Alaska Cruise - Day Three

 We got up bright and early in order to get off the ship before the rush. And we did! We got on the very first shuttle into Ketchikan. But as we got closer to town I realized I didn't have my phone or my camera. Or our rain jackets... After all, the sun was starting to peek out and we had made the decision to leave them behind. 

Then it started to rain. By the time we got off the shuttle it was pouring! And as we stood next to a building on the main street waiting for the bus, I realized I couldn't spend the whole day hiking in the rain in a sweatshirt. So we went back to the ship. It was kind of like swimming back upstream. And the sun was still shining back at Ward Cove... 

Luckily for us, the city bus stopped right at the top of the hill on the Tongass Highway at the State Patrol office. We snuck by the line of shuttles, by the abandoned pulp mill, up the hill, walked along the shoulder of the highway, and made it to the stop. But there was no sign anywhere. The very nice officer told us that all we had to do was stand out by the road, wave them down and the bus would stop. After waiting about 20 minutes, we saw the bus coming. We waved and watched the bus drive right on by... 

By this time we had wasted much of our early start and were feeling frustrated. The woman at the bus office told us the bus only stops if it's safe. What's safer than the State Patrol office? Plan C??? To walk back to Ward Cove, hop on the free WalMart shuttle and catch the bus where we knew there was an official bus stop. 

Thankfully, the shuttle was getting ready to turn onto the highway and let us get on. And up until 2020 this WalMart was the smallest in the world. I can't believe we didn't take a picture. In fact, when I look back at our pictures of this trip there's a lot of things I wish we had taken a picture of. :(  

After wandering around, getting a sandwich at the Subway, we finally got on a bus and headed back past Ward Cove (again) to Totem Bight State Park. Before exploring, we sat on a bench in the sun to eat our sandwich. This state park has a short easy trail past about 20 totem poles, a longhouse, and some very nice views of the water... 

Then we caught the next bus back into town and the stop at the high school. We had to hike up the hill to the college campus and the Rainbird Trail. It wasn't nearly as bad as the internet made it seem and the view of Ketchikan from the top was pretty nice! 

Apparently there aren't many bears on the island which I'm sure this deer appreciates... 

The trail ended at another major road but we followed another couple down the hill right to where our shuttle stop was. But since we had a little bit more time, we walked back up the hill to Bawden Street Brewing for a flight and a pint. 

Walking the road from the trail back into town

One of the stained glass art pieces on the boardwalk in town

Back at the dock everyone was talking about how nice the weather was for Ketchikan where it rains an average of 140-160 inches of rain per year (compared to 40 inches per year in Seattle)! 

Turns out we still had time to catch the shuttle back, change clothes, let the photographer take our picture and make our dinner reservation. And I'm glad we did because our table "neighbors" told our server it was my birthday. Two desserts is totally ok when it's your birthday.

After dinner we did a bit of exploring at the 270 Lounge. A huge area at the back of the ship with 270 degrees of windows. This area is used for shows in the evening, movies, sipping on a drink from the bar, relaxing, having a bite to eat from the cafe, rehearsing for a future production show (as seen in picture), reading a book from the adjacent library, or just enjoying the view... It might be one of the best places on board! 

Watching the boat coming to pick up the bar pilot

Then it was drinks and 50s and 60s trivia and Name That Tune before the Andy Elton show. Turns out I'm pretty good at them both. The late-night show was basically an Elton John cover band (well, guy). 

We had a night cap, went back to our room, turned on a movie and stayed up late... :)  

Alaska Cruise - Day Two

 Turns out things get a little rougher when your ship leaves the Straight and it's trying to make up time. And noisier... It seemed like everything on the ship was making some kind of creaking sound. Thank goodness we had earplugs in the suitcase! 

We also learned when we got up that we could check on the current weather and ship location on our tv...

Definitely a lot more motion when we woke up but I felt ok and we went to breakfast up on the 14th floor at the Windjammer buffet. Still felt fine, so we did a bit of exploring on the upper decks. 

The arcade was pretty empty but pickleball in the SeaPlex was hoppin'!

We went back to the Boleros for a lecture on 500 Years of Art History in only 45 minutes. The art curator did a fantastic job! Very informative and interesting. 

one of our favorite pieces on display at the lecture for the auction

Then it was to the Music Hall for Bingo. Turns out that's what a LOT of people wanted to do! We waited in line, bought our tickets, grabbed a couple of waters, found a table and played Bingo. And that's when things started to go downhill for me... 

By the time the three games were finished, I was feeling pretty miserable and by the time we got back to our room all I wanted to do was lay on the bed in front of the open balcony door in the fresh air. We started watching the newest Matrix movie and after about an hour or so I was feeling pretty good again. 

So we headed back up to the 14th floor and the pools. The outdoor pools were a little cold, windy and rough! And closed... The family pools in the middle weren't bad but had quite a few families. So we made our way to the Solarium at the front of the ship. The three-tiered pools were gorgeous and by then the sun was beginning to peek out and warm up the all-glass adults-only pool area. Unfortunately my stomach did not like it at all! 

I loved the tropical vibe in the Solarium! 

We moved to the outdoor hot tubs for a bit of sunshine and fresh air but it didn't take long to become apparent that it wasn't going to be enough. I toughed it out for a bit until Chris insisted we just go back to the room.

I was so thankful that between the steam from the hot tub and the plastic of my waterproof case I don't look as bad as I felt in the one picture I have of myself from that day

I crashed on the bed, Chris went and got some lunch, brought me back some cookies and rolls, I took some Dramamine and we finished watching our movie. About two hours later I was feeling human enough again to make our dinner reservation at the dining room. 

After dinner we also noticed that we could finally see a bit of land again off in the distance

After dinner I felt much better so we went to watch a live band followed by a professional juggler. Before heading to bed, we grabbed a few slices of  wood-fired pizza for a late-night snack and watched the robot arms make drinks in the Bionic Bar... 

Alaska Cruise - Day One

 Turns out that when you buy cruise tickets only a couple of weeks in advance and don't have to fly to your departure port, you can do it pretty cheaply. So for my 50th, we got an "obstructed view" balcony stateroom on board Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas to Ketchikan, Alaska. One of the few places we didn't go when we were in Alaska. 

It also turns out that the Port of Seattle SUCKS! 

We arrived just after noon for our 1:00 boarding time only to wait in eight different lines for nearly 5 hours before we stepped foot on the ship. Everyone assured us that this was not normal. It was not a pleasant experience (a woman actually passed out onto the concrete while waiting and the police and paramedics had to be called) but we did get to pass the time waiting with some very sweet people. We met couples from Lynden, Ferndale, Blaine, Boring (she trains puppies for the seeing eye dog school in Sandy) and as far away as Oklahoma City. It's a small world! 

Our luggage was waiting right outside our door when we got to our stateroom. Our initial thought was that it was much bigger than we expected. And nicer!

Such a great shower! Lots of instantly hot water with tons of good pressure!

Our room was also very safe thanks to a lifeboat being parked right outside

Our "obstructed view" of Seattle was very nice!

But there was not much time to explore or unpack as we had to hurry and change for our dinner reservation. We barely made it but had a very nice dinner of crab cakes, escargot, prime rib, warm chocolate hazelnut cake and creme brulee. The couple at the table next to us was from Canby, Oregon. 

You know you're in the fancy dining room when you don't even know what all the silverware is for... LOL

Turns out my simple gray dress from the Resource Center where I volunteer with the necklace/earrings from the consignment store next to the Dollar Tree in Ferndale was my favorite outfit of the week! So we snapped a few pics while we're explored a bit of this giant ship! 

The view of the Grand Esplande from the top of the spiral staircase

The giant chair outside of the Music Hall

But the chair at the Wonderland restaurant matched my dress better :) 

the 12-story elevator shaft was filled with butterflies

This was my favorite of all the old pinball machines they had in the Seaplex

The Quantum of the Seas was christened in 2014 and has a capacity of nearly 5,000 passengers! Thankfully for her first voyage of the season (and first back in the US since Covid after two years in Singapore and a 21-day trip back), she was only about half full. :)  But she can really move when she has to make up setting off nearly 4 hours late! 

We went to the Boleros bar/lounge enjoyed the live band, had a couple of cocktails, played Welcome Aboard trivia, did a free Cheers Around the World liquor tasting, visited the art gallery for an art scavenger hunt, and saw a very funny (and clean) stand-up comedian. 

the comedy show at the Royal Theater even had a live opening band 

Then we went back to unpack (we were shocked by how much really great storage we had!), set back our clocks and head to bed...