Samantha-Fabulous Adventures Travel

06/08/2026

Cheers to Endicott Arms! And no Dawes Glacier, we couldn’t make it upstream bc of too many glaciers.

06/07/2026

Ketchikan, you were a hot mess!
First, we scheduled an excursion with Virgin and it was canceled due to low capacity. We had to scramble for another one. We picked another one and then had to beg Virgin to see if all four of us could fit on there. Virgin confirmed the night before that all four of us could be on the same excursion. Kelly was walking out the door to go and she got a phone call from shore things and they said the Captain(of the excursion, not Vv) called and you can’t go on the excursion. So we had about 15 minutes to decide what to do and the only thing left in the shore things was Misty fjords and I’ve already seen them so I said I don’t wanna do that . So we decided to wing it and find something at the port. If you decide not to do an excursion with the cruise company you’re sailing, Ketchikan has a lot of options right in the port that you can choose from. We ended up getting on a whale watching tour and it was actually magnificent and wonderful. The guides were knowledgeable and excited to be there.The nice part was it was only two hours so we had plenty of time to explore the town.
On the whale expedition we did see humpback whales, sea lions, many bald eagles, jellyfish, and starfish. The last two were a bonus at the end. Things I underestimated about Alaska…how cold it is. And no sun! We froze our butts off on that tour. We sat on the top deck and wind whipped our faces. 😳 I would do it again in a heartbeat! The company we used was Eagle One Enterprises. Highly suggest this company!
The town however, left a lot to be desired in the food department, as most of the food joints were closed. We tried to eat several times and most were closed or short staffed bc it was a “low volume day”. What does that mean you ask? It means only the small ships were in port and there was about 6800 of us. As opposed to 13000 on the highest day. A lot of the restaurants were closed near the pier. Honestly if you want to make some money go open a hot dog, food joint in the summer and you will kill it.
Even though we had a hard time finding food we had the best time as always bc we just go with the flow! Met some locals, had a drink at the Moose Lodge(first time ever going to one), ate at Annabelle’s(Amazing)and walked creek street. All around weird wonky day turned out great!
Also at dinner at Pink Agave I saw 2 whales playing around in the wild! Super fun!
Wild life count:
Whales 🐳: 3.5
Sea lions 🦭: 7
Bald Eagles 🦅: 10
Jellyfish 🪼: too many to count
Starfish: 3
Dolphins 🐬: plethora
Today Sitka!

06/06/2026

Made it to Seattle, enjoyed the city, boarded the Brilliant Lady for the 5th time since her first sailing last year, living it up in the Gorgeous Suite, hunted for whales 🐳 yesterday during the inside passage, watched the new lumberjack happening cast member do his thing, and enjoyed a good sunset at 11:00pm!! Yes 11:00pm!!
Today Ketchikan! Hopefully the whale count will go up.
Wildlife hunting:
Whale count: 0 well maybe .5
Dolphin count: 20
Bald 🦅 Eagle: 1(at sailaway)
Sea Lion: 1

06/05/2026

Welp it finally happened, I had something confiscated in my luggage. I kinda knew it was going to happen but I thought I would try just in case bc my frozen shoulder is killing me and the heat helps! Note to everyone else, heating pads don’t make it through security. Worth a shot. 🤣🤣

06/04/2026

Virgin Voyages food gets a LOT of attention, and after more than 50 sailings, I totally understand why.

But is it really that different from other cruise lines? What’s actually worth the hype, and what keeps me coming back?

I’m sharing my honest thoughts in my latest blog. 🍽️🚢

Read it here and tell me if you agree! 👇

If there's one thing I hear over and over from my clients after their first sailing, it's this: "The food was even better than everyone said it would be." And honestly? I agree. After 50+ sailings this is something I cannot deny! When people ask me what makes Virgin Voyages different from other crui...

06/03/2026

You guys! Seattle has been super cool so far! 🥰

06/03/2026

Off we gooooo! Wheels up to Seattle today!

06/02/2026

We were over a week into our Virgin Voyages sailing when something happened that completely caught us off guard. 👀

At first, we thought we were imagining it.

Then we realized Virgin had quietly done something that made the second half of the voyage feel completely different from the first.

If you're considering one of the longer sailings, this is one detail you may not know about... and honestly, we thought it was pretty brilliant.

06/01/2026

Happy June 1st!! It’s birthday month!! I literally coined this phrase years ago, like many years ago and people would laugh at me! I am a huge lover of birthdays, all birthdays, not just mine!! 🎉 my friends and family know it’s a thing and celebrate with me! The pic below was sent to me this am from a friend. 😂😂
Anyone else just start their birthday month too?!
I celebrate birthday month with a no holds barred attitude. Do what I want bc it’s birthday month!