Well- it was beautiful and warm on the first day in Vancouver. Vancouver and Seattle are the Northern routes jump off cities and Vancouver is beautiful. We visited Stanley Park (a must) and enjoyed the international feeling of this very tepid (weather wise year round) city for two days and nights. Then we boarded the Princess Ship for the north bound route along the inside passage to Alaska- thank goodness I don’t always follow the advice of my husband. I was glad I had all that warm gear- it was the rainiest and coldest summer Alaska had in 20 years.  But, as you can see from the photos- still amazing scenery to be had and the sun was out for out visit to the glaciers. We took a train up through White Horse Pass out of Skagway and went far into the Yukon for the day. There were the majestic mountains with snow, a dessert (go figure- must have had a spell of global warming 2mil years ago) large uninhabited blue green lakes, and we spotted eagles and a few black bears.  The day at the Hubbard Glacier the sun came out for about two hours- the water and glacier and ice that falls off and floats is actually blue green from all the sediment and the way the light reflects of it ( you geo and physiology types can look up the scientific explanation- for me- it was just pretty cool colors). The glacier is also always moving and making large sounds. We were lucky enough to see a “shooter” – which is a large boulder of ice that shoots up from underneath the water ( the glaciers are 300 feet below the water level also ) and when that happened I understood why the ships stay a mile away- that could have done Titanic  damage to the ship.  In Juneau we went whale watching one day in small rubber crafts ( do take the 40’ below parkas they offer you- don’t tough it out like the Travelprof. did) and those guides know exactly where the pods are for great viewing. You feel as if you can reach out and touch the whales. They seem to perform for you- breaching up and diving under. We also walked next to the glacier and viewed it from the bay – very close and up personal. They only thing I wanted to do but could not because of the rain and fog was the helicopter ride where you land on the glacier and can see the crevasse ( break’s in the ice). One glacier we saw was actually growing while one glacier in  the area was shrinking- jury still out on the global warming theory for me. All in all a great trip and I can’t wait to go back and get to Denali Park and try to see Mt. McKinley and more time in Anchorage.

(I think) something along the Pilates meets aerial yoga meets boot camp. They also have spinning classes, Pilates, yoga and an uninterrupted jogging track on a lower promenade deck- no more dodging sunbathers or lounges on upper levels tracks (or walking 50x’s around for one mile). They also moved the space from the top of the ships to the 5^th floor ( great idea because you get more ship motion the higher up and it was often a  challenge for me when the ship is rocking and I am on the treadmill- good for balance though if you can hang on).  They also changed the Life Boat Drill- very high tech- no mustering to stations outside and hanging around in bulky life preservers in the 90” heat but now sitting in an air conditioned lounge watching on large screen TV’s (we heard the Chairman of Royal Caribbean hated the Life Boat drills bit we also heard that it was lost revenue when you had to close the bars for an hour- may be a little of both) but it sure was nice.  Will write more when I get home.

Just dropping a line before getting packed to help the Travel Professor broadcast his radio show live from the Largest Ship in the world. Five times bigger than the Titanic! A merry-go-round, a zip line, and aqua theater, a moving bar that travels through five cities. Even though the Travel Prof and I disagree on bigger is better (him-typical male) even I am excited to see this ship, the just delivered “Oasis of the Seas”, Royal Caribbean’s new baby. We get on board her Friday and leave Sunday and by the looks of her I don’t think two days will be enough to experience all this ship holds. She has two flow riders ( I will try to get the Travel Prof to try it– and pictures for a laugh since he has never been near a surf board), a H20 kids water park ( thus the H20 label- duh) separate from the adult pools ( did I mention multiple pools and one with the gradual walk in for us who like to take the small steps into the water vs. the jump right in folks)  a sports pool for water aerobics and lap swimming,  something like 14 hot tubs/ whirl pools, and live trees open to the sky in Central Park-one of the five cities built on this ship. I am definitely a Spa girl and can’t wait to see how they topped themselves this time. There are five different venues for entertainment (don’t see much sleep coming this trip) and multiple special venues for dining (obviously not the time to start the pre- holidays diet).  The Travel Prof will interview many people around the ship- hopefully the Captain who has to be a proud papa, bar staff, entertainment staff and fellow passengers. I will be writing more from the ship as the day unfolds and I take time pause and reflect (code for have a cocktail or glass of wine and people watch) and will definitely answer the questions next week

“Is bigger really better?” And “Is this ship even to big for the Travel Professor?” and finally “Are the small ships I love going to be forgotten as I am enticed and wowed by the glamour and excitement of the new Baby Huey, Royal Caribbean ‘Oasis of the Seas’.”