Alaska Cruise Day 8 – Back in Vancouver
June 24, 2007
Today was day 8 and the final day of our Alaskan cruise. The Celebrity Mercury docked back in Vancouver this morning about 7:00 am to conclude our wonderful Alaskan cruise family reunion.
After a quick breakfast in our cabin, we headed to our disembarkation station. We were scheduled for an 8:45 am disembarkation. We arrived there about 8:30 and our group was able to leave the ship about 8:40 am. As with the embarkation, the disembarkation process went super smoothly. Our luggage was waiting for us onshore segmented with the rest of our group. A bit to our surprise, our luggage, 7 pieces, was all together. It only took us about 2 minutes to get it together and head off to customs. Another 5 minutes and we were through customs and the cruise was officially over.
We had made plans to spend the day in Vancouver and to fly out the next day. We made plans to rent a car and this is where things went a bit down hill. I went over to the National Car Rental to pick up our vehicle. I was second in line behind a group of Hawaiians. Unfortunately, this National location doesn’t have an Emerald Aisle so I had to wait… and wait… and wait… The group from Hawaii was getting four cars, but was completely clueless about car rental. They had reservations but kept changing their minds on what they wanted and how long for each vehicle. It took the agent 30 minutes to get them their vehicles. The folks that had lined up behind me were getting pretty mad. I wasn’t too upset since it was still better than being at work. 
Once I got to the counter, gave the guy my Emerald club card, I was done in 2 minutes and off to get our vehicle.
Our first plan was to drive around Vancouver for a bit and make our way over to the Telerus Science Place – bad mistake. Vancouver is a big town with small roads and tons of cars. It was post rush hour, but the traffic was incredible. The cars were bumper to bumper every where and all roads seemed to be under construction. Vancouver will be hosting the Winter Olympics in a few years and construction is rampant. I suspect getting around town will be a nightmare until after that.
Finally, we got to the Science Place and spent about four hours there. The kids really loved that place. They had tons of exhibits set up for the kids to learn about science and have fun doing so. Our kids didn’t want to leave once we decided it was time. While there, we also saw a Omni Max movie about the history of the cowboy. It was interesting and the Omni Max theater was impressive as always.
It was mid afternoon, about 3:00, and we decided to call it a day and head to the hotel which was near the airport. The kids wanted to do some swimming plus we were hoping to turn in early since we had an early flight out the next morning. After checking in at the hotel, I decided to return the car and just take a hotel shuttle in the morning. Savannah accompanied me to the car rental place at the airport. We had a some nice father/daughter time to reminisce about the cruise. It took us about 45 minutes to get back to hotel.
Suzanne took the kids swimming at the hotel. I planned to take a shower to save time in the morning, but laid down on the bed while the kids changed and I was out. I didn’t wake up until they returned from swimming – guess I needed the power nap.
Our hotel was in Richmond which is really Chinatown for Vancouver. Everything around us was Chinese including all the signs. Some signs were in both Chinese and English. We figured we might as well get Chinese food for dinner, though Savannah and I were really looking forward to some fish and chips. We ate a local Chinese place and had a good meal.
Back in the room, we watched a quick movie, Blades of Glory. it was ridiculous, but a good laugh. We turned in about 9:30 with a 4 am wake up call in the morning. We dutifully made it to the airport two hours before our flight.
The flight to Dallas left pretty much on time and was uneventful. Suzanne and the kids stayed in Dallas while I continued on home to Tucson. Suzanne’s family lives in Dallas and we made plans for her and the kids to spend a week there with them after the cruise. She usually takes the kids and drives there in the summer for a week or two. I managed to get upgraded to First Class for my connection to Tucson. Once again, the flight was very uneventful and arrived on time.
After a brief 45 minute drive back to Sonoita, I was home. The dog went absolutely crazy upon seeing me. Only having tomorrow off before going back to work, I decided to get unpacked and the laundry done so I could enjoy the day. The vacation was over.
Tomorrow, a wrap up of the Alaskan cruise vacation…
Alaskan Cruise Day 7 – At Sea
June 23, 2007
Today is the final day of the cruise. Luckily, it is a day at sea. As I have mentioned before, it is our favorite part of cruising. We enjoy the ports, but we really enjoy just being at sea, relaxing on the ship.
We once again were cruising the Inside Passage back to Vancouver. I spent a large amount of the day at various places on the ship just enjoying the tremendous beauty of the country side. Cruising this portion of the Inside Passage is more like taking a river boat cruise. You are literally that close to shore. A lot of this shoreline has been mostly untouched by man too. It’s beauty cannot be expressed in words. Hopefully, when we upload some pictures, it will be somewhat evident though I doubt they will really do it justice either.
Fourteen years ago, when we cruised to Alaska, I don’t remember spending this much time just enjoying the landscape as we sailed by it. It probably had something to do with being younger and also being on our honeymoon doing anything and everything we could on the ship. This time, I really made a point to just sit back, relax and enjoy the views. It was easily my favorite thing we did on this cruise.
In the afternoon, the kids had their talent show. Savannah did her song and dance routine to “These Boots Were Made For Walking” that she will be performing at the Showstopper National Dance Finals next month. Sean performed his brand new clogging routine to a George Strait song. This was the first time he had done the number in public. Both performances went over very well.
Suzanne and I also got a wonderful tour of the galley as part of a special event for Celebrity Captain’s Club Select members. It lasted about 45 minutes and was very informative. It was very interesting to see where and how the food was prepared. The galley was absolutely spotless and you could have eaten off anything down there. The food and beverage manager gave us the tour and provided some nice insight into it’s operation.
We enjoyed one final meal with our family reunion group. Everyone was said to see the cruise drawing to an end, but we had a nice time reminiscing about the cruise. It’s been fourteen years since we have gone on an 8 day / 7 night cruise. We usually try to do at least 11 nights and this was just a reminder why. These week long cruises are just too short. It almost seems like you just unpacked and you are once again packing. When possible, we will continue to opt for the longer cruises. They don’t really cost any more money. Our 16 day Hawaii cruise a year and a half ago cost the same as this 8 day Alaska cruise.
The evening meant one final performance by the Celebrity Singers and Dancers. This show was a tribute to Broadway and was very nicely performed. The kids have really gotten where they like these productions shows and insist on coming to them. They like to go meet the performers after the show and get some pictures with them.
After the show, there was supposed to be an adult talent show. However, Suzanne was the only person on the ship that signed up for it, so it was canceled. This seemed very odd as every other cruise that we have been on, the passenger talent show was heavily attended and might have as many as two dozen performers. I think this talent show may also have been a casualty of the short cruise duration. It was schedule for 10:30 pm at night. That seems way too late. All the cruises have had them in the afternoon. With a short cruise, they seemed to be trying to squeeze a lot of stuff into a short period of time. Another example was the Captain’s Club Officer’s Cocktail party for Select and Elite members. That cocktail party was held at 10:15 in the morning. Seems like a strange time for cocktails. The other cruises have had them in the evening or late afternoon.
Since the talent show was canceled, the ship’s party band, Headlines, asked Suzanne to sing a few songs with them. This was a Filipino band and they had heard Suzanne sing at the Catholic Mass on board and also at Karaoke. She sang two songs with them that went over very well with the crowd.
We let the kids attend the final night slumber party with the kids club. The event went until 1:00 am, but we just told them we would pick them up when we were ready for bed. We expected to turn in somewhat early since we would be leaving the ship around 8:30 in the morning. Turns out we didn’t pick them up until around 12:30 am. We enjoyed some time with the band and then spent a bit of time out on our balcony enjoying the nice night and the Inside Passage sights.
As I mentioned, we will leave the ship around 8:30 tomorrow and will be spending the day in Vancouver. We don’t fly out until the next day. So, tomorrow, I will post about our day in Vancouver and the trip home. I will follow that the next day with a final cruise vacation roundup.
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