In this video, we're getting ready to board the Aleutian Ballad as part
of our Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour coming up right after this,
Cheryl and I had just come off the Radiance of the Sea, which
you see, , parked next door.
And we came across, , the dock and, , we're headed down this rampto board the
Aleutian Ballad, Cheryl is onboard, a rental scooter provided by Scootaround.
We're gonna see how well and how easy it is to board the ship on the scooter.
The ship, , the Aleutian Ballad was featured in season
two on The Deadliest Catch.
And there was some amazing stories that we were told.
, about what happened during that season, the captain's coming
down, he's gonna help, , Cheryl negotiate, , her way up the ramp.
Now the first question he asked was how good she was at driving it.
And, , she's fairly accomplished.
So she's gonna go, he's gonna get behind her.
She didn't really need the help, but just as a safety precaution, he's
back there helping her up the ramo.
After we get to the top of the ramp, she could have remained in the scooter.
There was a place to park it, , she decided it would be more comfortable for
the tour to go ahead and get in a seat.
, they're gonna sort out here and the captain's gonna come over.
We're gonna talk about where the best option is for her , to sit and then he's
gonna find a place to park the scooter.
And it was interesting as we talked, they have a place where they can
park several scooters on the ship.
And then more, , if they're, if they get too many, they have a place
on the dock that they can park.
'em where they're protected.
You can see the big, tank full of, , crab there in front of us.
, we will get a chance to see those up close a little bit later.
Cheryl unfolded her cane and with her cane and the captain's help.
And she's headed over toward the seats.
And you'll notice as I turn around here in just a second, you'll see that
there are a couple of seats missing.
Now, the captain offered her a seat down here on the front row and she
thought, oh, well, she probably get a little better view by going
up one step and sitting up above.
So that's where she's headed.
She's gonna get up there and set.
So we're gonna get a look at where Cheryl's sitting from over, , by
the side of the ship, , said she's got a really nice viewpoint.
It'll come in really handy later because we're gonna have some
chances to see some amazing footage.
Now I did ask, , the captain about how many wheelchairs they could accomodate.
And he said that they can literally take, , these entire ground floor rows of seats
out and put as many as they need in wheel.
, for wheelchairs, for scooters, they have parking on the ship for a couple.
And then he was saying that they can park some down under the ramp.
They just kind of parallel park.
'em going up the side of the ramp.
If they have more, we're gonna listen to the captain now for a few minutes as.
, walks around the ship with me and shares some of the features and
some of the things that they do in the spirit of full disclosure,
this trip was provided courtesy and exchange for making the video.
It's kind of like maybe our trophy room, but Princess Cruises used to give out Tour
the Year we won it every year, nine years in a row until they quit giving it out.
Well that's cuz you kept winning it.
And then , every restroom has an article that's written about it.
Oh.
Cool, , accessible, except for the step, you know?
Well, we have a, , handicapped accessible restroom in the back.
There's three here, but if you go in here, we made front cover in the
national fisherman, right out of the shipyard after the conversion.
Very cool.
And we got another article in here.
Turned heat off.
Just get a hot, okay.
shadow box of one of my crew members that got wrapped up in the
line got pulled overboard, Steve Neva rides with us every day.
That's a rope that took him down.
Oh, it's a buoy tag on that pot.
I got him and Steve always wanted to do this tour, but he rides with us today.
Yeah.
We take make wish foundation kids injured veterans.
He's gonna create some tags and put 'em up.
They, , collect funds there for the , Fisherman's Memorial fund.
, they do, you know, one of the things that they're very big into is, , trying
to give back and in various ways to the community, he, we would talk
about that, , several times, , during.
Cruise.
,. Some of the things that we got to see this tour was really amazing.
The ship is beautiful, , in the overhead, , the area that shelters people from the
rain sitting in the amphitheater style seats, there is actually, , heaters
overhead to help you stay warm.
And then if it's a cold or a rainy day, they have cold weather gear.
He and I talked about the misconception and this is kind of the misconception
Cheryl had about the tour.
Was that it was going to be cold, , stinky and, , not very
comfortable ride because again, you know, you watch the deadliest catch.
It looks pretty bad, but in the waters, , near catch Aika the water,
the day we were out and in general is usually about smoothest glass.
, we had a bright sunny day with exception of, , one little spell.
We were in some fog, but it cleared.
, so that's what he was talking about is everybody thinks it's wavy.
And so this is, uh, a very comfortable, enjoyable journey as shell found out.
Okay.
As we leave the forward section of the ship, we're gonna head AFT , past,
, the, basically the ampitheater area
and you can see the heaters up at the top now where overhead, dark
object kinda lined up with the.
But we're gonna go in and take a look.
He's gonna show me where the accessible bathroom is.
And we're also going to take a look and you can see Cheryll scooter
there parked, but it's a barrier free entry into that, , restroom.
And then he was telling me that what they do for the galley is they have, if
somebody wants in that's in a wheelchair, they put a ramp down that fits over.
The lip.
And so people can come in, take a look in the galley.
They, do have a, an abundance of a merchandise that you can buy.
They also sold, , a little, , snack boxes that I'll say of, , king crab.
Now, again, king crab is not in season this time of year and just
like everywhere else in Alaska.
If you're up there during the summer season, you get king crab.
It's not fresh, it was frozen, but again, the beautiful day out.
We're gonna take a look at , the critters and the tank here for a second.
Now, the captain would come over and talk to me about the different
kinds, but we would also find out more about them, , during the tour.
Now, as we look at the crabs and we're gonna come up and
look at at 'em from up above.
That you'll see there's some different, , varieties.
There's some prawns you're gonna see in just a second.
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The box on the right is pointing at some videos, , about Alaska
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And we'll see everybody in , the next video.