We had a great time in Alaska. The weather was great and we got an unusual amount of sunshine according to locals. We took two excursions through Holland America since neither of us had any experience with cruising. The train ride through White Pass in Skagway was breathtaking and worth every penny. The other excursion to Endicott Arm and Dawes glacier was okay but I probably would not do it again. The trip was six hours and I've seen more whales standing on the beach in Powell River than I did on that small boat. And the view from our verandah of Glacier Bay a couple days later was better than what we saw at Dawes glacier. Having said all that, we were sitting with some great people and had some good conversations and the weather was perfect. Overall it just wasn't worth the money.
On the boat, my favourite by far was the trio Vivace: a piano, cello and violin. The musicians were very talented and played many shows a day of different types of music: jazz, classical, show tunes and opera. Sometimes they performed as a duet and a few times just on their own. The concert of just the pianist in the lounge on the grand piano was spectacular. He played Chopin and Beethoven and other classics and I was in classical music heaven. I was not at all expecting professional classically trained musicians to be putting on concerts on the cruise, but it was a delightful surprise. I've blogged before about how much I love music and how it fills me up. It reminds me of what I read about moments of fullness; somewhere, in some activity, or condition, lies a fullness, a richness; that is, in that place, life is fuller, richer, deeper, more worth while, more admirable, more what it should be. I tried to attend all of their concerts whenever possible.
The food in the market where you could go around to all the different food stations was my favourite place to eat. I loved the tacos and the Indian food and the croissants and the salads. The dining room and the fine dining did not impress me much. But there was definitely no shortage of food and I feel like I should fast for a week after coming home, lol.
We had Ligonier events to attend and also a lot of free time to go to the spa and read and chill. One day it was so hot and sunny that I sunbathed by the pool. In Alaska! In the evenings, we spent a lot of time in the Crow's Nest playing card games, listening to live music and chatting. The view from the windows all around up on the 12th floor was breathtaking!
Considering the amount of people on the ship, there were lots of quiet corners to read in peace, including a lovely library! The sauna that had big windows looking out onto the water was great and hardly anyone seemed to know about it. Yes, there were a lot of older people on the cruise and that's just fine with me.
All in all, I would recommend cruising to Alaska at least once in a lifetime. But, personally, I would like to go again. Maybe not next year, but soon.
