Alaska Cruise - Day 7: Victoria, British Columbia

One thing we had really wanted to do, but hadn't yet, was karaoke. It always seemed to fall on the nights we had dinner reservations. By the time we finished dinner, karaoke was over. We had finally decided we wouldn't get the chance, when on the last day, we noticed they were doing it in the middle of the day.

Josh sang two songs, Andrew sang two songs, and I trembled through one song.

The day before is about the time we started to miss home. Especially after being herded through Ketchikan with no time to walk through the town. I loved our excursion, but it was so long we had no time to just wander, and that really bugged me. That night, we decided to cancel our excursion in Victoria and just take a stroll through town. I said something to Randi, and she said her and Todd were thinking about doing the same. Jessica and Andrew decided to keep the excursion, which was a horse drawn trolley ride through Victoria.

We arrived in Victoria in the early evening. Then we spent a few hours just walking around. Victoria was BEAUTIFUL. I wish we could have spent a full day there. I can tell by this point I was getting home sick because I didn't take very many pictures. I wanted to take pictures of all the pretty yards, but didn't want the owners to feel like I was breaching their privacy. So instead we just enjoyed all the gorgeous flowers and the nice weather.

Our last stop before heading back to the ship was the fish market. It looked like it was pretty new and they are still building it. Also, Victoria's official tourist season hadn't started yet, so most of the shops weren't open. We decided to eat dinner there and then Josh and I went and got an ice cream cone from another shop down there. It really was a perfect and peaceful way to end our cruise.

Alaska Cruise - Pre Cuise and Day 1: Vancouver

I started counting the hours until my vacation sometime on Wednesday. I was so ready to just get away and relax. As luck would have it, I had to have one final big stress. About an hour before we left, my family called to say my dad was in the hospital. We went to see him before we left and he was in good spirits. I called the next morning and they were going to let him go home, so then I was able to not worry about anyone in the hospital while I was gone. He had been admitted because his blood pressure was extremely low, which they later learned was from dehydration.

Our vacation actually covered 10 days, but the first one was for traveling only, so I didn't take any pictures. On Friday, we drove to SLC with Jessica & Andrew. We ate dinner at Famous Dave's then headed to our hotel for the night.

 Bright and early the next morning, we headed to the airport to catch our plane. Our flight was delayed, then cancelled and then rescheduled, so we ended up being in the airport for a LONG time. We had fun visiting and when the airport gave us our new tickets, they also gave us each a $25 credit to go spend. Josh and I combined our money to buy me a travel pillow and then we used the rest to splurge on chocolates.  

Finally arriving in Vancouver, Canada.

Standing in front of the airport.

At the Vancouver airport waiting for our hotel shuttle.

We took a shuttle to our hotel and got settled in. Then we decided to walk around and see what we could find to eat. We ended up going to a Pub just a few blocks away. After the Pub, our group split up. Josh and I headed back to the hotel to rest and the others took a cab downtown. Then later that night, Todd & Andrew went to a movie.

In front of one of the brewing stations at the Pub.

The next morning I got up early to exercise. I had made a commitment to myself I would exercise every day. Then I went to get some breakfast in the hotel lounge and Randi told me some of them were going to a Buddhist temple. I knew I couldn't be ready in time, so we decided to meet in the lobby in time to catch the shuttle to the ship.

Vancouver is GORGEOUS! Everything was so green. No one had fences, instead they had walls of shrubs or trees, some of which had archways cut into their yard. I tried to get a picture, but the drivers in Vancouver are scary.

Our first time seeing our ship.

We were able to get on the cruise ship pretty early. So we ate some lunch in the buffet then took time to explore that ship.

View looking off the back of the ship. I wish those shipping yards had been running so I could watch them load boats.

Heading out to sea!

Looking out to see with Andrew & Jessica.

Earlier we had decided that while on the cruise, we wanted to try a few of the upgraded restaurants. We picked out three of them and decided we would go to them on nights we spent at sea, that way if our excursions ran late, we wouldn't be in a rush to get ready for dinner.

The first night, we ate at Moderno Churrascaria. We each had a meat card. When the green side was up, it meant keep the food coming! Once we were full, we turned it over to the red side.

In Moderno Churrascaria.

I thought this would end up being my last favorite place, but at the end of the cruise it was by far my favorite. Everything was so good! Dinner had turned into an eating competition which Josh won by trying at least one of everything and then 3 legs of lamb and ALL three desserts.

From the first minute we got on the ship, I knew we were going to have a fanastic time. I'm so glad we were able to go on this trip with our friends.