Day 11 - 07/08/22 - Ketchikan, AK

It was strange to sail into Ketchikan in the daylight.  Normally we have arrived early in the morning after an overnight sailing. Cruising down the channel there was lots to see including the NCL port at Ward Cove which is just north of town but not as far as Totem Bight State Park.  It was also cool to see the shipyard where the Alaska State Ferry Columbia was in dry dock and the Matanuska was moored.

 

In town the Grand Princess and the Westerdam were moored facing north while the Queen Elizabeth faced south.  At just before 11am we  gently slid into our mooring position in the remaining berth at the southern position across the pier from the Outlet shop and Kettle corn vendor.

 

It took 15 or 20 minutes for the mooring and clearance process to complete and we made our way off the ship.  We found our zip line excursion meeting point.  Once all had assembled, we boarded a motor coach for the 1/2 hour drive south to the venue.  Along the way a bear was spotted.  At the camp we were weighed to make sure we were within parameters (60lbs minimum and 250 lbs maximum). We then boarded a Unimog for the trip up the mountain.

 

We donned our gear and surprisingly they let us keep our cellphones.  There was a demonstration about how we were to physically zip line.  And we were off.  Katie volunteered to go first so that meant I was second.  We ere broken into two groups of 7 and Hyrum and Katie (an adult) we're our guides.  Hyrum always zipped first and then the group and Katie zipped last. They frequently asked how we were feeling to assess our mental condition as we were 70-100 feet up in the forest and zipping across expanses of 600-1600 feet.  In the middle of the course were 3 suspension bridges.  Personally it was gratifying to see a grandchild thoroughly enjoying the activity.  At various stops we had views of eagles and at the last platform, we rappelled down some 100 feet. Just after we rappelled down, a bear was spotted not 25 feet from us but separated by a solid fence.  We never saw it.

 

While we were doing this activity, Angela took a cultural tour which she really liked.

Back at the ship, we met up for a quick late lunch and then went out shopping and strolling up Creek street.  The king salmon run is about to begin in a week and there was a seal cruising the creek looking for a meal.

 

We were delayed about 1/2 hour by a late arriving group from the lumberjack show.  The Queen Elizabeth departed before us but we later passed it.  We enjoyed a late dinner in the Pinnacle Grill and ended our evening watching the Greatest Showman with Katie in the stateroom.

 

Tomorrow is a sea day sailing down the inside passage to our Vancouver destination. It should be a relaxing day. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 07 - 07/04/22 - Hubbard Glacier

  After a very restful night's sleep, we ate breakfast in the Lido before we dropped Katie off at Club Hal (she really likes it!). We watched the shore excursion presentation (not well attended) and booked a few excursions in Juneau & Ketchikan to use up our extensive onboard credit. Afterwards Jeremy, our cruise director, did a good EXC presentation on the Iditarod (not well attended).     A biologist did a marine mammal talk but we missed it due to our participation in a Mariner wine tasting.   At the end of the wine tasting we arrived at  the Hubbard Glacier and hovered for an hour with the starboard side facing the glacier.  A small aluminum excursion boat came up alongside and those tour participants boarded it.  Then we rotated 180° and the port side faced the glacier for an hour.  The little tour boat returned and soon we were back underway.   Tonight we ate in the main dining room as it was the meal commemorati...
Read more

Day 09 - 07/06/22 - Skagway, AK

  It felt a little strange to wake up in Skagway just a month after we previously visited the city on the Quantum of the Seas.     The Noordam has the primo docking spot closest to downtown and at the end of Broadway Street where all the tourist shops are located. We ate a leisurely breakfast and made our way off the ship to pick up our Musher Camp tickets at the M&M ticket booth.     Interestingly, the shuttle picked us up at the Klondike National Historic Park and took us back to the Noordam where we transferred shuttles to a larger shuttle. Patrick was our guide and driver all day.   The musher camp is located about 30 minutes from town.  An enterprising entrepreneur figured out that he could establish a place where sled dogs could live during the summer, get their social and physical training needs met during the off season by pulling tourists around 7 days a week.  Then in the winter, the dogs would go back to the interior and p...
Read more

Day 06 - 07/03/22 - Anchorage to Whittier & Sail away

  Since we had a late departure from our     hotel The Captain Cook at noon, we took a 9am one hour trolley tour that was very interesting.     Highlights were a a stop at earthquake park and the Lake Spenard seaplane area.   Even though we were scheduled to be picked up at 12 noon, the bus didn't arrive until 12:45pm which was supposed to be our train departure time.  So we departed at 1pm for the 2.5 hour trip.     It was super scenic with some sightings of Dall sheep and lots of waterfalls.  Lunch was available and our refillable souvenir soda bottles from yesterday could be used.  Additionally, HAL staff checked us in (under two minutes for us as I had preloaded all the required info into their app).    The final part of the trip was passing through a mile long tunnel which opened up into the port of Whittier.  This port was created in WWII as a secret port and the tunnel provided addition...
Read more