By this Author: sdonnelly519

Just finished loading some great shots from our trip - check out the Photo Gallery...

Final installment to come.

Cheers,
Tom & Susan

We're home! Tom and I arrived back in NH at around noon - our flight was delayed due to some storms on the east coast. We arrived at Logan around 2:00 a.m. and had to wait for the 7:00 a.m. shuttle to NH to pick up our car. It's good to be home.

I hadn't shared this earlier but on one of our nights at sea - our new friends talked me into entering a Karaoke contest - aside from being crowned "Princess Popstar," a prize was going to be awarded to the winner. I had no idea what the prize was going to be but thought "What the hell - I'll never see these people again in my life!" We all went and I sang and was selected to return for the "Finals" on the last night of the cruise. On the night of the finals there were 7 performers - each table in the lounge got to cast one vote for the performer they thought was deserving of the title (and the fabulous prize). It was a packed house - the performers sang and votes were collected -

Friends and Family, I'm so excited to tell you that I was crowned "Princess Popstar!" You can still address me though as Susan. The fabulous prize, while nice wasn't really "FABULOUS." I was thinking I'd be awarded an upgrade or onboard credit on a future cruise - it was a bottle of Champagne and a Princess water bottle! We cracked open the champagne, laughed and toasted to new friends made on the trip!

For Tom and I - this was the trip of a lifetime! A dream that was born a very long time ago that finally became a reality. We seriosuly - had the time of our lives!

I thought I'd share a couple of closing insights with you -

On this trip, we learned:

• That we're generally "wrapped around the axle" most of the time - (We were only able to see that once we had a chance to decompress.)

• We don't laugh as much as we used to - )laughter is good for your spirit!)

• Life is too short to focus on things you have no control over. (Choosing to find peace and happiness in any circumstance - is best.)

• We packed WAY MORE than we were ever going to wear - (What were we thinking?)

• We ate and drank too much - without regret!

We'll be posting the last of our best pictures over the next couple of days - be sure to visit the photo gallery!

Cheers!
Susan & Tom

We left Ketchickan (the Salmon capitol of the world) last night and will be at sea all day today headed for Vancouver - these are the final hours of our vacation. Yesterday was our final port visit. We didn't see much of Ketchikan since we headed out on a Fjord tour - A Fjord is a narrow water inlet formed by glaciers - the waterway we were in was surrounded by cliffs, a couple of thousand feet high! It was a gorgeous day - the best I would say of the whole trip - bright sun, dry, about 70 degrees. we'll upload pictures soon!

The last few days have really been all about shopping - I have been surprised that many things, like clothes, souveniers are very reasonably priced...other things - like grocery items - not so much.

In "vacation land" you can do whatever you want - Eat, Drink and be Merry! In the "real" world this doesn't translate - whatever you eat and drink - definitely ends up on your thighs! Both Tom and I will be returning home with extra baggage! We'll have a lot of work to do in that area when we get home...

Look for a final blog post and more pics over the next couple of days!

Cheers,
Tom & Susan

A sign of a really good vacation is that you may lose track of which day or time it is - I have! I did not bring a watch, my stateroom has no alarm clokck and my cell phone has been shut off for days. The time is reflected on this compurter - which belongs to the Mayor and the phone in our room - but other than that - I would have no idea, unless I ask someone! It was tough in the first few days of vacation not to be fully connected...but I could get used to being "unplugged."

Yesterday - we were in Skagway for the day day. Such a cute town. The population is 968 generally but doubles in the summer months for tourist season. We arrived on a rare sunny day. It had apparently rained for three-weeks straight before our arrival. We luched at Skagway brewery and later had a dring at the Red Onion Saloon...which used to be a brothel in the Gold Rush days -

This morning we woke up in Juneau - no special excursions planned - just chillin!

Because we are farther south (than Kenai), we are now experiencing regular sunrises and sunsets - all is right with the world...

Skagway photos are loaded as well as a couple of sunrise shots from Juneau. Be sure to check them out.

ciao!
Tom & Susan

This morning we entered Glacier Bay National Park - I imagine that if God were to take up residence in a single location, it would likely be Alaska. I'm entirely blown away by the landscape here - truly heaven on earth. I hope all of you add it to your bucket lists! Aside from the Glaciers, Tom and I have seen Humpback whales, seals and eagles. Our new friends, who have suites, are on either side of the ship...we've been meeting in Carolyn & The Mayor's suite when the glaciers are on the left side of the ship and we jump over to Sabina and Mattias' suite when the glaciers are on the right side of the ship. Tom and I are learning a new card game that Sabina brought with her from Germany - it's called "Wizard." It's lots of fun, and we're a pretty competitive group. The goal is to beat Sabina!

The cruise is going well - I still don't know my way around and am overwelmed by the number of people on board but am having a great time. To all of those people who said "Don't worry, you will never know the ship is moving." I say, "You are all out of your mind!" Two evenings in a row we experienced 15 foot high waves, enough to roll you over in bed while you're sleeping. I wasn't worried about motion sickness but took precautions just in case...I wore accupressure bands on my wrists and took 4 Ginger capsules...Ginger is apparently the most effective remedy (if you're taking advice from total strangers who've cruised extensively). I overheard a conversation at a store on-board - she knew first hand but had also seen an episode on myth-busters where this was a proven fact. That was good enough for me. We'll be in the inner-passage for a couple of days and will be proctected from rough water - yay!

A word of caution to anyone cruising for the first time - don't drink alcohol in rough seas!

Tom and I have laughed more in two weeks than we have all year - life is good!

Tomorrow - we'll be in Skagway for the day. More to come. We're adding pictures every day - be sure to check out the photo library!

Cheers!
Susan