My wife and I just returned from our trip to Alaska. Arriving in Vancouver we stood in line to get through customs and get our luggage for what seemed an eternity. Once past that, the Royal Caribbean counter was fast and painless. Then we had the transfer to the pier where we stood in line AGAIN! By this time we were very tired and crabby from all the hours flying and the delays of being in line.

Finally we were onboard! We went to our balcony room and were immediately greeted by our stateroom attendant. Very nice and pleasant, and he made a point of remembering our names right from the start. All through the cruise he would greet us and ask how our trip was going, what he could do for us, and he would even open our door for us if he saw us coming in time. Putu was a bright point of the cruise for us.

The journey started out wet and dreary, but not a hard rain so it wasn't bad. Once we hit Ketchikan things started clearing up and from that point on it was nothing but sunshine. The scenery from our balcony was truly unbelievable! We were almost mesmerized watching the mountains go by. Watching humpbacks right below us in Icy Strait Point was great, and we enjoyed our breakfast on our balcony in the sunshine with a front row seat at Hubbard Glacier. Read more