SGCruiser2013

Lunch today at Pinnacle Grill, had the black cod sandwich on sourdough and warm brownie (carpaccio appetizer not pictured):

A few pics from dinner last night we love Club Orange! Sweet and sour fried shrimp and apple crumb cake:

Last Day at Sea before return to Vancouver!! Unfortunately no Northern Lights I could see between about 12:30 and 1 am. Last night, without my knowledge since I wasn’t paying attention 🙂 , we sprung forward one hour. So my clock has been ‘off’ today and I hope I can rally before Bingo. This morning was a fun Captain announcement, direct to the rooms, paging a few specific people to report in immediately. Culprit? Teenagers! 🙂 Ah to be young, glad everyone was safely located. Today’s program chock full of stuff:

Awesome day in Ketchikan. Heard from several locals, tour guides, event folks what a lucky weather day to be in port. Sunny, low 70’s, low winds. Perfect. I am coming off an injury so taking it easy this cruise. This, I attended the Lumberjack show while DW was floatplaning to spy on Bears. 🇺🇸 beat 🇨🇦 today. That’s twice I’ve attended the Lumberjack show and twice the US has prevailed. Lucky charm I guess. Then headed to George Inlet lodge for the awesome Dungeness crab feast. So good! How it started: How it went: We were docked next to Royal Princess, what a beautiful ship. Here she is as well as a few scenic pics from the day, including an amazing sunset. Will be checking for Northern lights tonight! *Oh, and a bonus bear pic from DMiL:

No these events are typically hosted, except when you see on the program a charge next to it, or something about purchasing tickets. Like a few days ago it said RYDE session (some sort of cycling I believe) and next to it said $20.

Today’s sun drenched program:

Arriving in Ketchikan on a beautiful day! Sunny and 74, sun feels wonderful on the balcony! Also I see my Yacht is in fine order. Crab Feast this afternoon……

We only had a distant view of John’s Hopkins glacier and not close enough to see calving or not. In Skagway, Smugglers Cove was pretty easy to find. From where we docked the bridge across was easy to locate/see from most vantage points. It’s effectively just opposite direction of the road into town. Once you cross the bridge there is a well marked trail towards Smuggler’s Cove as well as a “point” that I can’t fully remember the name of. As you walk down, the sign will eventually point left to go to the “point” (where rocks jut out into the sea - very scenic), or to the right which is towards Smuggler’s Cove. As you follow the trail, there are periodic little markers on the trees with a hiker picture that lets you know you are still on trail and that’s helpful. Was a nice walk!

Good morning! We arrive Ketchikan in a few hours. Right now all mist and drizzle outside the ship, so we will see what portends. Hadn’t had the 8-cookie at GD…until this morning when I saw your post. Grabbed one and had them warm it (my preference). It was great though maybe not mind blowing 🙂 on the other hand I felt like the bread pudding I had the other day was more legit. So good! For breakfast, I also really like their Texas Toast French Toast. Cookie pic: Texas Toast French Toast pic: Per a few discussions there are just above 2000 on board, so I think that’s about 75% full. Mostly it doesn’t feel crowded at all. Exceptions are Lido at breakfast is like a bus station, early shows are full, and the good night venues like BB King’s are about 80-90% full but seating is pretty dense. My impressions - The crowd has very few kids, teens and twenty something’s. A few thirty to forty something’s. Moderate 50 to 60 something’s and a lot of 70s and 80s. Suspect some of that HAL and some also time of year since for most part we are I’m close or just into school season. Masking is light, I would estimate 15-20%. Employees are basically all masked. I plan to do a post later about a few Covid observations for those interested.

Glaciers, glaciers, glaciers! Had a misty ride into Glacier Bay this morning but then it turned basically just cloudy with pretty good visibility. A little rain in the morning but not heavy and then a very nice afternoon. Rangers on the intercom we’re insightful and the Margerie glacier continues to truly be a wonder. We saw two pretty decent calvings from our balcony which was special. Some pics: Reid glacier: Lamplugh glacier: Margerie glacier: Onky thing I missed was Dutch Pea Soup on deck! When we set sail from glacier bay, we attended the Ranger talk which was good and then a representative of the Huna Tlingit talk about her homeland and culture. Recommend. Dinner at Club O was good again, so good I forgot to take pictures! Had tortellini and chocolate soufflé. Have dinner scheduled at Caneletto tomorrow night but seriously considering Sel de Mer again. Just for the soufflé 🙂 alone though I’d likely have the Sole again 👀 👀 Show tonight was Step One Musicality, I thought the dancers were super great and in sync. Well choreographed and high energy. Earlier before dinner saw a great Schumann performance at Lincoln Stage and now enjoying the killer BBK all stars. Awesome day! Any questions about the ship, venues, etc don’t hesitate to ask. Or any pics I can take let me know.

I had the Delmonico, it was great!!!

Not too much to report from Skagway yesterday. DW had a great time ziplining. After much at the Dive In, we took a walk to Smuggler’s Cove. Dinner last night was at Pinnacle Grill - awesome! I asked about their 12 oz lobster tail, which they indicated would be served two six oz portions. So seems like cruise wide none of the larger tails made it on. A few pics: Went to see comedy show last night - different comic from night before. A little less PG but still a lot of potty humor. I like comic shows so was enjoyable with a drink or two.

Good morning everyone from the (traditionally) misty waters entering Glacier Bay. Today’s program: Hope everyone has a great day!

No northern lights thus far, our cabin steward mentioned 8/18 which would be just after glacier bay and more towards Ketchikan but not sure. I have signature drink package and my drinks at Grand Dutch are covered - I had just asked to see the receipt they printed which had the charge on it (then, on my account, the line item shows up but no charge is applied and instead it says “promotion”. So I would think Have it All covers.

I have two examples. Two days ago I got a gelato for $2 and it showed up $2.36 and today I checked receipt for latte at Grand Dutch and they had also applied 18% service. So answer looks to be yes.

Last post re Juneau, yes before dinner we snuck in a pound of King Crab at Tracy King’s crab shack. Highly recommend. Then dinner back at Club Orange. Had the special again which was Duck breast and black cherries. Thought was good 7/10 but maybe just shoulda stayed at TK and loaded up on more crab 🙂 Service at Club Orange was again great, and I got to meet the very nice Erza, who had been over at the Pinnacle on our first night. I told her @steve4031said hello and that she had a great reputation on CC. After dinner, saw the first comedy show which was PG but enjoyable. The “spicy” version later in the week which I will look forward to. Here are a couple pics from dinner (with an added shot of TK’s crab):

Yesterday we did the Tracy Arm Fjord excursion, about 6.5 hours (9-3:30) in advance of Juneau. Had not done that before and got to see the South Sawyer glacier. Also saw a few whales which was great. Weather held very nicely. Took a million pics but will only post a few of my faves. The crew on the excursion were great and very attentive and informative. Inside the ship was a bit Covid-y for my more anxious self, nevertheless set that aside. Since you can’t really eat a meal, it’s snacks and drinks only from about 8:30 gathering to 3:30 return so need to be prepared for that. Most of the seating was inside and outdoor back deck open for standing. When we slowed down for glaciers and waterfalls and whales, they also opened the up top deck which provided plenty of outdoor room. Weather stayed just fine and really glad we did this, the scenery was really great.

Good morning from Skagway! Looks to be clear and cool and full of fresh air. Today’s program: No shore excursion planned today. DW is zip lining so look forward to that report. Not too much in the ship activity listing so will likely walk into Skagway to explore a bit.

Right back at you, the Solstice from our Tracy Arm excursion boat

Today is Juneau. We are taking the early Tracy Arm excursion which we haven’t done before. Today’s program:

Dinner tonight was at Rudi’s Sel de Mer. Wowza. One of the best specialty dining’s I’ve had on a ship. Loved it. Took some recommendations and ordered the Dover Sole Meunière and we all shared a soufflé as well as some of own desserts. Waitstaff was great and pacing good. 7pm reservation and we ended around 9pm, in time for some of the group to make 9:30 showtime for Humanity. Mostly I have pics. Appetizers (crab bisque and escargot): Entrees: Sole, lobster tail (which was listed as 12 oz tail but came as two 6 oz tails - suspect this was not how usually served?): The Sole was simply magnificent. Desserts: Soufflé (shared for table), Apple Tartin, Profiteroles: The soufflé was magnificent and the star of the show. It was cooked with mixed berry on the bottom. Light, fluffy, perfect. But honestly, our party of 4 thought 90% of the dishes from start to finish were superb. Great meal, highly recommend!

Good lunch today at NY Pizza and Deli. We used the app to order ahead. The app has the specialty pizzas but not build your own. However on the specialty pizzas you can add instructions so if you minus this, sub that, you can pretty much customize. When we ordered, the app shows three stages. First stage is order, then processing and then ready. There was not a time estimate on front end. After we ordered, it moved pretty quickly to processing, and then we headed up from the room. However NY Pizza was pretty crowded when we arrived and when we got a table nearby and waited, it was probably 30 mins wait (so maybe 45 mins from order submission). BBQ pizza was yum! Yes I like pineapple, sue me 🙂

Well I paid a lot for bingo, the mega package was $59 and you got 39 plays plus a scratch off. I think the options were $19/$29/$39 and $59. I will ply again one day this week and will fill in some details. There were four rounds - last round was blackout/jackpot. Lasted just short of an hour and had a good time. Wesley has been our game show host twice and he is very personable and funny.

Ok will do. Had a great takeaway vanilla latte this morning when I went for breakfast. I didn’t realize that the hours for food/menu began at 11:30, so I will go for lunch on Skagway day, assuming it’s open. Tomorrow we are on the Tracy Arm Fjord early depart excursion to Juneau. For breakfast, you can get muffins and biscotti type items from the counter shelf, but not the prepared foods like waffles.

We booked this cruise initially in early 2021 for Summer 2021. Not sure package name but was great deal. It was but a suite and get free inside room (or credit of inside room against higher category, which is what we did). We have free gratuities, signature drinks, specialty dining and some OBC. We purchased Wifi with four devices. Premium internet as I plan to try some video calls this week. Do not have Whatsapp but Instagram video chat worked this morning for a brief call. Video was a little choppy.