Brentt_M

So we are waiting for the ship to be cleared in Ketchikan.  We are going to do the lumberjack show then an all you can eat crab feast today. 

I have been completely slacking on pictures this trip. I haven't even been taking pics of food.  We did eat at Nami/Tamarind on Monday and Pinnacle Grill on Tuesday. We ordered miso soup, spicy tuna, spicy salmon (not on menu), tiger roll, and crab legs at Nami. At PG we both had lobster bisque, Filet + lobster tails, and then skipped dessert.  I added on the 5oz lobster tail and my brother did the 12oz. The size contrast of the tails on the plates was pretty amusing.  Both specialty restaurants were excellent and significantly better than the MDR has been.

It was a cool and windy day in Skagway, but it was dry so that made it very tolerable.

We walked thoughout most of the town and visited some of the buildings. Some pretty interesting historical information was on display.

I also had lunch at the Red Onion Saloon and that was a pretty interesting place and I would definitely go back there.

So been a pretty uneventful trip up to Juneau so far.  Seas were a little rough, but following for the most part so not that noticeable.  Today is extremely overcast with a cold drizzle as we are getting ready to dock in Juneau.

We have no excursions planned at all for today and we are just going to see what happens.

1 hour ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

I hope you are happy with this.  I would be thrilled.  Sitka is awesome, but you were just there.   Quality substitution, imho.  Many years ago we did an excursion on inflatable boats to look at eagle breeding ground.  So much fun.  And really like the Gold Rush vibe there.  Lucky you!

Not upset at all. I have not been to Skagway before so I am looking forward to it.

So they have decided to drop sitka from our itinerary and replace it with Skagway. This was based off some predicted bad weather/storms forming.  We will be going to skagway on Tuesday and Glacier Bay on Wednesday now.

Such a beautiful day here in Seattle.

Well we got delayed on our way to baggage claim as there was a security breach and they had to resolve that before we could proceed.  Only took a little over 5 minutes but felt much longer.  We have our bags and are waiting on the HAL transfer to load.

Hopefully will be on the ship before noon!

Plane just touched down in Seattle and we are still taxing to our gate.  Looking out the window it looks like a gorgeous day in Seattle!

Well sleep like crap, which is par for the course the night before a trip.  Off to the airport in about 30 mins!

P.S. if a mod would like to change the typo in my thread title I would not be offended at all... 

So I when Alaska bookings opened up for this year I quickly booked a spot on the 2nd HAL sailing of the season and had such a good time I am going back for the last HAL sailing of this season.

The 1st trip was just me and my 2 kids. This trip will be just my brother and me. It is his 1st cruise ever and he is getting really excited.

We don't fly out until tomorrow morning so I am a little nervous about that since it is the 1st time I have ever flown in day of the cruise.

We completed our BinaxNow at home test a little while ago and both got negative results.  The BinaxNow process was so easy. I know the testing requirements have caused a lot of stress for people, but highly recommend the BinaxNow option it was completely stress free.

I am not sure if this will end up being a live from or not. I do not have the internet included in my booking and based on my experience earlier in the season I am not sure it is worth purchasing. Either way I will try to provide updates while we are in port.

Was in use on my May 2019 Eurodam cruise.

9 hours ago, atexsix said:

Internet has been good for us, we're on deck 7 aft, starboard side, I expected a lot worse after everything I heard.

It was Monday morning when it started acting up on me. Hopefully they do have it figured out and you will be good to go.  I don't have it included with my 9/25 sailing and was not planning on buying it based off my experience a month ago. If it works well for you most of the week I may reconsider.

36 minutes ago, RGEDad said:

Look - Just go order the Abbott BinaxNow test 

6 Pack from eMed.com $150 - they FexEx the package to you

or a 1, 2 or 3 pack from https://store.optum.com (Also administered by eMed)

 

Take the test (~30 minutes), get the results via email or via their app in 15 minutes, and be done with it.

At about $25 per test, you can take one 3-4 days in advance to get practice, and and verify you are ,in fact, not infested. and then do the Run for Record 2 days before your embarkation. 

Easy peazy.

But - I still recommend the Lemon Drop Martini- Daily

Absolutely agree!  This is by far the simplest solution to cruise testing I have found.

1 hour ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Here are the current mask rules that I can find 

 

- Guests will be required to wear face masks prior to being seated in all dining areas 

 

So once you sit down - masks off for the duration of the meal.   OK - pretty straightforward.  This won't be a problem

 

Now for the rule that may cause more trouble.

• All guests will be required to wear face masks in elevators and in designated indoor entertainment areas, all retail shops, and in the casino, except when eating or drinking.

When playing slots in the casino with a drink - can you go maskless as long as there is a drink in your hand?   Or do you have to mask up between sips?   

 

What about when in the theatre?   You are nursing a scotch - mask up between sips?  

 

When in the crows nest bar during happy hour - with a mixed drink and a bowl of nuts?   Mask off the whole time or only between sips and bites.    

The airlines require you to mask up between sips 

 

Everyone will have a different interpretation - I suspect the crew will be very liberal - but some passengers may feel it is their duty to remind people of of their interpretation of the mask rules.

 

So - where do you stand on the Crows Nest scenario?    Mask up between sips ?  Or as long as you have a bowl of nuts and drink infront of you - go maskless since you are EATING or Drinking?

 

 

From what you posted I am not even sure the rules would require a guest to wear a mask in the crows nest.  

Masks are not required 100% of the time you are out of your cabin, but some people would like them to be. Other people would like there to be no mask requirements onboard at all.  I could definitely see situations where this could cause tension or other issues between cruisers. Which is crazy, but you see it or hear about it almost daily off the ship so I would expect those behaviors to be onboard too.

6 hours ago, markwfpb said:

 

1. Are the sofabeds the old-school type with the bar that hits across your back and your head is up in the "sofa" part? OR are they the type where the seat of the sofa lifts out to form half of the bed and the back of the sofa slides down to be the other half of the bed (so you're sleeping longways)? 

When we stayed in a Neptune that could accommodate 4 people it had the "old-school" type. In our most recent corner aft neptune that would only allow 3 people it was the other style.  I have no idea if the room capacity is the reason or if it is just a mix of the two options. Also, you can request foam toppers for them which makes them a little more bearable.

4 hours ago, Traveling Dot said:

While on the Nieuw Amsterdam two weeks ago a woman hit the jackpot on a slot machine near me for over $3000.  First time I ever saw someone hit for that much when I was actually there.   🤑

I definitely should have played slots on that cruise instead of craps.  One of the nights they had 3k, 5k, and 10k winners within a 1 hr span.  There were numerous hits over $1200 all week long. Was actually pretty crazy considering how small the casino is on the NA.

3 hours ago, Suslor said:

@Loreto  thanks for the info. I’m just wondering what documents other than boarding passes, COVID-19 proof and passport were required for your granddaughter. We booked a June 2023 cruise to celebrate our grandsons 14th birthday and graduation and want to be prepared. Thanks 

That was all that was needed for my 12 yr old son on the 7/31 cruise, and he was not scrutinized at all.  They barely glanced at our docs.  We uploaded our pics to the app before hand and it worked great.  They had us go to a little tablet like device that used facial recognition to identify us amd then we held up our passports for it to scan. Got a green ok and was pointed to the ship to walk on.  Easiest embarkation I have ever experienced.

Have a great cruise! Looking forward to the updates!

Hope you have a great cruise and get some beautiful weather along the way!

5 minutes ago, atexsix said:

Has anyone ever hit it big in a ship casino or do you know anybody that has?  We're not huge gamblers so I'm asking more out of curiosity.

Winning Big when gambling is a relative term depending on the individual gambler.  What would you consider big?

My SiL won $5k which she considered big cause she only spends like $20 a day in the ship casinos.

For others a $5k win, while always nice is just a small blip on the gambling budget.

28 minutes ago, oaktreerb said:

Copper, great inside reporting and thanks for the beautiful descriptions of the route. 

 

Question re:  Juneau.  You mentioned that many crew members had been released from Covid restrictions and went ashore in Juneau.  The Juneau webcam showed some great close-ups  of a variety of people disembarking.  There seemed to be two gangways.  Lots of touristy cruisers getting off on the main gangway but the other gangway further forward showed what looked like crew, others with suitcases, and some older couples who looked like HAL regulars going ashore.  In order to promote distancing, does the ship have a process to keep people from bunching up in the ship walkways and stairways as they rush to go ashore?  

On last weeks cruise the answer is no. I posted some pictures of the stairwells as we were waiting to get off in a port in last weeks live thread. Just as crowded and packed as precovid.

11 minutes ago, atexsix said:

Have we determined that HAL is requiring positive cases leave the ship at the next port?  Even if people don't have symptoms?

 

It's under discussion in another thread because the worry free information on the website is ironically causing more worry, it's too vague.

There is no mandatory testing going on once aboard the ship. The only way a positive case is identified once on board is if someone voluntarily reports to medical that they have symptons and they will perform a test then. On my cruise last week there was a lady that had a continuous dry cough and everyone in that lounge kept looking at her with an eyebrow raised but that was all that happened.  A few people moved away, but the hal staff didn't seem to be concerned at all.

51 minutes ago, Tennessee Titan said:

Glad you all had a safe voyage. We got our Protection Plan refund today, less than 10 days after cancelling...

That's not bad at all. Glad to hear it wasn't a hassle

13 minutes ago, liam1965 said:

I’m not sure which I’m missing more, Brentt’s updates or people carrying what I have to say. 😉

Well I know I got back to Kansas and this heat and humidity sucks... so yep booked a cabin on the 9/25 sailing during lunch today!

31 minutes ago, PG13 said:

Have any of you visited the thermal spa since HA started back up. They want you to choose a specific time to go, right now, when you pay for it.  Lots of folks have questions about this, but unless you've been on the ships recently and used this service you don't know Thank you for your information. Pat

That time slot means absolutely nothing it is just how they limit the number sold online precruise.  If you want to use it buy online before the cruise for a significant discount and then just check in with the spa desk to get the little sticker placed on your room key.  

I enjoyed it almost every day last week and I already am missing it back home.