Alaska Cruise: Inside Passage and Juneau

Last week, Joe, Maxwell, and I got back from an amazing vacation.  We went on an Alaska cruise with Royal Caribbean.  It was 7 night cruise that stopped in Juneau, AK, Skagway, AK, Tracy Arm Fjord, AK, and Victoria, BC.  Since we (mostly Joe) took a ton of pictures and I love a lot of them, I'm going to do a few posts.

I was a little nervous taking Max on such a long cruise especially since he was right at the minimum age, 6 months, but he did so great! Joe and I really enjoyed having him along.  He was known on a first name basis by many of the staff and other passengers. It made the vacation even more special being able to bond with him and treat him as an only child for a week.

This cruise was really all about the scenery and it didn't disappoint. Even leaving the port in Seattle (practically in our neighborhood) left us with breathtaking views.  On the above photo, we live in the middle of the peninsula to the left of the parked cruise ship, behind the sailboats.

 

I still can't believe this is where we live, it's seriously so beautiful!

Another cruise ship, the Space Needle and Downtown Seattle.

Mt. Rainier 

Multiple times a day we heard,  "a trip of a lifetime and he'll never remember it!" True, but we didn't plan this trip for him. It was for us and we'll always remember taking Max to Alaska.

We'll remember how we requested multiple rolls at lunch and dinnertime to keep him entertained.

How mini golfing on a windy cruise ship with a sleeping baby strapped to you does not exactly set you up for success.

How formal dinners seemed a little silly with a baby in tow.

And, how he smiled every time we pointed a camera at him.

Cruising through the Alaska Inside Passage was just magical. Most mornings, Max would take a 2 hr nap in our room.  During that time, we would just enjoy the scenery from our balcony.  It was such a scenic, relaxing, and stress-free vacation.  I want to go back!

Joe took searching for wildlife quite seriously! HAHA

This trip was well deserved after the craziness of moving with a newborn and Joe starting a very demanding job.  It felt so great just to relax and enjoy together.

First stop: Juneau, AK

We took a bus to the Mendenhall Glacier, which was breathtaking.  On the bus ride, we saw several Bald Eagles sitting on light posts and in the grass on the side of the road.

A 45 minute walk brought us to the base of this huge, gushing waterfall, which was right next to the glacier.  It was quite a sight to see.

The coolest part of the glaciers is the color.  The ice from glaciers is bright blue because the dense ice of the glacier absorbs every other color of the spectrum except blue.  The pictures really don't show how vibrant the color is.

After working up an appetite at the glacier, we went to a Salmon Bake.  This food was SO good and the brown sugar glaze they put on the salmon was AMAZING.

The area around the Salmon Bake was very scenic and had a quick trail to this beautiful waterfall.  It was pretty loud and Max just kept starring at the rushing water.

A quick family picture in front our cruise ship after a fun day of exploring Juneau.  We didn't really get any pictures from walking around the city because it was super rainy, which really made the whole day more authentic.