Alaska day 6: Juneau

We weren't able to get a birth in Juneau so we had to take the ship's tenders out. All of the port's birth's were occupied. Juneau seems like a very busy town. There were 5 ships in port that day. It took us forever to get on the tenders. We had to take a number and wait in a dining room for our number to be called. Once our number was called we were escorted down to the tenders.

There was a lot of shopping to do in Juneau. I found a few things that I liked and didn't buy much. I fell in love with a Ulysse Nardin watch. We also got more free stuff at this port. I learned that the shops that advertise with the ship get reimbursed for the free stuff that they gave us. The ship also pays them commission for the stuff we buy.

We came back to the ship for lunch. I got a bratwurst and burger. It was delicious! We were planning to go back out but getting back to the tenders was such a hassle and I was exhausted so we didn't go back out. I ended up taking a nap instead.

After my nap we headed out for dinner. I ordered a calamari steak and prime rib. The calamari steak wasn't what I expected it to be. it was chewy on the outside like calamari rings are and soft on the inside like tofu. I expected it to have the consistency of calamari rings. The prime rib was good. They put a thin gravy on the prime rib instead of au jus. It was a little different.

Tonight's show was a Broadway style Motown production show in a the Vista Lounge. We were really close to the performers. I've never seen such a big production put put on such a small stage. The show designers are very good at using the space they have.

That night we went to the explorers lounge where they had a live band. Then it was off to skywalkers for more dancing.

Alaska day 5:First stop Ketchican

Today was the first time I saw land in quite a while. I was really excited to get off the ship. By the time I woke up my parents had already left for Ketchican so I got up, rushed to get ready for and headed out. I didn't have time for breakfast so I grabbed a muffin from the cafe and tried to take it off the ship with me. I was unsuccessful and had to toss it because we can't take food off of the ship. I think I can afford to skip a meal on this trip.

Ketchican is a coastal town. Kind of like San Francisco but more touristy. There was lots of places to shop, places to see and lots of free samples and free jewelry. The shop employees are really pushy. It's almost as bad as Mexico! Mexico wasn't as pleasant. Everywhere you went someone was trying to sell you something!

Before we went back to the ship for lunch my sister and I made a couple of silly video tours through the town of Ketchican. By the time we got back for lunch I was starving! I had roast pork, potatoes and veggies at the buffet.

After lunch I posted a few blogs because I had access to Internet, attempted to catch up with social media, email and tried to take a nap on the deck. How does one sleep after they gain access to the Internet after 5 whole days?

At dinner I ordered king crab legs  and surf and turf. The king crab was soo good I ordered two orders! The surf and turf had shrimp and filet mignon which was also amazing.

The rest of my group went to see the Hypnotist after dinner. I took a nap and finished my blogs. After that it was off to Skywalkers again and then bed time.

Alaska day 4: lazy day at sea and 50's night

Today was a pretty easy day. After breakfast I went to take a much needed nap on the deck. Then we went to a pub style lunch at the grill. I ordered fish and chips and breaded shrimp. After lunch I went back to my room to finish my blog until Pop Choir rehearsal. There was a lot of new people there. After Pop Choir we wondered around until dinner. The wait staff took a little bit longer to serve us for dinner and we didn't want to miss the show so we had to skip dessert.

Tonight the Star Princess Performers performed an original production show "Destination Anywhere." It was an amazing Vegas style show about a lady's journey around the world. This is one of the biggest Princess productions I've ever seen it had all the bells and whistles with many performers and scene changes. After the performance the crew dressed up in 50's clothing for 50's night. They also turned one of the lounges in to a sock-hop.

We went back to the dining room for dessert. My grandma ordered a soufle' and ice cream and my sister and I had a sorbet.

After dessert is was of to karaoke. I actually sang a song! The machine wasn't working right so the host had to keep talking to me. I had the longest introduction ever. We talked about where I was from and what I did for work, he got me to dance and so I got him to dance too. They finally got the karaoke machine working and I sang my song. I wasn't nervous through the opening interview but once that song started all of my nerves seemed to hit me at once

When the karaoke event was over we went to Skywalkers Nightclub which had already been open for a while. There wasn't a lot of people there because a lot of people planned early excursions for tomorrow when we make our first stop in Ketchican but we danced anyways.

Alaska day 3: Asian food, fancy dressing and dancing

Woke up early again today. Not liking it! We got dressed and went straight to breakfast at the buffet. Most of the stuff at the buffet was the same stuff they had last morning. They added a few new things like kielbasa and corned beef hash. The fruit selection was also different. I went to a shopping event after breakfast where they teach you how to spend more of your money! It took forever! They teach you how to find what you're looking for, how to get things for a good deal and things that are too good to pass up. They threw a lot of free stuff into the crowd.

After the shopping event we went to an art auction for the free champagne. We were there early and we were hungry so we grabbed food from the cafe and brought it up to the auction. I got a beef pie and another tomato and fresh mozzarella sandwich. This auction wasn't fast paced or hardcore auctions you see on tv. Not a lot of the items sold and nobody fought to get an item.

We had lunch at the buffet today. In addition to the regular food at the buffet, they had an Asian theme. I've noticed that cruise ships don't do Asian food very well. Afterwards we headed off to choir practice again. I didn't participate today- just watched and observed. After rehearsal I showered and got ready for formal night.

At dinner today we sat with some really cool people. The husband of one couple worked in the oil industry and his wife didn't work. The other couple owned real estate and was a sports memorabilia dealer. I ordered some sort of fish for dinner, I can't remember what it was called, and a sugar free fruit tart for dessert. The fish was good. The fruit came on the side of the fruit tart, which I thought was pretty odd.
After dinner we went to watch the Stardust Show at the Princess Theater. It was pretty cool. They performed a lot of songs from past decades.

The Princess Popstar Karaoke competition event wasn't on the Princess Patter that night so arrived late and wasn't able to sign up. Maybe that's a sign. My parents and grandmother went to a comedy show with the same comedian we had the first night. I had no interest in going and my sister needed to get another cruise card so I took her to do that.

Later that night we went to the Skywalkers Nightclub where met up with some friends we have met during our time here. I got to lead some line dances and we danced all night!

Alaska Day 2: lectures, singing and the exclusive Captians Circle

Today I woke up way too early! My dad and sister went to the gym while my grandmother and I went for a short walk. It was super cold and windy! After our walk we met up with everyone else for breakfast. Breakfast on this ship is good. I had smoked salmon, bacon, sausage and an egg with cranberry juice.
After breakfast we went to 2 presentations about Alaska. I was exhausted and started falling asleep. The first presentation was "Port information talk: Ketchikan & Juneau" and the second one was "Schoolarship@sea: Alaska Naturalist Lecutre." The first one was about things to see and do when we arrive at Ketchikan and Juneau. He also gave us a brief history about the indigenous people of Alaska. The Second presentation was part of their "Schoolarship@Sea" series.

On Princess's longer cruises they do classes and lectures about different things relating to some of the places you'll see on your cruise. This particular lecture was about Alaska's wildlife and some not-so-touristy historical points of interest that you wouldn't otherwise think of visiting.

We went to a sit down dining room for lunch today. I ordered philly cheese steak and tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and a balsamic vinaigrette drizzle. I love fresh mozzarella! After lunch we sampled the pizza of the day. The slippery slope continues! We weren't able to catch the movie, Gravity, yesterday so my grandmother went to the theater to go watch that. I had no interest in that movie so I went to find somewhere to finish up my blog. I found a Karaoke event and hung around there while I finished up my blog from the night before. Some of the singers are pretty good!

Later we went to another singing event, "Princess Pop Choir". This choir was ran like an actual choir. There were 8 pre-scheduled rehearsals and on the last day they perform a show. I think the director and some people took this way to seriously. This is supposed to be vacation. You shouldn't have to worry about learning parts and making rehearsals. I've done that for more than half my life and I don't want to have to do that on vacation. On the flip side I do miss performing and rehearsing with a group of musicians. What to do, What to do?

We left in the middle for a Captain's Circle party which was exclusive to Gold and Ruby level members. Because I have cruised with Princess before I have reached gold status. There was a performance by the Star Princess orchestra and show choir. After the entertainment they told us what it meant to be part of the Captain's Circle and raffled off some really cool prizes. We also got a voucher for a free drink. SCORE! We had time to kill before dinner so we walked around the ship for a little while.

At dinner I ordered a pan fried pork chop, mango pear cold soup. The pork chop was delicious but the mango pear cold soup was not. There was ginger in it! I dislike ginger! I expected it to be similar to the cold soup I had last night. No such luck!
After dinner we went to watch a hypnosis show. This hypnotist used different method of hypnosis. The hypnotist I have seen in the past have put the participants under hypnosis, gave them instructions, woke them up and then made them do silly things. But this guy puts his participants under hypnosis, give them instructions to do something silly and triggers it while they're still asleep. He practices hypnotherapy for half a month and travels and performs for the rest of the month. What a schedule! He's running a clinic tomorrow.

We had a little bit of down time and headed over to the "Princess Pop Star" competition where 10 singers compete and the audience votes for their favorite. This competition wasn't based solely on singing ability but on entertainment value too. That means I can make up for what I lack in singing ability with entertaining dance moves and introduction. This might be something I might participate in tomorrow night. Stay tuned to find out!

Alaska Day 1: We're here! Bon Voyage

We arrived at the San Francisco port at about 1 pm, checked in, boarded the Star Princess and went up to our rooms. This is the first time I departed from this port. Normally we would board on the main dock into the main atrium but at this port we boarded on the lower docks which are typically used for access to the ship's tenders. After dropping off our stuff in our rooms we headed out to the buffet. The buffet wasn't spectacular but it was good. I was not impressed. After we ate we explored this ship.

This ship is very similar to the last cruise ship we cruised on to Mexico, the Sapphire Princess. We started out at the top deck, where we got ice cream and shared a hot dog. That right folks! After the buffet we went to get more food! This could be the beginning of a very slippery slope. We went to the back of the ship to The Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is a quiet zen-like area for adults to get away from everything for a while. This area cost $15 a day to hang out in. After we explored the numerous amounts of pools on the top deck we made our way to the art gallery. The art gallery had a lot of nice art work in it. I thought it was cool that they had cards out on a table that you could place on any art work that you thought should be made available for purchase at the next auction.

After the art gallery we went to the Skywalkers Nightclub, where I spent most of my time on my last cruise. The Skywalkers Nightclub has a trendy lounge vibe and a bar, dance floor and cocktail tables. There wasn't much going on at the time because it was still early in the evening. After we went up to the Sail Away Deck Party. The band played "Hey Baby!" which reminded me of my college marching band days. There was a dance competition and they gave out free bottles of champagne to the winners.
We left in the middle of the deck party and we went to a putting green behind the jumbotron and putted around for a bit. There wasn't enough time to do much before dinner so we went to my parents room for a few drinks before dinner where we explored the idea of a trip to Europe.

At dinner I ordered a beef broth type soupy thingie with tortellini, a cold pineapple coconut soup infused with rum which was bacically a pina colada. It was even served in a glass, with a straw, but it had barely any liquor. Dissappointing! I thought I had found a cheap way to get my liquor fix on this cruise. My dad said I would get fat before I got drunk drinking those things. For my main course I ordered prime rib and I chose a honeydew sorbet. The honeydew sorbet was amazing!
We attended the send off show after dinner. It started out with a Vegas style opening then they introduced us to the cruise staff, gave us a little intro to what's going on and what's going to be happening. The show closed with a comedian. He was pretty funny. He talked a lot about food. We went back to the Skywalkers Nightclub afterwards. This time everything was up and running but there wasn't a lot of people there. It wasn't "poppin'" so to say but it was only the first day. The dj's on this ship are a lot better than the ones on our last cruise. We went back to the staterooms, watched "Saving Mr. Banks," ordered room service and retired for the night.