Alaska part two

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.

 

Alaska part one

I went on a cruise to Alaska last week with a friend. I will have lots of things to say about the actual cruise, which was amazing, but today I want to write about the Ligonier portion of the cruise.

My friend and I had talked about some day combining a cruise with something spiritually meaningful, so when Ligonier announced a cruise leaving from Vancouver to Alaska, we were excited and signed up. I've blogged about Ligonier before so I don't think I need to get into explaining all that again. But, I will say that it is a fantastic Christian organization that is dedicated to deepening and strengthening the faith and Biblical knowledge of Christians. If you're looking for resources including books or podcasts or teaching series or Sunday school materials, they have an abundance of solid resources. I have personally benefitted a great deal from them and have come to understand who God is so much more deeply, especially in the area of His sovereignty.

Anyway, to my delight, not only was the cruise offered by Ligonier, but Bob (W. Robert Godfrey), one of my favourites, was one of the teachers on the book of Philippians. The teaching was solid, like always. But, we also got to sit and have coffee and then later breakfast with Bob. He is hilarious and insightful and just a delight to be around. He is in his 80s and inspires me to keep going, to persevere.

Not only did I get to hang out with Bob, I also got to meet Mrs Vesta Sproul. She is the widow of Ligonier's founder, RC Sproul. Since RC has gone to glory, I was able to thank Mrs Sproul for the transformative impact that Ligonier has had on my life. What a blessing!

In addition to these two, I met so many lovely people who were also on the cruise with Ligonier. The cruiseship had over 3000 people on it, but those who were part of Ligonier were only about 240. So, when we went on excursions, we had enough people to have (almost) everyone on board the train and the smaller boat exclusively from our group. It made things so much more personable. We had reserved tables for our group every night for dinner. Meeting different people over dinner was such a great way to connect and share a meal. Singing together and listening to God's word expounded was meaningful and moving. Walking around the boat seeing someone with a Ligonier name tag felt homey. If I ever do another cruise, I would love for it to be with Ligonier!