Live From the Grand Princess, 22-Day Alaska B2B, Apr 30 - May 22

[Ken the cruiser]

After dinner tonight, which was another formal night which we totally overlooked as it was a port day, we went to the early show to watch singer/impressionist Tricia Kelly, who was awesome!

 

 

 
Afterwards we made a beeline to the Laugh Lounge in the Vista Lounge to listen to a very funny comedian, Joe Larson! 
 

 
I was going to say watch, but the place was packed as usual and the only available seats were in the back behind one of those huge brown poles! 😂

 

 
But I have to say when comparing the seating capacity of the Vista Lounge with that of the Fusion Lounges on all of the other Grand class ships we’ve been on, the Vista was definitely designed to hold more guests than any of them.

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 21 - May 20 - Ketchikan, Alaska

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

We have arrived in Ketchikan, Alaska!

 

 

The Royal Princess is docked behind us today.

 

 

And the weather is looking good for our afternoon boat excursion!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

As we wait to go to lunch, I of course had to check the possibility one last time for seeing the Northern Lights tonight, as it appears it might be a clear sky for us around 11 pm tonight as we will be located well before as the Surf Inlet area where the cloud line starts, especially since we’ll be looking north from our aft balcony. But then it’s probably just wishful thinking. 😁

 

 

 

 

Edited May 20 by Ken the cruiser

[knbcruisers]

Nice to see Tricia Kelly still performing.We saw her pre-Covid on the Caribbean Princess and were impressed.. fun fact she is from DHs hometown and when you speak to her in person she lets her native Boston accent out😊

[Ken the cruiser]

16 minutes ago, knbcruisers said:

Nice to see Tricia Kelly still performing.We saw her pre-Covid on the Caribbean Princess and were impressed.. fun fact she is from DHs hometown and when you speak to her in person she lets her native Boston accent out😊

She was great and got our attention right from the start when she sang a couple of Janis Joplin songs! 😁

[Ken the cruiser]

What a fun and interesting excursion! To start off with our tour vessel, the Aleutian Ballad, was docked at the same pier as the Grand, which made it very convenient to get to!

 

 

You could sit up top or down below in the somewhat heated area where most of the 80+ guests hung around at.

 

  

 
After introductions and a safety briefing, we were off and headed towards Annette Island where the Metlakatla Indian Community controlled not only the land rights but also the water rights surrounding the island. The tour company has a reciprocal arrangement with the tribe where they are allowed to fish in their waters and conduct these tours while in turn the tour company gives the community most of the fish they catch and return the rest to the sea.

 

 

Annette Island off in the distance in the center of the photo.

 

 
The first thing they did when we arrived was to do some hook and line fishing.

 

 
Where they caught a few Rock Fish

 

 

and a nice size Pacific Halibut.

 

 
Next we headed to a spot to feed a bunch of Bald Eagles, which is only legal because we in the waters controlled by the Metlakatla Indian Community. Anywhere else in the US, it’s illegal to feed Bald Eagles. As you might imagine, this was one of the highlights of our 3-hour tour! 😁

 

 

 
Notice the small fish in the left claw of the Bald Eagle!

 

 
Here is the crew member feeding the eagles.

 

 

See the Bald Eagle in the bottom of the photo snatching the fish out of the water?

 

 

 

 
Plus there were at least 5 hanging out in the trees across from us that are probably full from the early morning tour visit! 😂
 

 
Then it was time to go catch some prawns

 

 

 

 
before heading over to catch some crabs!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bairdi Snow Crab

 

 

Then it was time to head over to pull up a “simulated” King Crab pot.

 

 
The reason why it was a simulation rather than a real pot loaded with king crabs was because of this little guy that likes to sneak into the pots and eat them.

 

 
A Giant Pacific Octopus, which they caught yesterday and put in “time out” in the barrel for a couple of days before releasing him back into the waters, hoping he learns his lesson and stays out of the king crab pot! 😂

 

  
This is where they keep the king crabs they caught the other day to show us.

  

 

 

 
Then it was time to head back to the ship and be entertained by some truly fascinating “Deadliest Catch” stories from the various crew members and Captain onboard.

 

Definitely recommend going on this excursion if you get the opportunity! 😁

[Ken the cruiser]

After dinner, we headed to the Laugh Lounge to watch the very funny Gary Delana!

 

 
However, since we’ve seen the production show Born to Dance a couple of times already on this cruise, we decided to call it a night and head back to the cabin to go through all of the photos we took today! 😁

 

While we were at the Laugh Lounge, we pushed off from the pier and started heading to Vancouver where we will dock day after tomorrow.

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 22 - May 21 - Sea Day cruising through the Inside Passage

 

 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

@Ken the cruiser It’s probably too late to ask you this, but would it be possible for you to go into ocean now and act like you’re going to order a chef salad. Does it give you choices to leave things off of the salad? A few  years ago, it would give you choices to leave off eggs and things like that but there was never a choice to leave off the cheese. I’m just wondering if they ever corrected that and if we can leave the cheese off. Thank you. 

[Ken the cruiser]

6 minutes ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

@Ken the cruiser It’s probably too late to ask you this, but would it be possible for you to go into ocean now and act like you’re going to order a chef salad. Does it give you choices to leave things off of the salad? A few  years ago, it would give you choices to leave off eggs and things like that but there was never a choice to leave off the cheese. I’m just wondering if they ever corrected that and if we can leave the cheese off. Thank you. 

Unfortunately, it does not appear that you can leave off the cheese.

 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

1 minute ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Unfortunately, it does not appear that you can leave off the cheese.

 

Thank you. I reported that three years ago. Unbelievable that they can’t get it fixed. I will call and report it again. Thank you so much for taking the time to do that for me. We have a 17 day cruise coming up and I would love to be able to order salad.  

[Ken the cruiser]

Good morning from somewhere in the Queen Charlotte Sound!

 

 

Heading once again towards Johnstone Strait! The last time we did this on May 8, it took 24.5 hours to get from Ketchikan to the entrance. If the same holds true this time, we should arrive there around 7 pm.

 

 
So let me just jinx our cruise through the Johnstone Strait right now, so I won’t get too excited about the potential of what we might see if we are able to cruise through it in the daylight! 😂

 
Johnstone Strait is home to the largest resident pod of killer whales (orcas) in the world, with a population of approximately 200 whales. There is no better place to view these amazing marine mammals. In addition to the orcas that can be viewed around Robson Bight, Johnstone Strait offers up a wide variety of other marine life, including minke, humpback and grey whales, Pacific white sided dolphins, harbour porpoises, Dall’s porpoises, harbour seals and Steller’s sea lions. Bald eagles and an abundance of seabirds will also be encountered in the area.

 

 
https://vancouverisland.com/plan-your-trip/regions-and-towns/vancouver-island-bc-islands/johnstone-strait/

 

Edited May 21 by Ken the cruiser

[cr8tiv1]

Thanks for the commentary on the boat.  I thought King Crab was a winter harvest.  I saw that they had a few "to see" in a tank.  Did these go to the tribe or back in the water?

 

I am glad I had a chance to do Tracy's Crab Shack in Juneau.  Would have to rob a bank (or take out a mortgage) now.

 

Your time on the ships are way too short.  You need to do a world cruise.  Thanks for taking us along.  So happy you were able to see some Northern Lights.

[Ken the cruiser]

50 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Thanks for the commentary on the boat.  I thought King Crab was a winter harvest.  I saw that they had a few "to see" in a tank.  Did these go to the tribe or back in the water?

 

I am glad I had a chance to do Tracy's Crab Shack in Juneau.  Would have to rob a bank (or take out a mortgage) now.

 

Your time on the ships are way too short.  You need to do a world cruise.  Thanks for taking us along.  So happy you were able to see some Northern Lights.

I believe the “male” king crabs as well as some of the other smaller crabs in the pots will be going to the tribe, while the Rock Fish and the Halibut were thrown back into the water. The octopus was put back into solitary “tank” confinement with a couple of prawns to keep him company and will be released tomorrow morning.

 

As far as the king crab at Tracy’s in Juneau, I think they said it was around $40 for 1/2 pound of crab. But there was definitely a long line of folks waiting to get in there when we walked by there!

 

As far as time on a cruise, we can usually handle up to 30 days. But after that the “newness” starts to wear off and we’re ready to go back home. In the case of this 22-day B3B, we’re ready to go back home day after tomorrow and warm up, as it’s been quite chilly this whole cruise up here! Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had a great time and went on a lot of cool excursions. But it’s time to go warm up until July when we head to Norway and the Baltic on the Sky Princess for 3 weeks! 😁

[cr8tiv1]

Good that you will be on the Sky in July. Won't have to wait that long for another live.  Maybe you will bring your Northern Lights luck with you (for all of us).

[Ken the cruiser]

23 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Good that you will be on the Sky in July. Won't have to wait that long for another live.  Maybe you will bring your Northern Lights luck with you (for all of us).

To really improve our chances of seeing the Northern Lights in all of its glory, as they are awesome, we just booked the October 2026 NL cruise on the Majestic! But we’ll definitely bring our cold weather clothing on that cruise, as I’m sure it will be chilly too! 😂

[Ken the cruiser]

We made it to the Johnstone Strait entrance at 7:30 pm, with the Zaandam right behind us. Pretty much the same scenario as on May 7th on our first leg heading back to Vancouver.

 

 
And the gulls we’re having a grand old time flying around on the calmer side of the entrance,

 

 
while it was a little breezier on our side, to the tune of 20+ mph winds coming from the north with whitecaps freely spraying in the breeze! 😂

 

 
Obviously, if there was any marine wildlife out there to see, chances are we weren’t going to see them. So I took some photos and just enjoyed the moment.

 

  

 
Unfortunately, by about 8:30 pm the sun was setting,

 

 

and we were only half the way through the Strait. Again, pretty much the same experience returning to Vancouver on our first leg.

  

  
So we called it an evening and headed back inside to finish packing so our luggage would be out in the hall by 9 pm. So the lesson learned for us now that we have gone through the Johnstone Strait four times on this cruise is that our chances of seeing marine wildlife is pretty much slim to none based on the late afternoon departure times from both Vancouver and Ketchikan. So which route we take around Vancouver Island is of little consequence. Heck, who knows, maybe we’ll have a better chance of seeing more whales while cruising on the Pacific Ocean side! 😂

Edited May 22 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Here’s our excursion on the way to the airport tomorrow where we will be spending the night at the hotel there before flying home to 90F weather on Thursday! 😁

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

We have arrived back in Vancouver where we started 23 days ago, and this time we were finally able to see the Lions Gate Bridge! 😁

 

  

 
and why the larger ships like the Majestic have to wait until low tide at 2 am to pass under it. This is the much smaller HAL Zaandam passing under it.

 

 

 

[Nikulai]

10 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Here’s our excursion on the way to the airport tomorrow

Love Capilano! Have fun. Travel safe home.

[Ken the cruiser]

Had a fun time on our excursion to the airport today!

 

First we stopped at Stanley Park across the bay from Vancouver to check out the totem poles at Brockton Park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our next stop was at the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge.

  

 

 

 

As you can see it was quite sturdy! 😂

 

 

Our final stop was the Capilano River Regional Park and Fish Hatchery. First we walked through the fish hatchery where they definitely try to add to the salmon population after the dam was built generating all kinds of issues with the annual salmon spawning cycle

 
 

 

  

  

  
Then it was time to walk around the park to see what we could see. Of course I had to take a photo of a bumble bee looking for tasty stuff! 😁

 

 

 

 
Two Common Mergansers, with one perched on the rock while the other was floating in the river.

 

 
Then we looked up and saw these two Bald Eagles with their nest about 20’ below.

 

 
There were also some serious clumps of moss growing on the trees in the rain forest we were in.

 

 

 

 
A huge Douglas Fir tree! 
 

 
Then I had a little guy land between my fingers to say hello. 😁

 

 
Here’s the Cleveland Dam that was built back in 1954, which you can see is a little steep for the salmon to swim upstream over! 😂

 

 

 
Then it was time to head towards the airport, where we have since checked in and are relaxing until we fly home tomorrow morning!

 

Thanks everyone for following along. Our next adventure will be in July when we board the Sky Princess for 21 days to visit Norway and a variety of Baltic countries. When I start my Live From thread for that cruise, I’ll be sure to post the link here in case any of you would like to follow along! 😁

 

[Ken the cruiser]

While sitting in the airport hotel watching planes periodically take off, I used my iPad’s “Magic Wand” on the Northern Lights photos I took on the 2nd leg, and almost fell off my chair! Obviously, the colors were there. They just needed to be enhanced!! 😁

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 23 by Ken the cruiser

[cr8tiv1]

Thank you for taking us along on another fabulous journey.  I am right there with you on every excursion.  

 

Malama Pono (take care) on your way home. 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Your photos are beautiful!