Live from the Majestic Japan Cruise on Westerdam Sept 1 - Oct 24, 2024

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

4 hours ago, Seasick Sailor said:

French fare today on Lido for lunch.

 

 

 

I'm gaining weight just lookong at your pictures of all the great food.  But, please don't stop the pictures.

[richwmn]

Canaletto Tonight

Scallops (Special of the Day)

 

 

Chicken Parmesian

 

[Aussie Old Salt]

On 9/5/2024 at 9:13 AM, tigervixxxen said:

I have the same question as well. I’m definitely interested in the logistics of such a long voyage. I’m enjoying following along. I hope to do a crossing to Japan in the coming years (tho not the full circle unfortunately, DH not retired but what a lovely itinerary). 
 

As a HAL newbie, is the silver gala usually first? DH would like to sub PG on one of the gala nights but I’m not sure which to choose. 

Hopefully you'll leave the ship in a lovely condition as I'm following you on the next voyage - positioning from Seattle to Sydney [AUS]. Never been on HAL but have cruised ASK on NCL way back in 2010.

Looking forward to re-joining the CC crowd - been too long!

You'll enjoy the rest of your cruise.

[ottahand7]

On 9/8/2024 at 9:54 PM, Seasick Sailor said:

Good evening from the beautiful Westerdam. 

 

Dinner tonight in Canaletto.

 

We met our sweet server Rika, who we had in Canaletto last year on Rotterdam. She's lovely. Ask for her.

 

 

 

 

If this is the same Rika tell her hello from Nancy and John from the Volendam GSA in 2023.  I hope to cross paths with her again. 

[richwmn]

1 hour ago, ottahand7 said:

If this is the same Rika tell her hello from Nancy and John from the Volendam GSA in 2023.  I hope to cross paths with her again. 

That wonderful young lady took care of us last night. A real pleasure.

[atexsix]

@Seasick Sailor @richwmn Have they mentioned yet how many passengers are onboard?  The ship never looks crowded in the pictures you are all posting. 

[richwmn]

09/10/2024 Dutch Harbor, Alaska 0800-1700

 

Today we are at Dutch Harbor. Due to a Coast Guard ship being at our berth, we will be tendering. It is currently raining, with a temperature of 48°F/9°C. The humidity is 100% and the winds are 12 mph.

 

It is not looking good for a visit to Dutch Harbor today. As mentioned we are tendering which means wait for the tender. Then it is a 40 minute trip into town on shuttles. The shuttles are six vans each carrying 14 guests. I have been told that it is walkable, but in the rain? In addition, it is a small town with only a couple of things to do.

 

There has been talk about the Northern Lights. From what I have seen, it should appear between two and three in the morning. I happened to wake up at 2:40 so I went to the Sea View pool area to check it out. I couldn’t see much of anything, then the fog horn sounded. No chance of the lights so I returned to my cabin and went back to sleep.

 

For yesterday, it was a nice sea day aboard Westerdam. I actually got a couple of things done so I won’t have as much to do during my short time at home before Christmas. Lunch in the Lido and I didn’t do Asian for the first time in several days. However, the main serving line does have a slight Asian flair so I still had that flavor.

 

Trivia has been good. Jose continues to be a good entertainer, and is still high energy. Probably do to being a sea day, the Billboard area was overwhelmed. It is difficult for most of the sessions to find a place for your team since another activity is scheduled for the area with no time for the audience to change. Therefore, trivia players are lined up like vultures waiting to grab empty spaces so there is room for a team. My team got a perfect score on the music trivia, it was ‘70’s music.

 

After the 4:00pm trivia we decided last minute to try Canaletto for dinner. They had a place available so we sat down to a very enjoyable meal. I posted pictures of the meals last night. Sorry I messed up the presentation on mine, I didn’t think to take a picture right away. Service was excellent and so was the food.

 

The entertainment on the World Stage was the second the Tap Chaps. The two men and one lady seem to be very talented and also seemed to be enjoying themselves. They entertained a good sized audience for the first show and the crowd seemed to be enjoying themselves.

 

Today’s activities and menus –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NextOne]

Have the Mixology classes been replaced with Cocktails with Karlijn?

[Seasick Sailor]

3 hours ago, ottahand7 said:

If this is the same Rika tell her hello from Nancy and John from the Volendam GSA in 2023.  I hope to cross paths with her again. 

 

Nancy I will tell her this morning and show her your picture. 

[Seasick Sailor]

1 hour ago, richwmn said:

That wonderful young lady took care of us last night. A real pleasure.

 

Rich, put in a good word for her via Navigator. She will get an extra 15 minutes on her break.

[richwmn]

1 hour ago, atexsix said:

@Seasick Sailor @richwmn Have they mentioned yet how many passengers are onboard?  The ship never looks crowded in the pictures you are all posting. 

 

 

38 minutes ago, NextOne said:

Have the Mixology classes been replaced with Cocktails with Karlijn?

 

I don't think so, totally different activities. We have a LOT of sea days coming up that the Mixology classes could be scheduled on.

 

[Cruising-along]

Hi Rich sounds like you're enjoying yourself!

I hope someone on this cruise will report back about Dutch Harbor because we'll be going there next year on the 28-day Alaska Solstice cruise.  There isn't much information about it.

 

Hi to Sue too!

[sunviking90]

28 minutes ago, Cruising-along said:

Hi Rich sounds like you're enjoying yourself!

I hope someone on this cruise will report back about Dutch Harbor because we'll be going there next year on the 28-day Alaska Solstice cruise.  There isn't much information about it.

 

Hi to Sue too!

I “think” @WriterOnDeck posted on her blog about it from her 28 day Alaska cruise this past June. https://www.writerondeck.com 

Edited September 10 by sunviking90

[Cruising-along]

17 minutes ago, sunviking90 said:

I “think” @WriterOnDeck posted on her blog about it from her 28 day Alaska cruise this past June. https://www.writerondeck.com 

Thank you!  I should have thought to look there.  Great photos 🙂  

[WriterOnDeck]

26 minutes ago, Cruising-along said:

Thank you!  I should have thought to look there.  Great photos 🙂  

Thanks! I'm here today and will blog again about Dutch Harbor within a day or so.

[Seasick Sailor]

I just picked up some "starter" yen at the front desk. 

 

I waited til passengers disembarked in Dutch Harbor and there was no line. 

 

[Seasick Sailor]

7 hours ago, ottahand7 said:

If this is the same Rika tell her hello from Nancy and John from the Volendam GSA in 2023.  I hope to cross paths with her again. 

 

Rika says hello!

 

[DeeniEncinitas]

44 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

 

Rika says hello!

 

🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

Aloha Joy❤️

Just read on The Daily and so happy with Bonnie👍 Great picture of you and Rika too!!

Have a wonderful day and so love the pics! Again so glad and pleased all went well for Bonnie🙏!!

😘

[richwmn]

I did end up taking the tender off the ship today. I left my cabin at 10:00am and went to the priority tender ticket area. I had a very short wait before we were allowed to go to the tender. We boarded quickly and after the promised 20 minute tender ride we were ashore. As I mentioned, the shuttles were 18 passenger vans. It seemed like about 200 guests were waiting to board the shuttles and nothing told us which area to wait in for each destination. I walked toward town for a bit, then returned to the ship. The tender ride back was good and I was back on the ship around noon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hummingbird_206]

We tendered in this morning and the weather was great (for Dutch Harbor!)  No rain, no wind, and comfortable temperatures.  We saw river otters and sea otters in the marina.  Also saw the "Northwestern" crab boat of Deadliest Catch fame.

 

We got 2 new birds to add to our life list, Rock Sandpipers and Horned Puffins. Lots of Bald Eagles and Black-legged kittiwakes are around. We walked about a mile from the marina to a gift shop and I picked up a Horned Puffin magnet.  We didn't try the shuttle vans but talked to some who did and it seemed they were happy with the service.

 

Tendered back to the ship about 1 p.m. and the fog rolled in.  I'm so glad we made this port stop.  I can't imagine I will ever be back here, so very happy to have had the chance to visit and enjoyed the good weather while it lasted. 

[0bnxshs]

21 hours ago, richwmn said:

There has been talk about the Northern Lights. From what I have seen, it should appear between two and three in the morning. I happened to wake up at 2:40 so I went to the Sea View pool area to check it out. I couldn’t see much of anything, then the fog horn sounded. No chance of the lights so I returned to my cabin and went back to sleep.

Hey Rich, obviously the fog horn calling the fog in didn't help but the next time, if you have a next time, you are out looking for the Aurora, try scanning the sky slowly with your phone's camera.  Often, what your eyes can't and won't see, the camera will see.

[SightCRR]

For our stop in Jun 24 we had a great time in D/H. One was a nice museum near the airport. More fun to watch Deadliest Catch now that we can recognize spots that we have been to.  

[richwmn]

09/11/2024 At Sea Destination Kushiro, Japan eta 09-17

 

Westerdam is heading for Japan. The weather out is a bit colder. The temperature is 48°F/ 8°C. We have overcast skies with winds at 30 mph and humidity at 96%. We are currently headed west at 15 knots.

 

Yesterday was a good day, both at Dutch Harbor and on the ship. While the weather wasn’t great I had a nice walk. Many people were able to see the few sights available and seemed to enjoy the port. On the ship, we had our normal three trivia sessions and my groups managed to win two of them. Jose is still an energetic and good host.

 

I also watched a game called Secret Identities. Three staff members were seated and given ‘Identities’ which they had to guess by asking yes and no questions. The identities were in groups. One round they were snail, lobster, and chicken (animals) and the next round were escargot, lobster tails, chicken wings (food). The staff members did well and a lot ended up funny.

 

The entertainment on the World Stage was again Annie Gong. This was going on at the same time as ‘Secret Identities’ which I enjoyed. As I mentioned before, Annie Gong is a talented musician, just not my style. I’m sure that she will have another show over the next few days at sea.

 

The Rolling Stone Lounge Band was off last night, while the other groups played and were enjoyed by large audiences. The Piano Players were playing to a full Billboard and the Ocean Bar Jazz group played good music at a volume that allowed polite conversation.

 

All four venues will be filled tonight with music so it should be a good evening.

 

Today’s activities and menus –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 11 by richwmn

[tigervixxxen]

On 9/10/2024 at 1:04 PM, Seasick Sailor said:

I just picked up some "starter" yen at the front desk. 

 

I waited til passengers disembarked in Dutch Harbor and there was no line. 

 

Do you recall what the exchange rate on that was? I’m trying to figure bad good of a deal using the ship is. 

[Seasick Sailor]

1 hour ago, tigervixxxen said:

Do you recall what the exchange rate on that was? I’m trying to figure bad good of a deal using the ship is. 

 

I bought $300 for 40,000 yen, but the rate changes all the time. If you charge it to your account you pay 3 %, otherwise use cash.