Ketchikan – Port of Call on Holland America’s Alaska Cruise

For the last stop on our Holland America Inside Passage Alaska Cruise, we docked at Ketchikan. Located on Revillagigedo Island, Ketchikan is a charming coastal town known for its rich native heritage, stunning natural beauty and vibrant arts scene. As the southernmost city in Alaska, Ketchikan is often referred to as the “First City” because it is the first stop for many visitors traveling north by sea.

Totem Poles and Salmon

The first thing we noticed was the abundance of beautiful totem poles. We later found out that Ketchikan is renowned for having the largest collection in the world. Visit Totem Bight State Historical Park and the Totem Heritage Center to marvel at these intricately carved monuments and learn about the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures.

Ketchikan is famously known as the “Salmon Capital of the World.” Anglers flock to the area to try their luck at catching king salmon, coho salmon and other prized fish. Guided fishing tours are readily available and offer an unforgettable experience for both novice and seasoned fishermen.

However, at the time we went in September, there were no salmon left, as can be seen in this famous location that should have been teeming with fish. We did see a handful of salmon including one enthusiastic little guy that tried his best to swim against the tide, while his friends took the smarter escape route.

Historic District

Perhaps the best part of Ketchican for us was walking around the historic district. Step back in time and explore Ketchikan’s rich history by visiting the Creek Street Historic District, once a bustling red-light district. Today, Creek Street is a charming boardwalk lined with colorful buildings housing shops, galleries and museums. Be sure to visit Dolly’s House Museum to get a glimpse of Ketchikan’s colorful past.

Limited Time

There was so much more to explore in Ketchikan including several outdoor activities and the arts scene, but due to my father’s situation in Sitka, I had to get back on the cruise ship and disembark to make my way back to Sitka. In the limited time I spent in this beautiful city, I can imagine spending at least a day or two here would be fulfilling.

Restaurants

I only had the opportunity to have lunch in Ketchikan, but Ketchikan turned out to have what may be the best burger I’ve had in my life. The service was pretty awful at first, but once we spent some time there, we realized it’s part of the charm of the restaurant. When my friend asked if the burger comes with fries, the hostess curtly replied, “that’s what it says on the menu right?”. However, she warmed up after a while and became genuinely nice.

108 Tap House & Burger Bar – Perhaps the best burger I’ve had in my life and excellent fries and beer to go with it. Service is “curt” to put it mildly, but the staff warm up over time and they’re actually pretty nice people. When they overheard that we needed to disembark, their empathy went to 110% and helped us understand how to get to the unusual airport in Ketchikan (there’s a short ferry that needs to be taken to reach the airport).

Disembarking Experience

I expected having to disembark to be a very stressful experience, but Holland America is extraordinary at handling these situations; they clearly have a lot of experience and know exactly how to balance empathy with the action required. We were quickly off the ship and escorted to the local USA Customs & Immigration office (a small building with what appeared to be one room).

USA Customs & Immigration took less than five minutes and then we had a rather fun experience of getting to the airport, which required a super short five minutes long ferry ride. Our taxi driver was a saint and stayed with us the whole time and even took the ferry with us to deliver us right to the airport door. As you’d expect, the airport was small, but the security was as tight as ever!

Our flight on Alaska Airlines was exceptional. Somehow the flight attendants knew about our situation (word travels fast in Alaska!) and were again very caring and supportive. I must call out the alcoholic beverages on Alaska Airlines; they’re incredibly stout! I could barely walk after two of their cocktails. Tread carefully!

Photography Equipment

Because of the extraordinary Alaskan scenery, the equipment chosen was focused on obtaining the highest resolution possible with the sharpest lenses. I was very happy to have brought the Fujinon GF110 f/2 and GF250 f/4. I was less so happy that I didn’t buy the GF500 f/5.6. The GF1.4x Teleconverter came in handy more often than I realized.

If I were to change anything, I would have brought longer focal lengths and more prime lenses (GF45 f/2.8 as an example). The extra resolution would have come in handy for the high frequency subjects (mountains, trees, etc.). I was super happy with how the Fujifilm GFX100S II performed and didn’t miss the Sony A7R5.

I do however wish that I still had the Fujifilm X100V or the new VI; having a really small camera would have enabled me to get more images of my family in the more intimate environments like the smaller restaurants and dining rooms. The Leica M11 filled the role well, but manual focus can be limiting at times.

Conclusion

This post will be the last of the series on the Holland America Inside Passage Cruise. The other posts in this series:

• Alaska Cruise on Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam
• Sitka – Port of call on Holland America’s Alaska Cruise
• Juneau – Port of call on Holland America’s Alaska Cruise
• Tracy Arm Fjord – Scenic Cruising on Holland America’s Alaska Cruise

As I’ve alluded to throughout this series, this cruise was not ideal for us for a variety of reasons, but the memories created, especially with my father will stay with us forever (and beyond thanks to all the images we took). Several of you reached out with your kind words regarding my father; thank you so much for your support, my family and I greatly appreciate it.

As mentioned in a previous post, my father did manage to get back to Canada via a private jet Medevac flight. He continued to battle on for more than a month and then succumbed to the brain tumour and just old age; he was 85 years old. My father lived a full life, where he built a successful business in Uganda, only to lose it all during the nationalization campaigns in the late 1960’s.

He moved the family to Canada and reestablished life there, building several successful businesses, giving back to the community, all while raising a family of four energetic sons. It’s no wonder he had little hair left at the end! For all the financial success he had, at his funeral, not a single person cared about that; instead, what they cared about and shared with me was how my father did things for them that changed their lives.

These things to be frank, were small, like helping people fill out complex government forms, or providing career advice, but It’s these things that people appreciated because it came at a pivotal point in their life. That form helped that person immigrate to Canada and now that man and his family have become very successful Canadians.

The career advice he gave to so many came up again and again. Dad didn’t so much tell them what to do, but he helped them understand their unique and positive traits that then increased their self-confidence to do the things they really wanted to do, the things they were meant to do. One of those guys is now a top five real estate agent in Vancouver, Canada.

We laid Dad to rest in November, a little over a month after the cruise, and said our final goodbyes. It was a tough day, but we all agreed that he led a full life, and one that was selfless, sincere and with integrity. Since Mom’s 80^th birthday was hampered by what had happened, we decided to recelebrate at home and got dressed in our “Happy 80^th Birthday” t-shirts.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this series of posts of my first cruise experience, and I appreciate you allowing me to get personal in sharing what happened to my father. I think the cruise would have been a 5/10, but I give full credit to how the crew handled our situation which brought it up to a 7/10 thanks to them.