Carnival Spirit June 28th Alaska Review: Tons of Photos and Oodles of Food Porn!

[Quilting_Cruiser]

We stopped in Carcross and went to the General Store there. It’s more a gift shop than a general store, and I found a beautiful Christmas ornament with the art of native Canadian artist Benjamin Chee Chee. Whenever we cruise, one of the things we always look for are Christmas ornaments, making decorating the tree each year a fun walk through our travel memories.

 

We continued on to Spirit Lake Resort for lunch. They told us that just prior to our arrival, there had been tour buses there and they’d served close to 100 customers. We were the only people in the restaurant. DD and I each had half a delicious salmon sandwich and a turkey sandwich and I had lemon meringue pie while she enjoyed blueberry pie. They’re all homemade, and very good (though a bit pricey at $17 for the meal).

 

After lunch, we didn’t have far to go to find Emerald Lake. It was beautiful, but our timing wasn’t great—I’m sure the colors show more in when there isn’t direct sunlight on the lake. But, I’m certainly not going to complain about the sunshine!

 

 

Our next stop was Caribou Crossing, where we spent some time visiting the sled dogs. We were especially looking forward to seeing the puppies!

 

 

And, we enjoyed the goats, too.

 

 

And, of course, visiting the Carcross desert was a must for us!

 

 

We then drove back to Skagway, taking our time. It didn’t take too long to get through customs, and while we were waiting, we got a few sprinkles on the windshield, but not what I’d call rain (but, then, I’m from Oregon).

 

Sorry about the size of those last two photos. I resized them in Photobucket, so don't know why they're so large.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

When we got to Skagway, we indulged in a bit of shopping, picking up a few mementos from the Alaska T-Shirt Company. Unfortunately, the two charms we purchased never made it into our bag, but the Juneau store manager was kind enough to call them and they’re sending them to me, so all is well.

When we were walking down the street, we both started laughing when we spotted an ashtray. Four years ago, the last time we were there, we took a photo that we were compelled to recreate. We captioned it “Mom, how do I get my butt in here?” which explains the laughter.

 

 

Four years ago, she was looking up at the “Butts”.

 

While we were walking around town, I came across a lovely little quilt store and could have spent a lot of time there. I did pick up a cross stitch kit by Alaskan artist Barbara Lavalee. I love her work and have a number of Christmas ornaments and a few mugs with her art on them.

 

 

There was quite a line when we returned to the ship at about 5:00, and it was very windy. I felt for the painters working on the ship—I can’t imagine trying to do that in such a windy environment!

 

[tmt218]

Thanks, tmt! :D How old is our DD? Mine was six the first time we did an Alaska cruise and she LOVED it! The second time, she was 12, and 16 this time. I was planning to take her to the Caribbean next summer, but she's asking to do Alaska again, and I really can't complain about that! LOL.

 

I have a simple DSLR, a Canon Digital Rebel XSi. Most of the photos at the zoo were taken with a 100-300 zoom lens. I set the aperture as wide as possible and was able to get pics even in the dimmer reptile habitats. :D

 

My DD is 9. She has been on 3 cruises with a 4th in 2 weeks. She is a warm weather girl and we have 9 ports to leave from within a days drive. I think if I lived on the west coast we would be booking an alaskan cruise all the time.:D She spent the summer with her Dad and was excited for that. But when we got back and I was telling her about our trip she was a little jealous. It was my Mom, Uncle and Aunt on the trip. I promised her we would go back and I'd take her with me. My DMom is turning 60 and wants to do a one way with a land tour next year.

 

I have an old Minolta SLR with a 100-300 lens but don't use it much. I hate to think of the cost of the film and then the developing of all those pictures. I also have a Canon PowerShot SX20is. I have had it a year now but haven't played around with all the functions. I would like a DSLR camera. HMMM something to look into for next year. :eek:

[Quilting_Cruiser]

We got ready for dinner and were seated immediately on arriving at the MDR. We were delighted to see crab on menu.

 

 

DD had shrimp fettuccini for dinner. I tasted it, and it was quite good.

 

 

I had flat iron steak. Nothing to write home about, but I do think they do a great job each evening, especially considering the sheer volume of people they feed at each seating.

 

 

For dessert, I had the strawberries with sabayon—it was the dessert featured on the spa menu and was very good.

 

 

DD had the apple tart (don’t remember the exact name of it) and found it unremarkable.

 

 

We returned to our room to fine a lovely towel swan awaiting us.

 

[Quilting_Cruiser]

My DD is 9. She has been on 3 cruises with a 4th in 2 weeks. She is a warm weather girl and we have 9 ports to leave from within a days drive. I think if I lived on the west coast we would be booking an alaskan cruise all the time.:D She spent the summer with her Dad and was excited for that. But when we got back and I was telling her about our trip she was a little jealous. It was my Mom, Uncle and Aunt on the trip. I promised her we would go back and I'd take her with me. My DMom is turning 60 and wants to do a one way with a land tour next year.

 

I have an old Minolta SLR with a 100-300 lens but don't use it much. I hate to think of the cost of the film and then the developing of all those pictures. I also have a Canon PowerShot SX20is. I have had it a year now but haven't played around with all the functions. I would like a DSLR camera. HMMM something to look into for next year. :eek:

 

 

I think your DD is a great age for an Alaska cruise! Mine was six the first time and 12 the second. She's game for just about anything as long as it doesn't have much to do with heights.

 

Our first cruise was pre-digital, and I just about went bankrupt getting the film developed, especially since my then DH and DD were leaving for Arizona the next afternoon to see my in-laws and I had to one-hour processing on them all! I love digital! I to about 3,000 pics on this vacation and am sorting through them, choosing which ones to print for scrapbooking. DD also has a DSLR and I haven't looked at all her pics yet, but she has a great eye so I'm sure I'll be printing a lot of hers, too. :o

 

I prefer a one-way to be able to spend some land time. Southbound is my preference so we get the long flight out of the way first. Carnival has changed to a round trip itinerary for the majority of the Alaska season, and I'm disappointed by that. But, we love the Spirit and there's a lot to be said for living close enough to drive to port! I'm jealous of you for that one!

 

:D

[Quilting_Cruiser]

The next day, we arrived in Juneau. I hadn’t planned anything for Juneau because I was concerned about whether I’d be able to do excursions four days in a row. I have severe arthritis and have good days and bad days, but this trip was full of good days! Yay! My back-up plan was to see if we could book a whale watch when we arrived. I knew from those on my roll call that Harv & Marv and Alaska Galore were booked. I prefer a smaller boat and rarely book through the cruise line as I find independents give us a more personal tour and usually have a lot fewer people on them. I called Orca Enterprises before we got off the ship, and they had room for us on their 9:30 whale watch, so I booked that over the phone. We had breakfast and walked over to the Orca office. We didn’t get on Captain Larry’s boat, but were on one of their smaller boats with Captain Jeff and our naturalist was Nathan. Nathan’s young and enthusiastic and was very open to questions; we enjoyed his commentary very much. We went from downtown Juneau to Auke Bay to board the Orca Enterprises boat, and our shuttle driver made the ride very enjoyable, giving us some information and history about Juneau. We made a quick stop along the way to see Mendenhall Glacier in the distance.

 

 

When we arrived at Auke Bay, we headed down to the marina and as we were walking to the boat, this guy just sat there and posed for us. Loved it!

 

 

Until we our Tracy Arm excursion, I’d never seen Orcas in the wild, but now I’ve seen more Orcas than Humpbacks! We got to spend a significant amount of time watching a pod of more than 20 Orcas! We were thrilled!

 

 

It was very different from watches I’ve been on and seen humpbacks. On our last whale watch, we saw lots of flukes, but that was rare with this pod of Orcas, but we saw tons of fins! The babies would slap their tails two or three times on the top of the water, and this happened several times and kept us very entertained.

 

 

We also got another glimpse of the glacier. Anyway, I assumed at the time it was a distant view of Mendenhall but realize now that I didn’t ask…

 

 

 

And, what Juneau whale watch is complete without this shot? LOL

 

[Quilting_Cruiser]

The entire time we were out, we saw only one humpback. But, at least it put on a little show for us!

 

 

On the way back into to town, we asked the driver to drop us off as close to Tracy’s Crab Shack as possible. He stopped at the library, which was a short distance away. We easily found Tracy’s and were excited to have fresh crab!

 

 

I had crab bisque and DD had a crab roll. Both were excellent. We sat right at the counter and watched as they prepared orders. We were in the “crab slinging area.”

 

 

That’s Tracy on the left, but it was the guy in the middle who kept us entertained. While we ate our lunches, we kept seeing these small bowls of nothing but crab meat and a lemon wedge go by. I looked at the menu and didn’t see it there so went over to the cashier to ask about it. It was a crab cocktail (silly me—I thought a crab cocktail would have a bunch of cocktail sauce on it! LOL) and I didn’t hesitate to order one, which DD and I shared. That’s melted butter just behind it.

 

 

Be forewarned, this may be a shack, but the food is fantastic and the price is restaurant-style not shack-style. ;-) The three items we had, came to more than $50. But, every one of them was delicious!

 

We stopped at the Glacier Smoothie store on the way back to the ship, and picked up some soap and lotions for ourselves and as gifts for a few friends.

 

 

I got a kick out of the sign hanging by the entrance.

 

 

[Quilting_Cruiser]

We returned to the ship and spent a leisurely few hours before getting ready for Chef’s Table. We were really looking forward to Chef’s Table and tulsacruiser and her DS were attending. We met in the lobby and were escorted to the galley. It was impressive to see the galley during dinner service—wow, those assistant waiters work hard! The executive chef talked to us about the workings of galley, including ordering the food each week , and we were served three canapés (tuna tartar, avocado cheesecake, and a mini beef taco) and champagne. We were also taught to make Warm Chocolate Melting Cake; the recipe is very simple. After the galley tour, we were led to the disco where a large table was set up. Seating was predetermined, and we were seated on the same side of the table as tulsacruiser and her DS, which was a bit of disappointment as we were looking forward to getting to know them better, but we enjoyed talking with the couple across the table from us.

 

 

 

The menu was rolled and held together with a brown ribbon and star anise, which was a nice, fragrant touch.

 

 

Chef’s Table features a seven-course menu and the portions are about half again the size of a tasting portion (at least) so it’s a lot of food! Wine comes with the meal, but it isn’t a wine pairing. You’re offered a choice of white or red or both. I was a bit surprised that DD was offered wine several times—she looks older than 16 but she definitely doesn’t look 21.

 

First course was the salmon tartar. I was a little surprised by that since one of the canapés we were served in the galley was tuna tartar. I should say ahead of time, that I was a bit disappointed by Chefs Table. DD and I are foodies and really enjoy fine dining. For a meal prepared by the executive chef at a cost of $75 pp, I had higher expectations. There were some highlights, but for the most part, I found the food to be only marginally better than the MDR and not nearly as good as the steakhouse.

 

The second course was wonderful! It was Fire Roasted Tomato and Poblano Chili Bisque. Outstanding!

 

 

[Quilting_Cruiser]

The next course was Rock Shrimps and Apple Beignets, served with a really nice garlic lemon aioli. The beignets were a little dense and I would have liked them better if there had been more of the shrimp and apples both.

 

 

The beignets were followed by a Chopped Mediterranean Salad, which was very good.

 

 

Next was a Chilean Sea Bass fillet. The fish was cooked perfectly, but the leeks emulsion was salty and the risotto was bland. I was really looking forward to this dish, and was disappointed as other than the salty emulsion, it was pretty bland. I very much appreciated the presentation of it—it was a beautiful dish.

 

 

The last course before dessert was an Aged Filet Mignon. I’d just had the filet mignon in the steakhouse a couple nights before and it definitely outshown this one. Again, the presentation was beautiful and I loved the onion garnish and the pepper sauces.

 

 

The final course was definitely the highlight of the evening. The menu says it’s the “Special-Made Chocolate Melting Cake” and Chef Gama said it was the WCMC that had been prepared when we were in the galley, but that wasn’t the main part of the dish. The surprise from the chef was so good, and was one of the only dishes I felt was really fantastic. And, it was beautiful to look at, too! In the center of the plate was a “cookie” with a small scoop of raspberry sorbet. It was overlaid with a strip of creamy vanilla panna cotta. There was a small white cake surrounded by sugar that looked like glass. Something in it was coconut and the chef replaced the coconut item on my plate with vanilla—I detest coconut and when the assistant maître d came to our table the evening before to find out about any allergies or foods we don’t eat, the only thing I said was that I don’t care for coconut. I was very impressed that they went to the trouble of customizing my dessert! I didn’t resize this picture because it was just too beautiful to make it a small photo.

 

 

Though I started my Chef’s Table review expressing my disappointment, I’m glad we did it and really enjoyed the experience. For me, a true Chef’s Table would be from the chef’s inspiration rather than a menu defined by Carnival and would include a wine pairing for each course. I don’t know if the surprise from the chef for dessert was something Chef Gama created or if it’s consistent across Carnival’s Chef’s Tables, but if Chef Gama created it, it gives me an idea of how good the food could have been. If I were a chef, I know I’d enjoy creating and presenting my own dishes rather than a menu that’s predefined. I understand a new menu may be rolling out soon, so we may try it again. We’ll see. We’ll definitely be returning to the steakhouse. :D

[Quilting_Cruiser]

That's it for tonight. I'll finish up tomorrow with Ketchikan, Victoria, and debarkation.

 

If you've read this far, thank you for taking the time. :p

[LambKnuckles]

What a delightful story you're unfolding for us!!! With the photos to compliment your words, I'm truly LOVIN' your adventure!!

 

I'll be cruising on the Spirit next May and I, too, will be tear-filled and in awe of all the beauty when I see it in person!! You can't imagine how long I've wanted to see Alaska. THANK YOU for sharing your photos!!!

 

I, too, travel with a "critter" who loves the towel animals and meeting the Captain. He has a tux and everything, so he never feelings out of place on a cruise! (Don't you just love dressing them?? :o )

 

I'm delighted to see crab on the menu. I feel on that night, I'll order three plates of that and be satisfied and FULL!!! And of course, I'll partake of the bitter 'n blanc! My favorite!!!

 

I'll peek back in to see more. AGAIN.... THANK YOU!!!!!

 

--Lambie

[Cruzzinagain]

We just returned from a cruise to Mexico and are already planning next year's cruise to Alaska. Thanks for a wonderful review and the photos.

 

Steve

[Cruisertommyboy]

We were getting off the Spirit as you were getting on. We had a fantastic week and agree with everything you have said.

 

I want to add an additional comment on the crew. They were fantastic. Manuel our room steward was the best we have ever had. He couldn't do enough for us and was always around. Don't know when he would sleep. Jerome our head waiter in the MDR was a lot of fun and very, very efficient. We would mess with him and change our names for every dinner and he would get them right every time.

 

Just another note on the staff, while in Ketchikan, I was back on the ship before my girlfriend and our traveling companions, so I was sitting in the lobby waiting for them. As crew members were getting back on the ship, from their time off, they would come over to me say "hi Tom" and then pound fists:). The fact that they would even bother, much less remember my name was incredible.

 

My only disappointment was not seeing any Orcas, the difference a week makes, but saw enough gray whales and just about everything else to more than make up for it.

 

Pictures don't do the incredible vistas justice. I think my jaw is still in the locked open postion from just being in awe. It was our first trip to Alaska and it was a trip to leave an impression for a lifetime

 

Tom

[sharecruises]

Love your review so far, great info and details! What a nice Mom and Daughter (and monkey?) trip. You have every reason to be proud of your daughter, she seems like a very sweet young lady

 

I also will love the crab leg "appetizer" served by Carnival..wonder if one can just order 2 or 3 and make that "dinner" ?? Yum

 

The "expedition" at Tracy Arm looks fabulous....wow !

 

Skagway....you didn't ride the dog cart but did you see others who did?? Did you have time with the puppies???

 

Another question : were you warm enough in the Orca boat?? anyplace covered/heated there?? Did they serve hot coffee/chocolate?? I live in Florida and I am just afraid of being cold and captive on a boat for hours

 

Chef's Table...thanks for your honest assessment....people will chime in "we loved it" but that does NOT address YOUR experience or invalidate it.

 

I was noticing just how far away and almost "awkward" the seating is at that table. I am sure you would have had a better time with the mom and son across from you but maybe not?? Just seems like they need to get a better table setup. I personally have little interest in it, but have had friends enjoy it (real foodies LOL, one a chef, whose son is exec chef at W hotel here so she enjoyed)

 

as for the dessert.....seems to be the very same one shown on other CT reviews but maybe someone who has experienced can say for sure

[tiggerman101]

Thank you so much for taking the time to do the review. I am really enjoying reliving the experience through your eyes. We did this cruise last May and are already thinking of doing another Alaska trip. For the record, I completely agree with your comments on the Chef's Table. We did it on the Fascination and I enjoyed the experience, but felt it could be so much more. I have worked in the restaurant business most of my life and am always interested to see what an individual chef can do. I felt that the Chef's table actually limited the carnival chefs by sticking to a fleet wide standardized menu. Thanks again for the awesome review!

[Jls08234]

LOVED reading your review!

 

We are reliving the entire trip through this.

Invited 12 neighbors/friends over last night to watch the photos on our TV.

Ended up as a dinner party.

I believe at least half of them are checking today into a cruise for themselves.

 

Will check later to see how the story ends. :D

Janet and Randy

[dodger501]

DD had a Caesar salad and said it was excellent.

 

And, I opted for the spinach salad with warm bacon bits. It was very good.

 

Hi, your review is going great. Did you use available light for these particular food pictures? Does that room have a skylight or nearby windows or something? If you have a minute later, what was the exif data - shutter, aperture, focal length, etc?

Thanks!!

[Quilting_Cruiser]

What a delightful story you're unfolding for us!!! With the photos to compliment your words, I'm truly LOVIN' your adventure!!

 

I'll be cruising on the Spirit next May and I, too, will be tear-filled and in awe of all the beauty when I see it in person!! You can't imagine how long I've wanted to see Alaska. THANK YOU for sharing your photos!!!

 

I, too, travel with a "critter" who loves the towel animals and meeting the Captain. He has a tux and everything, so he never feelings out of place on a cruise! (Don't you just love dressing them?? :o )

 

I'm delighted to see crab on the menu. I feel on that night, I'll order three plates of that and be satisfied and FULL!!! And of course, I'll partake of the bitter 'n blanc! My favorite!!!

 

I'll peek back in to see more. AGAIN.... THANK YOU!!!!!

 

--Lambie

 

Thank you, Lambie! I'm loving writing it. :D I love that you have a travel critter, too. :D In the photos you've seen thus far, Joey is wearing his Justin Beiber sweatshirt, but we were able to find him a Canada sweatshirt in Victoria and were so excited. We also found a pink camo backpack for him in Juneau, so he has some mementos from the trip as well! LOL.

 

The MDR crab was good, but if you really want a feast, be sure to visit Tracy's in Juneau!

 

:D

[Quilting_Cruiser]

We just returned from a cruise to Mexico and are already planning next year's cruise to Alaska. Thanks for a wonderful review and the photos.

 

Steve

 

We did the Mexican Riviera last year. I'd like to do one Caribbean next year, but DD is lobbying for two to Alaska. :p

 

 

We were getting off the Spirit as you were getting on. We had a fantastic week and agree with everything you have said.

 

I want to add an additional comment on the crew. They were fantastic. Manuel our room steward was the best we have ever had. He couldn't do enough for us and was always around. Don't know when he would sleep. Jerome our head waiter in the MDR was a lot of fun and very, very efficient. We would mess with him and change our names for every dinner and he would get them right every time.

 

Just another note on the staff, while in Ketchikan, I was back on the ship before my girlfriend and our traveling companions, so I was sitting in the lobby waiting for them. As crew members were getting back on the ship, from their time off, they would come over to me say "hi Tom" and then pound fists:). The fact that they would even bother, much less remember my name was incredible.

 

My only disappointment was not seeing any Orcas, the difference a week makes, but saw enough gray whales and just about everything else to more than make up for it.

 

Pictures don't do the incredible vistas justice. I think my jaw is still in the locked open postion from just being in awe. It was our first trip to Alaska and it was a trip to leave an impression for a lifetime

 

Tom

 

 

Tom, thanks for keeping the Spirit in great shape for us! ;) I just love that ship. I have to agree on the staff. With only one exception, we've had great staff on every Spirit cruise.

 

Both our captain and naturalist in Juneau said they hadn't seen Orcas in about 10 days or so. We were very excited to see them--sorry you didn't get that experience, too!

 

I agree that the photos don't do it justice--it's way beyond my skills to capture the magnitude!

 

Cheers!

[Quilting_Cruiser]

sharecruises, I've responded below...

 

Love your review so far, great info and details! What a nice Mom and Daughter (and monkey?) trip. You have every reason to be proud of your daughter, she seems like a very sweet young lady. Thank you! She's pretty amazing. :p

 

I also will love the crab leg "appetizer" served by Carnival..wonder if one can just order 2 or 3 and make that "dinner" ?? Yum I'm sure you could! I've never personally ordered more than one of anything (TBH, I never think of it!), but I've read a number of reviews that you can.

The "expedition" at Tracy Arm looks fabulous....wow !

 

Skagway....you didn't ride the dog cart but did you see others who did?? Did you have time with the puppies??? We didn't ride the carts, and we don't even know why--we were planning on it! But, we got so involved visiting each of the dogs and puppies and then the goats that we were miles away before I realized we'd forgotten they had the cart rides. They definitely don't push it--we weren't asked about it. I didn't see anyone else riding them either. You can spend as much time as you want with about half a dozen dogs and the puppies. They have treats there you can get for 25 cents, but the puppies weren't interested. The dogs loved them though. our favorite dog was a beauty named Silver.

 

Another question : were you warm enough in the Orca boat?? anyplace covered/heated there?? Did they serve hot coffee/chocolate?? I live in Florida and I am just afraid of being cold and captive on a boat for hours. I understand your concerns being from a warm climate! There is a warm cabin where all of the passengers sat while we were going out to find the whales. It's very cold and windy on deck when we're going out. So, if you're cold, you can always go inside. They had coffee; I don't remember if there was hot chocolate. For a snack they served some smoked salmon, Ritz crackers, and cheese. The salmon was fabulous! We work t-shirts, sweatshirts, and wind resistant jackets. Also hats and gloves. I was completely comfortable on deck with those layers (it was much colder in Tracy Arm).

 

Chef's Table...thanks for your honest assessment....people will chime in "we loved it" but that does NOT address YOUR experience or invalidate it. Thank you. We've actually made reservations at our favorite restaurant here in Portland--it's called Beast and it's the type of experience I was expecting at CT.

 

I was noticing just how far away and almost "awkward" the seating is at that table. I am sure you would have had a better time with the mom and son across from you but maybe not?? Just seems like they need to get a better table setup. I personally have little interest in it, but have had friends enjoy it (real foodies LOL, one a chef, whose son is exec chef at W hotel here so she enjoyed). We would have loved it if the the mom and son to our left had been across the table from us. They were the ones we were attending with. A round table would have been nice.

 

as for the dessert.....seems to be the very same one shown on other CT reviews but maybe someone who has experienced can say for sure. It probably is since everything else is defined by Carnival.

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to do the review. I am really enjoying reliving the experience through your eyes. We did this cruise last May and are already thinking of doing another Alaska trip. For the record, I completely agree with your comments on the Chef's Table. We did it on the Fascination and I enjoyed the experience, but felt it could be so much more. I have worked in the restaurant business most of my life and am always interested to see what an individual chef can do. I felt that the Chef's table actually limited the carnival chefs by sticking to a fleet wide standardized menu. Thanks again for the awesome review!

 

Thank you, tiggerman! Didn't you do this cruise around 2006 as well? I'm thinking you wrote a great review and I spent a lot of time poring over it as I planned our 2007 Alaska cruise. :D Yes, Chef's Table could have been amazing--I'd love to see them doing a regional menu; I think that could only add to the travel experience.

 

:D

[Quilting_Cruiser]

LOVED reading your review!

 

We are reliving the entire trip through this.

Invited 12 neighbors/friends over last night to watch the photos on our TV.

Ended up as a dinner party.

I believe at least half of them are checking today into a cruise for themselves.

 

Will check later to see how the story ends. :D

Janet and Randy

 

 

I love that, Janet! Carnival should pay you as an ambassador! :D It was such a pleasure meeting you and Randy. I hope we see you again on another voyage!

 

Jayne

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Hi, your review is going great. Did you use available light for these particular food pictures? Does that room have a skylight or nearby windows or something? If you have a minute later, what was the exif data - shutter, aperture, focal length, etc?

Thanks!!

 

 

Hi, dodger, thanks for your comments. Those photos were taken in the steakhouse and we were sitting next to a large window. On that specific photo the light was coming in from the left. I embarrass DD enough by simply taking photos of the food (and handing her my camera so she can take photos of her food! LOL) that I use whatever natural light I have instead of a flash. :D Here are the settings for that photo:

 

F/10

1/60th of a second

ISO 1600

Focal length 21 mm

 

I'm surprised the f-stop is so small--I had the camera set on shutter priority and chose the slower shutter speed to let in as much light as possible. I looked at some of the other photos from the steakhouse and the f-stop was 8 or 9 for most of them.

 

Here's a shot our server took. I'm posting it only to show you the windows so you can see how much light is coming in...

 

 

:D

[Quilting_Cruiser]

And, on with the review!

 

When we returned to our room after Chef’s Table, here was the towel buddy awaiting us:

 

 

 

We were both very excited about our time in Ketchikan. Months before I had asked DD which she would prefer: salmon fishing or a helicopter landing on a glacier. She didn’t hesitate…salmon fishing! I’ve taken her bottom fishing before and she loved it, so I wasn’t surprised when she chose salmon fishing.

 

Our time in Ketchikan was from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Since most salmon charters are 4+ hours, I opted to book this one through Carnival. It was $199 pp, which was less than the independents I’d looked into and I’d fished with Knudson Cove on my first salmon fishing trip, so I was comfortable with them. We were instructed to meet on the dock at 7:00 and getting off the ship was quick and easy.

 

We easily found our tour group, boarded the bus, and were off to Knudson Cove. A woman from Knudson Cove was on the bus with us to give a rundown on what we needed to know and then passed out the charter assignments. When she came to DD and me, I asked her if the Nikki Marie was still there—that’s the boat I was on in 2001. She lit up and asked if I knew Handsome Ed. LOL. I told her that I’d fished with Ed in 2001 and she said he was still there and if I’d called them ahead of time, they would have put me on his boat again. When she introduced us to our captain (Captain Mark of the Plane to Sea), she told him I’d fished with Ed. He took us over to the Nikki Marie so I could say hi to Ed—he hasn’t changed much! I thought it was thoughtful of them to go out of their way. Mark then took us to his boat where we met a father and son who would be fishing with us.

 

We headed out and it wasn’t long before we had the poles set up and were ready to go. I looked around at the other boats and all of us were trolling. Mark assigned an order for us for when we got a bite, and DD and I were #3 and #4. We were there during King season, and second to seeing a glacier calve, I wanted to catch a King. The first fish was caught by one of the guys, and it was a Silver. Then DD was fight with something big! It ended up being a Chum (if we were Alaskan, we would have thrown it back, but Chum are good for smoking, so no way!) and it was also the largest catch of the day! DD was pretty excited.

 

 

But, she didn’t want to touch it! LOL. So Mark held it up for her:

 

 

At one point when it was my turn, everyone else had caught a salmon but me and when I was reeling, I knew I had something big on the line! Maybe a King???

 

 

It was a fighter, and I was so excited. It finally got close and Mark yelled that it was a King! Woop! In the picture below, you can see that Mark was right there with the net…

 

 

Unfortunately, that’s the last shot. As he started to the net my King, it got away!! I almost cried! It turned out that was the only King we hooked all day, so I’m just going to have to go back so I can catch one!

 

The time just flew by, and others on the boat continued to catch salmon. Here’s DD’s next catch (I think it was a Pink):

 

 

And I was “catchless.” Last time, I caught five!! Captain Mark is also from the Pacific Northwest so he’s familiar with our area. He was great as our captain—gentle soul and so helpful! I could tell it bothered him that I hadn’t caught anything yet. At one point, he was cheering for the Beaver State. LOL.

[dodger501]

Hi, dodger, thanks for your comments. Those photos were taken in the steakhouse and we were sitting next to a large window. On that specific photo the light was coming in from the left. I embarrass DD enough by simply taking photos of the food (and handing her my camera so she can take photos of her food! LOL) that I use whatever natural light I have instead of a flash. :D Here are the settings for that photo:

 

F/10

1/60th of a second

ISO 1600

Focal length 21 mm

 

I'm surprised the f-stop is so small--I had the camera set on shutter priority and chose the slower shutter speed to let in as much light as possible. I looked at some of the other photos from the steakhouse and the f-stop was 8 or 9 for most of them.

 

Here's a shot our server took. I'm posting it only to show you the windows so you can see how much light is coming in...

 

 

:D

 

Great, thanks. On pics like these, I take exposure setting on the sky outside and use low-level flash. Photoshop, for my screw-ups. :o

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Great, thanks. On pics like these, I take exposure setting on the sky outside and use low-level flash. Photoshop, for my screw-ups. :o

 

 

I'd do the same, but I didn't have my flash with me--I don't like the pop-up flash on the camera; it's way too harsh. I've got to get a Gary Fong Puffer. :D Anyway, I figure I can't expect someone else to know how to work my camera. :p DD and I took some shots of each other at the dinner, so I have those for my scrapbook; just not one of us together.