Alaskan Cruise ~ Norwegian Cruise Lines – It’s July 10th, and we’re on a boat full of what seems to be predominantly baby boomers headed for an Alaskan cruise up the Inside Passage.

We’re aboard the Norwegian Cruise Line’s “Pearl” and in the photograph above we are pulling away from Seattle’s dock #66 at precisely 4:00.

Not surprisingly, our cabin was small, but featured all the comforts of a luxury hotel room.  We enjoyed a king size bed, our own private balcony looking out over the passing sea, and a waitstaff ready to serve our every need.

Cruise Travel Tip:  Make certain to keep any items that you will want, upon checking in your room, with you.  With many thousands of pieces of luggage to deliver, it will take them a few hours to get your luggage to you.  I found myself wishing that I had kept a few things aside.

WiFi is readily available, but it is very expensive ($50/hr.) and slow.  The log-in screen gives a warning that states that you should be aware that transmission times are significantly slower than a cable connection.

We had planned to do a short video recap of each day, but with slow transmission times, this doesn’t seem practical.  So we will communicate with a textual article each day, and then produce a video highlight when we get back home.

As we started our journey through Puget Sound, I caught this photograph of a Holland American cruise ship following us.  Rising 14,400 and peaking through the clouds in the background is Seattle’s famous volcano: Mt. Rainier.

As we continued our journey, we passed along Olympic National Park and I found this glorious scene to share with you.

Well, that’s it for today.  The sun has now set and it’s time to head out for dinner.  See you tomorrow!

Note:  All photographs were taken with a Nikon D7000 that Nikon USA has sent us for our review.  When we get home, I will be sharing some of the really cool features available with the Nikon D7000.