We just realized that we did not receive the HAL or Club Orange bag or the commemorative ship tiles we usually get after the Mariner Event. Will have to ask our new room steward, Putu, to provide them. Since we have not cruised on this class of ships, the tiles will be new ones. We also asked about the bag, and Putu heard they were back-ordered. Where have we heard this before? Oh yeah, on the N. Amsterdam a year ago on a Alaska Cruise. They promised us that the two N. Amsterdam tiles would be mailed to our home. Even after a couple of phone calls to HAL offices, they still have not arrived. Doubt they ever will. There were all new customers in the Pinnacle Grill for breakfast. We asked Remco, the PG manager, how many intransit guests carried over like us. He surprised us when he said a total of seventeen. We expected it to be more. Another observation was that the complimentary mimosas are not actively promoted at breakfast time, as they are on other ships. Yes, they are listed on the menu, but easily missed. A subtle cutback perhaps?
A Celebrity ship, the Millenium, passed us heading back towards Canada. Other vessels included a few fishing boats and many barges being towed by tug boats. Wildlife sightings were few such as some dolphins or porpoise, and birds of course. The Captain took the ship between the islands, then headed out to open waters, we assume to make better time heading to the 49th state. This manuever occurred several times during the day.
There was really a mix of weather conditions today. Early in the morning, we caught some warm sun, followed by overcast, and later by rain showers. It was still pleasant walking on the promenade deck for our mile hike. There were several folks doing the same thing around lunchtime. After the Captain spoke on the speakers, Ian, the former world cruise port lecturer, came on for the afternoon activities. We assume he has taken over Valerie's place as the travel and cruise director, or whatever they are called these days. In addition, we have another naturalist speaker, Kainoa, who we have known from many Hawaii and South Pacific voyages. We shall be on the lookout for him, since we heard he has slimmed down a lot.
Forgot to mention yesterday, that while the ship was turning over, we took advantage of that, and located the room we will have on the world cruise in January. It is a Signature Suite with much more space than we are used to. We happened to run into an assistant head housekeeper, who invited us in for a look. We were not disappointed as the room was plenty spacious and well appointed. Nice bathroom, but there were still the clingy shower curtains. Perhaps when the ship goes into dry dock, they will get rid of the curtains. There will be no problem with storage, but we will really enjoy the larger veranda that has two wicker-woven lounges with thick pads, and a table with two chairs.
Once again, we passed on the wine tasting at 1:45pm, and ordered room service for lunch. We are still leary of going to the Lido or even the dining room, which is too early for us for lunch. They make great chicken Caesar salads, and very tasty quesadillas in place of a sandwich. We have learned to order doubles on the salad dressing, because the ramakins are so tiny, they hold one tablespoon of dressing at the most. There are no more fruit bowls in the rooms, so we added some apples and oranges to our order. It is worth mentioning that we sent the laundry out at 8am, and it was returned by 4:30pm. Excellent service.
Dinner was in the dining room, where we re-claimed our original table on the railing we reserved about a year ago. Even though we are still surrounded with other diners, this area seems much less busy and even quieter. Our new waiters were Adrian and Karl, both from the Philippines for a change. This evening's dress code was listed as "Dressy" in the When and Where, however, the menu stated "Gala". Believe this........few were truly Gala (suits, tuxes, or even sport coats). Most were less than Casual. Seven day cruises are a different animal from the longer voyages, as most folks do not want to pack the extra clothes. The ladies are the exception, wearing a little more glitter.
We enjoyed shrimp cocktails, Caesar salads (no anchovies), one halibut, and one rack of lamb, minus the beans. All was delicious, although we need to request HOT food once again. The next time we come on Saturday, we will nicely tell him. Desserts were a special chocolate mousse cake, and one chocolate layer cake. The serving sizes have shrunk, and for this, we are glad. A decaf coffee finished the meal. Our new waiter mentioned that the wait staff is due to rotate maybe after this 7 day cruise ends. This seems to be the norm, where everyone gets rotated and the two man teams separated. Hope this does not occur on the grand voyage, as it is such a nice thing to have the waiters get to know us, as we get to know and appreciate them.
Back in our room, we found two tiles, two pillow candies (get 2 every night), two HAL blue bags, and a reminder to set our clocks back one hour to be on Alaska time. Actually, we had expected a Club Orange bag, like we received on both the N. Statendam and N. Amsterdam. Lastly, we had another notice that tomorrow is balcony-cleaning day between 12:30 and 4pm.
On the last cruise, the ship stopped for a tour in Tracy Arm, however, this was not mentioned for tomorrow. Wonder if it was cancelled? Those who booked the tour there are probably really disappointed.
Bill & Mary Ann
PS Here are a few answers for questions that have been asked. A Grand Dutch Café will not be added to this ship for the Grand World Voyage. We would have loved it, but it will not happen.
We have not seen any water cans or bottles that can be re-sealed, unlike the aluminum bottles that were previously sold. In addition, there are signs posted on the water/tea/coffee vending machines in the Lido saying personal bottles or thermoses cannot be filled there.
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