OUR CRUISE SHIP, PRINCESS SAPPHIRE

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The Princess Sapphire is a huge ship. It is 960 feet long, 118 feet wide and is 15 decks high. The 7th deck and part of 8 is used for jogging and walking. Three times around is one mile. This ship has everything you would want for a cruise. 4 sit down restaurants and two 24 hour buffet restaurants. There were a few walk up areas for pizza, hamburgers, fries, hot dogs, brats, oriental food, etc. If a person went hungry on this cruise it was their own fault. There were spas, exercise rooms, pools, tennis court, and many shops There was a casino, 2 or 3 night clubs with entertainment and a theater for special shows. We attended 3 music and dance shows plus two comedy shows. The ship was full with about 2600 passengers and 1100 employees who waited on us like royalty.
Photos 4 & 5 show our room and #6 shows half the length of our hallway. #7 & 8 show the center gathering place called the Atrium where live music was played most of the time. #9,10, & 11 the staff put on a show of arranging 729 wine glasses into a pyramid and then poured champagne into the top glass where it trickled down into glasses below. This was done in the Atrium where we had a champagne party.
In the dining halls there were many ice sculptures. One afternoon two of the staff members put on a demonstration of ice sculpturing. It only took them 15 minutes to create the sculpture show in the final picture.
Not only did they do ice sculptures but sculptured cantaloupe, honeydew melon, and watermelon. The last two photos show watermelon sculptures.

LEAVING VANCOUVER, BC

It was a beautiful day in Vancouver. Unfortunately, we did not have any time to tour the city. We went directly from the airport to the ship.

At Ketchikan, AK

The first stop on our cruise was at Ketchikan. It was a beautiful day. We were lucky since Ketchikan averages about 152 inches of rain and 37 inches of snow each year.
Ketchikan's economy is based upon tourism and fishing, and the city is known as the "Salmon Capital of the World." The Misty Fjords National Monument is one of the area's major attractions.
Ketchikan is named after Ketchikan Creek, which flows through the town. Ketchikan comes from the Tlingit name for the creek, Kitschk-hin, the meaning of which is unclear.
Ketchikan also has the world's largest collection of standing totem poles, located at three major locations: Saxman Village, Totem Bight, and the Totem Heritage Center. We toured the one at Totem Bight.
While walking around the city we toured Creek Street known for being the red light district during the early days. Every night was party-time on Creek Street. Miners, fishermen, loggers and townspeople gathered to carouse, drink and visit the clapboard bordellos built along the boardwalk. Music floated out over the water and lights glowed from the windows, while the girls paraded, titillating and semi-nude, behind lace curtains. Although drinking was against the law (no one paid much attention to this) prostitution was legal, and the "sporting women" of the red light area of Creek Street, registered their businesses with the city police. A back trail called Married Man's Trail was used by married men on their way to Creek Street hoping their wives would not see them going there.

Juneau, Alaska's State Capital

The current population of Juneau is 30,711. The economy is based on government, tourism, mining, and fishing. Juneau is a beautiful state capital.
A number of tours were available but we just chose to go to the Salmon bake at Salmon Falls. It was a beautiful setting along a creek where salmon try to swim upstream and jump the falls to spawn. There was an old goldmine that was closed. We had a wonderful meal of wood fired grilled salmon(as much as we wanted) with a special sauce and other great entrees. To top it off we had fresh mountain blueberry cake (Yum).
We walked around the downtown area and spent some time in the infamous Red Dog Saloon. It was founded during Juneau's mining era, the Saloon has been in operation for decades. The Red Dog has been recognized by the Alaska Legislature for its longevity as the oldest man-made tourist attraction in Juneau. Personally, we think that it is highly over-rated.

CITY OF SKAGWAY, AK

The Skagway area is home to the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park and White Pass and Chilkoot Trails. Skagway has a historical district of about 100 buildings from the gold rush era. It was the jumping off point for gold rush miners that headed up through White Pass to get to the gold fields. It receives about a million tourists annually, most of whom (about three quarters) come on cruise ships. The White Pass and Yukon Route still operates its narrow-gauge train around Skagway during the summer months, primarily for tourists. The WPYR also ships copper ore from the interior. It is a city of about 800 residents. During the summer it more than doubles. Very few stores stay open in the winter since they cater to the tourist crowd. The following photos show the different buildings in Skagway. We were also able to check our email at a local internet access.