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

[jenseib]

As we moved on to the next pot, Terry the captain said something over the speaker. He had been making comments here and there via the microphone but this time it was the speaker like you hear on the show and I looked at Skip and he has a huge grin. It was cool to hear him on that speaker that they use to talk to the crew.


The next pot was pulled up and right away that thing STUNK!


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And they pulled out some crab and threw away a LOT of dead ones.


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Many had lost a leg or 2.


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Crabs can regrow legs. Often if there is an attack they will let a leg go to save the rest of their body.


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One thing they told us was these crabs were actually caught back in Feb. and they keep them in the pots for the tour. Now before you worry about the crabs and being mistreated. They can get in and out of the pots if they chose to. Many stay in because they are being fed in the pot.


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They did mention that something, like an octopus, must’ve gotten in the pot as there were so many dead ones in there and the smell was so bad. The girls went to work rinsing off the pot and deck and the smell was soon gone.


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I swear this dude posed for me.


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Moving on once again we came to one more pot.


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This one had some shrimp.


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Remember the ugly fish we caught earlier…..well here is one that was used for bait.


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Hello little shrimpy…You would taste good with some cocktail sauce.


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Claire had gotten a bit colder earlier and I had gloves in my pocket (something she swore she wouldn’t need when I offered her pair earlier that morning).


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When we tried to take the shrimp away from her he had clamped his claws into her fuzzy gloves. The girl had to help us pry each one off.


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And that was our last pot. We had another 30-40 minute drive back to the port but it seemed to go much faster back for some reason.


They guys told us they had prepared a lovely fish dish for all of us.


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Of course they were being sarcastic.


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Up next…… Our drive back to the port and Claire’s close call with death.

 

[dizneeat]

Love the update, Jen. So interesting to see how they fish and it seems like you learn a lot.

Not sure about Claire's close call with death ......... that sounds too scary.

 

[Pinkocto]

Look at all those beautuful crabs! How cool!!! I really like the rock looking ones. And that's good they can get out if the trap if they want to. I'm allergic to crab so I can't eat them, but I think they're cute.

 

[jedijill]

What a fascinating tour! So glad it worked out and Skip liked it so much! Eee, I don't like the foreshadowing of Claire's close call!

Jill in CO

 

[rndmr2]

That sounds like a really great excursion, I think my DH would love it.

I'll have to look into it for our trip in May (we are about 80% sure we are going on the Celebrity solstice)

 

[dolphingirl47]

This excursion looks like a lot of fun. I love all the eagle photos. Seeing eagles everywhere was one of the big highlights of our Alaska cruise. I did not know that they could swim though.

Corinna

 

[jenseib]

Love the update, Jen. So interesting to see how they fish and it seems like you learn a lot.

Not sure about Claire's close call with death ......... that sounds too scary.

it was such an interesting excursion and I think all sorts of people would enjoy it.
Claire wasn't in any danger...well she thought she was! LOL.

Look at all those beautuful crabs! How cool!!! I really like the rock looking ones. And that's good they can get out if the trap if they want to. I'm allergic to crab so I can't eat them, but I think they're cute.

Oh bummer....they are so tasty.

What a fascinating tour! So glad it worked out and Skip liked it so much! Eee, I don't like the foreshadowing of Claire's close call!

Jill in CO

I was so happy to see the smiles on Skip's face. It really makes it even more special when I know he is enjoying it.

Claire's close call with death was not too major really. It was more in her mind. LOL.

That sounds like a really great excursion, I think my DH would love it.

I'll have to look into it for our trip in May (we are about 80% sure we are going on the Celebrity solstice)

I think any ship or line will be great for Alaska. And Celebrity has some nice ships and deals too. I even looked at them when pricing it out.

This excursion looks like a lot of fun. I love all the eagle photos. Seeing eagles everywhere was one of the big highlights of our Alaska cruise. I did not know that they could swim though.

Corinna

It really was. I never knew they could swim either.

 

[jenseib]

Driving back to the port the guys were sharing fishing stories and tales. All very interesting.


They said the crab boats are pretty much used year round now a days as it cost $8,000 a month to let it sit. From what I got, if they weren’t using it to fish they leased it out to others to fish for different types of fishing and seasons.


As they talked, I walked around a bit. Claire said they talked about the octopus, but I missed it. But one thing she pointed out that I had not noticed (nor took a picture of) was the octopus had been put in a water tank. They said he was in time out for getting in the pot. The water was all clean when we boarded, but Claire said he “inked”. And sure enough when she had pointed that out I noticed his tanks water was very dark. I guess he was mad about being in time out. LOL.


I took pictures of the scenery and boat as I walked around.


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I decided to head down to the gift shop and Claire went with me.


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I ended up buying myself and Skip the white shirt (like Chief had been wearing). Claire declined. I guess she didn’t want people to know she’s been crab fishing. LOL! Skip had told me he didn’t want one, but I knew it was a lie and he was happy when I showed him his and of course when we got home the first time he went away with some friends to a Tractor Pull he was wearing that shirt.


While in there Chief was in there as well and he was so friendly and talkative. We talked with him for several minutes. He was telling us how they have been doing these tours for 10 years now. Wow! I hadn’t realized that the show had even been on that long, though when I got home and looked it up; it has been on much longer than I thought.

He said the first 2-3 years was very slow and people didn’t realize what it was about and the show hadn’t caught on as much back then. He said once people started taking the tour and giving reviews the business just totally took off. They are one of the top excursions in Ketchikan now. Very highly rated on Tripadvisor too.

We told him how much we enjoyed the tour and we were so glad to have a chance to do it.


Chief was so nice and we talked for quite some time before we headed back out to find Skip.


We were now coming closer to the port.


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They said that we could get pictures with the crew…for free…with your own camera. People lined up, but we waited since the line was pretty long.


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I believe this is the Totem Pole Park.


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I am still amazed at all the planes and took another shot.


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Getting closer to port and we can see all the ships.


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When we pulled into port we still hadn’t gotten our picture but the guys said to just let them dock the boat and then they would come back. We were in no rush so it was fine by us. A few others were still waiting as well.


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As we were waiting I noticed this piece of equipment said Toledo.


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I cut out the rest, but it wasn’t OH, it was Oregon….who knew there was another Toledo in the US.


Finally our turn and one of the gals took our picture. She was good. She took several on my camera and on my phone.


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Now off the ship, we made our way back towards the ship.


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I took pictures as we walked along.


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As we decided what to do next, Claire started whining. She wanted to go back on the ship. We said no, we are in Alaska and we didn’t come all this way to hang out on the ship while in port. We were here for Alaska. She started in with how she was starving and she needed to eat. Let’s go back onboard so she can have a steak. NO! We are not going back for steaks!

At this point she was about to die. She was so hungry she couldn’t walk another step. Had she been a 2 year old I am pretty sure she would have thrown her body to the ground.


We looked over some options of places to eat and decided to try this place out.


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The Fish Pirate Saloon.


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Claire went on about how she doesn’t like fish. Too bad!... No, really we were sure there would be something there she would like, but she was too weak to even walk there. The poor kid.


The restaurant is on the 2nd floor and we took an elevator up. Of course there was a wait…..I think about 15-20 minutes, but we were fine with that….well Skip and I were. Claire was now close to death. It was so sad to see my child…who just had a package of Goldfish less than an hour ago…dying from starvation.


As we waited, I took some pictures.


Disney can find me where ever I go!


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The restaurant isn’t real big and the waiting area is tiny and we were in the way a lot as the servers walked by.


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Lots of people were getting crab legs. Skip asked if I was going to but I said no. In my vision on how this trip would work out, I would be eating crab legs in Juneau. I should’ve just gotten them here and Juneau as a bonus….as we all know, you can plan all you want but it doesn’t always work out.


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Finally we were seated and made an order. You see the last bits of life that Claire had left.


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Up next…she’s alive! And lunch for the seal!

 

[jedijill]

Poor Claire. You really should feed that kid once in awhile.

Jill in CO

 

[jenseib]

Poor Claire. You really should feed that kid once in awhile.

Jill in CO

I am pretty mean, aren't I? LOL

 

[jedijill]

I am pretty mean, aren't I? LOL

So mean. You drag her to Disney, on cruises, to Alaska. Poor kid! She's going to need therapy!

Jill in CO

 

[jenseib]

So mean. You drag her to Disney, on cruises, to Alaska. Poor kid! She's going to need therapy!

Jill in CO

She has no clue how good she has it!

 

[jenseib]

Claire was now close to death. She did a lot of moaning and groaning but we were smart and ordered her a bowl of clam chowder, which came out first.


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Look at the change in her just after a few bites!


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She’s Alive!!!!!


Skip ordered some sort of fish sandwich. (maybe salmon? I know he had a lot of salmon this trip and he wasn’t even sure if he ever had it before….but I think he has).


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I got some fish strips of some sort. They were good.


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And Claire got chicken strips.


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It really hit the spot and we were all happy. I joked about Claire dying from hunger, but those that know me know that I am not the nicest person when I am hungry, so she gets it honestly.


After we finished our meal we headed out and decided what to do. Skip wanted to go find the Time Bandit. I wanted to check out Creek Street and also buy one of those coats we had seen earlier when we got off the ship, so we parted ways. I drilled it in his head what time to be back and not to be late.


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Claire walked through every puddle she found on the way. I told her she would regret this the next day when she had wet cold shoes and I did NOT bring her another pair of tennis shoes. I told her she would look silly walking near a glacier in flip flops, but she didn’t seem to care one bit.


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Just as we arrived my phone rang…the caller ID and ring tone was Skip. Hmmmm, I thought he couldn’t get his phone to work earlier. Well it wasn’t him; it was his brother calling from the barn/office phone (which I have listed as Skip in my phone as well). Skip had tried to call him earlier from my phone but he didn’t answer so he told him to call my phone. I told Dave Skip had went in search of the Time Bandit, which was pretty exciting to him too, and he asked questions about how the trip was so far. I think he asked me about 4 times what the weather was like.…in the mid 60’s and a bit rainy, but not bad at all. Everyone at home just kept thinking it would be so cold and though 65 isn’t exactly a heat wave, it’s not bad either.


The rain had picked up a bit more now and it was a little annoying, but still not bad and didn’t make or break the day.


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We saw lots of fish swimming in the creek so I tried to get a picture.


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What I didn’t realize at first was that this picture wasn’t of fish but of a seal. (I didn’t realize it till I got home actually).


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You can see the rain in this next picture.


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As we were standing on the bridge taking pictures I heard some people talking about seals. So we went over to try and get a look. There were 2 that I spotted and they were having the time of their life. All the fish they could want and they didn’t have to work too hard to get them.

At the bottom left of this next picture you can see that one was just caught.


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These guys were constantly moving and I had a hard time catching a picture of them in the process of catching fish.


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I took about 20 or so pictures but most were a complete blur.


We moved on after a bit and walked down the Creek Street area.


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This was a red light district many years ago. I think there is a path behind where men would escape if there was a raid. I am pretty sure I have seen pictures of it in other trip reports but I didn’t even know where to look for it and we really didn’t have a lot of time either.


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This guy didn’t make it. LOL.


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We saw these guys fishing and it would have been the coolest picture IF that dumb pipe wasn’t there!!!!


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There’s the Jewel.


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We did peek in a few shops but didn’t go in any.


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Forget me nots are the state flower of Alaska.


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Up next…I bought one for all my friends! And the late comers!

 

[dizneeat]

Aaah, good to know, Claire survived. You had me pretty worried!

I am all caught up ..... again!
The tour sounds like a great one. So much to see and I really had to over the octopus inking away when in time out.

Love that you got to see some of the town and watching seals can get rather addicting. At least we were addicted to watching them in California.

Food looked good too! Glad you found the place so you could "revive" Claire.

 

[Beth D]

OH that poor starving girl! To have parents that torture her that way… LOL

I'm surprised you weren't in every gift shop in town, after how bare the ship ones are...

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I'm so glad Claire survived! I think all of us as parents have gone through a moment or two like that.

 

[jenseib]

Aaah, good to know, Claire survived. You had me pretty worried!

I am all caught up ..... again!
The tour sounds like a great one. So much to see and I really had to over the octopus inking away when in time out.

Love that you got to see some of the town and watching seals can get rather addicting. At least we were addicted to watching them in California.

Food looked good too! Glad you found the place so you could "revive" Claire.

I really think Claire thought she may die. She sure put on a convincing show.
That tour was just fabulous and I am really glad we did it. We all enjoyed it. Claire was impressed with the inking octopus too.
It was really cool to see the seals. They were on my bucket list for the trip and I was happy to have gotten to see them.

OH that poor starving girl! To have parents that torture her that way… LOL

I'm surprised you weren't in every gift shop in town, after how bare the ship ones are...

We are pretty mean parents. She suffers all the time....that poor poor kid.

I did make a little shopping dent before we got on the ship. I think I spent about 200 in port. LOL.

I'm so glad Claire survived! I think all of us as parents have gone through a moment or two like that.

Yes, she was so dramatic about it all it was comical.

 

[jenseib]

Once we got to the other end of the boardwalk thingy (technical term there) we turned around and went back the same way.


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Then we went to do some shopping.


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We went into the Del Sol store because the ship had given us a coupon for a free tote bag.


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Claire found an Ariel Tank top she liked so we purchased that as well. We redeemed our coupon and they asked which ship we were on and we told them. I saw there were 2 different bags and we got the one deemed for NCL travelers. I don’t know which lines got the other one, but I liked it better. I had gotten one many years ago when sailing NCL and back then they actually said NCL on them (I still have that bag too). But it was free and who am I to complain. It was a nice freebie.


We continued on and then I saw it! I knew ALL my friends would want one…..so I went in and ordered one for all my female and some of my male friends too. I knew they would love me for it.


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Obviously I am joking. But we did stand there and laugh about this beauty for quite some time.


We then headed over to the stores near the ship and searched for a jacket. I tried on several and then went to the very first store we had gone to when we got off the ship. I ended up getting it there as I really liked the style and color the best there. Blue and white. Claire did too and of course her favorite color was Blue and white as well. I tried on a large and it fit, but it was just not roomy enough so I thought I would get an XL instead to allow for more bulk underneath. I found a hanger that said XL and tried it on. It was pretty big, but I figured it was better than the large so I went with too big over too snug. At that same time some other ladies were talking to us and I got distracted. After chit chatting a bit, we went inside and I bought some magnets, a tee shirt and some things for my granddaughter Gracie, and also we ended up get Skip a coat too. The one we got him was a bit lighter but I figured it would be perfect for him.


We paid for all our purchases and headed back to the ship.


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Sometime today we got pictures with this eagle. I can’t remember if it was early this morning or when we boarded the ship now.


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We headed out to deck 7 to people watch and wait for Skip. I put our bags down on a chair and tried calling him and he answered. I told him we were on deck 6. Um yeah….I told him the wrong deck and he said he walked all the way around deck 6 looking for us before he figured it was 7. Oooops!


He said he never did walk all the way over to where the Time Bandit was as it was much further of a walk than he had thought it would be. I don’t know if he did anything else or not and if he did, he didn’t share. I told him to call his brother and he said he already did and his phone was working now.


As we waited to sail away I took pictures of the port.


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I had started talking to a guy who was standing there and he was so annoyed at the people returning late. Once Skip joined us he joined in the conversation and it was pretty funny.


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All aboard is 30 minutes before sail away time and it’s amazing how many people couldn’t understand that. Now if they are on a ship excursion, that’s one thing, but those families that just dwindle back at the last second are really taking a chance.


That’s our buddy in this next picture.


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They are starting to pack up the port…but we are still waiting for people.


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Claire was just hanging.


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More stragglers. We are now past the all aboard time.



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This boat came in and I wondered if an excursion was returning but no one from there headed to our ship.


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Our buddy was telling us how he used to live in Ketchikan for work. I think about 2 years maybe. He said he never did explore a lot of it because he worked a lot, but he did point out a few places for us.


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Finally the last of the stragglers boarded and they took the gangway away.


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A few more pictures as we get ready to set sail.


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We wondered where this tunnel went and our buddy said he wasn’t even sure on that one either.


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We also saw some eagles coming and going on these posts. I think there were 4 in all flying around and landing. I was actually taking this next picture of the Eagle, but I realized when I got home that the Time Bandit is in the background.


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And then we started pulling out of port slowly.


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Up next….. Bye Bye Ketchikan!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I love all of the pictures of a smiling Skip on the excursion. He was loving it and you could totally tell it.

Oh poor Claire, she looked like she was just about to fall over from hunger. Good thing you finally got her something to eat.

I really enjoyed your walk around the town. If you say that your pictures don't do it justice, I can only imagine what it looked like in person.

 

[Pinkocto]

What a fabulous day! Poor Claire, I just got back from Florida with a friend that acted like this... I'm glad Claire survived and you found a tasty lunch spot.

Cool that the excursion guys waited for everyone who wanted a picture.

I'm thinking the jacket is bigger than XL?

Loved all the pictures, what a beautiful place.

Too fun about the seals