Live and life from Nieuw Amsterdam's third Alaska sailing

[bcummin]

Happy Anniversary to Maria & John !!

Thank you for bringing us along on this memorable cruise.  We always enjoy your wise posts, but remember to enjoy yourselves and celebrate the cruise.

Barbara

[Skipper's Mom]

Smooth sailing, John and Maria.  Enjoy every minute.

[Copper10-8]

15 hours ago, Boytjie said:

@Copper10-8 John, I notice the dam ships sail close by Port Angeles coming in and going out of Port Angeles. Do they pick up/drop off the pilots there?

 

 

Yes Peter; the Puget Sound pilots are dropped off outside Port Angeles, WA by outbound ships from Seattle, and picked up there by inbound ships for the emerald city

[Copper10-8]

Just a heads up from the Pacific northbound off Vancouver Island and as has been posted on the prior two voyages, the onboard internet connection is the mother of all connection problems, pretty much worthless! I would not spend any $$$ on programs, even though I, bottom dweller that I am, did 

Edited August 8, 2021 by Copper10-8

[RGEDad]

John: You have left us all sitting in a Yellow Taxi in sight of the NA Ship...I can only assume this is to build up anticipation for the Grand Entry onto the ship - But I just cannot wait any longer....I NEEEEED the next chapter in your Quest. Well - maybe not so much a Quest as an Adventure.

 

Edited August 8, 2021 by RGEDad

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

John, I am enjoying your posts and pictures.

 

Since we own a Prius, I can understand all that went on getting luggae and passengers in the taxi, and it gave me a laugh.  Also, we have experienced that with other regular cars.

 

We do not travel light (have not learned that skill), so when we drive from Quartzsite to San Diego to board a BHB;, loading two hanging bags, two large suticases and two riolling carry-ons is like doing a jigsaw puzzle.  Once you figure out where the pieces go, it's easy, but no room for anyone but the two of us as the backseat is folded foward.

 

Have a great cruise, and post when your can given the status of the Internet.

 

Lenda

[RGEDad]

I understand you advice on purchasing Internet service. However - I have been directed by DW to pay the big bucks and get the service. DW loves to sit on the front porch (as she has been know to call it) - doing her internet thing while watching for fishies, whales, and the like - or even laying in bed and simultaneously internet and TV watching (Something I can never do). So I just pulled out my CC and made my donation to futility - we shall see where this ends up. But I do thank you for your reminder of the poor electronic telecommunications service to expect. 

I wonder if HAL would have an issue with me hanging a Starlink satellite antenna from the balcony railing?? Yea - they would have a serious issue with that.

Edited August 8, 2021 by RGEDad

[rkacruiser]

54 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Yes Peter; the Puget Sound pilots are dropped off outside Port Angeles, WA by outbound ships from Seattle, and picked up there by inbound ships for the emerald city

 

I have been wondering what they have been doing concerning pilotage in the Strait.  As I understand the maritime traffic scheme in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, they are sailing "against the grain" of the traffic scheme as they proceed to the Pacific Ocean.  I assume this is because the Canadian section of the Strait is closed to cruise ships.  

[Copper10-8]

Embarkation Day - So, after arriving at Smith Cove/Pier 91, Nieuw A was starring us in the face at her north berth; there was no Princess vessel in port today. A man by the name of Steve Adoree approached us with a rolling cart and took charge of our entourage of aforementioned luggage, transporting same to right in front of the terminal building where his brother with an identical name affixed a Nieuw A luggage tags to all three of them (I personally don't like the tags made out of paper that you can print out at home). We said adieux to those three bags which would be X-rayed downstairs before being hauled to A-Deck by more Stevies. Both our two Stevie bros were handsomely compensated in Italian Lira for their service and trouble

 

There were lots and lots of uniformed agents who had mastered the art of hand-signaling directing us inside to what turned out to be the first of three checkpoints. We'll call the first one Checkpoint Charlie where a friendly female agent checked our passports, Covid-21 vaccination record and boarding passes. Right next to us, Nieuw A's master, Captain Jeroen (a popular Dutch boys name) Baijens with only one "a," was having a conversation with Mr. Keith Taylor, the current Senior Vice President of Fleet Operations for HAL and a retired United States Coast Guard or "Coastie" Rear Admiral, sometimes referred to as Rear Admiral Upper Half. I had the pleasure a while back of escorting the admiral from Half Moon Cay - coming from another ship there - to my ship, Zuiderdam. There are currently about 48 rear admirals in the USCG.

 

Next up was Checkpoint Bravo, the airport-like security screening via magnetometer archway as well as luggage X-Ray screening. Here's a hot tip: don't have any metal stuff on your Adonis body when you go through those arches because non-pleasant things will happen to you as a result! 'Nough said!

 

The third mandatory stop, well there are actually four if you count the obligatory 'welcome aboard' pics but those are not manfatory unless the photo dudes bring their lasso..... So the third stop, Checkpoint Alpha, was another nice lady who would check us in with a portable electronic gadget on a long slender stand, the device, not the lady. She needed to see our passport and boarding passes and would take your onboard picture I.D. which, in my case, would be an image only my dear mum would love. Maria's, as usual, looked like an exotic beauty from a Caribbean island discovered a long time ago by Christopher Columbus. Life just ain't fair but I digress once again! Passing through all three checkpoints took less then ten minutes but we did have the advantage of going through the "elite" suite line, Btw, Covid-26 rules mean they no longer give you your ship's I.D./room key at check-in. Your printed boarding pass is your required "pass Go/Collect $200" identification. Your room keys will be waiting for you at your cabin/stateroom

 

We did make the photo dude happy and posed for the welcome aboard pics - saw Rear Admiral Taylor (retired) once again, this time talking to Nieuw A's hotel director Bart at the railing, The man gets around! - and then meandered via the adjustable multistory shoreside gangway which happily brought us onboard Nieuw A via Deck 3. Right away ran into always hardworking Security Supervisor Roy M. who took care of us, thanks Roy!

 

Took the mid-ship elevator, operated by a smiling crew member from Indonesia, to Deck 7 where we located our humble abode for the next seven day, just outside the rear end of the Neptune Lounge. Checked in with the two concierges in there, Graziela (I know you) from the Philippines and Hector (with a soft "H") from Colombia. 

 

We then proceeded back to Deck 3 to mustard station 11 where we received an approx. 18 second speech from a nice, yet slightly nervous, entertainment host in a gray suit with orange tie. His message: all muster stations on Deck 3 are identified by green signage and white numbers, pay attention to any announcements over the P/A system, especially those by the impressive voice of Kaptein Baijens with one "a," and watch the safety movie on your cabin TV. Understood and Wilco!

 

Next up, a lunch because, after all, it had been at least four hours since our leisurely brekkie inside the Embassy Suites! Up to Deck 11 where the child bride had a salad and I just had to have a Dive-In burger with pommes frites. The Lido was busy however we found a nice table inside Canaletto. 

 

Sailaway was promptly at 4:02 PM when Captain Jeroen expertly backed his big vessel into Elliott Bay without hitting any hidden and/or unhidden obstacle and/or North Korean Whiskey-class attack subs lurking around, swung her around so that our humble balcony now faced Elliott Bay Marina, and headed for Juan de Fuca's (love that name) Strait via Puget Sound (think Richard Gere in "Officer and a Gentleman" - "I have nowhere else to go" 

 

More to follow about our evening and anxiously awaited meet with Bruce and Sue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2021 by Copper10-8

[atexsix]

24 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

Embarkation Day - So, after arriving at Smith Cove/Pier 91, Nieuw A was starring us in the face at her north berth; there was no Princess vessel in port today. A man by the name of Steve Adoree approached us with a rolling cart and took charge of our entourage of aforementioned luggage, transporting same to right in front of the terminal building where his brother with an identical name affixed a Nieuw A luggage tags to all three of them (I personally don't like the tags made out of paper that you can print out at home). We said adieux to those three bags which would be X-rayed downstairs before being hauled to A-Deck by more Stevies. Both our two Stevie bros were handsomely compensated in Italian Lira for their service and trouble

 

There were lots and lots of uniformed agents who had mastered the art of hand-signaling directing us inside to what turned out to be the first of three checkpoints. We'll call the first one Checkpoint Charlie where a friendly female agent checked our passports, Covid-21 vaccination record and boarding passes. Right next to us, Nieuw A's master, Captain Jeroen (a popular Dutch boys name) Baijens with only one "a," was having a conversation with Mr. Keith Taylor, the current Senior Vice President of Fleet Operations for HAL and a retired United States Coast Guard or "Coastie" Rear Admiral, sometimes referred to as Rear Admiral Upper Half. I had the pleasure a while back of escorting the admiral from Half Moon Cay - coming from another ship there - to my ship, Zuiderdam. There are currently about 48 rear admirals in the USCG.

 

Next up was Checkpoint Bravo, the airport-like security screening via magnetometer archway as well as luggage X-Ray screening. Here's a hot tip: don't have any metal stuff on your Adonis body when you go through those arches because non-pleasant things will happen to you as a result! 'Nough said!

 

The third mandatory stop, well there are actually four if you count the obligatory 'welcome aboard' pics but those are not manfatory unless the photo dudes bring their lasso..... So the third stop, Checkpoint Alpha, was another nice lady who would check us in with a portable electronic gadget on a long slender stand, the device, not the lady. She needed to see our passport and boarding passes and would take your onboard picture I.D. which, in my case, would be an image only my dear mum would love. Maria's, as usual, looked like an exotic beauty from a Caribbean island discovered a long time ago by Christopher Columbus. Life just ain't fair but I digress once again! Passing through all three checkpoints took less then ten minutes but we did have the advantage of going through the "elite" suite line, Btw, Covid-26 rules mean they no longer give you your ship's I.D./room key at check-in. Your printed boarding pass is your required "pass Go/Collect $200" identification. Your room keys will be waiting for you at your cabin/stateroom

 

We did make the photo dude happy and posed for the welcome aboard pics - saw Rear Admiral Taylor (retired) once again, this time talking to Nieuw A's hotel director Bart at the railing, The man gets around! - and then meandered via the adjustable multistory shoreside gangway which happily brought us onboard Nieuw A via Deck 3. Right away ran into always hardworking Security Supervisor Roy M. who took care of us, thanks Roy!

 

Took the mid-ship elevator, operated by a smiling crew member from Indonesia, to Deck 7 where we located our humble abode for the next seven day, just outside the rear end of the Neptune Lounge. Checked in with the two concierges in there, Graziela (I know you) from the Philippines and Hector (with a soft "H") from Colombia. 

 

We then proceeded back to Deck 3 to mustard station 11 where we received an approx. 18 second speech from a nice, yet slightly nervous, entertainment host in a gray suit with orange tie. His message: all muster stations on Deck 3 are identified by green signage and white numbers, pay attention to any announcements over the P/A system, especially those by the impressive voice of Kaptein Baijens with one "a," and watch the safety movie on your cabin TV. Understood and Wilco!

 

Next up, a lunch because, after all, it had been at least four hours since our leisurely brekkie inside the Embassy Suites! Up to Deck 11 where the child bride had a salad and I just had to have a Dive-In burger with pommes frites. The Lido was busy however we found a nice table inside Canaletto. 

 

Sailaway was promptly at 4:02 PM when Captain Jeroen expertly backed his big vessel into Elliott Bay without hitting any hidden and/or unhidden obstacle and/or North Korean Whiskey-class attack subs lurking around, swung her around so that our humble balcony now faced Elliott Bay Marina, and headed for Juan de Fuca's (love that name) Strait via Puget Sound (think Richard Gere in "Officer and a Gentleman" - "I have nowhere else to go" 

 

More to follow about our evening and anxiously awaited meet with Bruce and Sue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ship passed right by Port Townsend where much of that movie was filmed.  A bit of trivia for you.

 

Enjoying the story so far!

[Sir PMP]

So you gave the Stevies a 40,000 ITL tip..

[atexsix]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I have been wondering what they have been doing concerning pilotage in the Strait.  As I understand the maritime traffic scheme in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, they are sailing "against the grain" of the traffic scheme as they proceed to the Pacific Ocean.  I assume this is because the Canadian section of the Strait is closed to cruise ships.  

So Canadian waters are closed to ships after all.  Someone royally ripped me for suggesting such a thing a few months ago and not too kindly.

 

Hope they're having crow for dinner.

[CRu1853!!]

Hey Copper10-8,  my DH (the details man) wanted to know how you got in your stateroom without your room “key” and did the nervous guy at your muster station document that you attended? Told you he’s into details 😂. 
Counting down to 2022 southbound Alaska cruise on NA.

[Boytjie]

19 minutes ago, CRu1853!! said:

Hey Copper10-8,  my DH (the details man) wanted to know how you got in your stateroom without your room “key” and did the nervous guy at your muster station document that you attended? Told you he’s into details 😂. 
Counting down to 2022 southbound Alaska cruise on NA.

 

They leave the key cards in your mail slot, I believe.

 

That is what they did on the Celebrity Summit in August 2019; check in via someone with a ipad-liek device, walk onboard and go to your cabin where your keys were,

 

Now I have wondered about is someone walked off with yo key cards, but I guess that is easily solved with a visit to the Frint Desk,

[Love the beach]

" A man by the name of Steve Adoree approached us with a rolling cart....".

 

Made me laugh out loud! You really make  your "Live from" so enjoyable!

Happy Anniversary to you both and have a wonderful cruise!

Thanks for taking us along!

Edited August 8, 2021 by Love the beach

[0bnxshs]

Thanks @Copper10-8 for the cabin photos!!! 😉

[Copper10-8]

50 minutes ago, CRu1853!! said:

Hey Copper10-8,  my DH (the details man) wanted to know how you got in your stateroom without your room “key” and did the nervous guy at your muster station document that you attended? Told you he’s into details 😂. 
Counting down to 2022 southbound Alaska cruise on NA.

 

You use your "printed out at home" boarding passes - they come complete with a scannable bar code - to get on the ship and then will find your room keys/ship I.D.'s inside a plain white #10 envelope which measures 4 1/8" by 9 1/2" with a solid front, no window, and a basic flap on the rear, affixed to/in the interior of, the metal mailbox located on the right side, of your room  approx. 5 1/2' above the solid deck level, not counting the carpet in the public corridor fronting that stateroom door......

[Copper10-8]

1 hour ago, CRu1853!! said:

Hey Copper10-8,  my DH (the details man) wanted to know how you got in your stateroom without your room “key” and did the nervous guy at your muster station document that you attended? Told you he’s into details 😂. 
Counting down to 2022 southbound Alaska cruise on NA.

 

Duplicate due to lame and horrendous internet system onboard

Edited August 8, 2021 by Copper10-8

[AFNavigator]

4 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

Just a heads up from the Pacific northbound off Vancouver Island and as has been posted on the prior two voyages, the onboard internet connection is the mother of all connection problems, pretty much worthless! I would not spend any $$$ on programs, even though I, bottom dweller that I am, did 

HAL didn't help their internet situation by including internet in the "Have it all" package and in many of the previous promotion packages.  So many more users trying to squeeze through the limited bandwidth pipe almost guarantees super slow or no service for all.  HAL should have hugely upgraded their satellite and onboard WiFi bandwidths before including internet in the "Have it all" and other packages.

Maybe HAL should have asterisked its internet bandwidth, "*on port days with most passengers ashore".

[Copper10-8]

 

Good looking explosive detection K-9 and his handler

 

 

I remember that loooong crew gangway to Deck 4 in Seattle. Nice workout hauling bags up there

 

It cleared up a bit later in the PM

 

 

 

For Sunday morning! It was waiting in our cabin 

 

 

 

 

Extremely well-trained, housebroken, dedicated  as well as domesticated husband.........

[jhsocal]

Cooper, really enjoying the details and cabin pictures. was there a reception for Mariners?

On our 2019 cruise on "K" there was a reception for Mariner 3 and above in Crows Nest.

[CRu1853!!]

45 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

You use your "printed out at home" boarding passes - they come complete with a scannable bar code - to get on the ship and then will find your room keys/ship I.D.'s inside a plain white #10 envelope which measures 4 1/8" by 9 1/2" with a solid front, no window, and a basic flap on the rear, affixed to/in the interior of, the metal mailbox located on the right side, of your room  approx. 5 1/2' above the solid deck level, not counting the carpet in the public corridor fronting that stateroom door......

Copper10-8,

I just read this out loud to my husband and he really got a laugh. That’s a lot of details and thank you for every one. 😂

[Ineke]

I am so happy to read a ‘Live from’ again, thank you, Copper. We are so looking forward to when we start cruising again, until then, we’ll keep reading and traveling vicariously! Have a wonderful trip!

[aliaschief]

Location location location! Albeit slow but we have had pretty useable Wi Fi in our cabin. 
 

Maybe because the cabin next to us on deck seven is the Pinnacle Suite.

[rkacruiser]

3 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

I just had to have a Dive-In burger with pommes frites. 

 

You chose well.  Was it a Cannonball?

 

Your "digs" look great!

 

Have a great and a safe cruise!