We weren't in a rush to get up this morning since our excursion was at noon. We had breakfast at the windjammer (side note: We didn't have breakfast at park cafe until day 6, i wish we went sooner as they had breakfast sandwiches that were very good). After breakfast we dressed in our many layers to get ready to go out. We decided not to bring winter coats but rather dress in multiple layers of clothing. As the captain says there is no bad weather only bad clothing. It was around the 50s and cloudy with "liquid sunshine" (rain which is more like mist) every day. Lindsay wore leggings under her jeans, two pairs of socks, a tank top, t-shirt, fleece and long sleeve shirt. And gloves and a hat. Jason wore jeans, one pair of wool socks, two t shirts, a long sleeve shirt and a track jacket. Some days he wore a sweatshirt and we also had windbreakers with us for some of the days.
We had brought with us a map of the downtown ketchikan area which had some walking trails on it. You can find this map online if you google. We followed the trails, it was hilly but not a difficult walk. (we go to the gym 5 days a week so our judgement may be a little bit off) There were sidewalks for just about all of the trail. It takes you through creek street which seemed gimmicky to us (mostly shops and dollys house which is the old brothel) you then walk up the creek, with some good lookout points, through a neighborhood, you have the option of taking the married mans trail or walking down one of the other roads to the totem pole heritage center (you have to pay to get into this but there are a few totem poles outside) We then walked into a few of the touristy shops and bought our typical magnet and other gifts. When we were in Vancouver we picked up the Alaska coupon book. It gives discounts and some free stuff at various stores in each port. You can also collect 9 coins and 9 charms similar to the diamonds international that you would do on a Caribbean cruise. The coins are cheesy but also fun to collect. Note they must show you a piece of jewelry to give you the coin and some of the salespeople are not willing to let you go so quickly. The coupon book is mainly for the "made in china" type of souvenirs but a free coffee mug is always nice. We didn't end up using all our coupons so we left them with the cashier so someone else could benefit.
After shopping we went back to the ship to change into bathing suits and all our clothing layers for we would be going snorkeling! We did the ships excustion Mountain Point Snorkeling which is run by snorkel alaska (they are on facebook if you want to look them up). This excursion was awesome!
When we first saw it we figured this would be cold and potentially dangerour but having read other peoples reviews we felt comfortable. We have snorkeled throughout the carribean in pretty strong currents and in bad weather so we were up for the challenge. You meet on the pier and are guided to a bus that is run by ketchikan not the tour operator. They take you to the office of the snorkeling company and while on the drive over you get your first of several safety briefings. Once at the office you get fit for a wetsuit (they discretely ask for height and weight and give you the appropriate size M-3XL) There were two dressing rooms one for men and one for women. They were heated and they played jimmy buffett to get you in the mood to snorkel. They were very helpful in putting on the wetsuit. One of the girls helped lindsay slide her arms in as she was getting stuck. They also put her boats on her as its difficult to bend once you are in the suit. You are in a full wet suit with boots, hoods, gloves, professional fins and a double spout snorkel. This was the highest quality stuff we have used. You also have the option of weightbelts should you want to free dive or a life float if you are starting to get tired or are not confident in your swimming. make sure you go to the bathroom before you put on your wetsuit. They make sure the goggles are the right size for you and even carry prescription goggles for those with classes (up to a 300 I believe)
The drive from the office to the snorkel site was about 1 minute. The truck with equiptment comes with the bus and you can lock up your valuables there or have left your stuff in the office (also locked). The hike down to the snorkel site was rocky but they made sure to be there to give you a hand and did not go fast down the hill at all. There were 11 of us on this excursion and there were 4 staff members with us. All were PADI certified and 2 were dive masters. They even gave hand signals to us so they can check on us in the water.
Once in the water it took about 2 minutes to be fully warm. You will feel the water trickle in through your feet and fill the wetsuit. Once everyone was in the water and they had again checked all of our equiptment (they helped me secure my goggles better) we followed one of the guides to an area that had lower tide. They also kept a perimeter around us and we were told to look for the black snorkels (staff) and yellow snorkels were fellow cruisers. We saw tons of sealife on the tour. What made it even better is that they would dive down and pick up the creatures we could see. They brought to the surface: sea urchin, sea stars, starfish, sea cucumbers, crab and kelp. They would give a little talk about the sealife as they passed it around so that everyone could hold. There was no fighting to be able to hold and touch the sealife. As the tour continued we had the option of taking the inner passage which was calmer or the outer passage which was better for freedivers. They stayed with you so you wouldn't lose the group. At one point a carnival cruise ship was leaving the port and sailed right past us. We also saw bald eagles flying over our snorkel site. Overall we spent about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes in the water which was plenty of time.
Once we got out and climbed back up the hill the best surprise of the day- a tub of hot water to pour down our wetsuit. That warmed me up fast! We drove back to the office and were instructed on how to get out of the wetsuit (peel it like a banana) They told us to leave everything on the ground- we were on vacation and they were there to work. They had just installed outdoor showers so we were able to rinse off as well. Once we changed they had hot tea, hot cocoa and water for us and a little gift shop of hats, tshirts and sweatshirts. They all came on the bus to say goodbye to us.Then a busdriver took us back to the ship and we were back 15 minutes before all aboard. I can't say enough how great this tour was. Besides the experience which was amazing the staff was so professional, helpful and knowledgable. The excursion was run very well.
Once back on the ship we played who in the world am i trivia- very tough- and then got ready for dinner. We walked around the shops a bit tonight and went to the headliner show (revolution- a beatles tribute band, not as good as beatlemania which we saw on the adventure) We had the welcome back party this night as well. They served champagne, wine, rum punch and maybe screwdrivers. They had out chocolate covered strawberries and some other dessert petie fores. They had some warm apps (chicken wings, spring rolls, some beef thing and fried tofu perhaps) and the typical canapes they pass around (shrimp with cucumber, egg on toast with caviar, salami on toast and brie on toast). As the captain was speaking two whales appeared on our starboard side and he lost everyones attention. He did introduce the guests with the most sailings on RCCL they had been on our ship since March.
Dinner tonight: Lindsay had the chicken soup, asparagus and brie tart, BBB (creme brulee). Jason had crab and shrimp salad ( i think), some type of beef maybe the beef shoulder filet, ice cream and a cheese plate. Our waitor felt we needed fruit with the cheese, so he brought us one of those as well. did i mention we love Ioan even though it was way too much food. At this point I will also give a shout out to his assistant Ivan who was also great. He made sure I had a savory bite every night and took out the sweet n low for my iced tea before I even asked for one.
That night Kelly had a tribute to billy joel in the schooner bar so we stopped by there for a little while and then to the solarium for some milk and cards (we bring skip bo with us on every trip)
Tip of the day: Go on the snorkeling excursion!
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