July 30, 2005 - Today we flew from Buffalo into Seattle and had a spectacular view of Mt. Rainier from the air. Then at 4:00 we boarded the gorgeous Diamond Princess and set off for Alaska! Our ship is enormous and absolutely awesome -- 6 swimming pools, 6 hot-tubs, several bars and lounges, hair salon and health spa, dance club, grand casino, atrium with shops, art gallery, library, wedding chapel, golf simulator, internet cafe, and a large theater. And the food is unreal; people are not kidding when they joke about all the food on a cruise! We have 24-hour buffet dining and room service as well as a pizzaria, grille, ice-cream shop, and 6 full-blown restaurants on the ship. We chose the "anytime dining" for our cruise so we can eat wherever and whenever we want!

We spent most of our day day exploring the ship and relaxing outside on lounge chairs. It was 80's and sunny when we left Seattle so mostly everybody was outside on the decks. After dinner, we spent our evening in one of the outside hot-tubs on the back of the ship. We had it all to ourselves and being in that hot bubbly water in the chilly night air was so nice. One thing awesome about this ship is that it is so huge, even with 2,600 people we always seem to find our own little place where nobody else is around. :-)

We chose an inside stateroom on the ship to save some money, but now on the boat I have to admit I am quite envious of everyone with the balcony rooms! I can't complain though; our cabin is still very nice and extremely clean. In fact, every time we return to our room, even if we are only gone an hour, we have clean towels and everything is in perfect order. I am especially amused at how every time we return, our toilet paper is refolded into a little triangle at the end. Ha ha! The entire ship, in fact, is completely immaculate, and also very tastefully decorated. We are extremely impressed so far, to say the least!

The Diamond Princess

July 31, 2005 - Today we spent the entire day exploring and relaxing on the ship. We found a nice corner on the back of the ship where we can relax without any other people around us. We spent more time in the hot tub and then played the poker/keno slot machines in one of the lounges for awhile... I lost $10. Oh well! :-) Tonight was our first "formal night" and we made reservations at the fanciest restaurant on the ship, Sabatini's Trattoria. And boy did we eat!! It was an eight-course formal dinner featuring a lot of seafood and italian dishes. We had bread, cold appetizers, hot appetizers, salad, soup, pasta, our main courses, and dessert! Yikes! :-) It was absolutely delicious, though. Everything seemed to be prepared fresh for us and the staff was very friendly. I think the pasta round was both of our favorites: the gnocci was to die for, and Jay could not stop raving over his beef cannelloni. We practically rolled right out of the restaurant, and went to bed fairly early. Ha ha.

Here we are on the ship



Day 3: Juneau

August 1, 2005 - Today the sun came out and we had a few hours of beautiful sailing before landing at Juneau around 12:30 pm. We passed the most magnificant snow-capped peaks this morning after breakfast; Jay and I could hardly believe our eyes! Even some of the staff onboard said they had never quite seen it so beautiful before.

In Juneau, we signed up for the Bike-N-Brew tour and we had an excellent day! We got to go on a very scenic 9-mile bicycle tour and then we took a quick bus ride to the famous Alaska Brewing Company (where we had free beer and learned about the brewing process). Juneau was by far the most beautiful place we have ever biked. We had absolutely breathtaking views of the Mendenhall Glacier, Auke Bay, and the surrounding rainforest. It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

After our bike tour, we rode up the Mount Roberts Tramway and got to see stunning views of Juneau and it's surrounding beauty. Jay even saw an eagle from his side of the tram! He said he could just barely see it, but I was still sorry to have missed that. At the top of the Tramway was a restaurant, gift shop, and several miles of hiking trails going up the mountainside. We did some hiking in the rainforest and we were just absolutely in awe of the scenery around us. On the way up, we even got to see a marmot, one of Alaska's cute little animals.

After our hike, we had a fabulous dinner at the Timberline Grille at the top of the Tramway. Jay had a dungeness crab melt on english muffins and I had a seafood quesadilla. It was a very casual place, but believe it or not, it was even more delicious than the fancy meals on the ship! We ended up sharing our dinners with each other because we both loved both dishes so much! Ha ha. If you ever get to Juneau, be sure to check out the Timberline. We were beyond impressed with the food there! We also did a little shopping at the gift shop and I got a really nice framed art print to take back home.

Snow-capped peaks of Alaska


Me on the Bike Tour


Jay and I in front of the Mendenhall Glacier


Even closer to the Mendenhall...


And here we are right in front of it!


The Mendenhall Glacier


View from the hiking trail at the top of the Tramway


Mr. Marmot -- The only wildlife I saw in Alaska! Ha ha...

August 2, 2005 - This morning we arrived in Skagway at about 5:00 am. Needless to say, Jay and I were still sleeping when we arrived, but we were up and moving not long after, and at 6:45 we were gearing up for our helicopter ride to the Grand Canyon Glacier! What an experience!!! Neither of us had ever been on a helicopter before, and it was like being in another world up there, amidst the misty mountain peaks of Alaska! Despite our lucky sunny weather down below, the weather up by the peaks and out on the glacier was pretty chilly and wet. No complaints from us, though! We landed right on the glacier and were provided with plenty of rain gear and walking sticks. We got to walk all over the glacier. It was unbelievable amazing. Some of the glacial ice is so compressed, it's as blue as Windex. We got to see a curvy stream flowing right through the glacier, and the water was so clear and blue, it didn't look real. We also got to see a small cravass in the glacier as well as a neat little geyser. How cool! I'm so glad we decided to do the helicopter tour. Yet another experience of a lifetime...

Skagway is geographically the largest city in Alaska with 455 square land miles. The actual town though, was extremely small! The entire town only has one school for all 12 grades, and apparently last year in 2004 there was a graduating class of 9! Unreal, right? :-) Skagway's streets are bordered with wooden sidewalks and buildings with false fronts, which give Skagway the feeling of an old west town. Given its colorful past during the great gold rish era, Skagway was definitely a fun place to visit and an interesting place to explore.

We ate lunch at a very cute little cafe called Sabrosa, where we both had delicious chalupas and hot coffee. Then, after lunch, we went on our second tour of the day, which was a 27-mile scenic ride on the White Pass/Yukon Route Railroad (one of the oldest, operating narrow-gauge railroads) up into the mountains, followed by an hour of kayaking in a secluded glacier lake in Frasure, British Columbia. The scenery along train ride was absolutely stunning, and it was very interesting riding along the same path that the gold stampeders took over 100 years ago to reach the gold fields of the Yukon.

We had so much fun kayaking (our first time doing so!) and Bernard Lake was so serene, surrounded by gorgeous, snow-capped mountains. Jay and I were in a two-person kayak and we had no trouble at all. It was a lot of work, but so much fun! We then took a scenic bus ride back to our ship. We didn't see any wildlife today, which was a little disappointing. Oh well!

We ate dinner at the Savoy dining room on the ship, where I had Eggplant Parmasiana and Jay had Swordfish. I almost wish I had ordered the Swordfish too... it was delicious!

Here we are, ready for take-off!


View from the helicopter


Grand Canyon Glacier


Jay and I standing on the Grand Canyon Glacier -- see the geyser next to us?


Glacial snow coming down the mountainside


Skagway


View from the Railroad


Another view from the Railroad


Jay and I kayaking on Bernard Lake


Another shot of Jay and I kayaking on Bernard Lake

All bundled up in rain jackets


Iceberg in Tracy Arm

August 4, 2005 - Today we spent the day on the island of Ketchikan, where we went on a really nice canoe trip on the secluded Harriet Hunt Lake, about 30 miles inland.

Boy are we lucking out with the weather! Ketchikan is the rain capital of North America, having an average of over 150" of rain per year! Sure enough, when we arrived at Ketchikan this morning, it was raining. It rained through breakfast on the ship, and then rained the whole bus ride out to the lake. But as soon as we got onto the canoes, the rain stopped and we had a few hours of absolutely perfect canoeing weather -- Unreal!

Harriet Hunt Lake was so beautiful, surrounded on all sides by the misty peaks of the Tongass Rainforest. We got to paddle around the lake in 37-foot, Indian-style canoes. It was a really peaceful and fun way to spend the afternoon. About 3/4 of the way around the lake, we got to stop and have a snack at "Cook's Camp." It was very cool - The camp was this little hut in the woods where a chef (in full chef hat and white apron!) had prepared smoked salmon, homemade clam chowder, bread and jam, and hot drinks for us. We also got to go on a brief nature walk through the rainforest and learn about some of the plants. What a fun afternoon! And, as soon as we boarded the bus to head back, it started raining again. The timing could not have been more perfect. :-)

Today was our last chance to see any Alaskan wildlife (bears, eagles, whales, etc.) and we didn't see any. Oh well! At least we got to see the marmot in Juneau! Ha ha!

I wish we could have spent some more time in Ketchikan. We were only there until lunchtime, so as soon as we got back from canoeing, we had to get back on the boat. It would have been nice to spend some time in the town. We had such a nice time canoeing though that we didn't really care.

Tonight was our 2nd "formal night" and we had yet another totally elaborate dinner on the ship, at the Sante Fe dining room. Wow... I went from King Crab Legs last night to Lobster Tail tonight! I must have gained 10 lbs already on this cruise! After dinner, I lost another $20 playing Keno and then we watched a comedian in one of the lounges. We then turned in early, yet again. We have been getting up really early and packing a lot into our days, plus I am very sore from the biking, kayaking, and canoeing, so I have completely beat every night! I have to say though: every ache and pain is entirely worth it! :-)

Ketchikan


Ketchikan


Canoeing in Ketchikan


Tongass Rainforest


Second Formal Night -- Here we are before dinner...


During dinner...


And then after dinner!! Boy did we eat a lot on this cruise!



Day 7: Victoria, Canada

August 5, 2005 - Today was our last day of the cruise! Our trip has gone by way too fast! We did our best though to savor every moment, and I did take over 200 photos. :-) I lost my memory card with the canoeing pictures, unfortunately, but thankfully those were the only pictures lost! Phew!

Today we had a beautiful, sunny day of sailing. We lounged on the deck, I read my book, Jay swam, we played shuffleboard, played Bingo, and of course ate everything in sight! I have had more ice-cream sundaes in the past 7 days than I've had in the past 5 years!! LOL!!

We had a "light" dinner at the ship's 24-hour buffet and then we arrived in Victoria at 7:00 pm. We had originally signed up for a whale watching excursion in Victoria, but they advised us not to go due to decreasing daylight hours. (Our whale watch would have been 8:00-11:00 pm). We then decided we would do the Buchart Gardens tour, but it was full, and the gardens were too far to get to by ourselves. It would have cost us $70 by cab! So we didn't have anything official planned for our time Victoria. We ended up strolling along the pier to watch the sun set (something we missed every other night on the cruise, due to the weather or being at dinner) which was really nice. And then we ended up taking a 90-minute "pedicab" tour through the city, which was a lot of fun. Our "driver" who biked us around the city was very animated and knowledgable. It was a fun way to see a city in just 90 minutes and it gave us something to do while we were there. Victoria is a very beautiful city. Spending the evening there was a nice way to spend the last night of our voyage.

Sunset in Victoria


Parliament Building in Victoria


Jay and I kissing under "The Kissing Tree" during our pedicab ride in Victoria



The End!


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