From the Pacific to the Prairie

 Saturday, May 7 - Seattle to Minneapolis

I woke just a few minutes before the alarm was set to go off but let Bob sleep a little longer while I got dressed. The view from our balcony was the same as the day we sailed except now the Crown Princess was sitting between us and the Seattle skyline instead of the Symphony of the Seas.

As I expected, the Lido buffet was a madhouse and finding a table was challenging. But the serving lines weren't too bad so I requested a freshly made omelet. It was good, but I wished I had thought about getting eggs benedict. That is something I don't make at home and it is a treat for me on a cruise ship.

As Bob made one last check through the closets, he discovered the zippered case with my collapsible hiking poles inside. Rats. I had brought them along thinking I would use them when we went to the top of Mt. Roberts in Juneau (which we didn't get to do.) Even folded down, the poles were too long to fit into my carry-on and my large bag had already been transferred and checked through to Minneapolis. I'm glad Bob discovered them in the back of the closet, but what a pain to have to carry them separately all day long. 

At 8:05 am our Port Valet Group C was called to disembark. Once we were able to get an elevator (which meant skipping 2 or 3 full ones) we were routed through a back door of BB Kings Blues Club and off the ship on Deck 2. Bob commented that it was the first time we had stepped foot in the club all week.

It was easy to find our Seattle Express shuttle sitting in parking space R, just as we were instructed. We were the first to get in and assumed we would be sitting there for a long time as we waited for the large van to be filled. But once one other couple boarded, we were on our way to the airport with just the four of us. Once again I will say how impressed I have been with the service from Seattle Express.

The security lines at SEA were insane. When we finally got through I suggested we check to see if we could get on an earlier flight. There were seats available on the nonstop flight leaving two hours before the one we had booked and we were put on standby. The gate agent assured us that she was able to get our luggage rerouted and on the earlier flight as well. It wasn't until most of the passengers had boarded that we got our seat assignments. After assuming we would end up separated in the worst seats on the plane we were very excited to learn we were in Comfort Plus sitting together!

The flight went by quickly and I realized I don't really hate flying, I just hate flying in cramped seats. 😄 Having lots of legroom and an abundance of drinks and snacks made such a difference! I also took advantage of the free hour of internet we get by being T-Mobile customers. As much as I enjoyed the premium seats, the cheapskate in me will probably never pay for an upgrade.

Our luck with the airline fairy ran out when we reached luggage carousel in Minneapolis. No bags. We paid a visit to the Delta baggage office and it was just as we suspected. Our checked luggage never made it on the earlier flight. The bags were on our original flight and on their way, but would not reach Minneapolis for another couple of hours.

We found a quiet corner of the baggage claim area and camped out. I was glad we had some snacks in our backpacks because there were no food options once we left the secure area of the airport. With the long drive ahead of us, it would have been nice to get on the road two hours earlier, but in the end we would still get out of the airport at the same time we originally planned AND we got to enjoy the upgraded seats. While we were waiting I used the time to call each of our three sons to let them know we were back on Minnesota soil. I spent time visiting with each one and catching up on their news.

Once the later flight arrived, our bags showed up on the carousel and we called the shuttle to reunite us with our car in the off-site parking lot. I guess not all of our travel luck had run out because the shuttle was already there waiting when we reached the ground transportation area and within about 5 minutes we were loading our luggage into the car.

The three hour drive home wasn't fun, but it could have been worse. On the way we stopped and got gyros at Arby's. That was certainly a step down from cruise food, but better than the snacks we had been consuming all day. The clock showed 10:30 pm when we pulled into our driveway. Our internal time should have felt more like 8:30 because of the time change, but we were wiped from the full day of travel.

We are always thankful to return home safely and thanked God for his protection while we traveled. The next planned trip will come next month but only involve Bob. He will be going on a missions trip to Peru with Proclaim Aviation Ministries where the group will be tackling a construction project in Pucallpa, Peru. This will be his second trip to Peru with this group and he is excited to be going back. 

Other than family get-togethers, no other travel plans (cruise or otherwise) are in the works at this time. We will have to see what the future holds! For now, I will do one more blog post with random thoughts and comments on this trip (our return to cruising in a pandemic world!)

Thanks for reading!

Catching a Glimpse of Canada

 Friday, May 8 - Victoria

Last night was probably the best night's sleep of the cruise. No emergencies during the night, no alarm clock in the morning and no pressing reason to get out of bed. Pulling back the curtains showed no land in sight. The navigation channel on the TV plotted our location on the western side of Vancouver Island.

Bob and I went to breakfast together in the buffet and then he headed off for his "On Deck for a Cause" 5K walk on the promenade deck. For $25, he got a t-shirt and a wrist band. The money collected was going to support Ukrainian refugees.

I used the quiet time in the cabin to shower and begin packing. All of our recent cruises have been at least 14 days so a week-long cruise seemed very short.

The Norwegian Sun sailed past during the morning. Our last cruise to Alaska was on this ship.

At 10:00 I went to the main stage for the captain's virtual behind the scenes tour of the bridge followed by a Q & A session. The questions were screened in advance so most were the usual questions like "How much fuel does the ship use?", "How fast does the ship go?", etc. The captain did talk about the emergency alarm during the night and spoke about how well all of the crew are trained to deal with such emergencies. He said they have regularly scheduled drills each week but every 3 months they are required to have a surprise drill. He laughed and said the middle of the night alarm would qualify for their surprise drill.

Bob joined me in the theater about half way through the captain's presentation. We stopped at the gift shop after leaving the theater to figure out how to use up the rest of our onboard credit. The day before Bob had bought a pair of gloves and a neck tie but still had a sizeable sum left over. After a lot of searching, he got an Alaska themed water bottle and a hooded fleece shirt. I looked for some gifts for our grandkids, but there was almost nothing for children in the shop. We only left $1.07 in our account so we did pretty good with the "use it or lose it" money.

It was a good thing we stopped to shop when we did. An announcement was made that the gift shops would be closing at 1:00 pm when the ship would no longer be in international waters. The shop was so crowded that I suspected many other passengers were also using up that last bit of credit they might have had. There was no "last day t-shirt sales" that we have experienced on other cruises.

Bob made an attempt at his packing until it was time for lunch. At 2:00 pm we went to hear the naturalist, Kainoa, talk on Alaska explorers which was interesting.

Bob wanted to attend the concert "Masterworks by Brahms" at 3 pm at the Lincoln Center Stage. I noticed an activity at the same time called "Adult Coloring" was being held in the Digital Workshop, right next to the Lincoln Center Stage and thought it sounded interesting. On a previous cruise I had attended a digital art session that I enjoyed and I assumed this would be similar. But it wasn't.

In the past, Holland America has had a partnership with Microsoft and each ship had a room filled with computers where classes were held. I assume that was what this room had been used for previously. But there were no computers now...just tables and chairs. I was confused so I asked the guy sitting in the back of the room if I had the correct location for the adult coloring class. Without saying anything, he just pointed to a box of colored pencils and several stacks of childish color book pages on a side table. So...I picked out a picture of a mother bear and her cubs and sat down and started coloring! A few other people walked in after me and questioned whether there was a DIGITAL art class as well (which one would assume when the location was called the "digital workshop".) What a weird activity. The room was eerily quiet and everyone just colored. With a name like "adult coloring" at least no one came expecting X-rated art! 😏

I tried to make a decent attempt at my art (er...coloring) but kept thinking "why am I spending my last day of the cruise doing this?!" I was careful to stay inside the lines when I colored and finished the picture as quickly as I could. (My five year old grandson even complimented me on the picture after we got home.) 

My masterpiece. I could have used some different shades of green for my trees. 😏

We finished the last of our packing and hung out in the room until it was time to go to dinner. I was hoping to see some more whales, but none appeared. It was well after 6 pm when we got to the buffet and we didn't make any effort to hurry so we missed the 7 pm show on the Main Stage. It was to be the musical production show "In Tandem". Since we would be docking in Victoria at 8:00, the show would not be repeated at 9 pm as it usually was, but a movie would be shown instead. 

I am sorry now we did not make more of an attempt to attend the 7 pm show. I wasn't thrilled with the dance show we had seen earlier in the week and assumed this one would be the same. But I might have been wrong. YouTuber Don Terris put out a video raving about the HAL entertainment on the Rotterdam and mentioned that some of the shows feature singers from BB King Blues Club or Billboard Onboard. I missed the live vocals at the show we attended so might have enjoyed those more. Here is a link to Don's video: Holland America Entertainment 

The Eurodam docked in Victoria, Canada at 8:00 pm. Originally we were to arrive at 6 pm which would have given us time to explore a bit. With the later arrival we decided to just stay onboard. It appeared most others did too. An announcement was made that passengers going on shore needed their passports, their completed ArriveCAN app and masks. 

Docked next to us was the Majestic Princess. The Norwegian Bliss followed us into port and docked on the other side. Passengers on those ships probably looked at the Eurodam with pity since we had none of the fancy stuff available to them...water slides, fountains, outdoor movie screens, go carts, laser tag, etc. But different strokes for different folks. I love the smaller HAL ships and probably would not use any of the features listed above. I wonder if either of those ships offer "adult coloring!" 😆

Norwegian Bliss coming in to dock at Victoria.

Majestic Princess

Bob and I walked around the upper decks of the Eurodam and noticed two ambulances pull up to the ship once the gangplank was in place. Paramedics entered the ship pushing a gurney and returned with a female patient. She was propped up in a sitting position wearing an oxygen mask. None of the paramedics or others helping were wearing any protective clothing (other than masks) so my conclusion was that this was not a Covid case. The lady was loaded into one of the ambulances. A crew member came out of the ship pushing a wheelchair loaded with luggage and it was put into the 2nd ambulance. (Wonder what the charge for that would be?)

Our second port where we have been met by emergency vehicles.

After the patient was loaded into the first ambulance, the luggage was loaded into the second.

I wonder if these passengers were ending their cruise in Victoria.

Our last sunset.

The movie, Lost City with Sandra Bullock, was being shown in the Main Stage Theater at 9 pm rather than a second performance of "In Tandem" by the dancers. We still hadn't received our luggage tags for the Port Valet service and I was concerned enough that we stopped by guest services on our way to the movie. I had made reservations online several weeks earlier and was assured by guest services that I didn't need to fill out any additional paperwork on the ship. Well...the ship hadn't received our info for Port Valet. Luckily they said there was still time to get our information submitted so I filled out the form right then at the guest services desk. 

The movie was OK, but I was concerned enough about the luggage tag issue that I left halfway through and went back to our room. I breathed a sign of relief when I saw the envelope with our luggage tags in our cabin mailbox. Knowing we had until midnight to get our luggage set out in the hallway put my mind at ease enough that I returned to the theater to watch the remainder of the movie.

In addition to being convenient, the Port Valet program does not charge any extra fees for overweight baggage. That makes packing much easier! It was about 11:30 pm when my bag was finally packed, locked, tagged and set out in the hallway. I went to bed with my fingers crossed that our luggage would show up in Minneapolis as planned. Our Port Valet info also had us scheduled to depart the ship around 8 am with "group C".  Our flight wasn't until early afternoon so I would have preferred to wait until later to leave the ship. 

We set the alarm for 6:15 am and went to bed for a short night's sleep.

Over the River and Through the Woods in Ketchikan

Thursday, May 5 - Ketchikan

Today's blog post begins at 1:30 am. That was the time the ship's alarm system began sounding in our room. The speaker is on the headboard of the bed and to say we were jolted awake would be an understatement. I was conscious enough to realize the series of tones was different than the emergency alarm we hear during a muster drill, but knew it still must be serious if it was being blasted into all of the staterooms in the middle of the night!

Then the announcement came. Fire on the ship! Emergency teams were to report to their stations. Passengers were told to stand by and wait for further instructions. Immediately scenes from the movie Titanic began to flash through my mind. The outside temperature was in the upper 30's so conditions were similar to that fateful night on the North Atlantic. I started mentally making a list of what I needed to grab and what clothes would be appropriate for a cold Alaskan night. 

The captain's voice came over the speaker next. In his calm voice he reiterated that the passengers were to stand by. Over the next 20 minutes more announcements came through, first saying that the emergency teams were assessing the area. Then a message that the staging area was Deck A marshaling area. Once I was awake enough, I began recording the announcements on my iPhone.)

The captain's next message was that the problem was a belt on an air compressor and there was no reported fire, only smoke, and emergency teams were still working on the situation. Finally at 1:54 am the captain said that the emergency teams could stand down. He stated that the air compressor had been isolated and turned off and the smoke had dissipated. He ended his announcement with "thank you and have a good night." Below is the video (which is really just audio) of that final announcement:

Getting back to sleep was not easy. And for the first time all week, I had an alarm set for an early excursion in Ketchikan which meant there weren't too many hours left of our night 

I crawled out of bed at 6 am, a little before the alarm was supposed to go off. Our cabin wasn't facing the port, but I could tell the ship had arrived in Ketchikan. Room service had been ordered for 6:45 am but at 6:30 a knock on the door signaled it had arrived early.

At 7 am the announcement was made that the ship had been cleared and we could make our way to the gangplank on Deck 2. (Previous ports had us leaving from Deck A.) I was a little concerned about the plans for our tour with Ketchikan Kayak called "E-Bike and Hike." When I booked the excursion online, our port times were from 7 am until 1 pm and I had confirmed the times with the Alaska cruise ship schedule calendar. But once onboard our daily schedule on the Navigator App showed an all aboard time of 11:30 am with a noon departure. I had called the owner of the company from Seattle on Saturday, but I think he doubted my information. 

The Eurodam was docked at Berth #1 in Ketchikan and our directions for the tour instructed us to meet our driver at Berth #3 at 8:00 am. It was about a 5 minute walk to our meeting spot and we observed the little town of Ketchikan starting to come alive for the day.

Looking back at the Eurodam from Berth #3.

This yacht was anchored near our dock in Ketchikan.

A zoomed in view shows the yacht is the "Jackpot". A little Googling and I learned that it is for sale for $38 million!!

When our driver arrived, I mentioned to him that we needed to be back on our ship by 11:30. I sensed this caused a little concern on his part. He walked away saying he needed to contact the owner. When he returned he said they would be able to accommodate us but that it would have been nice to have known about the shortened port times sooner. Good grief. I had left two different phone messages AND talked to the owner personally so not sure how much more notice they needed!

Bob and I and two other guys loaded into the van for the half hour ride to where our tour would begin. The guys were from the Norwegian Bliss which was docked about 15 minutes outside of Ketchikan at Ward Cove. On the way we made a stop at Ward Cove and picked up 6 more people from the Bliss which was about 2 more than the van could comfortably hold. One of the couples from the Bliss would be doing the bike tour with us and the rest were taking a kayak tour (We had taken the kayak tour five years ago.)

Both tours began at the marina where the kayaks were located and they must have scrambled to get our situation covered. Two girls (Danielle and Francesca) were assigned to our small group of four bikers. We were given helmets and time to ride the bikes around the parking lot to acquaint ourselves with how the electric assist operated. 

The sun was shining when we began the five mile ride, but half way through the rain started. Bob and I stayed dry with our rain jackets and pants, but the cold rain pelted our faces. We rode alongside the highway, but there was very little traffic. Along the way we crossed a couple of bridges that went over a small creeks and waterfalls. I was grateful for the electric motor as our route took us up some fairly steep hills.

We biked to the end of Ketchikan's road system and parked the bikes. From there we took a trail through the woods that was almost magical. We passed by 600 year old trees and everything in the forest was covered with a thick blanket of moss. The boardwalk trail lead down the hill to the coastline. A rushing waterfall tumbled down the hillside, flowing under a small bridge that we crossed.

Over 600 years old!

Skunk cabbage was blooming in the forest. After coming out of hibernation, bears eat the plant which acts like a laxative.

The ocean was at low tide and the two girls lead us out onto the beach. Because of our short time in port, Bob and I only spent a few minutes there and then had to leave to start back. Danielle came with us while the other couple remained with Francesca to spend more time at the beach.

I am sorry we didn't have more time to spend at this beach.

The rain continued off and on as we biked the 5 miles back to the office at the marina. Along the way I came within inches of a deer on the side of the road. I was nervous he would dart out in front of me, but thank goodness he headed back into the woods. 

The excursion website mentioned a snack of smoked salmon at the end of the tour, but we were offered a can of sparkling water and then hustled into the van. Danielle drove us back into Ketchikan and dropped us off right at the ship at 11:15, shortly before the final all aboard time. 

Riding bikes in the rain wasn't ideal, but I was most disappointed in that our tour was so rushed. In hindsight I wished we could have cancelled and asked to have our money refunded (the tour wasn't cheap) but we didn't ask and they didn't offer the choice either. But with four ships docked in Ketchikan it was nice to leave and enjoy being in nature instead of fighting crowds in town. I was also glad to get a chance to try out an e-bike to see how well I liked riding one.

At lunch, the buffet was the most crowded that I had seen all week. I'm sure everyone had gotten back on the ship and went directly to lunch just as we had. Bob and I got salads and then picked up burgers at the Dive In that we had ordered through the Navigator app. There were no empty tables. (In pre-covid days we would have asked to share a table with someone and then had nice conversation while we ate.) But I also wanted to watch sail away so we carried our food down the stairs to our cabin and ate al fresco on our balcony.

The pilot boat coming to pick up the ship pilots.

Pilots climbing down the ladder and onto their boat.

And off they go.

Since riding bikes for 10 miles and hiking through the woods wasn't enough exercise, Bob went and walked a couple of miles on the promenade deck. I spent the afternoon going through photos and working on the blog. (On longer cruises I back up my photos to an external hard drive every day, but this time I just swapped out my memory cards and waited until we returned home to download the photos. I did put some of the photos my iPad so we could look at them right away.)

Later in the afternoon we went to the buffet to get something to drink and walked out by the aft pool. We started visiting with one couple and another guy who were standing at the rail. They had cameras with extremely long lenses and were busy looking for wildlife. A couple of dolphins, a few birds and a whale spout (all at a long distance away) were all we saw so we gave up and returned to our room. Oh...and we watched as the Zuiderdam sailed past us.

The Zuiderdam passing by.

It was "dressy night" (Holland America's new version of formal night) and neither of us were in the mood for dressy...or a lengthy meal in the main dining room. When we got to the buffet, a group of people were standing in front of the windows on the port side pointing at something. Whales!! We walked outside by the pool to get a better look and found people also on "our" side (starboard) watching whale spouts in the distance.

Without coats, it was too cold to stand outside so instead of eating, we went back to our room. We grabbed our coats and binoculars and whale watched from the balcony. Mostly it was just spouts in the distance, but still fun to see. 

Eventually the whale activity subsided and we went back to the buffet for dinner. We were excited to see sunchoke soup was on the menu. This was one of our favorites from a past cruise, but we agreed it tasted different.

Sunchoke soup from the buffet. The main dining room version is better.

At 7 pm a dance production called "Off the Charts" was scheduled in the main theater, but the cruise director had announced earlier in the day that it was being replaced with a comedian. No reason given. Instead we went to the Lincoln Center Stage for the 7 pm show "The British Isles". We were so impressed that we also attended the 8 pm show "Just Strings" (same group minus the piano player.) What talent!!

We stepped outside between the shows at the Lincoln Center Stage to see this sunset.

The Majestic Princess traveling alongside the Eurodam.

Our evening ended watching part of the movie "Call of the Wild" on tv in our cabin. Clocks are scheduled to go forward an hour so our night will be a little shorter. Let's hope we don't lose any more sleep to emergency alerts in the middle of the night!

The Majestic Princess looking pretty in the night.

     

Totem Poles and Tamarind - Our Day in Sitka

 Wednesday, May 4 - Sitka

The Eurodam left the inside passage and went out into open water overnight. Judging from the motion of the ship, the seas must have been rough. I was aware of the movement enough that I didn't sleep well.

Bob walked for 2 miles on the promenade deck while I took my time getting dressed. And once again he was nice enough to run up to the lido and fill my travel mug with coffee before he left. 

When he returned, we went for breakfast at the buffet. As we were eating, the announcement came that the ship had been cleared and passengers were able to go ashore. By that time, the sun was slightly peeking through the clouds...but just barely. 

The ship was docked about 15 minutes outside of downtown Sitka. Free shuttle busses were provided for passengers wanting to visit the town that weren't on a tour. One bus had just finished loading when we walked out of the terminal and we were the first to get on the next bus. We got the front seat, but then had to wait until the bus was filled (which didn't take too long.) The driver gave us a narrated tour as he drove into Sitka and then we were dropped off downtown at Harrigan Centennial Hall. 

Bob's one request for the cruise was that he could spend time at the Sitka National Historical Park since he enjoyed it so much on our last visit. I had checked online about also possibly doing a wildlife boat tour with Paul from Gallant Adventures, something we had done on our last visit to Sitka, but he was fully booked. After our port time in Sitka got shortened by an hour, I was glad we hadn't planned any other activity for our day.

The National Historical Park was about a 15 minute walk along the shoreline and past the marina. 

We stopped along the way to watch and listen to a raven sitting on a sign post. I don't think he liked us being so close and he was very vocal about it. Throughout the day we heard many ravens. They are unique in that they have so many different calls.

By getting an early start, we beat all of the tour groups to the park. In 1804, the National Historical Park site was the location of an armed conflict between the native Tlingit people and Russian fur hunters. We temporarily bypassed the visitor center and headed to the totem pole trail through the forest. Many of the poles exhibited today along the along the park's two miles of pathways are replicas of the deteriorating originals obtained in the early 1900's and now held in protective storage. 

We walked past the Russian Bishop's House

The walking trail led us through the lush green forest along the shoreline. The temperature was cool but comfortable with a jacket. The mountains appeared to have a fresh topping of snow.

After completing the trail, we stopped to watch native wood carver, Tommy Joseph, working on a totem pole. It was a commissioned piece that he was making for a wedding anniversary gift from a husband to his wife. Bob spent a long time visiting with him.

Tlingit woodcarver, Tommy Joseph.

There had been few others on the trail, but as we returned to the visitor center more and more groups were arriving. We walked through the building, looking at the exhibits. Since Bob wanted to spend more time than me, I went out and sat on a bench soaking up the beautiful view. Many people were walking along the wide expanse of beach exposed by the low tide.

On display in the visitor center was a bentwood box carved by Tommy Joseph. This box was made from a single wood plank that was grooved, steamed and formed into a box.

People exploring the beach at low tide.

A ranger pointing out details on the totem pole in front of the visitor center.

By the time Bob came out of the visitor center, the clouds were building and starting to cover the peaks of the mountains. In a short time, the clouds became even lower and thicker and we could see rain approaching. We had brought small sandwiches made from meat and buns on the breakfast buffet and ate them at a picnic table overlooking the water.

The air was getting chilly when we left to walk back to town and about half way there the rains and wind reached us. We were dressed for the weather with rain jackets and pants, but it still was not very pleasant. Had the weather been nicer, we would have spent more time exploring the town but when we saw a shuttle loading we decided to head back to the ship. The line was long and I didn't expect we would get on, but we did...in the very back seats this time.

Back on the Eurodam, we went to the buffet and had a bowl of soup to warm up. I grabbed a cup of coffee to take back to the room and Bob got some tea. We enjoyed our drinks on the balcony while watching the action on the dock and the passengers returning to the ship. With a good cell signal, we FaceTimed our son (who tried to make us feel guilty because we didn't include them in our travels.)

At 4 pm the sun was again shining so Bob and I went up to the sea view pool area to watch sail away. Within 5 minutes, the sun was gone and it was sprinkling again! The clouds followed us across the water as we pulled away from the dock.

Pulling away from the dock in Sitka.

Sitka is surrounded by many small islands.

Being chased by the rain.

Tonight we had reservations at Tamarind, the Asian specialty restaurant on the Eurodam. We had an early reservation and were seated at a corner table. Based on reviews, we had high expectations for this meal and were not disappointed. Through the window we could see that the seas were rough but the skies had cleared a bit. At one point a little squall came through and Bob spotted a rainbow from the window!

amuse-bouche 
Three sauces (mild, medium and spicy) served on shrimp crackers.

Satay sampler (both ordered)
Malaysian lamb, Chinese beef, Thai chicken, Indonesia pork, Vietnamese shrimp,

Thai Basil Szechuan Shrimp (Mary)

Crispy Duck, Ginger-Chili Glaze (Bob)

Side Dishes (shared): Bok Choy with Oyster Sauce, Asian Eggplant/Spicy Coconut, Dungeness Crab Fried Rice

Lemon-Basil Sorbet (Mary)

Mango Posset (Bob)

With our early dining time, we finished in plenty of time to get to the theater for the BBC Earth Experience "Seven Worlds One Planet in Concert." This was the 2nd Planet Earth presentation within 4 days which seemed unusual. I wonder if they were having issues with the regular entertainment?

After our dinner, we went for a walk on the promenade deck. The sun was setting in the west, but another storm was rolling in from the east which made for some beautiful cloud formations and another rainbow! The temps were around 40 degrees. That together with the wind and moving ship made it feel quite chilly.

Sunset in one direction...

Storm clouds in the opposite direction.

Sun + Rain = RAINBOW!

For the first time on this cruise we are going to bed with an alarm set for tomorrow morning. The Eurodam is scheduled to dock in Ketchikan at 7 am and we will have to walk a little distance to meet our independent tour.