The check in was swift and we were on board within an hour and the suitcases arrived soon after and we were unpacked before sailaway at 4 pm on a lovely sunny day. We went under the Golden Bridge and into the open sea.

The next two days (10th & 11th) were sea days, and we were kept busy with lots of on-board activities. DW went for dance classes, line-dancing, Trivia, etc. I swam and hot-tub twice, and won the silver medal at the pingpong tournament. We went to the naturalist lectures by Dr Gregory Wheeler and the "Welcome aboard" and "Piano Man" production shows. We attended the 10.15 pm shows, because we opted for the late seating (8 pm) traditional dining at the Travatia. After the shows, we spend time at the Wheelhouse bar for music and a bit of dancing. We normally napped a little in the afternoon, and missed out on the wine-tasting, bridge lessons, art and craft lessons, and the library. We did not watch any of the movies, either in the lounges or on deck "under the stars", the weather being not conducive for the latter. The formal nights were on the first sea day and the day at Victoria, Canada (17/9), the latter was also the Captain's Circle Welcome back cocktail night.

We arrived at 7 am on Sun 12th at Ketchikan (a new port for us) and went ashore after a late breakfast. We walked to Creek Street, explored the shops, took the cable tram up to the lodge and totem poles, walked to the Salmon hatchery, took the town shuttle back to Creek Street, visited the famed Dolly's brothel. After some shopping, we retruned to the ship for a late lunch before ship's departure at 3 pm. The highlight of Ketchkan was the salmon run. We saw and smelled so many salmons ! Read more