Glacier Bay

Our next adventure was a Day at Sea. We traveled through Glacier Bay National Park. The ship pulled right up next to the glaciers and parked. Off and on you’d hear thundering sounds, following by snow and ice chunks crashing into the sea. The glaciers are stunning, in particular, the frozen parts that are a solid blue (indicating zero oxygen). Each glacier in all their grandeur made me feel like I was looking at Elsa’s castle and made me miss Little Sister (and Brother too) a bit…but just a bit;)

Still wish my camera did any justice

Meanwhile, when you’re stuck at sea…there’s not much to do except go eat, or in our case, go to cupcake and tea parties. Here, Rob shows us the correct way to eat tea and “scrumpets”:

We also booked a reservation at the ship’s fancy restaurant (the kind where you actually pay money for the food). On our Disney Cruise, this was worth every cent since the rest of the food was pretty gross. We regretted it this time around, though, because the food was just awesome on the ship as it was in the “pay” restaurant.

Dave’s parents at their booth; us at ours (we had reservations at nearly the same times)

No pics for this, but when formal nights rolled around we had ourselves some good laughs. There was one photographer that lured us in for pics. We were trying our hardest to take goofball pics and keep a straight face. It was difficult. We were cracking up all night over it! And the pics were awesome; unfortunately they charge an arm and leg for the professional photos. Plus, they guard them like hawks not allowing you to take a pic of the pic with your cell phone. So, in short, that was just a fun memory that I figured I would at least document in words.

Lastly, what else do you do when stuck at sea? Why, participate in dance competitions, of course! Holland America is doing this Dancing With the Stars at Sea Promo during 2014. I had read about it and thought the odds MAY be in my favor due to the high percentage of older folks aboard. I went Day 1 and took second place next to the stinky, Liz, who was probably 60 or so and a REAL PEACH; and by peach, I mean like a really rotten one. with worms in it. that seems sweet but is actually not at all. Ugh. Joking…sort of. Anyway, winning was based on audience vote, and it just so happens that Liz had all her peeps there and cheering her on that day, and I had, well, 2 of my peeps.

Don’t you worry! I came back for Day 2, and this time I was prepared!!

See…

Best cheer squad ever!

Performing the Cha-Cha, my “star” dance partner, Aaron, and I took home the gold and secured my spot in the Finals. Oh, joy. This little incident darn near gave me an ulcer as the trip went on stressing about performing on stage. in the final show. in front of everyone. One of the MANY moments in my life where I ask myself, “Ashley????!!!!! You idiot!!! What have you done!!!????”

But really, the Dancing With the Stars turned out to be a fun thing. No exaggerating here, but overnight I had kind of gained superstar status on the ship. Everyone knew me. One lady in particular (who I saw like 10 times a day) would shout out, “Dancing Queen!” EVERY SINGLE TIME we crossed paths. I swear I could not avoid her! And sometimes I’d try to beat her to the punch before she’d shout out for all to hear, but there was just no stopping her. Nonetheless, I enjoyed my weeklong life as a celebrity and felt proud to finally have those years of dance lessons paying off;)

And so our days at sea and Glacier Bay came to an end…