We spent the day with Rich and Suzi, longtime Sitka residents & friends from the 2023 World Cruise

SITKA ARRIVAL

After a cloudy and drizzly day in Ketchikan, we were looking forward to the blue skies and moderate temperatures forecast for Sitka. Sitka’s skyline is the gorgeous mountains surrounding the city. Still, the most prominent manmade feature is the John O’Connell Bridge, a cable-stayed bridge over the Sitka Channel, named after former Sitka Mayor, John O’Connell.

HERE is a link to the HAL Excursion Catalog for Sitka

Sitka’s Skyline The John O’Connell Bridge This is the Sitka Lighthouse, a two-bedroom hotel on a private island – $1,850 a night. More here

 

TENDERING

This was a tender port, and we arrived around 10 am. Here is how tendering worked on the Westerdam. Tenders are small, 80-passenger power boats used to ferry passengers from the ship to shore. They depart from platforms on Deck A, which is one deck below Deck 1 in the center of the ship. To better manage the process of getting over 1500 passengers ashore in groups of 80, the Westerdam uses a priority system using tender tickets. This is similar to the system used on other HAL ships.

Passengers are divided into four groups, which determines their tendering priority.

1) HAL Shore Excursions: These passengers get to the head of all lines to get ashore in time for their excursions. They don’t get tickets but are escorted ashore from the World Stage at the appropriate time.

2) Presidents Club, Neptune Suites, and Club Orange: These guests have distinctive cruise cards—Red, White and Blue tipped for Presidents Club, Gold tipped for Neptune Suites, and Burnt Orange tipped for Club Orange. This group doesn’t need a tender ticket but can proceed to Deck A and join any existing tender line. Depending on the current situation, they may be held for a short time on Deck 1.

3) 4 and 5 Star Mariners: These guests received an orange tender ticket in the Rolling Stone Lounge and remained there until their tender ticket number was called. On sailings with fewer 4/5 star mariners, they may be grouped with the Neptune Suite passengers and not need tender tickets.

4) Everyone else: These guests received grey tender tickets from the Ocean Bar and waited in the Ocean Bar until their tender ticket was called.

As tenders become available, they will call numbers from each color group. The announcements are made only in the respective lounge. When the announcements used to be broadcast throughout the ship, passengers would take too long to get to Deck A, which slowed everything down.

The process doesn’t wait until every 4/5 star mariner is called before the first of the 1/2/3 star mariners are called, but 4/5 stars are called more frequently. As the day progressed, it took about 1 hour for 4/5 stars and up to 2 hours for lower mariners.

If you have an earlier independent tour, you must get to your tender ticket location an hour before the ship arrives and get one of the early tender tickets. I’m not particularly eager to deal with this uncertainty, so I will usually book a HAL tour in a tender port or book a later tour that won’t have to rely on being one of the first people ashore.

NOTE—The tender ticket colors change for each port, so you can’t save a low orange ticket and try to reuse it in a future port.

 

GOING ASHORE

We arrived in the Rolling Stone Lounge at 10:30 am and received Tender Ticket Orange 20. A few minutes later, they called Orange 8 – it would be a while before our number was called. At 11:30 am, our number was called, and we headed to Deck A and boarded a tender. We were ashore in less than 10 minutes. Rich and Suzi hosted about a dozen friends from previous cruises, and we were the last ones ashore. The others went ahead to the Sitka National Historical Park. The tour driver, Amy, returned to the tender landing to pick us up, and we were soon reunited with the others.   Follow Rich’s adventure here on his outstanding Blog

SITKA NATIONAL HISTORIAL PARK

Sitka National Historic Park Visitor’s Center

This park is about one mile from the tender landing. If the weather is nice, walking along the shoreline would be pleasant. There is a nice visitor center where we could watch Tommy Joseph, a Tlingit master carver, demonstrate some of his techniques.

Master Carver Tommy Joseph with his current project – a warriors helmet

 

NOTE: The National Park website HERE is outdated and doesn’t list any demonstrations, so I would call or email them to find out what time they may have a demonstration to plan your visit better.

A totem trailer is on the left. The two totem poles on the right with their exposed bases, show how deep the totems are driven into the ground

 

We walked for a bit along the Totem Trail. We were a little short on time, so we returned early, but there was much to explore in the park. The Park Brochure lists many other attractions in Sitka. If you don’t have anything planned, I would advise getting here early, exploring the park, and then heading back to Sitka to check out the other sites. A handy app is available with a nice Totem Pole Walking Tour.

One of the many totem poles along the trail A view of the Westerdam from the National Park.  While tendering is inconvenient, we avoided having to take a longer shuttle bus ride from the cruise ship piers a few miles north of town

 

PIONEER PARK

Pioneer Park is a few miles north of town. It has a covered picnic shelter and restrooms, and a grocery store is nearby.

Beautiful day in Sitka

Rich and Suzi provided a smorgasbord of drinks and snacks, but the best part was sharing stories of past cruises and our future adventures.

Great food – Great Friends – Great Time!

 

After about an hour, we headed across the John O’Connell Bridge to Japonski Island for a group photo with Sitka in the background.

Our group on Japonski Island with the main city in the background

 

RAVEN RADIO

Once back on the mainland (Baranof Island) , Rich and Suzi led us on a short walking tour around Totem Square and shared some interesting stories about Sitka. Afterward they gave us a tour of Raven Radio.

Totem Square

Rich and Suzi McClear are Co-General Managers for RAVEN RADIO (104.7 FM & 90.1 FM), a community radio station serving southeast Alaska. The station is located in the historic Cable House (2 Lincoln St), which is very close to the Tender Landing. The Beak Restaurant is on the first floor, and most of the radio station’s offices are on the second floor. They sell Raven Radio merch on the first floor—check it out!

Don’t forget to pick up some Raven Radio merch in the Cable House! The Cable House is home to Raven Radio and The Beak Restaurant

 

We briefly chatted with some of the news team and watched one of the programs in progress.   Listen live HERE

We got to watch Dave Sam, Host of Indigenous and Other Expressions, during his live broadcast. Wednesdays from 2-4 PM, Alaska Daylight Time.

 

After saying our goodbyes, we headed back to town for one loop around the central business district.

RAVEN’S HOOK

Apropos for Sitka, we spotted a few Ravens walking down the street on our way to the yarn shop Raven’s Hook. In addition to yarn, Raven’s Hook offers a lot of material for various craft projects.  The store had a small selection of yarn. Judy bought 2 hanks of sock yarn that was hand-dyed in Sitka under the label White Raven Yarn. The color is ‘Rhubarb’, a lovely mix of deep berry and deep forest green.

A Sitka raven in the street Inside Raven’s Hook Judy showing off her new yarn outside the shop

 

YELLOW JERSEY CYCLE SHOP

We spotted the Yellow Jersey Cycle Shop on our way back to the Tender Landing, directly across from the Cruise Ship Shuttle Terminal. I always like to check our local bike shops and pick up a local water bottle or jersey. This shop had both! What a treat. The staff is very friendly. They also rent mountain bikes and e-bikes if you are in the mood for something more strenuous.

Pete with his new water bottle

 

MAPS

BACK ON THE SHIP

Colin Barkell was the featured performer this evening. His powerful voice reminds you of Johnny Cash. He was joined by his own band: Rany Cantwell -  Bass Guitar; Max Boyce Rossetti - Lead Guitar and Joseph Stewart on the Drums..

Colin Barkell

He started his show with Folsom Prison Blues and worked his way through the following songs:

– Proud Mary
– I’ve Been Everywhere by Johnny Cash
– Spoonful by Chester Arthur Burnett aka Howlin’ Wolf
– Dueling Irish dancing and drums
– Wipe Out by the Surfaris
– Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry
– Heartbreak Hotel by Elvis Presley
– You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog by Elvis Presley

Along the way, he would set aside his guitar and breakout in an Irish Jig!

The show was outstanding, and it was easily the best of the cruise. We are looking forward to his next show.

We visit Saxman Totem Park and two Yarn Shops

KETCHIKAN

The ship cleared around 8 am

Our plan for today — 

Take the two-hour Eagle One – City Highlights and Totems Tour –

Lunch

Visit Ketchikan’s two Yarn Shops

This map shows the spots we visited on our 2-hour tour Close up of Ketchikan

 

CITY HIGHLIGHTS AND TOTEMS TOUR

The Westerdam cleared about 8 a.m., and we headed ashore around 9:55 a.m. It was in the 40s with light rain. We walked from Berth 3 to the Visitor’s Center (near Berth 2 waterfront), where we checked in for our City Highlights and Totem Parks Tour, which started at 10:30 a.m.

This wooden bald eagle was very popular as a photo background for tourists Over 15 tour desks are inside the visitors center across from Berth 2. This is where we checked in for our tour

 

We met our guide, Debbie, and headed over to the Lumberjack Show, where we picked up a couple from the Noordam.   The five of us were very comfortable in the 13 passenger van.

HERRING COVE

We stopped in a pullout adjacent to Herring Cove a few miles out of town. We hoped to see bears or eagles there, but the salmon hadn’t arrived yet, and we saw no bears or eagles today.

Herring Cove Welcome to Alaska! I guess this means they don’t offer tours.  This is the sign at the entrance to a Salmon Hatchery in Herring Cove

 

RAINBOW FALLS

Continuing out of town, we stopped at Rainbow Falls for a photo. This is also a trailhead if you are in the mood for a hike.

Pete and Judy at Rainbow Falls

 

SAXMAN TOTEM PARK

Saxman Totem Park features a collection of intricately carved totem poles. These 25 totems are authentic replicas of the original poles left in abandoned villages as Native Alaskans moved into more populated cities. Totem pole carving was an art form that flourished from the mid-1700s to the late 1800s.

Near the entrance there is a building where a Totem was being carved.  People on ship tours were able to go inside the building.   Our private tour stayed outside, under the roof, to look through the wall of windows as our guide explained the totem carving.   TIP – Walk around to the back side of the building where there are more windows with a better view of the interior.

 

CREEK STREET

Debbie dropped us off at Creek Street at our request rather than return to the Visitor Center.    She recommended lunch a few doors away at the New York Café.  We each had Fish and Chips –  with a choice of Halibut or Cod.  Afterwards, we walked down Creek Street to Fabulous Fiber Arts and More

Pete, Tour guide Debbie and Judy Creek Street is home to various shops We had Fish and Chips here for lunch Inside the Cafe

 

YARN SHOPS

Fabulous Fiber Arts and More

This shop also sells quilt fabrics.  Judy bought a hank of yarn in blues & yellows that was hand-dyed in Palmer, Alaska.  She also bought a kit of yarn for the National Parks hat pattern called Gates of the Arctic.  She has been looking for buttons for a gray cabled vest she knitted. Not having the vest with her, she bought some buttons that might look good on the vest.  Note:  The buttons turned out to be the correct size and are just a little bit lighter in color but will look nice on the vest.

Judy showing off her purchases in front of Fabulous Fiber Arts Inside Fabulous Fiber Arts Judy’s Purchases

 

Untangled Yarn and Fiber

Our next yarn shop, Untangled Yarn and Fiber, was about 1.5 miles north of town.   We took the free downtown shuttle that left from in front of the Tongass Historical Museum.   There is also a city bus that runs along the same route that costs $2.   The Free Bus is clearly marked FREE.   They both go to the same place for our purposes – so we took the first bus to show up which was a free bus.

Untangled Yarn’s front section features locally dyed yarn.  Some of the yarns were dyed with natural dyes.  The back room featured yarns from some of the popular companies from the US and Europe.  Judy bought some beautiful locally dyed Alpaca and Silk lace weight yarn in shades of medium to dark blue.  She also splurged on some Baby Alpaca, Silk and Cashmere yarn in shades of tans to browns.

After visiting Untangled Yarn and Fiber, we took the $2 bus back to the center of Ketchikan.

We had time before the All Aboard and went souvenir shopping at Tongass Trading Company. Judy bought some small jars of Salmonberry Jelly and Salmonberry Honey.

Giant Moose in Tongass Trading Center

 

BACK ON THE SHIP

The ship hosted a Welcome Aboard reception for 3, 4 & 5-star mariners around the Lido pool from 6:15 to 6:45 pm.   Sparkling Wine and premixed cocktails were available at no charge.   You had to buy your own soft drinks.   There wasn’t any welcome address or other announcements.    The Captain and other officers were out and about mingling with guests.

Welcome Reception

 

WORLD STAGE

Comedian Buddy Fitzpatrick was on the World Stage.   He left the house lights on during his show.    Most of his performance was improv based on his interactions with guests.

Buddy Fitzpatrick