Showing posts with label Vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vacation. Show all posts

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Alaskan Cruise Day 3

Allie, her parents and myself arrived in Juneau, AK on board the Norwegian Pearl. There wasn't much to see within walking distance of the pier; just some tourist shops. I'm glad we planned ahead for a whale watching cruise.

After a lengthy ride on a bus (with a driver that was more than happy to tell her personal story of how she and her husband ended up in Alaska), our tour group arrived at a small dock in Auke Bay. The tour boat had a heated cabin. We took off from dock and headed out of the bay.


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At first, there were no whales in sight. As we headed north, we began to see spouts of water off in the far distance. The crew finally got us near some humpbacks. Over the next couple of hours, the boat went from one area to another trying to give us a glimpse of the whales. As the day progressed, we had better sightings.


Near the end of the tour, we watched excitedly as a whale lunged out of the water to fill its mouth full of fish. That was an impressive sight!

As we headed back to dock, I asked Allie's mom how many whales she spotted. She excitedly held up her hand showing all her fingers and said, "FIVE!" with as big of a smile as I've ever seen gleam. Everyone had a lot of fun on this excursion.

Navigation: See all Alaskan Cruise articles here

Links to Alaskan Cruise articles

Alaskan Cruise pre-day
Alaskan Cruise Day 1 and 2
Alaskan Cruise Day 3
Video of Whale Watching cruise
Alaska Cruise Day 4: Skagway and the Safari
Alaska Cruise Day 5: Glacier Bay!
Alaska Cruise Day 6: Ziplining
Alaska Cruise Day 7: Not Alaska (B.C.)

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Alaskan Cruise Day 1 and 2

Allie, her parents and myself boarded the Norwegian Pearl in Seattle on Sunday in early May 2010. This was Allie's and my first time on a cruise ship. Walking to the cabins was a bit of a surprize. The Pearl has long and narrow corridors (to access the cabins on each deck) that extend nearly the full length of the ship. Even with the ship still docked, this was a little unnerving. We got used to it by the end of the day.

The cabins where about as I expected. A bit smaller than I'm used to. There was enough room for two of us in each cabin without tripping over each other too often. The restroom was the most cramped. I'm not a big person (not even close), and I even had a little trouble getting comfortable on the toilet. The bed was comfortable and spacious. The curtains were very thick. When closed, they would literally make the cabin fill like night, even in the middle of the day.

Although I felt the ship was very large, it didn't seem to have some of the amenities that one comes to expect from an offering of this sort. The shops were in one small section of the ship. There was a couple of gift shops and a jewelry shop and that's about it. The lounge area at the center of the ship seemed spacious at first. However, after seeing how quickly it got cluttered with various events, it also seemed a bit undersized.

Once the ship left Seattle, we spent the rest of that day and all of the following Monday at sea (called a "Sea Day"). The four of us spent most of this Sea Day getting acquainted with the ship. Our cabin had a nice balcony. I found it to be very relaxing to just lounge on the balcony, watching the ocean fly past me. I was able to spot dolphins once or twice. During lunch at the buffet restaurant, we spotted some whales too.

The food was so-so. There was a good selection at the buffet, but the quality did not live up to expectations. Monday evening, we dined at a restaurant at the rear of the ship. Our table was right at the stern. Before the sun set, I was fascinated by the water being churned up in the wake as the ship moved forward. The restaurant was decorated in a Russian-style. The food was good. Unfortunately, this would be best food we would encounter on the ship over the next week.

Navigation: See all Alaskan Cruise articles here

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Alaskan Cruise pre-day

Allie, her parents and I flew up a day early to Seattle for our Alaskan cruise, this past May. My friends Dave and Miriam picked us up at the airport. Because of all our bags, they had to bring both their cars.

They had two rooms prepared for us back at their house. After relaxing for a while at their place, we all headed out to Seattle for some touristy sight-seeing. My in-laws had never been to Seattle. This extra day was a great chance to show them around.

We had lunch at the Crab Pot, which is fun restaurant that service seafood in the family style by dumping a bucket of it into piles on the table. As usual, the food was very fresh and delicious.

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After that, we headed over to the Public Market on Pike St. This is where that one seafood vendor throws fish across their store. I think there was also a tulip festival going on, since small tulip vendors filled the sides of the street with their booths.

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Later, we all headed back to my friends' house. We had dinner at a nearby restaurant and then settled in for the night. Our cruise ship boarding time on the next day was around noon, so we were not rushed into going to bed early.

Navigation: See all Alaskan Cruise articles here

Monday, May 17, 2010

Alaska Cruise planning

A couple years ago, Allie and I decided that we'd go on an Alaskan cruise with her folks. The main location that interested me was Glacier Bay. Also, I wanted a cruise that was earlier in the year before the big crowds. I didn't know much about cruises (I've never been on one before) so I had to rely on my research. I wanted to book our cruise last year, though several factors forced us to wait for a 2010 cruise.

The first cruise line I looked at was Carnival. However, they don't have any ships that goto Glacier Bay early in the year. Other cruise lines didn't have round trip journeys (which means we'd have to fly back home on some very long flights with layovers). After researching, I found that Norwegian Cruise Line has at least a couple of ships that go up to Alaska during May with round trip itineraries that include Glacier Bay. They start in Seattle and end in Seattle. As a bonus, my best friend lives in Seattle.

The ship that seemed to have the best itinerary for us was the Norwegian Pearl. The ship, its accommodations and amenities appeared to be modern. After a lot of discussion, we pulled the trigger by purchasing 2 balcony suites for ourselves and her parents. Balcony suites are expensive, but since this was likely the only time that Allie and I would ever go on a cruise to Glacier Bay, we had to get them. By September last year, we were set for an Alaskan cruise aboard the Norwegian Pearl for seven days starting on May 9th.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Timeline of Dave's weekend visit (as told via Twitter)

  • Just picked up @shadu11 @ SJC 9:36 PM Jan 22nd
  • Dinner w/ wife and @shadu11 @ St. Johns 9:37 PM Jan 22nd
  • Lunch @ #crepevine in #Burlingame w/ @shadu11. Y is it so hard to find good NorCal/Napa style casual eats in NorCal? 1:47 PM Jan 23rd
  • Had a great dinner w/ wife, her friend and @shadu11 @ #Cascal in downtown #mountainview last night. about 19 hours ago
  • Breakfast at Lou's in #losgatos. It's hard to find good mom and pop breakfast places nowadays
  • Fun @ GoKart Racer w/ @shadu11 today. about 19 hours ago
  • Discovered a gaming cyber cafe in Mt. View today...I thought most of those went outta business years ago @shadu11 about 19 hours ago
  • Great #pekingduck @ #chefchus in #losaltos w/ @shadu11 8:42 PM Jan 23rd
  • #ButchBradley was hilarious at #roostertfeathers in #sunnyvale last nite w/ @shadu11 http://www.roostertfeathers.com #fb #standupcomedy 12:30 AM Jan 24th
  • Bin too long since I had fresh #Krispykreme, @shadu11 about 4 hours ago
  • Late lunch follows late breakfast @ #happihouse in #sjjapantown, @shadu11 about 2 hours ago
  • Dropped off @shadu11 @ SJC. ..have a safe fly!!! 33 minutes ago