Just a couple of months ago, I was invited, along with my entire family, on a Holland America Cruise in the inner passage of Alaska. I figured it would be a one in a lifetime opportunity, therefore I gladly accepted the offer. And boy, am I ever glad I went. I could of honestly never asked for a better trip. I would recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat. Here's a little recap of my time on the Alaskian waters:
We stuffed our faces like no other, I think there is just no way to come out of a cruise (especially at a destination like Alaska where you don't get off the boat much) weighing the same as when you stepped on board. There was soooo much food. Buffet for breakfast, three course lunch, afternoon snack, dessert bar open all day, four course decadent dinners and of course, the typical late-night snack.
Apart from eating, we went gold panning in Juneau, which is the capital of Alaska. The process was really fun but it was a whole lot of work for the little gold we actually got from the process. It's truly hard to believe that the miners from that mine used to collect the most gold in the world in the early 1900's. Here's a glimpse of the gold we collected:
Also, to work out a bit of all of that food, my whole family would go up to the Crow's Nest, which is the dancing bar on the top floor of the ship. In reality, I don't think it was meant to be such a dance party, but we thought that we couldn't miss the opportunity to have fun together and ridicule ourselves in front of complete strangers. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. Dancing with my aunts, uncles, cousins, my parents, my brother and sometimes even my grandparents are memories that I will cherish forever.
The ship also stopped in a little town called Skagway, where most of my family went off to the activities that they had booked. I on the other hand, decided it would be a good day to just walk around and shop in the local stores. The artwork was just stunning, I had to restrain myself from buying just about every piece of native art for the simple reason that I had no room in my luggage. I later heard great things about the activities offered, my cousins went to the dog-sledding and they said it was well worth their money.
As great as the other stops had been, my favourite stop was hands-down Ketchikan. My parents and I decided to be adventurous and went snorkelling in the freezing Alaskan waters (!!!!!). It was such an awesome experience; from the sunfish to the sea cucumbers, the wildlife was well present. But the greatest thing was really looking up from the water and seeing the huge white mountains around us. And yes, even thru the 7 mm wetsuits, I was freezing.
As for the most scenic part of the cruise, Glacier Bay was really truly amazing. As I try to put this into words, I feel like nothing would do it justice. All I have to say is add it to your bucket list, it is stunning.
In summary, I would recommend this cruise to anyone. I was honestly not expecting much from this trip because I thought I would enjoy the freedom on being on land more than being trapped in a boat, but trying it out has changed the way I view this. Although on the other hand, I don't think I would go on a cruise for longer than 7 days for the simple fact that it would probably get boring. Would I go on a cruise again? Meh probably not for a while, I'm much more of an explorer than a visit-the-touristy-towns type. But then again, Alaska was a great destination for a cruise since the glacier can only be seen by boat. It was such a great time, just an all around wow.
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