - this morning, we pulled into Skagway, Alaska for our longest day at port. We gobbled down breakfast at the main buffet and then headed towards the gangway for our shore excursion. This time, the tour bus was packed - I think there were at least 30 people signed up for the Ultimate Yukon & White Pass Railway tour. After checking to make sure we all had our passports, we set off for the Yukon! We drove along the Klondike Highway, stopping along the way to snap pictures of the beautiful mountain scenery. Luckily, the sun came out for us and the wind was calm so the photographs turned out really well. About an hour and a half later, we reached the Canadian border and we passed into Fraser, British Columbia. By 11:30am, we had reached Caribou Crossing in Yukon Territory - or Carcross, for short. There, we were treated to a barbecue lunch in covered wagons, just outside town. Right beside the barbecue area, there was a wildlife museum...

Super tired today... Today, we docked at Juneau, Alaska around 6:15am. Thus, we woke up a little bit later than yesterday, grabbed breakfast at the Garden Cafe, and enjoyed a bit of the morning sun. Our shore excursion started at 7:50am - this time, the group we were with was very small. Including us, the total number of passengers signed up for the Sky to Sea bike tour was only six. I think this allowed a better, more comfortable atmosphere since we were able to get to know each other. After gathering together at the port, we piled into a van, which drove us to the top of a ski hill a short drive away from downtown. From there, we biked down the hill and along the coast of the island - giving us a very nice view of the Mendenhall Glacier. With the sun shining, we were able to see all seven peaks of the surrounding mountains. Everyone kept commenting on how lucky we were! The tour took around 3-4 hours, so we were able to hit a few small shops in downtown Juneau before we had to ...

Happy Canada Day... our first day onshore, in Ketchikan, Alaska! We woke up bright and early at 5:30am in order to eat breakfast and meet our tour bus at the port by 6:50am. The tour was actually overbooked, but they were able to call a second bus to transport us to Orca Beach. Or rather, the buses brought us to Knudson Cove Marina, and we all boarded a motorized raft that took us to Orca Beach. The raft was a lot sturdier than I had imagined, since I was expecting something we would have to row ourselves. We toured around some of the smaller islands and kept our eyes peeled for bald eagles. Since weather was once again on our side, we were able to spot a bunch of the majestic birds, but no whales. On Orca Beach, we went on a short one-hour nature hike through a part of the Tongass rainforest (the whole forest covers 17 million acres). The most amazing fact was how the low-tide and high-tide water lines were 25 metres apart - the tide lines could be seen on the rocky cliffs of th...