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Cruise to Alaska!!!

May 2008

This cruise to Alaska was all Erica's idea. She found the deal, she booked it, she planned it, she booked the plane tickets, bought and scheduled everything. I just had to get off of work and show up. She gets all the credit for this one. This is actually our very late honeymoon. We didn't really have a honeymoon when we got married, so this was it.

We stayed over in Seattle for a day before getting on the ship - which was a great idea! Seattle is very cool. They happened to be having a heat-wave while we were there. The city was like a ghost-town; everyone stayed inside because of the 90+ degree weather. Only the tourists and teenagers were out.

The ship was amazing, and getting home was a breeze compared to leaving.

Getting to the Cruise Ship

BWI Airport early in the morning

We missed our flight by just a couple minutes. We were so upset, we tried to console ourselves with lotto scratch-offs.

The scratch-offs didn't help

We finally got to Seattle, and the local news was interesting

Our hotel was a couple blocks from the Space Needle

There's a big crazy Sci-Fi museum at the base of the Space Needle

Seattle had a heat-wave while we were there. It was in the low 90's so all the locals ran and hid in their houses.

Waiting in line for the Space Needle

More waiting. Erica gets tired of me taking pictures of her so she takes the camera

I've been blessed with a gift - all sunglasses look good on me

Art glass in Seattle

Erica finds bubble tea in Seattle

In a Vietnamese market, we got a big bag of dried mango

Lunch at a Vietnamese place in the International District

Are they Spring Rolls? Or are they Summer Rolls? Who knows?!

Even 4000 miles away, Bun Thit Noung is the same

West side...

Downtown Seattle was apparently closed for the heat wave

After trying to walk from China town to our hotel, we stopped and waited for a cab

Tan tries to coordinate a jumping picture by himself

Our hotel was right next door to the Church of Scientology

...and there were protestors outside the "church"

Erica humors me (again)

You would think that silly sunglasses would be silly on anyone - but NOT ME!

Erica requires at least 1 cup of tea each morning. I require at least 50 pictures taken before breakfast.

Erica barely meets the requirements for carry-on luggage. Luggage, not baggage.

This public television has a funny movie on... it's called "This page could not be displayed"

The Cruise Ship - If you've never been on a cruise ship, it's amazing. Everything you see here is on a BOAT!

The Norwegian Peal is a relatively new ship. It was finished in 2006 and it's the newest cruise ship in Alaskan waters right now. The Pearl has a very tasteful Japanese theme to the decor, and features 12 restaurants! The Pearl is 965 feet long, and weighs 93,502 TONS!

Elevator Lobby

Hallway on Deck5

Our stateroom - from door to bed

Stateroom - from bed to door

Spinnaker Lounge - one of the many lounges and bars

Spinnaker Lounge stage area

Pools and Spas on Deck12

Big Chess on Deck13

Rockwall on Deck14

Basketball court on Deck13

There's no shortage of alcohol on the ship

Buffet Dining area

Buffet serving area

Champagne and Wine bar

Sushi Bar, Japanese restaurant, and Japanese steakhouse

Bliss Ultra Lounge - opium den style night club and bar (adults only)

Art Gallery - featuring original Picasso, Goya, Chagall, and other famous masters

Reception area and Crystal Atrium

Live bands throughout the ship. This was an Asian mariachi band covering American oldies...

Bowling alley in Bliss Ultra Lounge - 4 lanes total

Our stateroom again

The covered pool deck area had bed-like lounge chairs... very cozy

Elevators... oooh shiny

Stairwells

Daily Wii competitions on the big screen

Some decorative stuff

Stardust Theatre entrance

Inside Stardust Theatre

The Casino

The Norwegian Pearl

The Pearl in Ketchikan

"Bring me a drink" flags on the lounge chairs so you don't have to look for a waiter

Juneau, Alaska - the only U.S. State capitol that you can't get to by car or road!

As soon as we entered the waters approaching Juneau, the U.S. Coast Guard came out to say "Hello"

The weather was mild. Here's Erica in front of a mountain - A FREAKING MOUNTAIN!

Tan climbs a rock-wall on a boat, in Alaska, next to A MOUNTAIN!

The Norwegian Star was also in port with us

Erica again, the mountain again

We went to a wild Alaskan Salmon bake. Good salmon, everything else was... eh.

Tan physically exclaims "I'm in Alaska!"

Gold Creek thing, with rock things

Waterfall!

More Gold Creek

Broken tree

Camp fire

This is what I ate. Erica's was similar, without green stuff

Even in Alaska, Tan finds an audio shop

Adorable town

Figure it out yourself...

cute

McDonalds in Juneau

Here's an ammonite shell, the shiny stuff is turned into jewelry called Ammolite - very expensive crap.

Alaska waters at 3AM.

Scagway, Alaska

In Scagway, we only did 2 things. We went on the White Pass railway tour which is really amazing. This railway was used during the Yukon Gold Rush, and also during WWII to help build the Alaska Railroad. The railroad winds along the sides of mountains, sometimes with less than a foot or two between the train and a cliff wall dropping into a canyon or gorge. Oh yeah, the second thing we did was look and shop for jewelry.

Ship port of Scagway

That's a harbor seal outside our window!

Rocks and stuff

This mountain towers over Scagway. Clouds seem to get stuck on it sometimes

Weird little face inside a jewelry case

Funny building covered in sticks and logs

Erica made me take this picture

Old decommissioned engine

Heading up White Pass

At some parts, the train comes within a foot or two of the cliffs and rocks.

The whole ride (about 3 hours roundtrip) was visually spectacular

This is a photo of the canyon and mountainside BELOW the train. You're looking at the tops of trees and rocks

After a horseshoe turn, I see the tiny steel bridge that we crossed minutes before

Words cannot describe the feeling of experiencing this landscape from a train on the side of a mountain

This bridge was decommissioned about 40 years ago. If it hadn't been, I don't know if I would have been able to take a picture of it.

Ketchikan, Alaska

Oh MY! Ketchikan was definitely one of our favorite stops. While in Ketchikan, we didn't do very much but we did all we need to. Alaska has a huge rainforest (I didn't know either), but it's one of the world's largest. No one talks about it because it's mostly coniferous trees and no terribly exotic animals live there. They receive over 14ft of rainfall annually, and there's very little top soil on the ground because the rain washes it down the mountains.

Our shore excursion in Ketchikan was the Rainforest Canopy Zip line Adventure! The trip starts with an off-road vehicle taking us up the mountain to a lodge. From the lodge, we go through ground school and then we're off! The course consists of 7 zip lines and 3 rope bridges. The longest zip line is 745ft long over the canopy; this is the longest zip line in North America. The pictures don't do it justice, but it gives you an idea.

Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary - where we started our zipline adventure

Erica gears up

First zip - about 80ft

Second zip - about 100ft

Fourth zip - 745ft!

Rope bridge

Incoming!

Breath-taking...

Far platform with all my zoom

Erica with a cut down Western Hemlock - about 450 years old

Tree rings

Tan admires the large pole

Is that a moose?!

Ketchikan has part of it's downtown area built over a river. This is Creek Street - the old red light district.

River view with mossy stuff

Downtown

ALASKA ZIPLINE ADVENTURE VIDEO (10MB WMV)

This is a video of Erica and Tan going across the longest zipline in North America. This zip is approximately 745ft long and travels over the top of the Alaskan Rainforest Canopy. The pictures and video give you about 1% of the feeling of really being there. This is one of the most amazing things I've ever done.

Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

Glacier Bay National Park is a huge park which is known to be the fastest receding glacial bay in the world. As the years go by, the giant glacier which used to occupy the whole bay gets smaller and smaller, creating a bay with glacier tributaries.

Northern tip of Glacier Bay. The dark wall is an old dirty glacier.

This glacier has a name; I don't remember it. It's new and clean. The water in the glacier is actually blue!

Would you look at that?! Even in Glacier Bay, Alaska - they have seagulls just sitting around

As the ship moved, it created a wake of ice in the water to the sides of the ship

Some woman on the rock wall

Tan climbs a rock wall in Glacier Bay!

Erica climbs a rock wall for the first time ever! She did pretty well and almost made it to the top on the medium wall

Just look at it

Dinner at Glacier Bay

Erica sips her hot tea while admiring the icy waters

Victoria, British Columbia

This was our last stop on the cruise before returning to Seattle. Victoria is an absolutely beautiful city. It's clean, safe, and friendly. There are so many hybrid and SMART cars here, it made me feel bad for driving an SUV and a big V8 sedan.

A lighthouse

Their wharf has real houseboats. They're houses that float... like boats. Cute.

More Houseboats

Another lighthouse

Seagull on a log

Clouds rolling in over the harbor. The dark spot in the water is a porpoise fin

Sunset in Victoria

Clouds going home for the evening

Native Indian islands off of Victoria

Seals playing in the sunset

Birds on a log

Sunset over Victoria

Birds in the water watching eagles eat their eggs and young.

Two eagles from the mainland come to the off-shore island to gorge themselves on eggs and baby birds

More sunset

Hey look! there's an orca!

Erica manages to find more bubble tea

This is some important building in Victoria. All the lights were recently replaced with low energy LED lights

Some huge tree in town with crazy branches

The Empress Hotel

Tan and Erica

These are all pictures from various parts of the trip, no particular order.

Erica and Tan at the top of the Space Needle

Erica and Tan at the Space Needle

Don't remember what this was

In the check-in line for the boat

Getting on the boat

Safety drill

First day cruising

Dinner at Teppanyaki

Oh look, there's a mirror in the elevator!

Mediocre salmon bake

Very short nature/waterfall hike

Elevators are neat!

Entering Scagway

On White Pass

On White Pass Railway

More mirrors in elevators

Morning coffee on the pool deck

Elevator shot

In Spinnaker Lounge

Elevator again

Dinner at Lotus Garden

Elevator going to dinner

At the Bingo Lounge

Airport tram

Reflection in the airport tram

Gearing up for zipping

Zipping through the canopy

Heading home from Seattle

Coffee in Seattle!

Seattle boat locks and fish ladder

Erica presents the locks

Great Blue Heron at the locks

Great Blue hunting

Some beagle

A baby Chinook Salmon going through the ladders

Inside the Seattle fish ladder

Bee positive

White guy in China Town wearing a rice paddy hat on the phone

"FAIL"

My luggage foot broke off. Now it just falls over.

Waiting for our midnight flight

Fish and chips place where Erica got dinner

Seattle Airport glass wall

Panoramas

Alaska

Bliss Ultra Lounge

Glacier Bay

Scagway, Alaska

Seattle from atop the Space Needle

Seattle from the Cruise Ship

Norwegian Pearl - Deck 12 mid-ship

Victoria, British Columbia