Renew Your Mind

Day 10:

We packed our luggage the previous night and left it outside our staterooms where they vanished into thin air. I enjoyed my last breakfast on the ship although I couldn’t’ eat much as I’m sure I’d eaten enough food in 1 week to last me a month. We then headed down to the cinema on the third deck and waited until our number was called. Our papers said we should be called at 9:40am but we didn’t get called until 10:00am. We then disembarked and searched through several rows of luggage until we found our own. We took a van back to the airport which was more expensive than the limo we took from the airport to the hotel, but we were able to use up the rest of our Canadian money. My wife and I managed to get seats in the exit row on the flight back and arrived home just before dinner. I should have taken an extra day off to recuperate, but didn’t want to take another unpaid day off. The trip was over and I had plenty of pictures of this memorable experience. I can’t wait for the next vacation.

Day 9:

The ride back to Vancouver from Sitka wasn’t a great way to end the cruise. It was nice that we gained an hour when we changed timezones but heading south we lost an hour so we tried to make the best of our remaining time on the ship. Unfortunately, the sea did not want to cooperate. Up until the very last day the boat did not sway much at all. A few hours after leaving Sitka the ship began to rock really badly. I think half the people on the ship got sick through the night and the next day until the ship reached the inside passage at about 3:00pm. I couldn’t tell why since the sea looked the same and it was still sunny and clear. I wondered if it was because the ship was racing back to Vancouver at full speed. I wasn’t bothered to much because I took Dramamine but my wife’s dad and sister ended up sleeping most of the day because they were seasick. Throughout the cruise my wife and I tried our luck at Bingo. We were unsuccessful and were disappointed when we didn’t win the jackpot. Two people ended up sharing the jackpot in the end and they went home with about a grand each. At least it was more fun that the trivia games the Celebrity Staff had. Most of the trivia whether it be movies, sports, actors, music, or television were way before our time. All in all it was a very enjoyable cruise. We probably won’t be going to Alaska again anytime soon (we’ll wait until we fit the typical age range) but I wouldn’t hesitate to take Celebrity again when I decide to cruise again.

Day 8:

The weather in Sitka was also sunny and clear. This was the only port where we had to tender (meaning the boat anchored and we took a smaller boat to shore). Since we didn’t have any excursions planned, we took our time and left the ship around 9:45am. The boat arrived at 8:00am so we tried to wait for the rush to end. I don’t think it helped much because the boat was pretty packed. The seats were not made for taller people as I couldn’t sit straight otherwise my knees would be in my chest. The ride to shore was about 10 minutes. We sat in the lower deck on our way to Sitka and on top on the way back so we could enjoy the scenery and so I could take some unobstructed pictures of the surroundings and of the Infinity. Sitka is a very small town and there isn’t a whole lot of shopping to be had like there was in Juneau and Ketichikan. Luckily for us, we weren’t planning on buying much else. The only thing we ended up buying was some locally made fudge and it was quite good. We took a tour of the town on our own and eventually paid 10 dollars to take a van to the Raptor Center. I wasn’t sure if it was walkable but after taking the van I was glad we didn’t walk. The raptor center was smaller than I expected but the staff there was friendly. It cost $12 a person so it wasn’t cheap for it was but I think it is for a good cause. We probably spent 45 minutes there and saw everything there was to see. We were given the full tour by the staff and were introduced to each of the birds they currently housed. The had several bald eagles, a falcon, some owls and various other birds. We also took a short hike down a trail at the back of the center. There were signs to warn us about bears, and my wife got a bit freaked. I kept trying to convince her to keep going but she eventually put her foot down. Luckily for me, another (older) couple was taking the same hike and I told my wife that if a bear came I’m sure we could outrun the older couple so she gave in. At the end of the trail was a river where we saw lots of salmon. Unfortunately, we also saw a lot of dead salmon on the sides of the river and it smelled really, really bad. When the van came back to pick us up, we asked to be dropped off at the National Park where we saw some totem poles and did some more hiking. We didn’t see anything particularly interesting but it’s always nice to enjoy nature and some peace and quiet. We then walked back to the dock and took the tender back to enjoy what was left of our vacation. That was Sitka in a nutshell. Not particularly exciting. That evening was our last formal night and I had the Lobster. There was also the Grand Buffet at Midnight which was not to be missed. It is an amazing display of culinary art that I was able to photograph and later enjoy. Well actually, I just took pictures… I was too full from dinner to eat more food. Imagine that.