This week, we’re reporting to you live from Alaska! To be more specific, we’re sitting in the waters of the Pacific Northwest on an Alaskan cruise – being able to get online through the ship’s satellite system, with our personal Internet connection sponsored by Pluggd. As I mentioned at the end of last week, we’ll be posting updates both through Lockergnome and in C:\PIRILLO.EXE (no, that’s not a binary – it’s just the name that I selected long ago for my personal space). Our trip is well underway now – so far, so good. Then again, we really haven’t had a chance to explore any Alaskan destinations yet! Our ship, Holland America’s Oosterdam, will be docking in Juneau in a few short hours – and we’ll be enjoying the scenery from our statesroom, with unoccluded panoramic views of the Alaskan shoreline.

Since vacations are supposed to be relaxing, we opted to spend a small bit of time in the ship’s spa yesterday afternoon. Ponzi selected a couple’s massage for the two of us – two masseuses, one room. Ponzi’s therapist was a bit on the weaker side (according to her), but I didn’t mind the strength of mine at all. The spa staff was a bit disjointed. We were handed a locker key, pointed to the changing room around the corner, and (pretty much) left to our own devices. I couldn’t find any slippers on my own, and neither could Ponzi. We made our way back to the front desk, stood there for a minute or so, and then were directed to another back room. As far as “spa experiences” go, the Oosterdam didn’t rate very well. We were expecting better, as just about every aspect of this cruise has been above par to this point. The food on the ship has been hit-or-miss, too – but we have plenty of chances to explore local flavors at every port.

If you have any Alaskan cruise tips to pass along, we’ll be at sea all week. Wouldn’t it be cool to gather a whole bunch of Gnomies and do an Alaskan cruise together? I know my parents would love to do that one of these days.

[tags]alaska,vacation,spa,masseuse,cruise,oosterdam,relax[/tags]