May 31
We are finally leaving for Petaluma. The cruise is two days away.
June 2
We’ve had a lovely time at Monique and Brian’ house and this is the morning of the cruise. We’ve had such a wonderful time getting together with them and having Rommie and Kathy here, too. Rommie was the perfect chauffeur. Our drive over was great, with very little traffic until we got almost here, and then it was just about a mile of waiting to turn left when we were near Napa. we had delicious breakfasts at Four Sisters in Roseville.Monique, Kathy and Rommie walked over to Michelle’s house. Jay came over to hang out for the afternoon, and later, Kirsten and Emily came over. We had steak, chicken corn on the cob and salad for dinner. Then we played Skyjo. Dessert was peach cobbler.
Yesterday, we took the Smart Train to Larkspur. There we walked to the ferrry station, and then we went to a little shopping center for some pastries and coffee. In total, we walked just under two miles. Michelle, Kathy and Rommie took a hike at Spring Lake and they went over three miles.The train ride was fun, and the seats were quite comfortable. When we sat down, there was a man sitting just across the aisle from us.. After just a few minutes, he stood up and started yelling at people a few seats away. We weren’t able to sit with Monique and Brian, so they were a few seats away. After the man started yelling in their direction, he picked up his backpack so we were hopeful that he would be leaving soon He stood there yelling for a few more. Inutes, but he did get off at the next stop. They were home before we got home.
Michelle joined us for dinner of hamburgers with salad, macaroni salad, and fruit.we had a fun visit. We played Skyjo and Uno after dinner. Monique served her delicious cream puffs for dessert.
My stupid blood pressure started acting wonky so I was feeling like I was going to pass out. It was 91/51. After a few minutes, it went back up to 98/58. I sat for a while but started feeling a lot better.
The cruise
Brian drove us to the port at 10 AM. We got there around 11:20 and we were on the ship before 11:45. It was the smoothest boarding ever.
Scott and Jenn went to Pier 39 before coming to the ship, so they had a chance to visit the sea lions.
We sat in the Atrium for a few minutes before Kathy and I decided to explore. We just walked around the ship, peered into our cabins, and by the time we got back, Jenn and Scott were there. We went to the Horizon Buffet for lunch, and we enjoyed hanging out with them. We were able to get into our cabins shortly before 1:30.
After going to check out our cabins, and unpacking our carry on bags, we did the muster drill, and then we were free.
The first thing was leaving the dock. We heard the sea lions but couldn't see them from the ship. We went up to deck 15 for sailaway, so we could get good shots of the Golden Gate Bridge. Bill and I didn't take as many pictures this time, just having fun being there was enough.
June 3
We are having such a wonderful time with the kids. We spent a good part of yesterday with them, talking in the Atrium, and eating lunch and dinner at the Horizon Court. Scott and Jenn had planned on going to dinner in one of the main dining rooms, but they didn’t feel like going there. We went our separate ways after dinner. Bill and I went to the Atrium, around 8, but we realized that we were too tired to dance, so we came to our room, got ready for bed and watched an episode of The Love Boat. I think watching that show on a Princess cruise is mandatory. It was a perfect first day.
I woke up with a jolt this morning. It felt like we had hit something. I found out later that we were in a 5.5 earthquake about 100 miles off the coast of Oregon. It was only 5:45 when I finally decided to get up. I sat on the balcony to watch the ocean for a little while before getting dressed to go out for a walk. The temperature was 54, so I didn’t wear a jacket. But, with the wind, it was very cold. I went around the ship a couple of times, and I took the stairs down from 14 to 5, and then back up.
Before coming back to our cabin, I got Bill a latte and me a mocha. He was just getting out of the shower when I got back and we enjoyed our wake up drinks on the balcony.
After a while, we went to Botticelli for breakfast.
There we sat next to Bob and Vickie. They live in Las Vegas so we had something in common. Bill had pancakes and bacon and I had fruit, a cheese omelette and bacon. We went to an Alaska presentation in the Princess Theater, that turned out to be mostly about shopping spots.
But, right after that, Kathy Champ gave a talk about growing up in Alaska, that was very interesting. She has such a good personality. Tomorrow, she will talk some more about some of the ports where we are going, so we’ll be sure to attend.
We ran into the kids on the way out of the theater, so we went with them to the Terrace Pool. Bill and I got some pizza, and then we joined all the kids to talk on the deck overlooking the Terrace pool. It was nice and quiet there, and not as windy, so it was a good place to be.
We came to our cabin to change, and then sat in a bar to play cards while waiting for 3 PM tea. We ran into Vickie and Bob, so we sat together and talked until 4.
We came back to our cabin to shower and rest before dinner. There was a little mix-up before dinner, though. Scott and Jenn had dinner reservations at 7 for two. We thought the reservations were at 7 for six. We were there at 6. Our app wasn’t working well, so we couldn’t get ahold of anyone. We got it straightened out and we met for dinner at Da Vinci at 6:20. Unfortunately, Jenn wasn’t feeling well, so she didn’t join us.
We had a wonderful time anyway. Bill and I had halibut, which was absolutely perfect. After dinner, we went our separate ways. Scott took dinner to Jenn. Bill and I went to Club Fusion for Laugh Lounge.
We found our first two ducks.
The comedian was Greg Stanton, who we think we say on our last cruise. The kids all joined us for some laughs. After the show, we went to bed.
June 4
The ship was really rolling last night. We slept so well. We need a motion machine at home.
I woke up at 5:47, but the ship rocked me back to sleep until 7:30. Bill woke shortly after me, so we got showered and dressed. We are sitting in the bar adjacent to the International Cafe enjoying our coffee and watching people. I hid our first eagle. One of the servers found it a few minutes later. He glanced around, saw me taking his picture, and he gave it a kiss before gesturing at it. I gave him a big smile and a thumbs up so he waved and put it in his pocket. Some people don’t like staff taking ducks, but I don’t think there is anything wrong with it.
We headed up to the buffet, because is was almost 9:30, and we hadn’t had breakfast, yet. We didn’t have a big breakfast, because neither of us was very hungry. After that, we went to the nature talk in the theater. It was pretty good, but we liked Kathy Slamp’s style better. As we left that, Rommie found us and asked us to join all of them in the bar. We sat with them for an hour, and then went to the theater for Kathy’s talk. Rommie and Kathy went with us.
The talk didn’t disappoint.
We found out a lot about glaciers. The kids went somewhere, and we went to tea. Yum. Now we are in a lounge, but there is a game starting, so we’re going to move on to the Piazza to play a game by ourselves or maybe to read.
The kids have reservations for dinner, but we didn’t see anything wonderful on the menu, and, we think it will be good for the to have dinner without us hanging around, so we’re probably going to get dinner at the International Cafe and eat in the Piazza with music. We just had tea so we won’t be hungry for a while.
We sat in Vines bar for a couple of hours, watching people, listening to music and playing Phase 10 and Five Crowns. At 6:30, we moved 20 feet to the Piazza, so we could have front row seats for the dancing. We got a Guinness Beef Pie from the International Cafe for dinner, followed by two small pieces of carrot cake.
Kathy and Rommie stopped by for a few minutes on the way to dinner. We stayed at the Piazza for a while to see if the next music, by the Pinnacles, is good. If it is, we’ll hang out. If not, we’ll go to our cabin. Kathy said they filled our pool today, so we’re going to see how warm the water is. We might be able to swim in the morning. We might go to the hot tub for a while before bed. We do have choices!
Pinnacles was a fun, lively group. They started out with a few slower, very danceable songs, which we took full advantage of. The rest of the night, they did faster tunes including Motown. So, our dancing was over for the night. We enjoyed listening, and watching all the happy people, having a great time. The one thing we didn’t like, was that three young kids, one of them about two, were on the dance floor with 20 to 30 people. Sure, everyone was having fun, but we think the dance floor should be for teens and up after 8. The baby was bumped by dancers who couldn’t see her way down there, and she was a trip hazard. There are plenty of things for kids to do using the day.
They did fill our pool, but it still had the net over it, so it wasn't available. It was way too cold, anyway.
June 5
I woke up at my usual 5:45, but, because of the time zone change, it was only 4:45. I stayed in bed until I just had to see what the view was like. Surprise! The ocean was still there. I sat on the balcony until Bill poked his head out to let me know he was up, showered and dressed.
We went out to walk for a half hour, and then went to the International Cafe for coffee. Scott messaged us that there were mountains on the starboard side of the ship, but, the only windows near us were on the port side. After we finished our coffee, we went up to 15 to see the mountains. It appears that we are entering a narrow passage, so we think there will be a lot of land coming up.
We returned to our cabin to get some games and our iPads. We are ready for the day. At 11, Kathy Slamp will be talking about Klondike Goldrush, so we will be there.
The kids picked a great spot to cruise through Endicottt Arm - The Explorer’s Lounge.
It is warm inside, but only a few feet from the door to slip out into the freezing cold for good pictures. We were able to zip over to the other side of the ship if there was something over there we wanted to see.we took dozens of pictures. We went to our cabins for the last few minutes before the ship turned around so go t a few shots from there.
We met at Da Vinci for Italian Night dinner. Bill and I got Pasta Pancetta, which we remembered having on our last raise. It was majorly spicy with garlic and some kind of chili sauce, but it was pretty good. I had halibut fish and baked potato. The fish was just okay, not nearly as good a the halibut I had two nights ago.
We’d had a very long day, so Bill and I sat in the Piazza for a half hour, playing Five Crowns and listening to music. We went to bed at nine. The ship wasn’t rocking as much as it did on previous nights, but it was enough to notice, so we slept well.
Scott sent me some of his pictures. This one of him and Jenn isso cute.
June 6 - Skagway
We arrived in Skagway at about 6. We showered and went to the back of the Horizon Court for a light breakfast. Kathy and Rommie joined us, but Scott and Jenn are taking the White Pass excursion, we will see them later. K and R went to their cabin to get ready to go to town. We are going to stay on the ship for a while, hoping it will warm up little bit.
We walked to town, mostly strolling, and we had a fun time. Rommie was on his balcony when we left so we waved.
We were looking for the really old rhubarb plant that we remembered but we didn’t find it so we think it might be on Ketchikan.
Bill had a beer, and then Jenn a need Scott arrived. We sat and talked for a half hour or so, but our feet were pretty sore, so we headed back to the ship. We went to our cabin, rested for 10 minutes and then went to the hot tub. It was cold and windy but not raining. We found it to be very warm but not really hot so we only stayed in fire a few minutes. After we got dressed, we went to the Horizon Cafe for salad and pizza.
We went down to the Explorer’s Lounge to read and play games until Kathy found us. An audience participation game was starting, so Kathy and I played along. We had a good time.
We all skipped dinner, unless the kids ate something later. Bill and I rested for a little while and then were all met at Club Fusion fire Laugh Lounge. The comedian was very funny as well as being super violinist.
Friend Eric, put together two very clever cartoons of Kathy.
June 7 - Juneau
We woke up a little bit later this morning after a great sleep.
We went to breakfast at 6:30 and went back to our cabin to get ready to walk into Juneau. The weather was cold and drizzly, so we wore our heavy coats, hats, and gloves.. We fish not have any destination so we just walked on the main road until we saw an interesting ramp with five switchbacks that we walked up to the historic district..
We just poked around for a couple of hours. The kids were walking into town, too. They planned to meet for drinks and lunch but we just let them do their own thing and we walked back to the ship. Just as we got near the gangway, we saw an animal in the water. It looked like a seal. We watched for several minutes, and saw it twice more but nite well enough to take a picture..
We got rid of our coats,etc. and went to lunch. We just had a piece of pizza. Then we sat on the promenade deck to read for a couple of hours. It was really cold there, though, so we even not very comfortable.
We decided to go to our cabin for a rest. Bill slept about two hours and I watched the Elvis movie, which wasn’t great. Kathy knocked on our door to tell us about the dinner plans. After the movie was over, we went to the back of deck 16 to sit with all of the kids for sail-away. They saw a few eagles but we didn’t, and there were no other animal sightings.
We met at DaVincis for dinner at 6 PM. Bill and Kathy had salmon, and Rommie had pork chops, which he thoroughly enjoyed. We were going to stay up for the Laugh Lounge at 10, but we were too tired. It’s 8:25 now, and we are in bed. We’re going to read for a while.
June 8 - Ketchikan
We woke up to a drizzly day. It was already almost 7 so I dressed quickly ands zipped over to the laundromat. I was afraid it would be crowded but I was lucky. Scott and Jenn were there, having started their load much earlier. I got the clothes in and went back to the cabin to get Bill to go up for breakfast. We got a good window table so we were able to watch our approach to Ketchikan. I wasn’t really hungry so I just had a bowl of Special K and coffee. We played Wordle and then we just enjoyed the beauty. I ran down to put the clothes in the dryer and we waited in case anyone wanted to join us at the table. They were doing their own thing. I went to get the clothes and put them away and then we got ready to go to town because we had docked.
We had arranged to walk together so we started out with Rommie and Kathy, and Jenn and Scott caught up to us in a free minutes. We walked to Creek Street, hoping to spot some salmon. As ll we saw were several sea stars in some rather dirty water.
We walked for about two hours, going into a few ships to look around. Bill and I were pretty tired so we said we were going to head back to the ship. Scott said that they all wanted to but us lunch, but they hadn’t found a good restaurant. We waited for just a few minutes and then said we would let them but us dinner on the ship.
We had walked a little bit over three miles and our feet were so sore. It was just after noon and we had left the ship at 10. We finally made it to our cabin, where we found a surprise. Ernie had decorated the bed with flowers, candles, animals, and a “Happy Anniversary” banner. He popped in because he had seen us in the hallway. He took a few photos of us, He left us a bag to put all the decorations in and left us. I cleaned it all up, changed into my comfy pants and we got into the bed fire a much-needed rest. Just before I got into bed, I saw a huge flock of eagles flying in swooping circles. I called out to Kathy to look. She and Rommie decided to leave the ship to get some pictures. They ended up walking another two miles and they got some great shots. They also found a harbor seal who was happy to pose for a picture.
Tony texted to ask if someone was taking care of our plants. Kathie P. was supposed to do it. Tony said that some of them needed some help so he watered them all. I called Kathie and found out that Nick, her husband, was in a serious car accident a few days ago. He blacked out at the wheel and hit the car in front of him, while going 30 MPH at Prater and Vista. He was hurt and was taken by ambulance to the hospital. Apparently, he wasn’t hurt too badly, because he had already gotten out and is recovering at home. Their car is totaled. Kathy said they had just paid it off. We’re just glad that Nick is okay.
We got up around 3 and went to Club Fusion to read for two hours. Then we called both of the kids to invite them to the Captain’s Circle reception. We had totally forgotten about that, but we remembered when we went up to 18 to see what the Skywalker’s Lounge was like.
The sign said it was open for Elite and Platinum members, so we knew it was going to be the reception. They all came up at 5:30 and were sat talking until almost 7. The appetizers were, rice salad, shrimp, veggies and dip, mozzarella sticks, crackers and cheese. After that, and cocktails, none of us was interested in dinner so they went off to do whatever and we are still sitting here living the view. So, we didn't have an anniversary dinner, but we had fun spending a lot of time with the kids. We were trying to spot some whales but had no luck. We went to bed after a calm evening.
June 9 - Prince Rupert Island
Our stop today was Prince Rupert Island, Canada. From the ship, it looked small and very green. We had breakfast and were off the ship by a few minutes after 8. W stopped to talk to ambassador, Heather, for suggestions on what to do. We had planned to walk to a salt marsh, see the sunken gardens, and visit a Museum. It turned out that the salt marsh was about a 45 minutes away. That seemed like more than we wanted to do, so we went to the sunken gardens, which were very pretty, but they were very small , so we took some pics of beautiful flowers, and then headed into the historic district.
Our first stop was Safeway, so we could.buy a bottle of water. Then we meandered along the Main Street, stopping at anything that caught our interest. We came to a mall, which looked closed, because the buildings giant the street were closed and under construction. Then we saw the parking lot, along a side street, which was full of cars. So, it was open, but it didn’t look like anything was needed to see.
We came to Tim Hortons, a Canada must-visit place, so we went inside to buy an apple fritter and two donut holes. The pastries on the ship are fine, but it was so nice to have something really fresh. We ate the holes, and took the fritter back to the ship for our dessert after lunch.
I wanted to see if we could find a trolly or bus so we would take a tour of the island, but the trolly is reservation only, so we weren’t able to do. We had seen enough nd walked enough, so we meandered back to the ship. We stopped in one of the port shops to taste some espresso liquor. It was just okay so we weren’t tempted to buy any.
We dragged ourselves to our cabin, got our swimsuits on and went to the hot tub.
The sun was shining bright, and it was a little bit warmer, but there was a breeze, so it wasn’t as warm as we would have liked. The hot water felt really good on our sore feet and legs. The kid messaged us that they were going to Salty Dog for a hamburger, so we joined them for lunch. The food was good, and we had fun with them. After lunch, they went to do whatever, and we went to the Skywalker’s Lounge to play Five Crowns and watch the ocean.
We went back to our cabin to change for the Captain’s Circle party at 5:30. We ran into Rommie on our way there. He said they were going to just chill for the rest of the day. We knew that after the party, the comedian would be performing at Club Fusion, which was conveniently where the party was. We found a seat at the party, got a drink, and were enjoying the music, when Kathy and Rommie joined us. A few minutes later, Scott and Jen showed up. We loved having them there with us, unexpectedly. Pinnacle was performing, so Bill and I had a few dances.
They gave out champagne for raffle prizes, and they recognized the long tie cruisers. One of the had over 3,000 days on Princess raises. That’s close to ten years on ships.
When the party was over, we decided to hang out until the comedy. Scott and Jenn went up to the buffet to get some dinner before the show. I went to get some sandwiches and pizza muffins at the International Cafe.. When Jenn and Scott came back, she brought a plate of a cheese, breads, and veggies for us. So we had a strange, but good little dinner.
The comedian, Tom Simmons, was pretty funny. Bill has been having so much trouble hearing with his left ear so he isn’t enjoyed in the music and other shows as much as usual. He is going to get a referral to an ENT to see if there is we went up to our cabin. Scott and Jenn wanted to go to the theater for a Broadway show. We hope they were able to make it.
The ship was rocking a lot during the night so we slept very well. I woke up around 2:30, and stepped out on the balcony to look at the stars. The Big Dipper was amazing surrounded by all the other stars. Suddenly, I heard a loud bang and I turned around to see that the door had slammed. It shouldn’t have done that, because we hd left it in the locked open position. But, when I tried to open it, I found it had locked me out. I tapped on the door a couple of times, but Bill is a very sound sleeper, so I had to knock harder. I called his name hoping he would hear me. (I found out in the morning, that Kathy and Rommie heard me,) but it took a couple of minutes before he opened the door. He had gone to the front door first. I quickly hopped back into bed to warm up and slept until very late, after 8, for the first time on the cruise.
June 10
and then went to deck 16 to watch. I know we were there early enough but somehow we missed it completely. It was very foggy though, so maybe that’s why we didn’t see it.
This was the cruise of all cruises, just because we were with Scott, Jennifer, Kathy and Rommie. We all had plenty of time to talk and laugh, but we also had time to be alone and do whatever we wanted, so we weren’t ever feeling like we had too much togetherness. Jenn enjoyed the spa a few times. Scott and Jenn had fun going to some of the art auctions and they found a painting they likes well enough to buy it and have it framed and sent to them at home.. Kathy and Rommie used the hot tub a lot, but they also walked a whole lot so the hot water must have felt really good to their weary feet. We had lots of meals together and all of them were delicious. My most delicious dinner was the halibut filet. I wish that had been offered more than once. We all ate our fill of yummy desserts, especially yesterday, when they had an extravaganza of desserts. I’ll have to get some pics from, Scott, because I forgot to take any.
We are so glad we did this cruise with Scott, Jenn, Rommie, and Kathy. We would have liked to have Tony and Anais there with all of us, but we know they wouldn't have enjoyed the cruise.There are far too many people, and Tony doesn't like being herded around. If he ever does this with Anais and her parents, we hope he will have a wonderful time, though.
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