Well, here we are again…….starting another adventure which will take us to Alaska on three back-to-back seven day cruises, followed by a legendary trek through the South Pacific for 56 days. We have been lucky to have done this same itinerary for the past five or six years now. We'll enjoy the cooler weather of the Pacific Northwest, then bake in the humid heat for several weeks as we head southwest for Hawaii and the many islands of Fiji, Samoa, Tonga below the Equator, then onto French Polynesia. San Diego will be our last stop before flying home in November.
It certainly was a challenge packing for both types of weather. We managed to take the basics with four pieces of luggage plus carry-ons. Over the years, we have compiled a list of things to take in the "lotions and potions" department. That way we seldom forget anything. We are sticking to mostly casual to dressy clothing this trip because it seems to be appropriate. We do not believe there are any formal evenings. We will discover how fancy people will get tomorrow night since it will be the first dressy evening.
Leaving home at 4am, we were off to SFO for a flight at 8:41am. Lucky for us, there was little to no traffic all the way despite the fact that today was a Wednesday and a commute day. It was just the opposite at the airport with crowds of folks traveling today. All went smoothly with check-in and the TSA checkpoint.
Being that we had some time to relax, we waited until 6:30am to have a shared breakfast in one of the restaurants that offered full service. Their coffee sure tasted good. Our plane was full and it went quickly as we headed to Vancouver. For a change, both of our TV screens worked with one of us watching a movie and the other old sitcoms. Although the plane did arrive ahead of time, we had to wait for an available gate.
It seemed as if the terminal was miles away from the baggage area. And it was the busiest we have ever seen it. Going through the customs banks of kiosks was slow although the directions were excellent. Gathering the luggage was easy, and we were actually met by an HAL rep. Holland America has a counter set up where the luggage can be dropped off. They promised we would see it in our room. Then we sat outside and waited for a bus for the transfer to the pier. There were only four of us on this huge bus, but the driver picked up about eight more folks before heading through town. As luck would have it, it turned out to be a beautiful day with temperatures in the high 70's. We had been told by some locals that it has been raining quite a bit this summer, so we appreciated the sunny clear day. Hope it lasts…….
We arrived at Canada Place after noontime where we saw a Regent ship, the Explorer, as well as the Zaandam. Once we went through the entrance for HAL, we were greeted by the local team who knew our names. They escorted us to a separate desk where we showed our passports and boarding passes and had our photos taken. One more time through the customs kiosks, but at the xray check, one of our bags had to be checked for several batteries. They were well-buried, so the checker let us go after spotting the back brace. The batteries were mostly for a tens unit for back pain.
From there, we had two VIP escorts….the food and beverage manager as well as the Mariner concierge who took us to our room. Good thing Vini was there to see that our room keys did not work. He went back to the front desk, coming back with new keys. Guess what? Those did not work either. This is not our first experience with faulty room keys. Since we were in need of lunch, he advised us to go ahead and he would leave new keys in the mail slot, testing them to make sure they were good. The third time was a charm.
We had some nice surprises upon entering our room. Some of our amenities had arrived such as a bouquet of flowers, some Cokes, and sparkling wine on ice. Two trays of canapies and sweets were on the table as well. Our bed was full of cards and the daily newsletter. We did ask our room stewards for some extra felt hangers and they found us some. We always request extra toweling, and they came with more later on.
The Lido was over-flowing with hungry guests, but we did manage to find a table to enjoy salads and a slice of pizza. We ran into Presty who happens to be the Lido manager. He made sure that we had our requested table in the dining room for main seating dinner. Of course, our room keys said open seating, which we ignored. We had an invite to a Mariner party in the Crow's Nest at 2pm where we met with a couple who seem to enjoy this trip as much as we do every year. They have been on the ship for three weeks already and will do one more week. And they informed us there will be a dinner invite with the four of us with some of the officers before the week is over. Should be fun.
It was time to attend the muster drill, which is so easy these days. Going back to our room, we found the room keys and they worked this time. At life boat #6, our cards were scanned and we listened to a brief talk by one of the staff members. From there we went back to the room until we noticed we were sailing out of the harbor. All four pieces of luggage had arrived, and we got busy stashing it away. Deciding that could wait, we went to deck six forward and aft to watch the scenic cruising. It did not disappoint us either as we spotted some feeding whales in the distance as they blew their spouts. As many times as we have done this route, we don't believe we ever saw whales here. First time for everything we say. One last stop at the aft pool deck to watch the sail away activities (drinking and dancing), we went back to finish the unpacking. We can say for a fact that we have plenty of space to stash it all, even in our outside cabin. These remaining smaller ships (Zaandam and Volendam) were built with longer itineraries in mind. We will stay here for the Alaska runs, then move to a veranda room for the Tales of the South Pacific.
Our room stewards, Den and Irfan, took care of our requests, some of which had not been done. One was the request for a refrigerator. When they brought it to the room, it did not work. It was the most beat-up fridge we have ever seen….no wonder it didn't work. Leaving a note on it, we found it had been replaced with a much nicer one that actually got cold. Now the surprise was that we are going to be charged $2 a day for the use of it. Consider us spoiled, but we have not paid for a spare fridge for years. We shall inquire about this tomorrow as well as many other questions.
About the same time as we finished unpacking, it was time for dinner. At first the upper dining room was spotty with customers, but as the evening went on, the whole place filled with the over-flow from anytime diners. Our waiters Arim and Arya were very attentive and we also had visitors the entire time. The maître-d, sommelier, head water, and several waiters came to say hi. Even though they may not have been our personal waiters, they remembered us from previous cruises. And that's about the best aspect of returning to HAL trips. The staff is excellent.
The food choices were nice tonight and the menu seemed newer and revised from what we remembered from last year. The Club Orange menu had Peruvian chicken, which one of us ordered, and a very tasty pork medallion plate with lingonberries. We shared a no sugar added lemon torte. One cup of coffee ended our pleasant meal, and we were to bed early. We plan on sleeping like babies tonight.
Bill & Mary Ann
