Vancouver to Ketchikan

Friday, September 23, 2022
Ketchikan, Alaska, United States
Wed. Sept. 21. Vancouver. 75 and cloudless. 
Ok, the weather was the good of the day ! We were scheduled for an 11:30 embankment, but at the hotel, as we got in so late, they scheduled us on a bus leaving at 12:00.  It was a 5 block, maybe 1/2 mile walk downhill, so we left at 11 and got to the terminal at 11:15. Besides us there were 2 BIG ships embarking, so the terminal was beyond a madhouse. In the past Regent has handled this well, but not today! Some of the issues were Canadian regulations, but some were just plain lack of staffing and direction on the part of Regent. We went through at least 7 different queues, with documentation checkpoints including various technological challenges along the way. My Fitbit showed we traveled through the terminal 2 1/2 miles, through the mazes. With little to no sleep the previous day, George was doing the “Petra Tilt”, and I wasn’t doing much better. When we came to one checkpoint, where we all had to redo the ArriveCAN app,  no only were there people sobbing, but several, me included were shaking so hard we had trouble typing. We finally got through it all and on board about 1:00. Yea! All good from there. We had lunch on the fan tail and ran into Otto and Lissy, so had a few beers with them. We napped most of the rest of the afternoon. We met Nancy and Wyndham and their friends , and  O &L for cocktails and had a really nice dinner in Prime 7 with O&L. We were too exhausted to venture further, so crashed,  both mentally and physically exhausted!
Thursday. Sept 22. At Sea. Sun, rain, clouds, fog. 50-55.
Yea! A day at sea. It was just a tad too cold for breakfast outside. Afterward we took our time and explored the ship, as this is our first time on the Mariner. There are some very nice spaces, particularly the Observation Lounge on the top, front, and Horizons lounge on the bottom aft. We attended the very interesting lecture on glaciers, then grabbed a Bloody Mary at the pool bar, but too cold to stay out so took them to the Observation Lounge. Lunch was an Alaskan Fish Extravaganza, which George enjoyed. We ate outside by the pool, but it was too cold to linger, so took another Bloody Mary’s to the Observation lounge and stayed there for a Margarita for dessert. Our travel agent’s associate, Distinctive Voyages , had a tour arranged in Ketchikan, that we  just became aware of,  so we were able to refund our scheduled Regent tour to sign up for this one instead. They also had a cocktail party at 5pm. So our evening was Distinctive cocktail party at 5; Captains reception at 6, dinner in Chartreuse at 7; Diva show at 9:30. We got as far as the second number in the show and walked out and headed for bed!
Friday. September 23. Ketchikan. 50-52. Rain.
Ketchikan is the rain capital of the US, with 13 ‘ (not inches, feet!) of rain a year, so no surprise on the weather. Our tour had a slow start, but once we got going, it was nice and quite comprehensive. There were 30 of us and we started at the Cultural Museum where we learned about the native lore, were treated to native dances, toured diagrams of the geology, flora and fauna and ended in the learning center, making a traditional necklace! Of course there was time at the gift shop too. From there we went to the Totem Pole park, which is unique and interesting, but it was too cold and wet to linger enjoying the park. Then off to George Inlet for an all-you-can-eat Crab feast, topped off with blueberry cheesecake. I had salad and a beer! We got back to the ship by 2pm, had a warm-up drink and are resting up until the Block Party at 6.

Comments

Georgene
2022-09-24

Wow sounds like even after that difficult beginning you are having a fantastic trip. Love the pictures. I think you maybe returning to the hurricane that is being predicted. LOL.

2025-02-16

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