tupper10

A quiet day on board.  Hard to believe how fast our two weeks on board went. We had a wonderful time. The food was fine, the staff outstanding, and we lucked out with the weather- only one day of rain.  We hope everyone has safe travels home and for those continuing on have a wonderful time. 

2 hours ago, SwissMyst said:

PRINCE RUPERT ISLAND.   Starboard side extra benefit

Charming low key townafter the recent crush of shared ports. A very welcome port stop.

 

Our verandah faced Odin Seafood Processing facility when a crab boat came to offload. It was like watching an episode of Deadliest Catch live. Buckets and buckets of live crabs hoisted off.  Containers and containers of ice loaded on and shoveled into the hold for another run.
.
It was a ballet of crab sorters, crane operator, forklift operators who all worked as a team, one misstep could create a workplace accident.  They worked hard and steady and went to bed every knowing AI would never be replacing their jobs.

 

We stay on for another week to San Diego. Stops in SF, LA will certainly break the mood of so many quieter stops on the first 14 days.

 

Happy travels, tupper and thanks for starting this thread and sharing you beautiful photos.  Sorry we did not get a photo of every single large HAL issued umbrella blown to shreds  coming back in from Sitka. A little of everything weather wise for Alaska, this time of year.
 

Have a wonderful 7 day cruise. We were tempted but it is still a long flight home.  

A beautiful day in Prince Rupert. We did the trolley tour which took us all over the town and was very informative.  It is our last port stop. Tomorrow is a sea day and Sunday it is back to reality with a long flight home. Some pictures of Prince Rupert.

Lends thinking of you and wishing your husband quick healing and I hope the shunt addresses his medical issue.  

We are heading to Ketchikan.  The sun is out and it is a beautiful day.  Three other Hal ships are there. The Eurodam leaves when we arrive and the Koningsdam is there all day. We have no excursion planned though I downloaded a historic walking tour.  

A rainy cold day as we arrive on Sitka. We will not be getting off the ship. Luckily we have been here before and we had no excursion booked.  Tomorrow in Ketchikan the sun is supposed to return.  

Today we are in Skagway.  We were lucky again so far no rain. It is supposed to rain tonight but most of the tours will be over. We did the small bus to the Yukon on the road that parallels the train. We have done the train in the past. The excursion was fun and well worth the price. We then walked around town a bit and my husband visited his favorite store - an Ace Hardware that seemed to sell everything.  We have a nice view from our veranda.  Today we did have to tender to the port. The Koningsdam is here as well docked right behind us but it seems they can walk off.  We don’t know why but the tenders were well organized and since we had a tour we did get priority in the morning.  

Fabulous day at Glacier Bay.  A cold, windy, cloudy day but the visibility was terrific.  We are heading out now with the final ranger talk at 3 pm.  What a fabulous day.  

Yesterday was a relaxing day . We saw multiple whales out our veranda.  There must have been a pod near us since we saw more than one blow hole at a time.  With binoculars the view was even better.  Today we are in Glacier bay.  The forecast changed again no rain just clouds.  The ranger should be on board now so we will head out soon.  

Today is a sea day. Cold out so just relaxing.  Tomorrow is Glacier. Bay hoping the weather is good. 

Our shore excursion to the Thompson pass and Worthington glacier was fabulous.  We saw wonderful waterfalls and an untold number of hanging glaciers.  I would highly recommend this excursion.  We saw sea lions at the hatchery but the best was seeing a brown bear right by our bus catching a fish in a creek and then ambling off to the woods. The video we took is too large to post.  

I have to say so far this cruise has exceeded our expectations. The food, staff, the ports and finally great weather is making this a trip to remember.  

As @SwissMyst has said it is a beautiful day in Valdez. Here is the view from our veranda.  I will say if you plan on doing this cruise the port side is the side to be on for this cruise.  

A beautiful day sailing to Valdez. We are passing multiple glaciers on the port side of the ship.  It is cold out but we can sit outside with a jacket and hat.  We will spend most of the day enjoying the view. 

We got a late start today. We had lunch in the lido and then headed out. There was no wait for the shuttle bus that drove us downtown. We walked around a bit. I was debating doing the trolley tour but I have been to Anchorage and have seen most of the places it goes to. There was also a wait for about 40 minutes for the tour I was thinking about so instead I went to the anchorage museum.  I have to say I was very glad I did. It was a spectacular museum and I spent the entire afternoon enjoying the various exhibits.  If you ever get to Anchorage I highly recommend it.  Later today we will look to see if Denali has reared its peak through the clouds. The sleeping sister near her is out but the clouds are still blocking Denali.  It is a casual dinner again tonight.  I have to say that the majority of people are very casual.  Jeans and sweaters or sweatshirts seem to be the go to outfit for most everyone.

26 minutes ago, Hogladyrider said:

@tupper10I never knew Anchorage had a port....I always thought it was Whittier, learn something new every day!

As far as I know only one or two cruises port in Anchorage.  Most do go from Whittier or Seward. Anchorage is a very large commercial port. 

@cat shepard  A suggestion about your car search.  We had the same issue in Fl when we wanted a 4 wheel drive.  I contacted the USA site and found the car we wanted out of state.  The price was better than the front wheel drive in Fl.  Just get the price quoted with everything included , all fees etc except for sales tax.  All paperwork was done over the internet and the car delivered to our home.  Also you can find a good car agent who can do the work for you.

So sorry to hear about everyone’s medical issues.  It is hard getting older!!

We are enjoying our cruise to Alaska on the Noordam.   We got to Anchorage a bit early. We are waiting for the crowds to disperse and then we will head out.  We have been here multiple times so we are just going to walk around.  

We arrived a bit early in anchorage. It was a wonderfully calm sail last night and this morning since we were not in the open sea.  It is raining and cold out though in about an hour the rain is supposed to end. We have no shore excursion planned. When the rain stops we will head into town.   It is an industrial port and the city is providing shuttle buses since you are not allowed to walk in this port.  

16 hours ago, SwissMyst said:

Our view from the balcony of Kodiak harbor. Weather could not have been better.  

Just saw land. Kodiak and the sun is shining.

I tried to insert a video but I think it is too large.  Pictures don’t really give you the sense of how much the ship is moving. We are barreling towards Kodiak. We will be an hour late but it should be sunny out instead of rain.  I set my aurora app since the ships to the south of us had quite the show last night.  There are multiple pictures on social media from the people on those cruises.  

@SwissMystplease post as much as you can about our voyage.  It is great to have info and experiences from other people.  Today many of us spent the morning in bed.  After lunch from room service I put on my jacket and hat and walked the promenade deck. It was quite nice out and helped me feel better.  I took some videos of the pool in the afternoon which was wave city. People who were there in the morning said it was much worse. No one could swim but people were in the hot tub.  Tonight after dinner we saw Hyperion Knight. I remembered that we had seen him on a Celebrity cruise years ago and had bought one of his CDs. He gave a wonderful performance.  Tomorrow we will make it to Kodiak per the captain though our arrival time is a bit up in the air. We were told to listen to the announcements in the morning.  We have a HAL excursion booked so we assume the time changes will be worked out.  If not we will walk around the town and go to the museum.  

On our way to Kodiak with 16 foot swells.  It has been quite the ride. @kazu thank you for the recommendation but I am allergic to one of the ingredients.  The Dramamine worked thank heavens or last night and this morning would be no fun at all.  The captain said our roller coaster ride should end by about 10.  It is not as cold out as yesterday. We have intermittent sun and clouds.  We will probably hang out in our cabin and veranda until this stops since walking is an adventure and you must hold on to the railings to go anywhere.  Thank heavens for room service.  
 

Now if only I could remember how to post pictures from my phone!
 

1 hour ago, Hogladyrider said:

@tupper10...Thank You...BEST thing for motion illness is go out on deck fresh air and look at the horizon.....go to Crow's Nest and look at horizon.

 

FYI Jay & Dee from Parodeejay....You Tubers are on this sailing as well.

 

I am most interested in this itinerary....looked at it for 2025 Kodiak and the other ports are of interest. but we probably would opt for May ILO Sept sailing.

 

Looking foward to following along!

Thanks I went to deck 3 but it was quite cold out.  The rock and roll party is over until tonight.  Have to say crew is more than fabulous.  I am allergic to nuts so I can’t eat the desserts due to cross contamination. The lido chef just made me my own basket of sugar cookies -  hot out of the oven. 

5 minutes ago, Hogladyrider said:

@tupper10  how are the seas today?

As I lay here with my toast and crackers we were really moving this morning but now better. My DH is fine and just went for lunch.  Tonight is supposed to be quite the ride. Captain just told us to secure everything in our cabins and no high heels for us tonight. I will be taking my Dramamine. I  already took my ginger.  My steward told me I am not alone with my woes today.  Tomorrow after 10 AM the ride is supposed to be over.