Copper10-8

A very Merry Christmas to all! ps Thanks for the ride in Zuiderdam's fast rescue boat, 1st Officer Martijn!

Thanks! "Frieten met mayonaise" / Fries with mayo! That's how one grows up in Holland and here's proof of same from a summer vacation in Callantsoog, Noord-Holland ! 😁 Continue to enjoy Nieuw Statie, Brian! Looking forward to continue to read your always entertaining reporting style 👍

Hey Brian; have a great cruise and a Merry Christmas to you and Michelle! Have you tried a "Broodje Kroket" in the Grand Dutch Café yet?

Have a great time! / Enjoy Westie!

The current NL Concierge on Westie is Cathy and she's there until late Jan 24, Gabriel is still onboard as the NL relief (his primary position is at the front office) however, he goes home in 12 days on a well deserved vac! Sheila went home on vac in October.

Hey y'all; Thanks! My birthday is actually in March however, today is the official birthday of the United States Marine Corps whom I had the honor nd privilege to serv in as a young Dutch boy fresh "off the boat" in this great country! So HAPPY BIRHDAY to the Cops! 248 Years Strong! Semper Fidelis!

Day 9 - 08/12/2023; Sailing the Inside Passage So, after departing Ketchikan yesterday, Nieuw A sailed southbound Tongass Narrows and made a turn to starboard into Nichols Passage, keeping Annette Island on our port side to Clarence Strait. The two Southeast Alaskan pilots who had been with us for several days had left us in Ketchikan. The strait was named by George Vancouver in honor of Prince William, later King William IV, Duke of Clarence. Capt. Baijens and his navigators then took us to Dixon Entrance, which forms part of the maritime boundary between the U.S. and Canada, although the location of that boundary here is disputed between the two countries. From there, it was a straight shot to Hecate Strait, the wide but shallow body of water between Haida Gwaii (formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands) and the mainland of British Columbia. All this maneuvering took place during nighttime hours. Saturday morning found us in the open (Canadian) waters of Queen Charlotte Sound. A sound is a large sea or ocean inlet, deeper than a bight and wider than a fjord; or a narrow sea or ocean channel between two bodies of land. Queen Charlotte Sound is positioned between big Vancouver Island in the south and Haida Gwaii in the north. Queen Charlotte Sound leads to Queen Charlotte Strait which is the entrance to the Inside Passage route to Vancouver. Queen Charlotte, btw, was the consort of King George III. Pilotage is mandatory in the Strait so at approx. 11:00 AM, Nieuw A slowed down near Pine Island where two Canadian/B.C. pilots came onboard from their boat "R D Riley," and, once on the bridge, a course was set for Malcolm Island, BC. For the next three hours, we had an enjoyable scenic cruise with always interesting 90 degree turns at Blackney Passage, just south of Alert Bay, and at Chatham Point inside Johnstone Strait., with its racing current. Johnstone Strait is a 68 mile long channel along the north east coast of Vancouver Island Opposite the Vancouver Island coast, running north to south, are Hanson Island, West Cracroft Island, the mainland British Columbia Coast, Hardwicke Island, West Thurlow Island and East Thurlow Island. At that point, the strait meets Discovery Passage which connects to Georgia Strait. Discovery Passage has a length of 16 miles and an average width of 1.2 miles, except for Seymour Narrows, transited at at slack tide, where that width narrows to a mere 820 yards. The City of of Campbell River on our starboard side, and located at the south end of Discovery Passage, was up next. So, this being our last day onboard, a sea day, there were activities planned, one of which was the Mariner Society recognition event at 10:00 AM in the Explorers Lounge on Deck 2 aft starboard side. This one was for 5-Star mariners only. After breakfast in the PG, we strolled over there and found a welcoming committee headed by Captain Baijens and Hotel GM Bart Jan Groeneveld. Beverage stewards were hovering around with serving trays of mimosas. The event lasted about 45 minutes which included a photo session and a Q&A period with both gentlemen. Upon returning to the cabin however, we found the two Royal Goede Wagen / Delft’s Blue “tegels” / tiles on our bed. One of the tiles was the current (2021-2022) version, arranged by ship’s class (in our case the two Signature class sisters Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam), which depict a sea monster on the bottom of the tile. The corner ornamentations refer to the crown of the Statue of Liberty in New York. The crown consists of seven points symbolizing the seven continents and oceans. The second tile was the one issued on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of HAL with” Sailing 150 years” on it. To be con't

Day 8 - 08/11/2023; Ketchikan, AK (con't) All Aboard today was at 6:30 PM and we left the dock at approx. 6:55 PM, followed by a southbound sail down Tongass Narrows passed the Ketchikan U.S. Coast Guard Base on Stedman Street on our port side with four ships at the base today; USCGC Anthony Petit (WLM-558), a Keeper-class buoy tender; USCGC John McCormick (WPC-1121), and USCGC Bailey Barco (WPC-1122), both Sentinel-class fast response cutters, and USCGC Sapelo (WPB-1314), an Island-class patrol cutter. The first three are all home-ported at Ketchikan, while the Sapelo is home-ported at Homer, AK. Tonight, was the second and last “dressy” night which was a good reason to celebrate our upcoming wedding anniversary in the Pinnacle Grill Restaurant with a 7:30 reservation. We got ourselves a window seat in the ante room and received grand service from Violet. Maria had the jumbo lump crab cakes, while I chose the heart of romaine Caesar salad. For the mains, Maria had the Alaskan king salmon while I had the petit filet mignon. Excellent dinner! For the main entertainment tonight, HAL was doing something new going, at least we had never seen it before. At 7:30 and again at 10:00 pm (for us), there was a show called Roadhouse inside the BB Kings Blues Club. There used to be a show by the same name inside the Main Stage that was western/cowboy orientated and centered around a country bar. This “Roadhouse” however, in a much smaller location, involved musical and dancing sets by the BB Kings All-Stars, the four Major Fourth vocal performers and the six Step One dancers. It was entertaining! This was followed at 10:15 pm inside the same venue by the comedy of Ken Boyd in a definitely adult/R-rated late night show! Tomorrow (Saturday) is our last sea day cruising the Canadian portion of the Inside Passage on our way to Vancouver, BC

Day 8 - 08/11/2023; Ketchikan, AK (con't) We spent about 45 minutes on our little hike until we reached an elevated walkway trail that lead to a private viewing platform which overlooks Eagle Creek, where the bears are known to come to the stream to fish for salmon. The nearby Whitman hatchery feeds into the river, guaranteeing that the river will teem with salmon every summer. No bears showed up while we were there, as luck would have it, but there were two juvenile bald eagles (brown feathers and not as good looking as their adult parents) perched on logs eating fish, as were some Ravens and a whole bunch of seagulls. Next up was an up close and personal visit to the nearby Alaska Raptor Center annex. In 2014, the Alaska Raptor Center, located in Sitka, AK, partnered with the Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary in Ketchikan with a seasonal enhanced raptor courtyard/exhibit to further their educational efforts. The three raptors present today were Sitka, an adult female Bald Eagle, sent to the Alaska Raptor Center after being struck by a car in Ninilchik, a small town on the Kenai Peninsula. She suffered from multiple injuries, including a hole in her right patagium, or the fleshy part of the wing, and severe damage to her right hallux, or rear toe. She was left with a permanent right wing droop that causes her to drag and damage her important primary flight feathers. Her hallux had to be amputated, leaving her unable to effectively grasp prey. She is non-releasable because, although she is still partially flighted, she would not be able to hunt successfully in the wild. Owlison, an adult female Great Horned Owl, who was admitted to the Bird Treatment and Learning Center in Anchorage with a fracture of the right wrist bones and a wound on her keel (chest area). There was also damage to the tendons and ligaments in that same wing. She is capable of flight, but not well enough to survive in the wild. Owlison was placed at a facility in Ketchikan and lived there for many years before being transferred to the Alaska Raptor Center. Jake, an adult male Red-tailed Hawk who was taken from the nest as a chick and raised by a 13-year-old boy for the first four months of his life. After four months, the family surrendered Jake to the Alaska Department of Fish and Wildlife who placed him with an educational facility in Ketchikan and subsequently with Alaska Raptor Center in 2014. Jake is physically perfect and fully flighted; his injury is behavioral. He is an imprint, which means Jake does not associate with other red-tail hawks. He also will not hunt for himself because he has always relied on humans for food. We have been to the Sitka Alaskan Raptor Center more than once but were not aware that there was a similar/smaller facility in Ketchikan. It is a great opportunity to being able to watch these magnificent raptors up close, learn about their background, and ask one of the keepers’ questions. From here, we walked into the historic Herring Bay Lumber Company sawmill where, in a separate area, Tsimshian carver Kevin was putting the final touches on a new totem pole he had created “Origin of Daylight”. That pole would be officially raised in front of the Sanctuary the week after we left. Southeast Alaska is famed for its totems and most are Tlingit or Haida carved. Afterwards, there was of course time to grab a cup of mocha and some mini-donuts at the General Store before returning to the ship by the same scenic route Upon arrival back at Ketchikan Berth No. 1 and Nieuw Amsterdam, we decided to grab a late lunch at the Dive-In caddy corner opposite the Lido Pool. Below us on the inboard side of Berth #1 was the 1982-built “crabber” / crab fishing boat Botany Bay on her way from Sitka to Seattle, WA, think "Deadliest Catch" (to be con't)

100% correct, thanks Cheng! Just to add on to that, besides coming onboard per the invitation of the captain, federal agencies like Canada Borders Services Agency - CBSA (the Canadian equivalent of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection - CBP) is in the habit of conducting unannounced inspections of crew living spaces for anything illegal. While working, I have escorted CBSA numerous times during those inspections in places like Victoria, Vancouver, Quebec City and Halifax, at times accompanied by their narcotic detection K-9s which tend to speed things up. Those inspections generally last two to three hours. Happy to say no HAL employees were ever in trouble at the conclusion of those type of inspections, at least at the ones I was involved in

Day 8 - 08/11/2023; Ketchikan, AK After departing Juneau via Gastineau Channel late Thursday afternoon, Nieuw A sailed down Stephens Passage, Frederick Sound and Sumner Strait. Next up was Clarence Strait but before that, in the passage between Sumner Strait and Clarence Strait, midway between Prince of Wales Island on the west and Zarembo Island on the east, is a small cluster of islands with a picturesque passageway between them called Snow Pass. Clarence Strait, 126 miles long, and originally called Duke of Clarence Strait, separates Prince of Wales Island on the west side, from Revillagigedo Island and Annette Island on the east side. Nieuw A then passed Guard Island near the entrance to Tongass Narrows at 1000 hrs. Tongass Narrows is the body of water that extends from the Revillagigedo Channel to Gravina Island in Clarence Strait. It is shaped as a "Y", split into two channels by Pennock Island and it has our final destination, the City of Ketchikan, located on its eastern side. If you come in from the north, which we did today, you will first pass Ketchikan International Airport on Gravina Island located one nautical mile to the west of the central business district of Ketchikan. The airport is an interesting one in that it has no direct road access to the outside world. Everyone going to or coming from the airport must take a seven-minute ferry ride across Tongass Narrows. On the opposite bank of the airport, so today on our balcony/port side, is the Vigor Alaska Shipyard with right smack next door to it, the Alaska Marine Highway System ferry facility. The shipyard provides maintenance for the ferries of the AMHS and, as we sailed by, there were three ferries berthed at the facility, namely m/v Kennicott, m/v Tazlina, and m/v Matanuska. The Alaska Marine Highway System operates along the south-central coast of the state, the eastern Aleutian Island and the Inside Passage of Alaska and British Columbia, Canada, Canada. The ferries serve communities in Southeast Alaska that have no road access, and the vessels can transport people, freight, and vehicles. Nieuw A’s deck and engine team then got ready to have their ship take her place at Ketchikan’s #1 cruise ship berth. Ketchikan has four Panamax sized cruise ship berths. They are numbered sequentially 1, 2,3 and 4, from south to north, along the downtown waterfront. We were safely docked, port side alongside, by 1100 hrs. Behind us at Berth #2 and already present since 0600 hours, was Sapphire Princess, starboard side to. She is scheduled to depart at 1400 hours. Also already at Berth #3 was our stablemate Westerdam, the third of the Vista-class ships with Captain Vincent Smit in command. Westie is in Ketchikan on a relatively short stay with an all aboard time of 1230. This is due her required high speed run south to Victoria, BC, Canada, a distance of 581 nautical miles at an avg speed of 21 knots for a next day arrival on Saturday late afternoon. There were two more cruise ships present in Ketchikan this morning; Norwegian Encore (0700-1315 hrs.) and Seven Seas Explorer (0800-1700 hrs.). Both ships were at the Mill at Ward Cove cruise terminal, a relatively new 2-berth cruise ship pier located approx. 5 miles north of the city and serving only NCL ships and their subsidiaries such as Regent Seven Seas. The Mill at Ward Cove welcomed its first NCL cruise passengers in 2021. Prior to serving as a cruise terminal, it was a pulp mill that operated from 1954 to 1997. At 2:00 PM, Celebrity Eclipse popped up and took the place of Westerdam, the latter having departed for Victoria, BC, at Berth #3. Thirty minutes later, RCI’s Brilliance of the Seas arrived and moved into the still vacant Berth #4. Breakfast for us was in the Pinnacle Grill a little after 0900 hours. At 12:00 Noon, we walked outside on to the dock which was the meeting place for our excursion today. It was called Rain Forrest sanctuary walk, totems and eagles. A bus took us 9 miles southeast of Ketchikan past Saxman, to Herring Cove, a heavily forested area where we met our guide, Stephen hailing from Georgia, and he sure sounded like it Herring Cove sits within the Alaska Rain Forest Sanctuary. Stephen gave us a safety briefing since we would be walking in (black) bear country. I noticed that he had, what appeared to be a flare protruding from his pants pocket, asked him about it, and he stated it was for bear protection. We then started off on our walking expedition in some light drizzle. Stephen pointed out and explained the various tall hemlock, spruce, and cedar growths, some with bear claw markings on them, as we passed and stopped to listen. And yes, from a smallish bridge we were able to spot two bear cubs taking a snooze about 80-90 feet away, our first, and as it turned out, only bear sighting today. Mama bear was not in sight but we knew she was close/nearby! To be con't

Day 7 - 08/10/2023; Juneau, AK (con't) The main entertainment tonite at 7:00 and 9:30 PM, besides the three other venues that have music (BB Kings, Billboard onboard and the Third Avenue West trio in the Ocean Bar), was the second performance by the Step One Dance Company (sthree female/three male dancers) in “Humanity”. We have seen this show several times now as it is one of their older shows and it remains one of our favorites. Great music/Great Dancing and Great special effects projected on the walls of the World Stage by her tech staff using the large room to its advantage. We enjoyed it once again - the one act that always really stands out for us is one of the female dancers in the red dress in a modern dance number - and so, it appears from the standing ovation the cast received from most of the audience, did they, the latter. At 9:30 pm. So during the second show by Step One, they had the “Orange Party” going on inside the BB King’s Lounge. This used to be a “ho hum” affair but this one was packed/standing room only. We finished off our day in Juneau by listening to the BB King All-Star band during their final set at 11:00 pm. As stated, tomorrow (Friday) is our stop in Ketchikan. See ya then!

Awesome thread! Thanks for starting it! 🤙

May Debbie rest in eternal peace! 😔 Thanks for sharing your memories of her with us here!

Day 7 - 08/10/2023; Juneau, AK (con't) We were then introduced to the true athletes of the world’s greatest race, a team of twelve huskie sled dogs who, as they were being hooked up to the wheeled cart, let us know without a doubt their enthusiasm and eagerness to go to work by a loud barking concert. It reminded me a lot of my own police K-9 who would go crazy when he saw me put my uniform followed by putting his collar on. Time to go to work! Julie took her standing position on the back of the cart (we were all seated), gave a quick command, and the team took off with power and agility pulling us along for the ride. That ride down the 1.5-mile-long trail took approx. twenty minutes with some stops as directed by Julie. This dog team loved to run through large water puddles and, on one of the stops, Julie had them take a break in one such puddle to cool off. Julie uses commands such as “Hike” (get moving), “Gee” (turn to the right) and Haw (turn to the left) and the two lead dogs on her team were female Iditarod veterans. Very impressive to watch them operate! After returning to our starting point, we were given time to socialize with our team after Julie introduced us to all twelve of them by their names. Lots of petting, hugging and kisses followed. Julie then led us to one of several small buildings with a wood burning stove, an Iditarod sleigh/sled, race artifacts, and pictures inside. We spent the next 20-25 minutes inside listening to Julie talk about sled dog racing, the dogs, the equipment, the food, the course, the weather, etc. Very informative! She then opened it up to a question-answer period. Following this, we were led to a covered pen area where we got to meet the puppies, well one in particular who went from arms to arms, taking it all in stride like a 3-month old Alaskan Huskie pup would. Very fun! On the descent from the mountain, back in the 4x4 van, the same Sitka black-tailed deer was still right off the road and was joined by a second one. Our driver stopped for picture time. All in all, an informative tour, especially if you are a dog lover! All aboard today in Juneau was at 4:00 pm so that left us plentong (a word used by HAL’s Indonesian crew meaning plenty) of time to partake in a bit of lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Juneau, El Sombrero on Franklin Street, just a little trek uphill from the Red Dog Saloon. As stated, with five large cruise ships in town, Juneau was a busy place today. We had an approx. 20 minute wait and were then seated by the hostess. La comida of Arroz con pollo and chicken enchiladas hit the spot, as did the excellent chips and salsa and a cerveza or coke! We like El Sombrero. After lunch, we mozied back to the Cruise Ship Dock and Nieuw A. and did absolutely nothing/nada/zilch for the remaining part of the afternoon. Juneau is one of those places in Alaska from where you can see float planes take off and land all day long. They do this right outside the ships on Gastineau Channel and then water taxi into or out of Seaplane Dock located just off the Alaska Cruise Terminal dock where Celebrity Eclipse was berthed. Great sight! At around 4:25 pm or so, Nieuw A dropped her lines, Capt. Baijens moved her off the dock and with a slight turn to starboard pointed her towards the Gastineau Channel, and we sailed back down that same waterway, this time in a southerly direction, heading for Ketchikan, our next and last Alaskan port on this seven-dayer. They go fast! We chose a dinner option around 7:30 pm we had not yet tried before and that was to get some hand-made pizza from New York Pizza located outside on Lido Deck/Deck 9 aft. Just like the Dive-In, they hand you a pager after you place your order. We used that prep time to get a couple of salads at the Lido Market Salad Bar and located an empty window seat on the starboard side. The buzzer went off and a medium size peperoni-cheese pizza was waiting. Good and tasty dinner. To be con't

Day 7 - 08/10/2023; Juneau, AK After having departed Skagway via the Lynn Canal yesterday, Nieuw Amsterdam entered the Stephens Passage during the early morning hours and continued on a southerly direction, rounding Douglas Island. This was followed by a “left turn” into Gastineau Channel northbound which would lead us straight into Juneau, the capital of Alaska. Nieuw A was the first one in at 0645 hours and berthed at the Cruise Ship Terminal. The big shore-side gangway was attached to Deck 2 via a forklift and Juneau long time HAL Port Agent Ryan came onboard and cleared the ship for all pax and crew, meaning we were good to go We were followed in by Ruby Princess who was assigned the S. Franklin Street Dock. Next up at 0730 hours was Celebrity Eclipse assigned the Alaska Steamship Dock in downtown, adjacent to the Juneau Memorial Library. Approx. 30 minutes later, the fourth cruise ship to pay a visit to Juneau today, Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth, had apparently drawn the short stick, and would be tendering today to the interior portion of the Alaska Cruise Terminal, right smack behind the Mount Roberts tramway terminal. But wait, we’re not done yet! The No. 5 cruise ship arriving at 1100 hrs. was Norwegian Jewel going to the AJ Dock. That, my friends, are a lot of cruise ship pax in Juneau today! Juneau is the capital city of Alaska. It is a unified municipality located on the Gastineau Channel in the Alaskan panhandle and is the second largest city in the United States by area. It has been the capital of Alaska since 1906, when the government of the then District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900. The municipality unified on July 1, 1970, when the city of Juneau merged with the city of Douglas and the surrounding Greater Juneau Borough to form the current home rule municipality. The area of Juneau is larger than that of Rhode Island and Delaware individually and almost as large as the two states combined. Downtown Juneau is nestled at the base of Mount Juneau and across from Douglas Island. The city is rather unusual among U.S. capitals in that there are no roads connecting Juneau to the rest of Alaska or the rest of North America (though ferry service is available for cars). Juneau is named after gold prospector Joe Juneau, though the place was for a time called Rockwell and then Harrisburg (after Juneau's co-prospector, Richard Harris). The Tlingit name of the town is Dzántik'i Héeni ("Base of the Flounder’s River"), and Auke Bay just north of Juneau proper is called Áak'w ("Little lake") in Tlingit. The Taku River, just south of Juneau, was named after the cold t'aakh wind, which occasionally blows down from the mountains. Went up to Nieuw A’s gym for a 0800 hours bicycle exercise class to get the blood flowing. This was followed by breakfast, back in the Pinnacle where Violet from Zimbabwe was our server. We had first met her on Nieuw A back in May when she had just joined the ship on her first contract, somewhat frightening no doubt. She is now a seasoned employee who is very professional as well as comfortable inside the PG. Our excursion today in Juneau was called Dog Sled Summer Camp whose van driver/guide met on the top of the Cruise Ship Dock at 10:10 AM, Two Dodge 4x4 vans met 14 of us in front of the Mount Roberts tramway terminal. It was an approx. 25-minute drive to Sheep Creek, located some four miles southeast of Juneau. Besides being site of the now inactive AJ gold mine with some of the old mining buildings barely standing, Gold Rush Dog kennel and tours are located here. On the climb up the rain forest’s dirt road to get us to the camp, we drove smack past a pretty good size deer taking a break on the side of the road, yep, we’re still in Alaska!. Upon arrival at the camp where up to 158 sled dogs are housed, we first had to sign the proverbial waivers and then received a briefing on the goings on at the camp, the dogs, all Alaskan Huskies, and the six-nine person aluminum wheeled conveyance, much like a large golf cart, we’d soon be riding in pulled by a team of sled dogs. We soon met our musher, Julie, a participant and successful finisher of the 2019 938-mile Iditarod trail sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome, AK. To be con't

Lifeboat commander

Day 6 - 08/09/2023; Skagway, AK (con't) Upon departing Carcross, Lucy hit the Klondike Highway, known as Yukon Highway 2 in both the Yukon Territory and British Columbia, and in Alaska officially as Alaska Route 98, and made stops on the shore of Tagish Lake on the border between BC and the Yukon for a photo op of the two border signs, once again at the Fraser CBSA port of entry inspection station for a comfort break, at the Welcome to Alaska and gateway to the Klondike sign at the Fraser-Skagway border, and the last one, a mandatory stop at the United States Customs and Border Protection point of entry at the Skagway-Frazer border crossing (actually 7.9 miles south of the border; the Canadian facility is 7.6 miles northeast of the border) where Lucy had to ‘splain how both her U.S. passport and passenger load tally sheet had fallen in between the windshield and instrument panel of her bus on her northbound ride – They let us through and back in the good ol' USA! Back onboard Nieuw A, we had a 7:00 PM dinner reservation at Canaletto, HAL’s Italian restaurant inside the Lido Market. Joining us were Chelly, the police dispatcher at my old department, and her husband Steve, also a former employee of the city we live in, and all four of us worked in. It was really good to catch up! Our restaurant waiter in Canaletto was Yugo Putranto, you know from the 1980 Yugoslav shortened variant of the Fiat 128 fame. From its inception Canaletto has always promoted plate sharing, so that’s exactly what we did with an Antipasto plate, the Veal and Sage meatballs, Minestrone soup, Spaghetti Alle Volone, Braised Beef short rib Gnocchi, Lasagna Bolognese, and Gelato for dessert. We concluded on time to go see the main entertainment in the Main Stage, that being stand-up comedian Ken Boyd at 9:00 PM, so that’s what we decided to do. The big room was packed, and Mr. Boyd turned out to be hilarious. From his Curriculum Vitae; “Mr. Ken Boyd is the perfect combination of high energy intelligence and pure nonsense. Or as he likes to call it "sophisticated ignorance." Apparently, there were lots of folks from the 7:00 PM show that returned to see him again. The four of us finished up the night by partaking in some adult beverages inside the Ocean Bar. Tomorrow (Thursday) is Juneau, the state capital of Alaska – See ya then

Thanks for acting as his spokesperson!

Day 6 - 08/09/2023; Skagway, AK The next stop, and a chance to stretch our legs was at Bennett, still in British Columbia, and an abandoned town next to Bennett Lake. The townsite is now part of the Chilkoot Trail National Historic Site of Canada, managed by Parks Canada. Crossing the tracks and a little bit of an uphill hike will take you to St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, a simple rectangular wood frame structure with a steeply pitched gable roof and an adjoining tower with a steep spire. Surrounded by trees and mountains, it is the only building left in the once-thriving community of Bennet Lake. They gave us 45 minutes there to take in the quiet nature of a once thriving community Back on the White Pass and Yukon Railway, we had one stop left and that was our final destination, Carcross in the Yukon Territory. But first, it was lunch time on the train with the conductors and our guide quite busy handing out lunch boxes to everyone, one per passenger. They contained a selection of cheese & grapes, a mini brownie bar, bag of Lays potato crisps, and a turkey sandwich with mayo or mustard. Not a gourmet meal but it was tasty and hit the proverbial spot The crew had earlier handed out bottles of H2O. Our final stop was reached in an other 45 minutes. Carcross, originally known as Caribou Crossing, is a community in Yukon, Canada located on both Bennett Lake and Nares Lake, divided by a natural land bridge. It is home to the Carcross/Tagish First Nation and is approx. 46 miles south-southeast via the Alaska Highway and the Klondike Highway from the much larger City of Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon. Carcross is mainly known for its world class mountain biking on the near-by Montana Mountain, and for the nearby Carcross Desert, often referred to as the "world's smallest desert. The community has a population of 317 residing in 168 of its 229 total private dwellings, It relies on tourism and the place pretty much dies out in the winter. Btw, the major difference between a Canadian Province such as British Columbia and a Territory like the Yukon has to do with the Canadian Constitution. A province is a creation of the Constitution Act, while a territory is created by federal law. Thus, the federal government has more direct control over the territories, while provincial governments have many more competences and rights. After disembarking the train, we found Lucy, our bus driver from this morning in Skagway waiting for her passengers. She subsequently gave us roughly 45 minutes to do some Carcross exploring before heading back to Skagway and the Nieuw Amsterdam. First order of business was to head for the “pink store” aka the Matthew Watson General store, one part of it formerly known as the Vendome Hotel and the oldest still operating store in the Yukon, albeit only in the summer season! It is famous for two things; their ice cream waffle cones and the ability to get a Carcross destination stamp in your passport. The stamp is self-service and chained to a wooden table, the waffle cones are not! So, after consuming said frozen desert, typically made from milk or cream that has been flavored with a sweetener, we took a stroll over to the Carcross Commons, a collection of separate buildings that have the front painted in different 1st nation/native styles. The plan was to grab a cup of Java for the bus ride back however, due to a massive que at that only coffee shop, that plan went nowhere. The drive out of Carcross took us past the community’s entrance sign, a larger-than-life size sculpture of an anatomically correct bull caribou with his plumbing hanging out for anyone to see. Those crazy Canadians, eh To be con't

Day 6 - 08/09/2023; Skagway, AK So, after having dropped off the park rangers at Bartlett Cove yesterday evening, we rounded Point Couverden (not named after former HAL Captain Jack van Coevorden 😉) and once again entered Icy Straight (thus named when the entire Glacier Bay was a glacier with its calving ice drifting via this “icy strait” into the open sea) and passed Pleasant Island on our port side. In the early morning hours Nieuw Amsterdam, having entered the Lynn Canal, at 2,000 feet, North America’s longest fjord, made her way towards the town and port of Skagway, Alaska. . Lynn Canal was explored by Joseph Whidbey in 1794 and named by George Vancouver for his birthplace, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, England. We were going to the Broadway Dock for our berth with a 0700 hrs. arrival. There were three other cruise ships in town today; Celebrity Millennium at the Ore Dock since at 0700 hours; and Majestic Princess and Norwegian Encore at the Railroad Dock, forward and aft respectively. Our shore excursion today was the “White Pass Summit Scenic Railway” departing at 0730 hours from the depot, and we would be taking that train all the way to Carcross, Yukon Territory in Canada! The WP&YR is a Canadian and U.S. Class II narrow gauge railroad linking the port of Skagway with Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon, Canada. An isolated system, it has no direct connection to any other railroad. Equipment, freight and passengers are ferried by ship through the Port of Skagway, and via road through a few of the stops along its route. The line was born of the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897 but is now in operation purely for the tourist trade and runs throughout the summer months. After a quick and early breakfast at 0625 hrs. inside the Lido Market, we disembarked our ship and walked down the Broadway Dock for our 0715 hrs. meeting time at our waiting bus and guide/driver Lucy who, after departure, promptly gave us a very quick tour of Skagway before dropping us off at the nearby Skagway Railroad Depot. At the Depot, we were broken up into different groups based on the occupancy level of the train cars, as well as our destination, with some folks leaving the train at Fraser, BC in Canada. Our train, pulled by two green & yellow-colored locomotives/engines, was waiting for us and we were seated in a car by the name of Lake Hutshi, car number 538. All 80 of the restored and replica rail passenger coaches/cars are named after lakes and rivers in Alaska, the Yukon Territory and the Province of British Columbia. The ride/climb up to the White Pass summit and the U.S.-Canadian border took 20.4 miles and lasted about an hour. Along the way, we passed the WP&YR shops, the Gold Rush Cemetery (the final resting place of the infamous “Soapy” Smith), Buchanan Rock (with the “On to Alaska with Buchanan” sign), Bridal Veil Falls, Tunnel Mountain, Inspiration Point, the 1901-built Steel Bridge (the tallest cantilever bridge in the world) and then the White Pass Summit at 2,865 feet, followed by the U.S. – Canadian border crossing between the U.S.A. and Canada is marked by a total of five flagpoles, flying the national colors of both countries plus the state/province/territory flags of Alaska, British Columbia, and the Yukon. To be con't

Pic of Bitta is about five years old - his "stache" is a handlebar now

For those folks on this particular cruise being discussed here, where the port of San Diego is their disembarkation port (not continuing on to FLL}, they will be required to see U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents, in San Diego, usually inside the terminal building. If the OP is serious about leaving the ship in San Diego as opposed to doing this in the first Mexican port, I certainly hope he will let the Front Office know ahead of time (they will advise him of the PVSA violation). Subsequently, if he choses to disembark without seeing CBP in San Diego (because those interviews/inspections are scheduled at a preset time slot early in the morning), this will result in the opening of a brand new can of night crawlers for him. If he turns out to be a no-show back onboard prior to the ship continuing with her repositioning voyage to Florida, his being AWOL will be reported to both the port agent and, more importantly, to CBP who will initiate a follow-up investigation until he presents himself to them.

Day 5 - 08/08/2023; Scenic cruising Glacier Bay (con't) As stated, the park rangers left the ship around 7:30 pm, the same way they came on so via Jacob’s ladder (always an interesting way!) into their small boat which would take them back to their HQ near Bartlett Cove. We spent some time in the still new Nieuw Amsterdam library on Deck 3 forward, starboard side which, prior to its current transformation, used to be the Tasman general purpose room and, prior to that, the 36-seat Screening Room movie theater. The powers to be in Seattle apparently listened to the folks asking for the return of a full-size library and did a nice job with this new one! For us, dinner was inside the main dining room on Deck 3 aft. The dining room manager gave us a nice window seat on the starboard side where we partook in grazing time. Maria had salmon and I chose the Wiener Schnitzel, a no brainer for me because I love that national dish of Oesterreich! The major entertainment inside the Mainstage was a new one for us, a singing quartet known as Major Fourth. This turned out to be three male vocalists and one female vocalist with excellent harmony. Their show was upbeat with a lot of movement and tunes ranging from doo-whop to Taylor Swift. They were very good and energetic with outstanding voices and we enjoyed their performance! We finished up the evening inside the BB Kings Blues Club with the band of the same name; simply outstanding! Tomorrow (Wednesday) is our first port; Skagway! See ya then!

Hi Nancy; if I'm not mistaken, Roy / poster rafinmd is the man / your contact for the ferries of the Alaska Marine Highway. He has sailed them and, I'm sure, can tell you all about that experioence