This is one of my rare trips where I had a companion; and in this case, it was Erin, one of my two best friends in the world. I had originally planned to go on this cruise alone, and while I think I could have managed it, everything was definitely easier--and more fun--because she was with me. We both arranged to fly into Vancouver the day before the cruise so we could relax a little and not be so rushed to get to the ship.  I can't speak enough about how incredibly wheelchair accessible Vancouver is as a city. I had no trouble getting a wheelchair taxi from the airport to the hotel, and our room at the Sheraton Wall Center in downtown Vancouver was very accessible. The bathroom was small, but the roll in shower was absolutely wonderful.

The next morning, we had a leisurely breakfast and did a little bit of shopping before taking a taxi to the port.  Our cruise was on Princess cruise lines' Star Princess, which holds only roughly 2700 passengers, but the boarding process was the cattle call anyway. I won't bore you with the details, but the important thing is to say I had no trouble getting through any of the rooms or the lines in my scooter. Once we made it onto the ship, we went to our cabin to start unpacking our stuff. We had an accessible cabin with a balcony on the Baja deck, and it was incredibly spacious. I had plenty of room in the bathroom to maneuver, and the roll in shower had plenty of space and grab bars for me to get to the fold-down seat in the middle. The twin beds were, well, twin beds, and not super comfortable; I'm sure the mattresses were quite old, but I was able to get enough sleep each night.

After getting settled, we went to get something to eat, then headed out on the deck to watch our departure through the channel. We explored the ship as best we could, and started looking for fun things to do that night after dinner. Erin and I are both huge fans of music and karaoke, so we were doing one or the other pretty much every night on the cruise.

The first full day of the cruise was spent at sea on the way to the inside passage, so we slept in, had breakfast in bed, played bingo, and just a bunch of other cruiseship activities. We got a little dressed up that night, and took part in the ship's version of the voice singing competition's preliminaries. All throughout the day and the evening, I had no problem getting around the ship on my scooter. There were some areas leading to outside decks where the doors were very heavy and the ramps to get over the doorway thresholds were quite steep. There is always someone around, so had I been by myself I'm sure I would've had some help. But it was definitely nice to have Erin there with me to open the doors.

I don't know how we managed to luck out on this cruise that we actually docked in Sitka.  Normally this is a tender port, which would have made it off-limits to me, so we felt very lucky. Instead of taking my electric scooter, I decided it would be wise to rent a manual wheelchair in case there were some places I couldn't get into otherwise. I never would've been able to do this if Erin hadn't been with me to push my chair.

The town of Sitka is located on a small but very scenic island off the coast of mainland Alaska. In the late 1800s it was controlled by Russia, so it has a large Russian cultural influence. We signed up for a "Birds, Bears, & Barnacles" accessible tour that took us to a birds of prey rehabilitation center, where we got to see bald eagles up close. It was absolutely amazing!  There were also many other species of raptors at the center in different stages of recovery from various injuries. After that, we went to a rehabilitation facility for bears. They had grizzly bears and black bears, and there were also many bald eagles just flying around like it was no big deal. Maybe for them, but for me it was absolutely incredible to see our national symbol just flying around in the wild.  Our third and final stop was at a small Aquarian and fish hatchery.

We had some free time after the tour, so we went to get a late lunch before heading back to the ship. In the midst of eating some of the best fried halibut nuggets of my life, I was introduced by our Latin waiter to a waitress who is from--you'll never guess--Cuba! Trust me, it's weird running into a Cuban outside of Florida, let alone in Alaska. I was thrilled!  We finally headed back to the ship, got cleaned up, and enjoyed another wonderful evening of singing and good times with new friends.

I had seriously been anticipating this day when we would be cruising on water like glass and hopefully watching some glaciers cleave. So imagine my disappointment when I woke up and saw nothing but fog and a misty drizzle. However, Erin soon lifted my spirits by reminding me that we had scheduled a luxury champagne breakfast that morning on our balcony to enjoy while cruising past the glaciers.  I don't even remember everything that came with the breakfast, but I do remember that it was absolutely amazing. Erin took the comforters off of our beds, then put them on the two chairs on the balcony so we could wrap ourselves up. After getting ourselves bundled up in warm clothing, she helped me get over the lip onto the balcony and seated comfortably. Then we just started eating and drinking for the next three hours. I was so comfortable in my clothing and that comforter that I actually napped for 30 minutes in my chair!

Despite the low hanging clouds, we actually had a really good view since we sailed so close to the mountains and the glaciers. We got some really great photos, and the rain never got much harder than a very soft drizzle. The other side of the ship actually got to see part of one of the glaciers cleave off, and although we were disappointed to not see it, we did hear it like a shotgun blast.  The mist also lent a very ghostlike quality to the scenery that I enjoyed just as much, I think, as I would have a clear day.

Technically this was the day we were scheduled to dock in Juneau, but I only knew it as helicopter day. I don't remember the last time I had been this nervous in my whole life. I had been on a large military helicopter, but never in a private sightseeing helicopter. I was so worried that we had anticipated this tour for so long and the weather wouldn't be great. Fortunately, the sun was shining and I couldn't have been happier! But first we had some time to kill before our afternoon tour. So we decided to take a cable car up to the top of the small mountain nearby. There was a small gift shop and a large viewing area where we got some awesome panoramic shots of the port. Afterwards, our wheelchair accessible taxi driver took us around Juneau for about a 30 minute windshield tour of the capital city.

Finally it was time for the tour!  We decided to go with Era Helicopters, which cost about twice as much as other tours, but this one hailed itself as fully accessible. We weren't sure what they meant, until it was time to get me in the helicopter. They had modified a stair lift by basically cutting it in half. I transferred from my wheelchair into the stair lift, which raised me to the exact level of the back of the helicopter where I could just slide over into my seat. It was absolutely amazing!  As for the tour itself, the flight was perfectly smooth, and over the course of two hours we saw some of the most amazing scenery I've ever laid eyes on in my life. We landed on top of the top of the Taku glacier, and later at the bottom of the Lemon glacier. An absolutely once-in-a-lifetime experience I will never forget!

We were scheduled to spend a full day in Ketchikan, so we were able to schedule two tours. We started the day with the extremely comedic Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show right across from the dock.  It was a very sunny, albeit windy, day so everybody was already in a great mood. The show was comprised of two competing teams, one from Canada and one from the United States. They took part in all sorts of lumberjack events involving cutting tools and large pieces of wood, with no small amount of smack talking and comedic gestures. It was only a little over an hour long, but it was absolutely hilarious and very family-friendly. We also got some fun pictures with a lumberjacks afterwords, which I will NEVER complain about!

Next up, we boarded the Aleutian Ballad, one of the retired fishing/crabbing vessels from the TV show "Deadliest Catch" for the Crab Fishermen's Tour.  During the ensuing three hours, we learned how fishermen in the waters off the coast of Alaska catch various kinds of fish and Alaskan King crab. We also learned why the show is called "Deadliest Catch." The stories the tour guides told us were absolutely mesmerizing and terrifying all at once.  However, the best part of the tour was when we stopped just off the coast of a small island controlled by a small local Native American tribe. There must have been hundreds of bald eagles waiting in the trees for us. The tour guides started cutting up pieces of fish, and tossing them into the water.  And that was when the show began! Imagine anywhere between 50 to 100 wild bald eagles coming in and grasping these pieces of fish out of the water with their huge talons. It was absolutely awe-inspiring!  I had no trouble being rolled to the edge of the boat to watch, or to get to and from a comfortable place for the entire tour. I don't know if I would have been able to go to the bathroom, but since the tour was only three hours I didn't have to worry about it, fortunately. The tour guides were so incredibly nice and made sure that all my needs were taken care of. And we got some great pictures with them afterwards!

I don't think I mentioned it earlier, but Erin and I both made the finals for the onboard "The Voice" singing competition. We had done a couple of rehearsals, and that night was big show. We mostly relaxed during the day playing bingo and trivia and eating.  We had made some really good friends during the whole process, and that was easily the best part. We got all dressed up and headed to the ship's theater, where they worked out a way to carry me up the stage to the backstage area since there was no elevator or lift. There were plenty of strong people to get me where I needed to go, so it was no problem!

Just like on the TV show, which actually sanctions and organizes this competition on cruise ships all over the world, we sang, and if we got picked by the judges, we had to pick one of them to be our coach. Erin and I both made it to the top three…and I got selected as the winner by the audience!  It was all very exciting, and I was very humbled to receive such an honor for doing something that I so very much enjoy. Afterward, we got together at one of the ship's lounges to celebrate. It was really fun to socialize with the other singers, who by now had become our friends, and the judges as well.  It was the last night of the cruise, so we stayed up late and made the most of it!

We arrived in port very early the last day, and we were absolutely exhausted from a late night. We stayed at the same hotel as when we arrived, and immediately got in bed for a long nap! Afterwards, we summoned the energy to do a little bit of sightseeing in Vancouver. We went to the local market and did some window shopping, then went to Coast, a seafood restaurant I had been to during my first visit to Vancouver about 10 years ago. The food was fortunately just as amazing as it was back then. With full bellies, we went to bed early and headed to the airport the next morning. We were sad to go back home, but happy that we made so many wonderful memories together in Alaska!