You can't understand Alaska from a cruise ship. You can see parts of it. You can appreciate some of its beauty. While you're eating those little cocktail wienies in BBQ sauce off of a toothpick at a party (we usually aren't at sophisticated parties), you can tell people you've been there. But I know from talking to folks from Alaska, that the state has so much more than a cruise ship can offer. You still haven't experienced Alaska.
Unfortunately, a cruise was all we could do.
What little time we spent on dry ground was always with a view of snow capped mountains somewhere. Nice. We saw Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway - all cute little towns in there own right. If you catch Ketchikan at the right time of year, you can watch salmon spawn through the town. Skagway was the most beautiful, perhaps because it was so remote and mountainous.
What we didn't realize is that most of the population is in Anchorage...way too far away for us to visit - also where most of the mini-golf courses were. Levi thinks he "would have won" Alaska because he seems to win mini golf in states that begin with a vowel.
Having cruised at the end of May (5/29), we found the temperatures ranged from cool to occasionally quite warm as we hiked Skagway. It was the very end of the budget season and we'd recommend it if you want to save some money. You can't predict the weather, but bring some layers and you'll be fine. We had two days that were too rainy, one in Juneau and one while we were docked in Canada. I took those days to rest, work, and recover from my cold. (I apparently hadn't used enough of the hand sanitizer located every five feet on the ship.)
You do need to see a Glacier. It wasn't at all what we expected. We thought we'd see a giant iceberg looking thing, but it was an enormous wall of ice that came down from the mountains. It's also important to get some perspective if you're 12 stories up on a cruise ship. The giant wall of ice wasn't impressive until you saw a boat buzz up to it. Wow! We wish we'd taken the excursion to get near the glacier - it was fantastic.
The icebergs floating along the way into the glacier also deserved more respect than we gave them. They were cute up on deck 15 but much more menacing when you saw them from a lower deck and noticed how deep than went into the water.
Do go whale watching and take the train at Skagway. We were much too budget conscious, but were quite envious of the pictures that were brought back.
It truly was a great experience. The cruise, what we saw of Alaska, and the glacier all combined to create some wonderful memories (and pictures) of Alaska. We would do it again. We finished the cruise satisfied, yet still wanting more of the state, knowing we had seen just the tip of the iceberg (literrally and figuratively).
Still, if I should every meet you at a party, I'll take a moment to put down my cocktail weenie on a toothpick and tell you of my amazing adventures in Alaska. I was there.
Best Hotel: The best part about the room we had was the deck we were on. Typically, when you pay basement rate prices for a cruise, you find yourself in the bowels of the ship, perhaps storing mops for the janitors. Oddly, we we're on deck 10, only 2 from the top. We were close to everything, and more importantly for the claustrophobic among us - close to the outside!
Worst Hotel: The worst thing about our room was the bed arrangement. Perhaps it's common, but we were three across on the bottom with one above. The kids would switch off getting the top bunk and then the other kid hung out with us...very odd. Could be worse - we could have been two couples trying to share the cabin.
Best Restaurant: Many complain about Norwegian Cruise's Freestyle Cruising - mostly due to the difficulty getting a table during prime times at the "free" restaurants. We didn't have an issue and never waited, unless we arrived early to get a table by the window. If anything, that's the benefit of Freestyle, you aren't stuck at the same table all the time and can get a prime table by arriving early. We were on a booked cruise and never had a complaint. My favorite meal was probably at midnight when I was a little claustrophobic and Levi and I toured the ship, sat down to some delicious pasta salad, and chit-chatted about life.
Best Memory: It was so nice to relax, walk around holding hands with Sheri, and eat something other than the Holiday Inn Express complimentary breakfast. The cruise was a turning point for us where we realized it was ok to NOT see the entire state, to slow down and enjoy the trip. We decided to do the best we can to register organ donors, to see the state, and to let the rest go. It was good. One other great memory was when I let God know I was the ONLY one in the family who hadn't seen a whale yet. Two minutes later, circumstances made it so we pretty much had to sit in the cafeteria by the window and wait...five minutes later my whale arrived pretty close to the ship spouting water. It was good. Oh, and I can't forget looking out from a point in Skagway we hiked to - I thought we'd found the most beautiful place on earth.
Worst Memory: I had/got a cold so initially it was difficult to enjoy. I couldn't hike as far and was pretty tired. I have the strength of 19 normal men so was able to battle through with some DayQuil.
Mini-Golf Winner: None. Only 4 mini golf courses in Alaska and we didn't dock near any of them. Stats at the time: Me-1, Sheri-2, Levi-1, Chloe-0
Possible state to live in: Probably not...but I say that with hesitancy. It is a gorgeous state - the donate life group there is very active. What I don't know is if I can (or want to) handle the cold, if I can (or want to) handle the long hours of darkness, and if they have a top-notch transplant hospital to live near. Part of me wouldn't mind giving it a try...maybe for a summer.
-mike
-mike
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