Disney Cruise, Day 5

Another day, another glacier.

We took a bus to another glacier and museum.  It was raining but then it was Alaska. 

When it is not snowing it is raining.

More frozen snow and bright blue ice.

Still smiling.

Then it stopped raining and we took a whale watching trip.  We saw lots of whales but the odds were not with us for getting a photo.

That buoy was covered in seals.  Apparently they like laying around out of the cold water.

The whale watching boat took us

 

 to this lodge for a delicious salmon lunch with the best rolls ever.

 

 This indoor tide pool had starfish and other sea creatures you could touch.  Eeeww.

Bryce was so happy to find this flat rectangle rock that he could write on with his "pencil" rock.

We saw the Alaskan Ferry on our boat ride.

When we got back to the ship it was pirate night and there were pirates everywhere.

Bryce had more than one discussion with Peter Pan about not growing up.

I am just glad Peter Pan wasn't a girl which I do not understand.  Why can't a boy be cast as a boy?

We are not sure if Bryce even knew of Captain Jack Sparrow but he was a captive audience.

Jack appeared to be straight off the Black Pearl.

Bryce said he knew Will Turner (okay right, Grandpa William Turner) and a pirates life was for him.

If Mickey and Stitch were getting on the pirate ship so was Bryce.

If a pirate can be called cute.....

and by now he was a complete pro posing for a photo.

And monkey towels are for pirates.

Cruise to Alaska, Day 4

Bryce was excited to get up and see a train because he was going to take a ride on the White Pass and Yukon Route railway. 

The train took the same rails that had carried the gold miners to the Klondike Gold rush in the 1890's.  It is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. A designation shared with the Panama Canal, the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty.  It climbs 3000 feet in just 20 miles. I am not positive Bryce cared about all of that.

Meanwhile Lonny and Emily took a Zodiac watercraft for a ride up a fjord (I have actually never used that word in a sentence.  It was supposed to be wild and wet, thus the enormous waterproof attire, but I think it was fairly tame)

to see waterfalls

and more waterfalls,

seals lying around sunbathing

and eagles.

And then they came back.

Meanwhile back on the train.....

Bryce had such a good day wearing his orange shirt the day before that he decided to wear it again.  Which is probably why the people behind us on the train recognized him immediately as the boy that had won Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer?  (He is wearing his pin on his shirt.) He took it all in stride being a celebrity.

They told us the story of the Alaskan gold rush and the building of the train tracks as we went higher up the mountain.

We could see where we were headed. Up that hill.  Once we got to the top the seats folded down to face the other direction. We are use to roller coasters where the return trip is taken facing backwards but it is good to see where you are going.

There is a tunnel up ahead and a rickety bridge we are traveling upon.

We did not cross this old trestle bridge, something about it being extremely unstable and broken down, whatever.

Mickey was always game for an adventure.

It was fun for all of us.

Bryce loves Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse.  I loved riding the rails and cruising with this happy boy.

 

 

 

 

 

And to end the day ice cream and a bunny rabbit.

Cruise to Alaska, Day 3

Dress warm because we are headed to a glacier!   I have never seen a glacier before and did not know what to expect.

The best view was from our room balcony.  The ship slowly sailed up Tracy Arm to reach the glacier, the temperature dropping as we neared.

The water was such an odd color.

This is what I thought a glacier looked like in this photo.  White frozen snow.

As we sailed we saw more snow,

more waterfalls, and more ice in the water.

And then there was the glacier around the bend.

The ice is blue.  Bright blue.

It was pretty amazing how close we were to the glacier from our cabin.  The captain of the Titanic was not sailing our ship.

We ventured outside to get another view from the front of the ship.  Turns out we found evidence of  Emily's adventures.  The Disney Cruise has a teen club that Emily spent half of her time.  She made friends that she still talks to now 6 months later.  The last night of the cruise they showed a video and there was Emily.  Her friends are Disney Cruise veterans.  They have tried planning their next cruise experience.  We will see how that works out.

 

Turns out lots of characters were out on the deck.

Bryce decided Stitch was one of his favorite people so how fortunate he was everywhere.

Turns out Bryce fits just right under Pluto's paw.

The ship turned around at the glacier.  There were sea lions lounging on the ice everywhere and they were noisy.  I guess we should use a real camera instead of our phones.

So now you know, glacier ice is blue.

Chip and Dale caught on quick to Bryce's football shirt suggesting 

that after they hike the ball he run long for the pass.

And just like you would expect with bears,

bear hugs.

Lots of bear hugs.

Okay, everyone is hugging.

And maybe the funniest event of the entire cruise was when Bryce was selected out of the audience to play Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer?  That's him and Emily up front answering the questions.  He took Emily up there with him because he is five.  He answered the last question contrary to his help but he won.  The first winner of the night!

The winner's pin.

And an elephant to end the day.