Alaska

Cruises spoil you for everyday life.  I don’t ever have set meal times where someone puts my napkin on my lap and brings fancy 5-course meals.  Or someone who makes my bed and leaves wash cloth animals to greet me on my return home.  Or the option of constant entertainment and/or constant relaxation, depending on what my heart desires at that specific time of day.  That’s not “real” life.  That is however, life on a cruise and I really enjoyed it.  In fact, after the first two days my sisters and I decided that cruises are like summer camps for adults.  Evidence for our conclusion includes a set schedule for the week with each new week being almost the same as the one before it, activities galore, the aforementioned assigned meal times, being encouraged (and in some cases forced) to meet new friends because you’re all living the same experience, excellent people watching, afternoon free time, staff members that are all ridiculously cheerful despite being over worked and under paid, less than comfortable beds, and an escape from real life that is in most cases overpriced.  Yet just like teenage summer camp, the cost is small compared to the benefit of the experience.
   This was my first cruise (not counting the family Caribbean cruise when I was two) and I have to admit I’m a newly converted, big fan.  With the exception of feeling overstuffed 90% of the time, I thoroughly enjoyed every element of my week at adult summer camp.  Our sea-filled adventure brought us to Alaska.  Wow it is beautiful…and large.  If you ever want to feel incredibly small, take a cruise to Alaska – it will give great perspective.  The journey brought us to three Alaskan towns – Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan – as well as Tracy Arm Fjord which looks remarkably similar to Yosemite, with the addition of massive glaciers and mysterious icebergs.  It was actually pretty amazing a huge ship could navigate such a narrow water way in the midst of so many invisible chunks of ice below the surface.  Ketchikan was easily my favorite port, such a quintessentially cute fishing town, it was hard not to like it.  Other highlights include Carlos and Paula – our waiter/ waitress duo for dinners (we liked them so much one of the days we rearranged plans in order to make our normal dinner time), walking laps around the deck while at sea, naps in the sun, learning about the engineering, navigation, and culinary operations of the ship, movies under the stars (or in our case, under the afternoon sun), and watching at least one episode of Downton Abbey season 2 all piled into Mom & Dad’s room each night.  Being together is the highlight of all the highlights.  I’m blessed and so thankful to be apart of a family that enjoys spending time together.  Getting to do that on a cruise made it all the more exciting and memorable.