Alaska Cruise 2023

We got up at 2:30 am and Shannon drove us to the airport. 

Our flight left at 5:30 am to SeaTac.

Here is Mt. Saint Helens.

Of course, it's a beautiful day in the state of Washington.

We arranged for transfer service to Pier 91. This is the Princess ship that was also headed to Alaska.

It's a breathtaking day here in Seattle. I can't believe we lived here for 34 years. 

Sometimes I wonder how I ever wanted to leave. 

The embarkation onto the ship was slick and quick. We are on the Holland America cruiseline. 

We headed for the buffet for lunch. They had scoop ice cream everyday and it was delicious.

Fred got sprinkles and I sent this picture to Shannon to show M 

who loves sprinkles more than her Mom.

As we left the pier, this is the beautiful landscape that we saw. If only the sky could be clear and sunny most of the year instead of gray.

Seattle skyline.

 Our first port was Juneau. We have been to the Mendenhall Glacier before.

I didn't remember the waterfall. It is very powerful.

Here's Fred.

Look at this old retired couple.

Part of the excursion was a salmon bake. It was so delicious. I could have eaten a lot more, but it was the beginning of the cruise and I didn't want to go crazy.

The area that the salmon bake took place was really beautifully done. 

I took this picture of Fred at the Salmon Hatchery and sent it to the kids. It's a Daly thing.

This was us headed back to the ship.

The next port was Skitka. It was raining when we left to load the bus. The weather did improve a bit.

I loved these big leaves. This was in the Sitka National Historical Park. 

The highlight of the cruise was meeting Fred Bettes and his family.

We actually first met him at the buffet and asked if we could share his table. 

His wife Debbie and their daughter Amy joined us at the table.

As we introduced ourselves, it was a fun moment when we realized we had two Fred's.

These two had a lot in common. 

1. Same name

2. Both engineers by trade

3. Both born in December

4. Both collect ball caps on their travels.

5. Both are Mr Fix It

Another interesting fact, was Fred had been at the pickleball how to meeting

and we had been at a table right next to theirs one evening in the dining room.

Once we got acquainted that day, we met up for a couple of shows, shared two evenings in the restaurant and met up to play Five Crowns.

In Ketchikan we finally had decent weather. 

We had tickets for the Lumberjack Show. It was fantastic and so much fun!!

It was another beautiful day when we pulled back to port.

We had to scramble a bit to figure out what to do all day. We got off the ship around 9:30 and our fight was not until 8pm. First we tried to rent a car so we could drive to Bremerton or just sightsee. Cars were so expensive. We went back to the airport and rented a locker for our luggage. We took the Light Rail to Pioneer Square. 

We found a Mod Pizza for lunch and then just walked across the street and found a table. 

We simply sat and enjoyed the weather.

We headed back to the airport. Checked in and waited for our flight.

Shannon picked us up. 

It was a good time. We don't need to go back to