Thursday, September 5, 2013...It was a beautiful, sunny morning as we opened the balcony curtains to enjoy the amazing views of Alaska's inside passage.  Per the captains direction, we had set our clocks up one hour before going to bed, so even though it was 8:00 AM when we headed to breakfast, it was 7:00 AM to our bodies.  This was to help us adjust to the Pacific Time Zone as we leave the ship tomorrow in Vancouver, BC.  We enjoyed our breakfast and then headed to the exercise area to walk on the treadmill.  The wonderful view of the ocean before me made the 20 minute walk fly by and it felt really good to walk.  To cool down from the treadmill I decided to head to the outdoor track and do a few laps before heading back to the state room to shower and get ready for our last full day on board.  We had been given a declaration document for Canada and new luggage tags to complete, so I took them out to our sunny balcony to do while enjoying the views. 

 

 

Beautiful sunny day to enjoy cruising through the Inside Passage

More views from our balcony

 

Our lunch today was a cookout around the pool, so we headed up to the pool area around 12:30.  One of the chefs was working on an ice carving from another section of the glacier ice they had picked up near Hubbard Glacier.  We watched him expertly turning the ice into a beautiful glacial blue sculpture.  Several guests were enjoying the pool as we stepped into line for the BBQ Buffet.  I selected BBQ ribs and chicken, corn on the cob, cole slaw, potato salad and grilled sweet potatoes.  We found a table on an outside deck, overlooking the ocean, then headed back to the buffet for some delicious coconut cake for dessert. 

 

 

The chef is busy creating a glacial ice sculpture
for the dining room this evening

BBQ cookout on the pool deck to enjoy our last lunch

 

I sat out on our balcony, taking pictures and enjoying the views when it suddenly became foggy. Since we had to have everything packed and ready for pick up overnight, I headed back into the room to get started.  Pat got back to the room as I was finishing my packing, so I rested while Pat completed his packing.  All of a sudden the captain came on the TV saying, "Oscar, Oscar, Oscar...Portside!"  It sounded like an urgent or emergency call, but we had no clue.  Later the captain explained that a guest had reported something in the water...possibly people, and so he gave the distress signal for the crew.  A life jacket was thrown out to the area where the guest had seen this in the fog, and the captain had stopped the ship and sent out a crew on a rescue boat to investigate.  The ship was turning around as the U.S. Coast Guard sent out a plane to help search as well. After about 45 minutes of searching, the Coast Guard cleared the ship to leave the area, as they believed that dolphins following closely behind the ship had been what the guest had actually seen in the fog.   The captain assured us that this delay would not change our expected arrival time at Vancouver in the morning.

 

Rescue boat searching for possible victims seen in the fog

Excitement over...time to enjoy the Inside Passage views

A beautiful way to complete our amazing Alaskan Adventure

 

With the excitement over, Pat and I got our envelopes with gratuities ready to give to the wait staff and room steward.  We completed our surveys for Royal Caribbean and headed down to the Centrum Lounge to enjoy the live music while waiting for dinner time. We headed up the stairs to the Cascade Dining room for our last formal dinner.  Marian and Agnelo greeted us at our table.  We reviewed tonight's dinner choices and both of us ended up with exactly the same selections...Caesar Salad, turkey and dressing.  While we were awaiting our salad the captain came on to announce that there was a pod of orcas starboard.  Many people left their tables to go out to watch the orcas.  We chose to remain seated and enjoy our dinner.  After enjoying a slice of Key Lime pie and coffee, we got hugs from Marian, as we gave her our gratuity, said goodbyes & expressed our gratitude for the excellent service to Agnelo. He had mentioned to us several times how important the surveys were for them, so we also assured him that we had given them both excellent ratings on the survey for their service. 

 

We headed to the Aurora Theater for the final show of the cruise...a comedian.  He told some OK jokes, but really acted like he wasn't thrilled to be there.  Then the cruise director came out to introduce a video of events of the cruise that had been video taped throughout the week.  Of course the DVD would be available for purchase.  The show continued with a song performed by the Radiance singers and dancers to say goodbye to the guests.  The captain was then introduced, followed by representatives of the 900 Radiance crew members.  The audience gave them a well-deserved standing ovation to say thanks for all they had done for us. 

 

The wonderful Radiance Orchestra performing for our last show

Our ship's captain and representatives from the 900 crew members
are thanked by the audience

 

We concluded our evening with a visit to the Champagne Bar to review the wonderful adventures and events of the week.  It was time to call it a night and enjoy a nice restful sleep before heading out on the next part of our adventure...Vancouver, Seattle and Portland!