Royal Princess Accident Update

As people are looking for more information about what is happening on the Royal Princess in regards to yesterday's plane crash in Ketchikan, Alaska, I thought I'd update you on what we know so far.

• Monday afternoon after our all-aboard time, an announcement came over the speakers in our cabin. We assumed it would be the standard passenger services desk call looking for those passengers not yet onboard. But it was the Captain with the sad news that one of Royal Princess' float plane excursions to Misty Fjords had been involved in an accident and that a second plane on an independent tour also had Royal Princess guests on it. He said there was a collision of the planes and the condition of the passengers was unknown. We were all asked to contact family and friends to let them know we were okay and that a care team was available onboard for those who would like to use it. We also learned at that time that our planned 3:15 pm departure from Ketchikan would be delayed.
• Around 6:00 pm we saw passengers and crew with luggage being disembarked and driven away in vans. We later learned the crew members were going with the families to provide support while ashore. 
• After the last of the families left, the Captain provided an updated announcement. When he came over the loudspeaker, the entire ship froze in their tracks. We were on the Lido deck and every single person stopped what they were doing and listened intently.
• The Captain announced that nine passengers from our ship on the Princess excursion were rescued but one was still missing. He said on the other plane, four Princess passengers from our ship as well as the pilot had died. Counselors are available for passengers and crew. He also said the ship will arrive in Juneau at 10 am instead of the scheduled 8 am. Princess excursions are being rearranged, and if passengers were booked on any flightseeing excursions during the rest of the voyage they can ask for for a full refund if they wish to cancel. 
• We attended the Most Traveled Guest gathering Monday evening. The Captain understandably was absent from the gathering. Considering the solemn mood of the ship, several passengers scheduled to attended opted out. We held a moment of silence during the gathering. 
• Sometime Monday night/early Tuesday morning we received a letter in our cabin:

• For the most part, passengers have been amazing in their level of respect being shown during this time. This ship, full of thousands of people, has a subdued tone. Lowered voices, slower pace. We did overhear some inappropriate speculative conversations last night. We just had to removes ourselves from the area. And already a this has kind of ruined my trip has come up. But otherwise we all have heavy hearts.
• Our Internet has been spotty the last 12 hours or so. If you have friends or family you are concerned about, we will be in Juneau from approximately 10 am - 9 pm so I would recommend calling them on their cell phones during that time.

I'll continue to provide updates here on the blog as they become available. I don't do social media - no Facebook, Twitter, etc - but I have heard from others there is quite a bit of misinformation out there. I can't worry about that, but I can report straight from the ship. Let me know if you need anything from me. I'm more than happy to help if I can.

Tuesday afternoon:
We haven't received any new updates from the Captain and I expect we won't as it's now all over the news. I'm purposely avoiding reading or watching anything about it. We have plenty of passengers talking about it and I'm trying to avoid listening to those conversations as well. I don't think predicting or speculating serves any purpose so I won't be wading into those weeds. I've said this before, but I'm a just the facts ma'am kind of ma'am so I'm sticking to the experiences happening onboard.

Cruising Alaska: Royal Princess in Ketchikan

Here we go with another early morning surprise. Instead of taking the more scenic view red route, the ship took the less-scenic brown route.

While it was super early as we were heading into Ketchikan and most people weren't outside to see it, we did have a beautiful morning even without the scenic route. I tried to watch the bridge cam on the way in but they had the TV system shut down.

I had to resort to Ketchikan's web cams to watch the two tugs helping us navigate into port at 5:30 in the morning. So beautiful. 

What a spectacular day. You know it's going to be a great one when you are sitting on a cruise ship in Ketchikan, Alaska, having breakfast in the sunshine.

We were planning on taking our crew member friend out to lunch today but she had IPM (in port manning) and couldn't leave the ship. Hubby and I headed to Burger Queen to grab lunch for her and her crew member husband. Burger Queen in Ketchikan is a fast good restaurant close to the port, very small, and is super-busy. Today we arrived to a long line out the door and an even longer wait. When I say long, I mean loooooong. From the time we actually placed our order to the time it was handed to us was over an hour. Yes, an hour for takeout cheeseburgers and fries at a fast food restaurant. They do forewarn you when you place your order about the wait time so you know what you're in for. I tootled back to port with my backpack stuffed full of food for four people.

When I arrived back at the ship is when another long wait began. Take a look at this line down the gangway:

Now imagine that line wrapping around the corner, coming back down another area of the port (where I took the picture from), and then wrapping around one more time. The moment I took the picture I was in the middle of the line. Several hundred people all rushing to get back onto the ship at the same time. It was slow going.  I wasn't sure all that time and energy just to go get cheeseburgers was going to be worth it. But I can report they were absolutely delicious. Bordering on the best I've ever had. Yes, totally worth it.

If we hadn't already had our plans to venture out, we would have stayed onboard and had crab cakes. Today the hamburger/hot dog place was featuring crab cakes from Tracy's King Crab Shack (the place in Juneau). For free! I peeked over the edge of the counter and they looked amazing. I'll try and get a pic of them next week.

We have the Most Traveled Guest Cocktail Party tonight. Not sure I'll be ready to eat much, but I'll get my drink on!

I didn't get to see if the Encouraging Words Project was read on the air. When we went to watch the Wake Show on TV we got this screen. I don't know what happened, but I guess I'll be watching tomorrow instead.

Until tomorrow...maybe...

We just had some sad news. The Captain just now announced one of our float plane excursions has been involved in an accident. A second float plane carrying additional Royal Princess passengers was also involved. Our departure from Ketchikan has been delayed. I'll update here as we know more, but the Captain said it was a collision and to let family and friends know we are okay. That makes me think it was pretty bad. Please keep those folks in your thoughts today. A care team is available onboard for anyone who needs it.

I have a very sad update. The Captain has announced that nine passengers from our ship on the Princess excursion were rescued but one is still missing. On the other plane, four Princess passengers from our ship as well as the pilot have died.

We are leaving port now and will arrive late in Juneau. Excursions are being rearranged, and if passengers are booked on any flightseeing excursions during the rest of the voyage they can ask for for a full refund if they wish to cancel.

Counselors are available for passengers and crew. We have a very sad ship right now. Please keep the families in your thoughts and prayers.

An additional update: I learned at the Most Traveled Guest party that Princess also disembarked some staff members tasked to provide support to the families involved. Kudos to Princess.