Note:  This is the 5th of 16 posts about our 21-day trip that included a 17-day (16-night) cruise on the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) ship SPIRIT from Vancouver, British Columbia to Honolulu, Oahu.  This post does not have any photographs.

THURSDAY 31 August 2023 — (T5,C2) At Sea in the southern Inside Passage

This was the fifth day of our trip, and the second day of our cruise.  We left the cruise terminal in Vancouver, BC yesterday at approximately 3 PM local time and were scheduled to arrive in Ketchikan, Alaska early on the morning of September 1st.  That meant today was a “sea day.“  We had sailed overnight last night and would sail through the overnight hours again tonight—approximately 37 hours in total—before reaching Ketchikan, Alaska.  We tend to sleep well on cruise ships, perhaps surprisingly, as we are in an unfamiliar space with unfamiliar noises and sleeping on a mattress and pillows that are not our own.  Linda attributes this to the gentle movement of the ship (in nice weather) and perhaps the faint sound of water flowing as the ship glides through the ocean.

This cruise was going to have more sea days than most 2-week cruises as we would be crossing the North Pacific Ocean (NPO) from Sitka, Alaska to Nawiliwili, Kauai (Hawaiian Islands), a 5-night journey that would take five full days and parts of two others.  But this sea day was in the southern end of the famous “inside passage,” a route up the coast of British Columbia and Alaska that winds its way between the mainland to the east and the plethora of islands to the west.  As a route, it is more protected and (presumably) more scenic than the “outside passage” but, I presume, also trickier to navigate.  It’s not really optional, however, as the major cities here are mostly located on the mainland coast.  Going from outside to inside and back would add many, many nautical miles and hours to the journey and therefore $$$ to the cost of such cruises.  I presume it is also more scenic, with something to see on both sides of the ship most of the time.  An Alaskan coastal cruise is not just about epic scenery, however; it also about history, culture, and adventure, so the ships have to go to the cities if guests want to visit them which, of course, they do.

The weather was overcast and hazy during our initial passage, so we did not have any good photo opportunities until our arrival in Ketchikan.  Which was fine.  Sea days are a wonderful time to explore the ship in greater depth as well as just relax and enjoy the motion of the ship and the world floating by, if only ephemeral glimpses of land through the mist.  I found a book on the Bauhaus in the ship’s library, and spent some relaxing time reading it over the duration of the cruise.

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