Two Tickets to Paradise - French Polynesia and The Paul Gauguin

Overwater Bugalows at the Hilton Moorea Resort

To celebrate 25 years of wedded bliss, the Boss and I went on our dream trip to the South Pacific in August.   We started with 3 nights in an overwater bungalow at the Hilton Moorea, followed by a 7-night cruise on the Paul Gauguin, a very upscale all-inclusive cruise ship that specializes in French Polynesia itineraries.  Make no mistake, this was not a budget trip in any way, but we loved every minute of it, so it was worth the high price tag.  As the saying goes, travel is the only thing you spend money on that makes you richer! 

At the Cruise360 Conference earlier this year, Esther shared our itinerary with a senior executive of Paul Gauguin Cruises. She suggested we do the overwater bungalow stay prior to boarding the ship rather than at the end of the cruise, so we could finish our anniversary trip in all-inclusive style with pampering service on the ship, and we took her advice.  About the only thing that wasn’t wonderful about the trip was getting to Tahiti in the first place.  We left home in Northern Virginia just after noon on August 18, flew five and half hours to Los Angeles, arriving just before 6:00 PM in LA.  Our connection to Tahiti didn’t leave until midnight, so we had to kill six hours in the grungy international terminal at LAX.  We couldn’t even check our luggage until 8:30 PM at the Air Tahiti Nui counter.  Then the flight to Tahiti was another 8 plus hours, and we arrived there at 5:30 AM local time.  Took a cab to the ferry dock and rode the ferry across to Moorea, only about 40 minutes.   The Hilton had a bus waiting at the ferry on Moorea to take us to the hotel, where we finally checked in roughly 26 hours after leaving home.

The pool at the resort - rarely saw anyone in it.

Within a few minutes of our arrival at the Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort and Spa, however, the journey was quickly forgotten, as we were well taken care of by the hotel.   Although our bungalow was not ready, they provided us a day room to shower and freshen up, and change into swim suits.  We left our luggage in the lobby, and it was delivered to our room and waiting for us when we got our room key after lunch.  We spent a relaxing morning on the beach.

We had to hang out here until our bungalow was ready - poor us!

We had an issue with the bungalow – we had paid for a “panoramic” bungalow, which basically are the ones further from shore with a little more seclusion and better overall views.  Our bungalow was the last one before the panoramic section, and at first they tried to tell us we had a panoramic bungalow.  Esther pointed out that their web site said different, and after a brief discussion, the manager admitted that ours was not a panoramic, but said they had none available that night.  She said they would move us the next day for our last two nights, and offered us a nice resort credit.  We often say the sign of a good hotel, cruise ship, resort, etc. is not necessarily the absence of problems (because they happen everywhere), but how the hotel responds, and we were quite satisfied with the Hilton response.

A view of the beach and resort with the mountains of Moorea in the background.

The three days at the Hilton were amazing.  The resort only has bungalows, and there are only 109 of them, 55 on land and 54 over the water.  Our overwater bungalow, #106, had a large bathroom, a combination bedroom and sitting area, a covered balcony, and a lower platform with a ladder into the lagoon.  And it was our own free-standing structure.  There was even a window in the floor so you could see into the water below the bungalow.

The balcony on our bungalow

The swim platform off of our balcony - the water is only about 5 feet deep, but the snorkeling was amazing!

Looking at the overwater bungalows from the resort restaurant - we were in the second to the last one near the end.

We had been warned that everything in French Polynesia was exorbitantly expensive, but found prices to be not much more than you would expect at a top hotel or resort anywhere else.  Yes, a cheeseburger was over $20, but we had a pizza for lunch at the poolside bar and grill for under $20, and dinner at the overwater crepe bar was around $65.  Dinner in the main restaurant was about $120, including drinks.  We also left the resort one night to dine at the Moorea Beach Café, which was nice.  But I did think the $17 martinis there were priced a tad high!

Tom learns how to remove the husk from the coconut - sort of...

We spent time every day on our balcony or swim platform, and did some of the best snorkeling we have ever seen right under our bungalow.  We took rolls from breakfast to feed the fish and were surrounded by tremendous numbers and varieties of fish of all sizes and colors.  We also saw a sting ray swim right under the bungalow, and feeding the sharks at the crepe bar was a nightly attraction.

Sharks swimming under the crepe bar at night - Esther wanted to know where they were in the daytime!

Headed into the interior of the island on the ATVs.

On our second day in Moorea, we signed up for an ATV tour of the island with ATV Moorea Tours, and highly recommend this to everyone.  Guillaume, our guide, was from France but visited Moorea four years ago and decided to stay.  Esther and I shared an ATV, and while she didn’t want to drive it, she provided her usual excellent driving advice to me.  We followed Guillaume down one of the only two paved roads on Moorea, then veered off onto dirt paths and trails, past a pineapple plantation, through a forest and to a farm with amazing flowers, and we drove to the belvedere, an overlook with great views of the island.

A budding pineapple.

We stopped to taste some of the local jams, and then drove to the center of the island, where Guillaume gave us an interesting lesson on the geology of Moorea, which is essentially an eroding volcano crater.  We finished at the “Magic Mountain” after a steep climb up some winding partially paved paths, and enjoyed panoramic views of the mountains and the lagoons.

Crossing a small stream.

Breakfast was included at the Hilton Moorea and they had a great buffet with an omelet station, and delicious local jams with flavors including pineapple vanilla and banana.  We had breakfast on the balcony of the restaurant every morning with great views of the overwater bungalows and the ocean beyond.

Breakfast set-up in the resort restaurant - omelet station to the right, and local jams on the round table.

Not sure we've ever had breakfast in a more beautiful spot.

One of the best things about the resort was that it never seemed crowded – we could always get a couple of lounges on the beach or at the pool, and never had to wait at any of the restaurants.   We would have loved staying another day, but we were excited to get to the cruise ship.

Happy Anniversary to us!

We could have done this for another day or two  (sigh...)

Sunrise from our bungalow deck - fabulous!

The Hilton provided transportation back to the ferry dock for a small fee on Saturday morning, where we met David and Laura, newlyweds from DC on their honeymoon, who had also been at the Hilton Moorea, and were sailing on the Paul Gauguin.  We all rode the ferry back to Tahiti.  The islands are close enough that you can see each one from the other.  The ferry docked almost right next to the Paul Gauguin, so all we had to do was wheel our luggage 100 yards or so to the ship.

The Paul Gauguin - photo taken from the ferry from Moorea. Our stateroom was above the second lifeboat from the left.

The onboard process was great – we left our bags at the dock and walked aboard into the Grand Salon and were given a glass of champagne as we checked in and picked up our room key cards.   By the time we got to our stateroom, the luggage was already waiting.  That never happens on the big ships!

Our stateroom was nice, but not really any larger than our typical balcony stateroom on other ships.  The bathroom was a little nicer since it had a full size bathtub/shower.

Our stateroom

Our bathroom

After unpacking, we set out to explore the ship, which didn’t take long for a ship this size.  We made our way to the pool deck, and met William, who took our first drink orders.  William asked our names, as do all the crew, and none of them ever forget your name the rest of the cruise.  A large majority of the crew were Filipinos, which is always a treat for me after growing up in the Philippines.  I get to use my very limited Tagalog vocabulary and tell a couple of Filipino jokes, and we have a great time together. 

Our first drinks on the pool deck, which eventually led to.....

......this, happy Tom dancing at the welcome aboard party!

One of my high school classmates, Tim Cone, has become the most famous professional basketball coach in the Philippines, where basketball is far and away the most popular sport and deeply embedded in Philippine culture.  Tim is a huge celebrity in the Philippines.  I shamelessly inform the Filipino crew members that Tim and I played basketball together in high school in the Philippines, and I become a minor celebrity on board by association.

The Paul Gauguin has a passenger capacity of 332, but we found out that there were only 208 guests on our sailing.  With a crew of 217, that meant there were more crew members on board than passengers.   We have never had better service on a cruise than we did on the Paul Gauguin, mostly because that is what they are known for (“#1 Small-Ship Cruise Line” Travel + Leisure, World’s Best Awards (2014)), but also because the ship wasn’t full, and finally because we really got to know the crew and had lots of fun with them.  We found the demographics of the passengers to be very similar to us for the most part (young-at-heart 50-somethings!), with several young honeymoon couples, and only a few elderly people.  

Entertainment on the ship is primarily provided by the Gaugines, local Tahitians who serve as cruise staff, entertainers, and storytellers.  They do create an atmosphere of French Polynesian culture on board.   However, our favorite entertainment on the ship was the Crew Show, a one-night event of comedy, song, and dance put on by the mostly Filipino crew.  The casino consists of one blackjack table, one roulette table, and 13 slot machines, and we only played a few times.

Although there are only three dining venues on the ship, Esther and I agreed that the food was the best we’ve ever had on a cruise.  The main dining room, L’Etoile, feels like the best specialty restaurants on other cruise ships.  Wonderful presentation and service.   

Me with Mike and Flo in the main dining room.  Flo (right) also does a great Charlie Chaplin imitation in the Crew Show!

Reservations are needed for their specialty restaurants, La Veranda and Le Grill, but they were not difficult to get.  La Veranda is French, and Le Grill has a Pacific Rim flavor, and both were outstanding.  La Veranda and Le Grill also double as breakfast and lunch venues, with a combination of elaborate buffets plus a la carte menus if you prefer.  The pasta bar in Le Grill at lunch was especially tasty.  We thought the wines at dinner were excellent, too.   Dining is completely freestyle in the main dining room – you can go whenever you want and you can always sit by yourself or be seated with others.  We did both.  

We sailed from Tahiti to Huahine, which was our least favorite port.  We were there on a Sunday and there wasn’t much to see on Huahine.  From there, we sailed to Taha’a, also known as the vanilla island, and this is where they have a barbecue on their own private motu (islet), Motu Mahana.   Everyone takes the tender to the motu, where they put you ashore in a beautiful lagoon with a bartender wading around dragging floating bar behind him.  The menu includes grilled ribs, chicken, sausage, burgers, local dishes, fruit, salads, and desserts, and of course there is a bar on land as well.  I did some snorkeling right off the beach, and while it didn’t match what we saw at our overwater bungalow, it was still nice.  And, of course, the Gauguines did some singing and dancing for entertainment.  A very enjoyable day.

The floating bar on the private motu.  What a great idea!

Entertainment by The Gauguines

Sailing away on a beautiful evening.

Sunset in Polynesia.

Next was Bora Bora, where we spent two days, as the ship stayed in port overnight.   Paul Gauguin has a private beach in Bora Bora, which is much smaller and quieter than the big party at Motu Mahana.  We tendered over and spent an afternoon there, laying on the beach and snorkeling.   Did I mention they had a small bar on the beach, serving beer, rum punch and soft drinks?

Paul Gauguin's private beach in Bora Bora - note the mountain of the main island in the background.

This was the site of our AquaBike adventure, where the two of us rode an underwater scooter around following a scuba diver guide.  The AquaBike has a cockpit with compressed air pumped in so we could breathe and talk without any other equipment.  You have to take a boat to the AquaBike platform out in the middle of the ocean.  After the ride, we were taken to snorkeling spot before going back to shore.

The AquaBikes - a two-seater with a glass cockpit that you can breathe inside of.

The guide feeds the fish outside our AquaBike

Downtown Bora Bora isn’t much to look at, just a dusty main road through town, with a lot of shops for tourists.  We actually spent a lot of relaxing time on the ship while in Bora Bora.  They have a great selection of movies on board, and a DVD player in the stateroom.

You never find an empty pool on a large cruise ship!

Bora Bora was notable, however, for the Polynesian blessing ceremony for couples on their honeymoons or celebrating anniversaries, like us.  The Gaugines put flower wreaths on our heads, wrapped us in a traditional Tahitian quilt, the tifaifi, and blessed us as we kissed.  Another 25 years guaranteed!

Our honeymoon couple friends, David and Laura at the marriage blessing.

The Boss and me wrapped together to bless our marriage!

The next stop was Moorea, where we had spent our three days at the Hilton, and maybe because of that, it was our favorite island.  We signed up for the waverunner adventure here, and were actually taken to the Hilton Moorea Resort to board the waverunners.  Esther and I shared a machine, and things started out OK.   We followed our guide and had three other couples on waverunners behind us.  Unfortunately, it was pretty windy and the guide led us across some pretty rough waters, which made steering and keeping the waverunner upright more difficult than usual.  In one particularly bumpy spot, Esther fell off, soon to be followed by one of the other couples.  Once everyone was picked up and back on the machines, we followed the guide through the worst section, where the ocean spray felt like a fire hose pointe in my face, and I was literally driving blind for all intents and purposes.  Eventually we got to a more protected area, and the return trip was on much calmer waters and a lot more fun.

Our waverunner adventure buddies - Jack and Linda (right), and Robert and Bronwyn (center).

Moorea was also where Esther finally bought her black pearls, which French Polynesia is famous for.  She ran into a very good local salesperson in one of the vendor tents at the tender dock, and picked out a necklace, earrings and ring, for her anniversary presents.  Moorea was another port where we spent the night.  The next day we sailed back to Papeete, the main city on Tahiti, and docked for the night.

A beautiful rainbow behind us on our last day on the ship - the payoff after a rainy start.

 We met a lot of nice people on the cruise:  David and Laura, the honeymooners who we seemed to run into every five minutes; Jack and Linda from Atlanta, and Robert and Bronwyn from Sydney, who shared our waverunner adventure and numerous tender rides; and Susan and Chris from Richmond, who have been on Seabourn twice, and told us the Paul Gauguin was just as nice.   We met many others, too, and as always, that’s one of the main reasons we love to travel so much.

It was a first for us to see the passengers hugging the crew members at the end of the cruise, which shows you what a fantastic staff the ship had.  We felt like we were saying good-bye to old friends after only seven days.  We will miss Flo, Mike, Rey Amor, Francisco, Arjay, Michael Jerome, Apolinario, and all the rest that took such good care of us!

The Boss with Francisco, Ray Amor and Michael Jerome - these guys were part of the best crew ever.

The crew and The Gauguines with the Cruise Director on the last night.

Fortunately, when we left the ship, we didn’t have to go straight to the airport for the long journey home.  Paul Guaguin put us on a two-hour city tour of Papeete, which was actually pretty interesting, including a stop at the James Norman Hall Museum.  Hall was the co-author of the novel “Mutiny on the Bounty”, and the museum was a replica of the house he lived in for most of his life in Tahiti.   We were also taken to Venus Point, where The Bounty supposedly landed.

The market in downtown Papeete.

The pool and lagoonarium at the Intercontinental Tahiti.

After the tour, we arrived at the Intercontinental Resort Tahiti, and were given day rooms to use until we had to leave for the airport at 8:30 PM.  We were able to snorkel in their Lagoonarium, hang out at the pool with Jack and Linda, shower and change, and have dinner at the resort before our transfer to the airport.

The Papeete airport is not a good place to have to spend two hours waiting for your flight to board.  The waiting area at the gates is not air-conditioned, and there were not nearly enough seats for the several hundred people flying out on the two late flights.   Not a great start to a long trip home.  However, this is a small price to pay to experience paradise.

We couldn’t have picked a better trip to celebrate our 25^th anniversary.   The long travel times are worth the unbelievably clear, turquoise water, wonderful beaches, amazing underwater and overwater sights, romantic settings, great food, and cultural experience.  We would highly recommend this trip, and especially the Paul Gauguin, to anyone!  We still have so many other places we want to see, but we know we want to go back to French Polynesia again.

As always, your comments and questions are encouraged and appreciated!

Alaska by Land and Sea - Awesome!

After 25 years of cruising, Esther and I just completed our first trip to Alaska, a land/sea cruise tour combining four days on land with a seven-night cruise from Seward to Vancouver on the Celebrity Millennium.

Wow!  This may have been one of my favorite trips ever.  Alaska is truly awesome, a place of unbelievable beauty and majesty.   By far the largest state in the US, Alaska has a population of less than 800,000 people.  We have more than that in Fairfax County, Virginia.  Everywhere we went, whether by land or by sea, we were surrounded by mountains and forests and lakes and glaciers – and not many buildings or people. 

Esther, Erica and Brett in front of a gift shop in Anchorage

We flew to Anchorage and spent our first night there.  Anchorage, with a population less than 300,000, is the largest city in Alaska.  It has an interesting vibe – few high-rise buildings and lots of parking lots.  You get the feeling that it hasn’t changed much in the last 40 or 50 years.   Food carts sell reindeer sausage, and it has an abundance of souvenir stores. 

The next morning we boarded the Wilderness Express, the Alaska Railroad train with private cars that have a full-length curved glass dome that provides a spectacular 360 degree view. All guests have forward-facing seats in the upper level dome.  The cars have reclining leather seats and fold down trays, and were very comfortable. A host guide pointed out highlights along the way, and a bartender offers full bar service for purchase. The Bloody Marys were excellent!

Aboard the Wilderness Express

This is a long train ride up to Denali National Park – a full eight hours, but it was a very enjoyable experience.  The scenery is beautiful, passing lots of lakes and mountains and crossing some high bridges.  The lower level of the train car is a restaurant, all window tables, where the four of us had lunch.   As you might expect, it was a bit overpriced, but then, like Brett said, you don’t get a dining experience like that very often.  One of his favorite parts about the train was the little outdoor platform at the back of the car, where he spent more than an hour watching the scenery go by – and he spotted a porcupine!  All in all, the Wilderness Express train ride was a great way to start the trip, and begin to get a feel for Alaska.   We first started to meet the rest of the people in our combined group of about 50 people formed by Esther and her best travel agent friend, Michelle, who booked a group of over 40 people on the cruise.  Not all of them opted for the land portion, but a majority did.  If you are going all the way to Alaska, it would be a shame to miss the interior.

Alaska as seen from the Wilderness Express train

 Upon arrival in Denali, we boarded buses to the lodge and checked in.   Brett, Erica and I had signed up for the Husky Homestead tour (Esther is allergic), which is at the home of Jeff King, a four-time winner of the  1,049-mile Iditarod Sled Dog Race.  We loved this – we got to hold Husky puppies, meet and pet the actual sled dogs, learned how they are trained, and watched them pull a four-wheel ATV.  We also heard a presentation from Jeff King about what it’s like to run the Iditarod.   Erica bought his book, which he signed, and read it on the trip.  Brett settled for a picture with him.  This was definitely a highlight for us, on a trip full of highlights.

Holding sled dog puppies at the Husky Homestead - do they look happy? 

Me and my puppy

Brett with 4-time Iditarod champion Jeff King

The following day was our tour into Denali National Park, on a modified school bus with about 40 people.  Our bus driver and guide, Jen, was outstanding.   The spectacular scenery and views alone were worth the trip, but we were lucky to see moose, caribou, Dall sheep, a coyote, a marmot, eagles, ground squirrels and ravens along the way.  Jen provide great commentary and had a video camera on board that she used to zoom in on the wildlife so we could see close-ups of the animals on the video monitors on the bus.  The tour included several stops to walk around, and a couple of nerve-wracking curves in the road at the cliff’s edge with no guardrail.   We also had a beautiful sunny warm day, and our views would have been even more spectacular if not for a number of forest fires in the state that resulted in some smoky haze.    

We saw our first moose in the park only a few minutes after the tour started - and he was a big one!

This caribou ran right past our bus!

Our bus rode around these curves on some pretty steep slopes - note the beautiful colors!

  

Brett and Erica at the edge of a glacial river running through the park

The tour bus in Denali

One of the magnificent views in Denali National Park - the smoky haze was due to forest fires in the state.

This picture is worth a thousand words.....

                       
A comment on the weather – everyone we talked to before we left advised dressing in layers, that even in June, it could be cold and rainy.  We were blessed with almost perfect weather the entire trip, and were quite comfortable in jeans and t-shirts, and even shorts, almost everywhere except on the glacier.  

Esther loved her selfie stick!

After Denali, we boarded large motor coaches for the trip back to the coast.  We had overnight stops in Talkeetna and Alyeska.   Both were small towns, but Alyeska was the far more interesting place, tucked into the base of the Chugach Mountains, in the town of Girdwood.  Our tour included tram tickets to the top of the mountain, where the views were spectacular, with three glaciers visible in the neighboring mountains.  We hiked from the tram stop further up the mountain, and Brett and Erica hiked even further up a narrow trail along the edge of the mountain that made Esther and I nervous.  Brett declared it to be the coolest place he had ever been.  

The view of  our hotel from the top of the tram.

Stunning view of the glaciers in the mountains next to us.

Brett and Erica kept climbing higher and higher.

The evening at the Hotel Alyeska was also memorable.  We gathered with our friends Pat and Diane Standiford at the outdoor fire pit and made drinks (which apparently was against hotel policy, we later found out) and enjoyed the beautiful weather.  That time of year, it doesn’t get dark until nearly midnight, and even then it isn’t really black.  

Pretty cool picture taken by a cell phone, around 11:00 PM

All of a sudden, we heard a commotion and saw people running towards the large pond next to the hotel.  We got up to see a large mother and baby moose walk into the pond and start swimming around!   Very cool.

Mother and baby moose in the pond at the Hotel Alyeska

Sea lion at the SeaLife Center in Seward

The next morning was a relatively short bus ride to Seward, where we were taken to the Alaska SeaLife Center, for a couple of hours before boarding the ship.  Since it was a cold and rainy morning (one of the only ones of the trip), this was a good way to spend the time.  The aquarium had a lot to see and was worth the visit.  Of course, the largest part of the Center was the gift shop.  

We boarded the ship on Friday, June 26 around noon.  One of the nice things about the land portion of the trip was that our luggage was collected outside our rooms every morning and delivered to our room at the next lodge so we didn’t have to lug it around.  Same thing at the ship – our luggage went straight to our staterooms.  

This is luggage Celebrity moved from our last hotel on land directly to our staterooms on the ship.  Only half of it belonged to our family.

The Celebrity Millennium is a nice ship that carries just under 2,200 passengers.  The ship has been "Solsticized" with Solstice-class features including the ice-topped  Martini Bar, Café al Bacio specialty coffee shop, a gelateria, a Cellar Masters Wine Bar, and the Qsine specialty restaurant.   The ship was very similar to the Celebrity Century that we were on for our Asian cruise in March of this year, so we felt right at home (see my blog from April on that trip).

The Celebrity Millennium

Erica is 24 and Brett is 21 (this was his college graduation trip), and we had selected the beverage package as our perk when booking the cruise.   This is a great perk which we highly recommend on any cruise, unless you really don’t drink much at all.  In addition to beer, wine, and spirits, the beverage package also includes bottled water, specialty coffees, and soft drinks, all of which you would pay for individually without the package.   Esther and I typically had a couple of cappuccinos every day, which alone would have cost us $20 without the package, and we had free-flowing wine with dinner every night.   We also liked to meet up with the kids and others in our group for a couple of cocktails before dinner, and might have had a drink or two (or three or four) after dinner at the shows or in the casino.   Pretty sure our twenty-somethings got their money’s worth, as well.

After departing Seward, our next day was a sea day, and Esther and Michelle organized a “poker run”, which consisted of everyone in our group of 50 visiting three bars on the ship.  At the first two bars (the Martini Bar and the poolside bar), each member of the group picked up a sealed envelope with two playing cards inside.  Then at the third bar, the Sunset Bar at the stern of the ship, players opened their envelopes, and picked one more card to go with the four they had collected, and made their best poker hand.  Esther and Michelle had 10 prizes for the ten best hands.  Amazingly, the winning hand was a full house!  This was a lot of fun for everyone, and helped the group get to know each other.

That afternoon, the ship sailed up into Disenchantment Bay for a close-up look at the Hubbard Glacier, which is joined by the Valerie Glacier.   We got to see the glacier calve off icebergs the size of a ten-story building.  Where the glacier meets the bay, most of the ice is below the waterline, and newly calved icebergs can shoot up quite dramatically, so that ships must keep their distance from the edge of the glacier in Disenchantment Bay.  We were told our captain is one of the best at getting in close for the best views.

The Hubbard and Valerie Glaciers are advancing from the mountains and join together.  

Up close and personal - but the pictures don't do the actual sight justice!

The rest of the itinerary included Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait Point, Ketchikan, and day at sea through the inside passage before ending the cruise in Vancouver.   Shore excursions on Alaskan cruises are more expensive than your typical excursions in the Caribbean or Mediterranean, but they are pretty unique.  Since we had never been and didn’t know if or when we would go back, we did them all.  

Our family agreed that the helicopter ride to the Meade Glacier in Skagway was our favorite.  Neither Brett nor Erica had ever been in a helicopter, and they got to sit in the front with the pilot.  

The ride to the glacier provided some amazing views, and the ride itself was a lot of fun.  Once we got to the glacier, we had an excellent guide that walked us around and showed us the crevasses, moraines, streams, and ice, and provided fascinating information about glaciers in general and the Meade Glacier in particular.   After the trip, Brett declared that that was now the coolest place he’d ever been!

Our guide explaining how the tunnel was formed.

Deep crevasse in the glacier.

Brett takes a drink of glacier water.

Brett wanted to learn as much as possible from Carli

In Juneau, we took a shuttle to the Mendenhall Glacier, which required a short hike, and also took the Mount Roberts Tramway, which is right next to the cruise ship dock.  We enjoyed a good hike and tremendous views from Mount Roberts.

The Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau.

We hiked to near the top of Mount Roberts after riding up the tram from Juneau.

Bald eagle at the Nature Center on Mount Robers

Who knew there was a Manila Square in Juneau?

Icy Strait Point – The nearby town is called Hoonah.  We took our whale watching tour from here and saw lots of whales, as well as some sea lions and a dolphin or two.  Weather started out rainy, but cleared up during the tour.

We saw a lot of humpback  whales - very impressive, especially when they dive.

A sea lion pokes his head up.

For our excursion in Ketchikan, we had originally booked a float plane tour with the company that lost a pilot and 8 cruise ship passengers from a Holland America ship in a crash in the mountains the week before we arrived.  Undaunted, we re-booked with another company that gave us the same price.  Fortunately, we had a beautiful day for flying, and we flew over mountains and landed on a beautiful remote mountain lake. 

My favorite picture from the trip, taken by Erica from the float plane.  This is the mountain  lake we landed on, which leads to the incredible waterfall plunging down the mountain. 

On the pontoon of the plane in the middle of a gorgeous remote lake.

Another magnificent view from the float plane.

Some of our group did the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman’s Tour, aboard one of the crab boats shown on the TV show “Deadliest Catch.”  They absolutely loved it.

The last day on the ship was a sea day through the “Inside Passage”, which provided beautiful scenery on both sides of the ship as we sailed from Ketchikan to Vancouver. 

In addition to the awesome destinations, our Alaskan cruise ranks right near the top for me because we had two of our kids with us, although they are really no longer kids, and it was great family time for all of us.  We also had friends with us, as well as all the people in Michelle’s group, and we always say it’s much more fun to travel with friends.  

More fun to travel with friends!

Celebrity delivered its usual excellent service and good food.  We ate most of our meals in the main dining room, and were well taken care of by Jesse, our Filipino waiter, and Luis, the maitre’d.   Esther and I got crushed in the casino the first few nights but recovered most of our losses by the end of the trip.  Brett just got crushed (goodbye graduation money!) and Erica only lost a little.   We did the martini tasting again, which has been great on other ships.  Unfortunately, this time they just plopped down the six small martinis in front of us, briefly told us what each one was, and walked away.  We missed the usual interaction with the bartender and the one-at-a-time tasting format we had done before.

Erica and Brett at the martini tasting.   

The entertainment was a little below average, we thought.  But we may have been in the minority, especially regarding the band Savannah Jack, which performed twice to rave reviews around the ship.  We Larsons thought the lead singer was way over the top (lots of pointing at the crowd and funny faces), and their performance reminded us of a Saturday Night Live satire. You decide - here is a link where you can get a quick sample: http://liveonstage.biz/savannah-jack/  
Be sure to play the video at the bottom.

In spite of that, we would never hesitate to cruise with Celebrity – they consistently deliver an outstanding experience.

We disembarked in Vancouver, British Columbia, and spent the morning walking to Gastown for lunch, then along the waterfront before sending Brett and Erica to the airport to go home.   Esther and I spent two more nights in Vancouver, and really enjoyed it.  We stayed at the Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle downtown, in a great location, literally walking distance from the cruise port, and almost everything else worth seeing in the downtown area.   We even walked to Stanley Park and back, which was good for the Fitbit readings.

The Vancouver skyline taken from Stanley Park

The Lost Lagoon in Vancouver at sundown - not bad for a cell phone photo.

We spent the next day in North Vancouver visiting the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park and Grouse Mountain, and would recommend both places.  Capilano had the 450-foot-long suspension bridge crosses a gorge 230 feet above the river bed below.  We also braved the Cliffwalk and did the Treetops Adventure, a path from tree to tree on wooden walkways high above the ground.  

Our selfie on the suspension bridge.

This is the Cliffwalk - a narrow walkway curving out over the riverbed below.

One more selfie on the chair lift.

We took the local bus up to Grouse Mountain, the “Peak of Vancouver.”   We rode the Sky Ride to the main activity center and watched a very entertaining lumberjack show.  Then we boarded the ski lift to the peak, where the views of Vancouver and all the surrounding area were magnificent. 

The lumberjack show was very entertaining.

This was also where we finally saw grizzly bears, but in captivity instead of the wild.  Still, they are incredible animals.  

We finished the day by taking the bus back down the mountain, followed by SeaBus, a 400-passenger ferry across the Burrard Inlet back to downtown Vancouver.  

On our last day, we walked from the hotel through town and got on the water taxi to Granville Island, a tourist hot spot that has a large public market, lots of gift shops, street performers, theaters, restaurants, and the Granville Island Brewery.  Worth the trip.   

The Tasting Map lets you sample 9 of the Granville Island Brewery  beers - so we did.

We took the bus back to downtown, arriving about the same time the US women were starting the World Cup championship game with 4 quick goals.   We ate dinner in the plaza next to the Convention Centre, where the Olympic Cauldron from the 2010 Olympics is located.  They had the cauldron lit for the World Cup final, and a huge media platform with a giant screen TV for the broadcast was set up in the plaza.  We watched the post-game interviews and festivities from an outdoor restaurant, where hundreds of US fans draped in American flags and Stars & Stripes apparel gathered to celebrate.  It was a fun way to conclude our trip.

This giant screen TV and studio area for Fox Sports were set up in the plaza next to the Convention Center.  

The Boss suggested I use more and larger pictures in these blogs, which I have tried to do.  I would appreciate your comments and feedback.   Next up for Esther and Tom – our 25^th anniversary trip in late August to Tahiti and Bora Bora, with a Paul Gaugin cruise and a few nights in an overwater bungalow!!  Stay tuned.