Cruising Alaska

 When we got to Vancouver on Friday night, GPS helped us find our lodging for the night- in the middle of a residential neighborhood.  Hoping for an experience similar to what we had the night before, we were unpleasantly surprised.  It was the most bizarre place.  It was a home owned by a Chinese family.  It was a huge home (obviously out of their price range!).  We climbed (and dragged our suitcases up) a circular grand staircase to get to our bedroom.  It was a very small bedroom with a double bed and bathroom.  There were virtually no amenities or niceties. There was no television.  It was right in the middle of their family's bedrooms.  On one side of us was the parents' room and on the other, the son's.  It was so awkward.  We could hear them speaking Chinese rather loudly.  We did have a lock on our door, but it was just so strange.

We went out to dinner.  We found a Japanese ramen shop that brought so many memories of our time in Japan.  Everything was so authentic and delicious.  We then got an ice cream, then headed back to our bizarre lodgings.  The family did settle down right at 10:00pm and we were asleep shortly thereafter.  Someone was practicing the piano until right at 10:00pm.

We slept fine, then got up and packed and hauled our luggage back down the stairs and went out for breakfast. It was pouring rain. We had a nice breakfast and then made our way to the ship.  The port is right in the middle of town.  It was a huge traffic jam to get to the port.  We were in stopped traffic for at least half an hour.  Ken dropped me and the luggage off, then made his way back a few blocks to drop off the rental car, then walked back to the port. He was able to walk back much faster than we had driven.  Then I think it was the most difficult embarkation we have ever had for a cruise- and we have been on a lot of cruises!  Word to the wise: If you can avoid it, don't start a cruise in Vancouver! 

The cruise port from our balcony.

Vancouver

The sailaway that evening shows how that port is right downtown.

We actually were going on two cruises back-to-back.  The first week we went up to Anchorage and the second week we made our way back down to Vancouver.  We just stayed on the ship for the second cruise and kept our same room.  

I will do a post about each of our stops as well as our scenic cruising.