Norwaylady

We arrived back on the ship around 15.30. We were hungry after the tour. So we took a walk to the salad buffet in ocean view and had a late lunch and coffee on the terrace outside. The weather is beautiful, so it’s nice to sit outside eating and enjoy sail away from Princess cruises. After the lunch, we went down to relax and prepare for the evening. Tonight’s show is Domenic Allan. I have to send a huge thank you to shore excursions, all tours we attended in Alaska has been excellent. Great local guides. And when things got cancelled, we were able to find a substitute that fitted our needs and wishes. They listened when we said what we wanted and adjusted the options for our wishes. Today we were a bit sceptical, but it turned out to be a great experience and tour. We feel the value for money on the tours has been excellent and we are not regretting booking everything thru celebrity on this sailing. We had a pre show drink in Sky lounge. Enjoying the sail-away from Ketchikan. The sun was shining and it was really beautiful, so relax and just enjoy the scenery.

Time to leave for our tour🙃 We meet the most “enthusiastic” person in the world on the pier…. She pointed us to the second school bus. YES, your reading school bus😊 (Due to late in season, they are lacking bus drivers… so they had called out the school bus to take passengers to different locations for tours) Our bus driver had never driven cruise tours and they were notified this morning. So a first-timer day at work😎 keep that in mind😌 The extremely enthusiastic guide on the pier, arrived on the bus, picked up the tour tickets and said sanctuary to the driver. The bus driver tried to ask, sanctuary…. And the happy, enthusiastic guide just left. So off we went. We stopped at the sanctuary, left the bus and there was no one waiting for us… we went around the building and met a lady. She looked a bit strange on us. “We don’t expect a group now” Luckily our bus hadn’t left the parking yet. So after a little chat, by the lady. We were told: you need to continue all the way into the road/dead end. Then you will be on the correct place. So off we went to the correct place. We meet 2 guides, they followed the group on the walk. One in each end of the group. The walk is mainly on wooden boardwalk. After 2.minutes on tour, we could see a bear. It was going to sleep. We detected a bear in the salmon river. It was hunt for a snack. At one point we had 2 bears in the river and a small sleeper🐻 The tour ends at Alaska Raptor Center. They have a red-tailed-hawk, bold eagle and peregrine falcon. All-in-all a great tour and guides.

New town, new brewery😝 Took the grand walk in the city centre, creek street, harbour, up to the totem museum and ended up at a brewery😅 Bawden street brewing company🍻. A tasting paddle arrived at the table and Mr was happy 😊 Ketchikan has the “jewel” road and the rest of the Caribbean stores…. Yep, shopping is possible😝

Ketchikan Rise & Shine Sun is up and the sky is partly blue😎 Looks like it will be a great day😎 The new tour we are booked on is Bear Country and wildlife expedition. (I am a bit worried that this might not be a winner, but we will be open minded and fingers crossed it will be a great tour;) Some words about the b2b. I asked one if the concierge on day 2. Will you do b2b testing? No, not as of now, she replied. Yesterday I had to barrow a scissor at guest relations. (Needed to cut of a irritating loose washing instruction on my headband😝) I asked again and the lovely British lady looked at me and said: theirs no need to be tested to be able to leave the ship in Vancouver when we return back after your cruise😝 I politely said: we are going onward to Hawaii, will we be tested, since they do on some sailings test b2b? She looked at me a bit, you could see the machinery tic. Then she smiled and said, we have not planned for that. Great that you will sail onward. Another lady in guest relations understood what had happened and she jumped into the situation, said no testing, enjoy your cruise. We are happy to have you onboard. (I know we don’t fit the profile😂😂😂) Today is the usual routine. Coffee pickup at al bacio, breakfast delivered to the room and off we walk🙃🤩😎

Ketchikan program

On return to our stateroom last night, we had received the invitation to the b2b meeting.

Rock City…. What can I say? We have seen this show before, but the cast of this ship is on fire🔥 Great show, you can’t be angry after the show. Dinner was good, excellent service. No beeper, we were seated straight after arrival. We had for starters: gravlax and beef tartare Main course: shrimp pasta and the squab. Dessert: crème brûlée and ice cream The shrimps for the pasta, mmmmm, I can just have the shrimps. No need for pasta. They are really good🥰 ( mr Norwaylady had to ask for some extra shrimps😋) The squab was excellent. Dessert was as expected😋 Ice cream good and crème brûlée good.

Tonight’s program is captain’s club officer party at 17.15 and then show & dinner. Tonight’s show is a production show, Rock City. Captain’s club party went as usual preforming. Drinks and presentation of officers. Great weather and beautiful view out the windows. Lots of whales puffing 🐳🐳🐳 and sea otters swimming around🦦 Perfect timing for the party🥳🙌🏻 Sky lounge is our favourite.

This is how we look when we are not hidden in outdoor outfits and we are ready for an evening😂😝

Yes, we will not go to Alaska for 7-days. So this fits our wishes better. 7-days is to short. We are very happy for this sailing. Alaska is beautiful, we can definitely go again. Then we might do 7-days northbound to Seward, off the ship 7-days and then 7-days southbound.

The sail-in to Endicott arm & Dawes glacier is much more narrow then Hubbard. It’s very Norway & Fjordland National park NZ. The mountains has very visible signs of ice that has been dragged over many millions of years. And you have a totally different scenery compared to Hubbard. We started on deck 14 but decided to go down to the helipad. Less crowded and beautiful view for 360’. The weather was great and the temperature was okay. Not shorts and sandals. You need to get dressed, the wind will cool you down. The process was similar to Hubbard. They had 2 tender tours today. One 09.15 and a new group 11.15. Milos was speaking indoors and the music outside was silenced. Great 360’ spin from our captain and we started our return out of the fjord. The weather just got better and better. At 12.00 we decided that we were happy and ready to move. So now it was time for a little lunch in Spa Cafe. Salmon and baby leaf’s. Then it was time to enjoy the view from the outdoor jacuzzi. Perfect weather and temperature to sit outside in the hot water and enjoy the scenery. It was picture beautiful, no wind and all mirror ocean. After the jacuzzi session, we wanted some soft ice in the beautiful weather. (It’s important to make the best of your day;

So, it went from breakfast continental style to manicure & pedicure 08.00😎 (I said it would not be a conflict for my glacier view;) Alexandra meet Alessandra😂 Great nail technician from Brazil. Very easy to communicate as much or little as I wanted. Great service and no up-sales🙂 (Unfortunately they forgot to tell me that they called from the spa reception at 07.30 to wake-me-up…. So they woke up Mr Norwaylady…. They just wanted to make sure I was coming…) I had been super-silent and didn’t touch the curtains or switch on any lights, to be kind to Mr Sleeping….. hahaha😂😅 Well, my effort counted🥰 After the nail appointment it was time to go down to shore excursion. 0930 and just one in line. Great start. They had suggested a crab feast tour in our letter and on the phone.….. Well, NORWAY 🇳🇴 crab, fish & seafood is our first choice at home. So it’s not very tempting…. (If you were struggling to understand why we haven’t had crab yet, now you know;) I must admit, we have in season: king crab, snow crab and the other type for dinner often. Typically Friday/Saturday enjoying ourselves at home🥰 And we eat sushi a lot. Typically once a week. Shrimps for peeling is always a winner in our home. We are catching crabs when we are in northern Norway and we have family that fish and give us🦀🦞🦐 So the price here is far over our paying will and it’s not worth it for us. Back to the tours available😎 They had another walking tour, it’s a different location and it’s more bear themed. But it will probably be a good trip. The tour leaves a bit later then the cancelled tour. So we will take a walk in town before we go on a hike. Problem solved and hopefully we end up happy. Time to run upstairs and put on the jacket and gloves. The weather was improving slowly as we got closer to the glacier. Great 😎

It’s a bit gray and cloudy outside. But, it might change to the better… (you never know in Alaska, we have experienced this everyday;) So fingers crossed it will clear up a notch before we arrive at the glacier😌 Mr Norwaylady is having his princess sleep…… So I’m enjoying a cappuccino and a croissant in al Bacio. (And they have functionally WiFi😅😅) Later it’s time for a little “me” time aka manicure+pedicure🥰 ( it will not conflict for my glacier viewing;) AND again, it’s my pleasure to handle our shore excursion problem🙃 Let’s hope they have something available that will fit our wishes.

Todays cruise compass for Endecott & Dawes Glacier

We took a “Clark Kent” before we went to Sky Lounge. Love the view❤️ At 18.45 it was time to walk down to the theatre. (We have a policy onboard, no elevator) Tonight’s show is Will Martin He’s from NZ and very talented🎶🎵🎶 Great show, great entertainment😂 After the show, we went for dinner. We were given a beeper and a notice of 20-25.minutes waiting time. It was only 15.mins before we walked into dinner🥳 Today’s menu: Tonight we had the tuna poke from mdr as starter and Waldorf salad and red bell peppers soup. Main: risotto and pheasant Dessert: bananas forester and cafe pot de cream. Dinner was excellent, nothing wrong tonight. When we returned to our stateroom, it was a letter of notification from shore excursions AND a voicemail. Our tour in Ketchikan, rainforest walk is cancelled. So we will either get refunded on our sea pass card or we need to visit shore excursions to find a new option. 🤪😳😤🥵 So will take care of it tomorrow morning 😟

This is the first afternoon we are relaxing and just take it easy….. not a fully packed day and a long walk around town before we went back onboard😁 So a little nap on the warm chair in Persian Garden was not wrong🥰 Beautiful view and lots of whales puffing 🐳 outside🐳 So really a perfect combo🐳🙌🏻🐳 I have booked myself a manicure and pedicure tomorrow❤️ I feel so miserable when my nails are naked🫣 I can’t help it😳 And due to the cold climate, they are in desperate need for some tlc🥰 (I know it’s pricey, but as of now, the el-cheapo financial director aka Norwaylady don’t care😝) She just wants to look smashing on the hands & toes🤩 Since we are “home” early, we had canapés delivered. That was perfectly timed after Persian Garden & for next post of our program today🫶🏻 (we have only had coffee, no cakes in al bacio) There’s lots of seals 🦭 swimming around the ship and some sea lions🦭🦭 So balcony and canapé🤩 Sail-away, so today we are invited to the helipad🤩 Really happy🥳 (I know it’s not a big thing for many people, but it’s nice to be invited🥰) So, back to the fun🥳🥳🥳 Sail-away was on time. We were greeted by the captain’s club hostess. She is very warm in meeting people❤️ Very happy for that. Bubble and mimosas for all guests. Beautiful view and a great way to end the daytime.

We had the usual breakfast routine, coffee from al bacio and breakfast delivered to our room. We are in Icy Strait Point together by NCL. At 09.00 we were ready to go out. We went by the green gondola to exchange our tickets to a wristband to the red gondola. This is the gondola you need to pay for. We took the gondola to the top of the mountain. You have a beautiful view and we were overlooking the fog. The view feels just like home. It’s like we are in the cabin at Helgeland coast🇳🇴 We took the gondola down and took the nature walk back to were we docked. The view from the gondola going down is great🤩 It’s a 5-10.minute walk from Eclipse to the shopping/town of Icy Strait Point. We continued to the town/harbour area. It’s a “classic” fishing village. Same style as you will find in northern Norway/Helgeland/Lofoten/Finnmark. It was stocked for shopping😂 They have the history of canning production and they have all lined up, so you can see the process and machines needed for the process. They have a 🦀 bar. We enjoyed the view outside🤩 They have a heritage/native show. It’s was at 11.45 and they do one later in the day. We attended the show. It’s the story for the native tribe living is this area. They have native clothes and sing in their local language. Good performance 🎭 and you get a description of their clothes. After the show, we were one and done for Icy Strait Point ✔️ So we returned to the ship to get some coffee and have a relaxing afternoon before we sail onwards.

All tours on this cruise is booked by the cruise. We booked everything before we left from home. Almost all shore excursions was sold out before departure. So for those that waited until they were onboard, it was very limited options.

Not heard a word, but if you look on Windy, it’s nothing to be worried about🙃👍🏻🙌🏻 and it has to really bad, before the Norwegian Vikings goes under🤣👍🏻🙃 We are used to heavy waves and wind🙌🏻 Mr Norwaylady was in the navy, let’s just say, it’s not unusual to stand in your bunk bed on your feet and heads during patrolling the Norwegian coast during winter🤪🤪😝

Icy Strait Point Today’s cruise planner & 🥁🥁🥁🥁 We are invited to a sail-away on the helipad today🤩🥳🤩🥳 (It’s the first invitation to a helipad visit🥳🥳 YES it nice to actually be invited!) We are looking forward, it will be fun🥰 (remember I said some words about the hierarchy…. We have not inherited our status from our parents, they are all non-cruisers. And we have our loyalty status from X cruises, not rcl. But due to the fact that we don’t “fit” the form, we are often dragged to the side to check sea pass cards if we attend. Because they assume instant that we are on the wrong place😝) Today’s plans are very easy. We have a day pass for the Gondola 🚠 and time will show what the day brings😎

Tonight’s plan was show & dinner. After our return onboard, we had some coffee and enjoyed the view outdoors on deck 14 until the sun went behind the mountains. Unfortunately our balcony was on the “wrong” side for view and sun today😜. The show It’s a magician, James Cielen. It was a good show and he’s really good. Can definitely see him again later✔️ We went straight from show to dinner. No beeper tonight. We were seated at Made’s tables. Excellent service as usual. We had the seafood ceviche for starter. Salmon and lamb for main. Ice cream and whipped passion fruit curd for dessert. The seafood ceviche was excellent. The lamb was also excellent. The salmon is good/okay, but a bit to grilled for our liking. The blueberry sauce is tasty, but the fish is on the edge of dry. For dessert, ice cream was a winner🤩 the peanut ice cream was 😋😋😋 Norwaylady can’t eat pineapple, remember? Tonight’s dessert is an excellent experience in why pineapple allergy is no joke. The ice cream was “safe” desserts. For the other choices, it was pineapple as a topping or inside😝 We survived the desserts and went to bed😴

Good to be back onboard😌 It has really been a perfect day😎 Weather is really cooperating, just continuing to improve😎 This is a beautiful day, this is a day you say: let’s move to Alaska. Look how beautiful it is🤩 (it can’t be that bad when the weather is awful or the sun is to low in the winter;) 🤣🤣🤣 Let’s just say, it’s reason for why we live in Oslo and not up north😜

I forgot to say, we are 3 ship’s in port today. Us, Eclipse🥰 NCL and Carnival. Back to the tour🤓 Safely seated in the last train cart, ready for our scenic train ride🚂 Cart is 50% full. ( we take now chances, face masks is on) Weather has been improving from grey to partly sunny and clearer then this morning😎 Perfect 👍🏻 The train will turn around in White pass summit. We will be travelling from 0 to 880m elevation and back to 0. So, remember the detail of tender operation today? Last afternoon all passengers booked on the scenic train received a message on your stateroom phone. It was shore excursions. They were reminding everyone that due to the tender operation, you need to plan for a 45.minute wait and leave the ship early. The tour has meeting on the pier/train and it is your responsibility to be there in time. Well, we left the station 13.05. AND guess what? There was a group of passengers running towards the train as we slowly moved away, screaming: stop the train🤪🤪🤪 They did not stop the train🚂🚂🚂 Back on track🚂🚂🚂 It’s a beautiful train ride and the weather was perfect🤩🤩🤩 The guide was fun and informative during the ride. Did I tell you about the view? Yes, it’s scenic! (Maybe not in heavy fog…) Bring you camera AND sit in the last cart. Then you have great view for photos on the outdoor patio📸 It’s totally unobstructed🤩🤩🤩 Tour is 2.45h round trip. We were back on the starting point/pier at 16.05. We are “finished” toured today. So back to the ship it is🚢⚓️❤️ Yay, the pleasure of tender operation AND a fully loaded train🤣🤪😝 Well, it gives me time to post this😅🤓