Alaskan Cruisin' With Lois

This beautiful and charming ninety-four year old lady 

invited to host her five (living) kids 
and their spouses on a cruise to Alaska.

 The potential, then the reality to create wonderful and lasting memories with her 
proved to be priceless!

Roger and I sailed on a cruise with my siblings and spouses ten years ago to Alaska, 
but Grandma and none of her other kids and spouses had been there.
It was a great time for us to go to the high 60s, low 70s of the north and escape the 100+ degrees of St. George!
With much excitement, we met up in the SLC airport to fly to Seattle 
the day before our cruise departed.
We were so sad that Scott's wife, Sherie, had health issues and couldn't come.
We missed her!

Daughter, Chyrrl, Lois, and daughter-in-law, Pam

Daughter, Shellie, and husband, Todd

Daughter, Susan, sat by Lois on the flight

After landing in Seattle, we scrambled for an Uber to take us downtown to our hotel.

Son-in-law, Glynn, Pam, Shellie, Lois, son-in-law, Craig, Chyrrl, son, Scott, and son, Roger

The "Stratford" girls

Seattle's city scape as we approached

We stayed in the Westin Seattle near Pike's Market.

We checked in our luggage at the hotel before we went to get some lunch.

Our concierge recommended BlueAcre Seafood near our hotel.

After a yummy lunch, we headed for Pike's Market.

We found a cute chocolate shop along the way.

Though it's packed with tourists, the busy and famous market is fun to visit. 
It's amazing how inexpensive the gorgeous flowers are!

This is Seafood Heaven - 
if I lived near the ocean, I'd have seafood every day!

Pausing for a coke before heading back to our hotel

I have to mention that we had such friendly and engaging Uber drivers 
transporting us from the airport,  
back from the market, then to dinner that night. 
They all loved Grandma 
and could not believe how old she is!

We checked in to our rooms . . .

. . . then headed a couple of blocks to the flagship Nordstrom store and Nordstrom Rack across the street.
Seattle is where Nordstrom started.

Our Uber driver recommended this place, so we made reservations.

Some of us shared King crab (can you believe the size of those legs!), Glynn had fresh salmon 
and some had fresh halibut. That might be the best crab ever!

It was a beautiful summer evening on the wharf!

After a delicious full complimentary breakfast at Westin Seattle,
 we Ubered to the dock.

Because of Sherie's last-minute cancellation, there was a big mix-up causing difficulty for Scott to embark 
on the ship, but suffice it to say that it was resolved down the road satisfactorily 
and we eventually boarded, still with great enthusiasm.

Seattle's skyline leaving the harbor

Our ship was sold out and held 3,600 passengers and 1200 crew members. 

It was a beautiful ship, modern and with many amenities.

Watching us sail away - Scott making a last-minute call to his wife. (:(

Outdoor movie, pool and bar at night

Pretty sunset

It probably goes without saying, we had some tasty meals during the week.
One of my favorite things I had was at a Pub lunch - steak and kidney pie. 
I've always wanted to try it - the Brits love it - and the gravy inside was delicious!
Other memorable food for me was the salmon gravlax, the granola, the stromboli at the pizza station, 
and the various fish each night.

Fish 'n chips

We enjoyed our dinners together at two tables by the window and rotated around each of them each night 
so we had a chance to visit with everyone during the week.

The variety was always such that each one of us could find his favorites or new things to try.

Grandma liked to take the arm or arms of one or two of us as we walked about. 

Scott was her "partner" most of the time. 

Lois is very sure footed and kept up with us amazingly well!

 Each couple posed for pics on the first "formal" night:

Todd and Shellie

Scott and Lois

Craig and Sue

Roger and Pam

Chyrrl and Glynn

We didn't take many pics of the food this cruise, but this was a big favorite!

And the Love Boat dessert could be ordered every night if you so chose - yum!

Our first stop was Juneau.
We had very calm seas our entire cruise and almost all sunny weather.

photo credit: Shellie, capturing the bird in flight.

You nailed it, Shellie!

We loved our balconies and we soon found out that they opened up to each other to our adjoining rooms.

We thought it would be cold, as Roger and I remembered ten years ago when we went in July. 

Susie came to our room to show us how well prepared she was to go on shore.

Ha! The day was glorious! We soon shed our warm coats.

Right off the ship, we headed with our tour to the Mendenhall Glacier.
This upbeat tour guide is a student at BYU-Idaho and was working in Juneau for the summer.

I love this pic of this happy couple!

The Mendenhall Glacier, 12 miles out of Juneau, is 12 miles long, 
a half-mile wide 
and from 300 to 1800 feet deep. 
It has been slowly, and lately more rapidly, retreating since the 1700s.

Roger and I hiked on trails around it when we there before, 

so we went with Grandma to the Visitor's Center while the rest checked it out.

They hiked to the waterfall. . . 

. . . and closer up to the glacier.

It's a great Visitor's Center that sits up high with lots of huge windows to view the glacier 
and there is a video in the theater, ranger talks every 15 minutes and many interesting displays, 
so we had plenty to do while we were waiting for the others to meet up with us.

Glacier ice

Cute little guy up close and personal with the black bear

Roger took lots of great pics in and around the Visitor's Center.

Our bus dropped us off in Juneau and there were some fun souvenir shops we browsed through.

We checked out this saloon, famous from the early days of Juneau.

This is the only bear we saw on this trip!

The family enjoyed down time watching movies in Grandma's room - 

this family is all about togetherness!

Next stop - Skagway!

I loved sitting out on the balcony!

Founded in 1897 during the Klondike Gold Rush, Skagway's population went as high as 10,000 

when prospectors flooded there from all over the world seeking gold.

Its population in the winter is just 968.

We watched an interesting video here about the Klondike Gold Rush, which was short-lived 

with very few ending up with any gold.

We all decided to go on the railroad that was built in just two years at the end of the Gold Rush, 
starting in 1898. 
It followed the treacherous White Pass and Yukon Route the gold rushers followed.

It was such a warm day, I enjoyed riding on the platform between cars. 

Milky glacial water in the river

The White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad was designated an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1994. This is an honor shared with other world civil engineering marvels such as the Eiffel Tower and Statue of Liberty.

High peaks with year-round snow

The motion of a train is kind of mesmerizing and relaxing.

This is a Royal Mounty station we passed after passing into Canada.

Though it was three hours round-trip, this was worthwhile and interesting.

We enjoyed a talented entertainer/ventriloquist/singer that night.

Glacier Bay

The next day might have been our favorite day on the cruise. 

The weather was sunny and glorious, a very rare occurrence in Glacier Bay.

The tall peaks of distant mountains were clearly visible in the bright blue skies.

It was so relaxing and laid-back to view the scenery from our balconies as it went slowly by.

I think hard-working farmers so seldom got to sit in all the years they worked so hard, 

that they often go to sleep immediately when they stop. 

How's that for a kind explanation of your snoozin', Glynn!

With the soft drink package came all of the Virgin drink concoctions you could come up with. 
The pina coladas were delish, as were the almond croissants and various strudels.

Though shrinking, the Margerie Glacier was spectacular with the clear skies and we got such a feel 
for how deep it goes back, twenty-one miles.

Another spectacular glacier we passed was the Johns Hopkins.

Reid Glacier

Lamplugh Glacier

The Rangers came on board, pulling up in a speed boat that morning, then disembarking in the late afternoon. 
They were very informative and enthusiastic to spread the word 
of environmental conserving of all of our resources.

We enjoyed hearing a Ranger speak that day. 
We also attended lectures each day by a naturalist on various subjects 
and two women spoke on different days who were very interesting - one who had kayaked by herself on our same cruise route and one who won the Iditarod Huskies Race.

An overlapping message from them all - we all greatly benefit from the magnificent beauties of nature.

That night was Italian Night.

Adding a huge part to our pleasure on this cruise was our waiter, Jonathan, 

and assistant waiter/drink waiter, Angie. 

Each was absolutely delightful.

Twenty-five-year cruise veteran, Jonathan from the Philippines, was so attentive and personable 

and he remembered our names - he called me "Miss Pom."

Angie, from Honduras, had a little teasing imp in her and brought Roger a new Virgin drink every night, 

saying each night that the next night would be a new surprise. 

She came up with delicious concoctions, some using mango, papaya, orange, and pineapple juices. 

Of course we all tasted them - my favorite was the choco-banana. 

Note Angie's concoction drink for Roger made of simple syrup, soda water, limes,
chopped hot peppers and strawberries.
It was actually quite good!

Next stop - Ketchikan!

As you can see, it was raining (and the above pic was taken as we were sailing away 
and the fog had lifted).
Therefore, Roger's much anticipated flight on a pontoon plane was cancelled.

He was so sad!

He had had fantasy visions of riding in the right seat, possibly getting a little stick time.
The flight was supposed to take them over a mountain and drop onto a lake. 
The clouds and fog were low and the planes fly visually and without instruments, 
so they could not go above the clouds. About two months ago, two pontoon planes, 
booked with Princess passengers, crashed into each other, flying in low visibility. 
Scott, Shellie and Todd were booked on an earlier flight that also cancelled, 
but they went to an independent company who took off a little later and flew below the clouds 
through the channel to another inlet instead of the lake. 
They loved it!

Shot taken from the plane

The rest of us explored Ketchikan.

We walked to where the salmon climb the ladders to spawn, 

then shopped in the shops 

all of the way back to the ship.

That evening was our last formal night. 
We had to get a pic with our servers, Jonathan and Angie.

Baked Alaska in the Waiter's Parade.

This gal was so cute. 
Every time we would see her on the ship during the day, she would light up and give us a hug.

The Grand Celebration and the Balloon Drop in the Piazza was festive.

Pretty sisters!

We cheered for all of the main staff.

We spent a relaxing last day at sea as we cruised to get to Victoria, Vancouver Island.
Rog and I watched an ice carver sculpt a flying fish.

Susie and Chyrrl were determined to get Grandma a momento of our wonderful cruise 
and they found this sweet necklace trimmed with blue sapphires and a small diamond in the middle. 
They brought her to the ship jewelry store to have her try it on and she loved it!

That last evening we dined in Chef Curtis Stone's Share Restaurant on the 16th floor. 
Our travel agent, Kim, had gifted each of us to upgrade to a specialty restaurant for one evening. 
It was probably the most beautifully decorated restaurant I have seen.
It was fine dining and a fun experience to do together!

Last stop - Victoria!

We couldn't disembark until after 7:30 pm, which didn't give us nearly enough time. 
We had signed up for a tour of Butchart Gardens to see it night-scaped, 
so there was no time to explore Victoria. 
Princess should seriously consider an itinery change!
We all would like to return to spend more time!

There are delightful flower baskets hanging from lamp posts throughout the charming city.

Parliament 

Roger, Grandma and I were so fortunate to have previously seen these gorgeous gardens during the day. 

What we quickly all got to see just gave everyone a taste of its splendor!

Night shots as we returned to our ship

Next morning, we docked in Seattle, disembarked, traveled to the airport and flew home to SLC. 

Our cute Jodie picked us up, and when she drove up, 

she jumped out and greeted the others waiting for their rides. 

She and Rick had prepared for us a barbecue dinner of flank steak, chicken, salads 

and orange rolls and she had also invited her parents, Bart and Kathie. 

We ate the delicious food, enjoyed the company, 

then jumped in our car and headed to St. George.

Oh, my! What a super duper week of inspiring sights, delicious food, and best of all, 
fun camaraderie with loved ones!
Thank you, thank you, most beloved Lois!
We feel so lucky and blessed!