The Great Alaska Adventure part 1

The Alaska Experience:

So I took my first Alaska cruise in the summer of 2009.  At that time I traveled with my in-laws and left my husband and son at home.  WHAT A MISTAKE!  I knew at first look of the Great Land that I had to make another voyage and bring them back.  Fast forward to May 2011 – and the whole Mac-n-family is off to Alaska.  This time, we are traveling with our best friends, the Harps and the Brownzellers!

This is a special cruise, 6 nights, departing Vancouver and ending in Seattle.  We chose to go in May, and although the weather was expected to be cold and rainy, I found it to be about the same as when I sailed to Alaska in July of 2009.

For this vacation, we flew to Seattle, stayed in the Executive Pacific Hotel, downtown.  The Executive Pacific is situated about 2 blocks from the Lite Rail station, and is next to some of the trendiest and most upscale hotels in Seattle.  Across the street was the Monaco, next door was the W, and 1 block away was the Farimont.  So our rooms were on the small side, and the hotel is REALLY old, the staff was friendly, beds comfy, and the doorman was exceptional.  When checking in, he discovered that we needed to get to King Street Station (Amtrak)  the following morning, so he called and arranged for 2 vans to meet us at the hotel the next day.  Total cost for 15 people and a TON of luggage from hotel to King Street Station…  $30.  Such a deal.

That night, we walked about 5 blocks to Rock Bottom restaurant.  Fun place for the ids, good food and decent prices.  Seattle is such a walking friendly city – and SO CLEAN!!!  We did not have time to get out to the Space Needle, but I would definitely come back and spend time in this wonderful city.

The following day, up bright and early, the 15 of us headed to the rail station to board Amtrak Cascades to Vancouver.  It is about 4 hours from Seattle to Vancouver, and beautiful every mile along the way.  The seating was comfy, café car served breakfast AND cocktails, so both kids and adults were happy.  The kids got a chance to unwind, do a little homework, play some games, and just watch the world go by.  In these days of hustle and bustle, … where is seems like everyone is on a tight schedule, rushing from her to there and everywhere it was sort of nice to just kick back a little and watch the countryside pass by.

We arrived in Vancouver, took a few cabs to Canada Place Pier and our cruise adventure began.  Strangely, we cleared Canadian customs at the rail station, went to the cruise terminal, then cleared US customs before boarding the boat.  So, we were in Canada for less than an hour before clearing back in US Customs – kind of strange, but since out cruise has only US Ports, it was better to clear US Customs in Vancouver, than wasting time clearing in our first port of Juneau.

The first full day at sea was cool and crisp.  There are 3 of our cabins all together on deck 8, and we asked Carnival to open the balcony dividers between the rooms so we have 1 big balcony.  This is fun for the kids to be able to go back and forth between cabins, and nice for the adults to be able to socialize.  Plus, with the balcony dividers opened up, it make the rooms seem a lot bigger.  We spent the day hanging with friends, enjoying the ship’s activities and watching the breathtaking scenery pass by.  This evening was formal night and I made reservations for the 6 adults to dine in the Nouveau Supper Club, Carnival’s upscale steakhouse.  So we got all gussied up and headed for dinner.   The quality and presentation of the food was pristine.  The Sommelier was over the top exceptional.  The food service staff however was less than great.  I have had MUCH better service and attentiveness from the Supper Club staff on previous cruises, so I was disappointed, especially since I was picking up the tab for the 6 of us.   

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