To the lover of wilderness, Alaska is one of the most wonderful countries in the world. John Muir
OK back in Arizona to the monsoon and a leaking roof. Gee its great to be back home!! More climbing Camelback and cross training in prep for the Tour Du Mont Blanc in early September.
We enjoyed this getaway from the heat trip, particularly the visitation with my brother Tom and his lovely wife Brandy in Seattle, and the company of our great Reno friends Doug Damon, Diana Damon, Lew Carnahan, and Bunny Carnahan. However, we simply are NOT "cruise people", and will probably NOT cruise again.
Our ship, the Solstice was ulta modern, and the food was fantastic! Rating of 10. The gym was excellent...rating of a 10. We purchased the select dining and premium drink packages and the goal became "Beat Da Ship" We did! ...with over $900 (ship cost) of cocktails and not eating in the buffet, nor getting suckered into buying all the expensive extras.
The customer service was excellent. Rating of a 10.
The views were nice. Rating of an 8, particularly our view of Russia. The wildlife was just OK, we did see some whales, a few sea lions and eagles-rating 5, nothing like the land trip we took a few years ago where we saw a large variety of animals. … .griz, black bears, moose, large pods of whales, caribou and many others.
The ship’s excursions were over priced and totally without character or adventure. Rating of a 2. On one excursion we had to wait 1 1/2 hours on the ship to depart to Juneau and our excursion left without us. We ended up booking another that only included whale watching and not a hike to the glacier. It was mediocre at best.
We enjoyed this getaway from the heat trip, particularly the visitation with my brother Tom and his lovely wife Brandy in Seattle, and the company of our great Reno friends Doug Damon, Diana Damon, Lew Carnahan, and Bunny Carnahan. However, we simply are NOT "cruise people", and will probably NOT cruise again.
Our ship, the Solstice was ulta modern, and the food was fantastic! Rating of 10. The gym was excellent...rating of a 10. We purchased the select dining and premium drink packages and the goal became "Beat Da Ship" We did! ...with over $900 (ship cost) of cocktails and not eating in the buffet, nor getting suckered into buying all the expensive extras.
The customer service was excellent. Rating of a 10.
The views were nice. Rating of an 8, particularly our view of Russia. The wildlife was just OK, we did see some whales, a few sea lions and eagles-rating 5, nothing like the land trip we took a few years ago where we saw a large variety of animals. … .griz, black bears, moose, large pods of whales, caribou and many others.
The ship’s excursions were over priced and totally without character or adventure. Rating of a 2. On one excursion we had to wait 1 1/2 hours on the ship to depart to Juneau and our excursion left without us. We ended up booking another that only included whale watching and not a hike to the glacier. It was mediocre at best.
The Skagway train was a total ripoff.
We did enjoy seeing the totems on Ketchikan that we engineered on our own, taking a city bus to a state park. ELG and Lew Carnahan and Bunny Carnahan scored hand carved totems. The Carnahan's bought a large one, perfect for their Truckee house.
Overall it was a good, DIFFERENT experience for us...... visiting my brother and wife in Seattle our travel companions, and BEATING the ship were the highlights.
We did enjoy seeing the totems on Ketchikan that we engineered on our own, taking a city bus to a state park. ELG and Lew Carnahan and Bunny Carnahan scored hand carved totems. The Carnahan's bought a large one, perfect for their Truckee house.
Overall it was a good, DIFFERENT experience for us...... visiting my brother and wife in Seattle our travel companions, and BEATING the ship were the highlights.
Planned: Next week… a trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon
Men Behaving Badly: ELG for setting the goal of “beating the ship of booze" (coined by Doug Damon)
Bloody Mary's with breakfast, Alaskan Ambers with lunch, old fashions, wine and Baileys with dinner. Doug proclaimed this achievement-EPIC!!
Doug: For purchasing the soft drink package for $300 bucks and then objecting to his lovely wife Diana indulging in a spa massage because the ship was ripping us off!!
Lew: for violating the “no politics” treaty
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