The Last Frontier . . . By Boat

Alaska was so cool . . . in more ways than one! The scenery is beautiful . . . snow-topped mountains, georgeous waterfalls, green everywhere . . . whales, seals and bald eagles everywhere! We had a fantastic time, but were glad to get home . . . except the temperature! It was in the 60s and 70s during the day and 50s at night! Perfect!



We got to Seattle in time to take a half-day tour the day before our cruise ship set sail. Our 3-hour tour with All Seattle Tours was great with our tour guide Joe giving a great narrative with all the sites -- he was funny too. It's a very interesting city -- funky and arty. I got to see the Fish Market and the oldest Starbucks and the Sleepless In Seattle house!

So we boarded the Carnival Spirit on June 1 for the trip up to Skagway and then back down to Juneau and Ketchikan. It's the 7-day Alaksa Cruise, and it's some beautiful country -- and the ship is beautiful. I highly recommend upgrading to a balcony room -- it's worth the extra money and you get to wake up to beautiful views! We were supposed to end at Victoria, British Columbia, but weren't able to dock because of wind (they said). That was a bit disappointing -- I was looking forward to seeing the gardens there -- but hey, they did give us an $11 refund! I was expecting at least a free drink!

Jeremy Lee at Wiregrass Travel booked our cruise for us -- and I HIGHLY recommend consulting him for any cruise or travel you're interested in! He helped with our sighseeing excursions at the cities we docked at, recommending Shore Trips which was less expensive than Carnival's side trips. At our first stop in Skagway, we did the Whitepass Rail and Summit tour up into the mountains on a train and back down by bus. In Juneau, we took the Mendenhall Glacier tour; and in Ketchikan we did the Ketchikan City and Saxman Totem Village Tour. All in all, a great time! Now, where do we go next? Hmmmmmm.....