For our 50th Wedding Anniversary next May we've decided to do an Alaska cruise. This will be our first cruise ever so I'm quite excited about it. I love the idea of no flying anywhere. People come from all over the world to do this so it does make sense for us to do something in our backyard and I think it will be a good introduction to cruising. Who knows, we might get hooked!
We decided to do the Island Princess because that is the boat (obviously not the original) that Jim’s parents were on. When I started teaching, this was our gift to Jim's parents to thank them for letting us live in their basement when we were students. My mother-in-law was apparently very frightened and spent the first night awake with a flashlight. They only went through with it because we had paid so much for it. But, in the end, it was the best holiday they ever had. Greer Garson was on the boat and very gracious talking to everyone. They were quite thrilled. They loved ballroom dancing so it was perfect for them. For the Captain's Ball, my mother-in-law wore the bridesmaid dress I wore at Roger and Kerry's wedding.
We remember looking at the menus. I wish I still had them. They always chose the most boring thing. Three choices like “pheasant under glass” and they chose “roast beef”. Jim’s grandfather was living with them at the time and went with them in his own cabin. He was a real sweetheart and I loved him very much. I hadn’t known either of my grandfathers. There is quite a good photo (taken by the cruise ship) of him in a British type bar. He was a Scot. What was really funny was that when they came home, I served them grilled cheese sandwiches and apologized since they had been having such wonderful food. Jim’s grandfather took me aside and “ Janice, this is the best food I’ve had in a week!”. Well, he had to get dressed up to dine and leave his teeth in…
Thanks, Linda, for organizing everything for us and all the inside information!
