May 30, 2019 – At Sea

May 30, 2019 – At Sea
After breakfast I went to a coffee talk by the EXC director, the cruise director, and the Hotel Manager. They talked about what makes an EXC cruise different. The Maasdam has been changed so that all its cruises are EXC in depth. This means that experts cruise with us and give lectures about photography, wildlife, nature, and food. When they give a port lecture it is about what you can do on your own.
At 10am, I ran up to the Crows Nest for our Cruise Critic Meet and Greet. I believe we has at least 70 attendees. Eddie and Carol arranged everything including getting door prizes donated by the casino, the shops, the Hotel Director, and the Microsoft expert. After the meeting we had a cabin crawl and got to see every type of cabin.
After a quick lunch, I went to a cooking class. We learned how to make Fish cakes with remoulade sauce and charred watermelon salad. The class was taught by Chef Steven Meese (Google him to learn who he is).
I got a note that the Wildlife Cruise and Crab Feed excursion that I signed up for is cancelled due to lack of participation. I am now doing the float plane and crab feed excursion. To my friends at SRC who made me promise not to go up in a float plane, I apologize for breaking that promise.
Hold on – just got word that the float plane trip is cancelled. I will just wander around Ketchikan without an excursion.
I played in the opening round of a Blackjack tournament and am currently in 3rd place.
The EXC team gave a lecture on Ketchikan and Sitka. Ketchikan is considered the Salmon capital of the world. It is in a rain forest so we are hoping to get sun. We will be tendering in. It is a flat, walkable town. Sitka is a small town that was the capital of Alaska until 1960. We dock 5 miles outside Sitka. There are free shuttle buses into town.
We finally had 4 of us at dinner. Linda joined us. She had back problems that kept her away. She is another single travelling by herself.
Only a couple of pictures today. Hopefully more tomorrow when I get on land.