Vancouver, B.C.

Brad and I left on May 29th from Philadelphia to Vancouver. It was a long day of travel but everything ran smoothly. Vancouver is a great city: clean, young, and green. We stayed there one night so we had some time to sightsee before we boarded our ship on the 30th. I got to stop into a LUSH store where I was able to stock up on some old and new things!! That was the highlight of Vancouver for me. Walking around and enjoying the beautiful day in Stanley Park was also memorable.

Boarding and our first day cruising Alaska's Inside Passage

On May 30th we boarded the Carnival Spirit. We were able to head right to our stateroom and finally unload our bags. We had lunch on one of the upper decks with a view of Vancouver. The ship left port at around 5:30p.m. and we were off to Alaska's Inside Passage. We enjoyed a day at sea May 31st.

1st Port of Call: Ketchikan, AK!

Ketchikan was our first port of call on June 1st! We had to be shuttled to the dock via the lifeboats from the ship. They are surprisingly roomy inside! Once there we took a short walk around to see what the town looked like and then headed off to our off-shore excursion: Orca Beach Nature Trail. We were not prepared for all of the Bald Eagles we saw! The first part of the excursion was a boat ride on Clover Passage which took us to the costal beach and hiking trail. Along the way we saw a sea otter, porpoises, and an active eagle nest. The old growth coastal forest was more lush than you can imagine... green everywhere! At the top of the trail we were fortunate enough to hear a whale's blow, either an orca or humpback. It was so loud and hard to imagine what I was hearing. Before heading back we had some snacks (smoked salmon, crackers, cheese, juice, and water). I couldn't have wanted to be anywhere else to taste smoked salmon for the first time - sitting on a moss covered log looking at the water through a forest of trees with Brad. After the excursion we walked around town and decided to enjoy fresh Alaskan King Crab. We found a hole-in-the-wall place and sat on the dock eating Alaskan King and Dungeness crab and crab chowder while drinking Alaskan Summer Ale (brewed in Juneau!), watching Bald Eagles search for and find leftover fish from the day's catch.