It seems that for every 20 miles we sailed north, the temperature dropped a degree. And that's exactly what we expected. The nice part is that the sun has stayed out, and there is no sign of rain…..yet. It may come as soon as tomorrow as we head towards Tracy Arm, followed with our first stop in Juneau. In the meantime, we enjoyed soaking up the warmth on our veranda. It has been so unforgivingly hot at home, we never thought we could feel cold again. Wish we could send some of this coolness to our family and buddies back home.
After sleeping pretty well last night, we began our day with our first breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill. Our greeter remembered us from the Nieuw Statendam last spring, which is always nice. At 8:30am, it was already busy in there with the suite folks. On a side note, there is Club Orange on this ship, but their special dining area is located in the main dining room on deck two. One of the first things the wait staff learned about us is the fact we like hot coffee, and lots of it. It became like a challenge for the waiters to keep our cups full. And that they did so gladly. Today's breakfast was fairly simple with Greek yogurt and fresh berries, Belgium waffles with a slice of ham. Oh yeah, we shared a blueberry muffin with our fresh-squeezed orange juice. The bakers have done a great job with their breads so far, and that can be dangerous. We could have had a mimosa, but we refrained.
We attempted a walk around the outside deck, but failed to bring sweatshirts. We lasted one round, then ducked inside. Maybe we'll try it later. At least we know the deck goes completely around, and not what was written in the Berlitz book, which stated you cannot get around the bow of the ship. We took a stroll through The Shops, to check out their items. Found they were similar to all of the ships, except for the Alaskan smoked salmon, warm clothing, and some local jewelry. We bet that in three weeks there will be a good sale on what will be left before the ship heads south to the palm trees. And good news……there were no pushy sales people, at least this early in the day. Hope it stays that way. If we were seeking items from Effy, their high-end jewelry collection, we could have attended the Shopping Show in the Rolling Stones Lounge in the morning, and had a chance to get a pendant if we were the first of 200 people there.
We had a big job waiting for us in our room, so we spent the better part of the day getting everything stashed. Once again, we brought the super duper ceiling magnetic hooks along with some wooden dowels. So now the wall where the thermostat is located, is full of colorful Tommy B short sleeve shirts on hangers. Even hung some over the mirror behind the bed. Did we mention that this ship has the felt-covered thin hangers that are sold at Costco for instance? They are great. A shoe bag worked well for all the small stuff from toiletries to masks, over-the-counter meds, a sewing kit and scissors, as well as small lotions and potions. The best thing is that the pouches are clear and everything can easily be located.
This time the jewelry pouch (a small version of the shoe bag) was hung on a hanger from the ceiling too. It is so much better than the plastic container I used on the previous cruise, where the earrings got all tangled. We thought ahead and purchased 20 small magnetic hooks that one of us used to hang necklaces…all from the ceiling. There is absolutely no metal in the walls, and attempting to use Command hooks failed. There is a gritty texture to the walls and the sticky pads do not work. But they will hold on any wooden surface, such as found in the closets and around the desk area. That's where a full size calendar was hung along with clips to display the daily newsletter and invites, etc. Speaking of invitations, we did receive one for a James Suckling's Wine Tasting in the afternoon. As most everyone knows, we seldom drink wine, so we did not attend.
While we were busy as bees, a technician arrived to find out what was wrong with the extra refrigerator. We explained it was not working correctly, but we would keep it and use it as a cabinet. Not sure he really understood that, but he agreed. Later, he came back with a set of three plastic drawers, larger than the nightstands. Well that will be convenient, so we asked him to leave that also. Sailing on the Amsterdam, we always had drawers in the desk. But here, there are none but the two small drawers in the nightstands. So, in the end, we ended up with uncrowded closets with extra shelf space in there. The four empty suitcases fit under the bed. Job done!
It was already 2pm, so we ordered a room service lunch. It arrived rather quickly. One of us had a chicken Caesar salad, the other had the chicken noodle soup (without the spaghetti, let alone the noodles). Is that a cutback? We shared a club sandwich, with was half the size of what we remembered. Probably better for us. Working on reports and photos took up the rest of the afternoon. Most of the day, Captain Friso sailed in and out of the passage. Our veranda has the best panoramic view of the aft seas. With the use of powerful binoculars and the good camera, Bill was able to take pictures of whale blows, an eagle, a school of dolphins, many sea birds, a few fishing boats, and a surprise display of killer whales. What a treat. Around 6:30pm, the ship slowed to a crawl, and apparently picked up a pilot from a boat. We could see the evidence of a separate wake as we continued sailing on, capturing a photo of the exiting vessel. We had made last minute reservations in the Pinnacle this first gala (Dressy) evening at 7:30pm, and we made it by the skin of our teeth. Had we attended the Captain's Welcome, we would have arrived even later. Been there, done that, and it would be crowded in the Mainstage for sure. Not our thing, even though we have continued to wear our masks while inside the ship.
We failed on the Have-It-All perk today, as we forgot to collect our beverages. Will have to catch up tomorrow.
When we boarded yesterday, we discovered a nifty little orange booklet called The Basics. Among other things, it outlines the dress code. Tonight's was labeled Dressy, taking it up a notch with slacks, skirts, dresses, blouses, collared shirts and jackets. The term Gala was not mentioned, but Formal was. The suggested attire for that is suits and dresses. Casual is described as smart attire, but no distressed jeans, shorts, beachwear, or tank tops in the table service restaurants. This evening in the Pinnacle Grill, we saw a mixed bag of clothing, but most all acceptable. Only one young fellow strolled in with distressed jeans complete with holes. He was not asked to change. As for us, we dressed a bit more on the Formal side….tux and glitter.
Dinner consisted of wedge salads with warm rolls and garlic butter as well as a bell pepper/cream cheese mixture. We shared a clothes line bacon appetizer to eat with our salads. We did not see any extra charge for ordering more than one or two appetizers, however, if you chose to order more than one entrée, there was an additional fee. Our main was the same…..the small filet mignon, medium. It came almost rare, and not quite as hot as we normally prefer it. A baked potato, one serving of sauteed mushrooms, and one order of French fries rounded out the meal. We will have to request the waiter to serve the food as hot as they can, or else it comes lukewarm. Perhaps that was due to the fact our meals sat on a side table for a bit too long. Desserts were one crème brulee and an Almost Baked Alaska, which almost had no ice cream in the middle. Frankly, I can do without the meringue and cake, and just have the Cherry Garcia ice cream. What had been in the middle of the cake (not even Cherry Garcia) had melted out completely. Of course, our waiter had no idea it wasn't up to par, but we explained the mess I left. He offered another one, but we declined, laughing on our way out. Perhaps the next time, I will order the Key lime pie, which is always tasty and sweet.
And speaking of sweets, yesterday we had informed Edy, our room steward, that we did not need towel animals, cute as they are, we figured it saves him some precious time. Instead, we opted for two pillow chocolates daily. He said no problem, and for two nights, we have had them on our bed in the evening. He did not have to go to anyone for special permission, as they had to on the N. Amsterdam and Statendam. For the Dressy night, we did not receive the Seattle's Best formal candies. Not sure they serve those anymore.
The clocks went back one hour tonight, affording us the time to compose this report. We could have gone to see the Humanity Step One Dance Company performance, but that is one we have attended a few times. Best to keep up with the reporting. One of these evenings, we will have to check out the Music Walk and see how crowded those shows are.
Tomorrow we shall stop briefly in Tracy Arm, then continue to Juneau, the capital of Alaska. Want to bet there will be many other cruise ships there?
Bill & Mary Ann
PS We were very sad to hear of Queen Elizabeth's passing today. Captain Friso came on the speakers and gave a moving speech about her amazing life and service to her country. God bless the Queen!
