September 7th update

Hello all, 

On embarkation day, Sunday, September 4th we had great weather.  It took us less than an hour to get on the ship, and to our cabin.  Then on to our special dining room to meet the fantastic servers that will take care of us for the next week.  And eat!

Monday was also in the 70’s and a sea day.  We spent much of the day exploring the ship, the largest Princess Royal Class ship we have been on.  Our head waiter told us there were about 3200 passengers on board.   A couple of weeks ago, there were 5300, with more children occupying the third and forth berths in a cabin.  So, we are sailing at about 65% capacity.

We had a special dinner at the Crown Grill, the Steak House, a gift from Costco Travel.  What a meal.  We each ordered the small filet, 8 ounces each.  We passed on the appetizers, and each ordered a soup, John, the seafood bisque and Co, the French onion soup.  Rarely have we tasted such wonderful soups.  Then there were amazing desserts.  We also received two bouquets of flowers, chocolate covered strawberries and champagne from the Captain’s Circle loyalty department for having spent 500 nights with Princess Cruises.

Our waiter is from the Philippines and has nineteen years with the company.  He was on the Diamond Princess when it was the first to be struck with COVID 19 in 2020.  It was sailing in Japan at that time, and he caught the virus.  He was taken to a military hospital in Japan for two weeks before being sent home.  He was very afraid of how he would take care of his family.  He had helped his 14 nieces and nephews through their schooling, and they rallied around him and paid him back.

Ketchikan was on Tuesday, with a drop in temperature to the high 50s.  That was ok, but the wind blew the rain sideways right into us.  We walked to town and visited Creek Street, a favorite from past trips with their wooden walkways above the river with its salmon.  The salmon run was mostly over, with only a few fish visible.

Each day we go to several trivia contests.  We were also invited to the Captain’s Circle cocktail party on Tuesday.  It is usually an event for five hundred or so of the passengers with the greatest number of cruises.  This time we found out that they had several events with only a couple of hundred passengers each.  It was more comfortable, with more space for all.

 

Colleen & John