Just off the Westerdam to Alaska...Review with pics!

[Bostonjetset]

Nice photos. I like the crabs!

Great start fo a review. Following.

Thanks for reading!!

 

 

Thanks for the review. We did the same cruise earlier in the summer and had a great experience. Can't wait to read about yours.

 

 

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Thanks for reading!

 

 

Outstanding!

 

 

 

Very enjoyable commentary and super photos.

 

 

 

I have quite a few questions, I just have to get them organized. Then, watch out!

 

 

 

I am happy you had a great cruise!

 

Yes it was a nice trip. Bring on the questions haha.

 

Enjoying your review and photos. I'll be checking back for more!

 

Thanks!!

 

That appellation must explain my addiction to cruising, as Westerdam was my first ship. Thanks, OP, for bringing us along for the journey.

 

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Thanks!

 

Enjoying your review, thanks for sharing your photos.

 

No problem. Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

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Edited September 21, 2016 by Bostonjetset

[Bostonjetset]

Thank you for the review and outstanding photos. We enjoyed this cruise in July. Was there a Mariner Embarkation Luncheon?

 

 

Thanks for reading! I'm not sure about the lunch as we ate in the buffet on embarkation day but I don't recall seeing it listed anywhere. They did have the brunch with the tiles at the end of the cruise though. Victoria day.

 

Loving your trip review - we sail the same itinerary the same time next year on the Eurodam so we now have something to get an idea what to expect!

 

 

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Glad you are enjoying the review and hope you have a wonderful time on Eurodam.

 

I'm enjoying your comments and pictures.

Thanks for posting.

Looking forward to more!

 

 

I'll post some more when I get home from work. Thanks for reading.

 

I am enjoying your review.

You are lucky on your AA flights. We had a long flight from Phoenix to Pittsburgh. Only a tiny breakfast, no movies, no hot nuts -- basically nothing but tiny seats, barely padded in first class -- it was an old 319 plane.

 

 

Ouch! The old US Airways planes are not so nice even in first. I believe all the A319 were from us airways. We had no movies on the whole first half of the trip. We did in the way home from SEA though. The AA planes are much nicer than the US Airways ones.

 

Great review and wonderful photos...really want to do Alaska next year...

 

 

 

BTW...I was flying into Boston to visit family as you were leaving:D

 

 

Thanks for reading! Small world indeed. You should do Alaska! It's so beautiful there.

 

I'm enjoying your review, comments and seeing your photos. Can hardly wait to hear how you enjoy the Alaska ports and your photos. We've never been on the Westerdam (but will be on her Oct 18 to Mexico).

 

 

Thanks for reading. Westerdam is lovely. Have a great time!

 

 

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[Bostonjetset]

I'm enjoying your narrative, and very much enjoying your pictures. (I love that the pics are sized so they don't make the screen too wide when I read with images turned on.) I can't wait for the Alaska pics, and maybe some of the interior of the ship? I understand it's totally redecorated since I was on her, and I would love to see what she looks like now.

 

 

 

Thanks for your report on this cruise. Are you planning to go back to Alaska at all???

 

 

I'm so glad you enjoy this review style. I think it presents a good look at my thoughts right as they had just happened rather than days or weeks later. Of course, there is usually less detail than there may have been if I say and reflected for hours just for the purpose of reviewing.

 

I thought of you and Silvertogold whilst I was picking out a treat to try at the Alaska Fudge Shop in Juneau. I got a delicious turtle but they call them husky paws or something haha.

 

I would love to return to Alaska someday but there are many other new places I wish to discover first.

 

Great pics; nice and succinct diary entries... love the format! Only thing better would have been to be there too.

 

 

 

Waiting for more...... :D

 

 

Thanks for reading and I'm glad you, too, enjoy this style of writing.

 

 

 

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[sp2]

Very nice review so far; I am looking forward to more! We will be on Westerdam in 66 days to Mexico!! Our last time on her was in 2012 I think. I already know what I am going to order in the Pinnacle Grill - your pictures made me drool! I can't wait!

 

Thanks for doing this.........:)

[SilvertoGold]

Chocolates!

 

Glad you found something you liked at the Alaska Fudge Shop. Yum!

 

Now that we're on this excellent subject: did you happen past the Explorer's Lounge in the evenings and notice if they are still putting out chocolates (on the table by the liqueurs table)?

 

Also, if you frequented the Explorations Cafe (Crows Nest), did you notice any brownies, and if so, did they look worth the calories?

 

Looking forward to more of this format! Excellent!

Edited September 21, 2016 by SilvertoGold

[Bostonjetset]

Very nice review so far; I am looking forward to more! We will be on Westerdam in 66 days to Mexico!! Our last time on her was in 2012 I think. I already know what I am going to order in the Pinnacle Grill - your pictures made me drool! I can't wait!

 

Thanks for doing this.........:)

 

You are most welcome!! Thanks for reading. The Pinnacle was fabulous. The caviar has a surcharge but is SO worth it. It's still much less than one would pay for that amount in a land restaurant. Have fun on Westerdam to Mexico!

 

Chocolates!

 

Glad you found something you liked at the Alaska Fudge Shop. Yum!

 

Now that we're on this excellent subject: did you happen past the Explorer's Lounge in the evenings and notice if they are still putting out chocolates (on the table by the liqueurs table)?

 

Also, if you frequented the Explorations Cafe (Crows Nest), did you notice any brownies, and if so, did they look worth the calories?

 

Looking forward to more of this format! Excellent!

 

I did go to the Crow's Nest to read and write out postcards. I love how they have leather-topped writing desks that have hidden computers when you lift up the lid...great for those of us who still love the old-fashioned art of writing letters without sacrificing space for modern technology. Sorry that I did not notice the brownies. They did have some chocolates out during a trivia session that was chocolate themed but I did not spend time in Explorer's Lounge this trip as the violinist was absent. :(

 

Glad you like the format. I am going to eat dinner now and will continue the review after.

[Mr. Boston]

Really enjoying your review so far. Can't wait for your Alaska thoughts and pics. I'm considering Alaska next summer with some family members. Westerdam was my first ship and cruise in 2005.

 

 

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[Bostonjetset]

9.49pm [AKST]

Today we called at Juneau but not until around 12.30pm. The morning was spent relaxing and reading. Once we disembarked, we bought tickets to Mendenhall Glacier for $30pp. We spent about two hours walking the trails and taking pictures. It was quite lovely but I was so surprised to see pictures of a much larger glacier on vintage postcards I found in town. It appears to have receded quite a bit even just over the past 40-50 years! Juneau's downtown was quite charming but it was packed with 3 ships in port. Also, it was a bit of a shame to see so many "cruise ship stores" like one finds in the West Indies. Diamonds International does not seem to represent the true spirit of Alaska. There were tons of 50% off end-of-season sales in the souvenir stores. I guess that can be a plus for sailing in September. Tomorrow is Glacier Bay National Park. We've been going to bed pretty early on the trip as there is so much scenery to view in the mornings.

[Bostonjetset]

The beautiful Westerdam docked in Juneau.

 

Mendenhall Glacier

 

At Mendenhall Glacier

 

Nugget Falls

 

Red Dog Saloon

 

 

 

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[Bostonjetset]

9.10pm [AKST]

Glacier Bay was absolutely stunning! Mother Nature truly is amazing. To think that only 200 years ago, this whole bay was covered in ice is just unbelievable! We got pretty close to Johns Hopkins Glacier and were told that it was only the 2nd time this season that they were able to make it. Margery Glacier was truly the highlight though. We saw a fair amount of calving and we got very close. We shared a table at dinner tonight for the first time on the trip. What wonderful tablemates! John and Shirley from the Seattle suburbs and Eben and Darcy from Fresno, Cali. John was a retired Air Force colonel and Shirley was a teacher. Eben and Darcy were celebrating their 42nd wedding anniversary; high school sweethearts!! After dinner we attended the show which consisted of love songs. Again, the dancers were amazing! Tomorrow is Sitka.

[Bostonjetset]

Entering Glacier Bay

 

On deck

 

Stunning!!

 

More stunning views.

 

Johns Hopkins Glacier

 

Dutch pea soup on deck!!

 

 

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[Bostonjetset]

Margery Glacier

 

Margery Glacier

 

All wrapped up in a steamer rug

 

Seals in the rocks

 

 

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[Bostonjetset]

10.05pm [AKST]

Sitka was amazing. Such a charming town. We hired a private taxi to take us to Fortress of the Bear for $20 and shared with one other lady who was also a passenger on the Westerdam. Some may feel saddened by the bears being in captivity but these bears were orphaned as cubs and likely would not be able to survive on their own. Here, at least they are well fed and taken care of. They will likely live 10-15 years long in captivity than they would in the wild. Apparently, bears are very susceptible to dental abscesses which can be lethal if not treated [and obviously in the wild they cannot be] & is one of the leading causes of death in bears.

 

Then, our driver came back for us and took us to the Raptor Center for another $20. Here, birds of prey that have been injured get rehab before being released back into the wild. They had many eagles and owls; a few were injured so badly that they cannot be released and live at the center permanently. Our driver came back for us and brought us back to the center of town for another $9 [that's $49 total, divided by 3. $16 each for transport + $20 each for bears and $22 for the birds. Total of $58. HAL wanted about $80pp for similar sites via their excursion desk].

 

We did a bit of shopping and went to see St. Michael's, the Russian Orthodox "cathedral" in town. Sitka was once the capital city of Russian America. We stopped for lunch at, of all places, a Filipino restaurant in town. The food was decent and cheap but the service was so slow! Back on the ship we just relaxed before dinner.

 

We saw Irene out on deck having a cigarette and she told us some stories about living in Germany as a young girl during WWII. It's always so interesting to me to sit and chat with older folks. I hope I'm still so energetic and full of life when I reach my 80s! We ate dinner at a table for two this evening and then came back to the stateroom to watch The Sound of Music before bed. Tomorrow is our short day in Ketchikan and Li booked us the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show.

[Bostonjetset]

 

 

 

 

Fortress of the Bear. Soooooo adorable!

 

 

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[Bostonjetset]

 

 

 

 

Alaska Raptor Center. Owls are my favorite birds so I was very excited to see so many up close.

 

Sitka

 

At St Michaels.

 

 

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[Bostonjetset]

10.30pm [AKST]

Ketchikan was a really interesting city. It's such a pity that the stop was so brief. Only about 5 hours to explore. We went to see the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show at 8.30am. It was really entertaining in fact; much better than the hokey show I expected!! Many handsome and built young men chopping wood! After the show we just wandered the town and over to Creek Street which used to be the red light district with many houses of prostitution. Now there are loads of small galleries and shops. Once back on board, we had some lunch before lazing about. I continued reading my book until it was time to get ready for dinner. At dinner we sat at a table for eight with 3 other couples; all were from the Pacific Northwest. We had some delightful dinner conversation and then returned to our stateroom to watch Hitchcock's Psycho. Li always enjoys Hitchcock so he insisted on this one for tonight haha. Tomorrow is the final day of the voyage with a short stop in Victoria, British Columbia.

[Bostonjetset]

In Ketchikan, proud of her Dutch heritage!

 

 

 

Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show

 

Dolly's House

 

Creek Street

 

 

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[Bostonjetset]

10.39pm [PST]

Just back from our very short call in Victoria, B.C. It's really a shame that we only had a couple of hours here as it appears to be a beautiful and charming city. We were late to port [8.00pm instead of 6.00pm] due to rough seas leaving Ketchikan so we just walked downtown and took some pictures, then shopped a bit before calling a taxi back to the port.

 

Earlier in the day we just lounged around the ship and spent some time packing our luggage. We took dinner in the lido buffet tonight so we could maximize our short time in port. Anyway, we had lunch int he MDR for the Mariner Society even earlier in the afternoon. Tomorrow we disembark and spend one more day in Seattle.

[Bostonjetset]

 

 

 

 

Victoria. I imagine it's much nicer in daylight but we still had a nice enough time.

 

 

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[Bostonjetset]

8.12pm [PST]

We disembarked in Seattle this morning to light rain but the weather cleared later in the day [overcast but at least dry!]. We took a taxi to our hotel by the airport in order to drop our baggage but they actually let us check in early [about 10.30am] after just a 30 minute wait! We then took the hotel shuttle to the LINK station in order to take the train downtown. It took almost n hour but for $6 [for an all day pass] it was easy and comfortable. We then switched to the 1962-built monorail to get to Seattle Center. We decided against going to the top of the Space Needle since it was cloudy and grey. We did go to the Chihuly Glass & Gardens though and the only word to describe it is WOW! Such unbelievable creations in blown glass. A true must-see when in Seattle. We then took the monorail back downtown and walked all the way to Pioneer Square which is such a charming are with old buildings from the early 1900s. We ended up having an early dinner in Chinatown at Ping's Dumpling House before catching the train back to the airport area. It will be an early night tonight since we must wake @ 4.45am in order to catch our early [7.30am] flight.

[Bostonjetset]

 

 

 

Chihuly Glass and Garden

 

Iconic Space Needle

 

Pioneer Square

 

 

 

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[Bostonjetset]

2.15pm [CST]

Sitting in DFW airport waiting for our flight back to Boston. It got changed from 2.30 to 3.30 [then to 4.00pm!] but at least this gave us time to go out and have a cigarette with enough time to go back through security. Flight #143 from SEA to DFW was on a newly refurbished plane with the slim-backed black leather seats. In first, we had pretty large TV screens with loads of movie options. I watched Alice In Wonderland and then Frozen. Disney movies are perfect for flights since they are so fun and musical. We were serves breakfast which was decent although my waffle was more like a very, very thick pancake! Two scotch & sodas calmed my nerves a bit but I always feel some nervousness when flying. The service was professional but not nearly as warm as it was lask week from CLT to SEA. Let's hope the final leg is nice.

 

**NOTE: This was my last entry into my travel journal however the last flight, although terribly delayed, was comfortable with the new seats and IFE options. Lunch on the second flight was a very decent lentil "stew" with polenta.

 

I will post a recap of my thoughts next, even though I didn't write them in the diary [i will probably copy them in there after typing them for CC though haha]

[Bostonjetset]

 

"Waffle"

 

Lentil "stew"

 

 

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[St Pete Cruiser]

Thanks for sharing your Westerdam Alaska cruise. Nice pics and comments.

[Bostonjetset]

Overall this was a wonderful trip! The Westerdam was a lovely ship and the scenery in Alaska is breathtaking! I can see why many people repeat Alaska many times over. We were also truly impressed with Seattle. Prior to this trip, we had never been further north on the west coast than San Francisco. What a wonderful town Seattle is and it warrants an extra few days if you can spare them.

 

The food on the Westerdam was very good. Pinnacle Grill was fabulous and most meals in the MDR were very good. DH, being Chinese, especially appreciated that congee was served at breakfast in the lido buffet EVERY day; that alone may bring him back again and again to HAL when the price and itinerary fits. LOL. I did think the lido could have better dinner selections; I really missed the Indonesian buffet; it was only offered as a late night snack on this trip and not for a full meal. Lido was great for breakfast and lunch though.

 

Service was wonderful as is typical of HAL. As you may have noticed, we borrowed quite a few DVDs on this voyage and the front desk staff knew us by name by the second visit. Our room stewards were great and all our dining stewards were friendly.

 

Ship was in very good condition. It is 12 years old but still looked great. Of course there was a carpet or two that could use replacing but nothing was terribly tattered or frayed. Crew was constantly polishing the brass, cleaning the glass, and touching up paint on the promenade deck; all without intruding on guests' space or enjoyment.

 

The shows we saw were good; dancers great with singers being average.

 

Glacier Bay is AMAZING and I now know why people say it is a much for a 1st visit to Alaska. Don't miss it!

 

Sitka and Ketchikan were both lovely. Sitka is less visited than other Alaskan ports so still retains the feeling of authenticity without all the chain stores from the West Indies. Ketchikan has an interesting history and is charming but more time in port would be preferable. Juneau was nice but not as impressive as the other two cities.

 

I hope you all enjoyed my little contribution to the board via this review. Again, please ask any questions you may have and I'll try my best to answer. Thanks for reading and letting me share my journey with you all!