SpeedNoodles Posted June 14, 2019 Report Posted June 14, 2019 Ok you guys, I'm SO excited. Mr. SpeedNoodles and I have not been on a vacation for 10 years (yes, you read that correctly). We've had time off from work, hauling the hounds to dog shows, but those are work. Lots of fun, but lots of work. This year is our 25th wedding wedding anniversary, his 50th birthday, we found a hound(s)/house sitter, and we are READY TO GO!!! I'll focus this blog mostly on the ship, since there's no way my photos of the scenery will do any justice of it, and Twangster did a superb job on his. Hats off to him - they were absolutely incredible! I don't know that I'll be able to post daily, but I intend to do the best that I can. We will have 36 hours in Seattle before we get on the ship, so we're super excited about that! Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick ..... Traveler, hayley_bopp, mom2mybugs and 15 others 18 Quote
Oreocruiser Posted June 14, 2019 Report Posted June 14, 2019 We are doing the same itinerary this July as a combined graduation/Dad's 50th celebration! The beautiful pictures @twangster posted has gotten me extremely excited for our first trip to Alaska, and I can't wait to read about and see your experience. SpeedNoodles, twangster and Sweety 3 Quote
hayley_bopp Posted June 14, 2019 Report Posted June 14, 2019 Looking forward to following along. SpeedNoodles 1 Quote
twangster Posted June 14, 2019 Report Posted June 14, 2019 Truth is pictures hardly do justice to Alaska. Enjoy your cruise. Mine is a memory at this point and I'm super jealous that you are sailing to a part of the country that I enjoy so much. Happy 25/50 or what ever else might be going on! From personal experience when the time is right leave this live blog be and live in the moment. If so inclined come back later and update it. Don't miss a moment of your cruise for this thread. It can and will wait for you. Woohoo! Cruise day is near! JLMoran, SpeedNoodles, KristiZ and 1 other 3 1 Quote
Sweety Posted June 14, 2019 Report Posted June 14, 2019 I will be following. I love Alaska. Have a full joy vacation. SpeedNoodles 1 Quote
JohnK6404 Posted June 14, 2019 Report Posted June 14, 2019 Enjoy your vacation together! We'll be following! Alaska is at the top of our dream vacation list. Happy Anniversary to you both and Happy Birthday to your husband! It's my 50th this year too (very sad, LOL) and our 15th anniversary (the "6 4 04" in my screen name). SpeedNoodles 1 Quote
Vacation Crazy Posted June 14, 2019 Report Posted June 14, 2019 Enjoy every minute of your Alaskan adventure! I'll be following along. SpeedNoodles 1 Quote
Traveler Posted June 14, 2019 Report Posted June 14, 2019 Following, have a great cruise. SpeedNoodles 1 Quote
The Cruise Junkie Posted June 14, 2019 Report Posted June 14, 2019 Following Along For This One @SpeedNoodles!!! SpeedNoodles 1 Quote
WannaCruise Posted June 14, 2019 Report Posted June 14, 2019 Congrats on your wedding anniversary and a 50th bday celebration! Wonderful reasons to celebrate. Looking forward to hearing about the ship and your holiday. SpeedNoodles 1 Quote
JLMoran Posted June 14, 2019 Report Posted June 14, 2019 Congrats on the anniversary and milestone birthday! Have a fantastic trip! Oh, and... FOLLOWING! SpeedNoodles 1 Quote
Lovetocruise2002 Posted June 14, 2019 Report Posted June 14, 2019 Happy Anniversary! SpeedNoodles 1 Quote
WAAAYTOOO Posted June 14, 2019 Report Posted June 14, 2019 So happy to see your live blog has begun. Happy for your birthdays and anniversaries. I know you're going to have a wonderful time. Good luck with creature sightings and fun events. SpeedNoodles 1 Quote
firebuck Posted June 15, 2019 Report Posted June 15, 2019 Happy Anniversary, you two! Can't wait to follow along on your Alaskan adventure! Just a short 91 more days 'til we're on her. SpeedNoodles 1 Quote
12thman Posted June 16, 2019 Report Posted June 16, 2019 Happy anniversary and birthday!! Enjoy the magical journey!! SpeedNoodles 1 Quote
Skid Posted June 16, 2019 Report Posted June 16, 2019 Hey @SpeedNoodles, you started only a week early, meaning you were late! Happy anniversary, happy birthday and happy sailing! And @JohnK6404, happy belated anniversary to you guys! JLMoran, SpeedNoodles, JohnK6404 and 1 other 1 3 Quote
FManke Posted June 16, 2019 Report Posted June 16, 2019 On 6/13/2019 at 10:49 PM, SpeedNoodles said: Mr. SpeedNoodles and I have not been on a vacation for 10 years (yes, you read that correctly). When we took our first cruise, that was the first time my wife and I had been on vacation, for more than 3 nights without our sons since before our oldest was born.... in 1994! Enjoy! Looking forward to your live blog! SpeedNoodles 1 Quote
Magandsons Posted June 18, 2019 Report Posted June 18, 2019 I can't wait to follow along! My family and I will board Ovation on June 28 so following you will give me a great break in packing my family of 4. Quote
Colbysmom Posted June 18, 2019 Report Posted June 18, 2019 So we will be getting on the cruise after you and I will be celebrating my 50th. So save some food and drinks for us Quote
BTE Posted June 18, 2019 Report Posted June 18, 2019 Happy Anniversary! We are doing the same itinerary this Aug so will be following along for tips & advice. Enjoy & have a great time. Quote
Kansas Cruiser Posted June 18, 2019 Report Posted June 18, 2019 Following along - we will be on Radiance July 5 (southbound). I think you will visit some of the same ports we will be in, so looking forward to your comments! Congratulations on your anniversary! Quote
TheHobbys Posted June 19, 2019 Report Posted June 19, 2019 @SpeedNoodles - hope you have a great cruise. My dad just got off this one the last week in May and they seemed to enjoy it. Which is funny, cause they seem to like the older ships. I'm waiting on 2021 dates to come out for this cruise for our family to hit up ... interested to see your thoughts on the ship. Like @twangster said, enjoy the cruise and blog when you can. Just a thought, if you have a voice recorder on your phone - you could take 'voice' notes to remind yourself of stuff for blogging later .... SpeedNoodles 1 Quote
Sweety Posted June 19, 2019 Report Posted June 19, 2019 14 minutes ago, TheHobbys said: @SpeedNoodles - hope you have a great cruise. My dad just got off this one the last week in May and they seemed to enjoy it. Which is funny, cause they seem to like the older ships. I'm waiting on 2021 dates to come out for this cruise for our family to hit up ... interested to see your thoughts on the ship. Like @twangster said, enjoy the cruise and blog when you can. Just a thought, if you have a voice recorder on your phone - you could take 'voice' notes to remind yourself of stuff for blogging later .... Me too. TheHobbys 1 Quote
Andrew72681 Posted June 19, 2019 Report Posted June 19, 2019 10 hours ago, Sweety said: Me too. Another short little tip is to add things throughout the day as they happen in the reminders. Siri will “add things to the list” for example. Those short two to three word reminders may jog an entire paragraph later. Sweety 1 Quote
SpeedNoodles Posted June 23, 2019 Author Report Posted June 23, 2019 Ok, finally finding a little time to hook up the keyboard to the iPad and update! Days 1 and 2 - pre cruise: We flew out of Terminal 2 at the Mpls/St Paul area on Wednesday afternoon - my husband is terrified of flying, but we had a very smooth flight and his drugs lasted almost long enough. We’ll have to get another dose into him before landing next time - landing is not his favorite part of the flight! We grabbed an Uber from SeaTac and scored a very entertaining Uber driver for the drive to our hotel. We stayed at The Inn at El Gaucho in Belltown on 1st Avenue. I’ll add some photos in a bit (they are on my phone, I have to add them separately). It was nothing short of wonderful. It’s a small, 17-room, boutique hotel with a very laid-back, friendly atmosphere. The only drawback that I could see is that if you cannot navigate two flights of stairs it’s not for you, as there is no elevator (there is a luggage elevator but it can hold no passengers. Even the staff just loads the luggage on and walks down the stairs to meet the elevator). The evening front desk maven is Lee (fondly known by those who stay frequently/live there as Mama Lee). She is a wealth of information, and extremely welcoming. Each night in the beautiful lobby they have complimentary wine, which we took full advantage of. We will likely not consider staying anywhere else when we visit Seattle again in the future. It was a reasonably close walk to Pike Place (4-5 blocks, but who’s counting after wine?) On Wednesday night (after some wine, of course) we walked 2 blocks away and had dinner at Kaarage Satsuma - Mr SpeedNoodles had Kaarage Chcken and Setsuna fries - I had ramen. Everything was pretty amazing, at a good price, and filling. We then walked down to The Crocodile (home of grunge) where we had tickets to see Har Mar Superstar. As a side note, Har Mar Superstar originated in the Twin Cities and performed in his home town of Owatonna a week before we sailed, which is very close to our house, but we decided to just see him in Seattle. Prom Queen opened for him, and she was fabulous. On Thursday we got up and walked down to Pike Place Market, had some breakfast, then walked down and jumped on an Argosy Locks Tour cruise. It leaves out of the area next to the big Ferris wheel, goes north and takes you through the locks and Lake Union. I highly recommend this tour as well - it was the second time we’ve done it and it’s always enjoyable and informative. We had some drinks and appetizers at Pike Brewery, did a little shopping (Metzger’s Maps, The Purple Store, and Robot Sloth were of particular interest to me), went back for happy hour and then just had dinner in the El Gaucho restaurant below the hotel, then turned in for the night. The Inn at El Gaucho : "Wine" lobby Kaarage Satsuma: Karaage Chicken: Ramen: Plate that I wanted to steal, but didn't. The Cruise Junkie, ellcee, Eliza and 8 others 8 3 Quote
WAAAYTOOO Posted June 23, 2019 Report Posted June 23, 2019 I love the kitty plate !! SpeedNoodles and mom2mybugs 2 Quote
The Cruise Junkie Posted June 23, 2019 Report Posted June 23, 2019 Great Blog So Far!! SpeedNoodles 1 Quote
JLMoran Posted June 23, 2019 Report Posted June 23, 2019 OK, I have to know -- what kind of ramen?!? Tonkotsu? Starting to finally have some decent ramen options in NJ, but only decent... SpeedNoodles 1 Quote
SpeedNoodles Posted June 23, 2019 Author Report Posted June 23, 2019 1 hour ago, JLMoran said: OK, I have to know -- what kind of ramen?!? Tonkotsu? Starting to finally have some decent ramen options in NJ, but only decent... They didn't specify, and I'm more into pho than Ramen, so I'm not sure. Quote
mom2mybugs Posted June 23, 2019 Report Posted June 23, 2019 So excited to read your blog! The hotel sounds wonderful! Congrats on the wedding anniversary and bday!!!! Jane SpeedNoodles 1 Quote
Eliza Posted June 30, 2019 Report Posted June 30, 2019 Following along - appreciate the suggestions of things to do in Seattle. Doing an Ovation Alaska cruise in September and eagerly enjoying all the early reviews. Quote
Sweety Posted July 18, 2019 Report Posted July 18, 2019 How did you like the cruise? I am taking my parents. My parents love Anthem so this was an easy choice. Quote
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