We went in May, I think it was memorial day week. We had freak weather. We expected to be chilly and have some spring rain everyday but the sun was shining all week. The Alaskan natives were actually laying on docks sunning themselves talking about how unusally nice it was. We flew into Anchorage and cruised down to Vancouver. We spent the night before the trip at a hotel and that is where we met the folks that had spent the week prior doing one of the land excursions on the train into the exterior. The hotel had put all their cruise suitcases into storage for them. Wanting to see more of the state and hearing the stories from those folks made me want to go back and do a two week land/cruise trip. I would choose to do the land based trip first and then follow up with the cruise with formal nights and massages. Why go from being fed and pampered to hiking and roughing it? I haven't tried all the cruise lines yet. I haven't tried Princess or Cunard, they are on my list. I favor Holland America and Royal Carribean. Last year I did my first 10 day cruise. Wow, that was great. Usually by the time you learn the whole ship it is time to get off. The 10 day allowed us to really unwind, we had two full weekends on the ship. They had floor mats with the day of the week on them in the elevator so you could keep track. The added benefit was not many kids at all. The longer cruises attract an older crowd from what I have been told. The short cheap ones are usually loaded with tons of kids these days. I have had some annoying moments with unruly kids. They tend to take over hot tubs even though there is a sign that says "No kids". One of the Royal Carribean ships was the first one I was on where there was a separate pool and lounge area for adults only. Sweet! You could actually read a book in peace. As far as the size of the ship goes. I hate the mega ships. Long lines for everything, not enough beach chairs by the pool. On some of the first mega ship designs there wasn't enough seating in the lounge for the shows. I had to sit through bingo just so I would have a seat for the show. I try to pick ships with around 1500 passengers but that gets harder and harder as they build them bigger. Now my rule is less than 2000 and an adult only area. I also look at the age of the ship and count the bars and pools to get a feel for the size. 2 bars = a bad old ship. The ships that do Alaska will probably not be the super mega ships because they have to get through the Panama Canal to get to their route. I was on a brand new Holland America ship for my Alaska cruise and we splurged on first class. I found the art and the fresh flowers really appealing. Some of the Carnival ships make me twitch. Can you imagine designing a pool on a cruise ship and using black tile on the edges where you sit? Thats Carnival. My musts for my next Alaska cruise would be a balcony. A newer ship with a glass retractable roof over the pool area. I also always choose my cabin to be midship close to an elevator, unless we are doing a last minute deal through Wills job. Then we get what we get. Our Alaska stops were Sitka, my favorite. The ship anchored and you were shuttled to your activity. We did sea kayaking with bald eagles soaring overhead. We also saw a bear in the distance as we were being ferried back to the ship on the super fast rubber raft. Our group was the only group to see a bear. Wish I had a super zoom then! We also stopped at Ketichan, I probably mangled the spelling. We took a bus to a camp in the rain forest and paddled a huge indian war canoe to a little camp in the woods where we were served lunch. I saw the biggest trees and plants that I have ever seen in my life at that site. In Junaeu we took a helicopter tour with two landings. Making a snow angel on a glacier is a once in a life time thing. I wish those pictures were digital so I could share. I think I wrote a book. LOL Can you tell I love cruises? One other thing I just thought of. A coworker took a cruise to Alaska last year and it was one of the new "free style" cruises where you did not have an assigned dinner table or time and she hated that feature. I can't remember why. I will ask her tomorrow.

Cartegena can be a tough area, too. It's been almost 10 years since I was there, but there were tons of armed soldiers throughout the city. I don't think we would have felt comfortable going out on a tour of our own. We loved going partially through the canal - my brother-in-law; however, said it was like watching paint dry, but if he wasn't gambling, he wasn't happy anyway. My husband and I thought it was fascinating to watch our ship be boarded by the canal pilot and escorted to the eastern (but really westernmost) entrance of the canal. Did you know that the eastern entrance is more west than the western entrance? We also had the opportunity to visit the San Blas islands, home of the Cuna Indians - it was quite an eye-opener to see the sea-level islands. Helene

GREAT!!!! I would have the pelican on the rock framed, Jodi, that is a great picture. You have the eye!!

Jannie, we too have Mallards in our neighborhood. Been showing up for years. Actually they roost in our front yard, the next door neighbor's yard, or at the curve on our cul-de-sac. There were here just last week while we had a large gathering of neighbors for a driveway party at our house. The pair of ducks sat six feet from us without a care in the world. I almost took a photo of them to post here but got busy and forgot. Anyhow, in the beginning there were three of them, two males and a female and we (the neighbors) named them Peter, Paul and Mary. At the time, the gal next door was crazy in love with a guy named Peter. One morning I get a tearful call from her telling me Peter had been run over. My heart just broke for her. I asked where it happened and she said ... "at the end of the cul-de-sac, didn't you see it this morning?" It was poor Peter the duck and while it was sad indeed, we crack up every time we tell the story to someone. The human Peter is alive and well. Jodi-