Juneau

Usually when you think of a capital city you think of congestion, traffic, and suits walking around. This is so not true for Alaska's capital, Juneau. It's more like a frontier town than a major city. I have been to Juneau several times before and have explored it a little more in depth- there are some great sights like Mendenhall Glacier which are must sees for first timers, but we kept it really low key. I have a friend who lives in Juneau who stopped down to greet us, it was a great start to the day. We then headed down the street (everything in town is walking distance from the dock)  and enjoyed coffee, shopping, and people gazing. Lunch with Alaskan summer ale, and a hysterically funny character at the Red Dog Saloon finished our day pretty much. The Red Dog is funny by the way, it has a good inch or two of sawdust on the floor!

Every other shop in Juneau is a gold or jewelry shop.

 At the Red Dog Saloon

A tram runs from downtown by the cruise port to the top of a mountain some 2 miles away, a lot of people will ride it up and then hike it back down. We just drank Alaskan Amber and watched. 

T minus 1 day and counting, Travelers Rev Your Suitcases

I'm really excited to share our upcoming Alaskan cruise with you all. I think in recent years, not without some legitimate reason, cruising has earned a bit of a bad name. Cruising Carnival in particular is in some circles considered as brave and dangerous a choice to make as say- taking up sky scraper repelling. This will be my 6th Carnival cruise (I have also cruised NCL and Royal Caribbean, both were enjoyable experiences.) so I have an idea of the ups and downs ahead of us. My hope is to present a really BIG picture of the family cruise, for those who have not previously cruised or perhaps have been shy to try the Carnival brand.

Is a cruise really an "affordable" family vacation? What exactly does your basic fare cover? What out of pocket expenses can you expect? Are there hidden fees?  How big are those cabins really- square footage only gives part of the picture after all! Can you squeeze 4 people in 1 cabin? Will my kids be bored? Will there be a lot of annoying drunk people around? What kind of food can I expect? What can I do on board other than eat and drink? How enjoyable can a port call really be if it's only for 7 hours? What's the REAL "tacky factor" on a budget cruise line?

I'm going to explore all of that and more; I will be inundating you daily with blog posts describing everything from the mundane to the insane-  cruise style. There will also be pictures, lots and lots of pictures! This will be a good time to subscribe to this blog or add it to your blog roller, so you don't miss any of it.