The Alaskan Jewel! Welcome Aboard….You don’t Exist!

[jenseib]

Back to my pool chair I went and we just relaxed and watched Claire do the slide over and over and over with her friend. The band was playing some Disney songs. Of course I had to record a little bit.

 

 

I noticed there was a towel stand so I took a picture from my chair.

 

vic55 by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

A DJ had now replaced the band.

 

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Skip and I decided to move our location so we could see Claire better at the slide.

 

This was our view out to sea.

 

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And Claire waiting to slide.

 

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[jenseib]

Her legs were really read and she was getting a little bit of a sunburn combined with them getting rubbed pretty hard each time she went down the slide.

 

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After a bit we headed downstairs to the pool deck to get some drinks and Claire was done playing with her friends. She told us she had to go to the bathroom and when she came back she was in pain. She had slipped in the bathroom and whacked her arm between the wrist and elbow on the counter. Kind of like the shin of the arm…yes I am sure it has its own name, but I don’t know it. LOL. She was in a lot of pain, plus she was tired out from all the water fun and lack of sleep so I think it hurt twice as bad because of that. There was a lot of whining.

 

As we sat there they announced they were going to do something they don’t normally do on Alaskan cruises….Pool Olympics. This is something they do on their Caribbean itineraries but because today was such a beautiful and warm day they decided to do it.

It was for adults only and it was several silly games. It was a bit funny to watch.

 

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They ended it with water ballet routines by both teams and it was pretty funny as most were strangers to each other and they had to coordinate a quick routine and perform it. Both actually did pretty good.

 

Claire and I then headed off to find some snacks.

 

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Those pretzels are really good but I sure wish they offered some hot fake cheese to dip them in.

 

I then went up and got us some drinks. Claire had a bartender make her a coke with lots of cherries the day before, so now this was her new favorite and she got another cherry filled coke. I went for an amaretto sour.

 

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I picked Skip up a Bud Light and I didn’t know he had just ordered one from a roving bartender, so he was 2 fisting the beer.

 

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She’s still in pain….the poor thing.

 

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[jenseib]

The kids club came out and did some dancing to some songs. I believe the “watch me whip” song was pretty new around then and a favorite and that is one they had dance moves too.

 

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Claire said she knew most of the kids…and pointed out the one boy who was often getting into trouble. Hahahaha.

 

It was time for me to head back to the room and pack. I can’t remember what Skip and Claire did but I know they ended up back in the room pretty fast and WATCHED me pack. Of course Skip gave me instructions on how he thought it would all best fit and I gave him the evil eye and said when he started doing laundry or packing his clothes to go on a trip then I would start taking his advice.

 

The snacks of the day had been left out.

 

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After the packing was done we just relaxed.

 

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We were getting close and all of a sudden we had cell reception. Skip quick called his brother. We had not expected reception in Victoria.

 

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It wasn’t long and his called dropped. We realized we had been bordering the US while sailing in and we were picking up a US signal.

 

We were now coming into Victoria.

 

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[jenseib]

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[jenseib]

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There were seagulls flying all over and I got this cool shot of one in midflight.

 

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Many were out to greet us.

 

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[jenseib]

There was all sorts of activity going on in the water.

 

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Up next…Victoria

[CRUZIN TOM]

Awesome weather, and nice and warm

[jenseib]

Awesome weather, and nice and warm

 

For the most part the whole cruise really was fantastic weather wise. We had a few down moments where it wasn't perfect but it was so much better than I expected.

[jenseib]

I really liked this shot as we were coming up to the dock.

 

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As you can see it was just a beautiful day.

 

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Seagulls everywhere.

 

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I swear this building looks like a bowling alley to me.

 

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[jenseib]

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Getting tied up now!

 

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[jenseib]

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The official welcoming committee were on their way.

 

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Another dead looking jelly fish…I could be totally wrong and it could be something else, but I saw a lot of these this cruise.

 

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As we pulled into dock we were going to different decks to get different views.

 

This sea gull totally cracked me up. Look at his “hair”.

 

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Evidently the geese cleared us and were on their way back to where ever they came from.

 

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[jenseib]

We had an excursion planned for today, believe it or not. All week they had a channel on the TV that played snippets and advertisements for the different excursions offered. As the days went past and ports were visited those ports would no longer play, so for the last 2 days we had been watching excursions for Victoria only…..well Skip was. This for some reason was one of his favorite channels and he watched it all the time. He had decided yesterday that he would like to do the horse carriage ride through town. Originally I had kind of hope to go to Butchart Gardens, but since I had really picked all the excursions for this trip, I decided I would go with what he wanted.

So earlier this morning we went and inquired about getting the horse carriage ride and sure enough they had openings. The tickets said to meet somewhere on the ship again, and after the fiasco of how that worked in Juneau we asked if we could just get off the ship ourselves and find the person directing us where to go….yep, just don’t be late. Well we knew most likely we would be there before the people getting off the ship with the group would, so that is exactly what we did.

 

Since we are in a suite we used that perk today and headed up to meet with Florentina and she escorted us and some others off the ship.

 

We went through a back elevator today….I think this is one the staff typically uses.

 

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And soon we were off the ship. Now they kept making announcements to have your passports ready when you get off, but nowhere did anyone ever ask to look at them.

 

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They had a few characters along the ship as we made our way out.

 

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Isn’t he creepy looking? We assumed he is Bigfoot.

 

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We were filtered through the building before going outside again to where all the taxis, buses and excursions were meeting.

 

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A few people dressed in costume around the area.

 

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[jenseib]

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We went looking for where the carriage rides were to meet and Skip recognized the guy from the tv channel. He was all excited like he was a celebrity. LOL. The guy pointed us the way and told us it would be about 10-15 minutes yet.

 

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There were a lot of taxis and buses lined up. That bad thing about this port is that it is basically not near anything. To see or do much of anything you really have to take a bus or taxi into town.

 

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We saw we could board the carriage now and headed that way. We were not in the “know”. But others obviously were. Many who were already on the carriage were sitting in the left side…as in one person per family in a row to themselves. The guy directed us to all sit together in one row. I was on the right edge, but I found out later that most of the “good” stuff was better seen from the left side. The bad thing about this is that the majority of my pictures are horrible. I have heads and arms and shoulders in most of them…if I am lucky not to be blocked completely.

 

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Our guide was very nice and you could see she loved horses. She told us she would be talking to the horses throughout the ride, so not to think she was crazy, but they needed talking to for instructions and reinforcements. It sounded like some days they are a little stubborn if they are not given enough love.

 

Soon we were clopping our way out of the port area.

 

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[jenseib]

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A few other horses.

 

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Up next….A ride through Victoria!

[Wavesprite]

If you like to walk,

In Victoria you can leave the port and turn right and walk all along the water to town. It's. A beautiful walk. We did that on the way in and on the way back walked through the residential area.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[NanciRDH]

Great trip report! I *know* you from another site, and I'm one of the Disboutiquers too, I've always loved the customs you've made for Claire thru the years. Anyhoo, I lurk the NCL boards on occasion for reports from the Jewel, and I knew yours would be good. :) My oldest DD is part of Team Nickelodeon, and I'm always checking trip reports to see if I can spy her in a pic or two, and I did, though mostly when she was *friends* with SpongeBob, lol, thanks for including those pics too! We did this same cruise with her in May, and had a great time, but agree that DCL just does it better. Our excursions were different than yours, but now you make me want to go back and do it again.

[Tinknock50]

If you like to walk,

In Victoria you can leave the port and turn right and walk all along the water to town. It's. A beautiful walk. We did that on the way in and on the way back walked through the residential area.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I did the walk too....or rather the one through the neighborhood as the shortest distance between two points. I discovered a tea house along the way and had some excellent scones. MMMMMMM....

[jenseib]

If you like to walk,

In Victoria you can leave the port and turn right and walk all along the water to town. It's. A beautiful walk. We did that on the way in and on the way back walked through the residential area.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I think that is part of the way our tour went on the way back. I don't mind walking but Skip has issues going too far or for too long with his hips.

 

Great trip report! I *know* you from another site, and I'm one of the Disboutiquers too, I've always loved the customs you've made for Claire thru the years. Anyhoo, I lurk the NCL boards on occasion for reports from the Jewel, and I knew yours would be good. :) My oldest DD is part of Team Nickelodeon, and I'm always checking trip reports to see if I can spy her in a pic or two, and I did, though mostly when she was *friends* with SpongeBob, lol, thanks for including those pics too! We did this same cruise with her in May, and had a great time, but agree that DCL just does it better. Our excursions were different than yours, but now you make me want to go back and do it again.

 

HI!!!

I will admit, I have never made those outfits for Claire. I can't sew to save my life, but I have bought and borrowed from those who can and friends. Sadly she is too big for most of those cute outfits anymore.

 

How great that you spotted your daughter. Friends with SpongeBob sounds like a good gig to have. Now that Nick is gone is she still with NCL?

[jenseib]

As we rode out of the port area I saw this cool shot and took it.

 

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Off we go.

 

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A look back at the ship.

 

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I thought this was kind of funny as the people would walk under this tree and practically disappear.

 

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[jenseib]

Our guide, and I am sorry, but I don’t remember her name, pointed out different homes. Many were historical homes. There were certain things that made homes historical and I can’t remember them all now. But I do know that back then the more windows, doors and colors you had on the house, the better it was. I think it showed status or something, so many homes we saw along our route were a little different looking than a normal home.

 

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A lot of the homes made me think of doll houses.

 

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A few unusual sculptures.

 

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[jenseib]

Here’s something you don’t see every day.

 

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We then approached the Parliament building, but I was on the wrong side and it was really hard to get many good pictures.

 

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I loved how so many people had flowers everywhere in Victoria.

 

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Our guide had a story about this hotel, which I no longer remember.

 

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[jenseib]

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Passing another horse and carriage.

 

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I believe now we were heading into Beacon Hill park.

 

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The Watering Garden is a water play park facility located at the site of the old wading pool in Beacon Hill Park. The goal was to create a play park that celebrates water in creative, playful and visually interesting ways, in all seasons.

 

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[jenseib]

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Kids loved to climb on this tree.

 

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Peacocks were running around but this was the best shot I could get of one.

 

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Up next….One of the clearest days

[NanciRDH]

She is finishing the last of the contract, and signs off tomorrow, and has no plans yet. Officially she was hired thru Nickelodeon, so she's not really an NCL employee. Which is why I suppose the new CEO decided to ditch Team Nick. But she loves working out to sea, and will probably start the audition process again. After a few weeks of rest and relaxation...she was gone 9 months this time, she and the rest of her team decided to extend the last 3 months and end the company contract together, plus getting the chacne to do the Mexican Riverera, places she hadn't been to before. We would love for her to get on with DCL or Royal Caribbean...we love both those lines, and cruise them often lol.

[jenseib]

She is finishing the last of the contract, and signs off tomorrow, and has no plans yet. Officially she was hired thru Nickelodeon, so she's not really an NCL employee. Which is why I suppose the new CEO decided to ditch Team Nick. But she loves working out to sea, and will probably start the audition process again. After a few weeks of rest and relaxation...she was gone 9 months this time, she and the rest of her team decided to extend the last 3 months and end the company contract together, plus getting the chacne to do the Mexican Riverera, places she hadn't been to before. We would love for her to get on with DCL or Royal Caribbean...we love both those lines, and cruise them often lol.

 

That's great she finished up and extended. I bet they had a blast. I hope she goes on DCL. I bet she has an easy in with a lot of lines now that she has some good experience.