Cruise to Alaska | Bruton Family Vacation 2018

Our family just got back from a cruise to Alaska! To say it was epic, beautiful, and amazing probably doesn’t do it justice. Here’s a little recap!

We sailed with Princess Cruises, which I would highly recommend. We loved the ship and the staff! From Seattle, the Emerald Princess cruised to Ketchikan. We spent our time walking around the Red Light District and getting grandma some ice cream (side note, ice cream with grandma is a common theme. She has it everyday for lunch, and that’s a habit I can get onboard with).

From Ketchikan, we sailed to Juneau. There’s a tram that took us to the top of Mt. Roberts where we had a beautiful view of the “city”. That’s in quotes, because you mostly see a beautiful mountain range and the water 🙂 One of my favorite moments happened when we were hiking…my dad took the baby in one hand, and helped his mom walk in the other. Seeing the three generations loving each other was such a tender moment. We went to dinner at Pier 49, a cute restaurant right on the water. Greg got “the best King Crab he’d ever had” there.

After Juneau came Skagway. This is a town for the mountain-lover like my grandma. The city is nestled in the tree-covered mountains. While the rest of our family went on a train ride, Greg, my dad, Duke and I hiked to a small historic cemetery and waterfall. It was beautiful! Side note, excursions are EXPENSIVE! That’s something we wish we would have known going on the cruise. We opted out of the train ride because it was $180 per person.

After Skagway, we stopped in Victoria, Canada, so the boat could fuel up. We took a bus tour all over the town and stopped on a mountain (I have no idea what it was called. whoops!).

My favorite stop was not actually a stop, though. We woke up on morning 3 (I think!) in the Tracy Arm Fjord. Holy molyyyyy. Glacier water is beautiful and we were so close to the mountains it felt like we could touch them. Glaciers, waterfalls, and iceburgs were prevalent. Just cruising in general was beautiful; we were supposedly in the middle of nowhere and could see waterfalls on land. One day my family took over the back of the ship and just stared in amazement all afternoon. We also swam while we took in the views; that was such a fun aspect!

We ended the trip with 2 days in Seattle. We chased waterfalls, found a swimming hole, and spent quality time with each other. The fact that my grandma was there made this vacation different and more special than any before. I’ve never spent so much continuous time with her…and I loved every minute. My favorite memory of the whole trip? Walking her to her room after we got on the boat. We sat on her bed, she played with Duke, and there was no distractions. No TV. No phones. Nothing but us sitting on a bed enjoying each other’s company. Grandma and Duke developed the cutest bond on the trip; she laughed at him harder than I’ve ever seen her laugh in my life. She was concerned about his schedule and mood. She fed him cake and got a kick out of his love for food. That’s my biggest takeaway from this trip: grandma and Duke. He’s so lucky to have a great-grandparent, and she’s so happy to know him. The second biggest takeaway: Holy crap is God amazing. His creative touch in this world is baffling. My third takeaway: my family lovesssss Duke! Of course I knew this, but I don’t think his feet touched the ground for a solid week haha. He was constantly being held, being fed, and being loved. 

 

Enjoy some photos! 🙂