Cruise Days 2 & 3 (Sea Day and Ketchikan)

Day 2 was a sea day. We all slept in and then went to the very, very, VERY crowded buffet. We could not find a table together and it was frustrating. We managed to eat, then Anna and I went to morning trivia. It was harder than Royal Caribbean's. We only got 8/20 right. We did better than at least half the people playing and the winner only had 14 (yes, a lot more than us but still a pretty low score), so we didn't feel too badly. Thomas and I went to the thermal spa, which has a sauna, steam room, whirlpool, and heated tile beds. It was relaxing. Luke checked out the kid's club. He made a cool alligator keychain. Jack and Kara went to the teen club. 

We had lunch in the buffet, it wasn't as crowded, but was still hard to find a table. Later in the afternoon, Kevin (my brother) and I went to hear a speaker, the captain of the Aleutian Ballad, Jerry Ballard. He has been the captain for a long time, including when the ship was was featured on Deadliest Catch. It was on the show in season 2 and was hit by a rogue wave. We saw some video clips and he talked a bit about his adventures as an Alaskan fisherman. After he spoke, Thomas, Anna, and Jack joined us to hear the naturalist speak about the whale migration. I enjoyed both lectures. 

We went to dinner and again, our reservation was messed up, but they let us in. From dinner, Thomas, Kevin and I went to hear a comedian. He was good. While we did that, Anna and Luke whale watched from our balcony. And, they saw several--including at least 2 orcas! I was very jealous and after the comedian, I spent about an hour on the balcony looking out with binoculars, but had no luck. 

Day 3 was our first port--Ketchikan. We had a small excursion booked, a bus tour through town and the Totem Bight State Park. It was an interesting tour and I enjoyed learning more about the native tribes, totem pole carving and the stories totem poles tell. I also enjoyed the tour through town. It was informative and entertaining. My favorite fact from the bus tour is that streets were named before there were cars or even horse-drawn buggies on island, so some "streets" are just wooden staircases.

Totem Bight Park

Our excursion only lasted 2.5 hours, so we had time afterward to walk through the city, including the infamous Creek Street and the Southeastern Alaskan museum. Due to weather concerns, our all aboard time got moved to 1:30, so after picking up some souvenirs, we got back on the ship for a latish lunch. Kevin and I went to another enrichment lecture, this one was on glaciers. I didn't like it as much as the whale lecture, but it was still good.

Creek Street was so scenic!

After lunch, Thomas and I went to the thermal spa for a little bit, but people are selfish and were reserving the heated chairs, which is what I was most interested in, so we didn't stay long. That night, we had a specialty dinner at the ship's Italian restaurant. We got a lovely table by a window and enjoyed watching the water go by. The kids went to the buffet and then Luke and Anna whale watched again and Jack and Kara went to the teen club. Our meal was good, but it was very long, about 2.5 hours. I am not sure if we would do it again. After dinner, Thomas and I whale watched from our balcony. Thomas spotted two blowholes and we were able to see whale flukes in the water. I am not good at finding them.