Sunday, September 20th, 2026 ~ At sea
I received a message from my sister two days before we were scheduled to leave for Seattle. “Did you see the schedule change for our cruise?” Or something like that…
No, I had not.
Evidently our floating Princess home for the next two weeks had some mechanical issue that needed fixing. The end result was that we would be skipping our stop in Juneau and Ketchikan would be substituted.
Unfortunately we had all been booked on a nice shore excursion (not through Princess) in Juneau that would need to be cancelled. Thankfully Jan was able to do that the next morning with the tour company.
As of this morning, we have not booked a replacement tour for Ketchikan and may just wander around town and play it by ear.
Last Friday morning we were dropped off at SNA (John Wayne Airport), and other than a short delay, everything went smoothly. We had plenty of time for a small meal at Ruby’s close to our gate.
I’m feeling dinosaur years old lately.
Sitting at our table, we had to scan a bar code to both see the menu and order. Between the two of us, Tim and I managed to order one bowl of clam chowder and a fish and chips plate plus two glasses of water. We gave up trying to add two cups of coffee after several failed attempts. Thankfully our waitress came to our rescue with a freshly brewed pot.
The bill with tip came to $50!
I know, I know, this is pretty par for the course these days, but I still get sticker shock at how expensive everything has become.
Anyway, while sitting in Ruby’s waiting for our food, I noticed a black and white photo above my head. From below, it was difficult to get an unblocked picture, but this should give you the basics.
Have you ever heard of a Nurseryliner”? This was new to me, and I used to work for an airline way back in the 1970’s.
But, this went even further back. Here’s what Tim found out about it.
That framed photo is from United Air Lines’ short-lived “Nurseryliner” service in 1946.
United converted a handful of its Douglas DC-3 “Mainliners” into flying nurseries aimed at mothers traveling with babies and small children. The planes flew a dedicated daily shuttle between Los Angeles and San Francisco (about two hours each way). Each flight took up to 14 youngsters plus their mothers. Infants under 2 flew free; an adult one-way ticket was $15.15.
The cabin was staffed by two registered nurses trained in infant care. They carried bottle warmers and coolers, baby kits, books, games, and other supplies so mothers only needed to bring formula. Men were generally unwelcome unless they were traveling with a child—reservation lists were even stamped “Men Not Wanted.” The service was nicknamed the “diaper special.”
It launched in mid-April 1946, right as the postwar baby boom and the lifting of wartime travel restrictions sent more families into the air. United was the only U.S. carrier that actually modified aircraft for this purpose; other airlines just handed out bassinets and diapers on regular flights. The experiment lasted only into 1947–48 and never expanded beyond California.
The photo itself (a woman in a wide-brimmed hat holding a baby in front of a riveted DC-3 fuselage marked “Nurseryliners” and “San Franc…”) was taken in San Francisco in April or May 1946 as passengers boarded one of those special flights.
I had no idea…
We made it to Seattle, got picked up by our hotel van. I won’t post any info on the hotel I booked through Hotels.com, but I’ll just say most of the hotels we stayed at in India and Guatemala were nicer. Glad it was only for one night.
They did have a shuttle van that took nine of us to the pier though the next morning which was a huge convenience. From drop off to getting on board took us about 1/2 an hour. Princess has a smooth and organized port check-in procedure. At least when checking in early.
Jan & Mark arrived a little later and it took them about an hour to get through the lines and finally meet up with us onboard.
We are off to a wonderful start to our trip!
Below is the full itinerary for this particular sailing. The picture still shows Juneau, but please use your imagination, mentally cross that out and pretend it says Ketchikan instead. About 2/3 of the ship is going just to Tokyo, and the other 1/3 continuing on to Singapore.
This cruise we will disembark in Tokyo, but in January we are scheduled to return and cruise from Singapore back “up” to Tokyo to complete this section.
Woke up this morning to a glorious day!
GRATITUDE MOMENT: I’m especially happy that we are all four together and have embarked on this lovely journey. To have our health, mental facilities, time and positive attitude are all blessings at this stage. And right at the top of this list is having a loving, kind relationship with my sister. Not all families are as lucky and I don’t take that for granted.
If you are new here and would like to follow along, welcome!
That is quite the full itinerary, an fun backstory on nurseryliner.
LikeLike
Wasn’t that information about the Nurseryliner interesting? I love learning little tidbits here and there 🤔
LikeLiked by 1 person
We loved Ketchikan and have visited twice. We watched a First Nations person carving a totem pole and also saw a button blanket dance by local people. It’s a cute town to walk around and if the salmon are running that is amazing to see. What a fabulous itinerary! Enjoy.
LikeLike
We did get to see the salmon spawning. Very cool!
LikeLike
Love the nursery liner story though I’m not surprised it had a short life. Enjoy the cruise.
LikeLike
I’m sorry it was so short lived. I’m guessing it was quite helpful to traveling moms.
LikeLiked by 1 person
But what about the poor dad who had to travel alone on another plane. 😃
LikeLike
The Nurseryliner was really interesting. I guess the way it started, it almost has to get better. 😊😘
janet
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Janet! We are definitely off to a wonderful start.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Looks like an amazing trip! Looking forward to posts along the way! Enjoy!
LikeLike
Thank you Janet! So happy you will be following along 😁
LikeLike
Love both towns. Ketchikan certainly has a colorful history. 😊It’s ok to panic. If not for you, then for your kids and grandkids. The problem: Climate Change. Extinctions. Habitat loss. Pollution. Population growth! After you panic, Act! Embrace science! Vote! Fight to keep the world livable!
LikeLike
We found the Creek Street history quite colorful, but getting to see the salmon working their way back upstream to spawn was a highlight for me.
LikeLike
The Nurseryliner detail stopped me in my tracks — two registered nurses and bottle warmers on a DC-3 in 1946? As a family that flies with kids fairly often, I would take that over the modern “good luck, here’s a bassinet” approach any day. Sorry about losing Juneau, but wandering Ketchikan with no plan sometimes turns out to be the day you remember. Have a wonderful sail to Tokyo!
LikeLike
Thanks for your good wishes. I think anyone who has travelled with a baby can appreciate ALL the “stuff” required. The NurseryLiners sounds like it was such a wonderful solution and very helpful.
LikeLike
I was happy to see a post from you!!! Looking forward to.following you on this adventure. Pete and I will be on a sister ship in November crossing the Pacific to Hawaii.
LikeLike
Hi Fran & Pete! How fun to see you here once again. You will love the Hawaii cruise.
LikeLike
I can think of a few flights where I’ve ended up with a baby behind me who screamed for the whole flight that I would have loved to see on a nursery liner! I know lots of families don’t have a choice, so mainly I feel for the parents, but still!
Wow, that looks like one heck of a trip. How long is it?
LikeLike
Hi Curt, yes, I think most of us can think of at least one flight that has been noisy, but we too have great empathy for both moms and dads traveling with little ones. Our total time away on this trip will be 24 days.
LikeLike
Looked up the tour. It might be something that Peggy and I would like to do. It will be interesting to see how it goes. Good luck.
LikeLike
I’m glad you will be following along. Hopefully from my posts you will get a good idea if this would be a good fit for you and Peggy. 😁
LikeLike
When asked if ‘Juneau’ about that, the answer was obviously “No we didn’t”… 🙂
LikeLike
HaHa Peter, good one 😁
LikeLike