Live-ish Norwegian Bliss October 14-21st Alaska 2023

[eileeshb]

It looks like I will be using every ounce of my baggage allowance, my largest spinner suitcase to be checked in, a cabin size spinner and a camera backpack for carry on…. Now if I can just locate my tech cables pack. As I pack I’m putting items aside for AC in case she needs them.. monopod, plug adapter .. And I’m mentally trying to remember what I still haven’t packed for myself… waterproof trousers, charging cables, sunglasses … 

ahh ad on the tv for the An Post Currency Card which I just topped up today, € to $ is basically 1:1 at the moment, the worst it’s been for me in all the years I’ve travelled to the states. I’d usually get at least $1.10 to €1 and frequently a lot more than that. So for those of you stateside considering a European vacation this is the best exchange rate since the beginning of the € euro currency. The only problem is that the costs of accommodation have gone sky high due to the energy prices here. 

 

rotten weather here today so we had a grand total of 3 customers today, latest admin task to be done before I go on holiday is get an appeal lodged against the new commercial rates valuation for the shop.

[eileeshb]

The numbers for the meet & mingle are growing steadily. 
it is scheduled for the Sunday at 10.30am in Cagney’s with a shot glass/gift exchange optional for those attending. 
The weather forecast for the day we’ll be in glacier bay is suggesting sleet or snow! 
Meanwhile there are expected to be unusually warm temperatures here in Ireland this weekend. After endless drizzle yesterday we got a break from the rain today and it’s supposed to be warm (by Irish standards) tomorrow. Hopefully the surf will be nice this weekend to help keep all the surfers happy.

6 of the juniors from our local surf club and their coach will be on the Irish team heading to the world championships in Brazil at the end of November so they’re all frantically trying to get as much practice as possible before then. Each of the kids had to raise €3,000 to cover the cost of sending them which the club managed to raise within a couple of weeks. Thankfully the coach is having his travel covered by our national sports council. 
 

only 3 work days left … the shop is closed on Mondays at this time of year and I’ll be flying to Seattle on Wednesday.  I do have to laugh at some folks who continue to be surprised that we keep the shop open all year round, most of the businesses in the village close for a few weeks at some point during the winter, the surf schools almost take it in turn to close and most of the pubs reduce their days open quite drastically. Basic rule of thumb for surf is there’s generally far more waves anytime but summer. However, the waves in the summer are usually suitable for beginners. As a result anyone in the surf business deals with more people in the summer but more serious surfers the rest of the year. The jet skis are being dusted off and prepped for towing surfers into 60ft waves.

I was checking on surf shops in Seattle and discover the one at Alki beach is only open at weekends from noon so I don’t think I’ll make it over there until after the cruise.  Particularly because I booked a Wine, bread, cheese & chocolate tour for Friday afternoon in Seattle. 
🍷🥏🧀🥖🍫

The Irish rugby team have their final pool game at the World Cup against Scotland tomorrow and the result of that will determine if/when I’ll be glued to a tv screen/ipad next weekend in Seattle. 

[eileeshb]

Halftime in the rugby.. 

Fabulous day here, no rain, no wind, mild temperatures and good waves makes everyone happy. Had a trio of American surfers in this afternoon only one of whom had brought his own board so the other 2 had to buy one each to get into the water.  

This was the view as I was leaving work today 

 

[eileeshb]

Ireland won their game yesterday so that means they'll be playing their quarterfinal against New Zealand on Saturday 8pm irish time which should be noon in Seattle.  

 

Nice day at work today, even warmer than yesterday 19C(66F). We just had a customer in saying when she was here in July she couldn't even have a coffee on the promenade because the weather was so bad. Today she's wandering about in shorts. July this year was the wettest in Ireland since records began. 

This is the view from one of the windows upstairs at work. 

[eileeshb]

Had another copy of the visa email from Norwegian.. reiterating that as a dirty foreigner I might need the eTA for Canada. Hate to say it but as an Irish woman born in Australia neither of my citizenships are detrimental to have as both are amongst the most widely accepted for visa-free travel, particularly to commonwealth countries like Canada. I think the Australian one might even be more acceptable to US ICE than the Irish given the number of Irish that have stayed in the US illegally. But I let the Australian passport lapse as they decided to jack up the price for renewal to over €200! + embassy interview! My Irish passport costs less than €100 and I don’t have to go have an interview to renew it.

So far there has been no email reminders to watch the safety video (I’m knocking on wood as I write that ).

 

Looking at the long term weather forecast it seems likely to be dry for the 2 days in Seattle pre-cruise and possibly even sunny on Thursday, just as well I packed the sunscreen. I need to add a cap now too in addition to the beanie I’ve already packed. 
It looks like it is a 50:50 chance of rain for Juneau and definitely precipitation for Skagway which may be sleet or snow. Glacier Bay is going to be near freezing temperatures and probably sleet/snow.  (I think freezing rain in USA is what we call sleet in Ireland) 

[www3traveler]

13 minutes ago, eileeshb said:

Had another copy of the visa email from Norwegian.. reiterating that as a dirty foreigner I might need the eTA for Canada. Hate to say it but as an Irish woman born in Australia neither of my citizenships are detrimental to have as both are amongst the most widely accepted for visa-free travel, particularly to commonwealth countries like Canada. I think the Australian one might even be more acceptable to US ICE than the Irish given the number of Irish that have stayed in the US illegally. But I let the Australian passport lapse as they decided to jack up the price for renewal to over €200! + embassy interview! My Irish passport costs less than €100 and I don’t have to go have an interview to renew it.

So far there has been no email reminders to watch the safety video (I’m knocking on wood as I write that ).

 

Looking at the long term weather forecast it seems likely to be dry for the 2 days in Seattle pre-cruise and possibly even sunny on Thursday, just as well I packed the sunscreen. I need to add a cap now too in addition to the beanie I’ve already packed. 
It looks like it is a 50:50 chance of rain for Juneau and definitely precipitation for Skagway which may be sleet or snow. Glacier Bay is going to be near freezing temperatures and probably sleet/snow.  (I think freezing rain in USA is what we call sleet in Ireland) 

Watching the Seattle Space Needle between 9:00 A.M. and 11:30 A.M. this morning, it was very very foggy.  I could not see from The Encore to the other side of Elliott Bay.

[ChiefMateJRK]

Following along.  Please post a daily or two if you have a chance.  No problem if you don't.  You need to spend your time enjoying a fantastic AK cruise.  I'll be curious to hear if Siglo is still performing on the ship.  Best classic rock band I've ever had on an NCL ship.  

[eileeshb]

24 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

Watching the Seattle Space Needle between 9:00 A.M. and 11:30 A.M. this morning, it was very very foggy.  I could not see from The Encore to the other side of Elliott Bay.

Not surprised, by the coast here today there wasn’t enough of a breeze to dissipate the sea spray from the waves so it was just hanging in the air making it appear like a very light fog. This time of year along coasts and other bodies of water in the northern latitudes is prime fog time. 
I deliberately booked the afternoon slot for the train in Skagway as whomever did the live in April mentioned it was foggy in the morning at a few of the ports but clear in the afternoon. 

[eileeshb]

49 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Following along.  Please post a daily or two if you have a chance.  No problem if you don't.  You need to spend your time enjoying a fantastic AK cruise.  I'll be curious to hear if Siglo is still performing on the ship.  Best classic rock band I've ever had on an NCL ship.  

If the WiFi cooperates I shall try my best. 
I have ordered the Holafly eSIM for unlimited data while in the US ports but I’m not entirely sure whether that will work as the information from their chat support conflicts with the info on their website. At least one of their partner carriers has 3G around all the ports but their chat support reckoned I’d have no coverage at all for Ketchikan. 

[eileeshb]

After the fog comments yesterday I find this headline about my departure airport this morning. 

This is NOT normal for Shannon, it's normally the airport other flights get diverted TO when there's fog. 

 

[GALSews]

On 10/5/2023 at 11:56 AM, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

 I'm also a DSLR fan and we did this cruise last year on another line in the Fall . Here's a photo of the Encore when we were in Juneau and a" Whale " in Juneau .

 

 

 

This is the shoulder camera bag that I use and would recommend ( I have 2 , one with a 70-300 tele and the other with 17-40 full frame , both Canon )

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BcIcagfuHU

 

 The ship was shot with the tele and the whale the wide angle . We have done 2 cruises and photo reviews to Alaska ,  the first in Spring from Seattle which didn't do Skagway . The second in the Fall from Vancouver which did Skagway , but not Victoria like the Spring one . The links are posted below and we think that they may help you see where you may want to go . We would love to answer any questions that you may have - if you have any . Have a blissful cruise to Alaska !! 

 

🙂😊

 

 

 

 

Based on you photo of the whale, I am definitely going to check out these two. Thanks for letting us know.

[durberville]

That whale photo!! 😳 Wow!! 👏🏻

[eileeshb]

4 hours ago, durberville said:

That whale photo!! 😳 Wow!! 👏🏻

You know it’s a sculpture, right? That’s why scuba had whale as “whale” 

[durberville]

8 minutes ago, eileeshb said:

You know it’s a sculpture, right? That’s why scuba had whale as “whale” 

That’s what I get for skimming threads! 😬 Feel rather foolish now! Haha! Carry on! 

[scubacruiserx2]

2 hours ago, eileeshb said:

You know it’s a sculpture, right? That’s why scuba had whale as “whale” 

 

The Whale Park Project is a nice park 1 mile from the Mt. Roberts tramway North . 

 

 

It's a nice walk along the water passing 2  Tracy's Crab shacks 

 

 

The lines were long and the prices very high at the Crab Shack so we went up the Tramway and watched the sunset and had Halibut fish and chips at the restaurant there . 

There was an entertainer who drove the tram and on the way down that taught us this song . He said that it was the last trip down of the season . You can see the NCL ship in the video and 2 HAL ships where the tram ended . When listening to the song I like the CC setting to read the words .

 

 

 

Enjoy Juneau on a budget .

[eileeshb]

I did the final round of packing last night, just a couple of odds and ends to tuck in tonight. I finally found the travel pouch with my cables and iPad accessories. AC is staying at my place tonight and reckons she'll have room for any overflow in her bags. I have an airtag put aside for her checked bag. 

The nice weather here has disappeared again, it has turned windy and drizzly. It looks like Seattle will be much warmer than here on Thursday. 

 

[www3traveler]

Safe travels to Seattle

Enjoy your time in Seattle and your cruise

[eileeshb]

Picked up a few bits & bobs for the m&m I'm coordinating for the roll call. We currently have 53 people who say they're coming to it. 

 

[eileeshb]

Halfway point on the journey, leaving the rain in shannon and arriving to dry weather in Seattle  

 

[eileeshb]

This is our carry on collection! I do not travel light and I may influenced AC to overpack too. 

[LauraAnneC]

Bon voyage! Have a wonderful trip. I’ll be looking forward to all your photos. I’m leaving from Ireland tomorrow but in the other direction. Heading for the Prima in Barcelona on Friday. 

[eileeshb]

Our flight arrived in Seattle almost an hour early but then had to wait quite a while to get to our gate, and also a lengthy wait for our baggage so there was no actual gain. We got to the Premier airport shuttle about 11.15pm. Our driver was at the booth and brought us over to his van, we lucked our and had it to ourselves. 

 

I had emailed the hotel to make sure they'd be expecting us super late.  So when we got to the belltown Inn they were ready for us to get a quick check-in. We got a corner room on the fifth floor, with plenty of space for all our baggage.  

 

This morning we walked down to pier 66 and then over to pike place Market.

 

there are a bunch of roadworks and construction on Alaskan way near pike place market which may affect anyone coming from hotels in that area. 

 

We spent the day wandering around pike place Market 

 

got the obligatory shots of the pigs

 

 

 

[drumming cruisers]

2 hours ago, eileeshb said:

Our flight arrived in Seattle almost an hour early but then had to wait quite a while to get to our gate, and also a lengthy wait for our baggage so there was no actual gain. We got to the Premier airport shuttle about 11.15pm. Our driver was at the booth and brought us over to his van, we lucked our and had it to ourselves. 

 

I had emailed the hotel to make sure they'd be expecting us super late.  So when we got to the belltown Inn they were ready for us to get a quick check-in. We got a corner room on the fifth floor, with plenty of space for all our baggage.  

 

This morning we walked down to pier 66 and then over to pike place Market.

 

there are a bunch of roadworks and construction on Alaskan way near pike place market which may affect anyone coming from hotels in that area. 

 

We spent the day wandering around pike place Market 

 

got the obligatory shots of the pigs

 

 

 

 

What hotel did you stay in? 

[eileeshb]

15 hours ago, drumming cruisers said:

 

What hotel did you stay in? 

We're in the belltown Inn which has a few more also on this cruise. Ideal location

10minutes from pike place market in one direction and Mopop etc in the opposite  direction 

[eileeshb]

After a little brunch at La Prisienne bakery 

 we continued to Seattle centre to check our Chiuhly garden and glass. 

 

 we're waiting for the next demo before heading to mopop