Tuesday, May 21, 2019. Ketchikan, Alaska

Tuesday, May 21, 2019. Ketchikan

We woke up to find the sun already up by 5:30am as the ship sailed past rustic fishing lodges and huts with makeshift docks and boat houses on rocky shores.  As we approached our final berth in Ketchikan, one of the more unusual sights on the water was a tiny recreational travel trailer of no more than 22 feet, floating on a raft not much bigger than the trailer, anchored a few hundred feet from the shoreline.  That’s a real Alaska redneck house boat.  

There was a big rush at the Horizon Court buffet as everyone wanted to get breakfast before getting off the ship for excursions that started as early as 7am.  Our excursion to the Saxman village and Totem park was scheduled to start at 7:20am.  We were able to find a table for all of us, including Mom in her wheel chair to sit in.  As crowded and busy as it was, it was still much easier to find a place to sit and get our food than on the Norwegian Pearl under similar circumstances.  

It was low tide when the ship docked, so the gangways were pretty steep.  Fortunately, Princess has strong Filipino men who are more than happy to lend a hand to assure a safe transfer of wheelchair passengers on and off the ship.  

We had booked an ADA ticket for Betty on the Saxman Village and Totem park excursion.  They had two charter buses going to the Saxman Village.  One was equipped with a full wheelchair lift halfway back on the passenger side with a tie down station. Betty was the only passenger who actually could not climb the stairs into the bus, so she was the only passenger who used the lift and was strapped into the tie down station.  It’s a good thing we have had some experience with Franklin’s new mobility van with using wheel chair tie downs and seat belt extenders.  Our driver was also our guide. She looked like she could have been Native American, but was actually a BYU student from Sacramento who attends BYU in Idaho working as a bus driver and guide during the Alaska tour season.  She had an assistant dockside to help with operating the wheel chair lift, but it was a good thing we were along to help with the process.  

As the tour bus was driving through downtown Ketchikan from the cruise ship docks, we drove past a carved bald eagle statue facing the down town, but as you approached it from the cruise ship docks, you were presented with the raised rear end of the eagle with it’s tail feathers raised, and a face painted under the tail.  The locals call it the moon over Ketchikan. 

Janet and I had been to the Saxman Village before to see the totem park, but this excursion included a tour inside their longhouse with a short dance presentation.  It was interesting to note there were two blond women who were tribal members who participated in the dances, as well as a preschooler and a barely toddler.  Their costumes were beautiful and they did try to teach us to say Hello, how are you doing, and I am doing fine in Tlingit, as well as thank you, but I think we failed basic Tlingit.  The most interesting part of the visit was the explanations of the symbols and purposes of the totem poles.  

We were very fortunate that it did not rain on us the entire time we were in Ketchikan, and later in the afternoon, the sun actually broke through the cloud cover, making for a beautiful and scenic afternoon cruise as our ship left it’s berth at 2:30 in the afternoon.  After the Saxman Village excursion, George did a sea kayaking excursion, while Franklin and Dave went on a souvenir shopping spree, walking to Creek Street from the cruise ship dock, which was a couple of miles distance.  They did manage to pick up a few freebies in the tourist shops courtesy of coupon books.  Janet and Ben took Betty back to the ship and gave her a shampoo and shower.  

Betty and Janet got their naps in while Ben did a lap swim in the fitness center pool, which is an adult only pool.  

Janet and Ben did the afternoon trivia, scoring an average score, 4 points off the winners.  We had entered everyone’s names in the Wake Show drawing with the question of the day, which was what is the left side of the ship called?  Answer=Port.  Franklin’s name was drawn, and he won a DVD of a Discovery Channel show on ultra high speed photography.  Not only that, but we had learned that last night, he had attended the late Showtime performance and had won a prize live at the end of the show because he had shouted out the answer to the Wake Show question first and was seated in the first 3 rows of the theater, so he won double prizes for the same Wake show question.  

Today’s Wake show question was how many Senior officer’s pictures are on display on deck 5. We put in everyone in the drawing again and tonight, George’s name was pulled, so he got to win something.  We’ll see what his prize is tomorrow.

We used a specialty dining voucher tonight and had a 5 course Italian dinner in Sabatini’s. Doing Mom’s meal was a little more challenging because of the way the courses were arranged, but they did bring us a nice teapot of hot water to mix and dilute things with, and some of the foods she could almost eat without blending, but not quite.  She insisted on eating bread rolls and some prosciutto, which ended up getting spit out partially chewed into Kleenex.  It was a challenge to try to keep her place setting from looking too messy.  The food was well prepared and the servings were generous, but there was little wow factor for the specialty dining.  Their desserts were the best part of the meal as they offered a Chocolate Journey dessert and a few other fancy desserts not available elsewhere on the ship. 

We had to rush a bit to see the second showing of the Comedian in the Vista Lounge.  Janet and I had seen him during our recent Hawaii cruise, and even his second show had similar material, but the improv aspect kept it fresh.  We then saw a new magic and comedy act by a husband wife team called Brent and Sarah. Having a team of magicians was unique, although their magic tricks were things we all had seen before in other acts. The married couple aspect did inject some fresh humor. Sarah reminded us of the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, while Brent played his role like Brent Spiner’s  Star Trek Lt. Cmd. Data’s character.

Our itinerary has us arriving in Tracy Arm for scenic cruising at 5am, which seems a bit contrived because who wants to wake up at 5am to see a fjord?  We are scheduled for “Scenic Cruising” from 5am to 9am, with narration by the onboard naturalist on the open decks, with our arrival in Juneau at 12:30PM.  That will mean our excursions won’t start until pretty late, but the ship doesn’t leave Juneau until 10PM.  It’s a good thing daylight hours are so long in this part of Alaska.