Indeed it was a glorious day in Ketchikan. It did not look like it when we arrived in the early morning, gloomy and overcast. But it was clear, very clear and that indicated a good day. If it is hazy and murky than you know that you are in for more low hanging clouds and showers but if it is very clear then you know that there is no precipitation and things look good. So it did for us. By the time we had docked, the clouds started to break open and by 10 am the skies were blue and the sun bore down on Ketchikan. Not that is was a warm day, the temperatures barely reached 60oF /15oC. But it was a great day for all the cruise guests that swarmed ashore.

We were in port with four ships. Golden Princess, Grand Princess, Silver shadow and us. In total about 8,500 happy shoppers invading Ketchikan. We were docked today at berth one, instead of berth 2, so instead being closest to the Tongass General Store, we were now across from the Shopping Mall. For the rest there was very little difference.

The whole organization of where the ships dock and when, is in the hands of our agents. Cruise Lines Agencies of Alaska. They have always been the driving force for any deep sea ships calling in Alaska and part of their job is still dealing with lumber and other ships. Although then they operate under their original name of South East Stevedoring. Through the years they have developed into the sole agent in Alaska for cruise ships and they more or less run the show. Normally you like to have a bit of competition but in this case it is less of an issue. They are very good and their foremost logic is, if we provide the best service possible, then we will stay in business and make a good living.

outhbound The paper model of the S-class. Every opening in the hull is indicated so the ship can be parked in such a way that the hull door needed is clear of a shoreside obstruction.

As a result we really do see them not as much as an agency providing a service but more of an extended part of the HAL family that does its utmost to help us deliver the product to our guests. I wish it was like that in the rest of the world. So the agency schedules the dock allocation for the whole year, taking into account, size, arrival, departure times and even gangway locations. That is an art in itself and one gentleman in the agents office has taken it upon him to create little paper models with the correct scale – to chart- and these models have all the ships openings (gangway, provisions, water etc.) on them. Those little models are then being used to figure out which ship fits the best at which pier. The challenge is to have as many ships dock as possible and they are remarkably successful here. Only on occasion there do I see ship at anchor.

Based on that puzzle we were parked at dock 1 today instead of dock two, as the Golden Princess runs on a 10 day cycle and that does create a bit of a diversion to the regular cycles of 7 or 14 days. To make the departure more logical the ships were moved around, so each could leave in the easiest way. At least that was the plan op paper. It did not work out that way, due to the nice weather. Lesson number one for a captain who wants to leave on time, when the weather is nice, is that you don’t. Why, because everybody stays out until the very last moment and comes back at cut –off time. The gangway cannot cope with that o fcourse and thus the ship is delayed. We only ran 10 minutes behind schedule but the Grand Princess, who was scheduled to go first, still had a long line on the dock and sailed 45 minutes late. 3,000 people coming back in the same half hour, then even two gangways cannot cope with that.

So we pulled out and the Grand Princess will overtake us tonight as she is scheduled to arrive ahead of us in Juneau. We will arrive there at 10 am and dock at our normal location at the Alaska Steam dock. The forecast calls for an over cast but dry day and that will already make me happy.

Note: I have to pass on the greetings of two blog readers curently on board, to the daughter in Edmonton Canada.