We took a cruise to Alaska to celebrate our 40th anniversary and so we drove to Vancouver to catch the boat!!
We took a couple of days to get there and the reality of traveling in Canada in the summer is that you will be sitting still somewhere along the way to allow road crews to repair or create some new roads. As we were sitting there on the road in the middle of mountains, I thought the ditch looked very promising for strawberries so got out and checked it out!! For sure!! There were strawberries!! Here is the little handful I picked!! Needless to say, they were yummy!
We stopped in Fields on our way looking to find someplace to eat!! A trip around town (4 streets) did not reveal a lot and the gas station did not have any food so we just kept going and ate in Golden. On the cruise, sitting across from a couple from England in the dining room on Father's day we learned that there was a great restaurant in Fields. They had spent three days in Fields (there are LOT of bed and breakfasts in there) and had checked out the two eating establishments in town and were able to recommend the
Truffle Pigs!! We stopped on the way home and it was VERY GOOD!!!!!!!!!
We stopped in Abbotsford to visit with Isidore and Wendy. Amberlee and Meagan dropped in as well so it was nice to see them all. We were a bit late getting there because we had the transmission in the car checked out in Kamloops. It was occasionally shifting hard and we wanted to make sure we were able to catch the boat the next day. Nothing serious, but it was better to know than not!! The mountains were gorgeous and the scenery beautiful.
The Volendam!!! The trip into Vancouver went well and thanks to the GPS we found our way to Canada Place and the dock without any trouble. Parked the car and easily found the way to the ship. They had people everywhere to make sure everyone coming in was directed to the right location for embarking on the correct ship!! Very well organized and very helpful!! As cruise ships go it is not a large one but it is VERY large!!!
We signed up for a salmon bake in Juneau, our first port of call. Again, the most helpful staff - they made sure that everyone who had booked an excursion found their transportation or connections! We were picked up my a little yellow bus and driven to the site. Very knowledgeable guide/driver. It was not very busy which was nice because we were able to eat very shortly after arriving. They have a set up which would accommodate many more. Our meal was good but not worth the price we paid. The food on board was better though we did see a nice little waterfall and they had a campfire for roasting marshmallows after we had our blueberry crumble.
In Skagway, we took a ride on the train!! It is a narrow gauge railroad and the cars are cute and had little stoves in one corner!!! This was the way many prospectors made their way up north when gold was discovered!! Their was a guide (speaker system) drawing our attention to the many points of interest as we went along. In the photo you can see the head of the train as we headed back down the mountain. The train does not turn around. They put the cars on a siding, move the engines to the back, flip the seat backs and the passengers take a seat on the opposite side of the train so they would have the chance to see every wonderful thing along the way.
As you can see above and to the left we had very good weather for the cruise. It had been 93F in Juneau the day before we arrived. Unheard of!! The day turned beautifully sunny as we made our way up Glacier Bay to check out the Margerie Glacier. By the time we arrived it was beautiful and getting a spot on the deck of the ship to see the glacier took some persistence but we were there for over an hour so we did get a chance to get a good look!! Because of the sun we heard a lot of LOUD cracking sounds and witnessed several calving - chunks breaking off the glacier and splashing into the water. It had been 5 trips since they had seen that happen this year.
In Ketchikan we went sea kayaking!! What fun!! There were only three couples - some days they have 48 people and 7guides. It took a bus trip, then a ride in the Zodiac before we reached the Tatoosh Islands where we kayaked. On the way, in the Zodiac, we saw lots of eagles and an eagle's nest on one of the islands. They are very large birds!! We saw some whale spouts too! Once at the islands we were briefed on safety and procedure, stowed our extra items, put on our boats skirts and then our PFDs. We got in our kayaks and were launched from the very pebbly shore ( a skipping stone heaven!!)
The food on the ship was wonderful. We had the option to go to the buffet or the dining room so we chose "open seating" so we had both options. We ate mostly at the buffet which was great. They had stations for salad, sushi, pasta, coffee and tea, desserts, breads and appetizers and a line for the the main meals which included several meats, vegetables and sides. The portions were small but you could have as many as you wanted and you could go back for anything that you wanted more of. We ate in the dining room for by birthday and Father's Day. My birthday dessert was this little chocolate cake - perfect!!
We arrived into Vancouver at 7am. We had set out our luggage in the hallway the night before. You can see that the hallways are LONG and narrow!! We were on deck 2 of the ship in an interior cabin. You could "feel" a bit of vibration from the engines but it was very subtle. We did not miss having a window or doors off of our small stateroom. There is a lot of public space to hang out so we did not spend much time in our room which had a king size bed, a desk, a loveseat with a table, a bathroom with shower and lots of closet space which included a safe. We had room keys which opened our door as well as was used aboard the ship for accessing other services. You can charge everything to your room - liquor, soft drinks and specialty drinks and snacks, purchases at the stores, spa treatments and classes, etc. There was free nightly shows and movies, entertainment in the lounges, a library, a digital studio, a fitness room, two swimming pools and LOTS of planned activities - polar bear plunge, Walk for Cancer, trivia challenges, etc.
Once in Vancouver we decided to spend the day at Granville Island!! It was a fun day - lots to see and do and some very artsy places to shop in all nicely contained on the island. We booked a room there as well. It was nice not to have to navigate downtown Vancouver at rush hour. We did not buy too much - a nice spoon for cooking out of endangered local wood and salmon for Dave and Alison for taking care of the house for us. We got up the next morning, had breakfast on the island and headed out after the morning rush. We stayed in Kelowna that evening and did a bit of shopping there and drove home from there the next day.
We were very happy with this Holland - American cruise and will likely do another some time. It would be very nice to cruise with another couple or two. Lots of people were traveling together and doing their own thing for excursions and connecting on the ship for meals and entertainment.
Therese
