Alaskan Adventure

The plan for the morning was pack and check out of our hotel and head to Chinatown for dim sum brunch. My aunt had invited back her friend’s daughter who had picked her up at the airport and for lunch, to join us. She met us at the hotel and we walked about 15 minutes west to Chinatown. Here’s a photo of us at the gateway to Chinatown:



In researching the best dim sum places, it seems that many are actually in Richmond, just south of the city and back towards the airport. But I wanted something walkable and in Chinatown, so had found Jade Dynasty. We enjoyed our meal as the dim sum came out in waves:







Walking back to the hotel helped us digest and we picked up our luggage and called an Uber XL. The minivan that arrived was a good test for our luggage capacity as we will be driving one to Denali, but unfortunately one person couldn’t fit - this won’t be a problem as we wouldn’t have the driver then. 

So since my cousin and I were the only ones with international data, I walked with the family friend down to Canada Place, the cruise terminal. But unbeknownst to me, taxis get dropped off underground and routed towards the specific cruise’s baggage drop off. But with the help of a friendly guard and a few calls, we all reunited at the check-in hall. Indeed our Alaskan cruise started off with a little adventure!

Based on a recommendation, I had booked on Princess and the ship is the Grand Princess. Check-in was a breeze as I had our medallions which are used as keys to the room and charges, delivered ahead of time to New York - indeed vacations are priceless:





We then took a photo in front of a nice boat, but only realized afterwards it wasn’t ours!



We went through security and snaked through the long customs line and took the obligatory souvenir photo, but it’s actually included in our package:





We found our respective rooms which were on the same floor - deck 8 and rested before our dinner. I reserved dining slots most nights of our seven night voyage and our first night was in the Michelangelo room. They seated us by the window and the boat departed as we began our meal:





After dinner, we toured the ship and enjoyed covers from an electric violinist and the karaoke lounge. The first song was called “North to Alaska” which was appropriate:



Mama Kim found herself in the cruise casino and playing her beloved blackjack and we enjoyed some covers from the piano lounge singer.

What an adventurous day as we head north to Alaska!