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As the Ruby Princess
cruiseship smoothly
sailed south, it made our
last stop at the southernmost tip
of Alaska: Ketchikan, an historic
fishing town founded in 1883.
Today it flourishes largely as
a result of the tourist industry;
five massive cruise ships filled the
docks on the day we arrived there.
One of the ships stayed in the harbor
and brought its passengers to
shore by small dinghies.
The cruise with my good
friend Claire Shulman began
with Juneau, the landlocked capital
on the bottom of an enormous
glacier. There are no roads
in Juneau; you get around by
plane or boat. From there, we
docked in Skagway, born out
of the Gold Rushers; then headed
over to the famous, stunning
Glacier Bay National Park for a
day of sailing; and now we were
in rustic Ketchikan.
The ship offers many day trips
and shore excursions, and we
chose to take a tour that took
us around Ketchikan on road
and then into the bay! The Duck
Ride drove right into the water
converting into a boat. What fun
it was! It was a great way to get a
feel for this town of 8,000 people
from land and sea!
Ketchikan, Alaska:
Salmon capital of the world
Cruise ships and tourists filled the waterfront of Ketchikan, making its
economy robust
Ketchikan has an old-fashioned,
frontier history, where
miners of gold and ccopper
came, then fishermen. They all
enjoyed 30 brothels in the town’s
red light district. They say that
“both the salmon and the fishermen
went there to spawn!”
I was very impressed by totem
poles around town, more
than 80 varieties are seen.Each told the history, traditions
and values of the tribes
that lived in Ketchikan.
At the Alaska Rainforest
Sanctuary, you can watch master carver creating totem
poles; they have the largest
collection of totem poles in
Alaska.
I wanted to buy an 8 inch
carved pole for $5.95 to put on
my desk from one of the souvenir
shops, dozens of which
sprinkle the waterfront downtown.
I asked the girl behind the
counter for a totem pole and if
that one had been made in China;
she replied, “Yes.” The authentic,
locally carved totem poles were
behind the counter and started at
$160. I must admit that I chose the
non authentic one!
After our Duck Ride, we had
to get back to the ship; it was a
little frustrating just to have only
a few hours on land to explore
this fascinating town. That’s the
drawback of cruising; you just
get a taste of a place.
Back on board, the Ruby
Princess offers multiple dining
rooms, a spa, a casino, a photo
gallery, Internet cafe, art auctions,
and pools for swimming -
too cold for me, but a few brave
souls did dip in. The temperatures
had been in the 60s and 70s
during the trip.
In the afternoon, between noon
and 5 p.m., I counted almost 30
different activities available for
guests; and 23 different evening
activities to choose from.
For me, I loved being able
to relax on my lounge chair
on my terrace while reading
Brad Stone’s “The Everything
Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age
of Amazon,” the biography of
Bezos, whose stock at Amazon is
now worth $1,700 per share. It’s
fascinating reading!
For me, that’s what cruising
is about: reading, relaxing and
touring on shore.
Next week: Victoria, a city on
Vancouver Island in Canada.
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The one glacier we saw in Glacier Bay National Park
The Duck Ride traveled on the roads and then became a boat traversing the bay.
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