Sitka and Roaring 20s night.
We pulled into our berth in Sitka about 7am. No fog this morning so it's bright and sunny. The cruise dock in Sitka is about a 15 minute shuttle ride north of town. This terminal is new and it's now much easier for the larger ships to visit Sitka. In the past ships had to anchor and tender in (some of the smaller cruise ships still do.) I had booked a "Taste of Sitka" walking tour that I found on the Sitka Tourist board site. We met at 9am where the shuttle dropped us off. There were 6 of us and our guide Bob , an 85 year old doing this because he loves Sitka. A real character with great stories. His wife is a mix of Tlingit, Aleutian and Russian so he had a great grasp of the history of the area. He also introduced us to some of the local products - devils club salve, chocolate, smoked sea salt and smoked salmon. The tour lasted 3 hours and was only $40.00 each. Highly recommended. Sitka really has a spectacular setting with mountains and a volcano surrounding, and so many eagles circling overhead. Downtown was busy as the Serenade of the Seas was in port as well. All the restaurants and lounges were full, so we took the shuttle back to the cruise port and had a very good local beer at the bar at the port. Back on the ship we had a chance to relax in the sun and take in the stunning scenery. A beautiful sail out into the open ocean, where we soon hit fog again as evening fell.
Tonight was the Roaring 20s gala. We met a few people in the Gin and Fizz bar for a drink, then to our Britannia Club restaurant for another fantastic meal. Lobster tail and Baked Alaska. The Queens ballroom orchestra was playing Big Band music, so right up our alley! We danced quite a bit, as well as enjoying the almost professional quality of some of our shipmates.