Jackie's Blog

The good thing about sea days is you can get up at any time! Having had a rough night it was good to sleep in a bit though Dick went off and signed up for a 8 am spin class and so I went and walked around the upper decks to get some air and a walk. Princess publishes a PrincessPatter every day with news and events and so we decided which events we wanted to try and explored the ship more. The Atrium Late afternoon we attended a wine tasting session which turned out to be interminably long due to the 'experts' lecturing us about wine - most of which we already knew and they were very long winded about it. Lesson learned. Not again. That evening was the first formal night and we soon discovered that there are many interpretations of formal so we neither felt under or over dressed. We had one photo taken and then went to the crown grill for dinner. This is one of the restaurants you have to pay extra to go to but it was worth it. Dick in a dreaded tie

We had to wake up early to escape the ship for our first tour of the cruise. The obligatory photos before we left followed by meeting the coach. The drivers tend to be seasonal workers as most people only stay up there during the cruise ship season. This time our guy was a local and told us more about the very small town and its history. Ketchikan is a very wet place getting over 13.5 feet of rain a year! Yes it is measured in feet rather than inches because it is in the Tongass National Park and Rainforest. Unfortunately it was one of the rainy days. Luckily is was dry to start. Dick and I were paired up in a twin kayak with him driving from the back ( he had the rudder controls). We kayaked out to a small island and saw an eagles nest as well as lots of salmon jumping but at times the rain was so hard you could barely see.   Luckily we did stay largely dry inside our waterproofs and had dry jackets to put on after. I'm still glad we went. Kayaks drying out After ...

We  left home at 5 AM on Sunday and dropped the car off at work and took a cab at the airport.  The day just got better and better. We got front seats on Southwest with loads of leg room for a flight of just over  an hour and a half and landed early in Seattle. After a cab ride to where the cruise ship was docked, we left our luggage and walked into downtown Seattle. It was a beautiful day and almost too warm. We ate an early  lunch at a seafront hotel recommended to us and just relaxed.  After a walk to Pike place market which was heaving due to three cruise ships being in port we decided to cut our losses and head back to the ship.  Queues were long but not unexpected and everyone was happy to be going onboard. Our cabin is like a small hotel room with a queen sized bed, a TV and a ensuite shower, sink and loo. We also have a balcony which is lovely. Most other people headed off to get food but as we'd eaten we went off exploring. We are ...