Mercury 5-29-04 Part V of VI

[transactionchick]

6-2-04

Ketchikan

We missed the docking in Ketchikan – although we were again up at 7:00 Rob reckons that we docked somewhere around 5am – at least that is when the ship stopped moving. So no view of the cannery (which is on the way in to the dock) and eagles. Oh well.

I forgot to tell you, last night we had a great view of whales at dinner last night. First of all, the sun did not go down till well after 10, so even at our late dinner we had sunlight until we were finished. We saw a couple of whales ‘waving’ at us…literally…one whale showed his tail about 5 times just like a wave…I am sure there is a name for this, breaking, sounding, something, but I don’t know what it is. It was pretty cool, though, something you don’t see every day.

We ‘gained’ an hour last night and when we got up, every clock on the ship (including the clock in our room) was showing the correct time! Now that is pretty cool. We give the hour back tonight when we leave Ketchikan, and I have no doubt every clock will be again adjusted.

Ketchikan is a very busy port, as we remember from our last trip, and most if not all ships only get a few hours here. Long enough to take an excursion or visit the town but not really both. As we really didn’t want an excursion we planned to set off on foot. Kelsy planned to sleep in so we woke her long enough to say a quick goodbye and headed out about 8:30.

We managed to skip the photo this morning and made a beeline for the visitor’s center to pick up a map. On the way we passed a Princess and Crystal ship. I forget the name of the Princess ship but the Crystal ship was the Harmony. I do know that is a luxury line so we are sure to see some well-heeled cruisers in port today.

It was a hard sell for tours in the visitor’s center (if you didn’t book on the ship you would surely have no problem finding what you are seeking in the visitor’s center!) but we managed to politely decline everything and score a walking map of Ketchikan. Ignoring all the shops (which all sell the exact same thing) we find some of the interesting landmarks on the map. We ride the funicular to the top of the hill ($2 each) and visit the picturesque hotel at the top. We take Marrried Man’s trail back down and then head to the Salmon Hatchery. Admission is $7.50 each so we spring for it. We wait for a lull between tour groups (all obviously from ships and all obviously having paid more than we did!) and snag one of the tours. They have a couple of eagles that were injured (shooting, flying into power lines) in captivity and that is most interesting, as is the tour of the hatchery

During the morning it has been cold and rainy (as it usually is in Ketchikan – being one of the cities in the US with the highest rainfall) and we are pretty chilled. We are looking for a brewery that we found on our last trip here but settle for a restaurant to warm up in instead. Although it is only 10:30, it feels much later, so we order clam and salmon chowder and a ‘beer tasting’ to share – 5 oz each of 5 local beers for $9.95, and it includes a free t-shirt. All quite tasty, as was the chowder. We ask our waiter about the brewery and he says it went out of business a couple years earlier…the owner literally drank himself out of business, he tells us. I guess that is why he was giving away free samples when we were here last! Pity.

By this time the sun has come out and it is substantially warmer so we hike North to the cannery hoping to spot some eagles and we are lucky enough to see upwards of 10 of them hanging around in the trees close to the cannery. Nothing like we saw the last time we were here (literally hundreds) but still worth the walk and a sight I am sure many people missed. A bonus was that the cannery had a retail store so we were able to score some salmon products (smoked, pate, etc) cheaper than the tourist shops around the pier itself.

We also noticed that the Summit was at anchor, obviously waiting for us to vacate our spot on the pier so she could have it. We confirmed that fact with some folks when we got off in Vancouver who were debarking from the Summit.

It was about 12:30 by this time so we were ready to go back to the ship for…Lunch! Although the main DR was closed on our last port day, it was open today, I guess because our time in port was so short. As usual, it was yummy and nice to be waited on and NO dishes to do.

We elected for a trip to the T pool and then a nap. Somewhere during the day I got in my run and at least one gym class, but overall we took it easy for the afternoon. I know we ate sushi again!

Oh, we happened to stop at the purser’s desk and ask about our Captain’s Club card and were told somewhat rudely that we would get it after we got home…this after we had been told on the first day that we would receive it on the cruise. This is always the weakness with cruise lines…their lack of consistency and lack of service in the ‘customer service’ areas. The people who are out front are great..the watiers, cabins stewards, butlers, etc. The people at the purser’s desk or on in customer service after the cruise are rarely as good.

We are all starting to think about the fact that tomorrow is out last day. Rob and I agree that 7 days, not 6 is the optimum time span for a cruise. While it seems we have been gone from home a long time, we all agree that just one more day would be perfect.

Goodnight and sweet dreams as we prepare for our last day..cruising to Vancouver.

Happy Sailing!

Cyndi Wagner, AKA Transaction Chick
Carnival Celebration - 5/98
RCI Rhapsody - 5/00
Carnival Sprit - 10/01
Celebtrity Mercury - 5/04

Parley Vouz Francais? Si vous pouvez, email moi en Francais!