The alarm on my Apple Watch tapped me awake at 6am, as it does everyday. It was brightly light outside, which gave us high hopes that today might be a decent weather day.
And it was important for today to be a decent weather day.
The views off our balcony were already stunning. We weren’t sure of our arrival time into Ketchikan this morning; the weather had deteriorated so much as the Majestic Princess left Glacier Bay National Park yesterday, and the winds had gotten so fierce that Captain Dino had to slow the ship down to keep us all safe and comfortable.
The first thing we did (my eyes were barely open) was to book the next cruise on the Majestic Princess. Yes, back to back cruises are now allowed, and G had checked with the Future Cruise Consultant yesterday about COVID testing requirements for those staying on board. If we are showing no symptoms, no testing will be required. Well, sold! After my trip back to Ohio to visit Mom become so questionable yesterday, and since the air quality where we live is just about the worst in the world right now, we thought there was no safer place to be than on a fully vaccinated, masked and COVID tested ship. We will have to change cabins, but only around the corner. Easy peasy.
Early views sailing into Ketchikan
I’ve mentioned this years ago, but when a float plane is in the air, it is under the control of the FAA.
When it lands, it’s under the control of the Coast Guard.
We went down to breakfast when the Concerto Dining Room opened at 7am, as we still weren’t anywhere near Ketchikan, and Captain Dino made an announcement that our arrival was going to be delayed until about 9am instead of 8am. G’s tour was supposed to meet at 8:10am on the pier, so he just disembarked the ship in the masses of humanity when it was finally at its berth and cleared.
Booking the additional cruise left me with a lot to do today. I needed to cancel appointments for early next week, cancel our flight home Sunday, book a flight home the following Sunday, change my flight to visit Mom until September (the fifth time it’s been changed since May), get with Guest Services to tell them we’d be in transit, do a load of laundry and write and publish the blog post from yesterday in Glacier Bay National Park. Still, with the ship nearly empty, everything becomes so much easier.
Meanwhile, G started texting me photos from his excursion, a salmon fishing trip. This was booked only about a month ago, when my friend Suzan (my Sis!) sent us a press release from Princess about the Alaskan activities on its 2021 Alaska cruises. One of them was the Cook My Catch program, where salmon caught on certain Princess excursions could be brought on board the ship and cooked and served in the dining room. G was immediately interested in that, saying he had always wanted to do that. Well, his birthday was a couple of weeks after that, and I couldn’t think of a better birthday gift to give him. He was thrilled, and today was the day.
Of course, booking and paying for the excursion was not without its concerns. What if the weather was horrible? What if he didn’t catch a salmon? What if something got messed up getting the salmon back to the ship and delivered to our table in the Concerto Dining Room? I needn’t have worried. While the weather was the biggest unpredictable factor, I think it would have been difficult to NOT catch a fish on this excursion. In fact, G caught at least three. One was a king salmon, which had to be released, and he gave a third salmon to another person to have shipped home, but G caught a beauty, a silver (Coho) salmon. Following are the pics he sent me during the excursion.
Knudsen Cove Marina was about ten miles away
There were six guests on each boat
The king salmon that was released
The lure that was used
I love seeing him so happy!
Thank you G for going without me
(Because this is so not my thing).
Where he was compared to where the ship was (the blue dot).
He said the water was perfectly calm.
My Chopsticks Noodle Bar lunch on the Lido Deck while I was solo…
and still busy uploading pics and blog posts…and changing flight reservations…
and canceling appointments for next week.
Two Alaskan fishermen
I had finally returned to the cabin with a drink in hand, all my duties complete, intending to sit on our balcony watch the float planes taking off and landing, when G texted me. Would I phone someone to find out how to get this fish back on the ship and what to do with it? He knew he needed to fill out a form. Would I come down to the pier with a pen?
And so I first called Guest Services, who called me back with the info we were looking for, disembarked the ship and sat on a bench at the end of a gangway waiting for G’s return. It didn’t take too long. I spotted him carrying a large fish in a plastic bag filled with ice. He had a form in hand that we filled out, stating where he had caught the fish and then where and how he wanted it served. He chose chef’s choice for everything (seasoning and sides) and walked the fish and the form up the gangway.
Carrying his catch up the gangway
Paperwork needed to be filled out.
It was harious to hear security call out, “Fish coming!”, and then take the fish from G and pass it to the food and beverage team, right there in the Piazza with a cart. There were several salmon on it, but G is pretty clever. He cut a notch out of the tail of his fish so he could be certain he got the same fish back later in he dining room (he did).
Once in the Piazza, just past security, the cart of daily catches
attracted much attention from fellow passengers.
My serving of salmon. G said “he” had put up a fight (as Coho salmon are known to do)
G wanted nothing more than to get showered, so we returned to the cabin and he rested until it was time to go to the PES Lounge. We could see from our balcony that it had started to rain, but when we went up to the Hollywood Conservatory, rain was pelting against the glass on the front of the ship. We had been lucky to have really good weather in Ketchikan nearly until it was time to leave. Captain Dino gave us back 30 minutes due to our late arrival, and we departed at 5:30pm.
We went to dinner with an appetite, which is a good thing because we had a LOT of fish to eat. First, though, I started with the carrot and ginger soup (I make it all the time at home). Delish!. By the time Concerto Dining Room supervisor Jorge came out with G’s salmon on a large tray, everyone around us was as excited as we were about that darn fish. It was beautifully presented and served, and Jorge plated up huge servings for the adjoining tables, too. It was so much fun.
My serving of salmon. G said “he” had put up a fight (as Coho salmon are known to do)
until we saw the roe (on the right side of the plate).
Then he had to say SHE put up a fight.
We sat and ate and chatted with fellow guests seated around us for well over 2 hours, until we could eat no more. It was, without a doubt, the very best salmon I’d ever eaten. And the most expensive salmon I’d ever eaten.
We were headed directly back to our cabin (a little too much wine and food) and were walking through the Piazza when we spotted this lady of about 110 years old dancing to Ride Sally Ride on Deck 5 in the Piazza, with a crowd around her and three levels of guests cheering her on, and I think it just made people so happy to see such genuine joy during these times. I know it certainly made me happy.
It was probably the best day we’ll have all cruise, not because I did anything particularly exciting (well…there was that third cruise we added, but aside from that) but because G was so very happy with how his day went. From boat to dining room, it was something he’ll never forget. And it’s really nice for one of us to be able to say that again.
