Cruise D

Our Cruise May 4-18 2016



Day five started like all the others, with me meeting Bernie around 5am up on the Lido Deck; where the coffee is. A beautiful, blue-sky day; perfect for glacier viewing.

We chatted for a while, and then he toddled off to wander about. Deciding to be productive, I pulled up the videos I made during my private Jiu-Jitsu lessons that I did with Jordan Collins back in 2015 for review. There was tons that I'd totally forgotten about. If I just had a partner, and a place to practice, I could train a bit. Even without actually doing the movements, the mental review is darn useful in-and-of itself.

Breakfast was a bit of a let down. The five of us normally wear matching Disney ear hats to breakfast. It is a silly and fun thing to do. Today, everybody arrived separately at the dining room, and the only person wearing his hat was me.

As we ate, the ship inched its way deeper and deeper into Glacier Bay, and we had spectacular views. I don't think we've ever been here with the air so clear and the sky so blue. Lovely.

After eating we split up, and Helen headed out to find the naturalists and Park Rangers. I stayed in our cabin to relax, and allowed the views of the largest glacier to be delivered to me through our personal, private window view. When I wasn't nodding off, I had the glacier all to myself, sort of.

Back to the dining room for lunch. The previous night's dish that won the prize was the braised brisket, and the Day Five lunch had smoked brisket on the menu. They really spoil their guests. I like that.

Do cruises revolve around food? Perhaps. Usually they post the evening menu, and everybody looks that over even before they've had their lunch.

At this point in the cruise I was a little over my goal of running 8km per day. I was excited about this, as the midpoint of our cruise was to be in Vancouver. Being right downtown, I didn't expect to run at all, and wanted to have enough extra kilometers saved up to cover it.

Another fine supper, and dancing.

I enjoy the production shows, but they are often limited to a introductory show the first night aboard, and two more full-blown extravaganzas during the week. The rest of the time they bring in "headline" entertainers. So far these have included a singer/piano player and a magician/comedian, that I didn't bother to go see. Tonight it's another comedian, and I am bowing to peer pressure and will attend.

Day six; another 5am coffeetime with Bernie. He headed down to his room a bit before things in the buffet really got operating; perhaps about 6:15am. I called up a couple of videos I made back in 2015 down in Torrance, and reviewed the stuff I learned there. Seems I "learned" less than I thought, as a lot of details didn't make it home with me. I am therefore counting the video review time as serious mental JJ training.

At 6:30, the food lines officially opened, and I got my daily fix of papaya/passion fruit juice.

The day was spectacularly gorgeous; massively blue skies once again. I don't know how we get so lucky with Alaskan weather. Things looked good for both a lovely walk-about in the town, and a shore-side run.

Ketchikan is small, but compact in a very foot-tourist friendly way. There is a dandy little downtown right next to the ships, and a cute little historic bunch of buildings constructed out over a wee river, called Creek Street. It used to be where the whorehouses were, but now it is all touristy.

Helen's plan was to walk the downtown with me, and get taken to a raptor center where there are some totems. This is a bit farther up the creek from the tourist zone, but still very walkable. She also wants to use a coupon that we have for an hour of access to the thermal suite on the ship. We have to use it on a port day, and Ketchikan is the last chance to do it. We have to have lunch, too.

Can we cram it all into our stay, which is from about 9am until suppertime? It should work.

Ketchikan is a funny place, that is very proud of the incredible amount of rainfall it receives. They measure it in meters per year. Interestingly, this was our first port-of-call that had any other cruise ships in. We were tied up next to the Norwegian Jewel. Even with two ships, it was an exceedingly quiet day. Four here is much more common.

Helen and I walked through town, and to a nice little park well up the creek, then back down, walked Creek Street, where I bought a couple of tshirts, and then back to the ship. I made sure Helen was on track for the fabric store before I hurried back onboard, put on my running gear, and set off again. I went out 5.5km, turned around, and ran back. Onboard again about 2pm, and grabbed some pasta for lunch.

For me, the entire rest of the day needed to contain only dinner, and a show. Helen is much more ambitious, so there will certainly be more.

Ketchikan being our last port, means it will be followed by a big-kilometer travel day, and then return to Vancouver. There the passengers will be scurried ashore, and a fresh bunch loaded on. One of us is likewise returning home, but the other four are staying for a second run.