Cruising Alaska on the Golden Princess - Ketchikan

Hello from Ketchikan!

We've done a lot in Ketchikan in the last 14 visits.

Totem Poles? Been to both Totem Bight Saxman Native Village.
Visit Creek Street? Yep. Totem Bight Park and Creek Street photos are here.
Salmon fishing? Yep. Salmon fishing photos can be found here.
See the salmon run? Yep. You can see the salmon run photos here.
Duck tour? Yep.

Take a photo of the rain gauge? Yep.

this one is from five years ago

 Take the Deadliest Catch tour? Yep.

 Watch bald eagles at work and at rest? Yep.

Lumberjack Show and sightseeing? Yep. You can see some of those photos here.
And even more views of the area can be found here.

Obviously Ketchikan is another port we've hit multiple times, so it became another port with no particular plans. While our gal from the Ruby did get her treats we took to her ship when we were docked Skagway (whew!) we decided not try that again (the word fiasco comes to mind), even though her ship is in port with us again today.

Since we're docked in one of the prime spots - we're in berth 2 - I took a little jaunt to the quilt shop in Salmon Landing. In Alaska I typically hit up the quilt shop in Skagway and the one in Ketchikan. I usually don't buy anything (have you seen my quilt stash here?) but I like to look. But when I got there I was totally bummed. The big shop with all the beautiful quilts hanging on the second floor of Salmon Landing is no more. Just the super small secondary store remains. With no beautiful quilts.

Usually Ketchikan is either the first stop or last stop on an Alaskan cruise, and with four ships in town everything is packed with people today. I don't need to buy anything, I don't need to eat, and clearly I don't need any additional pictures. So I left the empty space where the quilt shop used to be, did a quick walk around the block, and headed back to the ship. It's a beautiful day for sitting in the sunshine out by the pool.

It's also a nice day to write up in Skywalkers. I've been up here every day and it's almost always quiet. The window washing guy is cleaning the windows at this very moment making the view even prettier.

We'll also be up here later tonight as we have the Most Traveled Guest Cocktail Party. Depending on the food, I may or not take pictures. No matter the ship, the cocktail party food items typically seem not to change too much. If we do try something new I'll take a photo.

Tomorrow is our last sea day and packing day. Boo hoo.

Here is the link to today's Patter.

Cruising Alaska on the Golden Princess - Juneau

We had no particular plans for this port today, either. Other than trying to meet up with a crew member from yet another ship, the Grand Princess, who was is port with us today. Unfortunately, he too couldn't go out.

There are several reasons crew members can't leave the ship when in port. The most obvious one is that they are on duty during the port hours. Or if they do have a break, there might be a crew drill scheduled during their break time.

There are also a couple other reasons, like the gal from yesterday. The company assigns crew members to a ship for a contract of several months. Those contracts aren't always on the same ship. Our gal just joined the Ruby Princess this month. She's been on several other Princess ships over the course of her career, but since she is on a new ship she is given limited privileges for a while. One of those privileges is the ability to go out in port. Crew members are issued laminated ID badges that allow them to go on and off the ship. (Kind of like a passenger getting scanned on and off with their cruise card.) Without the laminex card they can't leave the ship. And she hasn't been on the ship long enough to get her card. She can't even step outside the ship without it.

Another reason crew members might not be able to leave the ship is because of IPM (In Port Manning) duty. Even when docked in port, the cruise ship is required to have enough crew onboard in case of emergency situations. Crew members rotate IPM days so some days they can't leave the ship.

Which leads us back to today. It was another day of so close, yet so far.

The Grand is ever-so-close

And since we slept away half the morning (late night with a crew member on this ship + inside cabin = sleeping in) we opted to stay on the ship. The weather was actually quite nice and we camped out by the outdoor pool that is still closed.

I watched the clouds rolls in.

Watched people ride up and down on the Mt. Roberts Tramway. I still can't believe I didn't realize it hung over the mountain when I rode it.

You can also see the view from Mt. Roberts Tramway here and see the tram from below here from my previous blog posts.

And I watched a crazy bird stealing french fries over and over again. He'd sometimes take them above the MUTS screen to eat them but mostly would drop them in the Jacuzzi and then retrieve them and eat them. Yuck, right? He was almost too fast for me to catch him on camera.

All aboard is a bit earlier today at 3:30. I still see quite a few folks walking this way so I'm guessing a 4:00 pm departure might not happen.

The view from Skywalkers, one of my go-to writing spots for this cruise.

Most of our Juneau adventures happened years ago so we weren't too worried about not going into town. Just last week we walked to Nugget Falls up at Mendenhall Glacier. You can find out about that beautiful walk here.  And here you can see some food and flowers.

It was  nice having a lazy day today. Tonight is formal night and the Captain's Circle Party (which we will again skip). Tomorrow is our last port, Ketchikan. And tomorrow night is the Most Traveled Guest Cocktail Party. Which we will not skip.

Here is the link to today's Patter.