"Welcome Ladies and Gents for your grand adventure aboard the SS Legacy!" Our journey had begun and it appeared there would not be a dull moment onboard as the Heritage Team introduced themselves. Their goal: to make the Alaska Gold Rush come alive for us again. My sister and I had just arrive from Seattle that morning to Juneau. We …

This morning on our schedule we have a visit to Skagway and Haines. We began the morning disembarking in Skagway which was the gateway to the Gold Rish back in the 1800s. It was a bit like stepping back in time in this quaint little town. We were met at the docks by our drivers and guides in their supped up 1800s vans.

The tour through Skagway …

Our scheduled for today was titled "Cruising for Critters" meaning we'd spend the day in passage from Glacier Bay down to Sitka and hopefully find something in between to keep us content as guests onboard. There were several items on the schedule. Yoga was in the morning followed by our scheduled massages. Then a poker tournament …

Cruising down the Canadian Coast - August 30

This morning we heard first mate Katie’s voice over the loudspeaker. “Well folks, if you’re not looking out your window or on deck. . . you should be! This boat is blessed with some amazing wildlife karma.” We pulled on coats and shoes to race out our cabin door onto the deck …

In the wee dark hours of the morning we picked up Ranger Brad from the entrance of Glacier Bay National Park. Every vessel that comes into the park must have a ranger onboard. We lucked out with Ranger Brad who is a wealth of knowledge on the glaciology and wildlife biology of the region. It is astounding that just 250 year ago Glacier Bay was all …

Day two of our cruise it becomes apparent that we'll need to take up some sort of activity to avoid gaining ten pounds in the next week. Eating five times a days will have that effect on a person. Luckily for us they offer a morning and afternoon yoga class on the covered upper deck. Breathing deeply and looking out over the water makes you …

About halfway through our cruise we made it to Sitka, Alaska. I had been looking forward to this day because of the sea kayaking excursion my sister and I opted to do. Some of the guests on board chose to continue on into the town and a group of us were shuttled down to the pier. We had a brief safety demonstration and rundown from our guides …

Alaska is not only a wildlife-rich destination. It is a culturally-rich destination as well. I hadn't consider this as much as I should have before I booked my cruise. However, I was very grateful in the end for the knowledge and experiences of the native Tlingit tribes we were able to see on our trip. The word Tlingit is pronounced …

Looking back on our cruise aboard the SS Legacy, we had so many unexpected and amazing memories. We truly felt blessed beyond expectations with the number of whales, orca, and other animals we encountered along the route. I had expected to feel like we were one of many cruise ships touring around Alaska but for most of our trip, we felt completely …