Today's itinerary included scenic cruising in Glacier Bay, a national park consisting of 3.3 million acres, and part of a 25 million acre World Heritage Site. In other words, it is huge. And thanks to the National Park Services and the US Department of the Interior, we were well armed with excellent printed information of what we were to see and learn today.
We have been here many times on past cruises, but we seem to appreciate this inspiring wilderness more each time we come. With possible sightings of humpback whales, otters, harbor seals, not to mention black, brown or grizzly bears, mountain goats, and moose, what is there not to like? We would also be treated with sightings of birds such as bald eagles, arctic terns, various gulls, puffins, guillemots, and kittewakes. Many of these birds come here to nest and raise their young before heading south for the winter.
Reading the brochures, we learned that this entire bay was once completely frozen over in the form of glacial ice, and as little as 250 years ago. Today some of Glacier Bay is over 1000 feet deep. And after picking up the park rangers at 7am, we headed north towards Margerie Glacier, very near the Canadian border.
The good news was that even though the skies were overcast, we had no rain or fog. And very little wind. The sun even peaked out revealing some blue sky. Yes, we felt quite lucky today. And for taking photos, our room with the aft view from the veranda was really great. The noise from the wake of the ship never bothered us. We also had the option of going out on the bow on deck 5 for viewing, which one of us did during the pea soup serving. It was far more comfortable having our own space with lounges as well.
We kept an eye out for the whales, hoping to see some in the beginning of the entrance to the bay. Not sure anyone saw them. We did begin to see some floating ice and bergie bits, realizing we were getting closer to glaciers. There were many birds to film at this point. By 10am, we had reached the Tarr Inlet, and Margerie Glacier at the end of the finger. The most photographed glacier here, Margerie is one mile wide, with an ice face of 250 feet above the waterline. The base is 100 feet under sea level.
The Captain spent quite a bit of time turning the ship for all to see. Hoping for the thunderous sound of the cracking of calving, we did not see or hear it. This glacier moves up to 7 feet a day, even though it is thought to be in the process of retreating. This is true for some of the glaciers, but on the other hand, some are growing.
Dutch pea soup was being served on the outside decks at 10:30am. We had promised our morning waiter, Gan , that we would hunt him down on deck 5 forward. One of us did go there, but they had already run out of soup, and Gan had to go back to the kitchen for more. Never did see him or have the soup. Will have to tease him about that tomorrow.
Some folks told the rangers that they spotted a mountain goat, but even with our high-power binoculars, we never saw any goats.
After 12pm, we arrived at nearby Johns Hopkins Glacier, much smaller, and covered with a lot more dirty ice. The Captain did not linger here very long. The next sighting was Lamplugh Glacier, another dirty ice floe.
From there, we headed south towards the exit. We began to see streaks in the water, but at a distance. It turned out to be dozens of sea otters. You could see their heads on one end, and their flippers at the opposite end. They can be up to 6 feet long. We are either sailing in their feeding grounds, or they were attracted to the ship. The rangers said that they are capable of diving 200 feet to search for shell fish.
As the ship was leaving the bay, we spotted hundreds of otters, but most at a distance. The best of these photos will be posted later.
At 2pm, the rangers gave two talks in the Mainstage about the wonders and native voices of Glacier Bay. At 4pm, the ship slowed while the rangers were picked up to go back to their headquarters. They had done a fabulous job today.
By 3pm, it began raining lightly, so it was time for lunch for us in the Lido. Needed to keep it light, since we had dinner reservations in the Tamarind tonight at 8pm. The Captain announced that tomorrow the weather in Ketchikan may produce heavy rains, but hopefully, will clear up in the early afternoon. Hope he is right.
Dinner was really good with similar starters as last evening. This time we added an order of the baby back ribs, and they were tender and juicy coated with a BBQ sauce. Entrees were the wasabi steak and Sechuan sp? shrimp……both delicious. Had to try the cheesecake that does not look like cheesecake. Sure was good.
By the way, the credited port charges for Icy Strait Point was $4.24 each. Same amount as the previous cruise.
Until tomorrow……….
Bill & Mary Ann
Thursday, September 30, 2021
Report #7 Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska Wednesday- September 29, 2021 Mostly cloudy and 46 degrees
Wednesday, September 29, 2021
Report #6 Skagway, Alaska Tuesday- September 28, 2021
Another day and another port…….Skagway, a most unexpected surprise. Since Icy Strait Point and Sitka were cancelled, we were most fortunate to have another port substituted. That does not always happen. We did get the credit from the port charges refunded to our shipboard account, but it was minimal. Better than nothing we say.
The arrival time was supposed to be 7am, but we were here much earlier. Compared to the city of Juneau, Skagway is completely different. It is much more of an authentic "Gold Rush" settlement, and maintained as such after all of these years. A blast from the past, it is quite easy to absorb the history easily by simply walking through the streets in town, wandering in and out of the historic buildings. This was the gateway to the gold fields, and life was tough here.
On past trips, we have taken several tours here. One of the best had to be taking a bus to the Yukon, then riding the White Pass Scenic Railroad on the way back. It had been an all day tour including lunch, but the excursions offered today were much shorter. The prices ranged from $100 to $150 for 2 ¼ to 4 ¼ hours. There was a zipline tour, and Brie would have done it if there was room. However it was sold out. The most expensive tour was a helicopter ride to a glacier for 2 hours at $370. There were three time slots and they all sold out. Wow.
The weather could not have been better. Yes, it was chilly, but it was dry. The surrounding mountain peaks were covered with snow, making it an excellent photo op. The sun peaked out later in the day, giving the surrounding scenery a lot of color. While sitting on our veranda, we scanned the trees looking for eagles. And we did see two of them, but very high up. Perhaps we will see more of them in town. It was going to be a perfect day for walking, and that is exactly what we did by 10:30am.
At the end of the pier, there was a small kiosk that advertised information. The young fellow inside offered us a mini newspaper full of stories, coupons, and even a city map. That was all we needed to locate the highlights of town. We have to say that everywhere we went, it was spotless and well kept. The locals were friendly as could be, although, we did notice that many of the touristy vendors had left for the season. There were a number of buildings that were empty as well with shops that had re-located elsewhere, or left for good.
The first part of our hike took us down to the rushing creek, which a few weeks ago, had salmon in it. The trail alongside the creek had signage of the local fauna and flora…..right up our alley. It was so nice to see running water again, since the creeks out our way have all dried up.
From there, we made our way to the main streets where we went to the little museum, past shops, a few cafes, and a historical house. One of the main attractions in town is the White Pass Railway Station. Much history is inside that building, along with a couple of engines outside.
We passed by the Red Onion Saloon, which in its heyday, was famous for their barmaids who danced and entertained the miners. There was a walking tour led by some of the local ladies, who dressed in the costumes of yesteryear. One of these tours included a breakfast in the saloon where you were able to listen to tales as told by actors of Klondike Kate and Diamond Tooth Lil back in 1898.
Now, the best was to come……the search for the best pizza in Alaska. We thought the restaurant was part of a hotel, but we could not locate it. Going up and down some side streets without luck, we decided to ask a local lady who worked in a bike shop. As soon as we mentioned pizza, she knew immediately where to send us. We were one block away from The Station Bar and Grill on 4th Avenue. It had not changed since we ate here perhaps 6 or 7 years ago. We did remember the waitress, who told us later than she and her husband were the owners for the last 19 years.
We ordered two pilsner beers, a small salad to share, and a meat lovers 14" pizza. It was every bit as delicious as we had remembered. We split one gigantic scoop of an ice cream we have never tasted……. homemade sweet potato ice cream. And it was very good, similar to spicy pumpkin ice cream. It is going to take a whole lot of walking to burn these calories.
One of us was on the lookout for another Lazy One sleep T-shirt. Never found them in Juneau, but we did see some that were similar here. But not quite the same. Stopping at one of the only clothing/souvenir shops opened, we found just the right one and bought it. The last chance may have been in Ketchikan, but who knows what will be opened there this late in the season.
Back at the ship by 5pm, one of us worked on photos off line. One thing that drove us nuts today was the fact that there was almost no internet or TV reception. Yes, we know that we are sandwiched between high peaks, but the internet was working early on, after we docked, as was the TV. Something had been turned off for maintenance, we assume, but no one would admit it. It did come back after we left at 7:45pm.
Dinner was in Tamarind at 8pm this evening. The menu had changed a bit, with some new items, but some of the regular things were gone. One such item was the fortune cookie, a favorite for one of us. Our starters were Thai beef salad, the ramen soup, and spring rolls. Due to a shellfish allergy, one of us got rice crackers, while the other had the shrimp crackers. Another thing missing were the exploding finger napkins that always brought a chuckle from us when the waitresses added the hot water.
Our mains were wasabi crusted tenderloin and crispy duck. Both very good, but ample portions. We were served two types of rice, even though we only ordered one serving. We did taste both, saving a tiny bit of room for dessert. One of us had the trio of sorbets, just enough, and the other had the new cheesecake plate. Now this was very different, not resembling cheesecake as we know it. There was a half shell of white chocolate with the tart lemon filling inside of it. A sweetened coconut mixture surrounded the shell, and our waitress suggested putting the sweet mix on top of the cheesecake filling. It worked well, and we were happy campers.
One of these nights we will have to check out the entertainment. But tonight, we were more than ready to turn in. Tomorrow will be another day to explore the ship, as we will be in Glacier Bay, scenic cruising.
Bill & Mary Ann
PS Thanks for the hint about using any card in the slot for the lights. It worked. Also, if you are reading these reports, thanks to Ginger and Bill for your greeting card you left for us. Too bad you did not stay on for one more 7 day cruise! Would have been nice to visit with you all!
Report # 5 Juneau, Alaska September 27, 2021 Monday Rain & 48 degrees
We arrived to our first port of this voyage, Juneau, at about 12:45pm. The skies were heavily overcast on the way, and it was raining lightly most of the day. And it was cool, in the 40's. Good thing we packed the heavy waterproof arctic coats. With hoods, we should not need umbrealls.
Our day began with a nice breakfast in the dining with Gan, our waiter from the world cruise for a couple of years now. He is very popular here, having enough customers that we call his section "Ganville", thanks to Linda and Dave. Anyway, our food was perfect, and served in a timely manner, as always. Now, we each get a carafe of coffee, so it saves the waiter time filling the cups. Salt, pepper, sugar, and cream are on the table, but the rest of the condiments have to be ordered.
This morning we already received the notice about disembarkation. So soon? The good news is that we are eligible for Port Valet, a free service which includes our luggage to be transported from the ship to SF. The airline luggage fee will be put on our shipboard account. Easy peasy.
While we were on the veranda on whale-watch, a tray of a half dozen chocolate-covered strawberries arrived from the Guest Relations Manager, Joanne and her team. Very sweet. By the way a total of 7 whales were spotted, but in the distance. There were more sea birds than anything else, and one bald eagle.
We docked right in town, and even though we had the offer to go off through a special door with Joanne, we opted to wait until the tour groups were off and the gangway was clear. A few of the tours here were whale watching for $170 for 4 hours, or an all- inclusive whale watch for $360 for 4 hours. Dog sledding was $160 for 2.25 hours, while biking and brew was $120 for 4 hours. Want to walk on a glacier? That was $450 via a helicopter ride for 3.25 hours.
About an hour after we docked, the Celebrity Millenium arrived, flipped around, and docked behind us. There were few passengers outside watching their docking, making us wonder how many folks were on that ship.
First and foremost, there was a stern message on the front page of our When & Where. Masks are required to be worn onshore, inside and outside if the streets are crowded. That warning extended to public transportation including buses, trains, vans, airports, aircraft, and day boats.
For lunch, we always head for the Twisted Fish, but it looked closed today. We went online to discover that they are closed for renovations and will not open until December of this year. It was recommended that we visit the Hangar at the Wharf, a sister restaurant. Sounded like a good idea to us, as we have dined there in the past.
In the meantime, we headed downtown to check out the shops as well as making a quick visit to the Red Dog Saloon. For the first time ever, we found the saloon not crowded. The Celebrity folks had not hit downtown yet. Walking the main streets, we noticed that half of the stores were no longer there, and some had already left for the season. The high end jewelry shops had people outside trying to lure folks inside.
Our destination was to find a pharmacy for a few items we forgot. There was a Ben Franklin nearby, and we found what we needed there. Across the street was the long blue building that housed the native souvenir shops and a few cafes. That was where the Hangar was located, so we went inside and had a marvelous lunch. Good thing we split their BBQ double burger on a ciabatta roll with fries. It was massive. The beer was good, as was the slice of mud pie, also huge. By the time we left, the place was full of customers.
Looking for some T-shirts brought us to the T-Shirt Store, of course. Since we are here at the end of the season, much of the merchandise was on sale. Found what we needed, then headed home.
Relaxing in our room, one of us worked on photos, and the other watched the football game. The rest of the afternoon passed all too quickly, and it was time for dinner in the Pinnacle Grill. We had invited Debra, our travel agent, and her lovely daughter, Brie, to join us. We all ordered about the same items, and chatted until 10:30pm. It had been a long day, and for us, so it was time to turn in. Tomorrow will be another port day, Skagway, so we need to get re-charged for that.
Until then, have a good evening.
Bill & Mary Ann
Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Report # 4 Day at Sea September 26, 2021 Sunday Partly cloudy and rain
The seas turned a bit rough during the night, letting us know we are on a rolling ship. Sort of forgot that getting sea legs takes a few days in the beginning. So as a result, one of us felt slightly queasy this morning. Remembering to bring meclizine saved the day, as did eating breakfast. We might add here that complimentary pain meds and seasick pills are available at the front desk.
By the time we arrived to the dining room, it was after 9am. We were quickly welcomed by the staff, most of whom recognized us from the Amsterdam. Zaki and Intan were among those we remembered. Breakfast was good as always, and before we left, we believe we met the origami waiter, Komang. He quickly folded us a bird, as he did for our surrounding guests. It has been more years than we care to admit that we have seen that done.
Along with the increasing clouds, the rain followed and was heavy at times. The outside decks were wet, making walking a little dicey. By the way, it takes 3 times around to walk one mile. Depending on your stride, it takes 20 minutes a mile. There were a few hardy souls doing the same thing. On the lookout for whales, we only saw two ships…one was the NCL Encore and the other was a Royal Caribbean vessel, older and much smaller than the mega ships out there now.
There was a Mariner Society welcome party in the Ocean Bar at 11am, and we were invited. Arriving 5 minutes after 11am, there were no seats left. Within seconds, we had a choice of champagne, wine, or a mimosa. At the entrance, we met Captain Jeroen and Hotel Director Mark, chatting for their required 2 minutes a passenger. We were surprised at the number of guests here, but did learn there are about 1400 onboard. Comfortable, but not over-crowded. Both of us had three mimosas, and felt the need to get outside to walk again. By now, the rain was really coming down.
The next activity was an invite to James Suckling's Pacific Northwest Wine Tasting in the dining room. Attending many of these affairs, we have never been convinced that we like the product. So we passed on this, and went to the third invite of the day…..a Cruise Critic meeting. Although we did not know anyone there, by the time we left, we knew many. We end up recognizing folks by their handles, and realize we have been communicating facts and ideas all along. The leader of the gang created a bingo-type game for all of us to play. The end game was to break the ice and get us all talking. What fun.
Before we knew it, the time was 3:30pm, and we knew we had missed lunch. So we headed for the salad and sandwich bar. Retreating to our room, we listened to some TV news and caught up on some emailing. The TV reception is not great, and neither is the speed and availability of the internet. It must have to do with the area we are in right now.
The five shirts we sent out yesterday arrived back this afternoon from the laundry, all nicely pressed. Now we are ready for the first formal evening in the dining room.
Our key cards had our dining time at 8:30pm, but that sure did not sound correct. We asked one of the waiters to check that for us, and he said it was supposed to be 8pm. Then at dinner, we asked our head waiter Intan when the upper dining room opened for second seating, and she said 7:30pm. That way, there is not a line forming in the hallway. Our table is # 77 on the railing, a four top set for two, and our waiter was Oka.
Both of us ordered Caesar salads with one roll, rack of lamb (minus the cannellini beans) and a half baked potato. Desserts were chocolate soufflé and Black Forest cake. All delicious. The best part of the evening was visiting with several more waiters that we have had the pleasure of knowing on the Amsterdam…..namely Gan and Prio along with many of their buddies. They were so happy to be back at sea, after being off for over 14 months.
Intan explained to us that HAL had decided to eliminate all wine stewards, and the waiters have taken over their job. They are in the process of learning about the wines and the wine service. In addition, there are no European waiters in the Pinnacle Grill anymore. They have staffed it with their Indonesian wait staff.
The clocks went back one hour this evening, so that should give us an extra hour of sleep. So until tomorrow, good evening.
Bill & Mary Ann
Report # 3 Boarding Day September 25, 2021 Saturday Partly cloudy and sunny in Seattle 77 degrees
Our marathon day began very early at about 3am for a pick up time of 4:30am. It never fails. When you know you will have to get up in the wee hours of the night, you never sleep that well, or not at all. There were reports of possible delays with night road repairs and closed exits in downtown SF. Something else to worry about.
As it turned out, our driver arrived early, and we were on our way with hardly no traffic all the way to the airport. Checking in was easy, but the real test was going through the security check. About three months ago, one of us (Mary Ann) had surgery for a total knee replacement. So it was no surprise that the buzzer went off while going through the portal. They did not take my word that I had surgery, but they did check the entire left side with a pat down. And that was it….free to proceed. Even though we did not get the TSA free pass, we did not have to take our shoes off.
There was time for a light breakfast with much needed coffee. The closer it got to boarding time, the busier the terminal got. Of course it was a weekend, and people are traveling a lot more these days. And we have to add that everyone wore their masks as required.
The flight left on time and was less than 2 hours. But there was a problem when we went to go to the baggage pick up. The escalators and stairs had been blocked off by security officers. We were going nowhere. This lasted for at least 15 minutes, and there was no apparent explanation. Finally the tape was dropped, and we overheard someone say there was a security breach. There is a first time for everything we say.
Many of the passengers on our flight had gotten through earlier, so when we went to look for our luggage, it was not coming down the chutes. Upon asking, we discovered someone had off-loaded it and it waiting there against a wall. These days, it seems that most travelers carry on their smaller bags to avoid the charges, so there is far less luggage at the carousel.
If memory serves us correctly, we recall that our luggage used to be taken from the carousel and dropped off at an HAL desk. We did not have to schlep it to the waiting buses, which is quite a walk. They no longer do this.
Following directions given to us by an HAL rep, we made our way to the bus terminal for cruisers dragging the bags. Today we were mixed with NCL folks. There was a bit of a wait before we loaded onto the coach for a 45 minute ride through town. Our luggage was taken to trucks to be delivered to the pier.
A few days ago, we were contacted by Gerald Bernhoft, the Director of the Mariner Society. He invited us to meet with him at the pier for a quick hello and a speedy embarkation. Not having a cell phone to touch bases with him, we figured this may not happen. But lo and behold, there he was, waiting for us at the entrance. And he did just as he promised. With the proper paper work (passports, Covid vaccination cards, Covid tests results, and our boarding passes), we were most of the way there. We had to pass through their security xray, where the new knee did not set off the alarms….go figure? The final thing left to do was have our passports scanned and our photos taken.
At this point, Gerald introduced us to Mark, the Hotel Director and Joanne, the Guest Relations Manager, who personally escorted us on the ship. We thanked Gerald for his kind jester, and promised that we would see him in 2023 when the GWV resumes. What a reception…it could not have been nicer. Once we were at our room, we had more head staff come to see what else they could do for us. On the desk, we had gifts of champagne on ice, no less, several envelopes of shipboard credit, and bottles of whisky and scotch. These days, we do not drink as much, and in 7 days, finishing 2 bottles would be impossible. So we asked for Cokes and flowers instead. No rush. Believe it or not, that was done within the hour. Beautiful bouquet of flowers and all the Coke we wanted. Wow………..
One thing that surprised us was the fact you need to use the room key to activate the lights in the cabin. Much the same as you do in most of the hotels these days. Must be a huge energy-saving effort to have everything off when you are not in the room. In addition, the night light we brought for the bathroom did not fit in the plug.
This was a good time to check out the Lido for lunch. The first station we came across was the salad bar with three servers waiting to take our orders. Both of us had small cobb salads with ranch dressing. Beverages were served and refilled by several waiters. Then we went on a search for the recommended prime rib, however, we could not find it at the station. Guess it was so popular that it was consumed as fast as they brought it out. So we substituted sliced roast beef submarine sandwiches on fresh torpedo rolls, equally as delicious.
Remembering the advice of previous bloggers, we headed for the Pinnacle to make reservations in the Pinnacle Grill and Tamarind restaurants. Good thing we did as most of the reservations were full at the time we requested. We did manage to get three Pinnacles and two Tamarind dates. And we may try lunch in the Pinnacle one afternoon. The nice thing is that they will all be complimentary for being members of the President's Club. We discovered that the specialty restaurants, with the exception of Sel De Mer, are included in our perks now.
Another important task was locating the muster station and log our keycards into their system. So much better than the standard drill, we simply watched the video of the drill in our room to satisfy this requirement.
One piece of luggage had arrived, so we unloaded it. Our particular room really has a lack of storage space compared to our room on the Amsterdam. Obviously, these ships were not designed for really long cruises, but OK for shorter itineraries. Eventually, we came across our second bag which was in a pile at the nearest elevator lobby. Instead of waiting for it to be delivered, we pulled it to our room. By the way, our head room steward, Jas, introduced himself, and also went the mile to make sure we had everything we needed. We did ask him to remove the drink set-up (we did not purchase the Have-It-All package), and remove the robes, and send out some shirts for pressing….no rush, we added. By 6pm, all was done. We have yet to meet Natan, his assistant.
One job we needed to do was figure out the internet packages, using our 100 minutes credits each of us was gifted. Having difficulty doing this in our room, we headed to the front desk for help. Access to WIFI was much better there, but we discovered only one of the credits was allowed to be used for the one device we had….our computer. The minutes had been converted to $55, so the second credit was put back on our account to be used for other things. We purchased the premium package ($139.99) with no worries about minutes ticking away like we used to have on the Amsterdam.
At one point, the captain, Jeroen Baijens, came on with an important announcement. Our itinerary was changing due to adverse weather conditions. The calls to Sitka and Icy Straight Point had to be cancelled, but the good news, was that Skagway was to be substituted. We were quite happy with the changes, since it has been a long time since we visited Skagway. Now we hope that the town has not closed up for the season. One of the best pizzas we had was in a hotel there, so that will be a priority.
Normally, we attend the sail away at the aft pool deck. But having a nice veranda facing the aft, we opted to stay there as the ship left the pier. At least it was the perfect time to elevate the knee on the chaise lounge while taking in the heat of the sun. And we could hear the music from deck nine as the sail away was proceeding. It was then that we heard our names yelled out by a very special friend who is also on this trip…….our treasured travel agent Debra. She is here with her lovely daughter, Brie. Since we were halfway through our chilled bottle of champagne, we finished it off, and headed up to deck nine. Searching for the girls, we could not find them, but we did come across the pizza station and decided to share a freshly-baked custom pizza. It was perfect….crispy crust and hot as ever. Yep, this will be one of our favorite spots. Eventually, the girls found us in our room, where we spent at least an hour visiting while enjoying the sailing out of the bay. On the lookout for whales, we did spot one rather large seal lion and a few birds.
Before we knew it, the time for dinner had arrived….7:30pm in the Pinnacle. Many of the staff there recognized us, although we were at a disadvantage since everyone is masked. We were escorted to a table at the window, and taken care of royally. We ordered Caesar salads, candied bacon, the 7 ounce filet with a side of shared French fries. Sadly, there are no more cheesy rolls, but they served warm slices of a rye bread….equally as good. Adding a dessert of key lime pie, we finished our meal by 9:30pm.
It had been such a busy, long day, we headed back to our room, hoping for a very restful night. The sea motion had picked up and literally rocked us to sleep. Today's mostly sunny skies might be last we see for the upcoming week………..
Bill & Mary Ann
Friday, September 24, 2021
Report # 2 Getting ready to leave.......... 9-24-21 Friday Still warm and dry in Clayton 92 degrees
Even though we were 90% packed for the trip, there are always a few things we tend to forget. And for a change, we still had room in the suitcases for those extras. The rest of the day, we spent outside watering and feeding the birds, and tending to the last of the veggie plants. We prefer to come back to a clean house, so those jobs are finally completed.
Tomorrow we will be picked up around 4:30am, and be on time for our 7:45am flight to Seattle. Usually we go early by a day or two, but this time, we decided to take our chances and board on the same day. Actually, having to do the Covid test two days prior to sailing gave us little choice. By the way, we went to a CVS Minute Clinic in nearby Walnut Creek for the antigen test.
If we get wifi in Seattle, we will write then. In the meantime, we had better start to think about an early bedtime tonight.
We do plan on posting photos, but they will be on our blog spot "Treasures of Cruising the World with Bill and Mary Ann". Sometimes we have problems posting pictures to Cruise Critic, so this is a better solution.
Stay tuned…….
Bill & Mary Ann
Report # 1 September 23, 2021 Thursday Sunny & 91 degrees in Clayton Enroute To Alaska
Report # 1 September 23, 2021 Thursday Sunny & 91 degrees in Clayton Enroute To Alaska
Well, here we are, once again, starting a journey to Alaska beginning on Saturday, the 25th, and ending Saturday October 2nd. At his point, we will believe it when we arrive to the pier in Seattle. Since we abruptly left the world cruise on the Amsterdam back in March of 2020, we have booked several future trips, only to have them be cancelled due to worldwide Covid outbreaks. Life will return to somewhat of normal someday, just not that quickly. In the meantime, we are really looking forward to this trip, despite the fact that it will be brief.
This will be out first voyage on the Nieuw Amsterdam, a vessel launched in 2010, with a tonnage of 86,700 gross tons. It does house over 2000 passengers, however we believe there will be far less on this trip. And what will be really different is the fact we will be required to wear masks while inside the vessel. And perhaps in the Alaskan ports as well. A small price to pay to be back on the seas once again.
So today, we had our required Covid tests (antigen) and passed. By the time we arrived home, emails were sent with the results. All we had to do was print them. About a month ago, we printed out our contract and boarding passes, and yesterday, we filled out an easy health form online for HAL.
The luggage (2 pieces) is packed and miraculously underweight. It will be strange to go from extremely hot and dry California to a probably wet and colder Alaska. Truthfully, we have been without rain for so long, we will enjoy seeing and feeling it coming down.
We do hope the internet will co-operate while onboard, as we have been tracking the progress of every previous 7 day Alaskan cruises since they began. If we miss a few days, we promise to catch up when we can.
Stay tuned………….
Bill & Mary Ann