Day 5 (July 29, 2023) Crown Princess👑docked at Sitka from 8
am to 4:30 pm. Same as other cities, Sitka was originally inhabited by the
Tlingit. It was occupied by Russia from 1799 to 1867. Sitka was the capital of
Alaska until 1906 when Juneau became the capital of Alaska. Sitka (Sheetʼká) in Tlingit means
people on the outside of Shee (Baranof Island). The population in Sitka in 2020
census was 8458.
Stateroom TV showed us the location of Sitka (4). 2 is
Juneau and 3 is Skagway, both are on the north of Sitka. 5 is Icy Strait Point
and 6 is Hubbard Glacier which was the furthest north of our trip. 7 is Ketchikan
on the south, the last port we visited before our return to Vancouver.
The view from our stateroom, there was another cruise ship
across from ours.
Started with continental breakfast🍪🍵in Horizon Court on Deck
15.
Through the window in Horizon Court, we could see a tender boat going toward the island ∿∿∿∿∿∿
Time to get off the ship after breakfast 😊
Then we noticed the other ship we saw from our stateroom was
Cunard Queen Elizabeth👑 It was one of the two cruise ships that we considered to take in July. Of
course we finally picked Crown Princess. The schedule for Queen Elizabeth was
from July 27 to August 7, 2023 for 11 days including a port in Victoria, BC. The
ship was launched in 2010.
Here’s the free shuttle bus station. First we needed to take
the free shuttle🚌 from Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal to Downtown Sitka. It was a
15 minute ride and a bus came every 10 minutes.
We got off in front of Harrigan Centennial Hall which was built in 1967. It has a visitor services center and a historical museum. Outside this building, there is a hand-carved Tlingit canoe 🛶
Same as other ports, local tours could be found in its
downtown. Sitka Tours | Home | Sitka, Alaska (sitkatoursalaska.com) was one of them.
Map of Downtown Sikta – we were heading to the most popular
attraction St. Michael’s Cathedral (2) from Harrigan Centennial Hall (3).
St. Michael’s Cathedral only opens from 12 noon to 2 pm
that’s why many tourists entered into the building once it was opened. Admission
is free, donation is optional.
According to St. Michael Cathedral National Historic Landmark (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov), the Cathedral constructed between 1844 and 1848 is an outstanding example of Russian Orthodox Architecture which was by far the largest and most imposing religious edifice in Alaska until well into the 20th century. St. Michael Cathedral is the principal representative of Russian cultural influence in the 19th century in North America.
The Cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1966 and rebuilt in 1976. The building’s green onion dome (see some of the pictures below) is a typical architectural style of Russian Orthodox church.
This was a very interesting experience as I had never been inside
a Russian Orthodox church before. It was crowded 人山人海!
Lots of valuable artworks and icons in the Cathedral.
This one looks like Jesus Christ and 12 apostles.
St. Mary and Baby Jesus? There should be similarities with Christian ♱
I noticed some tourists placed light candles 🕯 in front of icons. What does it mean?
Based on FAQs — St. Michael's Russian Orthodox Cathedral (stmichaelcathedral.org), a candle in the Orthodox Christian context is a symbol that represents the Light of God or, more specifically, the Light of Christ. The candles here are made of traditional beeswax, others are cups of oil with floating wicks. Upon entering an Orthodox church it is customary to light candles and offer prayers for one’s personal needs, that of a family member or friend, or in thanksgiving. Lit candles are placed in front of icons as a sign of faith in, and hope for, God’s help.
Here is the answer about the religion similarities. Today, the Orthodox Church and Catholic Church are separated but they share many similarities and a common heritage. They were the same Christian Church for about 1100 years.
It made me curious of the time they started to separate and their differences. It was a long and complicated history. To make it simple: In 1054, the Christianity split into Eastern Orthodox Church and Western Catholic Church. This Great Schism (or East-West Schism) was caused by the religious and political disagreements.
Some of the main differences:
Roman Catholic – Western Europe, Latin used in church
services, Pope is in charge, Pope has power over king.
Eastern Orthodox – Eastern Europe, Greek used in church services, Patriarch is in charge, King has power over patriarch.
Now the green onion dome can be seen!
There was a farmers market which I missed. Anyways most farmers markets are very similar, but still good to support local🧺
Since Alaska was originally inhabited by the Native and then occupied by Russia from 1799 to 1867, we found a shop selling Russian souvenirs such as nesting dolls and stores selling Native products made in Alaska.
Many souvenir shops in every port I visited in Alaska has
Denali Dreams handcrafted soaps which are made simply and naturally, the old
fashioned way in Alaska. Every Denali Dreams soap is hand cut and groomed, and
then finished with a decorative stamp and carefully wrapped in colourful
tissue. My friend whom I travelled with in May discovered these luxury soaps.
After she purchased one for her family, I decided to buy one for my officemate.
It was the Fireweed Wildflower flavour🌷and my officemate loves it. She said the
soap smelled very nice and this was a high quality product compared to the
samples she tried in a gift shop in Fort Langley. I should have bought more of
them.
Isn't that interesting to shop in a Russian Christmas store🎅 during the summer?
I don’t know how pel meni (Russian dumplings) taste like,
maybe similar to Chinese dumplings? This small restaurant looks very cozy
though.
After I shopped at Pure Sea Salt Company, I learned that
many flavours of sea salt can be created. Sitka original flake, wild blueberry,
Alder smoked, spruce tip, lemon lime, spicy hot pepper, rosemary flake, coffee
bean flake, vanilla bean flake and hibiscus flake. I tried the sample of coffee
bean – taste like coffee with salt.
The picture gives me a very good idea about the size and
appearance of different salmon.
Sitka Pioneers’ Home built in 1913 is a retirement home for
local residents. I didn’t know there is a gift shop with crafts made by the
residents there.
I only stayed outside and took pictures of flags (the one
below US is Alaska flag).
In front of Pioneer Home is Totem Square. Both are indicated on the map at the top ↑
According to Wikipedia, the Baranof Castle State Historic
Site is a National Historic Landmark and state park in Sitka, Alaska. The hill,
providing a commanding view over the city, is the historical site of Tlingit
and Russian forts, and the location where Russian Alaska was formally handed
over to the United States in 1867. It is also where the 49-star United States
flag was first flown after Alaska became a state in 1959.
Let’s go up to the top and see the view!
From the top, tourists can read the information about its history and see the harbour view.
The bridge at the back is called John O'Connell Bridge.
Built in 1971, the bridge connects the main town of Sitka on
Baranof Island to the airport on Japonski Island. This was the first cable
stayed girder spanned bridge built in the United States.
We were extremely lucky to be able to enjoy the pleasant
weather in Sitka. A local man approached us and said it rains a lot in Sitka.
He was originally from Europe and has lived in Sitka for decades. Even in
summer time, there's a 50% chance of a rainy day!
No wonder we saw people taking sunbath🌅
I learned from my partner about how to take panoramic photos. What do you think about my masterpiece😉
The beautiful blue sky, the clear crystal water and the snow
mountain made a stunning view at Crescent Harbour.
Can you see the St. Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church?
It’s like half hidden.
Back to the shuttle bus station. Since we still had some
time, we went into Harrigan Centennial Hall and looked around.
Interesting to see photo of Sheetʼká Kwáan (the Tlingit name for the Sitka
people) taken in 1895 and photo of Lincoln Street with St. Michael’s Cathedral
in Downtown Sitka taken in 1914.
Just before 4 pm, many tourists started returning to their ships. Left side our ship, right side Cunard Queen Elizabeth.
There was a long lineup for free ice cream, I was also in the line. The one I got is different from the pictures. The complimentary ice cream was just like McDonald or Costco chocolate/vanilla ice cream🍦 Some were willing to pay more for a premium ice cream but not me😅
Fine dining in the evening was what most people looked forward to although sometimes the services could be very slow, one time we spent 2 hours in the restaurant. Also making reservation after our cruise trip started was a headache. The app didn’t work, the TV didn’t work, calling Guest Services didn’t work neither for dinner reservation. We should have done that in advance for Princess Cruise.
Well let’s look at what we had for dinner: beet and berry
soup, seared flounder with Alaska cold water shrimp, seared wild Alaska sockeye
salmon with red wine reduction, daily special ramen, sugar-free coffee mousse
cake and coconut mousse.
Daily special ramen was just so-so, nothing special.
I don’t think I posted the front entrance of my stateroom.
Here it is! We used Medallion device to open the door that’s why I liked to
wear it on my wrist and just tap on the screen. As you can see, the left side
of the screen shows Privacy Please and right side for Service Stateroom. Just
press either one of them depending on what you need😊
Remember just do this for your own room but not for others, otherwise your neighbours will be mad at you😈
We were extremely lucky to have free self-serve laundromat on Crown Princess. Not all Princess ships offer complementary self-serve laundromat, most of them charge $3 USD for washer and $3 USD for dryer. Bleach and softener were not free though, each $3 USD. Fortunately I brought detergent sheets and dryer sheets to the cruise so we didn’t have to pay for them. I purchased the eco detergent sheets from Real Canadian Superstore (Nature Clean Laundry Detergent Strips wildflower - 32 ea | Real Canadian Superstore) which were light and easy to carry👍
From the lesson I learned on Koningsdam, this time I checked with Guest Services on the second day of our trip about the disembarkation guideline. A form was sent to our stateroom and it had to be returned to the stateroom attendant or Guest Services by 6 pm on July 30. We didn’t choose A, B or C as we didn’t need to catch a flight. So we picked D to leave the ship around 9 am – 9:40 am on disembarkation day. We were assigned to be ready to get off at 9:10 am.
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