Hello!
Long time no write.
Things in my personal life have been pretty topsy turvy, but I'm happy to say I recently returned from quite an epic trip that included some time in Vancouver, BC, a gorgeous cruise to Alaska, and adventures on Salt Spring Island.
For the sake of length, this post will be covering our cruise experience in general. Each port stop, Vancouver, and Salt Spring Island will have their own posts.
Why a cruise?
My longtime travel partner in crime Jennifer and I knew we wanted to take a trip but also knew we had limited time and did not want to break the bank. I never saw myself as a cruise person and wasn't sure if I'd enjoy being on a floating resort for a week, but the timing, cost, and destination were all very appealing to me... so we booked!
We sailed with Royal Caribbean on the Brilliance of the Seas on a 7-night cruise stopping at Sitka, Juneau and Haines, Alaska. Thanks to a sale, we also booked a balcony room without spending a ton.
However, I remained skeptical. Would I have a good time? Would I feel trapped on the boat? Would I get bored? It always seemed like cruise amenities weren't really up my alley. I'm not a poolside kind of gal, having an unlimited drink package did not appeal to me, and I am very much used to fast-paced trips, running around seeing all the things.
Spoiler alert: I had a really, really great time.
Embarkation Day
We paid extra for The Key Program, which made our embarkation day a little bit more pleasant. We arrived at the port early because we weren't sure how crowded check-in would be, or if we would encounter any delays. Check-in was kind of like an airport but on a larger scale - it was basically in a giant warehouse-type space. But because we had arrived so early, we moved through check-in and customs very quickly and effortlessly.
Before we knew it, we were walking onto the ship!
Rooms were not ready yet, but we had Key Program plans anyway - a special lunch in the main dining room.
Essentially, the main dining room is included with your cruise if you choose to dine there. However, there are specialty dining locations on board that are not included and are an additional cost. The special part about this lunch was that the menu was from one of the specialty dining locations, even though it took place in the main dining room.
We were able to drop off our carry-on bags near the host booth and were seated at a window table. It was actually a really lovely lunch, not just on its own but also because we were able to escape the crowds.
I ordered the mushroom soup, branzino and chocolate cake. It may not look like much but I actually really enjoyed this meal.
Once we were done with lunch, we continued exploring the ship to get ourselves oriented with our home for the next week. It's very easy to get lost, even on a "smaller" ship!
We had been waiting for the 'staterooms are ready' announcement but it never came, or maybe we just didn't hear it when we were outside soaking in the potential last bit of sunshine. Either way, we asked and to our surprise, rooms were ready!
Obviously we knew we had booked a balcony room, but I'm not sure we were ready for how spacious and wonderful the room actually was! We loved our balcony and felt so comfortable in our room, not cramped at all. We unpacked and headed back up to the deck for a spa raffle and for the sail away party.
We came back to get dressed for dinner and continue settling in. Since we had started sailing, we were able to start enjoying our balcony. Even the endless horizon was absolutely beautiful.
Keep in mind, although I'd done two short cruises before, this cruise way of life was still very new to me and all of these experiences were new. Jennifer was really guiding me and helping us make good choices that made our experience fairly smooth and enjoyable. This included our first dinner.
We chose to do "My Time Dining," meaning we chose what nights we wanted to eat in the main dining room and were not confined to dining there every night with the same table at the same time. We chose to have dinner on the ship on sailing days, so embarkation day was our first time dining in the main dining room.
If you've been on a cruise before, you know you can basically order whatever you want! It's already included in your package, so if you wanted you could literally order one of everything.
Jennifer and I had both seen complaints about the "food not being very good" on this particular ship and I strongly disagree. I don't recall any meal being less than enjoyable or not having a great selection of options.
Please note we also did not add any drink packages (alcoholic or non-alcoholic).
After dinner we were full, happy and excited to begin our adventure.
First Sailing Day
I think this day was when I really began to understand cruising, and people who enjoy taking many cruises.
We filled out our complimentary room service breakfast door hanger and marked what time we wanted it to be delivered. I believe we chose a fairly early time and wanted to see how things went, as this would affect our plans during port days (like if it's slow, it might make us late, etc.).
Well, the opposite happened. We got a call before 6AM, and we were both jolted awake by the room phone ringing. While Jennifer hung up and mumbled to me "that was room service," my eyes widened because I rolled over and realized how gorgeous the views were outside. I very enthusiastically told her to LOOK! LOOK OUTSIDE! before I fell back asleep... only to be woken up again when room service arrived.
This was our only issue on our cruise - breakfast room service never really got it right and we struggled being woken up very early or having our food brought late. However, the cruise line accepted our complaint and worked hard to make it up to us.
Regardless of the issues, it was so lovely to be able to have breakfast on our balcony!
One way that we were able to keep track of activities and happenings on board was through the Royal Caribbean app. It recorded all of our reservations and had a full schedule, map, and other information we might need. Prior to embarkation, we reviewed the schedule and marked what we were interested in doing. This included activities Disney trivia, so we did that in the afternoon.
It seemed like there was always something to do, besides eating or sitting by the pool. I was pleasantly surprised! We even took advantage of the complimentary sauna and steam room - it seemed like not many people knew about it so it was almost always empty when we went. On our first sailing day, we spent some time in the gym, then the steam room and sauna, before heading back to our room to freshen up before formal night.
Our first sailing day truly put me at ease and dissolved any reservations I had about sailing days. I was relaxed, enjoyed the boat's amenities, and truly started to understand and enjoy cruising.
We had fun dressing up for formal night and definitely took advantage of our balcony for photos!
Port Days
I knew I wanted to make the best of our port days - I wanted to leave the ship as soon as possible, and come back as late as possible. Visiting Alaska has literally been a life-long dream of mine, so I knew I had to spend as much time on land as possible.
One unexpected perk of having a balcony: we could step out and see what the temperature was like, so we could dress accordingly.
Our first port day was surprisingly easy. Our port time was later so we had time for a buffet breakfast before heading down to the gangway. We got there before the ramps were down, but there were only maybe 5 people with us. I was surprised, but this is when I learned that many cruisers don't necessarily prioritize port days.
In general, things were easy to figure out at ports. I had never been to any of these cities but there were plenty of signs, helpful staff, and general structure to make things easy for arriving cruisers.
My advice to anyone on a port day is to pay attention to time and make sure you plan appropriately as to not miss your ship departure. Better safe than sorry!
Final Sailing Days
After our 3 exciting port days, we had 2 full sailing days before disembarkation day. I was massively looking forward to more relaxation, a spa treatment, and further enjoying our balcony, especially while sailing through a fjord.
Unfortunately I caught a bit of a cold in Skagway/Hains, but it didn't stop me from enjoying breakfast on our balcony in 40° weather.
From 6AM-10AM we sailed through Tracy Arm Fjord, and it was stunning. The weather was actually a bit harsh, but thankfully we were shielded from the wind and rain in our balcony. In fact, if we hadn't put on the deck channel on our stateroom tv, we wouldn't have even realized how bad the rain was since it was such a clear view for us.
Before you scroll down to the gorgeous photos I took from our balcony, I just want to reiterate again - this is not necessarily normal weather for Alaska! Just because you have a balcony room does not mean you will have visibility; weather in Alaska is often unpredictable.
In addition to my cold, I ate something at lunch that did not sit well with me and made me extremely nauseous for the rest of the day. And to top it all off? The ship started rocking so badly we literally had to hold onto the walls when we were walking through the ship. While I do not experience seasickness, the rocking exacerbated my existing nausea and made for a very unfortunate afternoon. No, my lunch did not stay down.
Dinner was also a slight disaster for me. I powered through some of the meal because I could not miss out on lobster or baked Alaska. The good news though, is that I started feeling better after dinner, while we watched the on-board broadway-style musical show.
Thankfully, I was feeling much better on our final full day of the cruise. We went to the sauna and steam room one last time before our spa treatments. I had booked a seaweed wrap and massage prior to our cruise, but please note you can also book while you are on the cruise. They often have deals and offers available once the ship embarks.
After my massage, I fought my compulsion to "do all the things," as I like to say. I realized that cruising really is for relaxation, and it's more than okay to take it easy. I took a nap, went and grabbed some snacks at the buffet to enjoy on our balcony, and when I returned to the room I was greeted by some beautiful sights.
It was such a lovely, relaxing day. Our final dinner in the main dining room was also bittersweet - the meal was great but we were sad to say goodbye to the incredible staff, as well as our vacation.
Disembarkation Day
I was so very sad to leave the ship on disembarkation day, but all good things must come to an end.
They took our luggage the night before, and we had the foresight to bring carry-on bags specifically for this situation. We had to be out of our staterooms by 8AM, so we made sure to give ourselves plenty of time to get ready and say goodbye to our wonderful balcony.
Remember the Key Program? Well it gave us another perk for disembarkation day: we got to have a special sit-down breakfast in the main dining room. The buffet was open but it was nice to have a full service meal in a quieter, less crowded place.
Once we were done with breakfast, we said our final goodbyes to the ship and were back on land in Vancouver. Our luggage was already ashore, in the same place where we checked in on embarkation day.
Final thoughts
Overall, I really did enjoy the cruise. I truly did not think cruising was for me, but I was proven wrong by this one. While cruising to places like Mexico or the Caribbean might not be for me, I am definitely part of the Alaska cruise crowd. Beautiful sights, good food, comfortable rooms and great amenities made this vacation a truly wonderful, memorable trip.
Until next time,
Happy wandering!
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