Cruises

[|www.perx.com]
 * Cruise websites:**

[|www.vacationstogo.com] -click on INTERLINE DISCOUNTS, you will have to register with an email address but no cost; you will have to fax your badge over when booking but should be able to book up to 6 people with the same discount!


 * Roger Martenson - June 2012:**

Just got back from a 7 day cruise to Alaska. Went to perx.com and got a great deal for $299.00. It was an inside cabin but who cares, only slept in there and the darkness made it easy to sleep. Went on the Princess Diamond and it was a very nice ship with a great mix of young, medium and old ages. Food was good and lots of things to do, movies during the day and outside during the evening and live shows in the theater at night. Other activities like bingo and scavenger hunts for those interested. Really nice gym area and 6 pools.

Started by flying to Billingham, decided to go one day early and make sure we would make the cruise. Used Quick Shuttle from the airport to Vancouver, $32 one way to the hotel. We stayed at the downtown Holiday Inn, great spot right in downtown. Got it on Hotwire for $100. Vancouver is a great city, we walked around and went to Gastown and Granville Island. There was a great city wide Jazz festival with music everywhere.

Cruise left at 4:30 pm the next day. Very easy to get to from downtown, $10 dollar taxi ride. !st day was at sea. 2nd day we woke up in Ketchikan. Cute little village, lots of fun shopping and restaurants. We took a float plane trip to the Misty Fiords. It is pricey but I thought it was worth it. We got a deal from Southeast Aviation, $199 per person for a 2 hour flight. Didn't see a lot of wild life, we were about 3 weeks early for the salmon run, the pilot said where we landed you would see lots of bears then, they were so busy eating, the wouldn't even notice you.

3rd day we woke in Juneau, another neat town, lots to see walking around. We had booked a whale watch with 3 Eagle Charters. I would highly recommend using Tom Dawson. He was sightly cheaper than the others but only works when he wants to. He has a 40 foot yacht and he only takes up to 6 people if you have that many, otherwise it is a private trip for however many you have, there were 4 of us. I can't stress enough what a difference this made compared to the ship with 50 people on board that you would get if you booked throught the cruise line. Tom has lived there his whole life and was in the coast guard for years. He started by taking us to a place that with a whistle, he could call eagles out towards the boat. He threw some fish in the water and the eagles would come down and get them right next to us. Then we went out on the whale watch. We started by seeing quite a few humpbacks which was neat but I had seen them before. Then he got a call from a friend who had found a pod of Orcas cruising. We went to that area and it was the highlight of the trip. We saw at least 20 Killer whales with many swimming right along side the boat. One on the most amazing things I will ever see.

4th day was Skagway, another small town. We booked a hike and raft trip once we got into town. $99 for the 4 hour trip. Started with a drive to the trail head, there were 10 of us in the group. Medium challenge to the hike, tough at first and then leveled off. Very pretty area, amazing views. Raft trip was more of a float trip but for $99, it was well worth it.

5th day you are on the boat in Glacier National Park, lots of Humpbacks seen from the ship. Pretty amazing sights when the glaciers calve and huge pieces break off and fall into ocean. Got extremely lucky as there was a family of brown bears on a rock near the glacier, male, female and 3 cubs. Naturalist on board said she had never seen all together like that from the ship, it was a real treat. Get a spot in the buffet restaurant and just enjoy the views and food basically for the whole day.

6th day was College Fiord, it was pretty and had some glaciers but kind of a let down after the rest of the trip, did see a lot of sea otters though, that was cool.

Nest morning wake up in Whittier, not much there, had purchased a transfer through the cruise line to Anchorage. Would recommend this as they take you to their hospitality room in town where they will watch your luggage for the day while you explore the city. Then they have a free shuttle to the airport. There is a neat out door market 2 blocks away on weekends which was fun. Got to the airport for our return flight, there is nothing like being there at midnight and having it be daylight outside. We were not able to get on the frontier flight back at 10:30 pm but I had purchased zed fares on Alaska Airlines, $50, and they have flights every half hour starting at 12:30 am to Seatle and then you can take frontier back from there, that was no problem at all for us.

There is no way to describe the beauty of Alaska, even the pictures we took were no comparison. I would recommend this trip to anyone, it is the only way to see this much of the state. Again, I would book all my excursions myself, it is cheaper and much more personalized if you take the time to research and plan it. Roger M.

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