Since day one we have had a problem with the temperature of the water in our bathroom sink. The hot water has been scalding, while the cold water has been warm at best. Asking about fixing it, we were told it was not possible. Really? Finally, today it appeared to be working properly, so perhaps more guests in this block of rooms have complained way more than us. Whatever the reason for the fix, we hope lasts for the next two weeks.
Another question we have had concerns the internet onboard. It is spotty, even when we are docked in a port. We have discovered that it helps to prop open the door to get more bars. It is not a true fix, but at least we are able to send larger files that way.
The Zaandam arrived to Ketchikan before 11am. It was already a beautiful partly cloudy, but mostly sunny day. Compared to the temps in Glacier Bay, today there was barely a breeze blowing. Lucky. We went to our favorite viewing spot on deck six forward. The bow was opened also. Scanning the outskirts of the city, we spotted the rock slide that recently happened. It was not as massive as we had expected, but wide enough to cause some homes to be demolished and the road blocked. It has been cleaned up and covered with some type of green plastic to keep it from further erosion.
There were other ships already docked in town today. We sailed past Ward Cove where the Oceana Regatta was docked. Closer to town, we saw the Royal Princess as well as the Grand Princess. The Viking Orion was also in port. It was a good thing that there were over 30 tours offered today, because that would take many of these cruise guests out of town. The excursions ranged from reasonable like the Lumberjack Show for $43. each to mid-priced tours such as the Saxman Village or seafood feast for $170. per person. Outrageous-priced excursions (IOHO) were the bear encounter for $300 or a floatplane to a bear adventure for $600. each. None of these tours exceeded 5 hours and most did not include lunch. We have heard that it is the insurance end of the equation that has driven up these prices. Isn't that the case with every type of insurance we purchase these days?
We were perfectly happy to get out and explore on our own now, as we have done many of these tours through the various cruise lines. And that's what we did today. Leaving the ship before 12pm, most of the guests had already left. One of the pluses was leaving the heavy jackets behind. Sweatshirts would be sufficient. We sure cannot remember a visit here that it did not rain. Known as the salmon capital of the world, Ketchikan lived up to its reputation today as we viewed what we think are the pink salmon fighting their way up the creek to spawn. From the amount of fish we saw today, it is our guess that it is the beginning of this run, and will get better in the next two weeks.
Passing the fire department and the Federal Building, we came upon one of the many totem poles in town. This one was named Chief Johnson, a replica from 1901. Totem carving is an art, and many examples of how they are created can be seen out of town. From here we crossed the busy street and saw lots of fish, many dead ones, from the Stedman Street bridge. We followed the crowd that was making their way up Creek Street, the famous redlight district from 1902. More than 30 bawdy houses lined the banks of this creek. Today this area is part residential and commercial. One of the most famous places is Dolly's House, once an infamous brothel. It has been preserved and is complete with antiques and gaudy décor of those wild and crazy days.
It was slow-going the rest of the way up the creek boardwalk as many folks were stopping and taking photos of the fish below. Once at the top, we turned right and followed the road to the bridges across the creek. We think there were about half of the spawning fish compared to what we saw last year. We continued to the old fish hatchery and City Park where we took advantage of an empty bench. Checking the creek on Fair Street, we noticed there were few fish there. Then it was time to back-track and make our way back to downtown. We ducked in and out of some shops along the way, then arrived at the Alaska King Crab Co. for lunch. By 2pm, it was not crowded, which suited us just fine. There was an ad inside the elevator for king crab. It was $150 for a two pound serving. Holy cow……or should we say holy crab? It would be interesting to see how many folks order the treat.
Due to allergies, one of us is not a big fish eater. Shellfish is the culprit, but crab and shrimp are OK. Honestly, a hamburger works better in most cases. So we ordered one small salad, and a burger to share. Beers of choice were the Alaska Amber drafts. Really good when ice cold. They serve nice desserts here, so we split a slice of carrot cake. And to top it off, we had a coupon for free shot glasses which were gifted when we finished our meal. One of us recalled finding Lazy One T's in the shop below. We found them and bought one to add to the collection. And with another coupon, they handed out souvenir shopping bags with the purchase. From what we saw, most of the best deals were here in Ketchikan. People were shopping like there was no tomorrow. And since we had plenty of room in the large shopping bag, we purchased two big bags of popcorn before heading to the info center. We picked up the walking tour map of town, which is full of useful information. By the way, our friendly waiter told us that this coming Thursday, there will be 20,000 cruise ship passengers in town. They will be busier than ever, which is great for their economy. In the early days, fishing, canning, and lumber were the top industries, but today, it is tourism.
We had quite a steep climb re-boarding the ship, since the tide had risen quite a bit by 4pm. There were plenty of crew members to help those who needed it. As always, we used the rest of the afternoon to put together this report with the photos. All aboard time was 6:30pm and we were so engrossed with our work, we hardly noticed when the ship left the dock 10 minutes later. Tomorrow will be a scenic day cruising the Inside Passage on our way back to Vancouver.
Dinner for us was in the dining room, where the suggested attire was "dressy". Quite a few of the fellows and ladies seemed to miss that memo because some came dressed in old jeans, t-shirts, windbreakers and baseball caps. We hate to sound like the clothes police, but we have been around long enough to see the changes from proper attire to "we are too lazy to change clothes". There was an Alaska Seafood Boil for $35 per person in the Lido, but we are sure that was only in one part of this venue. While on the grand world voyage this year, it was announced more than once that if the call was for dressy or formal, it was the required dress for the full service table restaurants. And very few folks showed up with inappropriate attire. And the dress code on those special evenings was enforced by the head waiters as well.
Anyway, our meal was just fine with starters of Caesar salad (always ice cold and crispy), and a shrimp cocktail. The dinner rolls have been consistently good. While waiting for our mains, the hotel manager, Glenn Cowley, stopped by for a chat. He remembered us from last year's fall cruises on the Volendam, and welcomed us back. He and his family had joined this ship the same day we did. Then after we finished our meals of beef tenderloin minus the crab and a pork schnitzel, head waiter, Pulung, stopped by checking up on us. He is such a nice fellow. We ended the meal with one small chocolate volcano and a plate of sliced pineapple…..so refreshing.
There was a Chocolate Surprise at 9:30pm on deck five and the Step One Dance Company with Musicology. It had been a very long day and we were ready for bed. And the clocks went forward one hour tonight. We don't like forward, but in a few days, we will be setting them back again.
Bill & Mary Ann
