A few days ago I thought our Alaska cruise was a  bust. We were not about to spend the big bucks for a three-week adventure that no longer included Russia or Japan as originally advertised. Russia has been off the table for several months now because of the obvious war situation, but it was only recently announced that Japan was no longer accepting cruise ships. The trip was actually a compromise to allow me to fulfill my 50-state bucket list and my wife to go to Japan. Instead, we were paying to go directly from Alaska to the Hawaiian Islands, a destination we’ve been to many times and already scheduled for December. We were prepared to cancel but they ended up giving us a deal that was too good to refuse.

As compensation, we’ll be getting a 50% credit voucher plus an on-board credit and some money back. It also shortens the trip by a few days and reduces the cost of the return flight, originally from Tokyo. We’ll have the opportunity to go on another major trip with Viking once we get back from Egypt next year. We thought that Alaska might be our last ocean cruise, but this breathes new life into our future travel plans. We won’t get to new destinations beyond Alaska on this adventure, but we will get a new perspective on Hawaii by coming in via boat rather than plane. Besides, who could possibly complain about being to Hawaii to many times?

Not having to personally make a bunch of changes on this cruise makes me happy, however I’m sure our travel agent isn’t thrilled. I guess it’s better than a  full cancellation and she’ll be able to assist us on the bonus trips that we’ll take. War, fires, Covid, weather, and other travel restrictions have been a nightmare for the industry these past few years. I’m also happy that my computer has been cooperating on these last few posts, so I haven’t been hassled with this problem the last few days either. Life is Good – Alaska or Bust!