Mad-Alaska
Trip Start
Sep 06, 2007
1
44
54
Trip End
Jun 03, 2008
Juneau, Alaska
Sunday, May 4, 2008
The best way we can describe Alaska is - WOW!!!! It was simply beautiful and exactly what we imagined and more. Mum arrived the day before the cruise and we were bursting to see her after 8 months away. Lots of tea and catch up!!
Our ship was AMAZING. She was called the 'Norwegian Pearl' and absolutely stunning and huge! Our first day of sailing was perfect where we made our way up to Juneau. A gorgeous town with a population of 30,000 (double the size of Llantwit!!). It is very quaint with stunning scenery. We managed to book onto a whale watching boat trip whilst there and we were all so excited. We had a lovely guide - Leanna - who was as passionate on whales as us. Our first treat was seeing Orca whales and this was a really special spot as they aren't easy to spot as they have just arrived back to Alaska for feeding. We then looked further and managed to find a mother humpback and her baby who had migrated from Hawaii. Simply amazing and just like Mum and Luce!!! We watched them for ages and then sailed on and caught up with another humpback whale on his own who gave us a long display of coming up for air and then finally diving under showing his tail before leaving us. This was so special especailly for Mum as this was a dream come true as she'd always wanted to see Humpbacks since she was 11 (not so long ago!). We needed extra tissues that day!! We also managed to see Sea Lions bobbing up and down watching us. We had the best time.
Juneau also had the most breathtaking glacier - 'Mendenhall Glacier'. It was such a site as you will see on our piccies.
Skagway: The next day we stopped at this lovely little town. Such a small town with 8,000 pop but we had a great couple of hours off the ship soaking up the atmosphere. The town is where the Klondike Gold Rush began in the late 1800's - Al had already struck gold when he met Luce!!!
Glacier Bay: This day was spent sailing on the Pearl through the most stunning glaciers. The Bay rangers joined us on board that day and talked us through what we were seeing. We were all on deck viewing lots of ice, wildlife and more and more specatacular glaciers. The main glacier in the Bay is the 'Margerie Glacier' where we were lucky enough to watch some of the ice crash and crumble into the water - what a noise! We weren't able to catch site of any bears but we did see porpoises, sea lions and whales, with one humpback giving us an amazing breaching show. We also spent some time in one of the hot tubs on top of deck and with glaciers surrounding us, can life get much better!!!
Ketchikan: This town was equally as lovely as the others. It is known as the rain capitol of the world although we don't think it tops Wales on that!!
Victoria: Our final sail was to beautiful Victoria and Mum finally made it onto Canadian soil after 30 years of wanting to go!! We went straight to a pub and all enjoyed Canadian beer!!
One of the best night-time entertainments was the casino!! We went in most nights and had free drinks if playing the slots and tables. At about 2pence a go on the slots we think they lost money! Not only did we win, we must have had about $500 in drinks from Pina Coladas to Baileys!! We also got to see a great comedy juggling duo on board called 'Sharkbait' and they were sooooo funny.
We never thought we would experience a cruise for many years yet but the 'Norwegian Pearl' was an absolutely perfect way to explore Alaska. We think the company made a big mistake in allowing us to 24 hours of food and tea and unlimited ice-cream for Al!!!! hee hee. We've put all the weight back on after 8 months away!!!
Our trip is full of a lifetime of memories and that is thanks to Mum in joining us and making it one of our best weeks of our trip. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for coming out Mum. We miss you already and love you soooo much. xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Comments
I ll phone to say Alaska (Perry Como )
Good morning
got your latest poddy this morning but unfortunately the piccies were not there !! Gros misere !! Just the words saying piccies today words tomorrow ..I think not . I will have to give you a course on the workings of the Travelpoddy business ! The weather here has been as nice as it could be and I m only waiting for the day that you return .. oooops gone into early classic songs again .... cos it might as well rain until september ooops done it again !! But it has been really nice here the last couple of days with plenty of sunshine . We are off next thursday to Leigh s wedding on lake Windermere ( not literally ) staying for 4 days to include 1 night in Blackpool on the way up ..should be a great weekend as it is a bank holiday as well . Got to go to Bristol now so its chow for now so here a go xxxx dad
R.V. s for Sister Lucy !!
Hello campers ..or ow we do say down here theres lovely .Now that you are really travelling people ..living the the life of a Romany ..will you be selling the clothespegs or the lucky heather ? I would stick to the heather if I were you as you can borrow it but you would have to buy the pegs !! I think that you should have reached Las Vegas by now and either your in the casino or getting married with Elvis !! Then probably onto the Grand Canyon .. so much to do so little time ! Keep Save .. keep smiling.. drive on the right ..etc etc etc love Dad
just a little ice for me ( Captain of the Titanic
Hi fellow cruisers.... well first the bad news ..Cardiff City went down 1-o at Wembley ..good news the Monster should be back on the road again shortly .. just a little probelm . Well your piccies and words paint a marvelous picture of your Artic journey and a look on life in that part of the world and you have brought it even closer to us as well !!! and for that we thank you . After all your travelling I suppose a day out on Barry Island beach is not going to rock your socks off or words to that effect !! Just finishing off a dinner party with the MG crew sorting out Portugal in June and The Lakes in September ..we seem to be well sorted for this years holidays !!
Got to go and snatch some kip ..good night ..God bless.. keep sm....... you know the rest by now xxxxxxxdad
The Whale, The Casino and The Mum
Yo Bro/Sis whaz appening ? Just got your poddy piccies a la ' Cruising North to Alaska ' ... they are breathtaking/fantastic/ fabulous and much more besides !! I have just realised why the poddy piccies are coming up in what seems to be a very random fashion .... they are put in a alphebetical order ..obviously starting with the ' a ' s etcetcetc . DOH . Nice picture of the whale and Lucy s mum ..it would have been quite churlish to ask which was which !! Nice to see you have not lost your touch at the casino and probably broke their bank ..not ! . We are off this thursday to Leighs wedding in the Lake district but we are going to stay in Blackpool for the thursday night only..making our way upto the Lakes for friday /sat and back home on sunday night . I ve just had a little thought..perhaps there might be a classic car show on the way home you never know ...there is always aclassic show some where in this Sculptered Isle !! got to go KSBH love Dad
How's Luce Al...Al ask her.
'They frig you up your mum and dad...they never mean to but they do...they give you all the faults they had...then add some more that's just for you.' Which is as I'm sure you'll know an expurgated verse from my favourite poet Philip Larkin.Applicable in most cases, but not for youse two. Somehow you escaped that, because you are both ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. Wow, the latest photos, plus the video clips are totally sensational and I repeat my earlier comment, this is the greatest Tpod ever.Unique because, without anyone's help you have planned, organised, charted and then Done it. Nobody helped you, you arranged it, booked it and you had the vision and the courage to see it through...and you damn well did. Not only that but you arranged for Mum to experience something she'd wanted to do for over 30 years...get thousands of miles away from me!! LuceandAl/Aland Luce. Perfect combination. Love you both..Dad (Andy).
Scowling in Skagway
Just perused the photos for a second time (Looking for DNA traces) and, imagine my horror when I stumbled across said pic of MUM, with a face like the proverbial thunder, bringing up the rear of the fruit of her shapely loins...23/3/77. Interrogation (Law and Order-second series-Sam Waterstone,denounces perpetrator...20 years in Rikers), ...'Hey Mum, why so sad and tight lipped and angry?'. 'It was the wood' (Came the reply). 'The wood...pray elucidate re said wood (Non-metal flimsy excuse).'Oh affirmative'(Said she). 'Twas excessive pressure born on my walking apparatus that, inevitably lead to and caused aforementioned expression, that you...and only you...you twerp, would have had the presumption to isolate the one and only non-grinning picture, buried amongst the multitude of exhultant photographic evidence therein'.'And because of the complete and utterly truthful previous explanation sine die...I denounce and condemn you forthwith'. Sorry Mum...my mistake. Love you both, Dad (Andy).