Live From The Last Frontier: 6/18-25 Westerdam R/T From Seattle

[jackinelgin]

Being a bit of a beer snob I hope they have some craft beers on the Westerdam.

[BetsyS.]

TwinMommyByGrace - Bon Voyage! 🥂😊

[ACorgan]

4 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

If I might ask, does HAL have a professional naturalist onboard to give various lectures about the wildlife you'll be seeing on your cruise?

I think so? I remember seeing some events listed for wildlife talks in our program. I haven’t attended any of them, so not sure about the qualifications of the speaker(s)

[ACorgan]

When I was able to see the glacier so well from the ship, I worried if I had wasted money on my small boat excursion to Hubbard, but those fears were completely unfounded and I found it well worth the money. The excursion boat had three levels and plenty of comfortable inside seating

We went way closer to the glaciers than the ship. This is a view looking backwards and the ship is behind the large island 

The Hubbard glacier was very active and we saw quite a bit of calving. We initially got within a half mile of the glacier, but kept having to back up as the current pulled us closer in. The crew mentioned that they had an outing earlier that day with Celebrity but there was way more ice then and they had trouble getting up to the glacier. What a difference a few hrs makes. We had little ice and gorgeous sunny weather ☀️ 

There was another glacier near by that I’ve already forgotten the name of. It doesn’t really calve much, but was still very pretty

We saw a couple of seals swimming around and on the way back to the HAL ship, spotted a few sea lions 

Overall, it was a well-run tour and I’m glad we went. The only negative is that I missed the Dutch pea soup they serve on the bow of the main ship, but that’s a trade off I can live with 

 

[Haljo1935]

Can't say it enough - stunning! Thanks again for sharing and allowing us to come along.

[ACorgan]

Tonight was the culinary council dinner. We started with the sushi and the crab cake

I wasn’t excited about any of the mains listed in the menu, so was thrilled that the club orange special was the shrimp fettuccine, since I’ve had it before and it’s a solid choice. My dinning partner got the pasta dish that was on the main menu (a rigatoni with sausage)

Dessert was my standard fruit plate and the ricotta raspberry tart

Tonight is the orange party. I might try to go to it, but there’s also a chance that I’ll end up in PJs in my room before then; we’ll see how the evening goes 

[ACorgan]

Briefly stopped by the orange party. It was more of a club scene - you could smell the sweat as you walked in, the live music was blaring, and the dance floor was packed with people. Fun if that’s your thing, but it’s not really mine, so quickly made my way back to the exit and headed upstairs for the night. As I breezed through I noticed drink menus placed all over with the special orange drinks and I saw a waiter passing around a dessert that looked like a cream puff with chocolate on it. I should have guessed this would be a popular event since the majority of the people in the upper main dinning room seemed to be wearing orange outfits at dinner🍊

[ACorgan]

I was supposed to join a work call this morning, so had to forgo our usual Pinnacle breakfast for room service, since not enough time to dine between my call and leaving for our excursion. I got the veggie and goat cheese omelette delivered. The first bite was a little flavorless, but then I discovered the pile of crushed red pepper in the top center. Once I distributed that more evenly, it was a delightful breakfast.

After wolfing down my breakfast and fighting with internet and zoom to get connected to my call, it got cancelled one minute before it was scheduled to start 🤦🏻‍♀️ Oh well, now back to vacation mode for our outing 

[ACorgan]

6 minutes ago, ACorgan said:

I got the veggie and goat cheese omelette delivered. 

Correction: I think it was a frittata, not an omelet 

[TwinMommyByGrace]

@ACorgan I tried searching the boards but couldn't find anything. Just wanted to verify that Verifly and the ArrivCan apps are no longer required for check in. I haven't received any emails from HAL (like last year before our cruise) so I assumed not, but now I'm second guessing myself, lol.

[ACorgan]

12 minutes ago, TwinMommyByGrace said:

@ACorgan I tried searching the boards but couldn't find anything. Just wanted to verify that Verifly and the ArrivCan apps are no longer required for check in. I haven't received any emails from HAL (like last year before our cruise) so I assumed not, but now I'm second guessing myself, lol.

They were not require for our checkin on this cruise. I was a little worried because the HAL app gave me a pop up prompt for ArriveCAN a few days before our cruise, but then I never saw it again. Once on the ship, they did have us fill out a paper declaration form in preparation for our Victoria stop

[ACorgan]

The first part of our Best of Sitka: otters, raptors, and bears tour has already lived up to it’s name and we found an otter.

We’ve also seen several bald eagles and a humpback whale. Just got word about a pod of orcas not far away, so the boat is headed that direction to see if we can find them 🍀

[ACorgan]

We saw orcas 🥰 My pics weren’t great, but was amazing to see in person. Several adults and two juveniles. The crew was super excited too - said they only see them in this close about 5x per year

[Florida_gal_50]

2 hours ago, ACorgan said:

Correction: I think it was a frittata, not an omelet 

It for sure is.  Sometimes the ingredients don't get spread around as much as they should be.  I ordered it through room service one day but they decided I'd rather have the all american breakfast. The frittata is one of my favs.

[ACorgan]

I didn’t fight the crowds to take a pic (since already have some humpback pics from Juneau), but at the end of our boat portion on the tour, we had a humpback very close to the side of the boat. It was fun to watch because it would blow a bunch of bubbles before it surfaced, so you could tell exactly where it would emerge. Overall, a dream tour so far 🥰

[ACorgan]

I had loved Fortress of the Bear last time I was in Sitka and still really enjoyed it this time. It’s neat that they are able to rescue cubs that otherwise would have been put down. I’ve heard some criticisms that it’s basically a “zoo setting” but I’m completely fine with that since I have no desire to be anywhere near a wild bear in its native habitat

 

[Haljo1935]

We very much enjoyed Fortess of the Bears and are ok w/the bears being in captivity vs the alternative of them being put down. They seem happy and living their best lives.

We didn’t go last month as our Sitka stop was very short, last time we were there Fortress was doing some remodeling, which I assume is now finished.

Edited June 22, 2023 by Haljo1935
Typo

[ACorgan]

Last stop on our tour was the raptor rescue center

In addition to the show and outdoor exhibits, there’s a lovely short forest trail leading away from the center

we also discovered some scrumptious mini chocolate bars in their gift shop. There was a s’mores one that was delicious (especially since it’s been almost 7 hrs since breakfast). The only downside to this tour is that there are a fair number of children on it and while on the bus with them, you can tell it’s been a long day (a decent amount of whining and crying 🙉)

[ACorgan]

Post-tour, rounded out the Sitka day with a stroll through town. Stopped by several of the shops and got some popcorn ($2) from the Lutheran church (the man selling it kindly informed us it was no salt added and directed us towards the salt shakers on the table). 

For lunch, tried out the black cod tips from Ashmo’s food truck. The cod was marinated in a very heavy sauce, so didn’t have much fish flavor, but I happen to enjoy teriyaki, so I was fine with it. The rice was quite good without being overly sweet, which is sometimes an issue with coconut rice

The line for shuttles back to the pier looked distressingly long, but moved at a good clip. It took me a little over 15 min to reach the front and board a bus

[mowogo]

1 hour ago, Haljo1935 said:

We very much enjoyed Fortess of the Bears and are ok w/the bears being in captivity vs the alternative of them being put down. They seem happy and living their best lives.

We didn’t go last month as our Sitka stop was very short, last time we were there Fortress was doing some remodeling, which I assume is now finished.

This is exactly why I had no issues booking the excursions.  Yes it is captivity, but that is because they aren't able to go out into the wild, and those are the exact cases where you want to let people see them up close so that they aren't tempted to get too close out in the wild.  

[jackinelgin]

How warm was it in Sitka? I see a lot of short sleeves.

[ACorgan]

2 minutes ago, jackinelgin said:

How warm was it in Sitka? I see a lot of short sleeves.

Currently 60 degrees (at 3pm), but no wind and there is direct sunlight, which make it feel warmer. Beautiful day; we’ve really lucked out on the weather this trip 

[ACorgan]

Tonight’s club orange dinner special was roasted leg of lamb. For appetizer I went with the salmon chowder and for mains we both got the chicken cordon bleu. I had my fruit plate for dessert and my dinning partner had the apple crisp

 

[ACorgan]

I don’t usually attend the evening entertainment on the main stage, but tonight I went to the commedy show. The comedian, Jose Sarduy, was very funny and I would recommend catching his act if he’s on one of your future sailings

[jackinelgin]

Thank you for all your posts. Very informative and entertaining. We fly to Seattle tomorrow morning so time to get going on the packing. Thanks again.