Live from NA May 26 - June 2, 2018!!

[EeyoreRN]

Thank you for posting all of the pictures and everything. You used up a lot of internet time. That was sweet of you to do this. Can't wait till August on Volendam.

Today in Ketchikan we had Verizon service! Enjoy your cruise!

 

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[BirthdayGirl30]

Yes there is they use the same space as BB Kings. There were no frmos on glacier day. I will post other schedules.

 

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Oh, yay! We’re bringing my mother in law along, and I know she will enjoy this.

 

 

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[BirthdayGirl30]

View from MDR last night

 

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Stunning photos

 

 

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[puppycanducruise]

Fabulous pictures. Looks like a beautiful day in Ketchikan.

 

Thanks for posting.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Enjoying your report.

Great pictures of Ketchikan -- we love that port.

[EeyoreRN]

We are off Nieuw Amsterdam and already settled into our airport hotel in Richmond. Disembarking was a breeze. We literally walked off the ship and into a taxi at 8:30 without any waiting! I have free WiFi all day today at the hotel and don't plan to do much except walk out and find a meal later so please feel free to ask any questions. I will work on a full summary when I have my laptop on Monday.

 

The trip was amazing. Alaska is stunning. NA is a simply gorgeous and wonderfully friendly ship!

 

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[EeyoreRN]

America's Test Kitchen host on our cruise was Conrad...someone had asked on a different thread. We saw a demo on olive oil yesterday and thought it was very good.

 

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[tutumomickey]

We will be on the NA for the first time in October. Looking foward to your review.Please post your favorite things about this ship so we don't miss them.

[takemewithyou]

Seats are pretty far back from the stage in the photo you posted of America’s Test Kitchen (ATK).

 

Can you see what the chef is doing?

Are there ever classes that are “hand on”?

Are some classes free and some for a charge?

I thought I read there are sometimes dinners that are offered from ATK? Is that correct?

Any other info you can provide on ATK would be appreciated. Loved your review and pictures! Thx.

[EeyoreRN]

We will be on the NA for the first time in October. Looking foward to your review.Please post your favorite things about this ship so we don't miss them.

Will do! First things that come to mind are the reading room tucked behind the casino, and the tamarind bar on deck 11 midship, both out-of-the-way beautiful spaces you really have to look for but most enjoyable! And we loved tamarind... the space, the service and the food all superior.

 

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[EeyoreRN]

Seats are pretty far back from the stage in the photo you posted of America’s Test Kitchen (ATK).

 

Can you see what the chef is doing?

Are there ever classes that are “hand on”?

Are some classes free and some for a charge?

I thought I read there are sometimes dinners that are offered from ATK? Is that correct?

Any other info you can provide on ATK would be appreciated. Loved your review and pictures! Thx.

Those seats were in the third row to the right. We could see pretty well but there was an overhead camera that showed close-ups of what was happening in Conrad's work space on the counter and stovetop sonwe could flow. I tried to capture this in on of the photos I posted but the photo didn't really depict what it was but we could certainly see well. He also did a great job of explaining and also wasn't really doing anything complicated.

 

As far as I know there were only demonstrations offered, nothing hands-on that I know of. The paid things that I noticed in the When and Where's were all bar things like martini or wine tastings sometimes with appetizer specials. I did not notice any ATK meals offered...but I wasn't looking for that so it's possible I just missed it. I have all the When and Where's in my luggage and will peel them out and post when I am at my computer on Monday.

 

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[rubyreader]

What a lovely review and beautiful pictures! I was on a different ship, but the same itinerary a few weeks before you. Thank you for letting me experience it on some level again!

[EeyoreRN]

Oh, with some sadness i must report we did NOT enjoy Dive-In! We tried a few burgers and the portabello burger and found them all virtually inedible, very dry and almost tasteless, with cardboard-like buns. This was disappointing, as we had read such great things about them. The fries were very good, though. I would not waste the few minutes it took to wait for one of those burgers again. Honestly any fast-food burger joint in your home town is 10 times better!

 

Here is a photo of the portabello burger and fries. The lettuce and tomato were ice cold, giving the whole sandwich and unfinished feel.

 

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[muffin]

Thank you for your wonderful review of this amazing trip. Your info and photos are great. We are doing this trip in August, and I was particularly interested where you docked in each of the ports. The photos helped some, but one of our party has mobility issues, and I hoped the walking to the various downtowns, or shuttles or whatever etc was not daunting. Can you comment please. Thank you so much.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Enjoyed your reports.

We also love the Tamarind -- have eaten there many times over the years.

DH tried the hamburger and the hot dog at Dive In -- did not like them.

[puppycanducruise]

We agree - love the Tamarind. Too bad it isn't on more ships.

[EeyoreRN]

+

Thank you for your wonderful review of this amazing trip. Your info and photos are great. We are doing this trip in August, and I was particularly interested where you docked in each of the ports. The photos helped some, but one of our party has mobility issues, and I hoped the walking to the various downtowns, or shuttles or whatever etc was not daunting. Can you comment please. Thank you so much.

 

Hi, and thanks for following. I guess how daunting it is really depends on what you mean by "mobility issues." The ship docked very close to town in every port...near the center, in fact. There were a few ships that seemed like they were a little further out, for example in Skagway there was a Celebrity ship that seemed a little further off...I'm talking a hundred or two hundred yards, not miles and miles. Additionally all of the towns seemed very walkable to me, at least the main stuff you would want to see. Ketchikan has some stairs going up to the fish ladder, but we discovered this could be accessed by walking up a hill as well. My father, who is oxygen dependent, would require a scooter, while my mother-in-law, who has had bilateral knee replacements, would be ok with a cane.

 

There were some surprising tricky things to navigate on the ship itself, so beware! I'm talking like lips at the end of the hallways or around the edge of the Lido Deck! I almost tripped myself a few times, and I thought about all the people with mobility issues...it was a wonder we didn't see anybody fall!

[Anita Latte]

Thank you for your wonderful review of this amazing trip. Your info and photos are great. We are doing this trip in August, and I was particularly interested where you docked in each of the ports. The photos helped some, but one of our party has mobility issues, and I hoped the walking to the various downtowns, or shuttles or whatever etc was not daunting. Can you comment please. Thank you so much.

 

http://claalaska.com/?page_id=1551

 

You can look here to see the docking schedule for the Alaska ports. The letters to the right of the ship are a code for which the dock or berth each ship is scheduled to dock at.

 

In Juneau, NA seems to dock at CT.

 

Then find the cruise dock info, here is Juneau:

 

http://cruiseportwiki.com/Juneau

 

CT dock is the cruise ship terminal dock, which appears to be the D berth on the map.

 

I was just looking at this for Juneau for ourselves so it was easy enough to point you to what I did...but I'm sure you can find the wiki pages for your itinerary.

[BadgerChe]

Glacier Bay incredible today. We saw otters seals puffins and maybe a whale. Lots of calving of Marjorie Glacier!

 

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How was the temperature on deck at Glacier Bay? Was the daytime on-deck temperature on the other sailing days considerably colder than the temperature in port? Any estimate of the differential?

[EeyoreRN]

How was the temperature on deck at Glacier Bay? Was the daytime on-deck temperature on the other sailing days considerably colder than the temperature in port? Any estimate of the differential?

It was chilly but nice... maybe around 55? published temp, with a mix of sun and clouds, not too breezy. The boat moves on icy water, though so it felt cool. We were comfortable in layers. I did wear a winter coat and there were cabinets full of wool blankets for us to borrow on glacier Bay day. We never had to go inside for being cold because we were prepared. It was definitely MUCH colder at night on deck, too cold to enjoy for long. We did go out on our verandah all times of day and night just sometimes had to bundle and not stay long. Daytime, whether in port or at sea, was always comfortable with a sweater or sweatshirt layered with the coat.

 

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[muffin]

Thank you Anita Latte for the wonderful sites! Amazing how much info is out there when you know where to look! I now know just where we will be, and I am sure it is workable for me. I will take a folding cane in my day bag in case I overdo things a bit. I have to remember I must walk back the same distance I walk out! Thanks.

[dthogue]

Still anxiously awaiting the posting of the other days When and Wheres - we leave on the 17th and I need something to pass the time :-)

 

Thanks

[BadgerChe]

It was chilly but nice... maybe around 55? published temp, with a mix of sun and clouds, not too breezy. The boat moves on icy water, though so it felt cool. We were comfortable in layers. I did wear a winter coat and there were cabinets full of wool blankets for us to borrow on glacier Bay day. We never had to go inside for being cold because we were prepared. It was definitely MUCH colder at night on deck, too cold to enjoy for long. We did go out on our verandah all times of day and night just sometimes had to bundle and not stay long. Daytime, whether in port or at sea, was always comfortable with a sweater or sweatshirt layered with the coat.

 

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Thanks a bunch!

[EeyoreRN]

So sorry my report didn't go as "live" as I had hoped due to limited internet availability (aka HAL's antiquated rookery, aaka our family's only major complaint on HAL). I will attempt to catch you all up. Stay tuned!

 

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[EeyoreRN]

Embarkation day - we showed up at the port a little after 10 and boarding began at 11. (Yes we had received an email instructing us to show up at 1:30 due to the fact that port Vancouver would be inundated with an overwhelming number of cruise ship passengers relared to the crazy number of ships in port that day ((2)) LOL we ignored the email).

 

When we boarded they told us to go immediately to deck 9 as cabins were not ready and only Lido was open for lunch. We were handed the day's When and Where. I asked about the dining room and they said it would open at 12. So we went up to Lido, played ping pong, perused the offerings at Lido, waited for info about thermo suite passes (no discount so we "passed" on the passes) and waited for MDR to open. DH and DS also needed to get their key cards fixed as they did not reflect SBP. We did have little notes handed to us upon boarding that confirmed we all had SBP and when they went to get new cards they were initially told to carry those around. So there was some resistance about giving them new cards. Which was annoying and a small debate had to ensue which eventually resulted in 2 new key cards. Really, HAL should we have had to argue about it?!

 

Embarkation photos:

 

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