QuattroRomeo

Just a few ship pics while it is empty.

We docked early this a.m. in Whittier, where the majority are disembarking and heading for the land portion. Trains and busses waiting.

One lady I spoke with about the view said" it's a good thing we are here now and not the summer, because they would be half- melted"...oh dear..

We had about 2 hours to walk around the ship and enjoy the view. I found there was lots of space on the top deck and promenade to do so. 

College Fjord- a sampling. Glaciers everywhere! These photos are just from a tablet camera. I have others on a zoom camera that I can download after the cruise if anyone wants a closeup.

18 minutes ago, GoldCoastCruise said:

I am finding your experiences on the Noordam very informative and entertaining.  I have previously cruised on the Noordam, Maasdam,Oosterdam and Zuiderdam) and have another cruise scheduled for next year on the Noordam.  This time, I have joined Club Orange particularly for the upgrade to a Signature Suite on Deck 6.  I would be interested to see how you are finding the additional benefits, ie priority check-in and priority dining, etc.  For me the suite upgrade, priority check-in and dining experience is well worth the additional cost.  Any comments and advice would be appreciated.

 

Embarkation in Vancouver - the initial entry line was great with CO. The slow part was security screening line where they xray your bags. No priority there. For this cruise it has been pretty nice- only 10 people have CO ( I think other than suites) so we have had no problem with lines in the MDR or Guest Services. Always been first or second in line!

For appetizers, I had the prosciutto caponato, DH had the salmon trio-he really liked it. For entrees, I had the salmon bowl, salmon had a nice sauce on it. DH loved his lamb shank. Some of the waiters and chefs paraded around the MDR for a bit. I left

before dessert to take photos outside.

Today is the last day of the first leg of our 14 day cruise, so many people are combing the shops and photo gallery. I'm glad we are continuing on, as it would have been difficult to be packing while we were in the fjord! We stared dinner early and I left without dessert, as we were entering the glaciers area and I wanted to he outside. 

We had the goat cheese and berries appetizer, and I had the salmon chowder in a bread bowl. DH had the Kodiak steak skillet with reindeer sausage. For dessert, we opted to get the apple/ beet smoothie that was listed as an appetizer. We enjoyed it all, very tasty!

Today we headed to College Fjord and are just leaving it now. We were there from about 6:45 pm- 8:45. Unbelievable, so many glaciers! Just mesmerizing.

This morning I went for my first ever facial in the spa- it was a nice experience and I successfully withstood all attempts at upselling.

Our lunch was twn Alaskan Brunch, so earlier than usual:

Desserts were heavenly! Tofu cheesecake was very good and had the crispy sugar brule that my creme brule lacked a few nights ago,  this was excellent. The coconut lime ganache mango concoction was really tasty and quite rich and filling. 

We both had the market whole fried fish- sea bass for that night. Got some sides of veggies. Very very good. Glad we didn't order rice- it was quite filling.

Ordered dumplings to replace the calamari dish. Very good- nice thin dumpling dough and tasty filling, with good scallion and ginger sauce.

Calamari Salad with quinoa- a strange one I thought. Mixed salad greens, toasted quinoa, nice dressing and battered, deep fried, cold, calamari rings at the bottom of the bowl. Would have been much better with a little more exotic salad and unbattered, marinated calamari. Tuna pizza was better- very thin crust to hold thin slices of tuna and lots of red onion. Uneven seasoning meant some mouthfuls of spice. Not bad. 

Last night we tried the Morimoto at Sea for dinner, held in the Pinnacle Grill. No special decor- I kind of expected something Japanese, but no. The waiters wore different side-tied jackets that they called their Ninja suits! This was only the third time here for Morimoto.

I went to the afternoon Royal Dutch tea, and joined 3 other ladies. All hubbies passed on this one..! 

They delivered 1 tray... and one teacup full. So, one of the others asked if it was 1 tray per table, he said yes and moved on. Later I flagged down a different waiter and asked if there was a chance of getting another tray? He said of course! Keep asking until you get the answer you want.. took additional effort to get tea refills. It was held in the Upper MDR, and it was pretty full.