Alaska: Ketchikan
Our last stop was Ketchikan, another small city in the inside passage. We only had a few hours in Ketchikan and we spent it on a lumberjack show.
I wish I could provide more photos or footage of these lumberjacks, but that was prohibited. Basically it’s a bunch of guys doing lumberjack things, like running on top of a log in water or climbing up a tall tree log or cutting a log – you get the idea. It was a pretty fun show and they had it split up to be Canada vs. America in teams where the lumberjacks would compete in different activities.
Aside from that, we did a bit of walking around the shops (same stuff – selling “gold” and rock jewelry).
For the rest of the way home, I mostly enjoyed the free movies offered in my cabin room and the jacuzzi spa. We watched a music show in the theatre, saw a classic band perform for a few minutes, gambled at a casino went to a free facial demo, watched a little bit of a cooking show but generally speaking most of the boat attractions were not very interesting to me.
I would say this cruise is definitely more for older folks and maybe young parents (free childcare!). It definitely isn’t cheap since they automatically deduct a service fee every day you are on the cruise (for the workers who are working 24/7). There are additional fees everywhere you look like bringing your own wine.
I suppose one interesting thing is that they seem to be a bit more lax in terms of casino winnings – maybe it’s because we’re in open waters and we’re not sure which gambling rules to adhere to? Or we’re just really lucky.
If I was willing to spend a lot of money, I would have been interested in the helicopter ride, dogsledding, or kayaking near the glaciers. There was a train recommended by my coworker, but we preferred the private bus tour we had back in Skagway.
The cruise was relaxing and I don’t regret going. I would never go to Alaska otherwise. I had time to reconnect with my Hong Kong family, had unlimited food and access to a gym that I didn’t use.
Conclusion: 8 days was enough.
Sincerely, Loewe