It must have been much earlier than 7am when the Eurodam docked at Pier 91 in the port of Seattle, as it was still dark. Today is the end of the line for the 7 day Alaskan journey, but the beginning of an 18 day trip to and back from the Hawaiian Islands. To be more precise, there is a 2 night cruise from Seattle to Vancouver. These types of “mini cruises” are nick-named the booze cruises. For couple of days, the Eurodam becomes a party boat, or so we have been told. As we don’t frequent those public areas after dinner, we will probably miss that party. What is not unusual is hearing the party-goers coming back to their cabins after a night of fun and more than a little drinking. The solution to that? Earplugs.
Early in the morning, one of us attempted to finish the report from Victoria, yesterday’s port. However, something occurred with the computer that made the report and photos go “poof”….gone, disappeared forever. That is so frustrating, because we knew we had to re-do all of it from scratch. At least, we had not disposed of the port info.
Because we will be sailing onward, we received in-transit cards to show to the folks in the terminal. Also, we had to bring our passports with us to pass by the officials. There are no more US declaration cards to fill out. There was another ship debarking their passengers at this pier – the Ruby Princess. So many guests were crowding the terminal, looking for their luggage. We had none to find, so we lined up and got out to the parking lot in a few minutes. By now, the time was 9:15am, leaving us less than 2 hours to reach downtown.
From here, we had a long walk to Pike’s Market and the Hard Rock Café. Sure we could have taken a taxi, but what fun is that? It was only 9:15am, and we had until 11am to get there. The good news is that we were meeting our wonderful travel agent, Debra, who is based in Seattle where she lives. It is not often that we are here in town on a weekend, so this worked out well for her. The shoreline bike and hike trail had a detour, due to a large construction project. But it was well marked, and we followed the signs that led us to a frontage road following the railroad tracks.
Did we mention that the weather could not have been more perfect? It was partly cloudy, but not cold. Eventually, the sun peeked out, and it stayed that way for most of the day. No rain today.
Since today was Saturday, there were many locals out and about. The city has Lime Bikes for rent, like we do in Walnut Creek. It’s really taken off here, because we had to be mindful of where we walked. We guess there were about as many runners and walkers too. Once past the construction, we were back on the regular path. Benches and a few picnic tables lined the way. Estimating that our walk would be near 4 miles, we took advantage of some of those benches.
About halfway to downtown, we looked over the railings into the water, and spotted a large sea lion. Appearing to be a grey rock, we could make out his head and tail. He must have been under six feet of water at the rocky edge, simply looking at us. In a few minutes, he turned and swam away without ever surfacing. That was the only seal we saw all day.
Snapping photos all the way, we arrived to the Pike Market parking area and elevator to the top. Wow, there was a mob scene up there. Given it was a Saturday with the addition of two ball games at both stadiums today. We have never seen it so crowded. The street souvenir stands were just opening up, and trucks were delivering produce to the markets. Starbucks had a line ½ block long. Having 10 minutes to spare, we got to the Hard Rock Café to meet with our travel agent and friend, Debra.
Sure was nice to be able to spend a couple of hours with her, while enjoying a couple of entrée salads. Arriving at opening time was the best idea, because this place filled up rapidly. The ambience is fun, a bit noisy, but that’s OK for a change. The time flew by, and by 1pm, we said our goodbyes, heading back the way we came. The next time we will see Debra, it will be in January in Ft. Lauderdale before the 2019 world cruise. Believe us, that will come way too fast.
We had sun when we walked out of the restaurant, but the skies clouded up as the day progressed. Still, it was warm and balmy with no rain. So glad we did not bring the umbrellas with us. Taking our time, we got back to the terminal parking lot before 4pm. A funny thing happened on our way back to the ship. Same as last year, a shuttle driver kindly stopped and offered us a ride back to the terminal building. Yes, we thanked him for his ride. A group of pier workers (those that check people in) were waiting for this ride back to their cars. Their work for Princess was done, since we saw the ship leave well before 4pm.
Going through the security check, we by-passed the new guests checking in, and went directly to the ship. Going over our list for this next cruise, we noticed some things were missing. Since we had to turn in the customs declaration once again for Victoria’s stop tomorrow, one of us went down to the front desk to take care of that. Another funny thing happened on the way there. The lights went out. Apparently they were testing the “plug” where the ship can operate on local power, instead of our generators. The test did not work, and we lost some power for a few minutes. Sure is dark on deck one without any windows to give it light. All the ship’s TVs lost their content as well. Our new Captain, John Scott, came on the speakers explaining the blip, and promised all to be corrected soon. It was within minutes. Then there was the follow-up of our amenities for this cruise, which was booked under a separate booking number. More shipboard credit was coming, and flowers, sodas, waters, and canapies, which had already been delivered. What was missing was the bottle of welcome onboard champagne, but it arrived in a bucket of ice shortly after our request. We sipped this sparkling wine on the veranda, while the rest of the passengers had to attend the muster drill. We had been excused, because we did this just one week ago.
The remainder of the afternoon, one of us worked on photos, while the other relaxed outside, taking in the warmth from the setting sun. A complimentary shuttle was available starting at 5pm to the Westlake Center in town. Running every 30 minutes, this was nice for those who may want to go to dinner in Seattle. The last shuttle was at 9:15pm, saving passengers a lot of taxi money. Since we had reservations for the Tamarind at 8pm, we did not wish to go back to town.
Our meal in Tamarind was just as pleasant as our first time here. Service was excellent as was the food. This evening we switched up our entrees with one order of lobster and one veggie tempura. Both were really tasty. Spring rolls and Thai salads started our meal. Desserts were Thai donuts drizzled with three sauces, and one fortune cookie with coffee. We were finished after 9pm, and did have plenty of time to attend the one show at 9:30pm. However, the entertainer was comedian, Dan Chopin, and we chose not to go. Instead, we took a short walk outside to get some fresh air.
The ship left late after 11:30pm. Since we had such a long hike today, we never did hear any noise from the party-goers. We were asleep instantly.
Tomorrow’s port will be Victoria once again. Hope the weather holds up.
Bill & Mary Ann
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Report # 9 Seattle, Washington - Embarkation Day September 29, 2018 Saturday Partly cloudy & 67 degrees
Report # 8 Victoria, British Columbia September 28, 2018 Friday Sunny and 58 degrees
Today began with the lightest breakfast we could order in the dining room. Mainly, because we were invited to the Mariner Society Lunch at noontime. While sitting at a window seat at the very back of the lower dining room, we experienced much vibration and noise. So the answer to the question, would a room back here have problems with that? We would say yes to both. Especially if the ship was going around 22 knots, like they are today.
The best aspect about today was the fact that we are seeing blue skies and sun for the first time for a week. Sailing south towards Vancouver Island finds us with warmer temps and scenic cruising. But the best part are the whale sightings. Humpback blows were apparent from a distance, and we hoped to catch more of it this afternoon.
At 11:30am, we were invited to the Mariner Society awards ceremony in the BB King’s Blues Club. At the most, there were about 30 people invited. We figured they began with 4 and 5 star Mariners, and the new medal awardees. And us, of course, President’s Club, which is never advertised as a level of achievement. Why, we don’t know. A receiving line included the hotel director, the cruise director, and the Captain. There were only six people getting their bronze medallions, so the ceremony was short and sweet. We had been offered a mimosa, wine, or champagne, but we opted for one Jack Daniels and one mimosa. Canapies were passed around to all. At the end, the two of us were introduced, announcing our days, and we had our photos taken with the hotel director and the Captain .
Finally, we were escorted past the line of folks waiting to enter the dining room on deck two. Tables had been reserved for the high day group, and we had a nice one with six other people. One of the couples from Montreal realized that they have been reading our blog for some time. And another couple will be going on the 2019 world cruise, as well. Small world. And the same two couples we dined with will be staying on for the next cruise to Hawaii. Lunch for us consisted of a beer and cheddar soup and entrees of beef pot roast. Dessert was great - a chocolate cup of berry compote covered with meringue. Coffee finished the meal. Naturally, a flute of champagne was available for the general toast given by the Captain. By the way, none of the tables were hosted by staff, and the dress code was smart casual. A nice affair, we thought.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in our room on the veranda watching a display of humpback whales feeding. This is the best sighting we have ever seen coming down this part of the coast. Even though the pods were at least 100 yards off of the ship, we were able to get some good photos of their behavior while eating, blowing, and diving.
Our port of call for this evening was Victoria, Canada, a must stop after visiting USA ports on this cruise. Arrival was supposed to be 7pm, but it ended up being 7:30pm. Since we had dinner reservations in both the dining room and the Pinnacle Grill (thanks to a dining room head waiter), we chose the Pinnacle Grill. They serve killer lamb chops in there, and there was no other entrée in the dining room to top that tonight. No sense leaving the ship in this port, since we will be back here on Sunday.
We began our meal with Caesar salad, lamb chops of course, and dessert of Baked Alaska. Normally, we would keep dessert off of the menu, but lunch was so early, we were actually hungry. The best part of Baked Alaska has to be the Cherry Garcia ice cream in the middle. Rich coffee finished our meal. Expecting the room to be empty, we were surprised to see it full of guests. But then, this is the final night of this 7 day cruise, and people want to get it all in before they leave.
It was rather pleasant walking the promenade deck after dinner. Lights of the city brightened up the area, as well as the NCL ship docked across from us. Earlier in the day, two Princess ships left port, one pf which was the Star Princess. And since there was no live entertainment in the Mainstage theater, a movie, The 15:17 to Paris, was shown instead. We’ll have to watch for this to be shown again, since it looks like a good one.
Tomorrow will be a busy one, because most everyone will be disembarking in Seattle. As for us, we have a lunch date with our most favorite travel agent, Debra.
Bill & Mary Ann
Friday, September 28, 2018
Report #7 Ketchikan, Alaska September 27, 2018 Thursday Partly cloudy & 65 degrees Part #1 Of 2 60 Pictures
We arrived in the dark of the morning to a very rainy Ketchikan. Our time here would be short, since all aboard was 12:30pm. Too bad not everyone got that message loud and clear (a story we will tell you later).
Ketchikan has been called the salmon capital of the world. It has a population of 8050 people and gets 156 to 162 inches of rain a year. They call it liquid sunshine. We call it wet and cold. By the time we left the ship around 8:30am, the rain had stopped and it looked like the sun might actually peek out.
Anyway, this area keeps the folks busy with fishing, canning, mineral exploration, tourism, logging, and cold storage operations. Summer tourism has to be lucrative, since there can be several ships in port every day of the week. Today we had the Nieuw Amsterdam as well as the Seabourn Sojourn. You could identify the Seabourn folks, because most of them wore the gifted turquoise jackets with the ship’s name plastered all over them. Good advertising we think.
Tours here include plane or boat rides to Misty Fjords, or adventure excursions that include zip lining, kayaking, zodiac rides, snorkeling?, and fishing. An easy and entertaining activity is attending the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show in downtown for a mere $40. For sight- seeing, there is a bus ride to Totem Bight State Historical Park, where there are restored totems and a colorful community house. Or you can visit the Totem Heritage Center to learn about the three cultures of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian tribes. The tours cost from $30 to $390 if purchased on the ship. Or less if you them on your own.
Since our time was limited, we took a hike through the red-light district up Ketchikan Creek to see the seals at the mouth of the river. The last of the salmon run was in progress, and the evidence of the numbers must have been impressive. The banks were lined with carcasses with gulls dining on them. Nothing goes to waste here. We have been told that bears will come into this area to feed on the dead fish during the night.
Many shops and businesses have replaced the houses of ill repute from the old days. Built on stilts up the hillside, the area has been preserved for all to appreciate. And also spend a little money on souvenirs.
We made our way to the fish hatchery, which used to be open to the public. Every time we have come here in recent years, it has been closed. There is a public park here, where in the old days, salmon were kept for easy fishing. There are also public restroom facilities in this park. Getting many photos of the salmon, we crossed the creek to the Totem Heritage Center. It is here where you can learn about the native cultures and their totem stories. The tall cedar logs depicted eagles, ravens, wolves, bears, whales, among other figures of men and women.
Going back down the creek, we took in the gardens of the home owners with the last of the summer flowers. The nice part of living here is being able to smell the trees of hemlocks, spruce, and cedar, especially when they are burning in their fireplaces. As nice as it is today, we cannot imagine what it is like living here in the winter months.
Back in town, we walked through Whale Park, a very small park where the Knox Brothers clock resides. It is no longer working. Close by is St. John’s Episcopal Church built in 1903. The clergy was responsible for educating the children and bringing hospital services to these native people.
There are a ton of shops here, and of course, with the end of the season, comes the sales. At this time of the morning, nothing was overly crowded. Nothing like the shops in Juneau, however. Yes, there were bargains to be had, but not discounted as deeply as Juneau. Perhaps the shopping ambassadors, Kristin and Brendan, had better luck escorting a group of passengers to shop for high end jewelry.
Even though it was only 10:30am, we figured we had time for a brunch, because we had left the ship without breakfast. Dwyer’s Restaurant, located on the third floor above Fish Pirate’s Gift Shop was the place to go. Although they push the seafood, they also have a killer burger. We shared a Jack Daniels burger with fries. Adding a side salad was perfect. It was not crowded at all, as most of the tourists were on excursions, we assume. We lingered over a shared strawberry cheesecake dessert before we left by noontime.
On the way back, we strolled in and out of shops, buying two things. A Lazy One sleep T, and a bag of kettle corn found their way into our bag. The line to embark the ship was long, but we were in no big hurry to board. The sun had come out by now, and it sure felt good. Lucky for the passengers on the New Amsterdam and the Sojourn, as we believe they were headed for Vancouver, and not Seattle like us. They would stay much later in port.
So we would have gone to the sail away, but there was no organized one on the aft deck. By 1pm, the Captain came on the speakers with his daily talk. Seems that some people were missing, and we were not leaving yet. Watching from our veranda, the gangways were pulled in, while an announcement was made for two passengers. We could see them attempting to run up a side street towards the ship, towing large packages. Guess they assumed the ship would leave at 1pm. Guess they were wrong. Talking with who we assume was the port agent, the ship slowly pulled away from the pier, and left them standing there. That will cost them dearly, we are afraid. We have seen it happen before on other trips, but the Captain has no choice, as it costs the company a lot of money to go beyond their time slot.
Sail away was perfectly viewed from our veranda. We could hear the voices from dozens of balconies as most folks were doing the same thing. By 2pm, the pilot was dropped off, and we were making good speed towards our port of Victoria, Canada, tomorrow evening.
We had received an invite to a “hands on” cooking class with America’s Test Kitchen’s hostess, but we declined it because we didn’t want to miss leaving Ketchikan. Last year, we did have a small class with six other guests, and we made peach pie and peach tarts. On the Amsterdam’s world cruise, we were told that there were no more cooking classes where we would be permitted to work with the food. Even though we did not participate, we asked if we would really be making pastries here, and the answer was “yes”. Go figure…..
The remainder of the afternoon was spent working on the computer (offline), and dining in our room with a late lunch. Speaking of computers, we sent emails this morning by the front desk, and it went quickly. Obviously better in port, than out at sea.
Dinner was gala once again. Not too hungry, we chose an appetizer, a salad, and rack of veal. It was OK, but not the best we have had. We were finished by 9pm, with desserts of an orange cake and a plate of sliced fruit. We also had a visitor……one of the waiters we know from the Amsterdam stopped by to say hi. We had run into him while in town today, and he asked what table we had in the upper dining room. As he works in the Lido, we have not seen him yet.
Since we had finished our meal, we took a walk around deck three, coming back to the aft elevators to go home. We noticed that a group of chefs were gathering to go on a stroll through the dining room, as they often do on the final gala night. This was odd to us, because tomorrow night is the final dinner. However, we were told that the upper dining room will be closed tomorrow night, and we would have to eat downstairs. That was news to us. One of the head waiters asked if could reserve a table for two downstairs, and we said yes, thanks. If that doesn’t work out, we can always try for another meal in the Pinnacle Grill. So the reason for the change is the fact that many people will be going onshore in Victoria, missing dinner altogether.
The last reminder was to set our clocks ahead one hour before retiring.
Bill & Mary Ann
Thursday, September 27, 2018
Report #6 Sitka, Alaska September 26, 2018 Wednesday Partly cloudy & 56 degrees Part #1 Of 2 70 Pictures
Sitka was the port of call for today. Named New Archangel in 1804, the Russians settled this area with the intent of establishing the sea otter fur trade. Alexander Baranof named this city the Russian capital of Alaska. Sixty years later, the otter population was nearly decimated, so Russia eventually sold Alaska to the USA for $7.2 million in 1867. Seward’s Folly it was called, where the average cost per acre was 2 cents. Quite a deal considering the wealth of resources Alaska held in the future years. The capital was later changed to Juneau. Today the city of Sitka has 8881 people.
The Eurodam arrived to the Old Sitka Dock, where it was necessary to take a complimentary shuttle to downtown. Years ago, we used to tender ashore to the harbor closer to town. Smaller cruise ships still do this, if there is a larger ship in the port. It looked like the weather would be OK with no rain. It was very cloudy, but almost muggy. We probably did not need our arctic jackets, but they are the only waterproof coats we have with us.
On past trips here, we have taken tours, although most of them are on the water. Ship’s excursions ran from $60 to $230. One in particular that we enjoyed was the sea otters and wildlife boat tour for 3 hours. The Alaska Raptor Center, located a short distance from downtown, is an interesting excursion. If you can walk there, the price of admission is only $12. There is also a compound with bears, Fortress of the Bears, some of which cannot be re-located into the wild. Today, we chose to take a long walk to go in search of salmon and eagles.
That took us to the Sitka National Historical Park, the oldest park unit in Alaska. It was here that the indigenous Indians attacked the Russians in a fierce battle in 1804. Many died on both sides, but the Russians prevailed. This heavily wooded park is the home to 18 totem poles of the Tlingit and Haida tribes. There is a mile long hike from the visitors center, which leads to the Indian River.
We must have missed the warning sign that alerted walkers to the latest bear sightings. Last year there had been one in the park area 2 days before we arrived. Never saw it, thank goodness. Anyway, we reached the Indian River which was loaded with salmon swimming upstream. This time of year, the types are pink or chum. The king and sockeye were here earlier in the summer. Instead of eagles, the area was over-loaded with gulls and ravens. With so many salmon going upstream, there were plenty that lined the banks already dead and dying. The birds pretty much take care of that.
We continued up the trail to the bridge that crosses over the river. This time we turned right and headed up the opposite bank of the river, in hopes of seeing some eagles. No luck, we followed the loop until it brought us back to the footbridge. That pathway led us to the lodge, and eventually back to downtown.
Since we had to be at the bus stop by 3pm, we decided to go to lunch at the Westmark Hotel. We shared a salad and a burger with Alaska Amber beers. Expecting it to be more crowded, it was nice that the guests had already eaten and left. We still had time to walk around the center of town, where we finally got to photograph three eagles. Funny they hang out in town, and not where their food is.
We caught one of the last buses for the 15 minute ride to the old dock. The library is located at this bus spot, which also has free wifi. We need to mention that the internet on the ship gave us a lot of grief this morning. Assuming it would be better while we were in port, was wrong. It took over 45 minutes to get our report sent. One of the staff members came over to help us with another matter, and she admitted that the new system has a lot of negatives about it. So it is no wonder why so many of the people we know do not buy a plan on the ship. They go off in every port in search of the free wifi. Guess it still depends on where the ship is located as far as the availability of the signal. And it also depends on the number of people using the bandwidth. So nothing has really changed from the old system to the new one as far as we can see.
We got back to the ship by 3:30pm to a slight drizzle or heavy fog. There was no sail away happening on the aft deck, so we stayed on our veranda to watch the sail out of the harbor. Within minutes, the Captain was blowing the foghorn every five minutes. Downloading photos took up the rest of the afternoon.
Dinner for us was in the Pinnacle Grill, with the theme of Rudi’s Sel de Mer. The cuisine is heavily seafood oriented, but we always navigate around that. We ordered tuna salad nicoise, one with tuna and one without. We got the odd look from the waiter, but why order the fish only to waste it? The muse is always a grilled scallop, but knowing that one of us has an allergy to shellfish, they substituted a Mexican salsa in its place. First time that has happened, especially without a special request. The meal began with tapanades, olives, ratatui?, and bellpeppers. The best part was the loaf of French bread with salted herbed butter. Our mains were the steak with frizzled onions and French fries. Saving a bit of room for dessert, we had one order of profiteroles and one apple tart with salted caramel ice cream. The service and food were excellent, as were every staff member there. Seems they all knew our names before we arrived.
While on deck two, we walked through all of the venues near the restaurant. The BB King All Stars were playing full force, while the billboard onboard were playing their dueling pianos. The adjacent casino was half full of folks playing slots or the table games. There was one show this evening, Dan Chopin, a comedian with great jokes and funny songs. Guess we could have gone to this show, but we did not realize it began earlier than usual. Too bad we don’t care for that type of entertainment.
Good time to head back to our room, since tomorrow’s port of Ketchikan begins at 7am. It will be a short stay with all aboard at 12:30pm.
Bill & Mary Ann
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Report #5 Scenic Cruising Glacier Bay September 25, 2018 Tuesday A most chilly 45 degrees
Whoever said that while scenic sailing in Glacier Bay there is nothing to see? Obviously, someone who has never been there. We have actually overheard some folks make that comment. Well, today proved them wrong.
A group of park rangers, a naturalist, and a Huna interpreter joined with the EXC guides onboard to deliver presentations and narrations during the day. It would have been nice if the speaker system on the ship was working better. On the promenade deck, the sound came through pretty good, but on our veranda, it was muffled. Thinking that turning on the TV to the forward camera view would have been the answer to that problem. But here we learned that there was a second delay, cancelling out being able to understand the speaker. The only way that worked was to view the inlets and glaciers from inside your room. Not the same as being at the railing. So one of us had to listen inside, while the other snapped the photos.
We were a bit disappointed with the dining room breakfast service this morning. Going around 8:30am, we had a hard time getting much needed hot coffee. Then our meals arrived rather on the cool side. Guess it depends on the size of the crowd and the availability of waiters. Today was not a winner. Would we live through it? Yes, we are spoiled when we are on the Amsterdam, because there we have the same table and waiters every morning. Hard to expect that here. And we are seldom complainers, as things seem to correct themselves in good time if you are patient. That would happen at lunchtime today.
OK, time for some numbers and facts about Glacier Bay National Park. It is huge with 3,283,168 acres of park, glaciers, and snow-clad peaks to fiord inlets. The highest point is 15,320 foot Mt. Fairweather. The bay itself is 65 miles long, 2 ½ to 10 miles wide, which was filled with ice 5000 feet thick as recent as 200 years ago. The park boasts having the world’s most impressive tidewater glaciers. Did you know that Alaska has 100,000 glaciers?
We were given a detailed map last night, and it was most useful for determining our location. Especially with the fouled up speakers outside. One of the most photographed glaciers is Margerie Glacier at the most northern end of the bay. Although we did hear thunderous cracking, we did not see major calving of ice today. What was spotted here on the way were black bears on the starboard side (we’re on the port), otters, gulls, and seals. You had to have excellent binoculars to see the bears in the far distance. Whales, mostly humpbacks, may be spotted, but we saw none. There are moose and mountain goats, but we only saw those on the map. We did see one bald eagle flying across an inlet.
During the scenic cruising at Margerie Glacier, Dutch pea soup was served on the outside decks at 10:30am. However, we forgot to go in search of it, since it is one of our most favorite soups. Darn, we need to read the newsletter first thing.
Before the dining room closed, we went to lunch. Service was excellent, as was the food. Inquiring if there was any more pea soup left, our waiter said he would look, since it would come from the Lido. Well, guess what? He came with a steaming hot bowl of it. Lucky us. The basket of bread and rolls is no longer given to each table. Only brought by request we assume. We ordered a salad and a plate of taquitos. Spaghetti and meatballs and a veggie lasagna warmed us up even more. No dessert was necessary. So like we said, good things happen if you are patient. Speaking of good things, yesterday morning we sent out a bag of laundry, and it was back in our room after dinner. What good service is that?
Around 2pm, the Eurodam arrived at Johns Hopkins Glacier up the inlet of the same name. We felt that this glacier was the most impressive due to its size as well as more abundant wildlife. Besides many seabirds, there was a large number of harbor seals floating on the ice. We understand the seals will come into these inlets to have their pups. It provides safety and food for the summer season. The Captain lingered at this glacier, spinning the ship for all to see. Somewhere in the mountain tops, we could hear thunderous noise, which may have been ice calving. However, we saw no ice falling into the sea below. The place to see impressive calving, in our opinion, is Hubbard Glacier.
With the Coral Princess waiting her turn in the inlet, the Eurodam departed slowly. Must be a speed limit here, so as not to disturb the surrounding banks. On our way to drop off the park rangers, we passed a tiny island by the name of South Marble Island. It is a favorite spot for many types of birds and Stellar sea lions. These guys are the huge ones, like we have at Pier 39 in San Francisco. With good binoculars, we could spot at least 50 of them. And by 6pm, the team left the ship.
Downloading and sorting photos took the rest of the afternoon. We watched another episode of Game of Thrones, which someday, we will have to watch from the very beginning, since we don’t have access to this series at home. By the time dinnertime came, we began to feel the swells of the open waters…something the Captain had warned about during a late afternoon daily talk.
We were back in the dining room with our friendly waiters this evening. Having checked out the menu this morning on TV, we had our sights set on the prime rib entrée. However, that must have been yesterday’s menu, because it was not on the menu. Our second best choice was the rosemary-roasted chicken. When our plates arrived, we each had half a chicken. More than ample, we had to pass on dessert. This had to be a record time, since we were finished before 9pm. It is nice, but there was no way we would stay up for the 10pm show. Tonight’s feature was Alaska in Concert, which we think is the BBC Earth TV series set to live music. Maybe next time.
Tomorrow we will be in Sitka, site of the first Russian towns in Alaska during the late 1700’s. Hope the forecast of 100% rain is not true.
Bill & Mary Ann
Report # 4 Juneau, Alaska September 24, 2018 Monday Overcast, chilly & 57 degrees
When we woke up this morning, we were happy to see that the rocking and rolling of the ship had stopped, and we were heading towards the Gastineau Channel. That is where the capital of the state, Juneau, is located. And it is impressive with 3108 square miles of towering forested mountains, islands, bays, and flatlands. An interesting fact is that Juneau can be reached by air or by sea only. The population is about 31,700 people. Many locals that are associated with the tourism business head to the lower 48 during the fall and winter months, we have been told.
The biggest attractions in Juneau are Mt. Roberts with an 1800 foot tram ride to the top. Or a trip to Mendenhall Glacier, where, depending on the time of year, one can view spawning sockeye salmon, bald eagles, and black bears. Another good option are the several types of whale-watching boat tours in the channel. We have done that more than once. Some of our friends have taken the Taku Lodge Feast and glacier seaplane tour….pricey, but a unique experience. Where else can you watch bear come out of the forest to lick the BBQ grates?
Then there are the shops where you can locate high end jewelry as pointed out in the flyers and talks given by the onboard shopping ambassadors. A visit to the Red Dog Saloon is a must, and they do serve a good burger if you can find a place to sit. It has been our experience that many shops and restaurants have already closed up for the season. But who knows? Today we will find out. Our arrival time is 1pm, but we don’t leave until 10:30pm. Plenty of time for all of those tours to get back in time. The shore excursions are divided by categories. They are wildlife, adventure, and sightseeing. The prices range from $34 for the tram ride to $620 for the ultimate 4 hour Taku Glacier adventure. Better hope you have not over-indulged in the food department, or the surcharge weight over 250 pounds is $170. By the way, this tour does not include a meal. Wow
Watching the sail into Juneau from our veranda was a good plan. It was very cold, but luckily we brought our arctic jackets with us, complete with hoods. The Captain had mentioned earlier that some whales had been spotted on the starboard side, so we hoped we would see them on our side. It was not to be. A few dolphins and seals swam by close to the ship, but that was all. Another ship was directly behind us. We believe it was a Princess vessel. As it turned out, the Star Princess was already in port, followed by the Coral Princess. Once we were alongside, the Nieuw Amsterdam pulled in behind us. We figured that was about a total of 10,000 passengers, not counting crew members.
The guests began debarking before 1pm, so we figured it was a good time to do some emailing. We are happy to report that the internet speed was much better today, just like they said it would be. Sure hope this continues.
There were two exits to get off of the ship, so the waiting was minimal. Having done most of the tours here, some more than once, we decided to walk the town. Turning left, we hiked the shoreline until we came across a newly built Seawalk. This wide wood-planked walkway meandered through a marsh flat complete with a pond. It is a sanctuary for birds. Eventually the trail led to the Whale Statue surrounded by a fountain. It is a replica of a humpback whale and sure looked real from a distance. The fountain activates on a timer, we assume, and makes the whale appear to be rising out of the water. There is bench seating as well as signage and restrooms (out of sight behind the whale).
We wanted to get back to town and find a place for lunch before it got too late. So we back-tracked through town and went to the Taku Fish Company and the Twisted Fish Grill. Last year, this restaurant was closed, so we were pleased to find they were opened today. We ordered a salad and a Margherita pizza (8 inch) with a soda and an Alaskan beer. All was good, and the cool weather and walk sharpened our appetites.
On the way back, we walked through the nearby shops to find that there really were no good sales today. Despite the signs that most everything was up to 50% off, it was only good for a few items. That’s when we ran into Yvonne and Johnny, who had just shopped at the Alaska T-shirt Company. They were happy with their few purchases and said we had to stop there, warning us not to stop in the jewelry stores where everything was double-priced. Yeah, we already knew that. So it didn’t take but a few minutes to find a good deal on long sleeve t-shirts and sweatshirts. The lines were long, so you knew their prices were good.
By now, it was raining, so we made our way back to the ship. Every high end jewelry shop owner tried to entice us inside for a “free” token, claiming that they would be closed for the season in less than 24 hours. We have also heard that before, but we were not in the market for any expensive trinkets today. Now if the popcorn stand had been opened, we may have indulged there. But it was closed.
Back in our room, we warmed up and worked on photos for the remainder of the afternoon. Sea planes were taking off right outside of our veranda, so many tours must have been sold between the four ships. The fog and rain kept up for the rest of the day, so we are not sure how good the sight-seeing from the plane would be.
We had reservations in the Tamarind this evening at 7:30pm. While in town today, one of the Tamarind waitresses recognized us. She had worked in the Pinnacle Grill on the Amsterdam’s world cruise in 2014, and claimed to remember us, although we did not recognize her. Now we are convinced that our photos are posted somewhere for the staff to see. One day, we will ask. Anyway, we were greeted by the staff in the Tamarind, and seated at a nice table for two at the window. The restaurant was fully booked. And for good reason. The food is unique and totally delicious. We had starters of a Thai salad and crispy spring rolls with dips. One of us had shrimp crackers, while the other had rice crackers. Our mains were wasabi-crested tenderloin with breaded onion rings, direct from Burger King. Surely, our waitress was joking. Sides were a bowl of brown rice and sautéed veggies. Desserts were a chocolate pudding in a chocolate cup and one large almond fortune cookie with a tiny scoop of vanilla ice cream. These are two desserts we would not pass up. Glass cups full of a strong coffee finished our meal.
Thinking there was no show this evening, we discovered that there was one show at 9:30pm, starring Joseph Reohm, a magician. The ship left the port late at 11:30pm, and at 10:30pm, there was the Filipino Crew Show. Since we still had much more work to do on the computer, we headed back to our room to finish the job.
Tomorrow we shall be scenic cruising to Glacier Bay.
Bill & Mary Ann
PS By the way, for those of you who are searching for photos, you need to click on the PDF link to access them.
Monday, September 24, 2018
Report #3 Sailing Towards Juneau, Alaska September 23, 2018 Sunday Mostly cloudy, sprinkles, & windy 70 degrees
Our first day at sea with nothing to do. Yeah, right. Our day began with breakfast in the dining room, which began at 7:30am, not 8am as we are accustomed. The staff is so friendly once again, and we found another buddy, a head waiter, Mega, from the Amsterdam. He had gone home last April, at the end of the world cruise, then was deployed to the Eurodam three weeks ago. He greeted us with good news that our favorite dining room manager, Philip, may be going back to the Amsterdam after all. Hope that is true, since he has made the last two world cruises a most pleasant dining experience.We had a list of questions for the guest service folks, so we headed that way to attempt doing some internet work while in the atrium. Hands down, so far this new internet service has been the worst ever. Perhaps it is where we are located (haven’t we heard that before?), or there are too many people using the system. Blah-blah-blah. So the helpful guest relations fellow attempted to send our file, and succeeded to send it four times, sorry about that. Last year, the internet worked with minutes, now it is by packages, unless you have a freebie perk, which gives you minutes that are converted to gigabytes. Confusing? Yes, but who cares if it works better? So far, it is our humble opinion that it is not better. Maybe tomorrow, when we are in Juneau, it will be a different story……we will let you all know.For those who may want to know, you can still get meclizine tablets, complimentary, at the front desk. Also, we requested a newspaper be delivered to our room in the morning. Not a problem. Nothing in the way of gifted shipboard credit is cashable, as some of it was in the past. Spend it, or lose it. Been there done that. Learned our lesson. Lastly, our account will carry over from this cruise to the next on to Hawaii.The Canadian declaration cards were given out for all to fill out for Victoria’s visit on Friday. A detailed description was included with the card, so filling it out was a breeze. For those going home on Saturday, the disembarkation options were also given to all. Port Valet is offered in Seattle, where you put your luggage out on Friday evening, and it will be delivered to the airport, and end up at your destination city. There was no charge for this service, only the airline baggage fees. It is a wonderful service, which we have used many times in the past. If your bags happen to be a little over-weight, you are not charged extra. As for us, we will be in-transit, and do not have to worry about this until October 17th. And so ends our work for the day.Time for lunch in the dining room. Soup, salad, and two mini burgers were just enough. Dessert? No thanks. We figured we would attend the complimentary wine tasting, and indulge with the cheese and fruit plate. So at 2pm, we joined the small group, and happened to take two seats next to our buddies, Johnny and Yvonne. What luck. We sipped and savored the two white selections, but did not care for the reds. Actually, we never drink wine, but do enjoy the presentations, good cheese, and fruit samplings. Wines promoted today were Danzante Pinot Grigio from Italy, Dreaming Tree Chardonay from California (our favorite), Frescobaldi Castiglioni Chianti from Italy, and Cuarto Domino Lote 44 Malbac from Argentina. The malbac was the favorite of most folks.Time for a quick walk of over a mile on deck three in order to stay awake. It was windy, cool, but still pleasant. You could count the walkers on one hand. It takes three rotations to equal a mile, and most folks were doing about one time around. The shops are on this deck, and that’s where we found most everyone…..in the stores. Looked like bargain basement bonanza with all of their sales. We suppose it is the end of the Alaska run, and they are trying to clear out their stockpile. Tickets were being handed out for a drawing, and the line was really long. Great way to get people into their shops.Other things to keep people busy included purchases in the photo shop. Something was different about the layout, but it wasn’t until dinnertime that we discovered why. The Eurodam must have gone into dry dock and had some re-modeling done since last September. So a crafting corner has been added, as well as computer shopping for photos. Package deals are available too. During a further conversation with a familiar photo gal, we learned that the Navigator phone option also has possibilities for purchases packages. This department has really been modernized….a much needed change.Other apparent upgrades we saw were the removal of a glass staircase in the atrium. We always thought it was an accident waiting to happen anyway. And on deck one in the same atrium, a mini bar was removed, replaced with tables and chairs. The future cruise consultant has a different location, and it is where the shore excursion desk used to be. A very congested area, now the shore ex is located in the Crow’s Nest, we think. New carpeting throughout the ship has the added ship direction pointing forward. Hard to get too lost.We enjoyed catching up on another series in the Game of Thrones on our stateroom interactive TV. Such as improvement from the old-fashioned TV’s on the Amsterdam. Dinnertime was formal, oh excuse us…..gala. Most everyone dressed the part – the men in suits or tuxes, and the ladies in sparkles. There were a few hidden t-shirts under a jacket, and yes, we did spot a couple of men with baseball caps. No one was turned away that we saw. We had soup, salad, shrimp cocktail, and mains of rack of lamb with a baked potato. Deciding to pass on dessert, we relented and shared a slice of lemon meringue cheesecake. Good choice…..really tasty.Since we are at a table for two, there is no waiting between courses, so our meal moved along quickly. We certainly miss our buddy, Barb, but she would agree getting out after 10pm some nights was a bit much. Taking a walk outside was not a good idea. In fact, it was so windy and slightly rough that the outside doors on deck three were roped off. Strolling through the shops was a better idea, then off to our room to catch one of the nature series. We love this TV format with so many choices.And better news, the clocks went back one hour tonight as we get closer to Juneau. Works for us and the crew also.Tomorrow we will be in Juneau around 1pm, and away from the rolling seas we hope.Bill & Mary Ann
Sunday, September 23, 2018
Report #2 Embarkation Day September 22, 2019 Saturday 67 degrees and partly cloudy with drizzle
Click the links below to see the pictures:
Friday, September 21, 2018
Report # 1 Getting Ready to Fly to Seattle September 21, 2018 Friday Warm and sunny 92 degrees - Glaciers & Volcanoes with Bill & Mary Ann - 25 Days on the Eurodam
Well, here we go again, for a much anticipated 7 day Alaskan journey, followed by an 18 day trip to Hawaii and back to Vancouver. Gosh, it seems like we just got back into our normal routine from the world cruise. With so many projects planned and unplanned, we have been most busy all summer. Although one fire was fairly close to us, we did live with the horrible smoke for weeks from the rest of the fires in California. Knock on wood, all seems back to our usual pleasant almost-fall weather.
So we plan to fly to Seattle very early tomorrow morning, join the Eurodam, and be off for seven days in Alaska. Ports will include Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, Victoria, and scenic cruising in Glacier Bay. This, the glacier portion of the cruise.
Then we continue back to Vancouver, Victoria, with 5 days at sea heading towards Hawaii, and the volcano portion of the trip. Even though we will not be sailing near Kona and the lava fields, we think we will be close enough to claim the volcano part. The ports in Hawaii will include Hilo, Lahaina, Honolulu, and Lihue, Kauai. Then we will sail 5 days back to Vancouver where we fly home on October 17th.
This will be our second cruise on the Eurodam, which occurred last year around this same time. We lucked out to have great weather last year, so we keep our fingers crossed for the same.
We will miss the start of the fall colors here, but rest assured, the leaves will be waiting for us to clean up!
To be continued…..
Bill & Mary Ann