After a reasonably good nights sleep – the ship was a bit creaky which I suppose is to be expected – we all woke up just after 7am. After tuning into the ships TV channel to get our bearings, we had a cup of coffee and some showers and set off in search of breakfast.
We went down to the 6th floor and munched our way through omelettes, eggs benedict, pancakes and bacon. And what better way to round off a hearty breakfast than to hit the shops! So back up to the 7th deck we went and into the duty free. There was a lot of tat – in fact Alaska looks like it could possibly be the home of tat – but also some bargains on gin, so we will stock up on the way home. Cadburys fruit and nut was not a bargain but we bought a giant bar anyway. Then, as we sniffed our way round Hugo Boss and Marc Jacobs smellies Harry spotted the next wildlife of the the cruise. Out the porthole we saw a small school of porpoise leaping their way down the side of our ship. Typically I didn’t have the camera to take a picture so we’ll just have to accept this as another sighting!
After finishing with the shops we went back to the room and the boys got their swimming gear and we were up to the pool on the 12th deck. Despite it being an overcast day they were off into the pool straightaway. First stop was the kids jacuzzi and then once I’d been back to get their googles they were off into the main pool which was a lovely 30 degrees. Toby was desperate to show off his newly acquired swimming skills and, without his tummy band, he was off and swimming. I decided to join them in the pool as Toby was showing a little too much confidence for my liking and as soon as I was in he was off again, swimming underwater and showing us the range of strokes that he had learnt. It was mighty impressive. Toby learning to swim has also had the added effect of making Harry up his game in the swimming stakes. He doesn’t want to be out done and so he was swimming around like a fish as well – there’s definitely no more talk of tummy bands!
After a couple of goes down the water slide – how different from a couple of weeks back at the Great Wolf Lodge when Toby didn’t want to go near them – and then another hour or so in and out of the jacuzzi, it was time for lunch! Burgers, lamb kebabs, hot dogs and chilli did the trick and then it was time to cash a voucher for a bottle of wine and head back to the cabin but not before we had seen what looked like a couple of dolphin leaping about. No more photographic evidence though.
Back in the cabin the boys hit the DS’s and Tracy and I sat on the balcony. Tracy then took up the wildlife spotting role by seeing a whale – probably humpback or maybe grey – swimming not far from our ship. We saw a couple of blow hole squirts (that’s the technical term I believe) and I did just manage to get a photo of a small blob which is definitely a whale.
I was only lucky enough to get the second picture because Harry and Toby stood on the balcony and spoke in “whale” and made it jump out the water again. The count was starting to grow! Come on whales!!
I then sat for another hour or so waiting for the next sighting but it didn’t happen until I stood up to go inside. I looked down over the side and saw what appeared to be a shark shaped creature in the water. I snapped a couple of photo’s and you can just about make it out! Definitely a shark!
After relaxing for a while in the room Harry and Toby decided they wanted to go up to the sports deck and play soccer. Despite the fact that there was a game of basketball going on, they plucked up the courage to enter the court and started playing soccer at the side. Eventually them and a band of others took over the court and had a match while Tracy and I went down a deck to the bar at the back of the boat and drunk pina coladas. While we were drinking people started gathering and pointing so we went and had a look and although they were a little way off, there must have been a good 20+ dolphins flooping about to the side of the boat. Again I had no camera with me but the wildlife was doing it’s best to show off. Even a small group of puffins decided to give us a fly past. Hopefully the whales are saving their best (and nearest) performances for the next couple of days when I will have my camera with me (but probably the wrong lens!).
After relaxing in the cabin for a couple of hours we went to the theatre to participate in Deal or No Deal. We bought our ticket and kept our fingers crossed. We needn’t have bothered though because we had no luck. The very noisy American sat behind us did though. Todd, from Sarasota, Florida, got called up on stage for the second half of the show and he was as suitably annoying on stage as he had been sat behind me! Luckily for Todd he ended up a winner though, winning $322 – “that’s a lot of money” or so he kept telling everyone!
After the entertainment had finished – Deal or No Deal anyway, we didn’t stay for the 70’s music – we went to get a glass of water from the 12th deck. Despite only going for water we somehow found ourselves sat at a table with curry, salmon, pizza and beef on our plates! All this at 9:30pm – why the boys weren’t asleep I don’t know! It was still light though so I suppose it was ok – the sun didn’t set until 10:13pm this evening. As we sat eating we saw a seal leaping acrobatically out the water – Toby has promised to emulate this in the swimming pool tomorrow!
Food finished, we went for a stroll round the sports deck and then came back down to our cabin. The sea was as still as bath water this evening – and had been most of the afternoon. It was eerily calm but made the perfect whale viewing weather – unfortunately they didn’t show up – I think they are waiting for the next couple of days.
With the sunset, the boys got into bed ready for our early start tomorrow morning. The alarm is set for 6am, we get into Ketchikan at 7am and we start our first shore excursion at 8am. It sounds exhausting just thinking about it. Lucky the clocks go back tonight as we enter Alaska time and we get an extra hour in bed.
Whale sightings: 1 (with photographic evidence)
Shark: 1 (with photographic evidence)
Seals: Several
Porpoise: Several
Dolphins: Several