Monday, July 17, 2023

Our Alaskan Cruise on the Sapphire Princess,

Our cabin for the next two weeks. Our housekeeper kept it spick and span for us all the time, infact three times a day she was in tidying......she was fantastic. 


Our chairs !! We sat here from first light to dusk every single day. Wonder is anyone is sat in them now.....I miss our chairs x


The cruise terminal in Vancouver. Three ships sailed with ours, all of them massive. I did wonder if we had done the right thing but soon realised we had made an excellent choice.


Deck 7, the observation deck and our home for the past 2 weeks. There was a bulkhead on the left so could get tucked in there when too windy. With 2,500 passengers on the ship, the decks were like this every day. Most people on a cruise just eat into oblivion and then sit on their balconys. It was perfect. 


I don't usually photograph food but after getting tucked into each posh meal, I wish I had done but it was always too late. We had many choices of eating, with around 6 restaurants to choose from. It was quicker to eat at the self service restaurant so often opted for that one when there was wildlife to look at. When it was quiet we ate in one of the posh restaurants, but that always took longer as there were many courses ! The food was delicous and beleive me, we ate plenty of it. Simon took a liking to some posh steak which he had every day and Karen decided lobster was her thing. As much as you like, as many courses as you like, absolute unadulterated gluttony and why not !


Our first port was Ketchican - a logging, lumberjck and axe throwing show in the town. We didn't go to any of these things but the sign saying 'free wood' really did impress me. Would have been there every day !


Every port had these fur shops - disgraceful and heartbreaking.


Ketchican Harbour with our ship in the distance


Flipping idiot but there was a lot of them around


Watching and waiting......inbetween eating ! Glorious weather, no coat on. 


The salmon ladder in Ketchican. It will be full of salmon now. The salmon had just started to come in on our return journey and the banks were covered in fisherman.


Ketchican town centre


Dollys, the old brothel in the town. Bet a few gold nuggets from the goldrush were changed hands here.....and plenty stolen ! 



We didn't know when we booked this cruise that we had a naturalist onboard. She was full of information about the natural world of Alaska and would deliver lectures every day (which can be watched on your TV at anytime). She had maps up all the time of when and where the best spots were for whales, bears, etc. along with the times which was very good as we didn't have a clue where we were. These maps were a godsend. She is resident on these Alaskan cruises with Princess. When we sailed through narrows and any seas that she knew were good, she came out on board or did commentary from the bridge, knowing exactly where to look. Brilliant ! 







Karen eating posh. The bottle of wine was to celebrate Varied Thrush xx




The Salmon Ladder in Ketchican where we saw American Dipper




Our corridor - and the laudrette was right at the other end !


The Sapphire Princess


I miss those chairs xx


Cheers - Varied Thrush !




This is the tallest single masted yacht in the world


Ketchican, our first port. A town built on salmon. Good birding along the salmon ladder that ran the whole length of town. We had breeding Waxwings in the town park and a dipper along the water. We visited every port twice, sailing north and then back again. On our first visit a black bear was seen along the water. They will definately be there now as the salmon will be dashing up the stream. The ship runs trips at every port but we preferred to do our own thing, heading straight for the nearest green space for birds. It was a brilliant trip. 
 

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