Trip Report: May 21, 2018 7 Night Alaska Cruise – Day 6

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Day 6: Ketchikan

You can start this trip report from the beginning by clicking here.

You can see this day’s Navigator by clicking here.

Today we were in Ketchikan and all ashore wasn’t until 11:15 am, which was a welcome change after the last two early mornings.  The Navigator said that it was supposed to be partly cloudy with a high of 47 F, but it was wrong again.  It was downright rainy and felt much colder than 47 for the entire day.  FYI, Ketchikan gets an average of 141 inches of rain a year.

Unfortunately, I have to say that this was our least favorite day of the cruise.  But, it had everything to do with the weather and nothing to do with the city or what we had planned to do.  If we ever go back, I know that we could have a wonderful day in Ketchikan if the weather cooperated.

I slept in until 9:00 am.  When I looked out the window, I saw that it was overcast.  I stepped outside onto the verandah and discovered that it was also windy and cold.  We were not to Ketchikan just yet, and the scenery was pretty.

We all got up, got ready and went to Cabanas at 10:15 for breakfast.  After we ate, we disembarked the ship right at 11:15 when they opened the gangway.  The moment we stepped off the ship, we were met with strong winds, driving rain, and cold temperatures.  We were all wearing rain jackets over all of our other layers (long sleeve shirt, hoodie jacket, coat) as well as waterproof boots, so we were well prepared and stayed dry and warm, despite the terrible weather.

The ship docks right next to the town:

We weren’t supposed to meet our tour guide until 1:00, but we all enjoy gift shops and shopping (yes, even the girls!) so we went ashore early so that we could visit some of the shops in the area.  There were lots to choose from right next to the ship.  This was the first street we came to:

The first store we went into (Ketchikan Mining Co.) was really big and we spent quite a while in there.  I bought some handmade soaps for a gift, as well as a magnet and ornament.  We also bought a rain jacket for one of the girls, as her old one wasn’t very waterproof.  The girls entertained themselves while my husband looked at totem poles.

He wanted to buy a small totem pole as a souvenir, and this lady was telling him about their selection:

Next, we went back outside to explore some more.

Down the street, we found a really neat store called The Rain Barrel that was less traditional souvenirs and more local/native items and artwork.

They had some beautiful totem poles, and we ended up buying one.

We were still really close to the ship, and right next door to the Lumberjack show.

The girls were staying out of the rain while waiting for Dad to make his purchases.

We could have kept walking in this direction away from the ship, but decided to go back towards the ship as it was almost time to meet our tour guide.

We got close to the ship and took shelter under a covered area right outside of a store while we looked for our guide.

For our day in Ketchikan, we reserved the “Island Hummer Tour” with Alaska Hummer Adventures.  It was a 4 hour tour, with a driver, that allows you to pick your itinerary (your driver will help you decide if needed).  There were several Hummer drivers there looking for their guests, and we found the one holding a sign with our name on it.  Her name was Genevieve and she was so sweet.  She showed us to our Hummer:

Because it was raining so hard, we quickly got into the car to discuss our plans for the day.

Genevieve immediately acknowledged that we were pretty limited with our options, because of the weather.  All of the best things to do involved being outdoors.  We decided to just make the most of it.  Our first stop was Beaver Falls.  It was bigger than it looks in this photo:

There was a lot of fog in the area, which limited our views of the scenery.

This is Herring Cove, one of the most popular places to view wildlife in the area.  We were the only ones there, and didn’t see any wildlife.

The rain had turned to a drizzle, so we decided to take advantage of it and head to the Saxman Village Totem Park.  It is a one square mile village with a population of about 400 native Alaskans.

You could pay extra to go inside of the clan house, but we didn’t.

There was a workshop where you could see people working on commissioned totem projects:

After spending some time at the village, we decided to seek refuge from the rain, which had picked back up.  We were also getting hungry, so Genevieve suggested the Cape Fox Lodge.  It is a hotel/restaurant at the top of the hill above Ketchikan.  She said we could get really good hot chocolate and some nice views.  We went and got a table in the restaurant.

In this photo, you can see the Lumberjack Show (center of photo, red buildings with gray roofs) as well as the buildings along Creek Street (bottom of photo):

The hot chocolate was really good.  We got some soft pretzels which were also really good.

We noticed this funicular that went from Creek Street up to the lodge:

After we finished our snack, we took advantage of the restrooms and then had to decide what to do next.  There was a hike nearby that Genevieve loves taking people to, but it was still raining hard.  We ultimately decided to go to Creek Street to shop.  We were hoping to do more outdoor stuff, but it wasn’t meant to be.  Luckily, we all do like to shop, so we were only a little bit disappointed.

Creek Street is a row of shops literally on top of a creek.

The water was really rushing.

Before we started shopping, we followed signs to Married Man’s Trail and the salmon ladder.  Married Man’s Trail got its name because apparently, it used to be the way that married men would try to escape unseen from Creek Street, which used to be the red light district.  It was a wooden boardwalk the whole way.

We found the salmon ladder, but it was too early in the summer to see any salmon.  This ladder was built to help the salmon in their attempt to swim upstream, because a lot of salmon were dying in their attempt and this helps them out.

There was a pretty sculpture of a salmon:

Next we walked through a lot of the shops and made quite a few purchases.  The shops had so many unique items, like these Star Wars prints with an Alaskan twist:

My favorite shop, which I didn’t photograph, was one that sold all sorts of flavored salts, sugars, and seasonings.  I bought several flavors of salt, some spruce tip jelly, and some salmon seasoning:

This candle smelled AMAZING, and I wanted to buy it, but it was really heavy and I knew we were already going to be struggling with the weight limit on our luggage.  In hindsight, I could have put it in my carry-on but that ended up being very full and heavy so it’s probably best that I didn’t buy it.

This is how close Creek Street is to the ship:

There were several fun signs posted which told you a little bit about the area’s history:

In this photo you can see the Cape Fox Lodge up on the hill in the background:

We shopped on Creek Street until our time was up at 5:00, and Genevieve returned us to the Wonder.  On the way back, Genevieve and our middle daughter had a Broadway sing-a-long in the car.  We had discovered early on in the tour that they are both musical theater fans, and Genevieve had recently played the role of Belle in a production of Beauty & the Beast.

We said our goodbyes and took one last picture.

As we left, Genevieve asked us for a ticket of some sort that we had never received, which led to some confusion.  With the help of another Hummer driver nearby who overheard the conversation, we realized that you can book this same tour through DCL (for more money), and those that did had received a ticket at the beginning of the port adventure that they were supposed to turn in at the end.  When we reminded Genevieve that we had booked directly, she remembered and apologized for the confusion.

Wouldn’t you know it, the rain was finally clearing out as we were boarding the Wonder:

Final thoughts on our Hummer tour:  If the weather had been better, I think it would have been really fun and a great value, and allowed us to see a lot of things in a short amount of time.  But, the main things that we ended up doing (Creek Street, Cape Fox Lodge), we could have walked to from the ship and saved a lot of money.  If we had chosen to do it on our own, by foot, we probably would have swapped out the Saxman Totem Park (not within walking distance) for the Lumberjack Show (within walking distance) and also included lunch at The Alaska Fish House, which is right next door to the Lumberjack Show.

We were back on the ship shortly after 5:00, and went to the room to drop off our stuff before going to Tiana’s Place for dinner at 5:45.  Tonight was the Mardi Gras menu:

The Sautéed Gulf Shrimp & Grits (very good):

The Boudin Sausage Fritters (good, but not as good as they were on the last sailing):

The Cajun Spiced Sea Bass (very good):

Eudora’s Artichoke Ravioli (good):

The dessert menu:

The Chocolate Doberge Gateau (excellent):

Tiana’s Buttermilk Beignets (very good):

New Orleans Bananas Foster Sundae (didn’t taste):

They did the Mardi Gras parade through the dining room like on the last sailing, which we love and we always participate.  You can see video on my Instagram highlights under “Alaska Part 2”.

Right after dinner, we stopped by the Vacation Planning Desk to book a placeholder (details about that here).  We had done it on the previous cruise as well, so now we have 2 placeholders that we can use on future sailings.

After that, we spent some time in the shops making last minute purchases, and then met Pat & Rita in Azure for the John Charles show.  We have seen him several times and really enjoy him.  But, tonight was different because he was performing in Azure instead of the Walt Disney Theater.  Even though the Navigator listed his show under “Fun for All Ages”, this show was much more geared towards adults than children – not in terms of adult content, but just with his song selections (mostly folk-rock type songs).  When we have seen him the the Walt Disney Theater as the main evening show, he plays a lot more songs that kids are familiar with.  This time, although the adults in our group enjoyed it, the girls were bored.

After the show, the girls wanted to go to the room, and my husband and I went to the Cove Cafe for some coffee.  When we stepped outside on deck 9, we were greeted with torrential rain and winds.  I have never been in a hurricane, but it was like what I imagine one would be like.  As we sat in the Cove Cafe enjoying our coffee, I was watching the navigation channel on the tv and it listed the winds as 53 knots, which is about 60 mph!  The ship was also starting to rock quite a bit.

At 10:45, we met the girls in the D Lounge for Family Karaoke, and then we all went to bed.

Up Next: Day 7 – At Sea

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