Ken the cruiser

Day 12 - May 11 - Juneau, Alaska

While we patiently waited for the sunset to finish, I took this photo at 9:34 pm. We finally got to see the Northern Lights in all their glory starting around 10:13 pm! This is where the Lights started to fade away from our aft viewpoint, and we called it an evening. What was funny was that we got the call from Guest Relations letting us know the Northern Lights had started after we came back inside. I guess us folks out back got to see the Lights before the folks up front did.😁

The “show” for us hopefully won’t be long now. I collected the following data at 8:35 pm local. It also looks like we’re going to be in an awesome position to view the NL from our aft-facing cabin as the ship is heading south at the moment. Then will turn west before finally turning north towards Juneau! 🤞 View to the west as the sun is setting at 8:35 pm. View to the north from our balcony. View to the east. Current Aurora Forecast in 33 minutes, or at 9:08 pm if I’m understanding this chart correctly.

Thank you so much for sending us the original NL article, which I forwarded on to our son. I mean who would have guessed they would be able to see the Lights all the way down in Montgomery! 😁

Just got these photos from our son who lives in Montgomery AL!

OK, when the mention of the potential for Northern Lights makes it to a major news station, now we’re really starting to get excited, especially since all we’re seeing on our cruise right now is clear sky! 😁 Severe solar storm expected to supercharge northern lights on Friday The Space Weather Prediction Center has issued its first "severe geomagnetic storm watch" since 2005. Auroras might be seen as far south as Alabama. https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/northern-lights-visible-us-where-solar-storm-rcna151643 * Here’s the 30-minute link to use to see if/when you might be able to see them in your area! https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-30-minute-forecast * Here’s the 2-day link to see if the potential is going to be there tomorrow for you t see them in your area! https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-viewline-tonight-and-tomorrow-night-experimental

Just looked at the display of officers, and it looks like we have a new Captain along with a new CD.

And we’re off! Next stop Juneau, Alaska! and maybe, just maybe if clear skies prevail, we might see something special after the sun goes down! 🤞🤞

Had a fun time on our excursion today! This was our tour boat which had plenty of room, as the excursion was definitely not sold out. Here was the route we took, from Ketchikan (bottom left) to the Rudyerd Bay (top right). And off we went. A glimmer of blue sky! New Eddystone Rock We finally made it to Rudyerd Bay where it seems there is a waterfall around every corner! 😁 Saw a couple of Harbor Seals while cruising around the Rudyerd Bay area. Then it was time to turn around and head back to Ketchikan. On the way back we briefly stopped by this small rock island loaded with Harbor Seals. Then the boat slowed down as they spotted a Humpback Whale! 😁 and finally we saw it’s fluke!! @cr8tiv1, who would have even thought it was feasible this early in the season. But there it was as we were making our way back to the Grand. The very elusive Ketchikan Pigeon! 😂

Don’t forget, you get to eat breakfast in Sabatini’s, which is definitely a huge plus!

Regarding the balconies on the aft-facing Vista Suites on the Grand class ships. We have booked ones on both the Caribe and Dolphin decks and the balconies on the Dolphin Deck are a few feet deeper plus they are in the corner whereas on the Caribe deck, there is usually Premium balcony cabin on the corner. No big deal unless you’re like us and want both an aft view as well as a full port/starboard view without having to look through someone else’s balcony. However, we were in C755 on the Sapphire on our recent Antarctica/SA cruise, and there was still plenty of space. But if we had the option, we’d always book one on the Dolphin deck.

That looks awesome! Thanks!! 😁

We have arrived in Ketchikan, Alaska! Last week I believe we were docked at the end of the long pier in the distance. Well, we now know where the Aleutian Ballad will probably be docked when we come back here next week! 😂

Our excursion we’re heading out on early tomorrow morning. And it appears we might have some pleasant weather too. 🤞

Day 10 - May 9 - Ketchikan, Alaska Looks like the internet speeds are back to 5heir normal range again.

Tonight after dinner we headed to the 6:30 pm Comedy Show in the Vista Lounge with the very funny Sid Davis! Then over to the theater to watch the production show Sweet Soul Music, which was very upbeat and had us tapping our feet the whole time! 😁 The entertainment in the Explorers Lounge tonight was the Yes/No Game Show.

I know, who knew! 😂 I guess we just got caught up in the moment! My DW is really looking forward to seeing all of the eagles at the end of the cruise! 😁

OK, you’ve got us hoping again, as it’s looking pretty positive for this weekend if the clouds clear away for us around midnight each night! 😂 Even the weather looks like it might cooperate as we cruise from Ketchikan to Juneau tomorrow evening! 🤞

I can’t imagine what that cruise might be!? 😂 But I know we’re letting our TA know a few days in advance of our desires when the “sunny” itinerary we’re looking at becomes available. Our curiosity is that we will be booking and paying for 4 cabins, with only my DW and I being Elite. We’re curious if our TA will be able to book all 4 cabins on the elite-only booking day or will she have to wait until the next morning when everyone can book it. But again, I have no idea which cruise you might be referring to. 😂

If the stock ownership is in both of your names, you will personally need to register with StockPerks and upload your latest monthly statement showing the 100 shares of CCL stock with your name (and your DH’s name as co-owner) listed as the owner, the date, and the name of the brokerage house, and white out the account number and all other nonessential information.

It sure looks pretty cool, that’s for sure! I guess that’s why it’s not cheap! 😂

We just got back from listening to an awesome North To Alaska series lecture given by Dave Timmerman! The last part of his lecture discussed the evolution of the Aleutian Ballad crab fishing boat to one that now takes along tourists when they go fishing out of Ketchikan! It was so motivating, we decided to swap the Ketchikan duck boat tour we had originally booked for the below excursion on the Aleutian Ballad! Luckily, the excursions for the May 15 cruise don’t close out until tomorrow, 5 days before embarkation.

We just went by the casino and here’s what they said. On sea days, the cashier opens at 9 am and some of the tables open at 10 am. They will stay open until midnight, or a little later depending on how many guests are there at that time. On port days they will open once the ship gets far enough away from the port into international waters. For example, the casino was open on the last leg after we left Skagway, even though Alaska was on both sides of the ship as we left.

We had an interesting morning, even though we had nothing planned. First, we went to Sabatini’s for breakfast and sat near the entrance where we were quietly entertained by the various issues the Sabatini’s manager, Alfredo, had to deal with during the 45 minutes we were there, from a loyal Princess patron (his words) complaining about the breakfast for over 10 minutes to folks popping in for breakfast that weren’t suite guests. Unfortunately, as it was after 9 am and the MDR was closed, the only place he could point them to was the Lido buffet which most were saddened to hear. But on the bright side, there were quite a few guests that came in to just make evening reservations. I know, nothing catastrophic, but it was entertaining. 😁 Then we noticed our internet service expiration date only had 2 hours left, even though we had purchased the ($50) Plus package on all three legs. We first stopped by the internet desk to see what the issue was and discovered the Plus package was not listed on our account. Then I checked my Folio on the App and noticed I had also been charged for my drinks last light! 😱 So we headed off to Guest Relations with our confirmations in hand. Luckily, there was no one in Suite/Elite line and they were able to get our previously purchased Plus packages reapplied to our remaining bookings. Once they did that, our internet service expiration date magically bumped up to 7+ days, and the drink charges from yesterday disappeared! 🕺💃🏻

Thanks for the clarity on all fronts. The reason we probably didn’t see the LGB both times heading out from Vancouver on Apr 3 and May 8 was because we went to dinner at 5 pm at the Crown Grill and cruised under the bridge while we were there. Darn! It would have been nice to take a picture. Maybe I’ll get up early on disembarkation day on May 22 and take a picture of the LGB then. 😁