Cruising Alaska Style

By Shirley Price
Publisher, www.LifeByDesignOver50.com 
Guest Writer

From May till October I see my share of cruise ships. The reason is not because I am fortunate enough to be sailing on one that often, but because I live in Beautiful Vancouver, BC. Canada. It’s usually on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesday when the cruise ships leave dock at Canada Place for their trip out to Alaska. They pass my place in the late afternoons and early evenings. If I’m at home I can see them passing from my window. It’s an even better sight if I’m outdoors. I see them as I am walking the sea wall or when I’m sitting in the local waterfront park. There are ships of all sizes and a variety of cruise line names that pass by. They come back in to Vancouver to dock really early in the day. It’s quite a site to see the cruise ships come back in all lit up just as morning is starting to come to life, as they sail toward the sunrise.

Those that are fortunate enough to take the Alaska cruise have a real treat in store right from the get go. Especially if the weather is nice, you can enjoy the back drop of the city, Stanley Park, and the North Shore Mountains as you leave the dock and start your adventure. Not to be overshadowed by passing under the famous Lion’s Gate Bridge and heading out to sea towards a different kind of breath-taking scenery.

People from all over the world come to take an Alaska Cruise. Just last year my friend in Australia surprised her parents for their 50th anniversary. She’s from a very large family, and I mean large; like 17 kids. As you can imagine her parents hadn’t had the opportunity to do much traveling. For their special anniversary my friend and her siblings set a theme related to water. First they gave their parents a gift of an indoor water fountain, there were other small water related gifts too, then finally my friend gave them the tickets for their Alaska Cruise. As you can imagine they were ecstatic. She brought her parents to Vancouver to take them for what they said was the cruise of a lifetime. They were in total awe!

My cousin who lives locally just got back from Alaska this past weekend. She, her husband and another couple took the Alaska cruise for the first time. In her words exactly, “We had a fabulous time...the weather was terrific. I didn’t need a jacket, it was tee shirt weather except for when we went to the glaciers”. My cousin has done a lot of traveling over the years. She’s adamant that cruising is definitely her favorite way to vacation. They had a wonderful time on board ship, made some new friends and saw many magnificent sites including whales and other wild-life. Many travelers that have made this trip say that everyone should take an Alaska cruise at least once in their lifetime.

There are a great number of us that love to take vacations who are over 50. This especially applies to cruises. After all, it’s time to be pampered! Many travelers are already retired. When you are on a pension or any type of fixed income cost has to be considered. We all want to save where we can and always have lots of places to spend our money. The cost of traveling is a big factor in how many trips you will be able to take. Besides travel you probably have some other hobbies that you like to keep up as well, like playing golf or at least working on your golf swing. (You’ll find that the medicus swing trainer is ideal for doing just that.)

In order to make sure that you are not paying more than you need check out A1-Discount-cruises. Get the best prices that you can by booking early and if possible be flexible with your dates. Be smart and save where you can.

Of course Alaska is not the only place to take a cruise. But it is the cruise that is constantly described as more than a cruise but as a wonderful once in a lifetime experience or adventure. There’s little doubt that it’s a unique kind of cruise and one well worth taking.

By the way-if your cruise ship leaves from Vancouver, after you leave the dock and have passed under the Lions Gate Bridge look toward the mountains and I’ll probably see you passing- have a wonderful trip!

Author Bio:
Shirley’s a resident of the beautiful community of West Vancouver, British Columbia. Shirley Price is also the author of LifeByDesignOver50.com an over 50s social site. As someone that loves to travel, Shirley is planning to travel a lot more in the coming years.


For more information on cruises and tours to Alaska, check out some of our other interesting articles. To find the best deals on Alaska cruises and tours check out the merchant links on our cruise discount page.  Compare the values, book your cruise and tour on-line and get excited!


For more information about cruises to Alaska, other cruises and products choose from one of the following links:

Alaskan cruises for great cruise deals by many of the cruise lines!

Related articles for Alaskan and many other cruises and topics!