Live from the Amsterdam July 26-August 9, 2010

[CherylsCaribbeanTravel]

Hello all,

 

I am onboard the lovely Amsterdam for a 14 night Alaska Adventure tour and am posting a live blog on my personal web page. The link is here if you are interested:

 

http://www.chris-n-cheryl.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=21694

 

From a very sunny inside passage,

 

Cheryl :)

[Assateague Island Princes]

Thanx for taking us along for the ride, Cheryl! And enjoy that "secret" balcony! We had the similar cabin 7056 on the Navigation Deck for the May 31st sailing. It was tremendous! We usually had the entire aft deck to ourselves (and our "peeps" ;) Shout out to Jilly, Michelle, Kim, Mary, Rhodi and Sue! Miss you guys!) and thoroughly enjoyed it! Would book that cabin again in a heartbeat!

 

Glad you're having such great weather. Enjoy every second - and keep up the great work on your blog! Got it in my "Favorites" and just waiting for your next entry!

 

Happy sailing!

[IRL_Joanie]

Hello all,

 

I am onboard the lovely Amsterdam for a 14 night Alaska Adventure tour and am posting a live blog on my personal web page. The link is here if you are interested:

 

http://www.chris-n-cheryl.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=21694

 

From a very sunny inside passage,

 

Cheryl :)

Cheryl, I am absolutely LOVING your Live from Blog so far, and I'm only to the paragraph begining with the CC M&G:D

 

You have an excellent descriptive wrining style and I actually can see the stateroom!! OMG, Got to get back and read not only the rest of what you've posted so far, but then need to go and rea/see your 5 days in Seattle!!

 

Joanie

[StartrainDD]

Cheryl, thanks for posting! Really enjoyed your Seattle blog also. My brother and SIL are on your cruise. The Amsterdam is our favorite ship - last summer we had the OPPOSITE cabin of yours - ours faced forward on the Verandah deck and we had our own huge "Balcony." When moving, it was too windy there, but it was marvelous for glacier viewing.

 

Feel free to check that balcony out - all the way forward on the port side - Verandah deck. It's also a great place to watch the sail-in to ports if it's not too windy.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Love all the details.

[CherylsCaribbeanTravel]

Thank you everyone for the lovely compliments. I blog for you and me (helps me to relive my trip).

 

I was just able to post entries for both Ketchikan and Sitka. We are having amazing weather. Not one drop of rain. I wore shorts in Ketchikan yesterday and was very comfortable in just jeans and a sweatshirt today.

 

I am waiting until tomorrow to post photos, but I think I have captured some of the best photos of all of my travels so far this trip. The internet onboard is costly, but it is also SLOW, and it will take forever to upload. Tomorrow I'll carry my card into port and log into a regular connection where I hope to be able to upload many of my favorite shots so far.

 

The Amsterdam is excellent and Alaska is, as always, amazing. I think I'll dub this trip Triple A........... Amsterdam in Amazing Alaska :)

 

Until tomorrow,

 

Cheryl :)

[aliaschief]

Thanks for taking us on your sailing. Sounds like a great time.

[JDinWA]

I'm curious about the alpha capsule -- did you continue to use it each day, and is it worth it?

[larry_s_taco]

We are on the Amsterdam in Sept. Thanks for the great info.

Larry

[CherylsCaribbeanTravel]

As promised, I uploaded a boat load of photos today!

 

Hope you enjoy,

 

Cheryl :)

[Himself]

I enjoyed the Blog and the pictures. Have a great cruise. You are on the best ship in the whole "dam" fleet

[CherylsCaribbeanTravel]

I have been able to upload my text blog daily, but this is the first stop that I have had a moment to upload photos also. Mostly because today was AMAZING!! I did the Photo Safari Tour in Juneau and we were able to witness 11 humpback whales bubble feeding including a three separate full out of the water breaches!! I know I say amazing too much, but today really was the absolute best day of the cruise so far. I'll add a text blog for the day when I'm onboard (I'm sitting in the Juneau library right now), but here is a link to the photos. They are all unedited, but I am very pleased:

 

http://www.chris-n-cheryl.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=21694&p=265508#p265508

 

 

Cheryl :)

[muffy168]

great blog, thanks for sharing. We were onboard the week before you. We did not begin to see the wildlife you saw. Went on a couple of the same tours. You had a lucky week. We are so jealous of all the whales you saw. so happy to see all of your pictures. We will have to go back!

[Himself]

Thanks for filling us in with your blog as you made the amazing adventure. When I was in Hubbard Glacier a few weeks ago it calved but not that much. I do have a soft spot in my heart for Glacier Bay.

 

As you spend your last full day at Sea, may you have calm waters and smooth sailing and have a great time in Victoria--one of the nicest places I have ever been.

[roadbeagle]

Cheryl, Your pictures are wonderful. Thanks so much for all the great info and observations. We will be going on the Amsterdam on Sept. 6 and can't wait.

[StartrainDD]

I have been able to upload my text blog daily, but this is the first stop that I have had a moment to upload photos also. Mostly because today was AMAZING!! I did the Photo Safari Tour in Juneau and we were able to witness 11 humpback whales bubble feeding including a three separate full out of the water breaches!! I know I say amazing too much, but today really was the absolute best day of the cruise so far. I'll add a text blog for the day when I'm onboard (I'm sitting in the Juneau library right now), but here is a link to the photos. They are all unedited, but I am very pleased:

 

http://www.chris-n-cheryl.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=21694&p=265508#p265508

 

 

Cheryl :)

 

Cheryl, this is just amazing, posting here from your Blog:

 

"Is this not an amazing shot?? Completely unedited. I think when I edit I might be able to actually get a close up of an open mouth on a whale:

 

If Frank's brother reads this message he says hello (and hello from me too). Feel free to link this photo into the other forum if you want. My time is running short here:)"

 

Frank's brother here - sure hope he was on this trip with you! Posting as suggested. Sounds like you all had a super cruise!

[CherylsCaribbeanTravel]

I have safely arrived at the Hilton Seatac. Leaving the ship was a seamless procedure. Easy Peasy. I was able to meet several people embarking on the Amsterdam today who were still at the Hilton when I arrived. It was a sincere pleasure to wish them a safe journey let them know they will be sailing on such a fine vessel!!

 

I was able to upload over a hundred photos today and have updated the text blog through disembarkation. I think that's enough photos unless you have any specific requests. I took thousands (literally :o).

 

I will finish the text blog shortly with a final overall review entry, but in the meantime I have reorganized the blog and entered the additional photos so they are categorized within each day's blog. I think this will make the blog easier to follow now. I will also add my whale footage as soon as I have a minute to edit it.

 

Here is the link if you are still interested:

 

http://www.chris-n-cheryl.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=21736

 

Overall an A+ voyage, and I haven't given an actual A+ rank to a vacation in over a decade!!!

 

Cheryl :)

[TracieABD]

Nice blog (both Alaska and Seattle). Fabulous pictures! Wow!:)

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Fantastic, incredible format, photos, and documentary. I'm going to include a link to your site on our Amsterdam roll call for the May 27th 14-day itinerary next year. When you're home again and have the time, could you please give us a little info on how you put all this together? Thanks so much for taking us along with you!

[Himself]

Welcome Home! Thanks for all the sharing you did of your fantastic cruise.

[saginaw]

Cheryl, your blog was wonderful. In fact it was so great that I have talked my husband into taking the cruise next summer!! You said you booked the "secret" cabin and I was wondering what the number was. Is it big enough for two? We have always booked a balcony but with our daughter in college we are trying to save a little! Any other hints would be appreciated!

Thanks

saginaw

[pspercy]

Cheryl,

Great job, thanks.

 

What camera do you use, I bought myself a new one, it too has a little red button for HD video - right where I'm used to putting my thumb !

[senior lady]

wow, what a great review!!! We did the 7 day on the Oosterdam and I agree it's not long enough.

mmmmmm, maybe 14 day next yr???

 

What great pictures......... what kind of camera do you have???

[Cruizer Bill]

Fantastic, superb job Cheryl!! After reading your review, I changed my cabin to the one you had, thanks! :)

[CherylsCaribbeanTravel]

Hello Again,

 

I have arrived safely back home. After 22 nights it was wonderful to be able to sleep in my own bed again. I am working on the final review with my comparisons to RCL and Princess (since I recently sailed them also) today and should have it up shortly.

 

In the meantime, to answer the questions about my camera. It is nothing special. An inexpensive point and shoot that I purchased for the trip ($329.00). I wanted a good zoom and lence and ended up with the Canon SX20. It is a bit smaller than a pocket camera, but it isn't a DSL or anything like that. What it does have is a 20 times zoom which I think is necessary for Alaska (or at least cool to have). You can do manual changes on the camera, but nearly all of my photos were captured on the simple 'auto' or 'sport' option (although I did play with the aperture and speed at glaciers).

 

The best thing I did regarding camera was to take a photo class/tour in Seattle before embarkation. I was in Seattle for 6 days prior, so I had lots of time, but I think this would be worth it if you were only in Seattle for a couple days because it is a nice history/walking tour of the city with great camera tips. This was a great $35.00 spent.

 

Saginaw: Cabin 2715 is significantly larger than a traditional outside. When you look at the pics take a look at the extra space between the beds and end tables. I think my cabin was a full 3-4 feet wider than a normal outside. Positively big enough for two people. This would also hold true for 2713 and 2702. So if you can grab any of them GFI. If you have a choice among the three take 2702 or 2715 as 2713 had the most obstruction when viewing on the inside.

 

As mentioned in more detail in my blog, don't overlook the other secret cabins 7055 and 7056. Of these two, 7055 is less obstructed, but both lead to a secret deck on 7 and this deck is nicer than the secret deck on 2 in the sense that it is a not solid wall when looking at the sea (the deck wall on 2 is solid which changes the view). The down side of deck 7 is that deck 2 had overhead heaters which would be fantastic in really cold weather. Of course deck 2 cabins are categorized as G's as opposed to DD's (on the Amsterdam) so they less expensive which is a perk. They are lower with less movement which is another perk, but deck 2 is louder (work area underneath) which would be a con. If the prices were identical, I'd grab the secret cabins on deck 7, but if deck 2 prices less expensive (as was the case when I booked), I'd grab that cabin again in a heartbeat.

 

Ok, off to finish the review,

 

Cheryl :)