28-day Westerdam Arctic Summer Solstice Live from the ship June 9-July 7

[TableGirl]

Note to self - and to 2025 Arctic Circle cruisers….  Maybe this wasn’t the best time to read a book about theTitanic on this voyage until after you’ve made back through the ice. 

[WriterOnDeck]

4 minutes ago, TableGirl said:

I agree it was sorely lacking.  Would you consider sending a message through the Let Us Know portal and addressing it to Stone and Shore Excursion staff just in case they didn’t get off the ship and ask?

I'll communicate it to my contacts in Seattle, especially in connection with the Sept. stop in Dutch Harbor on our Majestic Japan cruise.

[RetiredMustang]

2 minutes ago, TableGirl said:

Note to self - and to 2025 Arctic Circle cruisers….  Maybe this wasn’t the best time to read a book about theTitanic on this voyage until after you’ve made back through the ice. 

 

We got through the first ice field this morning at about 7.  But, now we are in another ice field.  And the chunks are bigger.  But, I'm not hearing Celine Dion ... yet.

 

 

 

 

 

Dave

[Alberta Quilter]

2 hours ago, WriterOnDeck said:

As it turned out, it was $50 for a "hop on-hop off" van. They may several stops in town. Sometimes we saw a dozen or so people waiting for the van.

 

Oh, that makes much more sense! Thank you for reporting back on that.

[RetiredMustang]

A few minutes ago, Captain Bart announced that, because of ice and fog conditions which are even worse farther north, he has cancelled the crossing of the Arctic Circle for safety reasons.  We are changing direction and heading to Nome.

 

Dave

[TableGirl]

3 minutes ago, RetiredMustang said:

A few minutes ago, Captain Bart announced that, because of ice and fog conditions which are even worse farther north, he has cancelled the crossing of the Arctic Circle for safety reasons.  We are changing direction and heading to Nome.

 

Dave

I have to wonder if this cruise isn’t better suited to August instead of June.  Of course I guess that would cut in their bottom line.  But 2025 cruisers should be forewarned.  

[lcand1923]

1 hour ago, TableGirl said:

Would you consider sending a message through the Let Us Know portal and addressing it to Stone and Shore Excursion staff just in case they didn’t get off the ship and ask?

As soon as I got back onboard I sent a rather long communication via the Navigator App offering suggestions as to what could make the situation better for 2025. I said that these changes would have to come from Seattle.  I was pleasantly surprised that two of my suggestions MAY be implemented prior to the end of this cruise.  (Note heavy emphasis on the MAY.  I was most disturbed about the slope of the gangway, the HopOn/HopOff ticket sale and the extremely poor map in Dutch Harbor.)

[cruzingnut]

6 hours ago, WriterOnDeck said:

I'll communicate it to my contacts in Seattle, especially in connection with the Sept. stop in Dutch Harbor on our Majestic Japan cruise.

 

I'm hoping that details may be a bit better for this stop in September.  Providing we get in.  I was on the 2017 too when we had that looong 13 days at sea from San Diego to Japan!   Checked my blog for this picture that I entitled "Exit, stage left!".

 

Linda R.

 

[bcummin]

Your legendary cruise is definitely an adventure.  Try to enjoy that.

We were in Dutch Harbor in 2014.  It is not your usual cruise port.  It is unique, and life is full of surprises.

May better days be ahead.

Barbara

[RetiredMustang]

We are anchored off Nome.  Sunset was at 1:48 this morning and sunrise at 4:19, but it never really got dark.  Sunrise was pretty, and I was awake to take a photo:

 

 

The weather forecast is for pretty nice conditions in town today.

 

Dave

[TableGirl]

Nome - We actually arrived last evening and anchored.  I may have missed the announcements - as did my traveling party - but I never heard the captain tell us we were getting to Nome early and we’d anchor off shore.  I’m so sad we missed the Arctic Circle crossing.  I certainly understand safety concerns but I suspect this is just not the best time of year to get that far north.  

 

My group got the first tender into Nome today.  It was tentative getting to the pier.   One tender had delivered the pier staff and we were the first tender with passengers.  Stone advised yesterday that HAL had never stopped in Nome before - which I find hard to believe since HAL practically ‘owns’ Alaska.  At the end of the ramp to street level the area was all rock.  I wouldn’t qualify it as gravel it wasn’t that small.  It was very difficult for our person using a walker.  

 

There were lots of complementary shuttles waiting and we managed to get into a van with a lovely woman (Kathy) driver/volunteering for today I’m sure.  She did an extra long loop for us and gave us the low down and showed us all the stops.  It was good to get a basic layout of the town.  Our mobility challenged person stayed on the van after the loop and decided she would go back to the ship.  

 

The big church is pretty from out the outside but not a church at all.  There is a giant ‘gold pan’ Welcome to Nome sign in the big yard out front and the yard is trimmed in ‘dredge’ buckets that have been planted with flowers just for our visit.  Dredge buckets are used on the watercraft that pan for gold.  Which sounds like a very hard way to earn a living according to Kathy - our morning driver.  

 

It is a small town, easily walkable if you are not mobility challenged.  There were some sidewalks but not all roads are paved and what pavement there is, isn’t all even.

 

Our priority stop was “Sew Far North” - a tiny shop with 2 small connected buildings.  I’m a quilter and she had fabric, yarns and notions and some fun trims.  It was surprisingly well stocked.  The owner came in while we were there and she agreed to ship my purchases for me.  I bought some Alaska centric fabrics and some yarn and a crochet hook.  I also bought some Alpaca yarn even though I don’t knit or crochet yet.  (there has been a crochet person on staff and even though “crocheting” basics are “over” - there were 2 sessions that I saw on the daily program - I plan to go to another session to see if she (or whomever is teaching) will teach me a stitch or two.)

 

We then walked to Front Street where we passed the Iditarod Trail sign and then found what appeared to be the largest gift shop called Maruskya’s.  Great selection of post cards and (inexpensive) tees and sweatshirts.  Also some walrus tusk carvings (I didn’t think those were legal but apparently they are) and other odds and ends.  They were doing a brisk business today.  We continued our walk along Front Street to the post office and the gift ship above the post office called Naataq.  Not a huge shop and it appeared to be mostly handmade items of decent quality.

 

There are a number of larger buildings with businesses inside - thus the gift shop and nail salon upstairs from the post office.  

 

We then stopped at Milano’s pizza for lunch.  We might have been better off at Airport Pizza (with the motto, “You buy, we fly” yes delivery by air but to whom I wondered?).  We then went back out to the Front Street and waited for a shuttle to come by - this time we got on a school bus shuttle and went to the Rec Center for the Berry Festival.

 

Although our day had dawned beautiful and clear with temps in high 50s and low 60s, the winds had picked up and the temperature must have dropped about 15 degrees and left a chill in the air that felt like fall was arriving overnight!

 

The handicrafts at the berry festival were all very similar, earrings, some home made jams and jellies, some knitted and crocheted hats.  I realize that this a short tourist season but things were very pricey.  I didn’t find anything I loved enough to purchase but had done plenty to boost the local economy at Sew Far North and Maruskya’s.

 

We made our way on foot back to Hanson’s Supply (I think that’s what it was called) which was a grocery store and maybe a bit of hardware too.  I can’t seem to get a decent glass of OJ on the ship so I returned with a half gallon jug of Tropicana!  It seems like half the ship is coughing, hacking and sneezing.  Covid is making its way through the population for sure.  

 

Nome is a weather beaten city.  Our sweet driver in the morning told us the wind usually blows year round.  We were so fortunate to have such a nice day.  But clearly the wind and salt air is hard on the buildings, homes (mostly wooden structures) and cars/trucks some of which were rusting out.  It’s a hard life in Nome I think but truly a beautiful setting right on the ocean.  I’m not sure it’s reachable by road - I’ll have to do some research.  We did see a large Alaska Airlines Aircraft take off while we were walking around town.

 

We did not make it to the museum,

 

I’m sure some folks went on organized tours and I hope they will review them here for the 2025 cruisers. 

 

I hope to be able to post pictures but since I’m on the “Mac” system they may have to wait until I get home with better WiFi and have use of all of my devices.

[lcand1923]

I did the “History of Nome” walking tour.  I didn’t make note of the name of our guide, but do know she was accompanied by her college age daughter.  Mom did most of the talking, but periodically she would pass the talk to her daughter.  They both were very good and answered every question that was asked.  

 

The sun was shining and there was no breeze as we started our 1.5 hour walk.  You had to be careful walking because even the paved roads are full of potholes and uneven surfaces.  

 

Everyone in town was happy to see the Westerdam.  After the tour was over, I stopped in the Visitor’s Center and the National Park Service site.  Again, everyone was happy to see the Westerdam and couldn’t have been nicer.

 

I never made it to the Berry Festival because I just kept talking with residents that I met.

 

 

[RetiredMustang]

I will post photos and descriptions later, but we enjoyed our visit to Nome.  We were on the same tour as Icand1923.

 

But, I enjoyed also the dinner tonight.  I don't usually post food porn photos, and I know Inside Cabin has been posting the dinner menus, but tonight featured something I haven't seen in years-- rijstaffel.  Sometimes, a long long time ago, HAL used to have Dutch Night, when the men were given caps and the women woven "Dutch Girl" hats.  One of the dishes was called nasi goreng.  It was basically a plate of typical Indonesian foods, including the nasi orneg (spiced rice), sumatran beef, ayam kecap (roast chicken), scrambled egg, and krupuk (rice crackers).  I ordered it:

 

 

 

I asked our DR steward if it was Indonesian spicy, or Filipino spicy*.  He answered much like Jack Nicholson in "A Few Good Men"  -- "You can't HANDLE Indonesian spicy."  But, he did bring me extra krupuk, which I love.

 

 

*This refers to a previous cruise where we asked our DR steward if a dish was spicy, and he said "No, it's only Filipino spicy."  We repeated the conversation the next day with our Ocean Bar server, expecting an outraged response.  Instead, he said "Yeah, those guys are nuts with the spicy."

 

Dave

 

 

Edited June 22 by RetiredMustang

[Btimmer]

In 2019, the Maasdam reached Nome and one tender attempted to land, but was unsuccessful.  The port was then cancelled and we continued on to Russia.  We were super close to Nome and could see the church.  But such is cruising life.

[Toad]

10 hours ago, RetiredMustang said:

I will post photos and descriptions later, but we enjoyed our visit to Nome.  We were on the same tour as Icand1923.

 

But, I enjoyed also the dinner tonight.  I don't usually post food porn photos, and I know Inside Cabin has been posting the dinner menus, but tonight featured something I haven't seen in years-- rijstaffel.  Sometimes, a long long time ago, HAL used to have Dutch Night, when the men were given caps and the women woven "Dutch Girl" hats.  One of the dishes was called nasi goreng.  It was basically a plate of typical Indonesian foods, including the nasi orneg (spiced rice), sumatran beef, ayam kecap (roast chicken), scrambled egg, and krupuk (rice crackers).  I ordered it:

 

 

 

I asked our DR steward if it was Indonesian spicy, or Filipino spicy*.  He answered much like Jack Nicholson in "A Few Good Men"  -- "You can't HANDLE Indonesian spicy."  But, he did bring me extra krupuk, which I love.

 

 

*This refers to a previous cruise where we asked our DR steward if a dish was spicy, and he said "No, it's only Filipino spicy."  We repeated the conversation the next day with our Ocean Bar server, expecting an outraged response.  Instead, he said "Yeah, those guys are nuts with the spicy."

 

Dave

 

 

I love Indonesian spicy and always ask for Sombal with dinner for the rice! 

[RetiredMustang]

As I mentioned earlier, we also took the historic walking tour HAL excursion.  We took a tender on a trip of about 20 minutes to the small boat harbor.  Here is a screenshot I go to show where it is:

 

 

 

The distance from the tender pier to the museum shown on the map is 0.9 miles/1.5 km.  The distance to Milano's Pizza is about -.75 mi/.1.2km.

 

To get from the dock to the shore required climbing a fairly steep ramp, which was a little steeper when we returned because of the tide receding.  But, we saw people with scooters and several with limited mobility about town, so they must have managed to overcome any difficulty getting ashore.  

 

 

 

The town had arranged for shuttles that went to several locations, such as the Visitor Center, the Post Office and the Recreation Center (near the Musuem), where there was a Berry Festival going.  I don't know if the shuttle was free or not, because we gaggled for our walking tour, and then set out with our guide and her daughter who was spending the summer from Gonzaga University.  Whether she volunteered to help Mom guide us or was voluntold, I don't know, but both she and Mom were engaging and informative.  Our guide told us about the seawall which protected the town and the somewhat newer breakwater for the port.  She also said that there was a project working to expand the port with result that cruise ships would be able to dock in the future.  I looked and found a news article that describes the project:

 

Cruising to Nome: The first U.S. deep water port for the Arctic to host cruise ships, military | AP News

 

As we started our walk, I got a shot of Westerdam at anchor:

 

 

 

 

We walked first through the northwestern part of town, closest to the port, as it was the oldest section, with her pointing out some buildings that survived the several fires the town has endured.  That includes this one, which our guide said was one of the oldest saloons in town, and the only one where ladies were welcome who did not have "of the evening" attached to the term:

 

 

 

 

We then walked to the City Square at the intersection of Bering St. and Third.  There was an old church that was moved to the square and is used now as a community center:

 

 

 

And several other exhibits, including the world's largest metal mining pan:

 

 

 

 

The daughter explained that the artist set out to make the world's largest mining pan, but learned that a Canadian had recently made a slightly larger one made of wood, hence the addition of the modifier "metal".

 

We then continued on to Front Street, passing the Post Office, government buildings and businesses:

 

 

 

One business we passed was the Board of Trade, Nome's oldest saloon.  Our guide said it was famous from the TV show "Bering Sea Gold".

 

 

 

We then ended up at the Visitor Center, by the end of the Iditaod Trail.  Our guide said there was a large arch that they erected to mark the actual end of the line, but she couldn't show it to us because after this year's Iditarod, it broke.  She said it not only broke, it disintegrate, turning basically to dust.  The town is building a replacement, but it is not finished yet.

 

There is, however, a milepost across the street up a short way from the Visitor Center, next to a bust of Roald Amundson, the famous Arctic explorer.  Here are photos of the Visitor Center and the milepost and bust:

 

 

 

 

After the tour, we visited the main gift shop and decided to return to the tenders.  Nome does not have the attractions, shopping, etc. of Ketchikan, Juneau or Sitka, but we enjoyed visiting, primarily because of the people, who went out of their way to make our stay enjoyable.  Our guide said all the volunteer guides had made practice runs the night before to rehearse and make sure they kept to time.  As we walked about, several people greeted the guide, and some added "welcome to Nome" to us tourists.  The Lion's Club was doing their annual chicken fry on Front Street, sending smoke and heavenly smells down the street.  That evening back on the ship, someone told us they had eaten some and it was great. The Berry Festival brought in artists and artisans, and we saw schoolchildren selling various berry-themed cupcakes.  

 

Basically, we found everyone to be welcoming and friendly; we thought they were as friendly as Newfies, and that is saying a lot.

 

Dave

 

 

Edited June 22 by RetiredMustang

[sherifa]

On 6/11/2024 at 10:17 PM, xLibLabLady said:

For our Ketchikan day I had arranged a private shore excursion Nature tour with Wild Wolf Tours. This was the 2nd time I had used her services.  With no hesitation at all I recommend future cruisers book a tour with Tracy Wild's company.  She is great. She was not able to be our driver/guide today but promised that Zach would be excellent.  He was!

 

We visited a tide pool, did a hike in part of the rainforest,  saw truly wonderful waterfall, and  payed at Herring Cove took for bears. No bears today, or whales, but we saw Stellar Blue Jays, and eagles.

 

Wild Wolf Tours has additional tours available.  Of course they guarantee they will get visitors back to the ship in time.

 

Here is the website: https://www.wildwolftours.com

Susan (xLibLabLady)

We joined Susan on this excursion. It was wonderful! Highly recommended.

[RetiredMustang]

Nome's weekly newspaper, the Nome Nugget, also publishes a Nome Visitor Guide -- people were handing out copies at the tender port.  I've discovered that it is also available on line:

 

Nome Visitor Guide | The Nome Nugget

 

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

No shore excursions today, but I thought I would share some photos.  We have been on Westerdam several times, but every now and then I notice something.  Such this cruise are elevator lobbies.  They are intricately designed and vary.  Here are some examples:

 

First, the 3rd deck forward:

 

 

 

Then 3rd deck midships:

 

 

 

And 3rd deck aft, near the MDR:

 

 

 

Elevator lobbies on the cabin decks I've seen have those squarish (and not very comfortable) bench sofas, like this one on 6th deck aft:

 

 

 

Although the one on 7th deck aft looks quite elegant, with the bas-relief:

 

 

 

And, the elevator doors on public decks are also intricately decorated:

 

 

 

Dave

[Hogladyrider]

@RetiredMustang great pics.  We love the decor on HAL ships.  Not too mention they have the nicest and friendliest crew!

[Loreto]

The carpets are beautiful, Dave, thanks for the pics!  I was on the Westerdam 2 years ago and don't remember that...as an artist I would have noticed!  I always loved the art deco elevator doors...very elegant.

[lcand1923]

We’ve just learned that Kodiak will be a tender port and there will be no shuttles from the tender pier to the center of town.  We arrive at 7:00am.

 

Anchorage Port is a commercial port.  Shuttles will run from the ship to the Egan Convention Center from 11:00am - 10:00pm on Day 1 and 8:00am - 5:00pm on Day 2.

 

Hope this information is useful for the 2025 Cruisers.  

[DonnyD-JJ]

8 minutes ago, lcand1923 said:

We’ve just learned that Kodiak will be a tender port and there will be no shuttles from the tender pier to the center of town.  We arrive at 7:00am.

 

Anchorage Port is a commercial port.  Shuttles will run from the ship to the Egan Convention Center from 11:00am - 10:00pm on Day 1 and 8:00am - 5:00pm on Day 2.

 

Hope this information is useful for the 2025 Cruisers.  

I'm definitely not happy to hear about another Tender Port!!  Also No Shuttles in Kodiak, I hope town is within walking distance.  I hope tendering does not affect private excursions already booked.

 

 

[TableGirl]

1 minute ago, DonnyD-JJ said:

19 minutes ago, lcand1923 said:

I'm definitely not happy to hear about another Tender

We weren’t originally scheduled to tender in at Kodiak.  Of course when we booked this cruise there was only one tender port - Nome.  We are up to 5 tender ports.  
 

Is it HAL not wanting to pay the port fees??

[DonnyD-JJ]

2 minutes ago, TableGirl said:

We weren’t originally scheduled to tender in at Kodiak.  Of course when we booked this cruise there was only one tender port - Nome.  We are up to 5 tender ports.  
 

Is it HAL not wanting to pay the port fees??

That's a very good question.  Believe me HAL didn't just find out this information on a Sunday afternoon.