Going to Vancouver/Alaska :D

[egerandi]

Oh yes,indeed! I've been wanting to go for years now, and I'm finally making it happen! I booked a cruise from Vancouver to Whittier, and will be spending 4 days in Vancouver beforehand. I'm also spending disembarkation day in Whittier doing a small glacier and wildlife cruise and take the train back to Anchorage.
If anyone has been on a similar cruise, I welcome all input! I have a good idea of what I want to do, but so many options and so hard to choose.

Main points I'm debating:

Is it worth day tripping over to Victoria even though Vancouver has gorgeous gardens on its own? Maybe for the architecture's sake? I like majestic old buildings, but this would add about another $200 to my trip. I'll do it if it's worth it though.

Anything in Vancouver - I'm gonna visit the suspension bridge(s), walk the waterfront, visit chinatown and some other usual stuff, but if there is any non-touristy adventure recommended or place to shop/eat/whatever in early September, I wanna know about it!

Favorite shore excursions - doing seaplane, train ride, ziplining, aerial tram - anything else? I need to get a good camera and binoculars for sure.

Suggestions for clothing for the time of year (early to mid-september) are welcome too. I'm gonna try really hard to just pack the essentials as I'll be mostly out and about walking and hiking, except for the occasional indoor working out (will try, hehe) and formal dinners. I'm thinking jeans, walking shoes, good socks (very important for me), scarves, gloves, hats, fleece and rain jacket (i even have a poncho).

Can't wait, I can hardly concentrate on anything else lately

[Xarata]

i think my parents will be on that cruise. lol

[zeebs]

Have fun!! I have never been and therefore have no advice whatsoever, but that sounds amazingly fun.

[egerandi]

i think my parents will be on that cruise. lol

Hahaha, we'll have a jolly time and zipline together

And thanks, I'm pretty sure it will be amazing! OK, keep on plannin'...

[Ghost]

oh have a great time egerandi

Please post pic of alaska I've always wanted to go

[ladycattat]

smacks myself upside my head.......I'm thinking *how do you get a cruise to Whittier....CALIFORNIA?*
Obviously I need to get out more. LOL
Have a blast! is the boy going, or a girlfriend, or what?
xx
laurie

[egerandi]

Yeah, haha, it's the other Whittier. I'm going solo this time and taking full advantage of it
The boy (who is from Whittier, btw, the CA one) is staying home with the (furry) little boy.

Yes, yes, intend to take tons of pics, in search of a new compact camera now.

[karen]

Oooh- it sounds like a lot of fun!!! I've never been, but my brother worked in Alaska for a little bit. His pictures and stories were amazing. If it were me, I think I'd stick with just Vancouver (I've never been there either). I've had a real tendency to try to rush around to see absolutely everything, and not really live in the moment while I'm somewhere. So, I've been focusing on just enjoying the place that I'm in rather than trying to figure out what to do at the next destination. I think I had more fun on this vacation that way.

[egerandi]

Oooh- it sounds like a lot of fun!!! I've never been, but my brother worked in Alaska for a little bit. His pictures and stories were amazing. If it were me, I think I'd stick with just Vancouver (I've never been there either). I've had a real tendency to try to rush around to see absolutely everything, and not really live in the moment while I'm somewhere. So, I've been focusing on just enjoying the place that I'm in rather than trying to figure out what to do at the next destination. I think I had more fun on this vacation that way.

This is a teaser tour, I promised the boy that we'll go back together. I've been feeling that I need to do something for myself, and having a rush of adventures fits the bill.
I take it you mean skip Victoria? I'm tempted to do that, as the main reason I would see it was the gardens, and I can just take a bus to the one in Vancouver and spend a day there with a good book, heh. That's the fun part about going alone (that is, if your partner tends to have different traveling preferences): I could linger in a garden for hours and hours, or get up at 6am if needed to make the early trip, etc. while he would... dunno, run around trying to find stuff worthy of being photographed. He's an amazing artist, but I prefer taking memory snaps as opposed to fantastic images like he does.

[JenK]

Lucky Duck!! I've thougt about taking a trip w/o DH. For some reason Dude Ranch pops into my mind. Have a BLAST!!!