Alaska 2025: Part 3 Skagway, Sea Day, Victoria

 Day 6 5/29 Skagway

I like Skagway a lot. I think it's my favorite of the 3 Alaska stops and here's why. The town pretty much exists for tourists so there are no locals all grumpy when the cruise ships roll in. Only 1000 people live there year round, the rest of the residents are seasonal. Secondly, the town is an old mining town and that's fun.

Plus it's in a beautiful inlet.

Six years ago on our cruise I knew I wanted to take my kids to Alaska but it wasn't until we were on the train in Skagway that I missed them so much and felt guilty they weren't there with me.

Now they're there with me.

Our train car wasn't even half full so everyone got a window seat that wanted one and we could all move around a lot.

Tunnel time. Dye kids like tunnels.

There was snow at the top this time.

It was such a pretty view and the clouds lifted and we finally saw sunshine for the first time since Monday.

After the train we walked around downtown. Justin and I considered booking another excursion but nothing looked good. We did talk Justin's parents into doing the ocean raft adventure we did last time.

Since it had been like 3 hours since we ate, we went to Klondike Doughboy for a scone fry bread. We learned only Utahns call these scones. Why do we call them scones? And I never see actual scones in Utah, by the way.

James got sugar everywhere, even on his hat.

Messy, warm and delicious.

Afterwards we went on a hike. Justin found a trail just outside of town so we walked past the helicopter landing pad (super loud for a long time) and found the trail.

Which way should we go? They all sound like bars.

The forest was so cool. So different than the forests here in Utah. It was still too cold for any bugs so that was nice. Plus there are no reptiles in Alaska so we didn't need to worry about snakes.

 

We chose Smugglers Cove. I learned from the sign that some guy named it that because he thought it looked like a good place to smuggle in stuff but it was never used for that. The native Alaskan tribe called it something that meant good place to land a canoe.

Justin started exploring this cliffside.

And made it to the top. He stood there for a long time then went another way. Erica and James followed and we kind of split up for awhile but they eventually caught up to us on the trail back.

Entertained by the springy earth. I'm convinced this isn't soil, just layers of decomposing pine needles over a web of tree roots.

We passed this on our way up but stopped on our way back.

Then we did some more souvenir shopping. We were looking for rocks and hoodies. Then we all met back at the ship in time for dinner.

Look how cute they are in their Alaska hoodies.

Skagway is the farthest north we sailed this trip. This was at 10:20 that night.

Day 7 5/30 Sea Day

I slept in until like 10:30 this day. It felt so good. I found the fam in the dining room that was open for board games. They had a table full of games but we brought a few of our own. That's pretty much all we did all day in between meals.

This is how James looked for days on the ship. Hoodie, swim shorts, messy hair, ice cream on his face.

Then we went to a different dining room for lunch.

"Mom's on her phone at the table!" In my defense, we were ALWAYS at a table waiting for or eating food.

I ordered Scotch eggs which are boiled eggs deep fried in sausage. I'd heard of them but never had them before. I'm a fan.

Always something to see in the piazza.

 

Since my littles couldn't believe I hadn't had an ice cream cone yet, took me upstairs to get one. It was okay. If I was a kid I'd eat a dozen a day too.

Justin went to the room to take a nap and the kids went swimming so I walked around the ship some more. Gotta work up an appetite for dinner and all that. It was so rocky all day. It didn't make me sick but I got really tired of the swaying.

It was formal night again.

Henry tried escargot.

The girls ordered a swan eclair that was so cute.

Then we changed our clothes and went to that night's show in the theater. It was Rock Opera. The song selection was pretty good but the costumes and execution was a little out there. My boys did not like it. They liked the magician show we watched on Tuesday night much better.

James somehow fell asleep. Sarah liked it so much she went back again that night for the second performance.

Day 8 5/31 Victoria

We didn't get to port until 7:30 that night so it was another sea day for us. Pool for the kids, games for all. We even made a craft during craft time.

 

It was so sunny! We didn't know what to do with all this sunshine.

And since it wasn't windy we could walk outside on the promenade. This is one of my favorite parts of the ship.

 

Back on the balcony enjoying Puget Sound.

Someone from the bridge informed us we were being escorted into port by a submarine but only visible from the opposite side of the ship of our room so we made our way to that side. What?!

My landlocked Utahness comes out at times like this.

I think we were waiting for someone before we went into dinner.

Pork belly.  Not as good as Justin's but I still liked it.

James hadn't eaten anything all day because he was too busy swimming and stuff. This night he had two orders of mac and cheese, pork belly, shrimp, and baked Alaska 

 

Sarah and Erica also ordered 2 desserts. It was the last night! We just had to. (Well I did most nights but now they were feeling it too.)

We arrived in port while we were eating dinner. We heard the announcements about lining up in an orderly fashion and not clogging the stairs and common areas and all that. We discussed just what we would do in Victoria.  It's just a charming city but nothing to really do besides the gardens (which for $30 a person wasn't that interesting to them). So nothing was booked but we thought we'd take them so they could say they had been to Canada. But during the course of the conversation we learned the boys only wanted to go to get a water bottle sticker. Was it worth $13 per person to take the shuttle to downtown and then look for a water bottle sticker that we may or may not find? We only had like 4 hours, from 7:30 to 11:30. I was texting my sister who did this exact cruise a couple of years ago, was it worth it? Remembering our cruise from 6 years ago, we had more time and no kids. What to do?

Since the kids didn't care that much, we were already technically in Canada, and the line to get off was 45 minutes long, we decided to stay onboard so the kids could do what they really wanted on the ship (swimming, kids club) and we could finish packing.

View from our balcony.

Bags all lined up ready to go.

Found the kids in the hot tub, of course.

Justin getting his one and only soft-serve.

Victoria at night.

Bags are all gone! The next time we would see them would be in the SLC airport the next night.

Bonus: Going home. Here are the final moments in the kids' room. We were heading straight to church once we got off the ship.

We had a taxi take us to the nearest chapel and we got there plenty early. It's always cool to go to church while traveling to see what's done differently and see what's the same. 

A man bore his testimony and mentioned that he and his wife had been members for less than a year. She had a complicated pregnancy with twins. At 20 weeks they learned that one twin wasn't getting enough nourishment and probably wouldn't survive.  For weeks and weeks they would go to the doctor to check if the baby was still thriving. They faced an impossible choice each week: deliver the small baby early to give her a chance (60% chance) but that would also put the other baby at risk OR keep waiting increasing the odds that the small baby would live but maybe she would die in the meantime. Each week they went back bracing for news that she was no longer alive or prepared to deliver that day but the doctors would say they could go one more week and send them home. They did this until 37 weeks! He said he and his wife received blessings and ward members prayed on their behalf. He said it would be easy and obvious to think that the miracles came in the form of doctors and staff but he said the miracle was that he felt peace during all of this. How was that possible, he wondered. He even slept better than he had in a long time. That was the miracle. What else could it have been but divine manifestation of the faith of the ward family and God's love for him and his wife?

I didn't know him or the ward but I got all choked up. Such an amazing story. Miracles aren't getting the results we want; miracles are that God is with us and we can feel peace throughout anything.

The church was in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle. I liked the area.

Then we got an uber to the airport in plenty of time for our flight. Plenty plenty because it got delayed and then delayed again. After 7 hours sitting in the crowded airport terminal we finally boarded. I don't know how but we all handled it okay. No fits, no breakdowns, not even from me.

After another 30 minutes on the tarmac the flight went by fast until we got close to SLC. Then James lost one of his brand new Juneau playing cards and was super upset and it was super awkward to search for it (we never found it and I don't know where in the world it went. I even stayed on the plane after everyone around me got off so that I could really search), Erica threw up, and then because of microbursts we had to circle the airport for another 25 minutes. The pilot told us we had plenty of fuel to circle for a bit or to land in Boise if we needed to. That was not reassuring like he intended.

We deboarded, walked a half mile to baggage claim, stood in line for the shuttle to the parking lot, then got in the truck and drove home arriving after midnight. Ship, taxi, uber, plane, shuttle, truck and 15 hours later we were home.

Final Thoughts

The kids loved the ship. Erica said money can't buy happiness but it can buy a cruise.

There were more kids on board than I would have thought for an Alaskan cruise during a time when most schools are still in session.

I gained 4 pounds but I've already lost 3 of them.

We were better prepared for the rain than a lot of people (I saw someone in a denim jacket and sneakers) but we were still no match for the Pacific rain showers. Rain pants and rain boots next time.

We had a couple of crew members remark that Princess was much better to work for than other cruise companies they had been with. I liked hearing that we were supporting a better cruise line in that regard.

The crew and wait staff were amazing. I liked learning where they were from and about their families. Most are on a 6 or 9 month contract and they earn more in that time than a full year in their home countries. Most were from the Philippines, Mexico, and African countries.

If it had rained like that on a Caribbean or Mexican or anywhere else cruise I would have been disappointed. But it just made the experience even more Alaska.

I did not see one crew member from the US. The captain was Italian, cruise director from England.

I'm grateful for the enthusiasm of tour guides. It's infectious and calms anyone's trepidation.

I felt like I was still swaying on the ship for 3 more days after getting home.

The medallion location system made it so much more fun for my kids. Sure, go where you want. We'll come to you when we need you or just come back to the room at 4:30 to change for dinner.

Even though my phone was on airplane mode and on the ship's limited free wifi, I could get and receive text messages from my family group text and my neighbor. I couldn't text Justin who was sitting right next to me though. His texting didn't work (he didn't mind).

Erica left her glasses on the lawn of the church. I'm more upset about losing my water bottle. (She's due for a new pair of glasses this month anyway.)

I don't regret staying on the ship at Victoria. I've been to Victoria twice and I don't feel like they missed out on much. I do want to take them to Canada again but a better part. Banff National Park, Niagara Falls, even a rodeo in Calgary would be awesome.

I like traveling with Justin. He's a good balance of taking care of the minute details but not overplanning things. Logistics intimidate me but he just figures it out and goes for it.

Our next cruise will either be a Caribbean cruise with the kids or European cruise without them. Either of those is years away.