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“Boarding has now begun for all first class passengers heading to Seattle.” I looked again at my boarding pass which clearly still read, “Coach.” I honestly kept expecting to see it magically change to “First Class,” but alas, it never did. Oh well, a girl can dream. I’d never imagined myself taking a cruise, much less planning for one. Yet here I was, waiting for our group to be called to board the flight which will take us to Seattle. The past six weeks have been a blur. Between the researching, the Google-ing, booking excursions, buying two different “for Dummies” books and four cruising the Inside Passage books, and then reading said books, shopping…sigh. And that was on top of all of the preparing and stressing that went in to leaving our business and our two year old son for 8 days. Shockingly, I actually feel quite prepared, especially since I packed according to a really great list I found online…but I still don’t understand why we need a string of Christmas lights or a roll of duct tape. At our travel agents urging, we decided to fly into Seattle the day prior to our cruise, as we had never visited the city before. I was looking forward to strolling around Pike Market, window shopping downtown, finding a great local place to eat dinner…pretty much do anything and everything to distract me from my mounting anxiety of actually boarding the ship. Double checking for what must have been the hundredth time, I made sure my bottle of meclizine was safely inside my carry-on bag. Of course it was there, snuggled beside my candied ginger, my Noro virus-fighting hand sanitizer, and these cute little lollipops I found that advertise banishing morning sickness for pregnant women. Hey, I figured if they can tackle morning sickness, they can tackle the looming seasickness that I was positive was going to cripple me. Of course my husband thought this was all ridiculous and completely unnecessary, but inside I know I’ll delight in hearing his apology when he begs me for a cherry maternity sucker. We landed in Seattle right on time and quickly catch the shuttle to our hotel. After dropping our bags and getting checked in, it was off to explore Seattle. We spent a gloriously sunny day wandering Pike Market and doing all things tourists visiting Seattle do, but for dinner we wanted to try something more local. We asked the hotel for a suggestion and we were told very enthusiastically to eat at Elliott’s. I can say that Elliott’s was quite possibly one of the best meals we’ve ever enjoyed. Everything about that restaurant was outstanding. The only disappointment was having to push my plate of fresh salmon away because I just couldn’t eat any more. Riding quietly in the back of the cab next to the hunky hubster, I realized that the butterflies that were flying around weren’t due to eating entirely too much crab fondue, they were from excitement. This is really happening, ya‘ll!! Tomorrow is the big day. Tomorrow we are sailing to Alaska! I’M sailing to ALASKA!!! We plan to arrive at the port around 11 in the morning and I’m really looking forward to my first glimpse of the Diamond Princess. Will she look as enormous as I think she will? Am I still having my initial worries of boredom, of feeling trapped, of certain and crippling seasickness, of how in the world I’ll swim in freezing water after the ships hull bashes into an iceberg? Maybe a tiny bit. I mean, hey, it’s happened before. But honestly, I really am getting excited. I believe my anxiety has finally flown out the port hole. Who’d have thought? Tomorrow…we’re going on a cruise, baby! To be cont'd...

I literally saw every single hour pass on the hotel alarm clock display. I couldn’t sleep, I was too excited. Too nervous, too anxious, too ohmygoshthisisreallyhappening sort of excited. I finally couldn’t stand it any longer and decided to start getting ready about 6:00 am. Hey, a girl needs her time to get her face on. I have to confess that I changed my outfit twice and my shoes three times. I really wanted to look sophisticated and cruise-y, without looking like the scared-witless newbie that I was. And since we’re all such close friends here, and I feel that I can tell you anything, I may as well also confess that I brought an entire suitcase dedicated to shoes. Just my shoes. Scott’s shoes fit perfectly into his one suitcase, and I was quite proud of myself for condensing my packing list into just three suitcases and one carry-on. Honestly, Scott should be thanking me for making this small miracle happen instead of glowering at me while hauling everything downstairs to the cab. We arrived at the port of Seattle a few minutes before 11:00 am and finally got our first look at the Diamond Princess. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could have prepared me for the sheer size of this ship. My very first impression was, wow. She was so big and so white! Scott and I were excitedly jabbering to each other about which balcony we thought was ours while snapping as many pictures as we could. Even though it was a cloudy and gloomy morning in Seattle, this beautiful ship practically glistened. She was fairly new - only about two years old at the time - but to me, she looked perfect. I have to confess it was love at first sight and I‘m pretty confident that Scott was feeling the same arrow from the cruise cupid. Check in was quick and easy. Even though we had absolutely no idea what we were doing and where we were supposed to go, we were zoomed through all of the lines and agents and walked on board only about thirty minutes after stepping out of the cab. We walked on into the Grand Plaza…what a wow moment. We both just stood there with our mouths open. We could see up floor after floor of marble and steel railings and glass elevators and winding staircases. We kept saying to each other, “This is on a boat???” And yes I realize the correct term is ship, but hey…we’re new here. We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring every inch of the ship. She was just beautiful. I kept reminding myself that the little Texas town we lived in has a population of 3,400. Our entire town could fit onto this ship, with room to spare. Despite all of the traveling that we have been fortunate to do together, nothing prepared me for the wow factor this ship gave me. After completing the Muster drill, we decided to head all the way up to the Skywalkers Lounge for sail away. We found two seats right at the window at the area of the lounge that is cantilevered over the side of the ship. It felt as though we were suspended in mid-air…especially since the portion of the floor under my cute-shoe clad feet was see-thru down to the water below. We ordered our drinks and were chatting happily with each other when I noticed that the scenery below was moving. No…we’re the ones moving, not the buildings! I started excitedly babbling, “I can’t even feel it…I can’t even feel it!,” to Scott over and over. I even called my Dad from my cell phone and told him the same amazing phenomenon that I had discovered, “I can’t even feel it!!” We had the following itinerary ahead of us: Sat Jun 6 Seattle, WA 4:00pm Sun Jun 7 At Sea Mon Jun 8 Juneau, AK Noon 10:00pm Tue Jun 9 Skagway, AK 6:00am 8:00pm Wed Jun 10 Tracy Arm (Cruising) 8:00am 1:00pm Thu Jun 11 Ketchikan, AK 6:00am 12:30pm Fri Jun 12 Victoria, Canada 7:00pm 11:59pm Sat Jun 13 Seattle, WA 7:00am In Juneau we planned to catch the bus to Mendenhall Glacier and wander around the town. For Skagway we have a car reserved with Avis and plan to drive the Yukon Highway into Canada and up to Emerald Lake. In Ketchikan we we’re booked with Southeast Sea Kayaks for a sea kayaking excursion. Victoria’s plan was an evening haunted history tour of the entire city. Sitting in the Skywalker Lounge I kept marveling at the lack of movement I felt. I felt so cruise-y and non-newbie. Why on earth was I so nervous about getting seasick? Pft...amateur. I had nothing to worry about. But just to be safe I had a maternity sucker tucked into the pocket of my linen jacket. And a spare meclizine pill. And a few pieces of ginger candy. But I had nothing to worry about. To be cont'd...

It hit me this morning that our cruise was more than halfway over. This amazing and wonderful surprise of a vacation has gone from something that I was almost dreading to begin, to something that I most certainly dread being over. While it was obvious that I had come to love cruising accidentally, it was with total certainty that I knew I would do this again as soon as was possible. It wasn’t just the amazing Alaska scenery that had wiggled its way into my vacation-loving heart; it was also the actual cruising experience. I simply loved being on the ship. I loved knowing that I was surrounded by the ocean that I adore. I knew we had some long-term plans that would keep us from cruising again in the next couple of summers, so for now I had to be happy with the few days that we had left. Our day of scenic cruising Tracy Arm Fjord was cold, cloudy, foggy and drizzly. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but if I learned anything in my research for our cruise, I learned that you can predict Alaska weather to be unpredictable. Due to the cold drizzle, the outside decks were practically deserted as many of our fellow cruisers chose to stay inside where it was warm and dry. I, however, wasn’t about to let a little drizzle stand in my way of a day of scenic cruising this beautiful fjord. So Scott and I bundled up in our warmest jackets with hoods and made our way to the very front of the ship so that we had the best view in the house. To my surprise and delight, Princess had a wonderful naturalist on board that began speaking over the loudspeaker and directing us where to look, what we were looking at, how deep the water is, etc. He was so interesting and so informative. While slowly gliding past dozens of small icebergs that were the most beautiful bright blue color, he relayed a story from the prior weeks sailing. Apparently Amy Tan, the author of the popular book, The Joy Luck Club, was on board the Diamond that previous week and she sat with the naturalist while he was giving his talk. He included her often in his talk, and she offered up some beautifully-worded descriptions of the scenery, as only an accomplished and talented author such as herself could do. Knowing she would really be able to put into words the unique and brilliant blue color of the icebergs, he asked her to describe their unusual color, and she replied only two words, “Windex blue.” I had to agree completely with Ms. Tan’s description, they were exactly like Windex blue. The fjord offered up sights I knew I would never see again: soaring and sheer rock cliffs, dozens of waterfalls, and adorably fat and lazy sea lions snoozing on icebergs. The crown jewel in the day was seeing Sawyer Glacier deep inside the fjord. How do you feel small while on a 100,000 plus ton ship? Compare yourself to a massive glacier, that’s how! Too soon it was time to leave and make our way back out of the fjord. The naturalist promised us an evening filled with whale activity because the area that we would be cruising was known for its abundant humpback population, and he did not disappoint. We saw dozens of water spouts, several tails, and even a few whales breached for us. Yes our time on the Diamond was coming to an end, and the days ahead would be shorter and shorter as we slowly made our way south again, but they were sure to be ones for the memory books. And speaking of days ahead, I was so excited for our planned morning of sea kayaking that we had scheduled for Ketchikan. I just hoped the weather cleared… To be cont'd...