XBGuy

I did not get the memo some years ago.

Or, "It rained."

So, is there a Cliff's Notes version that explains this program? I started reading the linked document, but before long my lips were exhausted.

WOW!!! Congratulations to you and Mrs. Thrak.

ROFL I know the asparagus problem Probaly no help to you in the middle of the night, but on the promenade deck there are clocks. I know there are clocks toward the forward end on both sides. I don't remember if there are any toward the aft end.

There have been numerous posts here on Cruise Critc in just the last few weeks that passport renewals have been taking a month or less. I posted that I mailed in our renewal documentation the last week of March and picked our new passports out of the mailbox the last week of April. I did not request either expedited processing or priority mailing.

I have been to Icy Strait Point once. I thought it was awesome. For future visitors I strongly recommend the bear search excursion. A 30-minute bus ride with a charming local narrator, a hike into the woods (with an armed escort), several viewing spots along a river where you hope to see a bear (or, maybe, more than one) and then the bus ride back to town. We had to get to the last viewing point to see a bear. Apologies for the inadequate photography. Wounldn't you know it. On the bus ride back to Hoonah we crossed over another river, and there was another bear. Pic from the bus. As I said, we have only been there once. We did promise each other that when we get back there, we are going to have lunch at the Fisherman's Daughter, a picture of which is included in @Quartzsite Cruiser's post #40 above.

I didn't until I asked Mr. Google

@richwmn was right on the ball with post #80, right after yours, @USN59-79.. 😁

Mrs. XBGuy sent this one to me. I am pretty sure that most of "The Daily" regulars are old enough to get it.

I loved our fightseeing excursion on a DeHavilland Beaver. I'd booked in in 2018, but all floatplane excursions were canceled due to weather the day we were there. I tried again in 2019 and success. It was pretty neat. @kentuckycruiserreferences jumping salmon. In August the creek will be jammed with salmon. (The later in the month you visiit, the more you will see dead ones.) If you walk up the creek boardwalk away from the busisnesses you will come to a fish ladder where you can watch the jumping salmon, I think it's pretty neat, and it's free. If the funicular is running when you visit, there is a nice view up there, and you can take pictures of your ship--and the others. Lunch up there is fun. On our last visit my wife wanted to check out the restaurant for lunch. The ride up was free, but there was a modest charge ($3?) to ride down. However, if you ate at the restaurant you could ride down for free by showing your receipt. As @HappyInVan reports, Ketchikan does get a fair amount of rain. However, I have walked around in light drizzle more than once and still enjoyed myself. Also, though, on one visit--it was in early Septemver--I was sunburned in KetchiKan.

We mailed our renewal application the last week of March. We did not pay for expedited processing, since we did not have any compelling need to do so. Our new passports arrived in the mail the last week of April.

OK, I had a weird, non-ocean going, experience, yesterday. I went to Trader Joe's for a provisioning run. (For non-U.S. readers, Trader Joe's is a chain of grocery stores.) Among other things, I picked up some fresh basil, tomatoes and mozzarella for guess what. Before I left I grabbed a few bottles of Mrs, XBGuy's favorite Chardonnays. I pushed my quite full cart up to a cashier, pulled my bags out of the cart and moved to the end of the counter to help by bagging my items after the cashier scanned them. When he picked up the first bottle of wine he stopped, caught my attention and asked to see my identification. ???? He carded me. The last time that happened was in 1981--and I was 33 at the time. Has anybody else been carded at a Trader Joe's. lately?

Excellent choice of wine, @cat shepard. It is definitely getting to be rosé season. According to Wikipedia there are 5,000 - 10,000 varieties of Vitis Vinifera, from which most wines are made. (One notable exception would be the Concord grape which is Vitis Lambrusca and is used in for multiple popular Kosher wines.) A vast majority of wines are made from just a few "noble" Vitis Vinifera varieties, and you can probably guess what they are. So, it is not surprising to stumble onto a wine that made from an unfamiliar grape variety. I had also never heard of the Rolle grape, but then your report gives another clue. Rolle is the French name for what in Italy is called Vermentino. Vermentino is popular in multiple wine regions of Italy, but it seems to be particularly important in Sardinia. Vermentino di Sardegna is fairly easy to find in the U.S,

I am very pleased to have you back, @cat shepard. I have had a handfull of Tannats over the years from California, the Madiran region of France and Uuguay (Garzon is regularly available at Total Wine). To be honest I find most of them to be VERY high in tannin--to the point where my joke about getting splinters in my tongue seems close to accurate. The only exception to that experience has been a Tannat bottling from Lone Madrone winery in Paso Robles.

Four Chef's Table events on one cruise???????? To say that is unusual is an understatement. I have heard of two Chef's Table events on a cruise, but typically, there will only be one per cruise, and that seems to be regardless of the cruise length. I wonder if the closure of Sabatini's is the reason for this.

In the meantime, another one from Mrs. XBGuy

I am missing @cat shepard and @kazu very much. I know you both are enduring difficulties, The best I can offer is that there is a lot of love, here, for you.

Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. We have a winner. 🤣🤣🤣

For some reason or other, Cruise Critic denizens love to abbreviate obssesively. By MD he means Maitre d' (which, itself, is a truncation of Maitre d'Hotel). The best one, especially here on the Princess board, is CC. You definitely need context to decode that one,

Tie: Zonzelle at Sabatini Tratorria and Garlic Fries at Crown Grill

I do, and I completely agree with @Bgwest's recommendation in post #11.

I know there are a fair number of cat people, here. Mrs. XBGuy forwarded this one to me, today.

I'm not on the ship, @atexsix, and I am interested in any on-site reports. In my experience of about 20 west coast Princess Cruises, the only ones that have had a dedicated group such as a string quartet or a piano trio have been the round-trips to Hawaii. On multiple Mexico, Coastal or Alaska cruises I might have encountered a solo pianist who would blend in some Mozart and Strauss ("Blue Danube," usually) with pop selections. Interesting story. We were walking around on embarkation day for a Mexico cruise. As we were passing the Explorers Lounge I noticed the party band on the stage. A few steps later I stopped dead. The keyboardist was playing the 3rd movement of the "Waldstein Sonata." Nobody would confuse him for Alfred Brendel, but it was so cool hearing it. Apparently, the band was on stage for a sound check, and when the keyboardist was asked by the sound engineer to play a solo, that was what he played.

Thank you for posting this "Live from." Our last AK cruise was on the Royal Princess in September 2019. Like all AK cruises (heck, like all cruises) it was great. As we were pulling away from the dock in Ketchikan I spotted this outside our cabin. I'd heard of it, but I'd never seen it before. A bubble feeding whale By the time he popped up, we were well passed,