Monthly Archives: July 2025

Bloggings, Travel

Skagway

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Today we woke up at 5 am to get ready for our Skagway train ride. We had breakfast and then left the boat at 6:45. There’s still a lot of construction in Skagway from the 2022 rock slides so people cannot walk on the pier. Shuttle busses for the cruise ships take you to different bus pick up spots or town. We got on a bus to go to the white pass train. Our bus driver’s name was Elias. The ride to the train was pretty short. The train ride was about 1.5 hours. The view on the left side of the train was mostly cliffside and beautiful views. The view from the right side was close up rocks, scenery and waterfalls. You could walk outside and stand between the train cars. The views were incredible.

Once we made it to that end of the railway we met back with Elias and the bus. He said we were going to see some sights before lunch. Not long after starting the ride my dad spotted a bear and Elias slowed down and backed up the bus. We drove thru British Columbia to Yukon, stopping for pictures every once in a while. On our bus ride we saw a total of 4 bears, a few eagles, and mountain goats. We stopped for a BBQ chicken lunch in Yukon. Here we did a dog sled ride. They used a 4 wheeler to help the dogs pull us because it’s summer and they are basically just training. It was really cool. We got to take pictures with the dogs and pet them. There was a petting zoo and a small museum.

After lunch we got back on the bus, and we had a stop at a native village for 20 minutes. Lucas played on the playground here. After this stop Lucas and Adeline fell asleep. There were a couple picture stops but we just stayed in our seats to keep the kids asleep. We got back to the port and had to get back on the ship. We all had dinner together. Then Don and Lucas went to the pool for a bit.

Bloggings, Travel

Mendenhall Glacier

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Today we woke up a little bit before 5. We had left our balcony curtain open and there was a giant mountain with snow right outside. I went out onto our balcony and it was very cold! I tried to be quiet to not wake Lucas, but he was up. The views of the mountains, water, little icebergs, and waterfalls were amazing. We had ordered room service, but it never got here so we went to the buffet for breakfast.

After breakfast we went to the “secret deck” Don found on the back of deck 7. It was pretty awesome. We took my parents there and took pictures.

Then we went back to the room to get ready for our excursion. Lucas started watching a movie and I wanted to see the naturalist talk about Alaskan wildlife. The talk was really good. I learned some stuff about orca. After the talk I went back to the room to get ready. Lucas looked very tired. I got him some pizza for a snack.

We got off the ship at Juneau and walked around a bit. We had to meet for our Mendenhall Glacier salmon bake excursion. First, we took our bus to a salmon hatchery. There were so many salmon it was crazy! There were a couple of tanks that had starfish, crabs, sea anemones, etc. that you could touch. Lucas loved watching the salmon in the salmon ladder. We then got back on the bus to go to Mendenhall Glacier. On the ride I heard Lucas and Don say, “there’s a bear!”. I looked out the window to see a small brown bear running through a field.

Once we got to Mendenhall Glacier we did the 20 minute photo loop. It was a small, easy hike to take pictures along the way. The Glacier looked really awesome. Lucas was climbing rocks all over, it was making me nervous. Inside the visitor center Lucas quickly did a junior ranger activity. He got 2 patches. Then we had to get back on the bus to go to the salmon bake. We saw a bald eagle on the way.

The salmon bake place was so cute. There were picnic tables with cute lights. There was a buffet and unlimited salmon. The food was good. After we ate, we took a short walk to see a waterfall. We saw a couple of salmon in the water. Lucas had his boots on so he was pushing the limits of how far he could go into the river. There was a station where you could pan for gold. Lucas did that for a bit. Then we made our way to the waterfall. Lucas took a fall but was luckily OK. Then he had the biggest meltdown I’ve seen in a long time. Maybe his biggest ever. He hit me, screamed, cried, and drug his feet on the ground. Honestly at this time I’m unsure of what triggered this. It was terrible. We walked back in a tantrum the whole way and then we got the bus back to the port. We even missed out on marshmallow roasting. Lucas was a terror for pretty much the rest of the night. The rest of the group rode the tram in Juneau. We went inside to bed.

Bloggings, Travel

Ketchikan, Alaska

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We woke up around 5:30 today. It’s really hard to sleep in. We went to our balcony and had coffee again for a bit. We had our first look at the town of Ketchikan. Then we went up to the buffet for breakfast.

After the buffet we got ready to get off the ship. The town of Ketchikan was beautiful. We walked from our port to where the lumberjack show was. It was about a 15 minute walk.

The lumberjack show was really entertaining. I think Lucas and even Adeline liked it. It was cool to see what these guys could do. My dad almost got hit by a flying piece of wood.

After the show we walked around the town and checked out Creek Street. We got a few souvenirs and then we headed back. The weather was beautiful, almost 70 and sunny. It felt hot!

Once back on the ship we hung out in our room and balcony. I really wanted to see the ship start moving to see the scenery. It was beautiful and the weather was still amazing. My sister and Jared came over to hang out while Adeline napped. Then we walked around until dinner. Lucas wore his new monster slipper boots.

Dinner was good. Lucas had spaghetti and meatballs with veggies. Don and I had steaks. The chef made us a Filipino soup and dessert. After dinner we walked up to deck 16 because a naturalist was talking about wildlife. We saw sea lions and orcas. It started raining and Lucas was cold, so we went back to our room. The scenery we saw from the boat was unbelievable.

Bloggings, Travel

First Day At Sea

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Today we gained another hour to be on Alaska time. I was up super early but Lucas slept until almost 6 local time. I had ordered coffee, tea, and apple juice the night before so that was fun to have on our balcony.

Then we met up with my parents and Estelle for breakfast in the buffet. Lucas ate 3 hard hard-boiled egg whites, along with other things. After breakfast we walked around. Lucas and I looked at the mini golf. It was a very small area. We also tried to find whales.

Around 9 am Lucas decided to try the kids club. He went right in. They gave me a pager to contact me if needed. While he was there, Don and I sat at the back of the ship for a bit. Then we met up with the family. We saw an orca pod. Then it started to rain so we went back to our room to get rain jackets.

Next, we went up to deck 17, everyone was there except Estelle. Right when I got up there, we could see a humpback whale.

I picked up Lucas around 11. He said he had fun. They did some crafts and had a dance party. He also mentioned he saw some whales. We got some pizza for lunch. It was really good. Princess does have great pizza!

After lunch Lucas and I went to the pool. It was about 60 degrees outside, but the pools were heated. It felt ok, but the hot tubs were better. Once Don came, I met my dad and sister in one of the hot tubs. Eventually Lucas and Don joined us also.

After the pool I got cleaned up and met my mom and sister for high tea. It was nice to hang out with just them. We had some good conversations and good tea.

We had dinner in the dining room again. Lucas had a cheeseburger, fries, and veggies. He also ordered the Baked Alaska for dessert even though it wasn’t on the menu. I had a Caesar salad and halibut, Don had beef. After dinner the chef came over and talked to us because somehow he found out he is from the same village in the Philippines as Estelle. He told us to meet here at 10 am Friday for a tour of the kitchen. He is also making us Filipino dishes to go with our dinners every night. He also asked if we were celebrating anything on this cruise and it looks like he wants to make a celebration for us on Friday. We told him it was just a family trip but he kept asking, so we mentioned there are a lot of summer birthdays in the family and our wedding anniversary is coming up.

After dinner we went to the rock opera show. Kelsey asked if I wanted to have some wine after Adeline was asleep, so I skipped out on the show and met her down at my room. Shortly after Don and Lucas were back. He said he was tired. My parents and Estelle watched the rest of the show.

Bloggings, Travel

Heading to Alaska

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Today we woke up around 6:45 and we packed to get ready to leave on the Princess Discovery.

We had breakfast again downstairs at the market. We also had some cherries that Don and his mom had brought back from when they visited with family yesterday. They also brought back some cheesecake, so we all worked on finishing that.

Then we made our way to the port. We had to take 3 different ubers. Getting through security was not too bad. Once inside we went to deck 5 to get some sandwiches. Then we went up to deck 17 so Lucas could check out the kid’s club. After that we met up with Estelle and found our muster stations.

Finally, around 2 we made it to the pool. The pool was nice and warm. It wasn’t crowded at all. My parents met up with us and then Kelsey for a bit. Then we came back to our balcony to see the ship take off. Lucas put on a movie and relaxed.

Before dinner Don met with his mom and Lucas and I hung out. We got ice cream cones and put magnets on our doors. We wanted to surprise our family with the Alaska themed magnets I got for everyone.

We ate dinner in the Juneau Dining Room. Lucas had chicken noodle soup, Mac and cheese and fries. Don had French onion soup and salmon. I had potato soup and cod. For dessert, most of us had cheesecake. Lucas had Baked Alaska.

After dinner we went with Estelle to the comedy/magic show. It was OK. After the show we got in an elevator with just one other man and Lucas said “this elevator is nice, it’s not busy at all, usually I am just stuck in the corner” 😂

Then we came back to the room, and we saw at least one whale /orca from our balcony! It was so beautiful outside. The views are already incredible on this cruise.