Wed July 9, 2025
Hi Gang! The Wandering Italian and his co-pilot Kathy are off on another adventure. This time to Alaska (for maybe like the 17th time?? Lol). Seriously, we LOVE Alaska with its beautiful scenery, abundant wildlife, cooler temperatures and yes lots of rain! But anything beats the summer heat and humidity of Charlotte (it was 109 the other day!).
So whether you call it The Last Frontier, America’s Icebox, The Frozen North, The Klondike or even Seward’s Folly, it is a beautiful part of the world. If you’ve never been, put it on your bucket list. And there’s no better way to see it than via a cruise ship. Part of our reason for this trip was not only to get away to cooler temps and amazing beauty but also to try out a new cruise line.
This trip is on the Cunard cruise line. It’s primarily known for its history as a luxury ocean liner company, its transatlantic crossings and its elegant, classically styled ships. But they are also known for their more formal atmosphere including traditions like afternoon tea with white gloved waiters. I’ll try to remember to keep my pinky finger up while sipping on my tea!
This cruise will be 11 nights roundtrip out of Seattle (see attached itinerary) stopping at some of the traditional Alaska ports but also including several scenic cruising days thru National Parks like Glacier Bay and Misty Fjords. Those days should have some jaw dropping scenery. And of course we hope to see lots of whales, eagles, otters and bears (but at a safe distance!).
We flew out Wed July 9th and American Airlines was nice enough to give us both an early birthday present and gave us First Class seats! But the flight was delayed for 3 hours so the gift came with some strings attached!
We arrived in Seattle at 1:30 AM their time (which was 4:30 AM our time!!). We caught a shuttle bus to our hotel and got checked in and went right to bed.
We’ll board the ship on Thurs July 10th (Kathy’s birthday!). We’re also doing this trip to celebrate both our birthdays since mine’s the 19th. We’re on Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth ship so we’ll try our best to act respectably and not embarrass all our British friends!
As always, as long as the ship’s internet is good, I’ll be doing daily updates on this blog. Bon Voyage!
The Wandering Italian 