Today was a good one for relaxing and catching up on two days' worth of reports and photos. Cruising the Inside Passage was rather dismal weatherwise with overcast skies, wind and some rough seas. Fog moved in and required the foghorn to be sounded off and on. It was also a good time for an 8am breakfast with lots of hot coffee. Since we were invited for lunch in the Pinnacle today, we kept breakfast as light as we could.
Most of the shops are still closed. Only the Effy section with the high-end jewelry and watches was open. We assume the same shop carries essentials like toiletries, medicines, and sundries. That did not stop the Alaska Shopping Show folks from promoting onboard shopping or shore shopping in their stores. Complimentary port maps, VIP cards, and coupons were given out as well as a chance to win $1000 for an onboard shopping spree. Everyone that attended this lecture in the World Stage would receive a traveler tag. It is so strange to see these regular shops closed for the rest of this trip. Re-opening will be on September 16th, one day before our arrival to Vancouver. This same transformation is happening fleetwide.
Today was the final chance to buy into Have-It-All. The cost was $70 per person per day and both guests in a room would have to buy the package. Another promotion was through the photo department with custom portrait sessions. And a unique concept is promoting a portrait of your eye……yes the eye, which is unique to each of us. That is really a stretch of the imagination in our humble opinion. Another bargain was buying 5 photos and getting a vintage luggage tag for free.
So the highlight of the day was the invitation to join the hotel manager, Leonie and Cynthia, the guest relations manager for lunch in the Pinnacle Grill. We admitted that it has been years since we dined for lunch there. The last time, we had been invited by the visiting food guru George Geary, along with Susie and Barb, our tablemates to a private lunch which lasted for two hours. Gosh we all had a fine time that day. And the girls enjoyed the flowing wine too.
We met the ladies at 12 noon, then after being seated, Captain Smit came on with his seaday talk, followed by Clare with the afternoon activities. That took ten minutes minimum, then the two of us ordered small wedge salads and one main of braised beef short ribs with chow fun noodles. That happens to be one of the newer items on the dinner menu as well. The other entrée was a Pinnacle burger made with Wagyu beef, bacon jam, garlic-chipotle aioli and Beechers cheddar cheese. It was on a bun and topped with cabernet red onions, slices of avocado with French fries on the side. We had heard that the burger was removed from the menu a few years ago, so it was a nice surprise to see it back. We ended the meal with one order of crème Brule and the smallest slice of Key Lime pie they could find. Our waitress was Santi, who had just rotated in here yesterday. She did a good job with our group. Leonie had to leave at 1pm and return to work, but Cynthia stayed with us until 1:30pm. We had lots of catching up to do. Then there was a call for the medical team and the stretcher team to go to the Ocean Bar. Then Cynthia had to leave to help with the accident. Never a dull moment here. We thanked them for the invite and the pleasure of their company. Leonie said we will have to do it again before they both leave the ship in San Diego. But next time, she will sneak us in there ½ - hour earlier. Sounds fine to us.
Remember we told you that the exhaust fan in the bathroom was not working at all? Well parts must have been purchased in Vancouver, and by the late afternoon, it began to operate. We had been describing the dripping ceiling and mirrors to Leonie, and she said we had our own rainforest onboard. Around 7pm, we had a visit from the head housekeeper, who verified the motor was working. We had a long chat with him before he left. Very nice young fellow.
The TV was not working well today….actually no live feed, which was what happened a week ago. No surprise, we watched a Star Trek movie for a change, since that seemed to work OK.
Dinner tonight was "dressy". We saw only four fellows with jackets at the second fixed seating. Most wore collared shirts and the ladies donned something slightly dressy. Nothing was over-the-top which is normal for cruising this part of the world. Our meal consisted of French onion soup, Caesar salad, and a seafood cocktail. Both of us ordered the same entrée of rack of lamb, which was quite good. Since we indulged with dessert at lunchtime, we ordered sliced pineapple and watermelon.
The sailing got rather rough this evening and we did see rain most of the day. Due to the tides and winds, the Captain needed to push the pedal to the metal to get to Juneau on time. There will be no stopping at Tracy Arm for the tour tomorrow.
We checked our shipboard account this afternoon to find they may have gotten credits and charges incorrect. That will be a morning job to stop at the front desk and straighten it out.
Nick Paul was the magic person show in the World Stage tonight. An expected rerun from last week, we passed on the show. And we almost forgot…..the clocks went back one hour tonight. That is always a plus.
Bill & Mary Ann
No Pictures