Victoria, BC

It was a real treat to be able to visit Victoria, BC Canada on this cruise.  When we went to Alaska in October the Canadian borders were not allowing in visitors.  We were lucky enough to cruise again so soon that we could once again get into Victoria.  It was 12 years ago that Kenyon and I visited during or very first cruise…Alaska.

 

Much like Ketchikan, the plan was to set out on foot exploring with a few planned stops.  The first item on the list was getting a Canada Starbucks mug for my collection.

 

Once we had that we were on the hunt for Diet Dr. Pepper for Kenyon.  That proved to be a much harder task but eventually we found some.  With a happy Kenyon in toe, we continued to the Bon Macaron Patisserie for some fresh made macrons.  It was so hard to pick one or two flavors that I settled for a 12-variety pack.  I had no idea there were both sweet and savory macrons.  Each one was delicious.

 

Next stop was The Sticky Wicket Bar & Restaurant for a local pint.  I had hoped to get a beer flight, but they didn’t have flights.  I wished I had stopped at another brewery as we spotted several in town.  Next time for sure.

 

We walked by the Parliament Building were we saw some deer on the lawn and then down by the waterfront in front of the historic Empress Hotel.  We spotted the water taxi which I had planned to take to Fisherman’s Warf if we ended up not taking the hop on/hop off bus.  The water taxi was so fun.

 

I couldn’t wait to visit Fisherman’s Warf, a community of float houses.  Wouldn’t it be amazing to live in one of these houses?  Post-COVID, they no longer allow you to walk in/around the homes which is a bummer as I’d love to get up close.  Don’t worry, I wouldn’t peek in windows…although tempting.

 

We were able to enjoy a special treat when we walked to the end of the dock and found some of our cruise passengers, I’d met a dinner the night before feeling the harbor seals.  We were chatting with the fisherman that dock there and said the seals have been coming around for years.  It ended up there were three of them.  What a neat experience.

 

We had some time to kill and had hoped to see some float planes take off/land so I grabbed another local beer at Pirate Pizza where we could sit out on the patio and people watch.  We had THE BEST weather and even got sunburned!

 

After spending enough time people watching, we hailed the water taxi back to the other side of the water and continued on foot to Old Spaghetti Factory.  We don’t have one in Boise anymore and enjoy having a bite to eat when we find one.  This particular establishment was not the same as the others we have come to know and love.  Don’t worry, I still got my spumoni ice cream!

 

We made the long trek back to the ship ending our day with 7.5 miles walked.  Victoria is a very large city and we only saw a fraction of it.  I would love to go back as there is just so much to do and see.  We were also lucky to have all day in port.  When we were at dinner, two Carnival ships pulled into dock around 8pm and stayed until midnight.  I would have been so bummed to be there for only a few hours and in the dark and cold.  We really did get the best experience.

 

If you’d like to read about our other adventures:

Read about NCL Sun here ß

Read about Ketchikan, Alaska here ß

Canada Ports Of Call: Halifax & St. John's Bay

You can read about our adventures in NYC here ß

And about our time aboard the Norwegian Gem here ß

Our first two ports of call were both in Canada:  Halifax & St. John’s Bay.

We booked a hop on/hop off bus in Halifax thinking it would be an easy way to tour the city as we didn’t have anything particular we wanted to see.  I had read in our NCL Freestyle Daily that Halifax was known for their breweries.  Sign me up! 

At every port, my first stop was coffee.  I was dying for a good iced coffee the entire trip (and only in a few ports did I spot a Starbucks).  We boarded the pink double decker bus and our tour guide pointed us in the direction of some coffee saying if we didn’t catch that bus, there would be another within 15-minutes behind us.  She would have been a really fun tour guide so I am sad we ended up missing that bus.  She gave me a recommendation of a nearby brewery close to the ship that I planned to hit up before we left.

The double decker busses were the old English style and didn’t have open tops so it you couldn’t see everything but sitting up top was still fun.  We rode the bus until we got to the highest point of Halifax, the Citadel.  Kenyon suggested getting off there because 1) it was all downhill and 2) we wouldn’t have to waste time riding the bus back up if we did want to stop later.  So, we toured the Citadel.  It was basically this old military bunker and they had actors playing out the changing of the guard.  It was really cool.  We also looked around the gift shop and military museum.

 

We boarded the bus again and rode it most of the way back down the hill before deciding to get out and walk.  We had heard on the bus tour about the big explosion many years ago, which happed at 9:04 am.  There is a church with the clock that always shows 9:04 am.   

We stumbled across some food shacks, one of which, Cows, was rumored to have the best ice cream in all of Canada.  And it was really good!  We also tried a Doner, which is apparently a popular Canada food.  It is basically a gyro but is made with a special sauce known in Canada.  It was tasty.

We made our way back towards the ship and stopped to rest in the hammock along the pier.  Then, we stopped into Garrison Brewing for a beer sampling (for me, Kenyon doesn’t drink).

Our second Canada port of call was St. John’s Bay.  We had decided to book the trolly ‘round St. John’s tour instead of the hop on/hop off bus tour.  This was fun in that the trolley was cute but not so fun as it was really hard to see anything out of the trolley windows. And, the seats were pretty uncomfortable after a while.  This tour was designed to give you a tour of the city and then drop you off in the town square, which was about a 5-10 minute walk back to the shop.

The town is known for a local artist that made these amazing wooden sculptures that were all over town.  The tour guide said he died recently but his family makes sure they are kept up.  They were amazing.

 

I made sure to stop into Tim Horton, a popular Canada coffee shop, where I had some very yummy iced coffee.  It was nice to get out and stretch our legs but we didn’t stay in town for long. 

Up next, back in the USA…

Countdown To Vacation

44 days until vacation!!

I am so excited for our upcoming New York City & New England Cruise vacation (and slightly stressed about the money since I’ve not saved as well as I had planned many months ago).  I am so burnt out on work that you will most likely see a countdown periodically.  This will be the longest vacation Kenyon I have had in over a year.  We were supposed to be going on this vacation last September but had to delay due to building/closing on our new home.  So, I am well over do!

We will spend a few days in New York City before we board the Norwegian Gem for a seven day cruise.

 

Ports of call include:

Halfax, Nova Scotia – Canada

 

St. John’s Bay of Funday, New Brunswick – Canada

 

Bar Harbor, Maine – USA

 

Portland, Maine – USA

 

We will also have two at-sea days, day one of our cruise and day seven of our cruise.  Normally, I am not a fan of at-sea days and can often get bored feeling stuck on a cruise ship.  However, in this case, I am looking forward to downtime and time away from electronics, WiFi, and cell data.  Some of our best vacations have been when we are in the middle of nowhere with no cell service. 

I’ve been doing some trip research and Kenyon and I still need to decide if we want to do any formal excursions.  I’d love to hear any advice you have for New York City and/or cruising.  Or, if you write a blog and have some posts I can read.  I love reading about other people’s vacations and travel tips.

Let the countdown begin!

Our Cruising Experiences: Alaska, Bahamas, and Hawaii (Soon To Be New England Coast And Eurpoe)

Three years ago was our Hawaiian Vacation and since we are experience freezing temps and a brutal winter, it make me wish I was on vacation in a warmer climate.  I read over my Hawaiian blog posts and instead of sharing just those again (I shared them last year) I thought I would share with you the three cruises we have been on.  I’m anxious for our fourth cruise in September 2017 and our first River Cruise in September 2018.

All three cruises (and our fourth booked cruise) have been with Norwegian Cruise Lines.  I have only been on Norwegian but Kenyon has sailed on Carnival too.  What we love most about Norwegian is their Freestyle Cruising philosophy in that you can eat when you want and wherever you want.  Unlike other cruise lines, Norwegian isn’t an all-inclusive cruise.  There is at least two sit down restaurants and one buffet included in the cost of your cruise and also room service.  If you want to dine at some of the other restaurants there is a specialty fee associated with it.  This doesn’t bother Kenyon and I one bit and we often make do with the free food offered just fine.

2010: Our first cruise was 7-days to Alaska, including the Inside Passage and Glacier Bay.  We sailed in/out of Seattle, WA with Ports of Call: Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, and Victoria, BC.  We booked an inside cabin due to the enormous cost of upgrading to a balcony and I do think this was the best idea.  We didn’t have to worry about the daylight/sleeping issues and when we wanted to watch the scenery we just found a place on the community deck somewhere along the ship.  Sadly, Kenyon was sick on day two and pretty much miserable the entire cruise/vacation.  I wasn’t sure if I would ever cruise again but decided to give it another go.  I’m glad I did as I love cruising.

Read about or adventures by clicking here <-

Alaska was the best cruise with the easiest ports to get around at.  You pretty much could walk off the ship and either be right in town or for just a little farther walk you could get wherever you needed to go.  We booked an excursion to Zipline that did require a van ride.  Other than that we either just walked around the port and/or paid four our own tours.  I did a lot of trip research and made some calls so it all worked out okay.  I had THE BEST homemade black bean veggie burger at a bar off the side of a hotel in Victoria, BC and I am dying to get back there and have another.

2012: Our second cruise was to warmer climate and included an upgrade to a balcony room.  We sailed for 4-days in/out of Miami, FL to the Bahamas.  Ports of Call: Freeport, Nassau, and Great Stirrup Cay (the NCL private island).

Read about or adventures by clicking here <-

We booked a fantastic excursion kayaking down a river in a National Park in Freeport.  There wasn’t anything to do off the port in Freeport so you did need to book something for entertainment.  In Nassau we decided to just get off the ship and walk around.  There is plenty to do but it is very crowded and the locals try desperately to get to you take public transportation (included horse drawn carriages).  We booked an excursion to swim with the sting rays at NCL’s private island but the recent events of Hurricane Sandy had made them all escape and they didn’t come back.  I was sad we had to miss out but we were able to spot some fish while we snorkeled.

2014: Our third cruise was a 7-day cruise in/out of Oahu, HI to all of the Hawaiian Islands.  Ports of Call: Maui (overnight), Kona, Hilo, Kauai (overnight).  We booked a balcony upgrade and I highly recommend spending the extra money to do so.  1) It is warm and 2) It is fantastic sitting out on the balcony on the overnight stops where you can just watch the scenery and the people out in the water near the port.  It was a great investment. 

Read about or adventures by clicking here <-

The one thing I didn’t like about Hawaii that I did about Alaska is that there just isn’t much to explore right off the ship.  The small areas like Hilo and Kona had stuff right there but you really do have to book an excursion.  We booked our excursions with an outside company called Roberts Hawaii that had a guarantee they would get you to the ship on time or they would refund your cost of the cruise.  It also turns out that Roberts Hawaii runs the transportation for the NCL booked excursions so we ended up saving a boatload of money.  You never know if you should take a risk on an outside company but if you do, you will save money.  Just don’t miss the boat!

Our fourth cruise will be in September 2017 for 7-days in/out of New York City, NY and down the New England coast.  We had to re-book from September 2016 and push it out a year with our new house purchase.  So, I’m even more excited.  We are planning a few days ahead of time in NYC and I had wanted to end the cruise with a few days in Boston.  But, I don’t think we will try all that.  The cost starts to add up really fast.

Oh vacation…why do you have to be so fun and yet so far away??

My First Cruise - Alaska

My first cruising experience was to Alaska.  We chose Norwegian Cruise Lines for their “freestyle cursing.”  This means you don’t have a specific meal time where you eat with total strangers and no formal nights.  We really enjoy NCL and used them for our cruise to The Bahamas last year.  We are also scheduled to cruise with NCL in Hawaii in 2014.

Our cruise left from Seattle with port of call in Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, and Victoria, B.C.  We also cruised the Inside Passage and Glacier Bay.  The scenery in Alaska is beautiful.  We did not book a balcony due to the extra cost but there are many public areas to watch the scenery go by.  I even caught a few whale water puffs in the distance.  It was June and still quite cold on the ship and more so when the wind blew along the outside decks.  Poor Kenyon came down with the cold I had the week prior to our vacation and was very sick starting on day 2 of our cruise.  He was still a good sport considering he didn’t feel 100% himself.

Our ship for the week was The Pearl. 

 

 

Eager to get off the ship!

 

It has been so long now I can’t remember what deck we were even on.  With this being my first cruise I was highly impressed with the service we received.  Our room steward and stewardess worked hard cleaning our rooms and making sure we had what we needed.  They even knew our names by the end of the cruise.  One of the best parts of having your room taken care of what coming home in the evening to find the cute towel animals waiting.  We learned after a few days that you need to have the evening turndown service in order to get the animals.  We thought we were being nice in not having them clean our room twice.  Once we figured that out, we let them clean our room twice.

A mouse

A sanke

A bunny

An important thing to remember when cruising is….

Since Kenyon wasn't feeling well, I went by myself to a few of the entertainment-show options on the ship.  There was a very funny comedian/juggling act that had you laughing the entire time.  NCL ships are also known for their Jersey Boys type show.  We did not attend it on either of our two cruises but I do hear it Is an impressive show.

We cruised through the Inside Passage as we made our way to Juneau.  NCL brought a local park ranger on the ship to explain over the intercom the sights, animals, and facts about the Inside Passage.  Since it is a long way from Seattle to Juneau we were on our ship for one full day and then until 2pm the following afternoon.  I learned quickly I am not a girl that likes to be on the ship.  I prefer a stop at a port every day.  Perhaps if Kenyon was feeling better I would have enjoyed time on the ship more.  However, I was really looking forward to getting off the ship and walking around. 

All of the ports on our cruise were easy to walk to from the ship.  I had done plenty of research beforehand; however, I was pleasantly surprised to see that we could walk into each town very easily.  The part of Juneau we stopped on was quite small.  You could see a bridge that took you to another side of the island but that would have required a mode of transportation.  In Juneau we had booked an excursion through NCL to ride The Mount Roberts Tramway and get an eye view of the city. 

 

 

Here is our ship from the top of the tramway

Our next stop was Skagway.  This is the smallest town I have ever seen.  You could walk to the very end of town and still see our ship!  Kenyon and I booked the zipline excursion.  I have never been on a zipline before and had lots of fun.  I only wished it was a longer “ride.”  Our guide group was made up of several men who come to Alaska for the summer to work.  There was like 13 people all living in the same house!  They were really funny though.  This was also the first group excursion where we were able to visit with other cruise passengers.  We met another newlywed couple who were on their honeymoon from New York.  We ate fish and chips at the Alaskan Ale Brewing Company.

 

We then cruised in and around Glacier Bay.  NCL has two different types of Alaska itinerates, one with Glacier Bay and one with Tracy Arms.  I am not sure of the difference but based on other recommendations we chose Glacier Bay.  No words can describe the feeling of standing on the ship deck looking at this massive glacier.  The ship pulled up into this alcove and turned off the engine.  We just sat there in silence taking in this massive sight in the crisp afternoon air.  I think the whole trip was worth just that sight.

 

Ketchikan was our next port of call.  Much like the other towns we visited, this was small as well.  The popular excursion is the Lumber Jack Show.  Since that show, nor anything else interested us, we just walked around the town.  Ketchikan is known for its totem poles, which you can find all over town.

 

Sporting my Alaska hat

 

Our final stop was Victoria, B.C.  It is tough to say but I do think this was my favorite stop.  I would love to visit Seattle again and take the Victoria Clipper for another day trip.  I had THE BEST veggie burger at this pub we found while walking around town.  I am dying to go back and find that place again!  Victoria is quite large.  We decided to set out on foot and explore.  I had wanted to visit Craigdarroch Castle and had called them prior to ask about tours.  It turns out if you make your way to the castle they will let you join a tour group for a reduced fee.  I don’t think either of us realized just how far of a walk it would be to reach the castle.  It felt like we were never going to find it.  But low and behold, Kenyon’s wonderful navigation skills got us there.  I really enjoyed this beautiful old castle.

 

 

My good friend Jacquie lives in Canada.  I had to make sure I snapped a photo to prove I was in her country.

 

When we exited the ship we were met with various volunteers with the tourist organization all dressed in costume.  It was also surprisingly easy to get back onto the ship after visiting a different country.  We didn’t even need to show proof of our passport!

 

Our seven day cruise had come to an end and we arrived back in Seattle.  This was my second visit to Seattle and I really enjoy this quaint town.  We arrived at port at 7am and were off the ship by 9am.  Note to future travelers: There is NOTHING to do in Seattle on Sunday morning that early!  We were able to explore my favorite market.  We spotted an Old Spaghetti Factory so we just waited around until it opened and enjoyed some lasagna.  We caught our flight home later that day.