Royal Princess in Ketchikan, Alaska: August 29

Before I get started on today, I'd like to share a photo of last night's sunset. It was just so beautiful leaving Juneau.

I did have another foghorn alarm this morning. I decided it was time to rouse myself from bed, got on my slippers, and headed out to the balcony to get another picture of the white-out. I could see straight up into the beautiful starry sky but everything around me was fogged in. As dark as it was I figured I should check the time.

1:13 AM. 

Forget that! Off went the slippers and back to bed I went.

Once daylight arrived I again donned my slippers and headed out to take photos. It was an amazingly spectacular day in Ketchikan. I watched all kinds of boat traffic from the comfort of the balcony. Even caught a dog getting in on the action!

We made it to Burger Queen just as it opened at 11:00 today. Even with being some of the first folks there it was still an hour wait to get our burgers. While the plan was to hang out at the Arctic Bar in the meantime, we were taking a crew member (who wasn't a drinker) out to lunch and didn't want to make her uncomfortable. So we sat in Burger Queen, chatted, and caught up with the goings-on while waiting for our tasty burgers. To quote a line from the movie Pulp Fiction, "This is a tasty burger."

We have an early departure today because of the need to get under the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver not at high tide so after lunch we made our way back to the ship. Hubby and I headed up to the buffet to grab me a glass of ice and as we were walking, out of the corner of my eye I saw a piece of purple paper being put into one of the worker's wallets. At that same moment I heard the words ridiculously amazing.

I stopped and asked about it. Yep, he found it and thanked me profusely. What did he find? Something I left in the buffet, of course. 

He told me where he found it and I told him we're on for two more cruises and I'll keep putting them out every single day. He and his coworker were quite happy. And so was I.

Today's everything-isn't-always-perfect-in-the-cruising-world Public Service Announcement comes from room service. As I mentioned last night, we had formal night and we were ordering our dinner through the Ocean Now section of our TV so I could show viewers how the process works. While I don't have the video completely together yet, when I do I'll post it right here and you'll see why I'm not recommending you order a grilled cheese from room service. 

We have the Most Traveled Guest Cocktail Party tonight and tomorrow is our last sea day before the end of the cruise. So very glad we have two more weeks to go!

I've pulled the Princess Patters from this cruise off the blog and won't be posting any more of them. The more photos I have on the blog, the more I have to pay to have them stored (or maybe hosted is the word?). I'm more than happy to email updated Patters if you ask, but I won't be adding them here anymore. 

Want to find out more about what to do in Ketchikan and other Alaskan ports?
Check out my Cruising Alaska resources:

Royal Princess in Juneau, Alaska: August 28

This morning was another one where my alarm sounded like a foghorn. No wonder when I stepped outside and saw this.

Juneau is out there somewhere.

And we weren't the only Princess ship with a foghorn alarm this morning. I heard the Grand Princess from miles away on her approach into Juneau.

But by the time the Seabourn Sojourn showed up no foghorn was needed.

The Grand Princess wound up docking so close to us it kept automatically logging me into their WiFi all day. Guess it kept the information from our cruise on her four months ago.

After the fog burned off the sun was shining and it was a beauty of a day.

 We ate outside on the Horizon Court Terrace and watched seaplanes take off and land.

We spent quite a bit of time out on our balcony where we were tucked out of the wind in the warm sunshine. But I couldn't lollygag all day as I had work to do. While my videos didn't get filmed like I planned, I did take loads of pictures to turn into videos. I caught up on emails, did some travel agent work with a client, and started on a couple rough drafts in response to some reporter's questions.

Tonight is formal night again and the Captain's Circle party. We'll be skipping both. Since we are staying in, we'll be ordering room service - from our TV! It's a new feature on the MedallionClass ships and I'll be filming it for you to see.

Today's everything-isn't-always-perfect-in-the-cruising-world PSA is most likely coming from the Ocean Navigator team onboard the ship. I made no fewer than three additional trips to OceanFront last night to try and rectify my Medallion issue. While I no longer have to press body parts up against the wall to get into my cabin, the door is still not automatically opening even with the new clip and a new replacement Medallion. Hubby can be three cabins away and the door unlocks for him. Me? I have to stand right at the door, count to seven, and then it unlocks.

My frustration with it was bordering on disgust as I was ready to throw the d*** thing across the room last night. I think the Navigator team is so over my problem, and it doesn't help that they've spent the Alaska season with new cruisers asking questions like, "What app do I download?", "How do I get my travel companion on my phone", and "How much is the wristband?" Then I not only show up with my ongoing non-working Medallion issues but also have questions they are unable to answer like, "Will you adjust the range on mine?" and "Where can I find the menus that I read were available?" If I wasn't so desperate to make it work (and get those videos filmed) it would almost be comical.

Tomorrow we're off to Ketchikan and we've got a busy day. I have a/an:
*Morning phone call with our daughter
*Obligatory stop at the Arctic Bar with a lunch time delivery from Burger Queen
*Earlier-than-expected departure because of the tides and Vancouver's Lions Gate Bridge
*Afternoon conference call
*Evening Most Traveled Guest Cocktail Party

Whew.

Want to find out more about what to do in Juneau and other Alaskan ports?
Check out my Cruising Alaska resources: