7/29-8/7/22 Seattle & NCL Alaskan Cruise

So, it’s taken me WAY TOO LONG to update this blog for this trip! However, I’m finally “doing it!” I imagine I’ll start/stop more than once to do so! First of all, the big deal about this cruise is it’s the first one since the “Pandemic” Now that I think of it, I’m not sure I’ve done a lot of pandemic blogging as I have just been sort of a zombie figuring out how to live and exist and even attempt to THRIVE during this Covid Pandemic. You would think that 2-1/2 years from the initial “closing” of most of society, that I would be “over it”! However, it really has been an insidious global and personal change that does not seem to yet be “giving up”!!!
Coming off the rehearsal dinner and wedding of Kenny and Emily (and WONDERFULLY happy happy event that had already been delayed once due to the pandemic), and having been Vax’d and double-boosted, and testing nearly every day the week BEFORE and all during the wedding week and after, and then the required test just before leaving on the cruise in front of an online Proctor, I was proud to have remained NEGATIVE throughout! So, first things first, we (my sister Nina and her husband Ed) fly direct flight from Cleveland to Seattle (so thankful for Alaska Air creating this direct flight!) and had a day and a half or so to spend sightseeing in Seattle. I don’t think any of the 3 of us had been there and I really did want to sight-see. Traveling to Seattle about 75 lbs lighter than I had been in probably 10 or 15 years, I was looking forward to seeing if I would have more resilience and stamina! Of course I did! Still not perfect, but going from 3XL size down to XL (alright the XL’s were a bit tight on some outfits, but it’s a HUGE reduction), I felt more “like myself” than in forever. So no regrets even if I’m still learning how to function with my new smaller stomach and re-introducing of foods, etc. I was very excited to try it all out! Live and learn as even a small 2 scoop of ice cream proved to be a bit too much for my new system to process 😦 . Believe me, I’ve tried ice cream a few times and sadly it just doesn’t wanna work out in my system…DANG!!! I did learn that if you get up from a meal with the cloth napkin held firmly to your mouth on the way to the ladies room on a cruise ship…EVERYONE gets the hell out of your way! Thankfully, false alarm, but I haven’t touched ice cream since!

Seattle proved to be a really fun and interesting time. Nina fortunately had someone from her work who had recently traveled there and gave her/us a lot of tips and hints on how to see the most in our short time before the cruise! I only have a handful of pics. Nina took way more but I’ve also learned a lesson about taking too many pics because you lose the effect of them as not only you but rarely others too, want to see all that in an attempt to share in your travels! But we bought an official Seattle CityPASS which provided discounts and suggestions on things to see and do. We went to Chihuly Garden & Glass. We didn’t even realize that we have experienced Chihuly and his art in many places without realizing how incredibly special it is! There’s many pics down below; I put them in chronologically, but WordPress doesn’t always keep them that way!

The best way I can describe Seattle is “multi-tiered”…at least from our time there! In the pics below you’ll see all the STEPS and YES Nina, Ed and I claimed UP all of them; we came down to the pier via a series of alleys, ramps, etc. and came across the (disgusting to me) GUM WALL !!!! Ewww as gross as it sounds, it’s a stone alley leading down to the pier in Seattle and one side is completely covered in already chewed gum and half way up and down the other side as well. The alley DOES smell like bubble gum, but it’s so disgusting that I couldn’t wait to get out of there!!! We rode the Seattle Center Monorail and the Light Rail and even Lyft once or twice to get everywhere we needed along with walking (and of course Nina even “ran” up some streets and steps..but fortunately waited patiently for my brother-in-law and me to catch up!). It was fun using the mass transit options and we also had hotel shuttling to help out including their expertise of hints and places/things to do! The Space Needle (Built for the 1962 World’s Fair) was 605 feet tall of wonderfulness, only bested, in my opinion, by the Monorail ride to get there! I have an issue/thing about Monorails! I still remember being disappointed when Cedar Point took theirs out! It was my favorite ride there! It was only at Cedar Point (originally installed at Akron’s Summit Beach Park in 1956 but closed in 1958) from 1959 through 1965 so I was only 7 when that was taken away!!! But when I was living in Portsmouth, VA and we would get visitors, we would, of course, always take them to Busch Gardens and all I wanted to do ride the Monorail! We lived there for 2 years and NOT ONCE was it open and/or working when we went. Usually due to rain or something, it was just not available when we were there! So silly me really enjoyed the Monorail! They’re quiet and smooth, etc. so they’re a happy place for me! Dale Chihuly is a world-renowned glassblower and these “gardens” are the largest showcase of his works including a 100-foo-long sculpture of red, orange and yellow suspected from the ceiling! The pic below shows it AND you can also see/experience a underside view of the Space Needles as well!!!

We only really saw the entrance andexit to Pike Place Market which is not even fully recovered from the Pandemic. As a matter of fact, most of downtown Seattle still struggles with a lot of individual restaurants, etc. still shut down or out of business. We rode the Seattle Great Wheel, which was built and installed to Pier 57 in 2012. We had gorgeous views of land and water from or air-conditioned gondola! We cruised in a small portion of the Ship Canal and the old Ballar Locks making a lovely “boat elevator” passing between freshwater lakes and the salt water of Puget Sound. It was interesting, but would probably not take it again. It was an old repurposed “Good Time III” boat which I originally thought might be recycled from Cleveland but when I inquired they said NOPE but there are Good Time boats all over the US!

The next day we boarded the NCL Encore for a cruise of Alaska and Victoria and it did NOT disappoint. We were luckier than lucky the way things went. We got on eery excursion we wanted, and enjoyed each one. The only disappointment at all was that our last excursion, a draft-horse driven trolly tour was at 9pm or so and our time in Victoria was only 3 hours or so all late at night/early darkness. Having been there before when my AoM conference was in Vancouver, I’m know how beautiful Victoria is though.

The Glaciers, the whales, the Ididerod Dogs (and puppies), “panning” for gold, and our biggest on-board participation in oragami, were breathtaking and fun and an absolute pleasure. The last day of the cruise we got to finally see “The Choir of Man” and loved it too.

After all that was said and done, it was time for my AoM reception the day after disembarkment. I was exhausted and grateful I had done so much Seattle Sightseeing BEFORE the cruise as all I wanted to do was relax/rest and also ensure the success of my reception. When I returned home on Wednesday, August 10th, I was completely wiped out. I took a Covid test and it was positive but only for 2 days…Thursday and Friday. I had taken Paxlovid immediately and only tested + for Thu and Fri and only experienced what I would describe as super head cold symptoms. This little pic is what my covid looked like!