Part Two
Once the tour was over, we joined guests form the other H&M boats on a bus which took us over to Mendenhall Glacier for 15 minutes. Luckily, the clouds had lifted and the weather was much better by this point so we got some much better shots of the glacier. We still didnt have time to walk to the waterfall unfortunately. We had another quick look for bears but they werent being very cooperative!
The bus driver offered to drop people in the centre of town or at the ships, we chose town. Something which I did find funny was that in the bus there was a big hand-written sign saying something along the lines of gratuities appreciated, yet there was no mention or indication of gratuities on the boat. We actually gave Liz a tip but I didnt see the others do that. Liz was so taken aback and clearly appreciated it, but certainly didnt expect it. I find it odd that a driver, who has had no interaction with me and only spent 30 minutes with me felt he deserved a tip. Yet a woman who was responsible for our safety out on the open water, with us for 2 hours and interacted wonderfully with us didnt expect a thing. Anyway, Ill stop sounding grumpy now back to the report!
We found a lovely coffee place, the Heritage Coffee Co. and took some drinks with us whilst we wandered around town. I made a beeline for Tracys whilst Elle went off in search off some good fish and chips Liz had recommended. It turns out the fish and chips place was table service only so Elle came back to have crab with me. I thought Tracys was fun and light hearted. I ordered the combo which included a king crab leg, 6 crab cakes and a small pot of crab bisque. It was really good! The crab cakes were my favourite, followed by the legs then bisque. Elle had the crab sandwich stuffed with crab cakes, crab meat, coleslaw and maybe some other stuff?! It looked amazing and for someone who doesnt really like crab, she really enjoyed it.
Several napkins and wet wipes later, we went off in search of a charm for my bracelet. I had seen a cute whale charm in the chamilia catalogue on the ship and was told I could get it in port. Again, I was not impressed with all the jewellery shops or pushy sales people but I did much prefer the port as a whole to Skagway. Our last shop is where we found the charms but they didnt have the whale or train in stock. They offered to order them and send them to me in the UK with no P&P charge. I was sceptical but it all seemed above board, I paid on a credit card so I am covered and was given proper receipts and delivery info. I am still waiting for them so I am just hoping I havent been screwed over!
We made it back to the shuttle stop, only a couple of yards away in time to catch the 3.45pm shuttle bus back to the ship. We were told the last one would be at 4.00pm and they were every 15 minutes. At dinner our tablemates told us they got a bus back at 4.15pm! we headed to our room to warm up and change, I think we got drinks, probably hot chocolate because that stuff was good!
We then watched the ship prepare to leave. This was one of the funniest moments of the trip. For some reason we were trying to move away but there was still one rope attached to the dock. The dock master (if thats even a thing?) was shouting obscenities at the crew and yelling stop, tell the captain to stop whilst waving in the direction of the bridge. Now bear in mind we were in an aft room, about 5 from the back of the ship. Did he really think the Captain would a) hear him or b) see him?! He was getting really irate and eventually with lots of tugging, they freed the rope from the dock. Id be curious to know whether the crew on the bridge ever knew about the commotion happening at the back of the ship!
After sitting out looking for whales
again, we went off to watch the Toy Story musical. I had not seen it before, but Elle had, and I had heard varying reviews. I liked it, I thought Sid was brilliant and sounded exactly like Sid in the movie. Buzz Lightyear annoyed me and Woody was cute. I did think it dragged a little but overall was good. I loved the alien scene with the claw. Elle didnt feel very well part way through so went back to the room to rest before dinner. She bumped into Elmer who asked if she was ok, he really was a very sweet room host.
Tonights dinner, served in Tritons, was something new. It was Pixar night (as well as semi-formal, which I dont completely understand) and they were serving the Toy Story Menu. I ordered The Prospector (Chicken and Red Onion Flat Bread with Red Wine Pears, Walnuts and Crumbled Blue Cheese),Sheriff Woody's Favorite Marinated Delmonico Rib Eye Steak
(With a Sweet Potato Gratin, Collard Greens and Sweet Baby Carrots) and two desserts - Buzz Light Year's Ice Cream Sundae and Jessie's White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake.
Theres been a lot of buzz about the bubble gum ice-cream (see what I did there
Buzz?!) and only two of us on the table were brave enough to try it. Yes we both had bright blue tongues and it did taste like I was eating bubble gum, but I actually really enjoyed it! I did have the cheesecake too so I would appear to be more normal. The table shared a bottle of Korbel champagne tonight as graciously paid for by one of the guys on our table.
After dinner, one of our tablemate couples left to go and await the Pixar party in the lobby. The rest of us decided to linger and chat over coffee, which turned out to be a great idea as Mike and Sully walked through the restaurant to get to the main doors of Tritons. Apparently this is the only route Sully can take as he is so big! They stood there for a few minutes until their names were called and they went out to the party. Mike was hilarious, he was doing his stretches and warm up exercises whilst waiting!
Once theyd gone through we decided to go and watch the Pixar party. It was ok, very loud and hosted by a very annoying cast member who was a bit of a wannabe Disney princess. She over-acted everything and was very arrogant. Otherwise, it was fairly fun, I love the Up characters so it was fun seeing them out. It was just a bit of a free for all though when it came to people trying to take pictures.
It wasnt long before we called it a night, after strolling through Shutters to check on our photos.
Next up Ketchikan, will we finally see bears?!