George Black Ferry crossing the Yukon River at Dawson City

I've never had much desire to go on a cruise and there are some things that have made it seem even less appealing such as occasionally having vertigo, occasionally getting seasick, and now having no stomach. My husband's brother and sister-in-law, on the other hand, loved cruising and did it often. As they were nearing the end of their life, my husband started talking about using some of the inheritance money we would receive and doing a cruise in their memory. I couldn't say “no”. On one of their cruises, they had received an upgrade to a Neptune Suite and Donna told Gary that she didn't care if she had to wash dishes, that's how they were cruising from then on. So, our plan was to cruise in a Neptune suite. My husband, Keith, even shared our plans with Gary and Donna before their death and they were very pleased to hear of our plans.

When Keith started talking about the cruise and doing the research, he was looking into Mediterranean cruises. I asked him why there and he started talking about all the ports. I told him all the ports were places we could go to on our own and that the only times I have been tempted by a cruise were when I saw pictures of Alaskan cruises, including those taken by Gary and Donna on their multiple trips. With Alaska, you can see places from the ship that you can't see otherwise. Keith enjoys travel planning as a hobby and I usually just let him do it, often not knowing the details of where we're going until we're in the car on our way. But when I do offer input, he does listen, and he changed his course to planning an Alaskan cruise.

We started the conversation early in COVID, but wanted to wait till COVID “was over”. We were looking at going in May 2023, but it was January before Keith figured out exactly what he wanted to do and then it was no longer available, so we waited and went this year. The Holland America tour we ended up with went north from Vancouver with a week of land and then cruised south from Whittier, Alaska, for a week and ended back in Vancouver.

Day 1 – Friday, June 28, 2024 – Traveling from Kansas City to Vancouver

We flew into Vancouver a couple of days early. With a 1:50 flight out of Kansas City, we had planned to eat lunch at the airport, but didn't allow enough time (still adjusting to the new KCI), so grabbed BBQ to go just before we boarded the plane. I've always enjoyed unsweetened iced tea, but it has 100% been my go-to drink post-gastrectomy. When flying, I look for bottles past security to get to take on the plane and then ask for a cup of ice during beverage service. I had checked a couple of places and they only had flavored or sweet tea. The BBQ place didn't have tea in bottles either, but I was delighted to find they had it in the fountain. Knowing one cup wouldn't be enough, I poured the tea into the Yeti cup I brought with me and got a refill. The only problem, there wasn't room for the refill in the Yeti cup, so I was now balancing my carry-on, the food, and two drinks. I somehow survived without spilling and managed to eat the tasty burnt ends on the plane without making a huge mess. Success! I didn't finish the overpriced burnt ends (airport pricing) but my husband finished them off after eating his meal, so no food was wasted.

Heading into Denver, we had quite a bit of turbulence and I wasn't feeling great, but took a couple of tums and made it through. The landing was the roughest I recall ever experiencing. It was like the runway came faster than the pilot was expecting. My husband actually bumped his head on the seat in front of us.

I always pack lots of snacks when flying, making sure I have plenty even if we get delayed on the tarmac. It wasn't until a year or so ago that I learned blue ice is permitted in carry-ons, as long as it is completely frozen. I have a small cooler bag that I put blue ice and cheese in. I can also fit one bottle of iced tea in it, if any had been available. Other snacks I pack include beef jerky, protein bars, and nuts. And of course, there's the airline provided snacks. I don't recall what all I ate, but I had enough to make it through. Even though we were a few minutes late leaving Denver, we arrived on time in Vancouver, landing at 6:19 local time. By the time we got our luggage and got to dinner, it was after 8, which meant it was after 10 Kansas City time.

By this time, it had been long enough since I had my last snack that I was hungry (yes, I experience hunger, it just feels different than it did when I had a stomach). Sometimes in the past I've had an issue where I've gotten too hungry and then basically couldn't eat. Fortunately, 7 years post-gastrectomy, my body has adjusted more, and this wasn't an issue. I was disappointed to learn that Canadians only do sweet tea and unsweet tea wasn't an option.

After dinner, we went to the hotel room and were in bed by 10:30.

Day 2 - Saturday, June 29, 2024 - Vancouver (Chinatown, Gastown, and North Vancouver)

After breakfast at the hotel, we took the SkyTrain into town and then a bus into Chinatown. We arrived about 10:30 for an 11:00 "Wok Around Chinatown" tour. Since we had time to kill, we wandered around a little, but then about 10:50 tried to find where we were supposed to be and couldn't find it. A couple of text messages and a phone call, and we finally met up with the guide and the rest of the group a little after 11. The four-hour tour included learning about Chinatown and eating along the way. I wasn't quite sure how it was all going to work out because if we were eating every 20 minutes, for instance, I likely wouldn't be able to eat that much or that often as I usually need an hour or so between times of eating. While the guide was going over the schedule at the lovely Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, we learned that the stops were going to include BBQ, a couple of bakeries for a surprise pastry (which turned out to be an apple tart), a lemon custard, and then finishing up with a dim sum lunch. We had not understood the dim sum to all be at one place, so that adjusted my expectations and also let me know that we weren't getting a full lunch until likely after 2:00.

As always, I had snacks with me and as it was approaching 11:30, I had a debate with myself of whether to eat a snack or not as I still wasn't clear on how long it would be to the first food stop. I decided to have a few nuts and I'm glad I did. We toured the garden and then had a first tea (hot tea) stop and then went down the road to Chinatown BBQ. We stayed outside while our tour guide went inside and then brought out two different types of roasted pork, one savory and one sweet BBQ. My snack had been light enough that I had no problem eating both pork dishes. It was just a sampling, so had no issue with being full.

The next stop was New Town bakery where the guide brought out delicious apple tarts. I wasn't sure that I should, but I ate the whole thing and fortunately, didn't regret it later. We then went to the Chinese museum. We didn't have time to tour the museum, but the guide told us about the Chinese immigration to Canada, including that of his family.

Next stop was the Chinatown Story Telling Centre where we learned even more about early Chinese in Canada and learned that up until World War II, the Chinese were considered residents, not citizens and it wasn't until after the War when some volunteered to fight for Canada that they were granted citizenship. A stop at an herbal medicine shop and then to The Boss bakery where we had the lemon custard. This time, I chose to just have a few bites of Keith's.

After a brief stop at a shop that sells family worship supplies and explain that custom, we went to the oldest Chinese tea shop in Vancouver and sampled both hot tea and iced tea. The iced tea was flavored and sweetened with honey but wasn't too bad. Thought about making a purchase, but the group was waiting, so I didn't.

Next up was the Dim Sum lunch. Our guide had preordered 10-12 different dishes. I was able to sample all except the last one which came after I was already full. Some of the dishes were ones I have had previously when I've had Dim Sum and some were new.

After Chinatown, we went to Gastown and walked around, checking out various shops and the famous Steam Clock.

Since I have a need to drink between meals to stay hydrated, I pretty much carry a drink with me all the time. In the morning, it's water and then I switch to tea at lunch. With not having unsweetened iced tea available, I made hot tea in the hotel room and refrigerated it overnight (using the bottle that I had managed to purchase in the Denver airport), so it was cold in the morning. I filled my Yeti cup with ice and water in the morning, and then when the water was gone, switched to the tea. That made it through most of the afternoon. I had run out of ice, but still had tea when I saw a Subway in the SkyTram station and asked if I could get some ice and was able to return my tea to iced tea. We took the SeaBus to North Vancouver for dinner.