The Alaskan Jewel! Welcome Aboard….You don’t Exist!

[linetbo]

Ketchikan was my favorite port to walk around.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Ketchikan was by far my favourite port and I really enjoyed looking at your photos.

Corinna

 

[superme80]

All caught up! I would have had a heart attack! You handled it way better than I would have! Can't wait to see more!

 

[DisDance]

Love that sunset picture from day 2. You have me going back and looking through my pictures from my Alaskan Cruise

This is my absolute favorite, it was when we were leaving Juneau, no editing was done the sky was actually this color!

 

[Angeejoe]

Love that sunset picture from day 2. You have me going back and looking through my pictures from my Alaskan Cruise

This is my absolute favorite, it was when we were leaving Juneau, no editing was done the sky was actually this color!

Beautiful picture!! You need to hang this on your wall!

 

[DisDance]

Beautiful picture!! You need to hang this on your wall!

Thank you so much! I really do need to frame it

 

[jenseib]

That was Miso soup at your dinner. I don't care for it at all.

Fun that they have all the optional dinners but they seem steep especially when I compare to the Palo upcharge. Alaska looks amazing! I've got to get a trip planned there soon.

Jill in CO

Yes it was. I am not sure if it is the same as what they serve at the local places but it was not as good. It wasn't bad, just not as good.
I think 2 or 3 were in that price range and the other were more like 15-20ish? I never really paid attention too much since we were on the plan that included them all. Palo is more elegant, but honestly I had dinner once there and was not that impressed. However I loved Brunch!

The soup was miso soup, right? I love miso soup, though I get it that not everyone is a big fan. I am SO glad that the staff apologized and explained more about why the did such a piecemeal job of getting your reservations straight.

yes it was.
The whole process was such a mess and I let them know that when I got home. I wasn't going to let it sit. I also copied my complaints to some higher ups just to let the ones I did contact know I wasn't messing around.

Yay! I've been waiting to see these photos. Alaska is beautiful. I can't wait to see and hear more!!!

Alaska is so beautiful!

Yahoo, roll on the Alaska photos!! Gorgeous so far

woohooo!

I"m loving your report! But I have to ask, any idea why the Princess ship would go by your ship so quickly? Do they think faster is better or something?

Thanks
We were actually docking and Princess was going further in. We were on the end dock and I think that was the ship that actually anchored and tendered in further up the port.

Ketchikan was my favorite port to walk around.

It was the best port to walk round and really good for shopping. I was sad as most of our port time was pretty short, so I never got to see as much as I would have liked to. if flights weren't so dang expensive, I would be all over some of the last minute deals that Princess and NCL sometimes offer....then I could do a trip of just exploring ports

 

[jenseib]

Ketchikan was by far my favourite port and I really enjoyed looking at your photos.

Corinna

I do love that port and it's all so close to the dock area too.

All caught up! I would have had a heart attack! You handled it way better than I would have! Can't wait to see more!

Thanks. I think in that situation many would handle it better than they think they would.

Love that sunset picture from day 2. You have me going back and looking through my pictures from my Alaskan Cruise

This is my absolute favorite, it was when we were leaving Juneau, no editing was done the sky was actually this color!

It won't show up for me. I'll have to see if it will tomorrow.

 

[jenseib]

Before I go on any further, I do want to add todays Freestyle Daily.


daily3-1 by Jenseib, on Flickr


daily3-2 by Jenseib, on Flickr


daily3-3 by Jenseib, on Flickr


daily3-4 by Jenseib, on Flickr

So we are now docked in Ketchikan.

ketch43 by Jenseib, on Flickr


ketch44 by Jenseib, on Flickr


ketch45 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Claire and I go down to deck 7 to get a better side view.


I take a nice picture of the town area and try to get the misty clouds in it.


ketch14 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Let’s zoom in.


ketch15 by Jenseib, on Flickr


ketch16 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Did you see that boat docked next to us in the picture a couple of pictures ago above? I decided to play with my point and shoot settings and do a funky shot of it.


ketch10 by Jenseib, on Flickr


WAIT! I know that ship! It’s the Time Bandit from the Deadliest Catch. Now I don’t really watch the show, but Skip does and I see bits and pieces while he is watching. This is the one boats name that I remember.


ketch11 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We are going to have to tell him. He is going to be so excited.


ketch18 by Jenseib, on Flickr


ketch19 by Jenseib, on Flickr


A few more pictures before we head back to tell Skip.


ketch17 by Jenseib, on Flickr


ketch4 by Jenseib, on Flickr


So we head back to the room to tell Skip. We then make sure our bag is packed and ready and put on our coats. I packed Skip a zip up sweatshirt. It has no hood and it has now started to rain. He asks me where his rain jacket is. I respond with “remember when I asked you to try on some coats and jackets and you told me if it was raining you would buy what you needed in port….well I listened and this is all I packed you”. It didn’t seem like such a good idea to him now. Now it wasn’t really raining hard, but you are still going to get wet…but oh well. Maybe next time he will listen when I tell him to try on things.


We headed out to take another look at the Time Bandit….and it left. We could see it sailing off.


timebandit by Jenseib, on Flickr


Another bummer for Skip, but there was nothing we could do about it.


Skip said it went over here and parked but I could never make out where. The boat in this pic is not the Time Bandit.


ketchport3 by Jenseib, on Flickr


ketchport4 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We then headed into Moderno for breakfast. They have a small buffet set up and then you order your main course.


ketch46 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I didn’t think the buffet selection was all that great.


The little jams at our table.


ketch47 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Skip ordered coffee, which is a press pot. I know a lot of people like this…Skip does not. He’s an instant coffee kind of guy. I don’t touch the stuff, so it’s all gross to me.


ketch48 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Claire loves waffles…so of course that is what she chose.


ketch49 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Skip had an omelet.


ketch50 by Jenseib, on Flickr


And I had pancakes. I don’t do syrup, so I asked if I could get some whipped cream. It took them a bit, but they got me some and it was that wonderful sugary stuff! MMMM!


ketch51 by Jenseib, on Flickr


After we were filled up for the morning (and Claire had wanted to skip breakfast, but I told her it would be hours before we would eat again, so she finally agreed to eat), we headed outside for a few minutes.


ketch52 by Jenseib, on Flickr


ketch53 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We then went back in and found Florentina in Moderno. As a suite guest you can get priority disembarking. You will get a letter in your room stating where to meet and the times she will be taking you off the ship. If you don’t go during that specified time you can make an appointment to have her escort you off, but usually by then the lines are pretty short.


She took us down and cut us into the line to get off. It was fairly fast and easy. Skip felt guilty that we cut in front of people, but I told him not to worry as it was a perk that was included in our price.


We had some time before we had to meet for our excursion so Skip said he wanted to see about a jacket or hat in the outlet store.


ketch54 by Jenseib, on Flickr


So we headed that way.


ketch55 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We stopped and asked someone with a clipboard if our tour…which is officially called the Bering Sea Crab Fishermen's Tour…had a spot to meet yet and we were told not yet, probably not for ½ an hour yet and then to just find the person holding the sign with the excursion name.


Ok then, we had plenty of time to go to the outlet.


A look back from where we just came from.


ketch56 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Up next…Shopping and a crab boat!

 

[westcoastfldisneygirl]

Yay yay yay! More Alaska photos! Getting off the boat early is a great perk. I love that!

I'm dying at the breakfast place with the 3 raspberries, lol!

I wish I had tried the whip cream last time we were on NCL. I had no idea! I will definitely make it a point to do next time!

 

[rndmr2]

SO cool that you saw the Time Bandit!!

I'm not able to watch it all the time but I like The Deadliest Catch, all the crew/cast members have grown on me over the years. My DH is a bigger fan, I'll have to show him your pics when he gets home. We really want to go to Alaska. Our most recent plan is to go on the Celebrity Solstice in May. We have looked into Princess too but I really want to try the Solstice.

Ketchikan does look like a cute little town to walk around in.

 

[DisDance]

I love the colors of the buildings, they make for some great pictures

 

[dolphingirl47]

I have never seen The Deadliest Catch. I am not even sure if it is shown in the UK, but it was kind of neat to see one of the boats. I had to smile that Skip showed no interest in jackets and coats at home and was now wondering where his was. I hope he found something suitable.

Corinna

 

[Pinkocto]

Hi I'm totally late to the party but when your TR popped up on the bottom of my screen I jumped onboard. Just finished catching up.

Your Seattle day was too cool. How fantastic that you went to the Chihuly museum. I can't get enough of those photos!!!

Your embarkation day, not so cool. You handled it very well though. Glad you were able to get into the vacation mode pretty quickly though.

I've only cruised DCL so it's nice to see all the inside photos. Bummer about the slim offerings at the gift shop.

 

[bumbershoot]

Saw your report pop up on that bottom "feed", and took a look!

Your pictures are AMAZING.


The decor of your suite looks very Art Deco or Nouveau-ish to me. Also it really reminds me of the concierge category V rooms on Dream!

Not for me who does not watch any sports at all. I was calling it Sah Ef Co. Yep, I’m a dork. Skip then mentioned the name and I was totally laughing at myself. I guess I was trying to give it an Indian name or something.

Going the way you were going, the one on the left that you can barely see in your picture is Safeco, the Mariners' baseball field. The one on the right is Century Link Field, which is where the Seahawks play. Just in case you needed more specific info.

We ended up seeing sailors all over the place so we assumed a ship must be docked.

Looks like you were there during the Seafair Fleet Week, so yes, a ship or two was docked. And that's what the Blue Angels stuff was all about as well.

We mentioned the traffic to him and he said that that was actually light traffic and as the day went on it would get worse, especially with all the activities going on down at the waterfront. I had read in my researching that there was a lot going on, which included boat races and the Blue Angels as well.

Yep, Seafair!

I don’t know if I ever saw the original one. I am told it is down by Pikes Market area and I was down there a few times so there is a chance at one point I passed it without realizing it.

Yeah it's in the brown colors they used to have. It's facing the water.

One thing we found funny was that people would just start talking to us as we walked. .... But also just regular people would chat with us like we were old buddies.

Yay Seattle. I like my town chatty. (OK Seattle isn't my town, but it's close enough) What's weird is that recently some people have said Seattleites are rude and don't smile etc, and I don't know who they are dealing with!

Looks good enough to eat!

There are two blue ones like that here in Tacoma, on a bridge that goes from downtown to the Chihuly Glass Museum (meaning that it's his museum, and there is glass here...not that it's a museum of HIS stuff necessarily). They look like giant rock candy sticks.

The pilot boat was out and I explained how it worked to Skip….and he doesn’t believe me. LOL.

LOL, what's there to question?

I decided to play with my point and shoot settings and do a funky shot of it.

Ooh I love the miniature setting.

 

[jenseib]

Yay yay yay! More Alaska photos! Getting off the boat early is a great perk. I love that!

It was such a nice perk. We found out later when we didn't use her once how chaotic the lines can be.

I'm dying at the breakfast place with the 3 raspberries, lol!

Well that was from the buffet so I probably took more and ate them before I took the pic. LOL.

I wish I had tried the whip cream last time we were on NCL. I had no idea! I will definitely make it a point to do next time!

It is soooooo good!

SO cool that you saw the Time Bandit!!

It was cool and I was more excited for Skip. I am glad that I at least got a close up picture.

I'm not able to watch it all the time but I like The Deadliest Catch, all the crew/cast members have grown on me over the years. My DH is a bigger fan, I'll have to show him your pics when he gets home. We really want to go to Alaska. Our most recent plan is to go on the Celebrity Solstice in May. We have looked into Princess too but I really want to try the Solstice.

I know a few of them but most of the time I have to ask Skip who is who. LOL.

Ketchikan does look like a cute little town to walk around in.

it is a very cute town and the best one to walk around in, though Skagway was pretty good too.

I love the colors of the buildings, they make for some great pictures

They really do.

I have never seen The Deadliest Catch. I am not even sure if it is shown in the UK, but it was kind of neat to see one of the boats. I had to smile that Skip showed no interest in jackets and coats at home and was now wondering where his was. I hope he found something suitable.

Corinna

I think it is because on another forum I read one couple is from the UK and they saw one boat docked a few years ago and her husband was all excited.
Yes, Skip does this all the time and this time I wasn't going to fight it and pack a bunch of stuff that doesn't fit.

Hi I'm totally late to the party but when your TR popped up on the bottom of my screen I jumped onboard. Just finished catching up.

Glad you found me and joined in!

Your Seattle day was too cool. How fantastic that you went to the Chihuly museum. I can't get enough of those photos!!!

It was really a great day. I did so much more than I expected to and really enjoyed the museum.

Your embarkation day, not so cool. You handled it very well though. Glad you were able to get into the vacation mode pretty quickly though.

It was a bit of a draining day, but the rest of the trip did get better and I had to leave the anger behind.

I've only cruised DCL so it's nice to see all the inside photos. Bummer about the slim offerings at the gift shop

DCL is much prettier in my opinion. But for the price comparison this was really a good deal.

Saw your report pop up on that bottom "feed", and took a look!

Your pictures are AMAZING.

Thanks for joining in!

The decor of your suite looks very Art Deco or Nouveau-ish to me. Also it really reminds me of the concierge category V rooms on Dream!

Yes. I do like the DCL versions better though.

Going the way you were going, the one on the left that you can barely see in your picture is Safeco, the Mariners' baseball field. The one on the right is Century Link Field, which is where the Seahawks play. Just in case you needed more specific info.

Yep, I figured that out when we left the ship and drove by both of them. LOL.

Looks like you were there during the Seafair Fleet Week, so yes, a ship or two was docked. And that's what the Blue Angels stuff was all about as well.

Yes it was.

Yeah it's in the brown colors they used to have. It's facing the water.

Thats what many have told me. I kind of wish I did at least see it.

Yay Seattle. I like my town chatty. (OK Seattle isn't my town, but it's close enough) What's weird is that recently some people have said Seattleites are rude and don't smile etc, and I don't know who they are dealing with!

So many people were friendly...of course I could talk to a wall sometimes.

There are two blue ones like that here in Tacoma, on a bridge that goes from downtown to the Chihuly Glass Museum (meaning that it's his museum, and there is glass here...not that it's a museum of HIS stuff necessarily). They look like giant rock candy sticks.

Cool!

LOL, what's there to question?

He didn't believe me that the pilot jumped from one boat to another. LOL.

Ooh I love the miniature setting

I love that setting too. It was fun to play with the settings during the cruise. I had just gotten that camera a few weeks before we sailed so I was still learning it. I am happy I bought it.

 

[jenseib]

We made our way to the Outlet store and there was a rack of coats outside. They were only 19.99 for the basic sizes and if you went for the bigger ones it was just a few dollars more. They were perfect for the Alaskan weather as they weren’t too heavy, had hoods and were waterproof. We browsed them but Skip decided a hat would work better. I really liked the jackets, but didn’t need one for today so I said I would come back after the tour and possibly buy one for myself.


We went in and browsed around while Skip searched for a hat.


ketch57 by Jenseib, on Flickr


ketch58 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Skip found a hat right away and it was pretty cheap too.


ketch59 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Perfect for the weather as it was waterproof. Like I said, it was raining, but it was more of a drizzle most of the time and surely didn’t dampen our spirits.


We headed back out and found the person holding our tour sign and they pointed to another guy further down and told us to go to him…so we did.


ketch60 by Jenseib, on Flickr


If course I took pictures along the way.


ketch61 by Jenseib, on Flickr


There were a lot of ships in port today, including 3 Princess ships. 2 were docked and 1 was tendering to shore using their life boats as tenders.


ketch62 by Jenseib, on Flickr


ketch63 by Jenseib, on Flickr


ketch64 by Jenseib, on Flickr


ketch65 by Jenseib, on Flickr


The person in the yellow to the left of this next picture is the guy we were going to.


ketch66 by Jenseib, on Flickr


He directed us to a floating dock where we would board the ship. We passed some of the Princess life boats arriving.


ketch67 by Jenseib, on Flickr


You can see the water level changes a lot here by the way this pole looked.


ketch68 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I hadn’t noticed till after I got home that there was a starfish on it.


We later learned that the tide goes in and out 4 times a day in many parts of Alaska and the water levels change quite drastically. That was interesting to learn.


Another really neat thing to see is all the float planes. We saw so many taking off and landing. It’s just not something you see every day and we were really impressed with it.


ketch69 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Another misty mountain shot.


ketch70 by Jenseib, on Flickr


And our Crab boat!


catch4 by Jenseib, on Flickr


The Aleutian Ballad was only on 1 season of the Deadliest Catch I believe…and that was season 2. I don’t think Skip actually had started watching it at that point (the show has been going on for many more years than I was aware of).


They of course had to convert it to carry people on it and it has stadium seating.


catch5 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We boarded and the bottom looked pretty full so we headed upstairs. I was kind of surprised how full it was as we hadn’t shopped for very long at all and were told it would be another half hour before we could board and that ½ hour was not even up yet. I do know they were carrying people from several ships though too.


We found a seat next to another family right along the railing on top and watched as a few more people boarded.


catch9 by Jenseib, on Flickr


That was our Captain….Terry.


This gal does all the booking and organizing. She doesn’t come on the boat with us. They teased that she gets sea sick and told a story of how sick she got once….but then in fairness they said they were out in the open ocean, a place the tour does not go to.


catch10 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I did spot this starfish and took a shot.


ketch9 by Jenseib, on Flickr


And a random shot as we got ready to go.


catch6 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Captain Terry talked to us a bit about the tour and how things would work and also a bit about the ship and how it was converted, etc. Sorry, the point and shoot camera would not focus past the net.


catch8 by Jenseib, on Flickr


catch1 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Chief gave us a demonstration on how to use the life jacket and of course were told where they were and what to do in an emergency.



catch7 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Chief doesn’t normally do these tours…though I think he did in the past. I am not sure why he doesn’t anymore, but he was filling in for a guy who had to go to a funeral. He said he got the call and was immediately on a plane to help out. He was such a nice guy and very passionate about fishing. He also told us he is not married…..been engaged a few times, but in reality he is married to the sea.


They had some college girls helping out too. They offered coats to anyone who needed an extra coat. Skip grabbed one, but Claire and I didn’t. The gal did tell us that being up top was much colder once we started moving. I later realized those downstairs were blocked from wind and had heaters. We had a heater too, but because we weren’t blocked from the wind it was a little chillier….but not too bad.


Some more Princess tenders coming in.


ketch71 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We are on our way!


ketch72 by Jenseib, on Flickr


ketch73 by Jenseib, on Flickr


ketch76 by Jenseib, on Flickr


ketch75 by Jenseib, on Flickr


ketch78 by Jenseib, on Flickr


ketch79 by Jenseib, on Flickr


ketch80 by Jenseib, on Flickr


And a selfie of us on our way!


catch2 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Up next…Let’s check out this boat!

 

[Majordis]

Ketchikan looks like such an interesting place to walk around and explore. Did it seem crowded with all those ships in port? So cool to see the Time Bandit. Love your family selfie!!

 

[Pinkocto]

This excursion looks fun already. I know nothing about the show but I like the boat set up and all the scenery is just gorgeous! Glad Skip found a good hat, bonus that it wasn't pricey.

 

[dolphingirl47]

I am glad that Skip found something suitable at the outlet. The setup of the boat is very unusual. I am not quite sure what to make of it.

Corinna