Disembark day – Back in Seattle, WA :0(

Day before the cruise – Seattle, WA
Day #1 onboard the Norwegian Pearl
Day #2 “At Sea” day
Day #3 – Juneau, Alaska
Day #4 – Skagyway, Alaska
Day #5 – Glacier Bay
Day #6 – Ketchikan, Alaska
Day #7 – Victoria, BC
Day #8 - Back in Seattle

We woke up Sunday morning and were not happy at all because Sunday = going home day. :0(
I took a few pictures of our room as we finished packing up.



Bathroom



Desk/Closet



TV/Table



Bed that needs to be made



Husband watching Princess and the Frog! :0)



So sad to leave!



We took our time leaving our room because our flight wasn’t scheduled until 5:30 that afternoon and we were one of the final groups to disembark the ship.




Breakfast was in the buffet as usual!  We were really quiet during breakfast because we were sad that our vacation was over.



This is a layout of all the disembarking groups – we were in the Red Group which was one of the last ones to leave the ship.

The line to get off the ship was LONG and we waited about 30-45 minutes before we were in customs. Our customs experience was easy as usual and before long, we were on our way!
We booked Norwegian transportation back to the airport and along the way, our bus driver gave us the “$2 tour” of the town. :0)

Apparently, Norwegian was having trouble with the Pearl the week before our cruise and the week after – both weeks included a day’s delay in leaving Seattle. I’m SO glad that didn’t happen to us!  Neither cruise was able to dock in Juneau because they were behind on their itinerary by one day. Norwegian did make up for their ship issues – the cruisers the week before our cruise were treated to Bill Cosby on the first night of their cruise (while they were still docked in Seattle).

Back to our ride to the airport:



A few shots of downtown Seattle. The above picture is the official Starbucks Headquarters!!



Seattle and Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners!

We arrived at the airport, checked in our bags, and since we had HOURS until our flight,  we walked over to the Link Light Railway for a trip to downtown Seattle.



We bought a roundtrip pass that would take us from and to the airport.

 

The Link Light Railway went under and above ground!  A lot of people use this method of transportation to commute from place to place and it’s a neat method of transportation – although I think I prefer my car. I don’t live in a huge city so transportation like this is not necessary for us.
We made it downtown and walked around the market for  a while. I enjoyed this trip because we were able to explore the area a bit more.



For lunch, we stopped in the Westlake Center and ate at the food court.



I had this amazing turkey poboy and CHEESE FRIES. I NEVER eat cheese fries but they sounded so good.

(I’m sure I really needed those cheese fries after eating so much food on the cruise all week!)

 

Before long, it was time to catch the Link Light back to the airport.

 

I used my birthday “Free Drink” card at Starbucks while we waited for our plane.

They made an announcement overhead that our flight was over booked and if any volunteers were interested, Continental would put you up in a hotel and bump you to 1st class the following morning for a 9 a.m. flight. We were ALL SO tempted to jump on that offer – we discussed it but decided not to take it.

The flight back home was un-eventful and smooth!  We landed in Houston, TX  at midnight which meant we didn’t arrive home until after 2 a.m.  My puppies were SOOOOOO excited to see us!!!  We went to bed completely and totally exhausted – thank goodness we all had the following day off work!

Overall, it was a great trip! We had a good cruise, good itinerary, decent weather, and good company!  I would totally go on another Alaskan cruise………but I’m sure you know what’s coming next – I only plan on sailing Disney from now on, unless we have no other choice.

I think we are addicted to cruising – we booked another Disney Cruise (New York and Canada itinerary) for next fall not long after arriving back home!!  This time, we’ll be cruising with Jason’s parents!  So excited!!!

Thanks for following along with our adventures!
Coming up: My running adventures on board the Norwegian Pearl

Vacation Recap Day #7 – Victoria, BC

In-case you missed them, check out the following recaps:

Day before the cruise – Seattle, WA
Day #1 onboard the Norwegian Pearl
Day #2 “At Sea” day
Day #3 – Juneau, Alaska
Day #4 – Skagyway, Alaska
Day #5 – Glacier Bay
Day #6 – Ketchikan, Alaska
Day #7 – Victoria, BC
Day #8 - Back in Seattle 

Saturday morning, we woke up to a very special day….my 29th birthday!!!!



I kept the Birthday decorations up all week because I wanted to celebrate on my actual birthday!



We slept in that morning because we had until 7 p.m. before we docked in Victora, BC!



We ate breakfast outside and this little old man was playing his guitar. I like little old men…they are too cute!



I got to pick our restaurant for lunch because it was my birthday. I chose the beautiful Summer Palace, the restaurant my mom said reminds her of the Titanic!

Let me also add that NCL has many other “out of pocket” restaurants to eat lunch/dinner. We chose not to visit any of these restaurants – I’m sure the menus and food were awesome, but we decided we already paid for our food in the price of the cruise, so we ate at only the main dining rooms/buffet. I was satisfied with going between all three! We felt like there were plenty of options and the food was great! :0)

 

Dessert!

After lunch, we walked around the ship and took pictures. We stopped by the Spinaker Lounge because my dad wanted to watch a Q&A seminar by some of the cruise ship entertainment.  This Q&A session was given by 2 guys who were with Barnum & Bailey at one point – they are called Sharkbait. Hilarious guys – they put on an awesome show!



I know this is random, but I noticed that NCL loves velvet bed/couch/seat looking things.  They had a few in the Spinaker Lounge – but oh my gosh the Bliss Lounge was insane!  I felt kind of dirty in the Bliss Lounge!!  Haha!

Right after the Q&A, we went straight for the Stardust theater to watch a final performance by Sharkbait and the 4 Seasons tribute group!  As expected, they put on a great show!
After all our morning/afternoon fun, we ate dinner at the buffet and watched the ship dock into Victoria!



I just HAD to try this “Gumbo Sauce”.  Not my kind of “Gumbo”, for sure.  FYI Norwegian, it’s not “Gumbo Sauce”, it’s GUMBO and you eat it over RICE, not fish. Thanks.



We made it!

  

When it was time to disembark, we went straight for the elevator. My purse and dress matched – not on purpose!!

Our excursion for Victoria included a tour of the town and a visit to a castle!  My parents were on a completely separate excursion that included a visit to the Butchart Gardens.



A view of the Pearl from our bus!



Victoria was such a CUTE little town!! I loved all of the homes and flowers everywhere!



Reminded me of a Hollywood movie set!



We made it to Craigdarroch Castle!



We had to laugh because they said if you were wearing a booksack, you had to turn it to the front of your body!  My poor husband!

 

This is the view once you pass through the parlor….looking up through the staircase!  Pretty neat!



Living room



Outside view from one of the turrets



Piano room



I could totally live in this house and sit right here and stare out of these windows all day!



Beautiful view!



Dining Room

 

We signed our names in the guestbook, then we shopped around for a little while in the gift shop!



I just HAD to buy some REAL Cadbury chocolate!! In the States, we only get Cadbury for Easter in the form of Cadbury Eggs!  The Caramilk was probably my favorite but the Wunderbar was pretty good, too!

After the Castle, we got back on the bus and our driver took us downtown. He gave the option of staying on the bus and going back to port OR getting off the bus and staying downtown with a ticket to return to port later.



We chose the option of staying downtown!

Even though it was dark, we had a really good time!  The weather was perfect…not too cold but cool and breezy!  I loved it!



Parliament!



Another shot of the Parliament building

Seriously, this little town was (is) awesome!  There were (are)  flower beds and flower baskets EVERYWHERE!! It was beautiful!



We stopped by the Empress hotel and walked around inside for a long time!  REALLY nice hotel!  The tea room was all abuzz with activity!



We also walked by the Empress Room……….



……………..where “Princess Elizabeth” received a gift in 1951! :0)



After leaving The Empress Hotel, we found a statue of Captain Cook!  I can’t exactly tell you why he has an orange cone on his head, but I found it amusing!

Disney fans will know where to associate Captain Cook with! :0)



The Tulip Peace garden :0)



Totem poles were abundant in Vitoria, too!



The thing that struck me about this little Marina is the shops/entertainment/people around at night! It was awesome and reminded me of the downtown development that they are attempting to do in my town here at home! I loved it!



We also watched these guys for a little while before going back to the ship!

That’s it for our last night onboard!  Stay tuned---just one more day to go! :0)