The Daily for Sunday Mar 14, 2021

[USN59-79]

Living near Seattle, our first cruise was to Alaska on the old Noordam in 1996.  We have been there a total of ten times on cruise ships.  Five of them were repositioning from Beijing to Vancouver or Vancouver to Beijing or Kobe to Vancouver.  I assume those who live in Florida have the similar experience with Caribbean cruising.  In my last job before retiring I often flew to Alaska to teach for a week or two.  However, I always did that in the winter months and Alaska is certainly different in January than it is in July; particularly places like Fairbanks.

Yesterday we took DW's car to the place she had previously bought her tires to replace the one that went flat and she drove on for about a mile.  They told us that even though the tires had low mileage and good tread, they were 11 years old and should all be replaced.  The plan is to have them replaced at Costco this week when they are not so busy.

[Crazy For Cats]

We've been to Juneau a few times and have enjoyed each visit.  In 2012 we took my mom to Alaska for her 75th birthday.  She joined us on the helicopter tour with a glacier landing.

 

 

[ger_77]

@VMax1700 - yikes about your son; hopefully he's on the mend.  It's always a worry when our kids are involved in an accident, no matter how minor, or how old they are.

 

I'm blown away by the artistic talent of @DeeniEncinitas, and @bennybear's DS.  I can barely draw a recognizable stick figure!

 

My sympathies to those having more appliance issues; I had hoped we'd removed the curse last month, but I guess not.

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

Gerry

[XBGuy]

At last, a port that we have visited.  

 

We have taken six Alaska cruises--we like Alaska cruises.  Our first AK cruise was in 1992, I think,  It was well befor digital photography.  Like some previous posters, we took the helicopter excursion to the Mendenhall Glacier.  It was SO COOL.  As we were walking around, we heard some rumbling above us.  It was a little avalanche.  I'm sure there was an upcharge to the excursion fee for that.

 

Here are a few Juneau pics.

 

This is from 2013.  Mrs. XBGuy was convinced that these clouds in the mountains were proof that the Crawling Eye was up there.

 

 

In 2013 we tendered at Juneau.  The HAL Zaandam was berthed near us.

 

 

We are foodies.  In 2017 we learned about Tracy's King Crab Shack and loved it.  The original Tracy's really was a shack with communal tables under a pretty big tent.  It was fun sitting at the table and meeting other cruisers from different ships,  In 2018 Tracy's moved to a more permanent location near the tram terminal.  You can see the current location in a couple of the previous pics posted by @Sharon in AZ and @bennybear.  When we walked up to the new location, we were intimidated by the lengthy line outside the door.  We walked over to the old Tracy's location and found a new food shack called Deckhand Daves.  It was't particularly busy, and, so, we decided to try it.  AMAZING fish tacos.  The french fries are darned good, too.

 

 

Mrs. XBGuy after finishing her fish taco combo lunch

 

 

And, yes, they did sell wine by the bottle.

 

In 2019 Deckhand Dave's move to a downtown location at the corner of Front and Franklin Streets.  That location is a tad more convenient for a lot of locals.  I hope that they are able to survive the pandemic.  I really want to go back.

 

😁

[AV8rix]

I live in the Seattle metro area so was able to go to Alaska every year – but only on the first May voyage or the last September one, when schools were still in session. Only went on a 7-day once….and HATED it! Seemed to be a different atmosphere and demographic aboard than on the

14-day cruises. Plus I loved the Kenai peninsula stops, Homer, and Anchorage. But now my

Alaska-cruising days are over. Doubt that they’ll ever deploy one of the two remaining R-class ships for the whole Alaska season and don’t think that any of the enormodams can negotiate the Turnagain Arm. So I predict that there will only be 7-day cruises in the future.  Here are a couple of Juneau pics:

 

Looking approx NE from the summit of Mt Roberts.

 

 

Statendam V (S-class not Nieuw) from the level of Fr. Brown's cross on Mt Roberts

[Roger88]

The photos are very nice and I can tell by it that the weather is amazing. In any case, keep up a great time there. Cant wait to go on a cruise myself 

[Sharon in AZ]

DH found the 2012 pictures on our old hard drive.  My mother was with us on this cruise.  She hated it but had lots of fun in the casino.  I was also really sick, I had gotten a flu type illness and ended up on antibiotics when I got home.  Turns out you shouldn't get your teeth cleaned before traveling!  Lesson learned.  That is one reason why I wanted to go back in 2019 so we could do all the things we didn't get to do before.

 

We were in Juneau on August 8, 2012 and docking next to the Zaandam.

 

It was cold and raining all day.  We took the tour that went to the salmon fishery, Mendenhall Glacier, and the Salmon Bake at Gold Creek.

 

The salmon:

 

 

Mendenhall Glacier with the falls just to the left of my head.  BTW, DH told me to never wear that color raincoat again.

 

Craig went on the trail to the falls but it was too wet and cold for me:

 

I think he took this picture of the glacier while he was at the falls.

 

And this iceberg:

 

When we were at the salmon bake, Craig saw a mama bear with cubs at the creek:

 

 

When the employees at the bake found out about the mama bear they weren't too happy with the people getting so close to them to take pictures.  Mama's are protective.

 

No pictures of the actual food that day, I think Craig was too engrossed getting pictures of the bears.  But I do have to say it was probably the second best salmon I've ever had.  We like watching Top Chef and it turned out they filmed most of that season at Gold Creek.  It was the year Kristin Kish won.  It was fun knowing that we had just been there.

 

On the way back to the ship our driver spotted an eagle:

 

Hope I haven't bored you with all my pictures but it is really fun way to remember cruising.  Thanks again Rich for adding this to the Daily!

Edited March 14, 2021 by Sharon in AZ

[AV8rix]

Oh, and forgot to say....

Tracy's, Red Dog, Deckhand Dave's, Timberline on Mt. Roberts, etc are all OK.  However, my

go-to place in Juneau is Seong's Sushi.  About a 1-mile walk from the pier, it's the sushi spot for the locals.  Quality rivals many places in the Seattle metro area.  JMO.

Edited March 14, 2021 by Av8rix

[cat shepard]

12 minutes ago, Sharon in AZ said:

DH found the 2012 pictures on our old hard drive.  My mother was with us on this cruise.  She hated it but had lots of fun in the casino.  I was also really sick, I had gotten a flu type illness and ended up on antibiotics when I got home.  
 

 

Mendenhall Glacier with the falls just to the left of my head.  BTW, DH told me to never wear that color raincoat again.

 

 

12 minutes ago, Sharon in AZ said:

Hope I haven't bored you with all my pictures but it is really fun way to remember cruising.  Thanks again Rich for adding this to the Daily!

Sharon! Do you really think you could ever bore us with pictures? From a cruise? We, who have been stuck home for centuries? Ok, a slight exaggeration, but you know it is not possible. At least not your fellow Dailyites. Geesh!

 

And I am pleased at your DH’s fashion sense. One should never wear that color - ever. Especially when one is not feeling well. Please tell him to have an extra drink tonight, he has earned it. 
 

Stay well!

[cat shepard]

2 hours ago, bennybear said:

DS painting of Pi

 

Wow, Brenda! Another artist in the extended Dailyite family! I love the vibrant colors!

Edited March 14, 2021 by cat shepard

[rafinmd]

1 hour ago, DeeniEncinitas said:

🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

Roy,

I am wondering about erewhon. Since he told us he would be away for awhile, than the earthquake hit have you heard from him? There have been days with the vaccines I was giving and could not get on CC. So hopefully he has chimed in and he is safe. 
Thank you

Denise😊

I have not heard but not especially worried.  I think the earthquake was quite far off shore and did not cause many problems on the 2 main islands.

 

Roy

[Roger88]

3 minutes ago, cat shepard said:

 

Wow, Brenda! Another artist in the extended Dailyites family! I love the colors!

I really want this painting in my bed room, can anyone help me with the name of the painter? I will try searching for it on the internet. I am sure I will find at least something looking similar to it 

[cat shepard]

1 minute ago, rafinmd said:

I have not heard but not especially worried.  I think the earthquake was quite far off shore and did not cause many problems on the 2 main islands.

 

Roy

We need to get a definition of “a few days” from now on. We probably each define it differently. I am a bit worried about @Ichiban Nekko. It has been awhile. I have at least seen reactions from @gigianne, so she is well. Most likely just busy. 
 

 

[VintageGeo]

Good afternoon, thanks for the Daily!

As much as we always enjoy everyone's memories and experiences, it is fun to see a place we've been.

A couple of images from our visits to Juneau..

 

In 2016 the weather was lovely.

We visited Mendenhall Glacier

 

Gastineau Channel as we sailed out

 

In 2019 it was somewhat damper.

We went whale watching in a driving rain. They opened the windows on the boat and it was literally raining in one side and out the other.

 

Lori was headed to warm and dry and woe betide anyone who got in her way...

 

Everyone stay safe and healthy until we can all make more memories.

Have a great evening!

 

Lori & George

 

[kazu]

2 hours ago, bennybear said:

DS painting of Pi

 

Fantastic 😄 

[St. Louis Sal]

Good afternoon all! 
 

Not sure where the day went although part was spent with livestream church and then a visit from a local contractor to give us a bid on screening our deck.

 

Love the drink of the day-Koolaid for adults! I definitely need to try one of these earthy, campfire, rock wines just to test my palate.

 

Juneau- a port I love and have been to a lot. Trying for an accurate count, I think it’s 7 times on a HAL ship plus one time on the ferry.  The ferry stop was a part of a road trip we took with a tour company. They picked us up at our local Costco and we drove by bus for a month, round trip back to Costco! We had already done a road trip in our RV, same route. We talked with our bus driver and it turned out he had never been to Alaska; my husband had a few tips for him. Steve turned out to be a fantastic driver, including parallel parking our big red bus on a city street in Anchorage as well as navigating on and off several ferries and getting us out of the mud at an elk farm in Dawson Creek. Fun times!

 

My most recent trips to Alaska were in 2018 and 2019. The 2018 trip was the last one of the season and everything closed up as we left; they literally locked the gate at the Gold Dredge behind us, and shut down McKinley Chalets as we left for the train.

 

My first two visits to Juneau we did all the usual, Mendenhall, whale watching, Gold Creek salmon bake and the tram. Several other times we rented a car and went to Glacier Gardens  and Shrine of St Therese. This last time in 2019 we did Tracy Arm. The waterfall picture is one of those missed opportunities. Just as I put my phone down after taking a video of it, what do we see but a whale spout! I didn’t even try to catch a picture, but just watched in awe as that tail flipped.

 

St Louis Sal

[NextOne]

Regarding Juneau dining spots -- we ate at the old Tracey's and loved it! Is the Twisted Fish still down toward Mt. Roberts or is that the spot that Tracey's moved into?

[DeeniEncinitas]

37 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

I have not heard but not especially worried.  I think the earthquake was quite far off shore and did not cause many problems on the 2 main islands.

 

Roy

🌺Thanks Roy! 
Hope so. erewhon always chimes in and it is always in the evening here that I respond back to him. I remember he acknowledged he was going under the radar for a few days and possibly WiFi might not be available. Seems quite awhile ago. Just miss him. Your right. 
Have a good Sunday and thanks for responding 

Denise😊

[NextOne]

I need some advice, please! I've convinced DH that we should take the Quebec to  FLL cruise on the NS in October 2022. Should our verandah be port or starboard? Thanks for your wisdom!

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

4 hours ago, superoma said:

Did you by any chance come to the meet and greet on august 11? We had a good turnout and for some reason it got me a session with Henk and a later invitation to a captain’s party.

Yes, we were at the M&G.  We were also at the Captain's party too.  I think we got the invitation since we were doing b2b2b cruises.  I'm sure we met at one or both of those gatherings.

 

Henk, who we had met in 2010, also invited the three couples doing b2b on one segment to dinner one formal night.  However, one couple declined the invitation, so we had a nice, small group dinner with good conversation.

 

Lenda

[cat shepard]

56 minutes ago, Roger88 said:

I really want this painting in my bed room, can anyone help me with the name of the painter? I will try searching for it on the internet. I am sure I will find at least something looking similar to it 

@bennybear, can you help?

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

4 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Wow, that is a CLOSE encounter!  I think I prefer sighting them when there is a good, deep channel of water between me and them.  😉

It was close, but the National Park Service had a very strong fence between us and the area that attracted bears, so it was perfectly safe.  There were a lot of people on the boardwalk following the ear, and he/she took no notice of any of us.

 

Lenda

[superoma]

4 minutes ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

Yes, we were at the M&G.  We were also at the Captain's party too.  I think we got the invitation since we were doing b2b2b cruises.  I'm sure we met at one or both of those gatherings.

 

Henk, who we had met in 2010, also invited the three couples doing b2b on one segment to dinner one formal night.  However, one couple declined the invitation, so we had a nice, small group dinner with good conversation.

 

Lenda

I wish I would have kept a list of people attending. How great to have met you even if we didn’t know it!

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

46 minutes ago, DeeniEncinitas said:

🌺Thanks Roy! 
Hope so. erewhon always chimes in and it is always in the evening here that I respond back to him. I remember he acknowledged he was going under the radar for a few days and possibly WiFi might not be available. Seems quite awhile ago. Just miss him. Your right. 
Have a good Sunday and thanks for responding 

Denise😊

Last night while we were watching the America's Cup race that did not take place, we wondered if he had gone to watch the race.  New Zealand is one of the two teams racing.

 

Lenda

[DeeniEncinitas]

1 minute ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

Last night while we were watching the America's Cup race that did not take place, we wondered if he had gone to watch the race.  New Zealand is one of the two teams racing.

 

Lenda

🌺Lenda,! We watched also!! That is why I asked today! Saw on the sailing channel last night and told my husband about erewhon!

Denise😊