Paulo Robbolo

We departed Skagway in the afternoon for our return to Seattle. We hit the open seas and headed south. Cruising all day Friday and most of Saturday, we arrived at our last port of call, Victoria. Friday was very quiet, with the ship moving along at 21 knots. Friday evening, being the second formal night, required us to dress for the evening and pose for all of the photo stations on board. Mind you, this was not a requirement of the Princess Cruise Line; it was a requirement of my wife. Saturday, we were able to enjoy the ship’s atmosphere, grab a snack or two, and recoup some of our losses in the casino. After a quick bite to eat on board the Sapphire Princess, we headed out to explore Victoria, B.C. A shuttle bus from ... read more

We arrived in Juneau at 2:00 PM on Wednesday. The city of 30,000 people is a small, compact town with a single bridge that connects Douglas Island. The downtown area is walking distance from the docks. Our time in Juneau was split between two major sight-seeing destinations, a glacier and a bar. Lani and I signed on to tour the Mendenhal Glacier and Juneau’s salmon hatchery. The Mendenhal Glacier is roughly 20 minutes down the road from downtown. We learned that Alaska’s great ice fields are constantly shifting with all glaciers either receding or expanding as the ice moves. Mendenhal is one of the receding glaciers. We saw photos of the glacier in the 80s as compared to today. The changes have been significant and you can see the results in the landscape of the hillsides. ... read more

We embarked from Ketchikan at 4:00 PM on Tuesday. As we sailed slowly up the narrow passage, we watched an Alaska Airline 737 land at the Ketchikan International Airport. The airport has one runway and a single gate, enough for the occasional flight. We sailed throughout the night heading north. ... read more

We began our trip on Thursday, June 9th, flying up to Seattle, one of my favorite cities. During the 90s, I would fly up a couple of times per month to support several large claims offices. We finally hired an IT dude fulltime to support the Northwest in 2001, so my trips became less frequent. However, I learned a good deal of the city layout and fine dining haunts. It appeared that summer had finally arrived in Sacramento Thursday morning, just in time for us to leave and head into the grey skies of the Northwest. We were undaunted as we landed in a blustery environment. After spending some time getting settled, we headed to dinner at Salty’s in West Seattle. It’s one of Seattle’s most popular seafood joints with a spectacular view of the city ... read more

Some folks think seeing the world from a gi-normous cruise ship is a bit tacky. I don’t know about tacky, but some of it IS a bit cheesy. A lot of fun, none the less. It’s not quite the “Love Boat” cheesy, but you can’t help but smile at the nightly “extravaganza of song and dance” held at the ships theater… or the “special deal” of three wine bottles in a box for $165. It included a rare 2010 Mondovi cabernet, which I swore I saw selling at BevMo for 5.99. At least they weren’t pawning off a bottle of two buck Chuck. After Sunday night’s dinner, I ordered an espresso and was immediately offered the deluxe $30. coffee card. I passed on it, as I don’t expect to drink 30 cups of coffee from here ... read more