BVOML, Day 5

This day on the cruise was another day at sea. However, we cruised by Hubbard Glacier, and our captain got us up super close to the glacier. On the way, we picked up 2 park rangers so they could be out on the bow of the ship with us as we got close. Bryce and I stayed out there for hours, and it was so worth it to see the glacier up close and personal. While we were there, the coolest thing happened...a part of the ice chunk came off the ice that had gathered in front of the glacier. The park ranger estimated that the ice was at least 3 years old. No worries, folks, it's not ice melting on the actual glacier! The pictures don't do justice for how beautiful it was there. And the closer we got, we realized there were sea otters (or seals?) lying on the floating ice chunks. Super cute! The glacier was one of my top highlights from the trip. Alaska is seriously beautiful and amazing. Everyone needs to go and experience it at least once in their lives!

BVOFML, Day 4

Day 3 on the cruise was our first excursion day! We boarded in Juneau, Alaska, around noon and we had 9 hours at the port. We bought an excursion to the all you can eat Salmon Bake. We took a bus to get to it, and the driver took us around Juneau, pointing out things about the city. It was a beautiful, but cold, rainy day. There are so many trees in Alaska! The Salmon Bake was yummy. My faves were the glaze on the salmon-I could have drank it by the bucket full, and the corn bread. Yummy!! After we stuffed ourselves silly with salmon, we went on a walk up the trail, and found a gorgeous little waterfall, with fish everywhere in the water! Beautiful beyond words...

After the salmon bake, we decided to take the tram up the mountain in Juneau, where there were shops, hiking trails, a local family playing in a band, and a bald eagle that I fell in love with. Bryce and I went on a little hike-I didn't wear the right shoes for a wet rainy day, so we didn't go far, but oh man, the further we hiked, the more beautiful the scenery got! That night, we ate in Juneau, did a little bit of shopping and then got back on the ship. Such a fun day in Juneau!

View from the tram ride up the mountain, that is our cruise ship! Notice how foggy it was...so cold!

The port of Juneau

The tram we took. Loved it!

Noticed this on our hike. Bryce knew what it was, he knows his flowers!

Loving the hike!

Look at that beautiful waterfall! PS, I love how Bryce is holding the umbrella, it makes it look like it's an old man cane!

Seriously, breathtaking. I wanted to stay here all day!

I couldn't get enough of this bald eagle. It was so cool to see one up close!

Some of the nature we saw on our hike. You can't tell how hard it was raining here, but it was a downpour!

BVOFML, Day 3

The second day on the cruise was a day at sea, meaning we didn't have any ports to get off for excursions. I took full advantage of having a day off from "life" and slept for most of it, best day ever! I think we may have rent a movie in there somewhere. That night was our first formal dinner. It was kind of fun getting all dressed up, I haven't done that for a long while! Can I just say that the dinners were SO good on the cruise? It was always a 4 course meal, with several options for each course, each night. It was like eating at a fancy restaurant, 7 days in a row!
That night we were able to go to the entertainment show, which consisted of Broadway songs....loved it!

One of my most favorite parts of the cruise was the towel animals they would leave on your bed every night while you were at dinner. I always got excited to see which animal they created that night!

Best Vacation of My Life So Far, Day 2

Day 2 of the trip consisted of sleeping in, taking a taxi to the ship (and can I just say I was shocked by how big the cruise ship was?! I've never seen one up close and personal...took me a bit to get used to the sheer size of it!), and checking in to the ship, which was a lot like checking in for a flight at the airport-lots of lines, and security, and more lines. Once we checked in, Bryce and I immediately went to check out our room. It was small, but cozy. The ship wasn't taking off for a few hours, so went to get food and then he took me on a tour of the cruise line. He had gone with Holland America before, so was familiar with the set up. I was very confused and very overwhelmed by where things were, the ship was literally its own city, and it took me a few days to figure out where things were! That night, we had our first dinner in the dining hall, and I instantly loved our waiters. So cute! Chad and Becky went on the cruise to celebrate their anniversary, so the workers sang to them and gave them a cake. We wanted to go to the show that was playing that night on the ship, but dinner took too long, so we ended up just walking around some more on the ship, and then got a movie from the ship movie store...you could rent any of the ones they had for free-we took full advantage of that! It was a very relaxing, fun day boarding the ship!

The vanity where I got ready every day. So small!

Our room! It was tiny, but comfy!

The very small bathroom!

Bryce and I on the first dinner in the dining room

Chad and Becky after being sung to for their anniversary

Aren't they so cute?!