Sunday, April 20, 2014

the love boat

dear friends,

apologies for the sudden surge in posts (inspiration strikes!)  these are the forgotten photos of a cruise to alaska i took summer of twenty twelve, and remembered by a series of recent events: my friend is taking her first cruise (to greece) soon and wondered how it would be and chuck and i had a photo request that prompted a search through our images, so here a bit of what it is like to go on an (alaskan) cruise! 


welcome aboard the coral princess! today is called embark day. we are on the baja deck, on the starboard side. i finally learned a simple way to remember port and starboard, the left and the right side of a boat. port has four letters in it, port : four (letters) easy!


it is necessary to say cheers alot!



we are sailing from whittier into prince william sound and over night into the open waters of the gulf of alaska


during the early hours of the morning we made our way through yakutat bay. every day a paper would be delivered to our room, informing us of our whereabouts, what we would see


  now we are in glacier bay



this is the spectacular margerie glacier




on the top deck, it was a bit surreal to be surrounded by remote and stunningly magnificent landscapes and at the same time such luxury




heading towards skagway and ketchikan...



we discovered that at every moment, really every single one, there is something to see, incredible beauty outside, completely surrounding us


inside, which we took full advantage of as well, had it's benefits


one night after coming back to our stateroom alone, i found treats my sister had left  :)  it is true,
anything you could possibly desire, is available



on mornings the ship would dock and we would dash off! to explore, sometimes joining with an excursion








we visited saxman



and saw how totems are made


a carving in progress





creek street, ketchikan



always making sure we knew the time to be back on the ship, sometimes we cut it too close and had to run the entire way through town, seeing the crew throw the giant towlines free and hollering 'all aboard'!!


we are sailing back into our time zone, we are heading towards vancouver now, we'll be at sea for a day and a half


there is so much to do! we did a 5k for breast cancer research. here is my sister, a survivor, cutting the pink ribbon at the start of the walk/run


eight laps around the promenade deck is a 5k


it is good i ran with my camera, we saw an orca!



we are in the middle, u.s. is on one side and canada on the other


canadian waters now


british columbia is spectacular


walking for the cure!





one of our favorite experiences on the ship was the crew. everysingleperson we met was lovely, kind, helpful, so friendly...the next few photo show a tiny bit of the fun we had....
my sister mentioned to our waiter, the only thing she hadn't seen on our great alaskan adventure was a wolf. moments later, as we sat enjoying our g & t's and the stunning scenery outside, this same waiter tiptoed past the window, posing as a wolf! he HOWLED! ooowwww!!


hahaha


hello!




lindy and i




lindy and lori and rose


lindy lori rose and bob!




every evening we sat in the same dining area. and had the same servers, bernado and antonio



this was intentional


:) we had to find out how they did this!



our new friends



thank you guys, what memories we have from your generosity (and good advice on what to order) :)


thank you princess cruise!



we sailed all night through calm seas, under a full moon. waking to the twinkly high rise city lights of vancouver. it was a bit startling, but lovely in it's own way. our cruise ~ tour was over. i learned so many things on this trip, first, that i was sure i was not a cruise person, but i was wrong. what i've shared here was only the tip of the iceberg, of all the things we did, that you can do on an alaskan cruise. there is something for everyone, every age (we line danced and i joined a knit group! we hiked on a glacier!). there is one more reason i remembered to share this post, my travel agent called to ask if i was aware of a cruise, a knitting cruise with mary jane mucklestone. the girls in the office thought i would like to know. oh dear me. i need a second job.



for more alaska! :
alaska
fairbanks
kantishna experience
interior to life at sea
skagway to haines ~ eagles and whales
juneau ~ ice and wool
dancing reindeer (mostly knitting but some reindeer photos!)

thank you for coming along, it is such a pleasure to share! xoxo lori

36 comments:

  1. I am loving all your posts! I am saving my pennies for an Alaskan Cruise! Oh another knitting adventure.... I wonder when I'll get the okay from my husband to go on one.

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    1. thank you andee! i'm dreaming about mary janes trip too :)

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  2. Lori! What an amazing trip, your photos are beautiful. I especially like the totems. I have seen totems in museums and at Stanley park in Vancouver (such a gorgeous city, for a country lover) but never in more remote areas like where you visited. I have always felt they have a unique energy, was that the experience for you?
    Someday I will get to travel this wonderful world of ours! Thank you for sharing glimpses of your trip with us:)

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    1. it was leigh, we learned a lot about how much meaning (and effort) goes into making these totems, i bought a small book to read more, they are fascinating. we went to stanley park too, at the end of the trip!

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  3. Lori, it is always such a pleasure to feast upon your posts. The photographs and text are guaranteed to lift spirits! I thank you again for opening up the natural world to my apartment-dweller's world.

    xo

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    1. thank you frances. it is a wonderful way to travel, i love it too, reading books and seeing photos of distant places. most every dream and wish came from national geographic and wild kingdom. :)

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  4. Lori, It looks like so much fun! Thanks for sharing. xoxo

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  5. No apologies necessary! I'm loving the posts! What a beautiful adventure. And that cruise with Mary Jane sounds dreamy!

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    1. thank you sonja! agreed, the mj cruise! maybe someday...

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  6. It looks perfect. So tranquil.
    debx

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    1. thank you deb, on a cruise like this (the only one i've ever done) i think you can find a bit of both, tranquility and activity.

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  7. thanks for sharing the pics of Saxman, Lori ~ I've been to Alaska many times but haven't been that way...

    my brother-in-law's mother was full-blooded Tlingit and my nephews are deeply involved in their heritage so I love to see things that are so important to them ~ thank you :)

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    1. very cool, it was a beautiful place, amazing.

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  8. Yea! Home!! I never appreciated how gorgeous it is there when I was growing up ... it was just home. But now I love looking at pictures and remembering that I got to live with that backdrop everyday for 18 years! Thanks for the memories.

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    1. how wonderful kristina! to have grown up in alaska! what memories you must have. i really love it there!

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  9. i love seeing posts from you. what great pictures

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  10. I've always thought that I'm not a cruise person either (I'm not that big on boats in general) but that looks wonderful! Seeing all your shining smiles, it's obvious you had an amazing time!

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    1. did you sign up for the bird boat? you must. it will be spectacular!

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  11. that looks amazing.. cruising to alaska is on my bucket list.

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    1. i hope you do go hena! i think this one should be on everyone's bucket list. it's the only way to experience as much of the glaciers and landscapes as you do, without hiring a boat of your own, or flying around on a magic carpet! unforgettable!

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  12. Thank you so much for posting these wonderful pictures! My husband and I just found out that we are moving to Fairbanks very soon! Your beautiful pictures provide me with some much needed proof that it is not all snow and cold all of the time!

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    1. oh how exciting!! i LOVED fairbanks. it's true we were there at the end of summer, and have no idea what it's like in snow and subzero temps (i think i'd still like it though!) but fairbanks is lovely, and there is so much to do and see! it's a great area for birding (the hummingbird made it that far north!) and there are musk ox and reindeer, if you knit there is an awesome yarn store. and the northern lights! you will see them too!

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  13. A wonderful post, Lori! Such stunning pictures of spectacular scenery, and how cleverly you captured the fun of the cruise and the magic of the beautiful natural surroundings! Thank you for sharing this amazing experience.
    Helen xox

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  14. I remember your post about the glacier - and this photos are just as amazing. What a beautiful place! I've also always imagined that I am not a cruise person, but you have convinced me that perhaps I might be, after all :-)

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    1. i imagine there are many ways of taking a cruise, (not for me), but this alaskan one, i think it's for anyone, especially if you love nature and wild places and nice people!

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  15. Amazing Lori! Brings back the fondest memories. I did this exact trip but it was the poor man's version as I was a student at UBC :-) We were on a tiny ferry and slept on the deck under heat lamps but we were so close to the wildlife and were watching the seals, dolphins, Orca's, Bears on the shore, the ice carving while in our sleeping bags - it was incredible! I'll have to dig out my photos, sadly all on the old film from 1998 so not easily downloadable into a blogpost. Your pictures are wonderful. Mel xxx

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    1. thanks so much mel. that sounds AMAZING. wow,what memories you have! you should definitely scan those photos and share, i still shoot film and have it scanned to disk. oh i'd love to see!

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  16. Such beautiful photos...gives one the feeling of being there without leaving home.

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    1. i love that kind of travel too nan! thank you very much :)

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  17. Wow! The photos show such an amazing landscape -- and such a wonderful time! Such great memories you have captured!

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  18. Ah yes, I remember you saying about this :) beautiful photos Lori :) looks like a great cruise. I have never been on one. Did you venture in the swimming pool?

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xoxo lori