The Cruise

We were on the boat from June 26th to July 3rd. Our boat was called the Noordam. We arrived and explored the boat before eating a second lunch. Next, we unpacked our luggage and made ourselves at home. We had a fancy dinner at an on-board restaurant called Canaletto. It is an Italian restaurant. We fed off the delicious food and desert before going to the bow of the boat, which was too windy, so we played a game of basketball and were so full and tired we nearly fell asleep then!! The next day I was delighted to find the pool on the Lido Deck, or floor 9. On the Lido, there is a Sea View Pool, at the stern, along with two hot tubs, a Lido Pool indoors-ish with an open-or-closed ceiling with three hot tubs, and an adult Hydro Pool. The Lido Market is in between the pools. It is the main food place unless you go to a fancy one. On Tuesday we did a photo safari and on Wednesday we did a sled dog summer camp (more on these excursions below). On Thursday, we went to the Pinnacle Grill which was the fanciest because it had show-off plates and eating ones, and most of all, a glass staircase! A highlight of room service is that the people make towel animals. All the staff says “Good morning! How are you?” or whatever time of day it is. On Saturday, my new friend from the pool, Caitlyn, and I went to the Dining Room together for the last day. She and I ran on the decks, shared dessert, and had so much fun we army crawled to my room. The next day, we got off the Noordam and got on The Bravest to see some glaciers close-up. We even got to see whales’ breach!!! After the boat, we went to the Hilton Garden Inn in Anchorage to settle in until Kenai Fjords!

Excursion: Ketchikan Photo Safari

For an excursion, my family decided to go on a Photo Safari! We went over to a man holding a 'Photo Safari' sign. He said his name was Ben, and we are going to a few different places to learn about the art of photography. With our group, we got into a van and drove for a minute to Creek Street, a little town over a creek in Ketchikan, Alaska. There, Ben showed us how to take macro shots. Macro is a close-up photo. “There is one important rule of photography, decide what you want and don’t want in the photo. If you can remember it, you will be a Master of It!” he told us. Near Creek Street, there is a little park called Whale Park - It is shaped like a whale. Trees are not hard to master. My first one was so good, Ben had everyone look at it! Then we went farther down the creek, where there is a rusty boat, more creek, and wonderful scenery. Ben helped us look for patterns in the photos, and talked about the “Golden Rule”. Also, it is good to not mix scenery and architecture, but it is your choice. Next was a dock with a lot of boats. I also got to touch a jelly fish. Lastly, we went to a state park called Totem Bight, Ben taught us how to take photos of totem poles, and he let us have a sort of free-for-all. There were model Native homes, and the maintenance guy had on a wolf soundtrack. Ben told us the Tlingit story about Raven and Fog Woman. We shared our photos and had cookies! It was great!!!

Excursion: Dog Sled Summer Camp

Our last excursion on the cruise!! My new friend Adelaide and I went on this one together. We got into a van and went to the dog summer camp. We spent the time talking about odd things and how we hoped there are puppies. For a good half hour, we listened to Barbara share stories and talk about mushing. Soon we were in a dog cart and held up because Pinky chewed her harness and Inky is hopping around. Soon, Barbara said, “Let’s go, team!” And we were off!! The dogs pulled us to the first rest stop where Adelaide and I watched the dogs yip around, and with a “Let’s go, team!” we were off again. The dogs pulled us through a forest-type place. Barbara was talking but Adelaide and I were too far up to hear it. The dogs liked the comfort of the trees and so it felt like we would fall off the road. There was a puddle that looked like it would splash, but honestly, nope! At the turn around spot, we started to go in the circle, but if felt like we would ram into the bushes. We didn’t, though. We followed the same path back. I was surprised at how well the dogs behaved! Next, we saw the puppies: Bacon, Grits, and Biscuit. We saw Bacon and Grits, but not Biscuit, and boy are they cuddly!! Only too soon did we need to go back to the van, but oh, it was fun!