Alaska and Vancouver 2010
Late nights and early mornings didn't help. What happened to cruises being relaxing places? A special brunch buffet was in the Manhattan Dining Room, so we dragged ourselves out of bed and stuffed ourselves, again. Major pluses were fresh waffles (taste: only ok), fresh fruit (which was almost always super delicious), English bacon, and fresh omletes (sorry guys, UCLA does a much better job).
Upon docking in Ketchikan, we got to witness a Royal Norweigan ship leaving after we arrived. Watching 70,000+ tons of cruise ship pull away from the dock and haul butt was a shock, as those ships are much quicker than I expected! The USCG's little tiny boat next to them looked almost ridiculous, although the M249 mounted on the front meant business!
Ketchikan itself felt like a nice little working town that actually had industries like fishing, as its crowded harbor clearly held more than just cruise ships. We were there right at the start of salmon season, and sadly Ketchikan Creek was almost devoid of them. We'd see a school of 8 or 10 or 12 here or there, and almost gave up til we noticed a black dot in the water.
Turns out a harbor seal was swimming in the creek, hunting them. It was joined by a second. Holy crap! AWESOME!!!
Having eaten up most of our limited time watching a pair of seals hunt salmon, we did a quick walk through the rest of the town, found a few odd things, and then returned to the ship for dinner. The special baked Alaska (baked ice cream and meringue) was served that night, complete with a parade of waiters, while we saw a variety show of the ship's performers (meh).