Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

When we set out on this adventure we already had 12 states under our belt from our unexpected road trip home from Florida. It was going to be relatively easy to get the remaining 36 continental states, it was Hawaii and Alaska that were going to be the tricky ones. We flew to Hawaii for a week in February and now we are crossing Alaska off the list with a ten day cruise in and out of Seattle up the south coast and inside passage.

We managed to keep this a surprise from the kids for quite a while, finally spilling the beans in Colorado. The kids have been counting down to this ever since. And so have Jacob and I. This will be like an actual vacation for us inside this extended trip, which is something I could really use at this point. I love traveling and I’ve loved this time together but I’m tired. Moving every few days, constantly packing and living out of a suitcase, navigating a new place all while working and schooling and parenting is tough. Ten days of someone else cooking and cleaning and entertaining sounds ideal.

We had a beautify afternoon to set sail from Seattle. Sun was shining, it was warm, we were the first cruise of the season so we could get right in to our cabin and everything was ready to go. The kids got their first of MANY ice creams almost immediately upon boarding and we settled in on the deck in the sunshine. The kids secured their first round of free clothing in the intro dance off and we were on our way to Alaska.

Jacob and I got our first taste of freedom when we dropped the kids off at kids club that evening. They absolutely loved splash academy and spent every minute it was open and available there. They did arts and crafts, played games and had gaming tournaments.

Our first day was a day at sea where we collected the kids from splash academy for meal times and generally had a relaxing day on the boat. We bought ourselves an unlimited Starbucks package of which we definitely got our moneys worth. Starting our day with Earl the barista was the highlight of the cruise. We also had a little girl celebrate her champagne birthday on board!

Our ports of call were Sitka, Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait, Ketchikan and Victoria BC. We made it off the boat for all but Ketchikan where we only had a few hours early in the morning and it didn’t seem worth the stress of getting into town and back to the boat in time. Sitka ended up being my favourite port. It felt more like a real town and less like a place that existed solely for the boat to have a place to stop. We also had gorgeous weather while we were there and got to go on a beautiful walk through the forest finding totem poles. The town itself wasn’t much but we had a beautiful day wandering through nature.

The rest of the ports all kind of blended together after that. We weren’t there to buy hundreds of dollars worth of junk like the rest of the passengers, nor did I see any reason to pay for food off the boat, especially not when I understand that the seafood is inflated for the captive market. Juneau was the most significant port, but since we weren’t doing excursions there didn’t seem to be a whole lot happening. And I mostly just felt bad for the residents that they had so many people descending on their town. Juneau, despite being the capital of Alaska, had some real “I’ve seen better days” vibes. I did manage to get some cute forget-me-not earrings though – the official flower of Alaska.

Skagway was cute. It was the gateway to the gold rush. It was easy to imagine the town at the height of the rush. It gave off some real White Fang feelings. It was unfortunately quite rainy while we were there so we just did a quick up and down of the main strip.

Icy strait was super weird. I’m pretty sure it’s own by the cruise companies and is set up just to sell the cruisers more junk. I will say it was super pretty but they had these guided boardwalk paths running right through peoples front yards. We got to watch whales playing in the harbour, both on the walk and from our cabin windows so that was pretty magical. The kids also found a sea cucumber that they were pretty stoked about.

The highlight of the cruise though was glacier bay. We spent a whole day cruising through the national park and it was spectacular. We had an absolutely perfect day for wandering around outside on the boat watching the glaciers. We saw sea lions and mountain goats and otters playing around the shop when we stopped to admire the glaciers. The colours were phenomenal. We even got to see a few of the glaciers calving. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Jacob and I spent the better part of an hour just staring at the glaciers, mountains and water. The day ended with orcas playing in the water outside the windows as we ate dinner.

Victoria BC was probably my favourite of the ports. We only had an evening in the city but it was so nice to hear back in Canada. We have been in the states since the end of December and it was just time for a break. The cruise was a really concentrated dose of some pretty strong American personalities and it felt time to get back to some civility. Victoria is just a spectacular place. It feels like Charlottetown and Ottawa combined into one. We had a really lovely evening wandering around and a great beer at Earls.

All in all we had a relaxing time on the cruise. It was really nice to unpack my suitcase (first time since we left home). Sleep in one place for ten nights and have someone else take care of most of the work. I wouldn’t say that cruise life is really for me – the people were a lot, the boat felt pretty tiny by the end, and I have no interest in being shuttled from one place to the next and calling it traveling but it was a nice break for this trip and Alaska was beautiful.