LAFFNVEGAS "LIVE" from the Nieuw Amsterdam/The Return.... Part Two

[Florida_gal_50]

Beautiful pictures.

[bobpatj]

Wonderful to see the scenery in Glacier Bay!  It was so covered in clouds on our August 7th cruise.

[zgscl]

Beautiful day in Glacier Bay! It was definitely a lot more cloudy when we went. Glad you had a nice sunny visit

[aliaschief]

Funny story about Hal’s pea soup! On our recent Alaska cruise we were enjoying Glacier Bay from our Verandha when DW said she was going to Lido to get us some pea soup.

 

A little while later I came back into our cabin only to hear a clamor at our cabin door. I went over and opened the door and there was my beautiful wife mumbling and green pea soup was oozing down our door, broken bowls. A real mess. I went down to Neptune Lounge and stated help we need a big cleanup on Starboard Aisle 7! Within a minute we had a rapid response team headed for our room. One of the responders was Head of Housekeeping who immediately said “OMG is that green vomit?” I replied, “No Sir just two bowls of Hal’s famous Pea Soup!”😁

Edited September 7, 2021 by aliaschief

[echoshipmate]

19 hours ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

It was actually delicious 👍🏻

Hope you are having a wonderful cruise. A favor, if possible, we have rented a family retreat cabana, the Capri, for our Panama canal cruise in October,  on the port side, corner. If you are out and about, a picture would be so helpful, have rented sight unseen and would love to see the actual layout and furnishings. Have searched and seen some old photos, something more recent would be a great help. If you can't, no problem and thanks anyway.

Doug

 

[Mrsfrz]

On 9/6/2021 at 12:07 PM, DoggyDaddy said:

If all ports are in the USA, why are Passports required?

 

DD

Passports for Seattle departures are highly recommended but not required this year. A certified birth certificate is one of the acceptable documents in lieu of a passport. We were on the August 21 sailing, and one of our travel companions had not received his passport in time. He had no problem with the alternative documents. 

[rkacruiser]

3 hours ago, aliaschief said:

Funny story about Hal’s pea soup! On our recent Alaska cruise we were enjoying Glacier Bay from our Verandha when DW said she was going to Lido to get us some pea soup.

 

A little while later I came back into our cabin only to hear a clamor at our cabin door. I went over and opened the door and there was my beautiful wife mumbling and green pea soup was oozing down our door, broken bowls. A real mess. I went down to Neptune Lounge and stated help we need a big cleanup on Starboard Aisle 7! Within a minute we had a rapid response team headed for our room. One of the responders was Head of Housekeeping who immediately said “OMG is that green vomit?” I replied, “No Sir just two bowls of Hal’s famous Pea Soup!”😁

 

🤣       My laugh for the day! Thank you! 

 

(Were you able to get a replacement?   😀) 

[aliaschief]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

 

🤣       My laugh for the day! Thank you! 

 

(Were you able to get a replacement?   😀) 

We both went back to the Lido and enjoyed our pea soup there. Wasn’t going to take any chances!

[twodjs]

We were in Alaska a few weeks ago and booked the cabana right next to yours on the port side. One photo I took of the Celebrity arrival in Juneau looked right through your cabana. You can at least get a feel for the furniture layout. Very nice choice!

[twodjs]

7 hours ago, echoshipmate said:

Hope you are having a wonderful cruise. A favor, if possible, we have rented a family retreat cabana, the Capri, for our Panama canal cruise in October,  on the port side, corner. If you are out and about, a picture would be so helpful, have rented sight unseen and would love to see the actual layout and furnishings. Have searched and seen some old photos, something more recent would be a great help. If you can't, no problem and thanks anyway.

Doug

 

My post above and picture was intended as a response to echoshipmate.

[GTVCRUISER]

Lisa , looks like you guys are having a Great time in Alaska , I have a question , do they still have the Happy Hour in the Ocean Bar ? 

 

 

[echoshipmate]

12 hours ago, twodjs said:

My post above and picture was intended as a response to echoshipmate.

Thank you so much. Even better than I imagined. Probably good that we booked it as we may not be able to get off in any of the ports at this rate, Covid wise!

Hope you had a great cruise!

Thanks

Doug

[madera1]

We are enjoying our cruise. My birthday was embarkation day and our room steward brought in a birthday cupcake and we were served a special birthday chocolate mousse cake after dinner. Each day the captain wishes those celebrating birthdays a Happy birthday and sends a birthday greeting note to the room. The meet and Greet was better attended by ship’s officers than the last few we have attended. There was also free drinks being passed around. So far service has been outstanding. We had booked the HAL transfer from the airport and we were walking on the ship at NOON! We had a 1 pm boarding time so we were pleased.  We found out that Vanessa and Eileen are at our dining table. Only later did we discover that Vanessa is in the next cabin. We have been enjoying team trivia as well as the BB Kings band each day. We have eaten dinner in both the Pinnacle Grill and Tamarind and both meals were delicious. 

[aliaschief]

12 minutes ago, madera1 said:

We are enjoying our cruise. My birthday was embarkation day and our room steward brought in a birthday cupcake and we were served a special birthday chocolate mousse cake after dinner. Each day the captain wishes those celebrating birthdays a Happy birthday and sends a birthday greeting note to the room. The meet and Greet was better attended by ship’s officers than the last few we have attended. There was also free drinks being passed around. So far service has been outstanding. We had booked the HAL transfer from the airport and we were walking on the ship at NOON! We had a 1 pm boarding time so we were pleased.  We found out that Vanessa and Eileen are at our dining table. Only later did we discover that Vanessa is in the next cabin. We have been enjoying team trivia as well as the BB Kings band each day. We have eaten dinner in both the Pinnacle Grill and Tamarind and both meals were delicious. 

Thanks for checking in and a belated Happy Birthday. Hotel Director Pells is known for attending Meet & Greets.

[madera1]

More photos below. We spotted a huge porcupine on a tree branch on our hike at Mendehall glacier on Monday. We also took the tram and had great views from high above the port! While at glacier bay we saw dolphins and sea otters. Some saw a bear but we did not see it. While at Margerie glacier we saw and heard the calving. I also attended several of the presentations by the park rangers and the Native American which were very informative and interesting. 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

6 hours ago, GTVCRUISER said:

Lisa , looks like you guys are having a Great time in Alaska , I have a question , do they still have the Happy Hour in the Ocean Bar ? 

 

 

Hi Gary, I honestly do not know plus it is not mentioned in the When and Where. Maybe someone else can answer that has sailed recently and I will try to find out.

[atexsix]

7 minutes ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Hi Gary, I honestly do not know plus it is not mentioned in the When and Where. Maybe someone else can answer that has sailed recently and I will try to find out.

Yes, happy hour has been every day in the ocean bar at 3. They are also doing an evening happy hour around 900 on some nights.

 

@GTVCRUISER

Edited September 8, 2021 by atexsix

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Trying again to post pictures …….

????ok definitely strange things about 10 minutes ago I posted a long update on what we did last night and so far today. The pictures would not upload but what I wrote did post and now it’s totally gone 😱

I maybe need to copy everything thing I write.

Well long story short. 
Prime Rib last night in MDR was good but the meats are much better in he Lido. Today the Beef Brisket in the Lido is amazing.

We ended up not getting off in Icey Straight Point last night it was raining and foggy. We also stayed on board today. I had a 75 minute Hot Stone Massage this morning which I booked and purchased on line prior to the cruise at a discounted price. Definitely worth doing if you plan to have services in the spa. The weather here in Sitka was foggy and raining this morning but the rain did go away just cloudy with patches of fog.

Tonight we eating in Canaletto, we have not done that in 11 years. So giving it a try again.

I wanted to mention that over all not much has changed since the first cruise July 24th other than the first cruise we did not have to wear masks now it is required and everyone is wearing a mask. Also on the first cruise the crew were pushing that we had to use the QR code for any kind of menu. While the little plaques with QR code’s still remain, menus are handed out everywhere with no mention of using the QR code.

 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

A few weeks ago on a thread it was mentioned about night lights and that there is a night light in Neptune and Signature Suite bathrooms. I took a picture last night. My phone automatically goes to a night vision mode so the bathroom does appear slightly brighter than it is but you can see on the ceiling the little bluish light.

[Tom_Cruise]

Question:  Is there still a paperback book exchange?

[rkacruiser]

22 minutes ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Prime Rib last night in MDR was good but the meats are much better in he Lido. Today the Beef Brisket in the Lido is amazing.

 

Why would that be?  The Chef in charge of the Lido Galley does a better job with beef than the Executive Chef in the MDR?  

 

Has there been a change of Executive Chefs on the Nieuw Amsterdam since your earlier cruise?  

 

35 minutes ago, atexsix said:

happy hour has been every day in the ocean bar at 3

 

That's a change.  HH always began in the Ocean Bar during my most recent cruises at 4:00.  

[Thorswife59]

Are masks required if you’re sitting a bar or club with a drink? Thanks!

[Florida_gal_50]

I hope you enjoy Canaletto.  I was never a fan previously but it was outstanding on the n statendam on my last cruise in November 2019.

[aliaschief]

44 minutes ago, Thorswife59 said:

Are masks required if you’re sitting a bar or club with a drink? Thanks!

On our cruise when you sat down in a bar or dining venue majority of folks removed mask. A few left mask on until taking a sip but that was rare.

Edited September 9, 2021 by aliaschief

[Thorswife59]

14 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

On our cruise when you sat down in a bar or dining venue majority of folks removed mask. A few left mask on until taking a sip but that was rare.

Thank you!