Today was our first to complete day at sea on our way to Ketchikan Alaska. That meant 3000 people are stuck on a ship together and can’t go anywhere. OK actually it’s more like 4200 if you include the 1200 people that are work on the ship. The population of Ketchikan is only 8200 people, so when we arrive, we’ll double the population.

We started our day finding fun coffee for mom, chi for me and heading over to breakfast. Oddly enough, it was very exciting to find gold peak ice tea is part of our zero proof drink package. You can still buy a glass of wine or cocktail anywhere. I had a 9:30 bamboo massage appointment and Cathy had an appointment to get her hair done for the vow renewal. But we didn’t running into each other; the spa is huge, and on two floors. The massage was just what I needed after a week traveling through Oregon and Washington, and then the chaotic nature of boarding this giant ship.

While I was at the spa, mom went jewelry shopping. Well kind of. When we got to our room yesterday, there was this locket on the counter. At first we thought maybe Cathy and John left it for us. But no, it was sort of a fun way to entice people to go to the jewelry store. At scheduled times of the day they will give you free charms to include in your locket. Mom got two so far, but missed the third one today. I trust she’ll get the rest while we’re here. John bid on a piece of art and I believe won. They recently purchased an original from the same artist. So they were both excited about this opportunity. Let’s call it an anniversary present to themselves.

John, Bowman and I went to the spa café for lunch and had tuna salad, breadsticks, and a smoothie. Mom ate a cookie and a macchiato. This is the way we roll around here there’s food constantly surrounding you. For example, right now I’m craving a gelato. There’s a whole ice cream, and gelato store. But because I changed into my pajamas, I’m not going downstairs in front of others to get it. It’s not going anywhere though.

At 2:20 we all gathered in Blu, one of the restaurants, for John and Cathy’s vow renewal. They will be married for 30 years as of July 31, 2023. They had the service today versus on the 31st because we needed to be at sea. Captain Theo officiated the service and did a lovely job. They were married in 1993 and still can’t believe that it’s been 30 years. They compliment each other beautifully, are always there for one another, and none of us can picture them apart. Below are a few pictures of John and Cathy throughout the decades. (30 photos for 30 years.)

There was a photographer capturing special moments. They cut a cake, we ate hors d’oeuvres, and had a few drinks before dancing to a few songs. A few stories told about the day they were married:

• The wedding started an hour late because of Cuban time. Even Cathy’s grandmother asked what time the service was actually going to start.
• Before getting out of the car, Bill asked Cathy if she was absolutely sure John was the one for her. Her dad was still watching out for her just in case she needed an out.
• Fellow students from med school attended the wedding. At the end, there was a lot of alcohol left over so they gave each of the future doctors a bottle to leave with.

The schedule of events and things you can do on this trip is mind blowing. Anyway, literally every hour there’s multiple things you can do such as: listening to a naturalist talk about Alaskan wildlife, Zumba dancing in the middle of the ship, glassblowing, exhibitions, musical bingo, ax throwing competitions but it was the same time as the renewal.

After the renewal we had dinner, went to a show, called Rock City, had a cocktail in Bowman and John‘s room, and went to bed.