Alaska 2017: Ketchikan

Our last port in Alaska was Ketchikan, aka: "The Salmon Capital of the World." In addition to all of that salmon, Ketchikan is known for being the first city in Alaska. And also known for: Lumberjacks.

Our stop in Ketchikan was short and we arrived very early in the morning. We had one excursion booked; The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show. Dan and I did not do the lumberjack show on our previous trip to Ketchikan, but after hearing how much everyone enjoyed the show, it was on our must-do list for this trip.

The show is located across town, about a fifteen minute walk from where the Ruby Princess was docked. Here are the pictures that we took as we walked through the town.

The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show lasts about an hour and is held in an open-air arena, with first come-first serve seating.

The show centers around competitions between two pairs of lumberjacks, one pair from America and the other from Canada. It is similar to Medieval Times, in that depending on where you sit, you are either rooting for the Canadians or the Americans. All of the lumberjacks play a different character to give it a bit of a storyline. For example the "bad boy" lumberjack was on the Canadian side and he was a sore loser which ramped up the rivalry. The American side had a slightly goofy, bad-boy character too. With regard to the actual events, It was hard to tell how much was predetermined and how much was actual competition.

That said, it is a fun, high-energy show and clearly, the lumberjacks are all very talented. They did log-rolling, wood carving, axe throwing, sawing, and the final competition, where one lumberjack from each side had to climb up a tall tree. These are all skilled athletes, no matter how much of it may have been staged.

We rooted for the home team, but I can't remember which side actually won. It was a close competition throughout. The excitement wasn't so much in who won, but in the actual competitions themselves. If you're heading to Ketchikan, The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show is a perfect pick for the entire family. This is also a very short port stop, so this excursion will leave enough time for you to enjoy the town.

The kids got a picture with a lumberjack. This guy was one of the "nice" characters.

Dan wasn't feeling well, so he headed back to the ship and I took the kids around the town. Ketchikan has a small indoor mall with an outlet store, where we stocked up on Alaska souvenirs and had a sugary treat.

Like the other ports, a lot of the stores in Ketchikan are tourist traps. I'm not sure what it is about cruise ports but they seem to be the place where people go to get jewelry. There are so many jewelers in Ketchikan and all of them had some kind of free trinket to entice buyers to enter their shops. We navigated around these stores, but we were lured in by a store selling items that change color in the light. I bought Zoe color changing nail-polish and Felix a tee-shirt, both were big hits.

Our morning in Ketchikan was a blur and before we knew it, we were back on the ship and enjoying an afternoon of swimming as the Ruby Princess headed to its final port, Victoria Island in Canada.

Alaska 2017- Skagway: Part Two

Our afternoon excursion was the "Musher's Camp and Sled Dog Discovery." Excursions to Iditarod training camps are offered at several ports in Alaska. I'd venture to say that it is one of the most popular Alaska excursions. They advertise puppies and who doesn't want to go see puppies?

We were picked up by buses near the cruise port and taken on a short ride to the base of the training camp. Here are some gorgeous pictures of the area. Alaska is so pretty!

The main part of the camp is located in the mountains and we had to take a special open-air, all-terrain vehicle, named McGyver. On the way up, Felix and I got to sit up front with the driver. I can't remember his name, but he was a great tour guide and that's him in the picture below. This was a special experience, especially for Felix, who loves all manner of vehicles.

The purpose of the camp is to train dogs for the Iditarod race. In summer, when there is no snow, they use sleds with wheels to run the dogs through a forest trail. They use the tourists to not only give the dogs exercise, but also to acclimate them to being around different people and situations. It's a win-win scenario.

The sled ride is a lot of fun, but only lasted about fifteen minutes. The dogs are really excited to run. They bark and are a bit unruly when they are stopped, but as soon as the musher gives the command to run, they get in the zone and all you can hear are their paws pounding the ground.

After our ride, we had an opportunity to pet the dogs, while they cooled down with large buckets of water.

Next, we saw a short presentation about the Iditarod race.

The best was saved for last: the puppies! We were able to cuddle puppies that were just a few weeks old. This is the part where everyone melts. Puppies.

Just before ending our excursion, we visited a look-out, where the views were stunning.

The "Musher's Camp and Sled Dog Discovery" is a fun excursion (Puppies!), but now having done similar tours on both Alaska Cruises, I don't think I'd do it again if I returned to the area. It's a great pick if you're traveling with children or an animal lover, but the entire tour is very rushed. The time on the sled and with the puppies is short, maybe 15-20 minutes each. They really jam in the tours, right behind one another, so there is no time for lingering. It's a cool experience, but it doesn't feel personal.

Next stop= Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve!

Alaska Cruise 2017- Ruby Princess Dining

The Ruby Princess has a large range of food options; truly something for everyone. Like many cruise lines, some of the dining options are including in your fare, such as meals in the main dining room, the casual buffet on the Lido deck, and a few quick service options. There are also a handful of specialty restaurants that you can enjoy for a nominal fee.

It's recommended that you prebook the speciality dining restaurants prior to your vacation, as these are smaller dining rooms and can filled to capacity, especially on sea days. We imagined that our trip with the kids would not include the speciality restaurants, so we did not make any reservations. However, on the very first night, we decided to splash-out at the steak restaurant, Crown Grill. The first night of a cruise is one of the slowest for specialty dining, so we were easily accommodated and the restaurant was practically empty.

Felix is a bit of a finicky eater, but the staff at Crown Grill was awesome. They ran to another restaurant on the ship to get a big plate of pasta shells and cheese. Felix was thrilled. The rest of us enjoyed steak and seafood. The dessert sampler was divine. It was easily the best meal that we ate on the Ruby Princess and had we been able to secure another reservation, we would have returned. Based on all of my past cruises, I definitely recommend trying the specialty restaurants. They are usually worth paying a little extra.

Although we didn't have a chance to dine in them, we did take a look at the other speciality dining offerings onboard. I was most intrigued by celebrity chef Curtis Stone's Share, which offers a six-course meal. Adigo is the Italian offering and I suspect this is where Felix's shells and cheese was procured. The Salty Dog is the Gastropub option.

We had the late seating in the Da Vinci Dining Room. I always find it difficult to choose between the early and late seating, but since we were a late booking ( only a handful of available cabins when we booked), we were not given a choice.

As far as cruise ships go, the offerings in the main dining room were about average. When we were on a two-week cruise, we found the main dining room choices to get a little same-y, but a week is just enough to enjoy it, without getting board. The dining room staff certainly works very hard ( as does everyone on the ship), but the meals always feels rushed. I think more than that, the stress from the servers trickles over. I noticed this on previous cruises. They try very hard to maintain an air of calm, but the whole meal feels somewhat tense.

There are several main dining rooms and although we were assigned to Da Vinci for dinner, breakfast and lunch were unassigned.