QuattroRomeo

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.

Lunch was very yummy yesterday in MDR. I had the mushroom pasta- lovely and creamy. DH had mushroom soup and the egg and bacon burger and it was terrific. Dessert was a beautifully rich chocolate cake.

Yesterday was Glacier Bay. We've been here twice before, but today I finally saw calving at Margerie, 4 calvings only a few minutes apart! Beautiful scenery.

I had the bay shrimp cocktail, tasted better than it looked! We both had pea soup.  I had the klapstuk- basically unexciting beef stew. DH had the Morimoto lobster. He liked it but didn't think it was worth $25 for a "bit of seaweed on top" 😄. Tompouce for dessert.Just okay.

Endrie, one of our regular waiters, has been making origami items and each time we are there he gives me one. One of his daughters has been teaching him over skype or whatever they use and told him to give them to customers he likes. I feel so happy! What a nice thing to do. Dutch night was a tulip!

Dinner last night was Dutch Night in the MDR.

We had a great day. Some others didn't- we noticed there was no train running along our route. Our guide heard that the first train out to Bennett Lake jumped the tracks and no more trains could go. Later on I overheard someone say they were on a train that got up to the Canada border, but the axle broke and they were bussed back. Whatever happened, ALL train trips were cancelled. So many people anticipate the White Pass Rail, I feel badly for them.

We headed back the same route. Had a bit of excitement with a young golden bear munching on dandelions! Sorry they show sideways for some reason.

Of course there is a gift shop on site, too. Then we were off to a photo stop at beautiful Emerald Lake, then on for a stop in the hamlet of Carcross. 

They have puppies, iditarod dogs, optional sled runs, alpacas and goats on site.