Day 3 and 4: Day and Sea and Ketchikan
Awoke at 6AM (still Vancouver time) to a rainy day. The waves were higher and took a little getting used to. Went to breakfast at the Horizon. Decided to take the cha cha dance lessons in the Universe Lounge. With the waves, it became important not to focus on the feet! Doreen went off to an art auction. I went to a pitch on shopping in the towns over the next few days. While it was mainly focussed on jewelry, it helped me to get a sense of where everything was in the towns. I also received some extra coupons that helped us get a charm bracelet and ceramic coasters for dirt cheap prices. Naturalist lectures on whales at 11:30 and land animals at 1:30 were well attended. Sushi specials at lunch were interesting and delicious. Decided to go back to the room in the afternoon and enjoy the balcony. Saw at least 9 whale plumes off in the distance during the afternoon as well as two dolphins diving under the ship.
Formal night tonight as well as champagne party with the captain. When we went down for dinner, there was a line a mile long. We decided that we would delay our dinner until later. There were 6 stations set up around the main staircase for picture taking. We decided that we would get our picture taken at 3 or 4 stations, then observe the start of the champagne waterfall. We then ran down to the Motown Music dance at the Explorers Lounge to listen to the live band. Dinner at 8:30. We were actually given a table for two without asking (by this time the number of people coming in for dinner was low, so getting 8 people at a table in a reasonable time was low). Cornish hen and chicken pot pie for dinner. Finished just in time to go to the song and dance show "Do you wanna dance" at the Princess theatre at 10:15PM.
Whew! Busy day at sea. Back to the room by 11:30. Since we had to get up early the next day, it was nice to remember that we were going to Alaska time overnight. An extra hour of sleep!
Day 4- Ketchikan
Woke up at 5:30AM Alaska time. We were just coming into port at Ketchikan. It was strange to find two Coast Guard inflatables with gun manned guarding our ship. If anyone came close to the ship, the coast guard boat would run itself in front of the other boat and force it to stop. Good to know we were being protected.
After breakfast in the horizon court, we were off to a Misty Fjords boat ride at 7:30AM. Weather was intermittent rain. The boat was a good size catamaran with room for about 100 downstairs and another 50 upstairs. We got a seat on the right side two seats back. When it wasn't raining , these were good window seats. When it is raining, the entire front section of windows is streaked with rain and the two side windows are splashed, so being further back is more desireable. The first part of the ride before we got to Misty Fjords most of my pictures included rain drops from the window. However, once we got into Misty Fjords, the rain stopped and the windows cleared. As we got deeper into the Fjords, I was able to move to the outside deck and get some great pictures.
On the way back, we stopped at an area of ancient paintings. On an island near these paintings was a bald eagle sitting on a rock and at least a dozen seals bobbing in the water. What a beautiful site!
The owners of the boat were very responsive to their customers and made sure you had a good time whether it rained or not. Every other seat was provided with a 7x35 set of binoculars. We were served a danish and coffee or tea within the first hour or so, then a choice of vegetarian chili or seafood chowder an hour so later, and finally smoked salmon on our way out of the Fjords. It turns out this was great for us. When we got back to the dock we only had an hour and a half to see Ketchikan. Because we were fed, we didn't have to stop and have lunch (diabetic requirement).
When we got back to the dock, we decided to split and conquer. Doreen went to some of the shops near the ship while I walked up to Creek Street. I was hoping to see the salmon run in the Creek, but there wasn't much visible, probably because it was low tide. I did see some interesting buildings! Both of us were back near the boat before 1:30 and had time to use our cell phones to check in with the kids.
Back on the boat, Doreen had a facial scheduled at 2. I stopped by the Internet Cafe to check on mail,then grabbed a piece of delicious pizza on the Lido deck and relaxed and watched the movie. We then checked out our formal pictures from the night before (yes, we got suckered into picking a few) and did some whale watching (no luck). We went to dinner at 6:10 and shared a table with 3 other couples from Toronto, New Jersey and Sacramento. Dinner fare included king crab leg appetizers, surf and turf and cider soup.
We tried to get into the magician show at 8:15, but it was packed. We had no desire to try to catch the show at 10:15 (we were after all on vacation!), so we went down to the Explorer Lounge and listened and danced to live music until it was time to retire for the evening. Balcony door stayed open again!
Ketchikan Pictures
Island Princess Pictures
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