Regent Seven Seas Navigator - Vancouver to Anchorage, August 3-10, 2011. What a surprise! We not only drilled every one of our friends, but anyone we could find who'd been cruising to Alaska and prepared...prepared...prepared. We bought new rain suits(because the wind and rain could pop up at any moment and assault us!), new sturdy deck shoes (because someone saw a passenger slip and fall on exiting the ship for an excursion!), new fleece-lined jackets with hoods (to protect us from biting cold!) But what happened was remarkable. It was the trip of NO. No rain, no wind, no accidents.

We boarded Navigator after a nice day in Vancouver. We took the advice of others and toured Vancouver on the Hop-on/Hop-off bus. A great way to see Stanley Park and other places in the city. Our concierge at Sutton Place Hotel arranged dinner at the Blue Water Cafe in Yaletown (absolutely fabulous!). Sutton Place is a nice enough hotel and the transfers to and from were efficient and thorough. If you need a quick shopping fix, or forget something critical, go to Pacific Centre on Georgia Street. A fabulous young woman at Sephora helped me choose a moisturizer...did you know there's so little humidity in the Pacific Northwest?? Holt-Renfrew, H&M, Apple, the Gap are all there.

Cruising out of Vancouver is a treat in itself. The city is stunning and the site of floatplanes and other cruise ships exiting the harbor is terrific. The narration of the harbor by Terry Breen was very educational. We made a pact to return to Vancouver in the future as a stand alone destination. Read more