Alaskan Adventures Day 3: At Sea

We woke up among the ocean waves and started our day by seeing splashes in the distance. Thank goodness Papaw gave us binoculars because we quickly searched the water and saw…. WHALES! We think they were minky or a similar small whale. We went and found Sydney, who was at the buffet breakfast with Nana, Uncle H, and DD. 

The day consisted of exploring the ship, watching the ocean for signs of sea life, and taking part in some of the shipboard activities. Sydney pretty much has no desire to hang out with us, only asking to go back to the “tree house” over and over again. So, why not take advantage of the free childcare! She made a worm, a fish, a t-shirt, and had an ice cream party today! Admittedly (I said honestly, remember?), there really is not much to entertain her on the ship outside of the tree house. It is usually open all day with the exception of a 2 hour shift in the middle and a dinner break. They have a system where they give you a pager in case they need you for anything and you truly just drop the kid off and come back when you’re ready (during their hours). When we go to meals afterward, Sydney says hi to every kid she passes because she met them at the tree house. When the tree house isn’t open, we are thankful we brought coloring books and small toys to entertain her. Luckily, she is at an age where she has a great imagination and plays cars with fruit loops at breakfast and makes up stories at dinner at night.

Beautiful views from the ship.

We also hung out in the hot tub today – and while it wasn’t frigid out, it wasn’t warm. I don’t know if we will do that again! We hit the fitness facility and it was well-stocked. There was a decent free weight selection and a ton of machines. Every machine was taken but we are more into free weights and were able to use those while whale watching. Little did we know, when we went out the door to see the whales, we would be locked out of the fitness facility and have to go around! 

A gorgeous sunset.

We explored the boat and saw some seals playing in kelp, saw dolphins (or a porpoise of some sort) out the dining room window, and tons of jelly fish. We ended the night with a formal dinner and pictures and then watched a gorgeous sunset and listened to a few different bands play before turning in for the night. We have an early morning tomorrow!

All dressed up.