Alaska Cruise Days 1-3: Juneau, Sea Days

Three years after booking it and two years after we were supposed to embark, the day had finally come: We were to set sail on our weeklong cruise to Alaska! It was a relief to finally come aboard. Like all scheduled events since the start of the pandemic, I wasn't sure until the end that it would actually come to be. But it was time to set sail.

We boarded Holland America's Westerdam ship around noon on a Sunday. Check in was a breeze, and we were in our room in about 20 minutes. We sailed away from Seattle, and the kids were excited to try out the kids club. Paul and I were also excited to drop them off so we could eat in the main dining room alone!

Monday was a full day at sea. Paul and I went to a naturalist talk while the kids were at their club, then Paul took them swimming after lunch. They were so excited, although it was difficult for me to understand why -- the pool area was covered but still chilly thanks to the 50ish-degree weather.

Edith and I went to the dining room for tea that afternoon while Paul and Atticus went out for ice cream. In the evening, Paul and I enjoyed the piano bar and the kiddos were happy in the kids club.

Tuesday was one of the best days of all: Juneau. It was also the summer solstice and we lost yet another hour (four hours behind EST), so it wasn't even dark when the kids went to bed around 10:30 p.m. that evening. They should have been sleepy after the full day we had.

It was summer, but it didn't feel like it -- low 50s all day with drizzles. The recommendations to pack layers were serious! We didn't arrive in Juneau until 1 p.m., and then it was go, go, go. We met at the end of the short pier at 1:15 p.m. for our excursion to go whale watching and visit Mendenhall Glacier.

At first I was glad there were so many indoor, heated areas on the boat on Auke Bay, but we ended up spending much of the time on the outdoor portion of the second floor deck anyway, watching whales both near and far. It was really only cold when the boat sped through the water, but much of the two-and-a-half hour tour was spent still or slowly moving forward as we waited for whales to surface. We were lucky, seeing a humpback whale about 50 feet from the boat, and a number of others at a distance. We also got a rare sighting of three orcas further away. It was cloudy and foggy much of the afternoon, but the weather cleared enough to see Mendenhall Glacier from the water even before we visited.

The actual visit to the glacier was just under an hour, which was only enough time to scratch the surface and worry we would be late for the bus back to the ship! The gray clouds made the varying shades of glacier blues more visible and quite stunning.

A quick walk through a bit of downtown Juneau and we were back on board and eating supper by 7:30. The day was tiring but rewarding, and a great start to summer.