I gave a lot of thought to what Dan wrote while I was out and I definitely agree with him and understand what he is saying. I think that many fellow guests may have been stressed from the travelling also, I know the people in the cabin next to me, almost missed the ship because they drove up to tour (from Calif) and the line at the boarder was so long they were really worried they would miss the ship. They were very nice but they seemed very tired and stressed the embark day.

I know for us personally, we were tired from a full day on shore and that is why we probably had trouble enjoying the long dinners, and we wanted to get to the cabin and hubby wanted to download his pics on his portable flashtrax (or whatever that gadget is) so he would be ready for the next day and his cameras all ready again with charged batteries etc.

What Dan said and you Marcie, makes perfect sense to me and I really appreciated those comments and advice.

What I think I would do for another Alaska cruise, assuming we have the time, is book a Vancouver to Wittier, get off in Wittier and tour on land and then book back from Wittier to Vancouver, this would give us 2 days in each port plus time to see what we want in the other parts of Alaska. For this of course we need the time and hopefully will have it in the future.

But you live and learn through others as I have through all of you and by experience of just doing.

What Dan and Marcie said, made me also think why some things were so "rushed and pushed" because people wanted to experience everything which I don't blame them and it was so "port intensive" that it became stressful for some people to try. I know I missed a lot of stuff on the cruise that while didn't interest hubby, I would have perhaps enjoyed but just couldn't be in two places at the same time or just didn't have the stamina or energy to try.

Thanks Dan and Marcie, what you wrote makes a lot of sense and is very much appreciated.
:) )))