Trip Report (June 22-29) Eurodam, Alaska RT from Seattle..

[ricko999]

Excited about our first ship cruise and Alaska tour!

 

6/20-21 Seattle. Explore Seattle. Revisit Pike Market, Smith Tower, and some Pubs.

6/22-23 Sail day, sea day. Wife spa booked.

6/24/19 Juneau. Booked HAL pilot's choice 2 stop glacier tour.

6/25/19 Glacier Bay. Wife's birthday. Champagne!

6/26/19 Sitka. Booked Paul's Gallant Adventures wildlife boat tour.

6/27/19 Ketchikan. ???

6/28/19 Victoria, BC. ?? Classic car tour? Pub crawl?

6/29/19 Seattle. Staying extra day to do day one over again! 😉

 

RO

[Ferry_Watcher]

A man of few words!

[ricko999]

Hotel and transportation is now booked. For our Seattle pre/post cruise we picked the Marriott Waterfront Hotel. Easy walking to/from Pikes and strolling along Alaskan Way.  We forgot how expensive Seattle in summer is. Airport/hotel and back we are again using:  https://alreadytheretowncar.com/

Looking forward for a pint at the hidden gem White Horse Tavern!

RO

[ricko999]

Just returned home. WOW! Our first cruise and Alaska trip! Flew into nice and cool Seattle Thursday afternoon, left Dallas 94F. Booked the Marriott Waterfront for location and the view. Picked up picnic goodies at DeLaurenti's for the evening. Mount Rainier was hidden by clouds. Friday, we've done the Needle so headed to Smith Tower for some history and a cocktail on the observatory floor. Great 360 views of the city, and by afternoon Rainier was giving us a peek! A quick stroll through the packed Pike Place Market, and onto White Horse Pub, only to find it closed for "heath" reasons. ;-(~

Next up, Sat. 6/22/19 our first embarkation day, Pier 91, Eurodam.

 

[Quincella]

More, please! 😀

 

[ricko999]

Embarkation Day! Woke up and opened the curtains to see the NCL Joy blocking out the bay at Pier 66. HAL's time to pre board was 12:30am, so a $12 Taxi ride to Pier 91. Anxious, nervous, yes, for our first cruise. Boarding went quickly as we had booked a NS room. The ship looked as the videos we have watched in getting our bearings when on board. Up the stairs to Deck 5 and to our aft suite. Wow, huge, room and veranda! Met room steward Budi who would work his #@s off the whole week. The ship left port 4:30pm. The dock crew is amazing to watch the controlled chaos of turn around, given the time frame the work under. A pleasant cruise out of port. Dinner was good, service great from Aan, Anawall, and Dominico all week.

Sea Day 6/23. Fog/mist and rough rollers on the sea. Ship moves much more than we expected. Last night sleeping, the engine vibration was noticeable but not annoying.No sea sick! DW had a spa treatment. I walked around, the bow was not a good place to be as the motion was very pronounced.

Gala dinner was fine. The salmon was excellent as it should be.

[ricko999]

Monday June 24. Awoke to the calm waters of Stephens Passage after a bumpy day at sea. What a show the sealife displayed this morning. 3 Orca's port side, and then minutes later 5-7 humpbacks bubble-net off the aft!!! Today is our pilots choice glacier tour through HAL at 3pm. Arrived at Juneau port under clear blue skies! :-) We did a quick stroll through  downtown. Picked up promptly at 3pm and taken to the Temsco helioport. Everyone is weighed, safety video, and spiked booties put on. DW and I was put in a small MD500, did I say small! Travis out pilot was great, DW had never been on a helio, and he put her at ease with no dramatic flying. First fly to was Gilkey glacier. Travis warned of the creavice and deep pools, if you fall in, you die! The three of us were there about a half and hour. Next stop Travis said if the winds are down we would go to a special spot. Well, we did, and it was amazing. Clear, no wind, the silence was deafening, in a good way. The 360 views made us feel that we were on top of the world. We could even see the Devil's Paw! Stunning bucket list item checked. the three hours went by too quick and we landed back safely and a ride into Juneau. A celebratory drink at the Triangle Club and back into the Eurodam. There were five ships in port that day, and downtown was a tourist mass. We grabbed some grub, and retired to our deck to view our sister ship leave port. Tomorrow is Glacier Bay and DW birthday!

[Anita Latte]

WOW...more please! Juneau glacier pictures are AMAZING!! I can imagine a bit...we were able to take a short helicopter ride in Seward, but we landed on the moraine...not the glacier itself. I can imagine the sound of the water going into that crevice though...and the picture with the mountain tops and the clouds...WOW!! Looking forward to more...

[ricko999]

6/25/19 Birthday girl day! Glacier Bay cruise today. Another sunny day and clam winds. Stunning views of mountains, glaciers, wildlife, and the glow of the turquoise glacier water! Cruised by Lamplugh, John Hopkins, Grand Pacific, and Margerie glaciers. Sadly most are retreating, and Margerie had minimal calfing. The glacier ice, is a blue that hard to describe. Beautiful day of cruising. Birthday dinner was in the Pinnacle, my halibit was delishious, but it took two tries to get my DW filet to med-rare. Odd, since it is a steak theme restaurant. We did end up getting her dinner comp'd. DW said today was magical!

[masterdrago]

Much enjoying your report. Amazing trip on the heli. Thanks for sharing. Will be watching.

[ricko999]

6/26/19 Sitka port today. Pre booked a 3 hour wildlife boating trip with http://www.gallantadventures.com/

The reviews were great, and we hoped for a good day out. Clear skies again and slight winds. Walked the small downtown of Sitka, found a couple of treasures for us and the cat sitter. :-) Met Paul the owner/operator at the marina, his boat holds six people max. DW and I, and another couple from Texas were his guests today. Off we went an not 5 minutes out, we cruise past an island with at least 16 bald eagles, juveniles and grown! We head out to the volcano island and come across a cow and calf humpbacks! At the island, there are sea lions, sea otters, puffins, and assorted birds. On the way back another humpback says hello. The three hours flew by and Paul drops us off at the ship pier. I recommend Paul's tour if you are in Sitka!

[Coolcruise02]

Loving your review!

[ricko999]

6/27/19 Ketchikan port day. Another blue sky day, and warm! Didn't book any excursions, so today is a walkabout day. Did the Creek Street spiel, wondered around, bought no diamonds, or rare rocks. Had drinks at the Arctic Bar, had a burger from next door Burger Queen, good and really good fries! They have a covered deck overlooking the main promenade, great for people watching. Gala night in the MDR, the salmon and halibut were excellent all week. A long sail to Victoria, as we are down one engine at 50%, cooling problems.

6/28/19 Victoria, BC. Cloudy and cool. A late port/docking,  8:30pm, so any excursions were cancelled. Taxis to downtown, 9 CD. Too bad of the short stay as Victoria is a beautiful city. Next time! Back to Seattle tomorrow morning. These seven day flew by.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Loving your report and pictures.

[msdiggerj]

Your trip review is wonderful!  We had an amazing time, as well.  I'm sorry we missed meeting you and your wife; we were in a Neptune Suite, too.  We were thoroughly impressed with Holland America and with our first cruise experience.  We would definitely go again.  Didn't you love the port authority worker sending us off in style with the saxophone?

[Herfnerd]

Loved the TR!  Our first Alaskan cruise was on the Eurodam - pictures brought back some great memories

[ricko999]

6/29/19. Woke up and Eurodam is already docked at Pier 91. Had breakfast in suite, as we watched to magic of the dock crew unload and reload the ship for another week. We had great service from our room steward Budi, Dinner staff Aan, Anawall, and Dominico! These people work there a#$% off all week. Back to the real world.

 

[ricko999]

Cat has almost forgiven us for leaving! ;-) We had a great vacation on our Alaskan cruise. Can't wait to do it again.

[Anita Latte]

I hear ya on the kitty... Fortunately our current little girl is usually just happy to have us home again and doesn't put on too much of an attitude. We were always somewhat punished by the previous two.

 

Lovely pictures. Thank you for the report...I appreciate the effort and time!

[mawvkysc]

Just in case you did not see my question on the other thread, how comfortable/uncomfortable was the ride with Paul in Sitka? Just curious about a smaller boat vs the size of Allen Marines. Thanks

[Glaciers]

55 minutes ago, mawvkysc said:

Just in case you did not see my question on the other thread, how comfortable/uncomfortable was the ride with Paul in Sitka? Just curious about a smaller boat vs the size of Allen Marines. Thanks

Depending on what area Paul goes to it can be a bit rough but not always.  It would be difficult to project the weather. As did the OP based on the photos, we crossed Sitka Sound and went to St Lazaria Island.  Based on 10 Alaska trips this was one of the best wildlife tours we’ve taken and would do it again. 

 

The Allen Marine boats are larger and I think the experience would be a bit less appealing. Paul actually motored into a small cave at St Lazaria where Allen Marine would not be able to go.  If seasickness is an issue the larger boat may be better.  I’d bit the bullet and take a pill and go with Paul.

[mawvkysc]

Thanks for the quick reply. I’m not as concerned about seasickness as back and neck discomfort. 

[Kevin's girl]

Thank you so much for taking the time to post a great review. I really looking forward to our return to Alaska.

[Anyislandwilldo]

Great review, thanks for sharing.