Alaskan Cruise - Embarkation Day

My parents had been talking about taking a cruise to Alaska for their fiftieth wedding anniversary next year for quite a while. My mom's vision was for it to be a family affair, but some of our family is not keen on cruising. So, I encouraged my parents to join Michaela and me this year instead.

After waiting five months, August 20th finally arrived and we embarked upon the Golden Princess in San Francisco Bay. Embarkation was somewhat delayed by some technical issues, but it seems like we left port pretty much on schedule.

Waiting outside the terminal prior to embarkation.

After attending the mandatory muster drill, we made our way up to deck 15 for the sail away party. Mom and I celebrated with a glass of champagne, and we took in the sights of beautiful San Francisco.

TransAmerica Building

Coit Tower

Bay Bridge

Alcatraz

What I didn't manage to catch on camera was when our ship went under the Golden Gate Bridge. Darn it! That was such a fantastic moment. I have driven over that bridge many times, but this day I saw it from a completely different perspective!

The next two days were spent at sea, and at times the seas were rough. Very rough. Like 12-14 foot swells. That was hard on my mom, but the rest of us faired well. I think one of the advantages of having the cheap inside cabin was that the rocking of the ship wasn't as severe for us as it was for folks like my parents who had balcony staterooms.

The night before we entered our first port city, Juneau, was a formal night. It was kind of fun to dress up, have our picture taken, and have a fancy dinner. When we returned from dinner, Michaela was delighted by the towel animal our room steward had crafted for her.

We spent those first two days exploring the ship, enjoying the food, and Michaela made herself at home in the "kids club". In fact, she preferred being there to eating, being with her family, and going on excursions. Ha! Crazy kid. But I was really pleased that Princess Cruises has such a great program for the little ones, and that she was so content to be there. I don't know how I would have entertained her all day long otherwise.