We had a wonderful time on Crystal Serenity last evening. Highlights of the evening included Black Tie Optional night and a wonderful dinner in the Crystal Dining Room including Anne Marie's favorite; lobster. This was followed by Captain Birger's Reception and by a production of "My Life: The Music of Billy Joel" which stars James Fox. Before dinner we stopped by the Crystal Cove to visit with some fellow guests some of whom we had not yet seen since boarding Serenity. We then made our way over to the Crystal Dining Room for dinner. As mentioned, this was a Black Tie Optional Evening and on this night one of the traditions is to serve Lobster on the menu. Since Anne Marie really enjoys the lobster we usually dine in the restaurant on the first Black Tie Optional night of the cruise. For this cruise this is the one Black Tie Optional night. The rest of the menu also features many special items. The only down-side is that many of our fellow guests think the same way we do so the dining room tends to be very busy and the noise level tends to increase given the number of people dining and especially after some have had a drink or two or maybe more. LOL, but this is true. With that said, this was not the case last night. The dining room was not completely full and it was not noisy at all. We have posted the menus from last evening which you can find on the Menus/Programs bar towards the top of the website. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal. Cruise Director Rick joined us for dinner. Keith started with tuna tartare which Head Waiter Augusto made for him and Anne Marie had shrimp cocktail as an appetizer. We each had salads and we had the lobster. The lobster was delicious and cooked to perfection. We wish we could cook it so well. After dinner we went to the Captain's Reception. We did walk through the line where we were greeted by Crystal Society Hostess Jacque, Captain Birger, Hotel Director Hubert and Cruise Director Rick. The Captain was sporting a beard which he has grown for the Northwest Passage and it will be shaved of towards the end the voyage. A few others have gotten into the act including Hotel Director Hubert, Bar Manager Ross, and Shore Excursions Manager Daniel. Captain Birger clearly has the fullest beard of them all. We know we are in wonderful hands with Captain Birger at the helm. We have now sailed with Captain Birger several times. Another highlight of the evening were the two performances featuring singer James Fox performing the show My Life: The Music of Billy Joel. If you close your eyes, you easily feel that you are attending a Bill Joel Concert. For those of us on the Northwest Passage Voyage, we received the jackets that Crystal Cruise is providing for this voyage. The other items that we ordered from the web site will come to our room sometime either right before or when the adventure begins. We are happy that we purchased another suitcase in Vancouver because these jackets alone could fill up most of that suitcase. We slept well last evening as we continued to sail towards Ketchikan. The good news is prior to going to sleep we set the clocks back on hour to account for the time zone change. We always enjoying moving the clock back rather than forward. Keith has had some muscle issues so he took a morning off from working out. We both enjoyed coffee in the room with the new coffee maker that is now available. This was followed with an early breakfast in the room. Serenity arrived to Ketchikan shortly around 8:00 AM today. Keith went for a haircut which will be the first of three cuts he will have on the ship. His stylist Ingrida who has cut our hair before. Ketchikan is a very popular stop for cruise ships sailing Alaska including those sailing the Northwest Passage. Often you will have several ships in port that between crew and passengers exceed the population of this town which total around 8,500 residents. Ketchikan is the most sizable city in the southeastern area of Alaska and has the fifth largest population of the state. It calls itself the salmon capital of the world. As a result of its rich Indian heritage, it is home to the largest collection of authentic totem poles at Totem Bight. Within the town there are many places to see including the historic creek street. Other highlights near town include Totem Heritage Centre which is home for many totem poles which were retrieved from various uninhabited village sites outside of Ketchikan. A few miles from Ketchikan is Saxman's Native Village which has a display of 34 totem poles. Another attraction is Misty Fjords National Monument which is located in the Tongass National Forest where one can see spectacular views of majestic fjords, waterfalls and rugged cliffs. These are a few photos Keith took from the ship as we were getting close to Ketchikan. Keep in mind that it was overcast with a slight drizzle. Afterwards, we got off the ship. We have visited this port of call many times in the past and like the other ports on this itinerary we did not plan a shore excursion. This is a great port for Salmon Fishing. We did that many year ago with our children and then on our first time sailing Crystal Keith did the Salmon Fishing excursion offered by Crystal Cruises along with our son and at the time our future son-in-law. Anne Marie and our daughter visited the Totem Bright State Park. We have also visited some other areas of this charming area. With this in mind, we walked around town. We also wanted to visit one specific store that carries an absolutely wonderful assortment of outdoor clothing. We wore our waterproof rain jackets to be on the safe side even though it was overcast and the forecast did not call for rain. Like most weather forecasts it was wrong and we experience a light drizzle for a few minutes. Overall the weather was still great as this is the rainy season. The temperature was in the 60's (F) and although it was cloudy after all this is Alaska. We walked over to Creek Street and passed by Dolly's House which we had taken the tour of in 2012. It was part of the red-light district until the activities taking place were outlawed. We also visited the Salmon Hatchery, the Tongass Historical Museum, the City Park, the Totem Heritage Center. We also viewed different streams where we could see just a few salmon. Finally we stopped by the Tongass Trading Company. The main floor sells touristy items, but one floor up is an entire level with lots of outdoor clothing and outdoor gear. Anne Marie needed one more pair of waterproof pants which we could not find in Vancouver and found it there. In 2012 while visiting Ketchikan on Serenty we picked up several items there. Earlier in the morning we receive a text and e-mail from one of our neighbors. We watch each others homes when we one of us are away. For this trip they are watching our home for part of the time except the time we both are away and our dear friends and neighbors are watching it now while we are all away. Our neighbors are on the Holland America Noordam who was in port until 2:30 PM today. We agreed to try to meet each other but they were on a tour. Coincidentally on the way to our ship, we passed their ship and they just had gotten off the tour bus and saw us so we got to spend 15 minutes together. It is a small world. We tried on the jackets that we received yesterday for the Northwest Passage Adventure. Keith felt like hen had long hair. They are warm and cozy, and will do the trick. Not very fashionable though Shortly after returning to the ship, we enjoyed lunch at the Lido Cafe. We made our usual salad entrees. We sat by a window and the weather changed from time-to-time from cloudy and overcast, to partially sunny and to a brief rain drizzle. As they say, this is Alaska weather.
In the afternoon Anne Marie walked for an hour outside on the Promenade Deck while Keith worked out in the Fitness Center. Keith also met up with dear friend Bob. This evening we will be dining at the Prego Specialty Restaurant for the first time since we boarded Serenity. Keith & Anne Marie Comments are closed.
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