11 days
4 vessels
5 towns/cities
2143 nautical miles.
2 flights.
9 comments on my Cthulhu shirts
15 books finished
So that's the Alaska Cruise 2017 in a nutshell. While things definitely did
not go completely according to plan, I did try to make the most of everything.
Came to a few conclusions. One, I still love the ocean, definitely need
to spend more time on/near it. I spent hours looking and listening to
the ocean, often reading at the same time. Loved the feeling of the ship
swaying, helped me get to sleep at night.
The ship was interesting. Huge, bigger than the USS Intrepid aircraft
carrier. For those in the crusing know, it was the
Carnival Legend. We had a balcony room
port side, aft. (aka left and in the back for the non nautical).
accomidations were nice, loved the shower. I slept on a couch that
was converted to a swin bed, but I spent most of my time in the club chair
the room had, great for reading. The food was good, nothing out of this
world, but enjoyable. Ship had a very cool library, books as decor mixed
with shelves of novels. Would have spent more time there, it was quiet. But
the downside was very little airflow (a problem I had on most of the ship),
so it was more comfortable to lounge on the balcony.
Alaska was interesting. Saw a glacier up close, saw so many bald eagles,
I actually felt a little blaise about seeing them. As for cetaceans, I
got to see killer whales, humpback whales and what I think was a striped
dolphin (aka, not Flipper) running next to the ship. Parts of Alaska looked
like something out of a horror or Lovecraftian story, dark, quiet woods and
looming mountains. Gorgeous, but it could have easily been terrifying
with a small shift. The towns/cities themselves were...eeh. Right by the
cruise docks was full of shops selling 'cheap' jewelry and tshirts and stuff.
And we didn't spend enough time in any of them for me to explore the more
interesting parts. On the other down side, I'm as badly allergic to Alaska
as I am to Texas. I was
miserable from day 3 on with 'cedar fever'
symptoms, which I haven't gotten rid of.
We also stopped in Victoria BC. I liked this city more, it had a better 'vibe'
and the houses and building had more history to them. Again, I didn't get
to explore...which was sad, since there's a famous bookstore there. Already
have made some mental plans to go back some year. Also, I'm told the museums
are amazing. Seattle, where we were for a few days before the cruise. Did
the usual tourist stuff (Space Needle, Pike Place Market, etc). People who
know me also shouldn't be surprised that I went to the Seattle Aquarium and
spent a lot of time trying to communicate with the octopus there. Had some
really tasty sushi one night. (no connection). There's a small laundry list
of things I'd want to go back to Seattle to do, but it was nice to visit.
So that's things in a very small nutshell. Lots more to talk about, but
if I tried to record everything I'd probably go nuts. My depression and
allergies were kind of nuts on the trip, a cruise of several thousand people
is challenging the likes of me. But my friends were really ok with me
spending large chunks of the cruise in the stateroom reading. My friends
get me, and I'm glad they talked me into going on a cruise. I may do it
again some time, when things are a little more stable. I'll probably post
some trivia stuff, and some of the pictures I have at another time. Night
all.
