My husband and I had always talked about going on a cruise, but had never gone on one before. So, as our wedding present, his mom treated us to a cruise to anywhere we wanted to go. We decided to go to Alaska - we both love the great outdoors, and we liked the idea that a ship could take us to places that we might not otherwise see if we travelled by land.

Our ship departed from Seattle. We got there early, dropped off our bags and walked around the piers for a bit. I tried to get a picture of the entire ship, but it was just too big! Once we were allowed to embark, we threw our bags in our room and explored the ship. I couldn’t believe how huge it was. There were two main swimming pools, about 8 hot tubs and 13 different places to go to eat. They had a movie theater, gym, video arcade, library, casino and spa. We even found a giant chess set while wandering around.

The first day on the ship was completely at sea – we had a long way to go to get to Alaska. It was a nice, relaxing day. We planned our excursions for our four ports of call (Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Prince Rupert) and played a group trivia game at the pub. Most of the day was just eating and getting used to navigating around the ship. I can’t say that I ever learned what the front and the back of the ship are called, but I definitely knew where to go to get french fries!

Ketchikan was our first stop. It was rainy and pretty windy that day (they get an average over 150 inches of rain a year!), and our planned excursion to go on a boat to the Misty Fjords was cancelled. Not to be dismayed, we found another tour company and signed up for a group tour of the city. It was interesting to hear the history of Ketchikan as we drove around – we also heard stories behind some of the totem poles in town, and we got to see a bear feasting on spawning salmon.

The second stop was in Juneau, the capital of Alaska. We took a bus to the Mendenhall Glacier and hiked around. It’s hard to describe a glacier – they’re absolutely monstrous in size. It really took my breath away to see it. The color is stunning, too - an intense aquamarine that practically glows with a light of its own. It was a bit rainy that day, but the weather was perfect – the stormy clouds reflected beautifully on the water.

The third day was a long one – after we arrived in Skagway, we went on an 8-hour excursion, which included a train ride to the Klondike. The train followed the same path that miners took during the Alaskan Gold Rush. During the ride, we heard stories of the hardships that people endured to search for gold. Miners weren’t allowed into Canada until they brought a ton of supplies by weight, which took many about 50 trips back and forth across dangerous mountains to get to the Canadian border. Once we made it to the Yukon, we went to a museum where they had an actual woolly mammoth! They found it near the area, preserved in ice.

Our fourth and final stop was in Prince Rupert, an absolutely charming Canadian town near the border of Alaska. We went whale watching there and had amazingly good luck. We got to see three breaches by humpback whales – they jumped into the air and splashed back down on the water. We also saw lots of spraying water from the whales coming up for air.

Our final day at sea happened to also be my birthday. We went martini tasting together to celebrate, and tasted five different types of martinis. My favorite was the coffeetini, but they were all delicious.

It was sad to say goodbye to the ship when we arrived back at Seattle. It was an amazing trip, and we got some wonderful photos of the fun time we had together. I can’t wait to go on my next cruise… and make another Picaboo book!