A Cruise to Port Alberni

Chris and I just got back from spending a week with his parents on a cruise ship from Vancouver to Seattle to Port Angelos to Victoria to Port Alberni and then back to Vancouver. It is true...the coastline is beautiful!

Our adventure began with a flood just outside our cabin, even before we left port. Those in charge, gave us 2 options:
1. Get off the ship and re-book another cruise
2. Get off and stay in Vancouver then bus down to Seattle the next day.

We really did not want to leave the cruise ship as wanted to spend as much time together with Chris' parents on this family vacation. They were willing to take us into their own cabin for the night, but Chris told those in charge that our room was not that bad. Our floor was only sopping wet up to a certain point and really there was no reason why we could not sleep in the cabin. We would just be understanding of the situation and allow the stewards to clean up as they needed to.

This is what a hallway is supposed to look like:
This is what ours looked like:

The water pipe had busted in the hall and spilled water all down the hallway and into various rooms, some more damaged than others.

The friendly dehumidifier guys:

So we did end up staying on ship. Thank God for small blessings like that.

In Seattle we visited Pike Place where they throw the fish. It is a means of getting the fish from the display ice to the packaging counter -- throwing the fish across the 10 feet instead of walking it over.


We did not get off ship in Port Angelos.

In Victoria, we visited the wharf where the seals were being fed by tourists.




Then off to the parliament buildings. While we did not go in them on this trip, we did get to see their nice green roofs from afar.



I was too tired to walk all the way back to the ship, so we opted for a neato date -- a bicycle tour. We learned some interesting things about the city. For instance, according to Ian (our bicyclist) the man who got the contract to design the parliament buildings only got it because he claimed to have designed some spectacular ones on his resume that actually it was his uncle who did them! One place he supposedly designed he would have had to have been 6 years old in order to do it.

Did I mention I was tired?

And pregnant? (Expecting for September...and the ultrasound says it is a boy!)

In Port Alberni, we were told that only 2 cruise ships are stopping there this year...so we were privileged to be one of them.


Notice the caption on the sign: "Welcome Statendam". I think everyone must have turned out for the grand arrival of the cruise ship. A celebration for a small town.

The evening entertainment on the ship was a variety of acts including ventriloquism, song and dance, and humor.



And the food was great. It is a most wonderful thing to go on a cruise and be pregnant at the same time! We enjoyed many dinners with Chris' parents.




And this time I understood when they served the last evening with a Baked Alaska dessert. Last time, in 2007, I confused the words "Baked Alaska" with "Alaskan Salmon" and thought we were having fish for desert. (Reference the Blog on September 29, 2007 for my confusion over the Baked Alaska).

Here the waiters are doing a special dance to serve the Baked Alaska.

This is what Baked Alaska looks like (neapolitan ice cream with a meringue topping)

What an adventure and a pleasant time to share with Chris' parents.

And where was Mikaya? She stayed at home in Kelowna with my parents while we were away. I would call often, just because I missed her so much. But she didn't have much to say on the phone...I am not sure she really understood that it was us on the other end!

While we were glad to have the few days to ourselves (and even got to sleep in...Mikaya wakes up at 7am every morning [weekdays and weekends]) we were so glad to come home to her. We really did miss her so much. And she changed while we were gone for the one week. In fact, she grew 3 new teeth!

During the week, my mom tells me, Mikaya would go to the stairs and look for us. "Muma? Dada?" And then go to our bedroom door and knock. "Muma? Dada?" But then move on to a different activity. So when we finally did come home, she didn't know what to do with us. She came to me easily, but not excitedly like she usually does after being at a babysitters. Then she clung to me until she saw that Grandma had ice cream. She had a harder time coming to me throughout the night as my parents stayed until the next day and she had grown very fond of Grandma and Grandpa, especially the donuts Grandpa brought home from Tim Hortons every morning. But after they left, she was fine with just us. Nice to know we were missed. I think she must have thought we were never coming back...although we did explain the situation to her before we left.

Some funnies:

The sign says, "Notice: Restricted Area" in the above photo. And that is our ship held captive in the restricted area! I thought it was funny.

Crew were painting the boat as we docked in Port Alberni. I wonder how much extra weight the boat carries because of the gallons of paint put on. I didn't even realize that it needed a paint job. But I hear (e.g.,) that Disneyland is re-painted every 2 months. So maybe it is common to paint big expensive places often, just for fun???