Btimmer - North to Alaska

I am enjoying your reports.

 

 

 

Amazing that you were able to see your childhood house where you grew up.

 

 

 

We actually like Hubbard Glacier better than Glacier National Park. We have seen more calving there and think the ice is bluer.

We agree with your observations about the differences in the Glaciers. There is, however, more wildlife sailing into Glacier Bay.

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Day 5 - Thursday, 9/21/17 - Sitka

Bright and early we arrived in Sitka and moored at the 'cruise' terminal which is located about 6 miles out of town. The last time we were here on the Amsterdam some years ago, we tendered at this port. We met up with Mike and Pam and headed off the ship for the ship-provided former school bus to town. The driver was quite chatty and provided a mini-tour on the drive into town.

We headed out from the drop-off point on a walk along the waterfront past a very cool set of small dams and fish ladders. It was the end of the spawning season and there were lots of dead salmon littering the river as well as a number of still live salmon swimming in the creek. At the Sitka National Historical Park we were able to collect stamp impressions for our National Parks book of parks visited. We also watched a short video about the history of the area.

Leaving the visitor center we walked through the park and across the newly built bridge over the Indian River. Again there were more salmon dead along the banks and live salmon swimming in the river. Today there were first grade children being taught by rangers. A short walk out of the park brought us to the Raptor Center where eagles and owls and other raptors are rehabilitated and or cared for if they can't be released into the wild. There was an introductory lecture including a live demonstration by a young eagle named 'Spirit'. Outside there are a number of raptors that can be viewed and I got a few really good pictures of one of them.

We then walked back to the park and did a stroll through the park which included a number of Indian totems. We retraced our path back to the city center where we split up as Mike and Pam wanted to visit the bear exhibit, I wanted to visit the vintage Russian Orthodox Church plus Angela needed to get back to the ship for a manicure and pedicure. Angela and I enjoyed a quick lunch at a Mexican restaurant that served halibut fish and chips and she persuaded them to make a fish taco salad. Afterwards we visited the church, did some shopping, and then split up as she needed to return to the ship. I shopped a bit more and visited the Bishop's House which is also a National Historic Park where I collected another National Park stamp! Two scores in Sitka.

I caught a shuttle bus back to the port, cruised the gift shop, and reboarded the ship around 3:15pm for all aboard time of 3:30pm. I went up to Deck 10 to watch the sail away and we left at 3:40 or 20 minutes early. Just before departing, the captain announced in no uncertain terms that tomorrow's on board time would be 12:30pm and that we would PROMPTLY depart at 1pm as another ship needs our berth.

On the sail out there was a pretty good display of whale activity on the starboard side which was cool to see. We had reservations at the Pinnacle grill and tonight's menu was Sel de Mer. If you have the chance to eat this meal, DO IT! The selections were exquisite and we enjoyed the two Maine Lobsters each as our entrees. The seafood tower was great and the chocolate covered strawberries as a pre-dessert offering was a treat. Our desserts of an apple crisp and a cheese plate were wonderful as was the chocolate mousse anniversary cake. And the dinner didn't take 2 1/2 hours like the main dining room. It was just over an hour.

The evening's main stage entertainment was a young magician, Nick Diffatte, was really good with great timing with his jokes as well. We finished the evening watching the movie, 'The Mummy'.

It's worth noting that our room TV finally became operational today after repeated calls to the office by us and our stateroom atttendant. It was good to watch the news. Now if they could fix the free online NYTimes.com, all would be well with the world. The front office's solution was to send us paper copies of the NYTimes.

Also, Verizon cell service in Sitka is a bit weak and only a 3G signal. WIFI is available in restaurants as well as at the library.

Stay tuned for more.

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Amazing picture of the eagle! It's cool to see the feather detail.

Thank you for posting it (and for your live from reports!)!!

The Zaandam just docked behind us in Ketchikan where it's a heavy drizzle!

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We're sailing in the Strait of Juan de Fuca on our way to Victoria. There were lots of whale sightings over the past few hours. Here's my latest update:

Day 6 - Friday, 9/22/17 - Ketchikan

Our final day in Alaska began with our CD, Erin's, 'Welcome to Ketchikan' message at just before 7am. My wife and I had agreed the night before that we were not going to get off early, so we didn't. After a leisurely breakfast after 8am we disembarked the ship in a light mist and headed over to the old part of Ketchikan to do a bit of shopping. Given that we had been to Ketchikan in May on the Volendam on the conclusion of our Hong Kong to Vancouver cruise and the Oosterdam's stop was so brief, we just walked around in what was very familiar surroundings. It was surprising that the shops in Ketchikan generally didn't display quite the same sense of it being the end of the cruise season than we experienced in Juneau and Sitka.

While we were walking around, the Zaandam arrived and tied up right behind us and in front of the Norwegian Pearl.

Before we got back on board, we enjoyed some clam chowder at the Crab Shack. Given the heavy mist that just wouldn't go away, we reboarded around 11am and headed up to the Crow's Nest on Deck 10 to watch the sail away. At 12:45pm, we departed and that was 15 minutes early. I ended up sitting up there all afternoon enjoying the scenery or at least what I could see of it with the rain and the low clouds. But I was able to catch up on my reading of some magazines I brought along and a book which I stored on my phone's Kindle app. While we were at the dock, I was able to do some last minute internet surfing and Facebook posting.

It was another Gala Night and we were seated with 2 ladies from the LA area. As a testament to my wife's health habits, she wore her wedding dress to dinner and she's quite lovely in it after 49 years together and 4 children. Afterwards we watched the Main Stage performance of 'Off The Charts' which showcased hit songs from the billboard charts. It's an energetic performance by the singers with the dancers thrown in for good measure. We liked it so much we returned for the 10pm performance. At the end of that one, my wife turned to me and said, "I'm not getting off the ship!".

In between sets we watched a set performed by Rachel and Jordan at the dueling pianos. They played to a packed house that really grooved with the tunes from the 60's. During their set at 9:30pm, we were served the Chocolate Extravaganza which concussed of various small chocolate treats. This has just been introduced to the fleet and it's a nice treat and reminiscent of the chocolate fountains of years past.

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Thanks so much for your report. I'm sure many of us are envious of your wife's achievement!

As a testament to my wife's health habits, she wore her wedding dress to dinner and she's quite lovely in it after 49 years together and 4 children.

Thank you for the wonderful trip report. Love this part. Congratulations to you both!

Day 7 - Saturday, 9/23/17 - At Sea to Victoria, BC

Today would be a long day at sea. We had already been sailing since 1pm the previous day from Ketchikan and were now off the west coast of Vancouver Island around 300 miles from Victoria. We were sailing along at a brisk clip of around 23 miles per hour on pretty flat seas. The island on our left was barely visible in the low clouds and the Norwegian Jewel was in view about 5 miles ahead of us on our starboard side.

We attended the presentation on what's to see in Victoria given by Lance, the EXC representative. It was a good overview, and we had already booked a walking tour shore excursion. A bit later we were invited to participate in an awards presentation to Mariner guests. I was surprised that it was held in the Ocean Bar and limited to a small group of Mariners who were receiving Bronze and above awards. In the past there has been a large gathering in the Main Stage and then the entire group heads for the Main Dining Room. At that ceremony we received our silver medallions for over 300 cruise days sailed. For us, this has occurred over the relatively short period of 5 years. We were then told to follow a HAL representative down to the dining room for the luncheon which we did. The problem was that there were other Mariners already there for the lunch. When we were led to the head of the line, there was extreme hostility expressed from those guests who were in line. It was a pretty uncomfortable situation that we were put in. I passed on my observations to both the Hotel Director and the Cruise Director that they need to use a different method to accomplish this merging of the two groups. The meal was quite good and we were seated with another couple from Washington State and we enjoyed our time together.

Because we didn't receive our Mariner wine tasting invitation until after the event occurred earlier in the week, we were invitied to attend one of the regular wine tastings. It also was held in the Ocean Bar after the Mariner lunch. There was an opportunity to sample 6 White and 6 Red wines and rate them. For us, there were some clear winners and clear losers. Angela was selected to model a dress in a fashion show on the Main Stage and and while she did that, I went to the Crow's Nest to watch the sailin into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. During that sailin, we saw a number of whales. There were both orcas and humpbacks. We saw more whales in that 3 hours than we saw the rest of the entire voyage.

Around 6pm we arrived at our berth just after the Norwegian Jewel docked. The Emerald Princess was already docked facing outward while the Jewel and Oosterdam pulled in facing the shore. On the dock in front of us we were surprised by a custom / classic car show. Later per our tour guide it happens every Saturday night. Unfortunately we didn't have time to stop and tour it, but for those who wanted to stay at the port, it would be a nice thing to do there.

We had booked a walking tour of Victoria and we met our guide, Forest, just outside the terminal after being cleared to leave the ship. Our tour wandered through the waterfront park, an older residential neighborhood, by the childhood and adult homes of Emily Carr, a noted Victoria artist, and through a park the land for which was donated by the Hudson's Bay Company many years ago. Many of the old homes were very well preserved. The tour ended when we arrived at the Empress Hotel. The Empress was elegant as ever and is void of the ivy cover that once covered it. Apparently the ivy was causing structural damage to the building. The Parliament building was well lit as were a number of other buildings. Crowds were out, but it was easy to walk around and we walked up to Chinatown and back doing a little shopping but no buying.

Here's a night view of the Parliament building:

We took a shuttle bus back to the ship around 10pm and started packing (we travel very light, so it was really easy). We even made the 10:30pm buffet and enquired at the front desk as to where our commemorative tiles were as none were passed out at the Mariner luncheon. It turned out that one now has to request them. At 11:40pm the Oosterdam pulled away from the terminal into the dark night sky for the short and slow sail overnight to Seattle. Our 6:30am alarm would be the earliest we set for the entire cruise, but we have Expedited Departure at 7:45-8:15am. Would we make that time?

Stay tuned for a final posting of our arrival and disembarkation as well as some final thoughts about the cruise.

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Day 8 - Sunday, 9/24/17 - Disembarkation & Final Thoughts

Our 6:30am alarm certainly came early for these two retirees who don't normally get up that early. But our seven day cruise was now over. We showered, dressed, and went up to the LIDO for one last breakfast meal. Around 7:15am, the first announcement came over the PA system that our EXPEDITED group was free to disembark the Oosterdam. However, we weren't supposed to be disembarking until 7:45am, so our timing was slightly off. We finished our meal and made our way back to our stateroom, gathered our roll on suitcase and backpack, and made our way to a forward elevator which whisked us down to level 2 where we were scanned off the ship for one last time. We walked through the terminal and at the exit door there was a Customs and Border Protection Agent who gave a quick scan of our passports and we walked out into the morning warmth and sunshine of Seattle. Our friend, Bob, was waiting for us and we were thankful for him taking us home. Both of us had responsibilities at church this morning so the ride was especially helpful.

Below are some final thoughts about our cruise.

1. A cruise to Alaska is a special journey, and I highly recommend it. We've done two cruises to or through Alaska this year and I could go back tomorrow and we just may.

2. As a ship, the Oosterdam appeared to be in fine shape. Captain MacBeath is a very young captain hopefully with many years ahead of him.

3. For us, there were way too many sales pitches. Given it was the Oosterdam's last Alaska visit, many Alaska items were heavily discounted and promoted. We would have enjoyed more enrichment presentations.

4. For the first time we were able to have a balcony stateroom and it was wonderful for this type of cruise. For our typically longer cruises an inside stateroom will continue to work, but I can foresee more window cabins in the future.

5. The music walk on the Oosterdam was terrific, and we really enjoyed the dueling pianos.

6. The service in the Main Dining Room continues to be slower than our taste in dining. If you have the opportunity to enjoy a Sel de Mer meal in the Pinnacle Grill, do it!!!

7. It is always fun seeing crew members from other cruises we have sailed on. There were 5 on this cruise: a wine steward, a Lido server, two Club Hal leaders, and a security person.

Now the wait begins until we return to Asia for more sailing time on the Volendam. 150 days can't come fast enough.

I hope you've enjoyed this trip report. If you have any specific questions, please don't hesitate to ask me.

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Thanks for taking us along, enjoyed reading your posts.

Allan

Day 7 - Saturday, 9/23/17 - At Sea to Victoria, BC

 

We took a shuttle bus back to the ship around 10pm and started packing (we travel very light, so it was really easy). We even made the 10:30pm buffet and enquired at the front desk as to where our commemorative tiles were as none were passed out at the Mariner luncheon. It turned out that one now has to request them.

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Bolding mine. How sad that one has to request a "gift". It doesn't take much effort to have them on a table outside the dining room so that those who want them can pick them up. It's more effort on the part of the passenger to make the request, particularly if it requires standing in a line-up at the Front Desk.

Thank you for taking us with you on your cruise!

Thank you for your reports.

Disappointing that the tiles now have to be requested, instead of being distributed during the mariners lunch.

Congratulations on receiving your silver medallions.

Have caught up with your posts and pictures.

ALL great!!

Thank you for your reports.

Disappointing that the tiles now have to be requested, instead of being distributed during the mariners lunch.

Congratulations on receiving your silver medallions.

I don't know if it's fleetwide, but the front desk person was the one that told us they had to be requested. I also found it strange that not all Mariners were invited to the awards ceremony and that set up the hostile confrontation I mentioned.

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Very interesting trip report!

Thank you for sharing.

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