Live and life from Nieuw Amsterdam's third Alaska sailing

[Copper10-8]

Nieuw A now approaching the Olympic Peninsula while in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, by the looks of it, in U.S., not Canadian, waters. She'll be picking up a Puget Sound pilot off Port Angeles, WA for the journey into Smith Cove, Seattle

[erewhon]

Bon Voyage.  

Thanks for taking us along with you during your cruise.

Best wishes to you and DW for a wonderful cruise.

[Happily@Sea]

Sounds like a very good start for you and your child bride. Have fun and thank you for taking us along. 

[12cruise2]

I'm up early reading about your trip up to Seattle and your adventures and wonderful meal so far.  I lived in various parts of the LA area all my life til moving to Texas, so know LAX and the west coast well.  I'm glad to hear they are finally connecting LAX to rapid transit, at least, among other improvements.  Thank you for all your informative posts; enjoy your anniversary trip and we'll be following along.

[doone]

Bon voyage, looking forward to your posts as well.

Edited August 7, 2021 by doone

[Mr. Boston]

Bon voyage to you and your wife.  Happy anniversary, your dinner looked delicious!

[Cruise Suzy]

NA on the Elliot Bay (Pier 91) webcam Live Webcam | Elliott Bay Marina

 

[0bnxshs]

Have a great week John and Maria! ☺️

 

Also, enjoy your week, Bruce and Sue! 😁

[CruiseMGM]

8 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

Dinner at Ruth Chris, located inside/adjacent to the Seattle Grand Hyatt Hotel, was very nice! Over four decades ago, Ruth Fertel, a divorced mother of two, mortgaged her home for $22,000 to buy a small 60-seat restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana named Chris Steak House. Shortly thereafter, a fire forced her to change the original location and she renamed the restaurant, “Ruth’s Chris Steak House.” From its humble beginnings with a single restaurant in New Orleans in 1965 to its current position as the global steakhouse leader, Ruth’s Chris now welcomes steak enthusiasts at more than 150 restaurants worldwide.

 

Over the years, the Ruth Chris chain has become our fav steak house and we've dined there in such places as San Diego, Palm Desert, Las Vegas, Orlando, Washington, D,C, etc., and now in Seattle. We like the ambiance, the atmosphere and the very tender steak. Tonight in Seattle, we had a 6:45 PM reservation and started our anniversary "week" off with a raspberry Cosmo each. I had a Caesar, the salad, not Julius, nor the section , and we both had the filet mignon, well done, the kind with the melt-in-your-mouth texture and mild beef flavor. We also each chose the garlic mashed potatoes as side dish for a completely different taste-in-the-mouth. Breath mints, don't fail me now!

 

A little off track here, the term filet mignon has been around as far back as the early 1800s – a period in culinary history when a number of French butchers, oh la la, those Frenchies again, were apparently rather obsessed with finding the perfect cut of beef (and, btw, we thank them for it).

 

While “mignon” is a French word that literally means "cute" or "sweet," it’s much more than a term of endearment for steak lovers. Filets are steaks cut from the tenderloin, a little-worked interior muscle that runs from the ribcage toward the butt of the bovine. Since the filet was traditionally cut from the smaller portion of the tenderloin, French butchers called these cuts “filet mignon.” Today it is most commonly referred to simply as a filet. Anyway, them there "little worked interior muscles" tasted darn' tootin; good tonight, once again! Merci beaucoup agriculteurs Français!

 

Dessert was Crème Brule for the child bride and some assorted ice cream pour moi. Post dinner, we took a cabby back to the Embassy Suites and we will be calling it a night. The ES has a complimentary breakfast and then, we'll be looking at a 11:30 or so cab ride to Smith Cove/Pier 91 to start our Alaska adventure! Good night! Don't let the bed bugs bite!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love your detail and photos, thank you for taking us along! Have a fantastic voyage!

[syesmar]

@Copper10-8 Thanks for taking the time to share your adventures with us! Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

Edited August 7, 2021 by syesmar

[dobiemom]

Your ride is here. Fair winds and following seas!

[Brentt_M]

As we disembark today I am glad to see another live thread for the 3rd cruise.  It will be interesting to see how the changes impact things.  Our cruise was much closer to a pre-pandemic experience than I ever expected.

 

Bon Voyage and Safe Travels.

[Copper10-8]

7 minutes ago, Brentt_M said:

As we disembark today I am glad to see another live thread for the 3rd cruise.  It will be interesting to see how the changes impact things.  Our cruise was much closer to a pre-pandemic experience than I ever expected.

 

Bon Voyage and Safe Travels.

 

Thanks and safe travels home to the land of Dorothy and Toto to you! 😉 I've enjoyed reading about your experiences onboard Nieuw A

[puppycanducruise]

Bon Voyage!

Thanks for taking us along.

Have a great time.

[Himself]

9 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

Dinner at Ruth Chris, located inside/adjacent to the Seattle Grand Hyatt Hotel, was very nice! Over four decades ago, Ruth Fertel, a divorced mother of two, mortgaged her home for $22,000 to buy a small 60-seat restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana named Chris Steak House. Shortly thereafter, a fire forced her to change the original location and she renamed the restaurant, “Ruth’s Chris Steak House.” From its humble beginnings with a single restaurant in New Orleans in 1965 to its current position as the global steakhouse leader, Ruth’s Chris now welcomes steak enthusiasts at more than 150 restaurants worldwide.

 

Over the years, the Ruth Chris chain has become our fav steak house and we've dined there in such places as San Diego, Palm Desert, Las Vegas, Orlando, Washington, D,C, etc., and now in Seattle. We like the ambiance, the atmosphere and the very tender steak. Tonight in Seattle, we had a 6:45 PM reservation and started our anniversary "week" off with a raspberry Cosmo each. I had a Caesar, the salad, not Julius, nor the section , and we both had the filet mignon, well done, the kind with the melt-in-your-mouth texture and mild beef flavor. We also each chose the garlic mashed potatoes as side dish for a completely different taste-in-the-mouth. Breath mints, don't fail me now!

 

A little off track here, the term filet mignon has been around as far back as the early 1800s – a period in culinary history when a number of French butchers, oh la la, those Frenchies again, were apparently rather obsessed with finding the perfect cut of beef (and, btw, we thank them for it).

 

While “mignon” is a French word that literally means "cute" or "sweet," it’s much more than a term of endearment for steak lovers. Filets are steaks cut from the tenderloin, a little-worked interior muscle that runs from the ribcage toward the butt of the bovine. Since the filet was traditionally cut from the smaller portion of the tenderloin, French butchers called these cuts “filet mignon.” Today it is most commonly referred to simply as a filet. Anyway, them there "little worked interior muscles" tasted darn' tootin; good tonight, once again! Merci beaucoup agriculteurs Français!

 

Dessert was Crème Brule for the child bride and some assorted ice cream pour moi. Post dinner, we took a cabby back to the Embassy Suites and we will be calling it a night. The ES has a complimentary breakfast and then, we'll be looking at a 11:30 or so cab ride to Smith Cove/Pier 91 to start our Alaska adventure! Good night! Don't let the bed bugs bite!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You have my mouth watering!  I ate at Ruth Chris in San Diego a number of years ago and it was outstanding

[Himself]

15 hours ago, aliaschief said:

Good to hear. Now I can just enjoy the cruise. Looking forward to dinner with both of  you tomorrow in the Tamarind.

 

 

Chief, have a great cruise!

[boze9999]

Sailing on a future NA Alaska cruise in September. Do you know how the alphabet soup for boarding groups relates to boarding times? IE is A the earliest through Z the latest? It would be nice to see the whole list of letters and corresponding times....

[Copper10-8]

The Embassy Suites Pioneer Square is right next door to Seattle's King Street Station which is served by Amtrak's Cascades, Coast Starlight, and Empire Builder, as well as Sounder commuter trains run by Sound Transit. The station also anchors a major transit hub, which includes Link light rail at International District/Chinatown station and Seattle Streetcar service. Opened on May 10, 1906, it served as a union station for the Great Northern Railway and Northern Pacific Railway.

 

The station incorporated elements from various architectural styles, including a prominent clocktower inspired by St Mark's Campanile in Venice. A second city terminal, Union Station, was built one block to the east and opened in 1911. The current station consists of ten tracks and four platforms, including one that is used by Sounder commuter trains and connected via a pedestrian bridge on South Weller Street. The remaining platforms, accessed from the station's waiting room, are used for Amtrak services and special event trains

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

12 minutes ago, boze9999 said:

Sailing on a future NA Alaska cruise in September. Do you know how the alphabet soup for boarding groups relates to boarding times? IE is A the earliest through Z the latest? It would be nice to see the whole list of letters and corresponding times....

 

Not sure; I can tell you that both Chief Bruce and us initially had a 1:00 PM boarding time and that was changed last week to 12:00 Noon

[boze9999]

1 minute ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Not sure; I can tell you that both Chief Bruce and us initially had a 1:00 PM boarding time and that was changed last week to 12:00 Noon

Thanks! What alphabet group were you Copper?

[Copper10-8]

3 minutes ago, boze9999 said:

Thanks! What alphabet group were you Copper?

 

We are Group Alpha in the soup 😉 

[IslandThyme]

I have been enjoying the last two Live From threads, and am loving the level of technical detail and description you are bringing to yours! With one notable exception: cooking tenderloin well done = un sacrilège total! Oh well, chacun à son gout.

 

Edited August 7, 2021 by IslandThyme

[Marion B]

John,

   Details!  Details!  Details!  You always post them and I always love them.

   Happy Anniversary to you and Maria.  

Marion

[Sharon in AZ]

Thank you for your reports and pictures!  Bon Voyage 

[kazu]

11 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

Dinner at Ruth Chris, located inside/adjacent to the Seattle Grand Hyatt Hotel, was very nice!

 

Sounds like a lovely evening and a great start to your vacation 👍 

 

Bon Voyage John & Maria 🛳