OrcaGirl

Good morning from — gasp — not rainy Ketchikan. We docked in Ward Cove around 6:30am, and I made the bold decision to skip Starbucks and breakfast and head ashore first thing. The Fox and Cub stayed aboard for a nice sleep-in day. This was my second time docking at Ward Cove but first time actually getting off the ship. (Last time, it was rainy and miserable so we stayed on board and spent the entire day in the thermal spa.) It’s actually not bad as far as built-for-cruiseships ports go. Yeah, it’s got exit through the gift shop vibes but what modern port building doesn’t? And this one has retro chainsaws. Browsed for a couple of minutes and then walked right on to a waiting shuttle bus to head downtown. Got dropped off at berth 4, and wandered down the boardwalk to the Ketchikan sign (which I missed getting a photo of on my bus tour last month.) Meandered back, sadly skipping Jellyfish Donuts ‘cause the line was waaaay too long. Popped in to the Tongass Trading Outlet to pick up a three-T-shirt bundle that my mom regretted not buying last month on our Princess cruise. Then boarding the same double decker bus back to Ward Cove. A deer darted in front of the bus at one point, but fortunately our bus and a pickup truck both avoided it. Did a bit more shopping — being that annoying person paying for their purchase entirely using leftover $1 bills. Random observations: Another six-ship day in Ketchikan. I rode in a shiny new double decker bus; the driver mentioned that they just got three of them, with a couple more arriving later in the season. That should help with the lines vs the school buses. But wow, the driver… when transporting a bunch of tour bus passengers in Alaska, maybe don’t talk extensively about how many float plane crashes happen and how many people get killed by bears. Just, no. I admit that I’ve never paid attention to the toilet paper quality on board ships, until this cruise. It’s what I would expect to get at a BC Parks campground outhouse. I get that Norwegian is exploring cost-cutting measures, but this is not the way.

After the Fox had to leave to pick up the Cub from Splash, I lingered in the spa for a bit, then eventually dried off and joined them in the Observation Lounge for a light snack and a heavy-pour drink. We lounged around until it was time for dinner. Once the Cub headed off to Splash, we settled down in the Atrium for a speed trivia completion followed by bandaoke (karaoke with live backing band) with Siglo. We stuck around for three songs before deciding to bail for the thermal spa. It was deadsville in the spa which is just how I like it. I stuck around until well after the Fox and Cub retired to bed. At one point, the Norwegian Jewel was following us, just peeking out of a low fog bank. Very eerie. After that it was straight to bed. Random observations: I absolutely love Siglo but one downside of having an all-dude band play for bandaoke is there were almost no songs by women on the list of available songs. [insert scene from Pitch Perfect about women not being able to hit the low notes here…] Someone was asking on another thread about the access procedures on the thermal spas. It’s changed since last time I was onboard; it’s now a generic orange wristband and a dishonest person could absolutely cheat the system.

After some downtime in the room, I was hungry but the Fox and Cub were mostly tired so I headed up to the buffet solo for lunch. The mushroom pakora was particularly tasty, as was the key lime cream cake. And the views from the buffet were pretty darn good too. Once we met up again, we explored a bit more of the upper decks, found the schedule for the double-karts on the Bliss Speedway, and booked the very last available spot on the last cruise day. The Cub was excited to compete in a Super Smash Brothers tournament so off to Splash Academy he went. I suggested that I give the Fox a quick tour of the thermal spa… you know, for next cruise… and wouldn’t you know it, the spa had a half-week special. $179USD for the remainder of the cruise. After some intense deliberation, we each slammed down our cruise cards and signed up. 🤣 And so the next two hours were spent spaaaaaaahing. Excellent decision. Also excellent views for sailaway from Icy Strait Point. Random observations: I love the NCL thermal spas, and think they’re waaaaay better than Princess (small) or Celebrity (no pool or hot tub so what’s the point?!?!) That said, the thermal spa on the Bliss is showing its age and could use some TLC. Nothing that will prevent me from enjoying every second though. Note that the speedway has very limited hours for the double karts, so if your kid is interested, sign up ASAP.

Day 5 (Icy Strait Point) dailies Day 5 ISP.pdf

Good morning from Icy Strait Point. Grey and drizzly this morning — guess we used up all our nice weather for this trip in Sitka and Juneau… and that’s just fine with us. We had a leisurely breakfast while the first wave headed off the ship, before we braved the lines ourselves. We didn’t have any activities booked, but last time I was here in ISP we went straight onto the whale watching boat, and it was so cold and rainy that we returned directly to the cruise ship without exploring the port area. So today, we’re just planning to walk around and see what’s what. We took the free green gondola, and spotted a deer underneath us. We played on the beach a bit, wandered around the shops and waterfront area, watched some zipliners zip by, etc. The grey eventually lifted and we doffed our jackets. We stopped by the Crab House just before it opened (not listed on the door or Google Maps or the ISP website, but food starts being served at 10am) and decided, hey, we’re on vacation, let’s order cocktails. The Whale Surf was very yummy. And if you’re drinking at 10am, it would be uncouth not ordering some food too, right? The reindeer chili was very good, couldn’t really taste the Blitzen. (The Cub was *horrified* that we were eating Santa’s buddies and would not partake.) The Cub was interested in doing the ropes course based on how cool it looks from the gondola, but alas it wasn’t open. Is it even complete? We headed back to the ship (spotting another, but different, deer on the way) and were back on board shortly after 11am. Random observations: Still no hash browns in the buffet at breakfast. (Breakfast potatoes ≠ hash browns.) The Norwegian Jewel is docked at the Adventure Landing dock today. I’ve ordered the exact same thing at Starbucks every morning this trip, and the price has been slightly different each day. Taxes? Exchange rate? Mid-cruise inflation? ☕️

It was 6:30pm by the time we made it back onto the ship, so we dropped all our gear off in our cabin and headed to the buffet. The Fox and Cub were tired and headed back to the room to chill. I headed up to the Observation Lounge for a delicious espresso martini (made by a bartender who possibly remembered me from past sailings) and to watch a bit more of the gorgeous scenery go by. And then to bed. Random observations: The NCL buffet remains my favourite cruise ship buffet, hands down. Noticeably less washy-washy happy-happy since the early days of the restart, even less than pre-pandemic. And so many people coughing either directly into their hands or not covering their mouth at all. I’d hoped we had all learned better but I guess not? 🤷‍♀️

(Catching up on yesterday…) For our one and only excursion of this trip, we booked the Endicott Arm and Glacier Explorer tour. We showed up at 12:15pm in the Manhattan Room as directed, and after a few minutes wait were guided down to the deck 4 tender area. From there we boarded the tour boat from Allen Marine. (Note that when we booked it, the tour had a departure time of 1:15pm, but we were on the tour boat by 12:35pm and pulling out by 12:40pm.) The boat was the same style as their whale watching boats, with enclosed seating and a bar on the lower deck and a smaller enclosed seating area and an open deck (sans seating) on the upper level. There was also a third open level that was blocked off. The plan was for a two-hour boat ride up to the mouth of Endicott Arm, then scenic cruising up the Arm to Dawes Glacier, before rejoining the Bliss at the mouth of the Arm. So freaking scenic, words cannot express it, photos cannot do it justice. I’ll post a couple below, but my Instagram Stories / Highlights have more. (erin_braincandy) We saw a couple of humpback whales, including one doing a nice spyhop. Many seals, including a few perched on icebergs. Many eagles. The crew offered complimentary donut holes and salmon dip on crackers — both delicious. Other snacks were available to purchase. The Fox and I purchased some cocktails made with local gin (Juneauper Gin, get it? 🤣) and the Cub partook of the complimentary hot chocolate. Once we reached the glacier face itself, everyone stormed upstairs to the outside deck and crowded the side facing the glacier. But the boat spent a lot of time there and turned a few times, so after ten minutes a lot of people got cold/bored and the upper deck cleared out and there was tons of space. The crew fished a small iceberg out of the water for the guests to check out, and then glacier margaritas were made available for purchase. We eventually left the glacier and started making our way back down the Arm. After about 30 minutes or so, we spotted the Bliss. We re-boarded the Bliss, just to hear the announcement that this was as far as the cruise ship could make it due to ice conditions. So if we’d stayed on the ship, we wouldn’t have seen the glacier at all. Sorry not sorry? Random observations: We passed the NCL Encore on its way into Juneau. Didn’t have it on my list so I guess it was a seven ship day? 😬 A few people clearly did not expect the two hour cruise to even get to Endicott Arm. Don’t spend all that money on an excursion without reading the description! The *only* complaint I had was that no matter whether I was inside or out on the deck, I could barely hear what the captain or naturalist was saying.

The Fox has been able to drop off the Cub at the Splash Academy without issue, but she’s also early to everything without fail. If Splash Academy opens at 7pm, she’s in line at 6:45pm. She reports that on a couple of occasions so far, when she’s gone to pick up the Cub, Splash has been at capacity and other families in the virtual queue.

Day 4 (Juneau) dailies Day 4 Juneau.pdf

Good morning from Juneau! Sunny and gorgeous. Makes up for my last two incredibly rainy visits (granted, they were in early May and mid October). Went for my usual Starbucks run, then to the buffet for breakfast. One of the Princess ships was already docked, and a second Princess ship was on its way in (but tendered instead of docking). Apres breakfast, the Fox and Cub decided to stay on the ship while I ventured into town on a mission: find huckleberry truffles for my mom at Alaska Fudge Company. The Bliss was docked at AJ, so I took the free shuttle instead of walking the mile. Got dropped off, and moseyed over to the shopping street. Browsed for a few minutes in Trove, where I easily could have dropped a grand in 10 minutes on all the cool s***, but limited myself to one small gift for the Fox. Then I followed my nose to the Alaska Fudge Company, where alas the selection of truffles was severely limited. No huckleberry truffles for my mom. 😢 I did buy some fudge and fox paws as a snack for our afternoon excursion. Then I meandered along the dock back to the shuttle depot. Was back on the ship by 10am, now with two hours to sit back and chill before our excursion. We popped up to the pool deck for some delicious beverages (two BBCs and a virgin pina colada). Yum. Played a quick round of mini golf, then grabbed an early lunch before we get ready for our excursion. Random observations: You’re not allowed to bring Starbucks off the ship. The baristas are reminding everyone before they order. Part of the Observation Lounge was blocked off and a short red carpet was set up; not sure why. A six-ship day in Juneau, albeit not all at exactly same time… the Westerdam, the Ovation of the Seas, and two Princess ships (Grand and Ruby), one docked and one tendering. And the very small but cool National Geographic Sea Lion. Wifi continues to be horrible, dropping randomly and taking forever to reconnect. Much prefer the current style of straws versus the paper straws of the past few years. Two thumbs up!

After lunch, we thought ‘hey, everyone will still be off the ship; let’s go to the aqua park and hot tubs while it’s quiet…’ 🤣 I should have known better. Still couldn’t make it into the hot tubs but the Cub and Fox had fun in the aqua park and I floated in the adult pool. But boy the kids pool was packed, and the poor lifeguard was blowing his whistle at someone very minute. Since we’d had a big, late lunch, we decided to skip dinner in favour of chilling in the cabin for sailaway. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Wish you were here. Around 6:30pm we headed out for our evening plans. The Fox to the Splash Academy to drop off the Cub, me to the theatre (with a side quest to Maltings for a couple of Eastern Legacies). I snagged two seats for Six. Again. Some more. I cannot and will not shut up about how much I enjoy this show and how sad I will continue to be that NCL is taking it away. And just as I slide over to Platinum too. 😢 We picked up the Cub post-show and headed up to the buffet for a light snack that turned into a meal and many desserts. And then — whale spout off the starboard! We watched a lone humpback whale surface a couple of times (but got no good pictures). We headed back to the cabin, marvelling at how light out it still was and the super weird sensation of cruising the edge of the fog bank. And then more whales! I spotted three distinct spouts from the balcony, saw some humpback backs, and one good fluke. I love whales. But it was cooling down so to bed to post photos:videos and start writing up the day’s adventures. And then — the PA bings out in the hallway and we hear a muffled announcement with a code number. The Fox looks at me and is like “that’s not normal, is it?” No, it’s not. And then — the PA comes on in the cabin. The captain makes the announcement that there’s a man overboard and rescue operations have started. At this point, we jump up and run to the balcony (as does literally everyone else) to discover that the ship has done a 180-degree turn without us realizing it. We don’t see anything. So for the next 30 minutes we’re anxiously awaiting news, fruitlessly speculating about what might have happened and (morbidly) how likely a successful rescue could be given the frigid water temperatures. And then — the PA bings again, and the captain comes on. False alarm, the person who was thought to be overboard was found safe and sound on board. I mean, that’s good, but damn ya’ll, how did that happen?!?! So curious what actually went down. So that was a terrifying and anxiety-inducing 30 minutes.

Oh FFS… captain just announced it was a false alarm and the person who had been thought to have gone overboard was found on board.

Will post more later, but we just got an announcement from the captain with we have a man overboard situation. We’re turning around for rescue ops.

Attempting to post missing pictures… Scenic sail into Sitka It’s close to midnight… Lines, lines, lines Sitka stuff The Silver Whisper Late lunch at the Local

After an hour and a half of sitting on our balcony, repeatedly exclaiming “#%*€ this is gorgeous” and watching a chonky seal (or sea lion? It was hard to tell…) chow down on a fish, the Fox went to pick up the Cub while I headed to the Atrium. Watched the tail end of the Thriller dance class, mostly so I could send the video to my husband (a frequent zombie-cosplaying Thrill the World participant) for his judgement. (He felt they could have used his expertise…) We tried to pop to the Garden Cafe for an early lunch, but it was closed for changeover, so back up to the Observation Lounge for a DIY ham and cheese bun. After some elevator shenanigans, we finally got off the ship. The line up for the free shuttle was long, but not insane, so we popped into one of the shops first. Big mistake. Big. Huge. The line doubled in length while we were browsing…. 😬 So into the very long line I go while the Fox and Cub keep browsing (since I’d been in these shops just a couple weeks ago). It took about 30 min from getting in line to getting on the bus. The shuttle itself took about 15 min and we were dropped off at Centennial Hall. We popped into the church for just a few minutes, and then a few local shops along Lincoln Street. We walked down the harbourfront walk to the playground next to the Sitka Sound Science Center so the Cub could get some running around time. We wandered back towards the downtown, with the intention of stopping for fish and chips at a local food truck. It looked amazing, but alas the line was too long without much shade, so we decided to head back to the ship for lunch at the Local instead. Random observations: The Silversea Silver Whisper is in Sitka with us today, tendering from off of downtown. Gorgeous ship. The Atrium is not a great venue for dance classes; it was much more fun to watch on the Discovery Princess, and more space so a lot more people could participate. A better queue system is needed for the Sitka shuttle; when it wraps around so far, it completely blocks off access to many of the local shops at the port. Don’t forget sunscreen!

Good morning from a fog bank off of Baranof Island. We’ll be in Sitka today from 11am to 6pm, and I’m especially looking forward to the sail into port as I was asleep for it on the last cruise. Hoping the sun comes out as promised once we’re in Sitka proper. Starbucks ho! As discussed many times, you can use your Starbucks card/app to pay for drinks and earn points. After a little caffeinating time back in the room, we headed out in search of breakfast. To the Local! After breakfast, we had an hour to kill before it was time to drop off the Cub for some more Splash Academy fun so we popped up for a quick walk through the Observation Lounge. Then back to the cabin to watch our slow approach into Sitka. As soon as we emerged from the fog bank, the sun and the mountains presented themselves. Absolutely gorgeous. We decided to forgo any activities and just chill on the balcony and soak up the sunshine and scenery. Our plans for the rest of the day are to grab an early lunch at Local, then take the free shuttle into downtown Sitka and do some DIY exploring.

Day 3 (Sitka) dailies Day 3 Sitka.pdf Wifi is being horrendous this morning. Did the upload work?

Dinner was had in the Garden Cafe buffet. I do appreciate that NCL hasn’t (yet) cut back their dinner buffet to next to nothing. (Looking at you Celebrity.) After dropping off the Cub for the evening Splash Academy session, the Fox and I headed to the atrium to listen to some music and maybe have a cocktail. Or at least that was the plan. We looked at the time… SIX was going to start in SIX minutes. So we hightail it to the theatre, get there right before they close the doors (no waitlist at this point) and grab the first two seats we see. I’m really genuinely sad that NCL is dropping Six and so many of their other Broadway shows. Six was literally a huge part of the reason the Fox picked Norwegian Bliss out of the options I presented her. And I’ve loved seeing Six, Kinky Boots and Priscilla on various NCL ships. The replacement playlist productions that most other cruiselines offer are just sooooo generic. So yeah, the show is amazing, we loved it, and we’re still gonna see Six again tomorrow, with our original reservations. The Fox and I each got $25 free slot play with our booking, so we stopped in the casino to put a little dent in it. Unfortunately we were less lucky tonight than on our last cruise together. (On the Celebrity Solstice, the Fox turned $5 free play into $77 within a few minutes.) No big wins tonight but we each have a few bucks left for later in the cruise. After that, we picked up the Cub and retired for the evening, annoying him by singing Six songs all the way back to the cabin. Random observations: All passengers were required to complete a Canadian customs form and return it to the steward tonight. After seeing the long line for guest services earlier, I tried joining the virtual queue in the NCL app. When I joined around 6pm, I was 39th in line. At 6:52pm, when the in-person line had all but disappeared, I was 37th. At 9:25pm, I was 32nd. There is something screwy with this system. We are setting our clocks back tonight to be on Alaska time. Time is a construct. Macgyvering a better towel-based solution to banging hangers.

After lunch, the Fox and Cub headed back to the cabin for some downtime. I headed to the Atrium for Deal or No Deal but it was PACKED and I couldn’t find a perch so I moseyed on out of there. Popped into the spa to inquire about thermal suite daily passes, and was told that they weren’t sure yet, come back tomorrow to see if they were going to offer them or not. Did a walkthrough of the Observation Lounge; again, very full and couldn’t find a seat. Will have to return another time for my required espresso martini… By then the Fox texted me that it was pool time, so I hustled back to the cabin and we changed into swimsuits. The kids aqua park was closed (due to the rocky conditions?) so we stuck to the kids pool. Did I mention it was salt water? Can’t remember. The pool was rockin’ but it was fun. Once again, tried to hot tub but they were all full (mostly of kids). The ‘adult’ pool was empty. Back to the room again to warm up and dry off. We decided to head to bingo to use our free green bonus cards and hey we don’t want to just sit there for one game so sure we’ll buy another set of cards. And a couple of cocktails. So yeah, smart of NCL. But we still didn’t win anything. Boo. But there was a hilarious bongo when a woman called bingo in the last game, but still had five missing numbers. And then on the next number called, a guy called bingo… and it was also a false alarm. 🤣 Then back to the room to rest up and get ready for dinner. Random observations: Surprised that the kids pool is so deep. 5’7” so I can’t even touch the bottom. Decided to skip the latitudes party tonight since I don’t feel like dressing up, even for free drinks.

Day 2 (sea day) dailies Day 2.pdf

Missing photos:

Good morning from off the coast of Vancouver Island. Not sure if it’s a hangover from the Eastern Legacy or the lingering smoke from the Cameron Bluffs wildfire on Vancouver Island, but I woke up with a headache. So, to Starbucks… the fixer of all ills. I really miss sailing on half-full ships when there was no Starbucks line and the staff remembered me and my usual order. Up to the buffet for breakfast. Alas, I didn’t see a single hash brown this morning! Après breakfast, we dropped off the Cub at Splash Academy and then the Fox and I continued to explore the areas of the ship we didn’t get to yesterday. We did some shop browsing, and then settled in for some bingo. I purchased the three card package, but we also redeemed our two free cards each for booking the cruise via C*****. (Enough people had booked that way that they had a whole separate line with a multi-page list of names.) We played, the Fox got close, but we lost. But they gave out free green cards for the afternoon bingo game so we’ll be back for that. After picking up the Cub, we headed to one of the MDRs for lunch. In all my cruises, I don’t think I’ve ever gone MDR for lunch before. 🤷‍♀️ The monte cristo sandwich was very yummy (my only point of comparison is the Disneyland version). But oh the tiramisu was divine. I’ve had so many fancy deconstructed tiramisu on cruise ships but this was classic and creamy and perfect. Random observations: My wifi keeps dropping. And uploading photos is taking for freaking ever so they’ll come separately. I thought COVID taught us all to NOT cough directly into our hands and then touch all the things, but apparently not. Interesting that the captain referred to passing Graham Island this afternoon; the Fox and I had to look it up, and were like “oooooh why not just say Haida Gwaii?” I miss Captain Tasos from the Edge.

Attempting to post the day one dailies… pdf document.pdf

After finishing our mojitos, we headed to our cabin to drop off our backpacks. We’re in a BB cabin on deck 10, towards the aft. It’s a bit of a tighter squeeze with two adults and a child, but it’ll be fine. We demolished the chocolate-covered strawberries immediately but none of us drink red wine so the bottle of Merlot will be left for the steward to take away. After a quick call to housekeeping to request the queen bed to be split into two twins, we decided it was pool time. The rain had stopped by this point but it was still a bit chilly so we hopped in the pool instead of sticking to the kids aqua park. The pool is salt water, and was surprisingly warm (relative to the air at least). We tried for the hot tubs but they were full, so we headed back to the room to dry off and warm up. For dinner tonight we went to Taste. Or was it Savor? Not sure. The chicken piccata wasn’t quite as good as last time; the sauce was lovely but the chicken itself was rubbery. I regret not ordering the pork loin, as the Fox did. The honey crème brûlée was very good, if a touch too sweet. After dinner, we headed up to the Garden Cafe in search of chocolate milk for the Cub. A staff member brought it promptly, and — as is tradition — was floored that I thanked him in Indonesian. We headed back to the room and spent a few minutes getting unpacked. The Fox and the Cub were ready for bed, and I wandered out to Maltings for an Eastern Legacy while making a goodnight call to the husband back home. It’s now 9pm and I’m turning in for the night. Random observations: The Fox tells me that a child fox is a kit, not a cub. But I’m still gonna use Cub. 98% positive that the outdoor Waterfront area immediately in front of the cigar lounge is NOT a permitted cigar smoking area, no matter what really drunk cigar smoking dude and his slightly less drunk but still wrong buddy thought. The ship is rocking so I’m trying the old towel on the hangers trick.

After lunch, we were all fading but the rooms still weren’t ready so we decided to head down to the Splash Academy to get the Cub registered. It was a loooooooong wait and being around this many children is not my natural environment. 🤣 It was neat to see the Splash Academy space, but it wasn’t actually an engaging process for the kids and everyone was a bit frazzled. “This is soooooo boring” was a common refrain among the kids. It took us an hour to get the Cub registered and then to take a quick tour of the space. Once that was taken care of, we continued to tour the ship. The arcade was a bit disappointing, as any prize-giving games weren’t included in the arcade pass and the remaining games didn’t appeal too much to the Cub. We finished touring 678 and settled in for a sit and a mojito at the Sugarcane bar. The ‘rooms ready’ announcement came around 2:45pm and the cheer was heard throughout the land. Or the bar. Random observations: This is definitely the fullest ship I’ve been on since the restart. I miss the reduced capacity cruises. They announced that hand luggage could be left at Q until rooms were ready. (There’s a separate thread about this topic on the Joy, I think.)