Cruise questions

[Brandi]

We took a cruise and land tour to Alaska in 2005. If one only cruises, the other leg is a flight to or from the "lower 48." We did the cruise and land tour because we did want to see some of the interior of Alaska. I enjoyed the cruise part only because I took loads of pictures. If we were to go again, we'd just fly up and either rent an RV or rent a car and stay in hotels so we could see more of Alaska itself.

With regards to cabins, if one wants to take lots of pictures, avoid the balcony rooms. One might be tempted to stay on the balcony and miss everything on the other side of the ship. I spent most of each and every day on the 10th deck of the Vision of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) where I could easily move all around the ship to take pictures. Our cabin was about mid-ship but on the outside with a very nice window. Our other family members' cabins were in the bow and all they had were small portholes to look out. Ours was like a picture window by comparison.

Oh, and photos of Alaska:

Ride on the White Pass and Yukon train to the summit and back



See that itty-bitty bridge down in the lower center?



Oh, and just for Brandi....this lady was digging for a ground squirrel.

Wow, those are beautiful pictures! I love the bear pic! Thanks

 

[Brandi]

I am not sure if it is sad that you don't vacation or sad that you didn't even know so many people took vacations.

I vacation about twice a year, not counting mini trips, and take real big vacations about every third year. Taking the wife to Jamaica next summer for our 10 year and then the kids to Disney over Christmas 2017. If we ever do a cruise again it will be Alaska, but I think I would rather rent an RV up there and hit the road.

Yeah, it is pretty sad. I was pretty surprised reading the stories. As it stands now, every penny I have and most of what I have had in the last 10 years has gone to pay medical bills and I'm still behind on them. There won't be any vacations in my future but I guess you don't miss what you've never had so there's that.

Anywho, that's enough of that.

 

[TerryMiller]

Brandi,

Some more of the bear. At Denali, the bus drivers are all scientists of some kind, biologist or botanist or whatever, and can give pretty good descriptions of the habits and other traits of the wildlife and vegetation. He explained that the bears will expend about half of the caloric value of the ground squirrel in digging for them. This particular bear did get her "treat." These next pictures show her more "in the hole" to give you an idea of the depth she was going.

In addition, on the tour, the driver pointed out a hole in the side of a hill right next to the road and said that it had been a den for one to hibernate in for the previous winter. Denali can be either a blessing or a bummer. My sister and her husband didn't see any of the "main five species" of animals on their tour several years earlier, while all we didn't get to see was a wolf.

 

[NightShade]

Yeah, it is pretty sad. I was pretty surprised reading the stories. As it stands now, every penny I have and most of what I have had in the last 10 years has gone to pay medical bills and I'm still behind on them. There won't be any vacations in my future but I guess you don't miss what you've never had so there's that.

Anywho, that's enough of that.

Been there doing that and likely to add some more. Wife needs her back done and within a couple years my shoulder is gonna get it. Still try and save a little to visit her daughter when we can and one of her doctor's is in Wichita Falls so we go down the night before and make it a mini vacation outing type deal. As far as real vacation. . . you know the story as well as I.

 

[dennishoddy]

Great pics Terry Miller! We were going to be at Denali on a fly in and drive vacation last year, but Mom got sick with the cancer, and we had to cancel. Next year is when we will be there for sure. I love Alaska.

 

[nofearfactor]

Alot of good info here, spot on. I did a bunch of cruise line gigs when I was a young musician and it sucked as an employee but later with a couple of girlfriends and wives I actually got to take a few trips on them as a guest and always had a blast. Great food, shows, meeting new friends. Cruises are always more fun tho going with lots of other people to have fun with. My wife goes on vacation a few times a year plus tries try to squeeze in a cruise here and there, she is a cruise fanatic along with her usual companion her sister. The last one I went on was without the wife on a rock music cruise ship doing a business/fun trip with some new business buddies, another of our buddies was there doing DJ sets at the parties and it was pretty freaking cool. I prefer the Caribbean cruises and my wife likes them as well as the shorter Gulf cruises. We're planning a north Pacific, Alaska cruise next after my mom came back from one and had had a blast.

 

[TerryMiller]

Great pics Terry Miller! We were going to be at Denali on a fly in and drive vacation last year, but Mom got sick with the cancer, and we had to cancel. Next year is when we will be there for sure. I love Alaska.

Thanks, but most pictures that I take and show are simply nature in it's natural state. I tell a lot of folks that I'm like Ansel Adams' quote when he said, "Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter."

When we went in 2005, I stocked up on memory cards and rechargeable batteries because I knew I would take a lot of photos, so I advise that anyone going do the same. There were six of us on the cruise and land tour, with four taking photos. We all had a total of 5000 photos with me contributing the most with 4000 of my own.

We'd do as you are planning if we went again. As much as I'd like to go up seeing Canada as well, I'd not want to subject our RV to those kinds of miles on those kinds of roads.

 

[dennishoddy]

Wow, 4000 pics!
That's the beauty of digital cameras.

 

[Brandi]

Brandi,

Some more of the bear. At Denali, the bus drivers are all scientists of some kind, biologist or botanist or whatever, and can give pretty good descriptions of the habits and other traits of the wildlife and vegetation. He explained that the bears will expend about half of the caloric value of the ground squirrel in digging for them. This particular bear did get her "treat." These next pictures show her more "in the hole" to give you an idea of the depth she was going.

In addition, on the tour, the driver pointed out a hole in the side of a hill right next to the road and said that it had been a den for one to hibernate in for the previous winter. Denali can be either a blessing or a bummer. My sister and her husband didn't see any of the "main five species" of animals on their tour several years earlier, while all we didn't get to see was a wolf.

Those are fantastic pictures Terry, thanks for posting the bear pics, I really am bear crazy LOL.

 

[TerryMiller]

Those are fantastic pictures Terry, thanks for posting the bear pics, I really am bear crazy LOL.

Since you've admitted to being "bear crazy," I'll really throw you a curve ball.

As of 2005 when we took this cruise, I had been trying to get a picture of a bear in the wild since the late '70's with no luck. In Juneau, I came across one that I told the wife to take a picture of with me standing near the bear, and I stated, "This is likely to be as close to a bear as I get for a photo." Here is that result.