Close to Alaska’s southern tip, where the Panhandle plunges deep into British Columbia, lies Ketchikan, our final Alaskan destination. With a population of just over 8,000 it is Alaska’s fourth largest city. On board the ship there have been talks known as enrichment lectures about the geography, history and heritage of Alaska. Roisin and I didn’t attend any of these events but they were repeated on the stateroom TV. The lecturer referred to Ketchikan as ‘rainy’Ketchikan saying that if you spend enough time in this city, it will rain at least once. Mind you, you could say that about most of the cities in the North of England!! The Ketchikan locals refer to the rain as ‘liquid sunshine’ whereas us Northerners also refer to the rain as a liquid but not of the sunshine ... read more

Did I tell you that Juneau is the state capital of Alaska? What is unique about this city is that it is completely cut off from the rest of Alaska. There are no roads in or out of Juneau. The city is completely surrounded by thousands of square miles of ice fields. Everything has to be either shipped in or flown in. There are highways that travel around the fjords but all the settlements are part of the Juneau environs. This is a city of about 32,000 inhabitants and has an area of 3,081 square miles so must be a contender for one of the most sparsely populated cities in the world. We docked in Juneau at 7:00am. We managed to sleep through to 8:00 so we guess the jet lag is starting to wear off ... read more

Despite having been awake since 04:45, we were awoken at 7am by banging, hammering, drilling and sawing coming from next door. Or we would have been if we were asleep!! Today, I’m going to get my wish and see the Seattle skyline from atop a tower. The Smith Tower is a skyscraper (by UK standards, at least) in Pioneer Square. Completed in 1914, the neo-classical 38-story, 484 ft tower is the oldest skyscraper in the city, and was among the tallest skyscrapers outside New York City at the time of its completion. It was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River (why always West of the Mississippi?) until the completion of the Kansas City Power & Light Building in 1931. It was then relegated to the tallest building on the West ... read more

The final port of call on this mini cruise was the port of Zeebrugge. This port is on the north Belgian coast in West Flanders. It is not possible to walk in the port area therefore a shuttle bus had been provided at a premium of €10 per person for one return journey. The shuttle dropped off in nearby Blankenberge where it was possible to take a train to Bruges, a historic market town that lies only 15km south. If Bruges wasn’t your thing, you could explore the narrow streets or stroll down the wide promenade of Blankenberge but from experience, even on the mildest of days, there can be a chill wind that whips off the North Sea and across the sea front. We were not sure why one is not allowed to walk out ... read more

Several weeks ago, we sailed on the Jewel of the Seas, a ship in the Royal Caribbean fleet. It was quite a modest size at 90,000 tonnes and equipped to carry 2,500 passengers. Of all the cruise lines we have experienced thus far, this RCL ship appears to be one of the best designed ships. There was a good balance of activities (golf course, climbing wall, basketball/5-a-side football court) on board. We have heard so much positivity about the bigger ships that RCL have on offer; carrying the wow factor to another level, that we booked a mini cruise on one of the larger ships, the Independence of the seas that weighs in at an impressive 154,000 tonnes accommodating 4,370 passengers. We hear there are some unique features on this ship that we hope ... read more