Chasing Waterfalls – Day 11

We had reached the stage in the holiday where it seemed like time was passing at warp speed. This was our final port day. We had no plans for that day. We did look at booking a float plane trip at one point but decided to play this by ear in the end. We figured if I was meant to happen it would. I was glad that we had to make that decision as we woke up to thick cloud and heavy rain. There was a distinct chance that any float plane excursion would have been cancelled anyway and even if they would not, the view would not have been great. Despite the fact that we were not due to arrive in Ketchikan until 11:00, we had set the alarm for 07:00. The area we had to sail through to get to Ketchikan is very pretty. We got up and ready and then headed to the buffet.

 

When we went to sit down, we realised that we were not far from Ward Cove, which is the port that NCL and their sister brands use for Ketchikan. We took turns getting food. Graham had some oatmeal, fruit and some bacon and eggs. I had some of the granola with sliced almonds and almond milk. I also had some congee with beef strips and soy sauce. Unfortunately, they had no chopped boiled egg that day. I also had some link sausages and breakfast potatoes. We both had glass of orange juice.

 

After breakfast, we headed up to the Crow’s Nest for some coffee. We had our usual of an Americano for Graham and a caramel latte for me. We docked not long after we got up to the Crow’s Nest way ahead of schedule. Once we were docked, Graham left me to finish my coffee and headed downstairs. He wanted to get some tip money. Charles had confirmed the previous day that there is a cash machine on board. I had seen this when walking through the casino earlier in the cruise, but I think he looked for it near guest services which is where there is a cash machine on Royal Caribbean ships. He came back to advise that he had not been able to find the cash machine.

 

This time it was my turn to leave Graham to his own devices as I had a few things to take care of. I had spotted a port special at the spa earlier and wanted to check if they could fit me in. They wanted me to stay there and then, but this did not fit my plans. In the end they offered me a slot late afternoon, and I took this.

 

My next stop was guest services, but on the way, I checked out the cash machine in the casino. This was not working. When I got to guest services, I asked about the cash machine and was advised that it was broken. I was advised that I could get cash from guest services, but there would be a small charge. I had no problem with this as a cash machine would have charged me a transaction fee as well. In the end, the fee was about one third of what cash machines in the USA normally change. However, the main reason for going to guest services was to sign up for On Deck For A Cause. This is a 5K walk for charity, which is offered once on every Holland America cruise. Which charity the money raised goes to depends on where the ship is sailing at the time. For Alaska cruises, this is run in conjunction with Alaska Geographic, the nonprofit education partner of Alaska’s parks, forests, refuges, and conservation lands. The funds raised go to support education, science, and research in Alaska’s parks. That was something I wholeheartedly can get behind. I also liked the idea of a 5K walk. I signed both of us up. I paid the suggested donation of $25 per person and was given the t-shirts and wrist bands that you get for participating.

 

This turned out well. I took the goodies back to the cabin. I noticed that our laundry had been returned. We had accumulated some more since the last lot was sent and I asked our stateroom host who was just down the corridor if it was too late to send more. He advised that as long as it was handed in before 11:00, it would be fine. I quickly filled up the bag,  filled out the laundry form and handed it over to him. Then I went back to join Graham.

 

Thinks were starting to look a bit brighter when I got back to the Crow’s Nest. There is beautiful carved eagle statue called Thundering Wings just outside the dock where we were. I had fallen in love with this last year, and I really wanted to see this again. On the way, we came past the stained-glass panels on the board walk. I love those. Some were missing this year. I assume they have been taken in for cleaning and possibly repairs. Some were the same as last year and some were new. It looks like they rotate them.

 

After I stopped a few times to take photos of the stained-glass panels, we did make it to Eagle Park and the Thundering Wings statue. This area was a lot busier than it had been last year and it took me a while until I got the chance to take a photo that did not have any people in. There were some people from the other Holland  America ship that was in port that day who were talking to some people from our ship. This ship had arrived early in the morning and only had a half day. I overheard that they said they were heading into town. I was somewhat surprised when we walked back towards our ship a few minutes later, there ship was getting ready to leave. They must have missed the ship.

We then headed back towards our ship, but checked out the area behind our dock. I was amused that there was a cash machine right behind our dock. Still, I was glad that I had sorted this out earlier that day on the ship. We encountered some animal statues that I did not remember from last year. I had a quick look at some shops that were just behind our dock, but there was nothing that jumped out at me. There was one shop that had a beautiful puffin sculpture last year and I decided to have a look if it was still there. It was not, but they had another beautiful puffin sculpture that was slightly smaller instead.

By then, it was starting to rain again, and we headed back to the ship. We quickly went back to our cabin to drop off our coats and then we went for lunch at the buffet. Graham had some pasta and some curry with rice. I had a made to order salad and a couple of slices of roasted tri tip. We both had some iced tea.

After lunch, we decided to have some hot tub time. Inside the Lido, they have a cluster of hot tubs that looks like a Mickey head with one large hot tubs and two smaller ones. I wanted to check out the big hot tub, but that was not particularly warm. We switched to one of the smaller hot tubs and that was a lovely temperature. Once we started to shrivel up like prunes, we got out, dried off as much as we could and then headed back to the cabin. We got showered and changed. Then we headed down to Billboard on Board for team trivia.

There was still some time until the trivia was supposed to start. We found some seats and ordered a drink. Graham had a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, and I decided to try a Gin’s Cup. I was a little dubious about this, but decided to give it a try. I love all the ingredients, but I had learned earlier in the cruise that this does not necessarily mean that I love the finished result. This one contained De Lijn gin, Pimms, St. Germaine elderflower and fresh lemon. I did end up loving it. At the beginning of trivia, we had another drink. Graham had a second glass of wine, and I decided to keep with the orange theme that was transpiring, to have an Aperol Spritz.

Team trivia that day was all about Holland America and the Netherlands. This did not fill either of us with joy. We decided to have fun with the team name that day as Claire was still going round the room every trivia to ask for the team names. Our team name that day was Give Us A Tulip, Claire. The main part of the trivia was not quite crash and burn, but it was not wonderful either. Some questions we knew. Some we got very close, but not quite right and some we were clueless about. We finished the main part of the trivia with 9 out of 15, Then came the bonus question. For one point each, we had to name each of 11 cruise ships in the Holland America fleet. There may have been a slightly evil grin on my face. Graham asked me if I knew all of them. Hello, is the pope Catholic? I spent 6 years of my life selling cruises including Holland America. I do know the fleets of all the main cruise lines. I also have watched a lot of videos about cruises on a big chunk of their fleet. I felt confident. When it came to compare answers, Claire asked if somebody had all 11 ships. I was the only person to raise my hand. She asked me to read them out and they were all correct. We finished on 20 out of a possible 26 points and this was the winning score. It turned out that our team name had been prophetic. We got our tulip. Instead of an Alaska pin for some reason we got a Northern Europe pin. I still like it though.

After team trivia, Graham wanted to head up to the Crow’s Nest. I still had a little time before my spa treatment and went with him. Where the second Holland America ship had been docked in the morning was not Serenade of the Seas. Serenade is the sister ship of Radiance that we sailed on last year and that I had really liked. I took some photos of Serenade and then I left Graham to it and headed down to the spa.

I don’t often have a spa treatment on a ship as they tend to be quite expensive. However, every now and again, a spa special turns up that makes it decent value. This had been the case that day. For just short of $180, they offered a full body scrub, a full body aromatherapy massage, a facial and a scalp massage. As I had budgeted some money for photos which I did not use in the end, I decided to treat myself. I went to check in at the spa about 15 minutes ahead of my treatment and was escorted to the relaxation area. I was given a form to fill in. A few minutes later, my beauty therapist collected me and escorted me to the treatment room. After giving me some time to get ready and settled on the bed, she came back. I really enjoyed all the treatments and felt really pampered. What I could have done without is the sales pitch at the end, which unfortunately is common in cruise ship spas. I always feel that this undoes some of the relaxation. I just kept telling her “No, thank you”, and eventually she gave up.

I quickly headed back to the cabin to get changed into my gown. This was the second dressy night of the cruise and even though we were just heading for the buffet, I will not pass up the opportunity to dress up on a cruise. The suggested dress code that night was orange and I figured my coral gown was close enough.

Once I was ready, I joined Graham in the Crow’s Nest. I wanted another Sitka Spritz before the cruise was over and figured I may as well have it then. Graham decided to have a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. I was waiting for a short while to see if there was a roving bar tender around. There was one, but he looked rather busy. I went up to the bar to place our order. The bar tender checked where we were sitting and advised he would bring the drinks over. We enjoyed our drinks. Once we were ready to leave, Graham took a photo of my outfit next to a beautiful painting in the elevator lobby.

Dinner that night was at the buffet again. This had a Dutch theme that night. Graham had different types of pasta. I finally got around to have some Dutch pea soup. I also had some pork cordon bleu, Dutch meat balls, Dutch macaroni cheese and a piece of fried chicken. 

 

After dinner, we headed back to the Panorama bar. Graham had a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, and I had a melon margarita. We were pondering a second drink, but it suddenly got very busy, and we decided to call it a day. We headed back to the cabin and got ready for bed. I read for a short while, but soon we were both asleep.