Shadowmeboy's "Spirit"ed Return to Alaska

[shadowmeboy]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[shadowmeboy]

 

I may have taken a few photos of the eagles!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a video of the eagles!

[TSUmom]

Reading your review and looking at pictures and videos is really making me look forward to our cruise next year.  Eagles are something my DH really wants to see....hope we have that many on our cruise

[Lupush]

Really enjoying your review so far.  I did Alaska on the Encore in early October, one of the best cruises we've ever done.  Can't wait to go back.

[shadowmeboy]

On 11/17/2022 at 5:15 AM, TSUmom said:

Reading your review and looking at pictures and videos is really making me look forward to our cruise next year.  Eagles are something my DH really wants to see....hope we have that many on our cruise

 

They help attract that many by throwing fish pieces into the water. It still is an amazing sight to see. I highly recommend the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Excursion.

[shadowmeboy]

On 11/17/2022 at 7:47 AM, Lupush said:

Really enjoying your review so far.  I did Alaska on the Encore in early October, one of the best cruises we've ever done.  Can't wait to go back.

 

Thank you! I am always itching to go back.

[shadowmeboy]

Boy, what a crazy weekend that was. It flew by so fast, and it felt like I had no time to do anything. 

[shadowmeboy]

 

Pulling up on a pot.

 

 

 

We got crabs!

 

 

 

 

Here I am holding a Box Crab.

 

 

 

Susan holding a Snow Crab (Baiardi) 

 

 

Even the crab is smiling!

 

 

 

Getting ready to launch the pot back into the water.

 

 

He is explaining why the rope gets put on top of the pot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Throwing the bags!

 

 

 

[shadowmeboy]

 

He is holding a Golden King Crab

 

 

 

 

 

 

They were explaining how to tell if its Male or Female. Also how its illegal to harvest female King Crab and a massive fine for the first crab and higher for each additional crab.

 

 

 

 

 

Showing how to measure the crab to make sure its legal for harvest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[shadowmeboy]

 

Throwing the line to hook another pot.

 

 

 

 

 

Coiling the rope

 

 

In order to prevent Octopus from attacking King Crab in a pot, in order to pull a pot, to show a King Crab pot, the ships has placed rubber crabs to show what it would be like, and also to also be a memorial pot. The memorial pot raises monies for the Native fisherman's fund on the Island they are fishing off of here.

 

 

Each tag is a memory, and guests make a donation and fill out a tag.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Explaining the reason for the pot and zip tying the previous days tags onto the pot.

[shadowmeboy]

 

 

launching the pot back into the water

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[shadowmeboy]

Next up was a juvenile Giant pacific Octopus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Octopus enjoy eating Crab. They are fascinating creatures!

 

 

 

 

Putting him back in the water in the container he is being held in. He was given some lunch as they threw in a few shrimp before dropping the container over the rail.

 

 

 

With that we started sailing back to Ketchikan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picture with the guys!

 

 

 

 

Trace & Maria getting their pictures taken!

 

 

[shadowmeboy]

 

 

 

 

Here is my video from the Excursion!

 

We got back to the dock, and loaded up into the van for the trip back to Ward Cove.

 

 

 

We had a few minutes to do some shopping before heading back to the ship. I really disliked the short port time with coupled with being at Ward Cove. It felt like you missed the essence of Ketchikan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We headed back to the Spirit.

 

 

We were joined by another NCLH ship from Regent Seven Seas.

 

 

 

 

The tide had come up while we were gone, as the dock was almost flat to the shore.

 

 

 

We got back to the room and were greeted by this. 

 

 

 

 

 

--

 

Just a note: I will work on the review some more this weekend, probably Saturday or Sunday. I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

Edited November 23, 2022 by shadowmeboy

[www3traveler]

Thank for your excellent review.

 

I am glad that you got to go crabbing.  The Alaskan Crab season has ended several months early becase of the lack of crabs-- may not open at ALL in 2023.

 

What's your next adventure?

[drumming cruisers]

Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving. Waiting for more of your review. Enjoy them and all the pictures

[shadowmeboy]

On 11/23/2022 at 6:10 AM, www3traveler said:

Thank for your excellent review.

 

I am glad that you got to go crabbing.  The Alaskan Crab season has ended several months early becase of the lack of crabs-- may not open at ALL in 2023.

 

What's your next adventure?

 

I feel bad for the crab fishing fleet. It is not a good situation. I believe there are multiple factors going on, and without getting political, the crabbers are the one's paying the cost.

 

We have an adventure coming up at the middle of December. It will be warmer than home!

[shadowmeboy]

After dropping our stuff of in the room, we headed to Windows for lunch!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caprese Salad

 

 

Nicoise Salad

 

 

Chicken Parmesan

 

 

Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

 

After Lunch, we headed up to Trace & Maria's for some LCR!

 

 

 

[shadowmeboy]

After a fun filled afternoon of games, it was time to go take photos!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the many hard working photographers!

 

 

 

We even snagged Trace & Maria for a couple pictures!

 

[shadowmeboy]

One of my few dislikes about the Spirit is the lack of variety of Specialty restaurants. We hit Cagney's for a second time. No Tomahawk this time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

French Onion Soup

 

 

Black Tiger Shrimp Trio

 

 

Jumbo Lump Crab Cake 

 

 

Caesar Salad

 

 

Another Black Tiger Shrimp Trio

 

 

Wedge Salad minus the Blue Cheese with Ranch Dressing and Cheddar Cheese

 

 

Grilled Fisherman's Plate

 

 

Filet Minion

 

 

20oz Porterhouse

 

 

Sides!

 

 

 

Raspberry Crème Brulee 

 

 

I got the "OMG" Caramel - Butterscotch Cheesecake naked. The Caramel Butterscotch is too sweet and ruins the taste of the Cheesecake in my opinion.

 

 

A view from in Cagney's

[shadowmeboy]

After dinner, we headed to the Social Comedy Club for the Comedy of Jon Stringer. 

 

 

Tonight was his 18+ Show

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a great time! Afterwards it was time to head back to the Stateroom for the evening.

 

--

[shadowmeboy]

Tuesday, July 12th, 2022 - Cruise Day 7 - Sea Day/Victoria, BC

 

Daily

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sky was beautiful when I stepped out on deck that morning!

 

 

 

 

[shadowmeboy]

Time for breakfast at Windows

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Half Grapefruit and Cottage Cheese

 

 

Seasonal Fruit Salad

 

 

Eggs Benedict with all the fixings!

 

 

Open-faced Salmon Bagel with cream cheese

 

 

After breakfast, we went and finalized all but the Port photo for Victoria in our photo package. What we do is buy the best package in terms of prints we can online, then upgrade onboard to a better package.

 

Then the other shoe fell.

 

 

We came back to find this letter in our stateroom. Dang it.

 

 

We took some time to start packing.

 

[TSUmom]

The "You will be leaving us soon" letter always makes me sad...the time passes too fast from boarding to packing.

[shadowmeboy]

12 hours ago, TSUmom said:

The "You will be leaving us soon" letter always makes me sad...the time passes too fast from boarding to packing.

 

Me too! On our next cruise it will be longer before we see it!

[shadowmeboy]

 

It was beautiful, but we had a head wind, so that was keeping us from getting good speed.

 

 

 

 

We headed to the Local for Lunch.

 

 

 

 

Loaded Nachos - they are ok when compared to my local Mexican restaurants nachos.

 

 

Pretzel Bites with cheese - I could eat these nonstop

 

 

Cheeseburger

 

 

Coney Island Hot Dog

 

 

Carrot and Walnut Cake