Alaskan Cruise '08

This was the trip of a lifetime for many of our vacationers. Not only did we take a tour of of Alaska, we did it aboard a cruise ship. Our group flew into Seattle, Washington where we boarded our Norwegian Cruise ship called the "Norwegian Star". We were amazed at the size of the ship when we first drove up and couldn't believe something that big could float. Once we came on board, we got orientated and explored the different levels of the ship.

We spent our first full day at sea. We enjoyed swimming and hot-tubbing, watched an ice carving demonstration, and enjoyed an evening show of dancing and singing from the Broadway play "Cats". Some other entertainment that we watched aboard our trip included Murray the Magician, the ship's version of "Family Feud", the "White Hot" dance party where we could only wear white, and so many more shows.

Our first land stop was to Ketchikan. We did some sightseeing and of course, a lot of shopping. Our next day was spent in the port of Juno which is surrounded by beautiful mountains. We explored the town and did a little more shopping. We stopped at a famous fudge shop and enjoyed delicious samples. The whole group spent some time taking photos of the amazing scenery. This was a short stop because we were off again to view the Sawyer Glacier next. We enjoyed the sights from the deck of the ship and even spotted a few Orca Whales and three brown bears. We arrived at the glacier and were surrounded by mountains, waterfalls, and huge ice chunks. Skagway was our next city to visit. While there, we took the White Pass Railroad which was a 3 1/2 hour train ride in the mountains. We went through tunnels and over bridges and even passed a pool of salmon jumping, waterfalls, and hanging glaciers. When we returned to Skagway, we did a little more sightseeing of the town and bought more souvenirs. The next day we went to Prince Rupert, British Columbia. On our way we spotted a group of 15 Orca Whales and even dolphins. The scenery was breathtaking.

Besides all the unforgettable sights we saw, we have to mention the food! We ate so much during this trip and we give the restaurants aboard the ship four stars, which included our favorite formal dining restaurant called Versailles. We also spent a little time in the casino on the ship as well as the Spinnaker Lounge and the Carousel Lounge where all the chairs were shaped like horses. Everyone agreed that this was the most amazing vacation we had ever been on and want to visit again!