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Sue's HAL Alaska Cruise - June 2002

Who/When/Where:

Who:  Sue (me - 43), Chris (son – 15)

Dates:  May 31 – June 10, 2002

Cruise:  Holland America Line’s Amsterdam , mini-suite w/verandah (#6120)

Hotels:  LaQuinta before cruise; Best Western Executive Inn 2nts after cruise

Experience:  This will be my 8^th cruise, Chris’ 4^th cruise – it’s the 3^rd time on HAL for both of us.  Previous HAL experience was the Westerdam and Ryndam, both in the Caribbean .  This will be my 3^rd and Chris’ 2^nd visit to Seattle .

INTRODUCTION:

Many of you already know me from years of Disney trip reports, but those who don’t should consider themselves warned – my reports tend to be lengthy and full of detail.  They’re written in the “you are there” style, so you’ll be living the trip along with me.  Most of my trips are Disney-related, usually to Walt Disney World but at least once a year I visit the other 2 Disney Vacation Club resorts in Vero Beach and Hilton Head.  I love the quality of Disney resorts, and make travel/vacations a priority!  My other love is cruising, but I do that less frequently because I hate taking that time away from WDW and the Comedy Warehouse there. 

There are so many different cruise lines, and no one line is the best choice for everyone, but Holland America Line (HAL) is far & away the best line for us!  My past cruise experience includes Carnival, NCL & 3 cruises on Disney, and all pale compared to HAL.  Even Chris (who has cruised HAL twice & Disney once) said he wanted his next cruise to be back on HAL.  I’ve always wanted to cruise to Alaska – since we live in Florida anything with a hill is a thrill, and to see actual snow & glaciers is just unreal!  I’ll never live where there’s snow again, but I don’t mind visiting snow on vacation ;-) 

Originally I booked the Zaandam departing June 1^st from Vancouver , but after the events of 9/11 HAL cancelled the World Voyage and brought the Amsterdam back to the USA .  I’d been excited about the Zaandam , but I was beside myself when I learned I had the opportunity to sail on the Amsterdam instead!  Just as the Grand Floridian is considered the “flagship” of the Disney resorts, the Amsterdam is the newer of the 2 “flagships” of their fleet.  I called my travel agent and upgraded to the Amsterdam the same day I heard the news!  Since this is our first Alaska cruise and scenery is so important, I decided to splurge on a mini-suite with verandah.  It will also probably be the last big non-Disney vacation with my son Chris.  He’s in high school now and by the time I get around to doing another non-Disney trip he should be off in college.  Thankfully, he’s not one of those surly, moody teens or I’d be cruising solo – he gets along with everyone and although there are not likely to be many teens on board, he’s not worried about being bored.

We’re booked with early dinner seating, which makes sense since our bodies will already feel like it’s 3 hours later than it is, but also we can see the sunset after dinner.  Dinner is the highlight of our day when cruising, and I love that HAL passengers still honor the tradition of dressing for dinner & remain in those clothes for the entire evening.  The more casual cruise line options are not for me – I can dress down at home or at WDW, so when I’m on a cruise I want to dress up!  I’ve rented a tux for Chris to wear on the 2 formal nights, along with the shoes – it will be his first time in a tux and I think he’s looking forward to it.  He loves good food, and will eat well this week!

Usually I hate shore excursions, and doubt I will ever book another one in the Caribbean, but with so many ships in Alaska and limited capacity on some tours I decided to play it safe and book a couple.  In Juneau we’ll be doing a helicopter tour of glaciers and then will land on a glacier for a 2-hour hike.  In Sitka we’ll do the River Otter and Wildlife Quest, which has gotten excellent reviews.  At the other ports we’ll just do whatever we’re in the mood for, most likely checking out the areas within walking distance.  Once back on land in Seattle we’ll make a point of visiting Woodland Park Zoo to see the gorilla habitat, and will wander around the downtown/Pike Place Market/ Seattle Center area.  Our time is limited, but we’ve been there before and have the luxury of not trying to see it all.

The plans

Fri 5/31:  Evening flight to Seattle , check in LaQuinta at airport

Sat 6/01:  Board Amsterdam , set sail through Puget Sound

Sun 6/02:  Cruise Queen Charlotte Island , Formal night

Mon 6/03:  Juneau , Helicopter Tour & Glacier Hike

Tue 6/04:  Hubbard Glacier

Wed 6/05:  Sitka , Sea Otter & Wildlife Quest excursion

Thu 6/06:  Ketchikan , Formal night

Fri 6/07:  Cruising, Evening in Victoria BC

Sat 6/08:  Disembark, Check in to Best Western, Woodland Park Zoo

Sun 6/09:  Pike Place Market, Seattle Center

Mon 6/10:  Fly home

DAY 1  FRIDAY MAY 31, 2002:

Plan:    Evening flight to Seattle , check in LaQuinta at airport

Actual:             

Our flights were not due to depart until 5:54pm so I worked most of the day before coming home to grab the luggage.  Chris’ dad picked us up and after a stop for my radiation treatment & a brief visit with the doctors we were at the local airport  by around 4:15 .  They were not doing curbside check-in, but the line inside only had about 4-5 people ahead of us.  By the time Tim parked the car & came back in we were pretty much at the counter.  We had plenty of time to kill, and Tim could not come to the actual gate, so we hung out in the terminal – browsing the shops & goofing around.  I was short on cash, so when Chris picked up a package or skittles and a package of gum I said I’d pay for it so I could cash a traveler’s check – it was freakin’ $4.54!!  LOL – airport prices are such a ripoff, but I guess that’s to be expected.  After checking all the shops out we sat over by the Starbucks, which was right near the security checkpoint.

Tim & Chris went to get something to drink, and it took them forever.  Tim got a huge frozen coconut mocha frappuccino and Chris got the caramel version.  Tim’s was really good, but it was too big for him to eat alone so I finished it up.  It was more like eating an ice cream dessert than having a coffee drink – I can’t imagine the calories in that thing!  Our flight was boarding at 5:20 , which was about what time we finished the Starbucks stuff, so we said goodbye to Tim and entered the security area. 

Chris beeped as he went through, and had to be wanded down.  The security guy asked him if he’d ever owned a weapon, and Chris said “No, I’m only 15”.  I didn’t beep, but because I had the laptop that had to be tested and the guy had me give him my shoes as well.  He was really nice, and said I looked like a jogger – in great shape.  Hey, a compliment is a compliment – he wasn’t being rude or inappropriate! 

At the gate, the plane had already been boarded by most of the passengers but luckily this is American Airlines and there’s more storage space on these planes than the others.  They removed some rows and spread the seats out in coach, so there was lots of leg room, and fewer passengers competing for the overhead storage space.  As we boarded the pilot was teasing us – asking if Chris eats all of his vegetables and does well in school.  I replied that he actually does eat veggies and usually does well in school – the pilot told Chris there was still hope he could grow up and become a slacker like them some day <g>. 

We were in row 24 – Chris on the window & me in the middle.  I was hoping the aisle would remain empty, but soon a man came and sat there.  He turned out to be an FBI agent and was really nice – we made polite chit chat at first and then ended up talking most of the flight.  The connection in St Louis went smoothly – we killed time riding the moving sidewalks before waiting to board the plane.  Once again we had a guy seated next to us on the plane, but he pretty much slept the whole way.  I actually prefer people just leave me alone – when I’m on a plane I’m not looking to spend my time chatting with strangers.

We had this lady & her husband seated in the row ahead of us and I wanted to get out of my seat and go slap her (as did everyone else within earshot).  When you’re at the gate, from time to time the lights will flicker off – it’s a ground power surge thing that means nothing, but she decided that the plane’s electrical system wasn’t working and demanded to talk to someone.  Ugh!  Then, wouldn’t you know – the flight was delayed for a maintenance issue, lol, which caused  her to get even more wound up.  The indicator for the fuel gage needed to be replaced, which they did – but she wanted to get off the plane & sleep in the airport & catch a different flight in the morning!!  I don’t want to be insulting to anyone who’s a nervous flyer, but this woman was just an idiot.  We left 45 minutes late, with her still on the plane.  When we were in Seattle I overheard the other guy sitting in the row telling his girlfriend about her & how he can’t believe her husband puts up with her.

During the flights they served drinks and a snack mix.  Chris loved it, and ate most of ours on the first flight.  On the 2^nd flight the attendant gave us each 2, and then another attendant came by & gave us 2 more – so we had 6 packages!  You’d have thought someone had given Chris a pile of gold, lol – he was thrilled.  But, he also had no dinner so this was going to be it!

We got into Seattle around 11:15 or 11:30 , got the luggage, went to the parking garage to call the hotel shuttle, and were at the LaQuinta by midnight .  It’s a decent place – a hotel rather than a motel, and the guy at the front desk got us checked in quickly.  I asked him what would be the best way to get to the cruise ship and he said he’d arrange a towncar for us, at a $35 flat rate.  A cab would be slightly higher.  I told him to go ahead and set it up for 11:45 .  We went to the room and got ready for bed – Chris ate the last 2 packages of snack mix before he went to sleep.  Aaah – in 12-14 hours we should be on our gorgeous Amsterdam !

The next 7 days will be posted all at once, after getting off the ship on June 8^th.  Hope everyone has a great week!

DAY 2  SATURDAY JUNE 1, 2002 :

Plan:    Board Amsterdam , set sail through Puget Sound

Actual:       

There was no point in setting the alarm, since I knew from past experience that I would be waking up on east coast time.  Sure enough, I was awake shortly after 8am my time, which was 5am out here.  I got online and finished yesterday’s report then read my mail and the message boards.   There’s a coffee maker in the room so I heated up water & made some French vanilla hot chocolate, but waited until Chris would be up later to check the continental breakfast – he will sleep regardless of the time zone! 

We went down to get breakfast just after 9 – bagel & banana for me, that plus more for Chris.  I was thrilled to see sunlight – in Seattle !  It is almost 60 degrees, which is such a refreshing change from Florida !  We brought our breakfast back to the room and hung out watching tv & being online for the rest of the morning.  By 11:30 I couldn’t stand the anticipation any longer, so we went down to the lobby to wait for the towncar – thrilled that it appeared clear enough that we’d get to see Mt Ranier and possibly Mt St Helens once we got on the road!  Overall the LaQuinta was a great place to spend the night, although it is too far from downtown Seattle to spend more than a night here.

In the lobby we met a couple with Amsterdam tags on their luggage, and they turned out to be from Tallahassee !  Unfortunately the car was just a Lincoln Towncar and it was not big enough for the 4 of us plus luggage, or we would have shared the ride.  We ran into them later on the ship – they just took a taxi.  The driver loaded our luggage in the trunk and we were off!  He chatted for 2-3 minutes with us, but his cell phone kept ringing.  We rode to the pier at 80 mph while this guy must have had 6-8 phone calls, all of which were spoken in some middle-eastern language!  It was too funny – I felt like a foreigner and Chris thought the driver was a mafia lord <g>.  He dropped us off at the Bell Street Pier, and we followed the signs to drop off our luggage.  From there we entered a different part of the building to check in, which only took a couple of minutes.  We got our room keys and a map to the ship, and a boarding number.  Unlike Disney where everyone sits or stands in a massive line for a long time, HAL issues you a number and then can tell you approximately what time your number will be boarding (in our case 1:30 – 2:00).  This is so much more civilized! 

Since we were free of our luggage we decided to explore the area on foot for a while.  We walked along the piers and saw the trolley riding back & forth.  Pike Place Market was just across the street so we headed over there, climbing up several blocks worth of stairs looking for anything of interest.  I know this is a major tourist attraction, but it does nothing for me – and hasn’t on previous visits either.  However, now we can cross it off our list of things to do next weekend!  The weather was gorgeous – sunny and in the 60’s – so it was comfortable walking around.  Around 1pm we headed back to the terminal and although it was very crowded by now we were able to find 2 seats together.  White-gloved stewards were loading wheelchairs onto the ship, and passengers were able to order wine for their dinners or grab a complimentary cup of coffee while waiting.  Chris spotted the lady from the plane last night – sure hope she’s not seated at our table!

As we were sitting there, Chris asked if people were going to be coming up recognizing me on this trip, and I told him no – nobody knows me since this isn’t Disney.  Well, not 5 minutes later the lady in the couple across the way comes over to ask if I’m Sue – her timing was so perfect, and Chris was rolling his eyes!  Earlier this week I had exchanged emails with a couple of aol people on this cruise, and we’d agreed to meet at 4pm on the ship.  Margot saw the woman & teen, noticed the laptop, thought I looked tan (could be from Florida ) and took a chance it was me.  We met her & Larry and chatted until their number was called for boarding – they’re both really nice people. 

Our number was next, and after going through security and posing for the photographer on the gangway, we were headed onto the ship.  On HAL a steward greets you and escorts you directly to your stateroom, which is much nicer than being herded to a buffet with all your carryon items!  I was delighted to find all of our luggage already had been delivered!  The stateroom had a little stale cigarette smell, so the previous occupant must have been a smoker.  My one gripe with HAL is they allow smoking in all the staterooms – this is the first time we’ve gotten one where you could tell someone had smoked though.  We opened the door to the verandah & left it open all day to help air it out, which made a big difference. 

We’re in a mini-suite with verandah, which is comparable to the category 5 I had on the Magic last November.  This stateroom may be slightly wider, but not significantly – the square footage is not much more than Disney.  The verandah however, is at least twice the size – on Disney it’s more like a balcony, while here it’s more like a porch (deep enough for a lounge chair).  It’s an attractive stateroom, with dusty rose colored décor, light wood furniture, and beige/tan walls.  There are 4 closets and tons of mirrors everywhere.  We’ve got 2 twin beds, and the entire wall at the head of the beds is mirrored.  There’s a cushioned pad along the wall so you can sit up in bed to read, along with individual reading lights.  The other part of the stateroom has a large leather sofa (Chris is over 6 feet tall, and it’s longer than him), a coffee table that raises to become a dining table, and a chair.  The desk/dresser has many drawers, and we have both a tv and a vcr.  The room is stocked with liquor, beverages and snacks – with a price list!  There are 2 HAL bathrobes in one of the closets, and we each have a pile of personalized stationery (name, Mini-Suite 6120, Alaska Cruise).  The bathroom is not the split bath like you find on DCL, but we’ll manage.  The split bath is a nice feature – I wish other lines would start doing that!

I unpacked a little, but Chris was hungry (me too) and it was getting late, so we decided to go get lunch and finish unpacking later.  We’re on deck 6 (Verandah Deck) so we went up 2 decks to the Lido for their buffet.  As expected, this is a beautiful place, and there was a wide variety of food to choose from.  I knew I couldn’t eat much and still have dinner, so I got a few chunks of fruit and a tiny portion of fettuccine alfredo.  Chris tried a bunch of things – the portions on each were small enough that people can do that!  On HAL a steward serves you, rather than the passenger getting into the food (like a cafeteria line I guess).  Chris loved the fettuccine, and enjoyed some halibut, fruit, vegetables & porkloin.  We had a nice table by the window, too.  I checked out the desserts – they had this killer chocolate truffle thing, so I got one and brought it back for us to share.  OMIGOD – this is good stuff!!! 

As we were leaving we ran into Larry & Margot again.  Larry & Chris went up to the Sports Deck and Margot & I went to check out menus at the restaurants.  They have 2^nd seating for dinner, and we have first, so we’re not on the same schedule.  We found the La Fontaine Dining Room – a typical gorgeous HAL dining room!  It’s 2 stories, with the top deck open to the deck below.  It’s surrounded by big windows on 3 sides, and a string quartet sits on the upper level and plays during dinner.  It’s a very nice atmosphere – elegant but comfortable.

The menu tonight didn’t thrill either of us – just ordinary stuff, with a casual dress code for tonight.  We decided to check the Odyssey Restaurant (the equivalent of Palo on DCL) and were both wowed by that menu!  We decided to do that tonight, and made a reservation for the 4 of us for 7pm .  Unfortunately passengers can only eat here once per cruise.  We walked around a bit more, checking out the show lounge & other public rooms before each going back to our staterooms to unpack.  Chris came back a while later, and sat around watching tv while I unpacked. 

He & I went exploring around 3:30 , and went to the Ocean Bar at 4 as planned.  Margot arrived just after we did, and we spotted a group that might be the other aol party.  Sure enough, it was Debra with her brother & dad.  We chatted briefly and exchanged stateroom numbers, then had to go get ready for the 4:30 lifeboat drill.  There’s not much to say about that – they suck, but at least it wasn’t 90 degrees!  It lasted about 15 minutes, and then we got rid of the life jackets and headed up on deck for the 5pm sailing. 

Stewards were circling with complimentary hors d’oeuvres (shrimp, salmon, chicken & hot dog pieces) and they were selling drinks.  HAL does have a soda card here – it’s $19.95 for under age 18 and $24.50 for adults for the 7 day cruise.  I brought some soda for Chris, so I’m not sure if we’ll do it or not.  If he drinks iced tea there’s no need – plus during the day he can have free cappuccinos from the Jave Café, so I’m not sure much soda is needed.  They had a band playing, and soon the ship sailed away from Seattle .  Each time the ship’s horn would go off, I’d expect to hear the tune from “when you wish upon a star”, lol!  I guess that first note must be the same. 

We wandered around the ship, then went back to the stateroom.  Chris ironed his shirt – tonight because we’re eating at the specialty restaurant we have to dress up.  Suit, shirt & tie is required for him, and I’ll wear a little black dress.  Actually, these are the clothes planned for informal night, so I guess they’ll get worn twice <g>.  Since the dress code on the ship is casual tonight, for this night only we’ll change into casual clothes after dinner. 

We met Larry & Margot for dinner at 7, and were seated immediately.  The first night of the cruise is a slow night in this restaurant, so it was almost like having a private dining room.  Service was attentive & excellent throughout our 2-hour dinner, and we had a wonderful time.  The preparation and presentation of the food was perfect, and the menu had so many great things even I had trouble deciding what to order!  They let me take the menu with me, so I can include it in the report – I’ll put it at the end of this day. 

We decided against wine, although Larry had a Heineken.  To start they all got the calimari, which was made with tall rings of squid rather than the little ones.  They all said it was excellent.  I ordered the bruschetta, which was 2 slices of toasted bread topped with tomato, spices & cheese – Chris ate 1 slice and we both loved it.  Margot got a caesar salad, Chris got the tomato cream soup, and I got the Caprese (tomato with fresh mozzarella).  I skipped the next course, Chris got fettuccine with 4 cheeses, Larry got linguine with grilled prawns, and I forget what Margot had.  For the main course they all got filet mignon, and I ordered the veal scaloppine.  Oh my gosh – the veal was sooooooo good!!  Chris tried it and liked it too – it was sheer perfection!  I tried his filet mignon, and I swear that meat melted in my mouth – it was so good!  To set the plate they had a couple of asparagus spears, a cherry tomato, a few green beans, and some other veggies (oven roasted rosemary potatoes came with the filet mignon; a small portion of pasta with the veal) and then arranged the meat on top so the meal looked almost too good to eat!  Wow, was it good!  I couldn’t finish mine (and of course would never touch the vegetables) but their plates were clean – it was that good! 

Dessert was the final course, and they brought over the big dessert cart to show us the 7 different choices.  Some just looked ok to me, but a couple were chocolate and that’s where I made my choice from!  As it turned out, Chris & Larry got the warm flourless chocolate cake on raspberry coulis.  It was good, but not what I’d expected.  I was expecting something really dense & rich, and this was actually more cake-like than I thought.  It was a large piece, and I stayed away from it because there’s no way I wanted a really heavy dessert of that size!  Margot & I were very happy with our choice – we each got the chocolate mousse.  It wasn’t just any chocolate mousse though, this was unlike anything I had ever had before.  It was a scoop of mousse, but served in an almond basket, with a bit of orange sauce.  The almond basket was beautiful, and so delicious – it made for a perfect dessert!  I somehow managed to not let any of it go to waste, either! 

Throughout the evening the restaurant manager came by several times, and even offered to take a picture for us.  The wine sommelier was back a couple of times – very nice even though we had not ordered wine.  The service was top-notch from start to finish, and the meal was better than anything I’d dared to imagine – and I generally expect only wonderful things from dinners on a HAL ship.  One of the staff joked that the downside to doing this restaurant on the first night is now we have to go to the regular dining room for the rest of the cruise – he warned us not to expect the same level of service, lol, and he was right that we were definitely spoiled tonight.

After dinner we discussed how to tip.  On HAL there is no charge for eating here (I think they’re the only line that does not charge), and there is no ticket or anything that gives you the option of writing in a gratuity.  Even bar bills here – no gratuity line.  We decided to just leave cash on the table.  We wandered out past the atrium and went our separate ways to get changed.  Back in the stateroom the steward had turned down the beds (no towel animals) and left chocolate on our pillows (not a broken piece of Hershey bar like at the All Star concierge level <g>).  The drapes were closed, and when I went to peek outside I saw beautiful snow-capped mountains!  Yikes – when there is scenery we want to be able to see it, lol, so the drapes stayed open.  Chris went out on the verandah after he got changed, and came back in saying it was freezing!  LOL – to us from Florida it feels that way, but it really is very chilly in the wind.  I told him I’m spending thousands of dollars on that verandah so he’d better get out there & use it (teasing him). 

He headed off to see what the teen program was going to be like – they were meeting at 9:30 in the Sky Room.  I updated the report and then headed up to get seats for the 10pm show.  Tonight it’s the typical welcome aboard show, called Rock the Boat.  They include samples of what we’ll see the rest of the cruise, and if nothing else it may show me who I want to bother seeing & who I’d rather skip.  Our normal show time is 8:15 , and since it’s still daylight then the passing scenery may be better entertainment than the show some nights!

The main show theater (Queen’s Lounge) is beautiful.  The stage and main seating is on deck 4, while the balcony seating is on deck 5.  Rather than movie theater chairs the HAL ships have a mixture of love seats and individual chairs, with some tables to rest drinks.  In the balcony the seating is mostly a series of separate seats for 2 people each, with enough space for the stewards to walk through taking drink orders.  Passengers here do not have to stand in line at a bar to get a drink – they are served. 

The show opened with a fairly lame rendition of Rock the Boat (the song – Don’t rock the boat baby), which unfortunately turned out to be the highlight, lol!  The cruise director introduced a zillion people, then the cast finished the Rock the Boat song and the show was over at 10:30 .  It was a colossal waste of time – but at least it was brief!  We returned to the stateroom after the show.  The ship was experiencing quite a bit of movement at this point, due to strong winds we were heading into.  One of the crew told Chris the winds were measured at 70 mph.  I think I’ll stay indoors, lol!

The stateroom really doesn’t smell smoky any more, thank goodness!  Chris went to bed while I finished up the report.  It was a fantastic day – with the high point being that fabulous dinner!  I can’t wait for the sun to come up so I can see what’s passing by my verandah, too!

For you food fanatics, here’s the dinner menu in the Odyssey Restaurant.

Antipasti

Bruschetta Classica – toasted Italian country bread topped with tomato, garlic, basil, extra virgin olive oil and baked with Fontina (excellent)

 Antipasto – bresaola, salami, prosciutto, seafood & marinated vegetables

 Carpaccio Cipriani – thinly sliced seared beef tenderloin served with olive oil and shaved parmesan

 Calamari – deep fried calamari, green sauce

 Crema di Pomodoro – fresh tomato cream soup with croutons

Insulata Cesare – our way to make the perfect caesar salad topped with shaved parmesan, anchovies & croutons

Caprese – ripe sweet tomato, with fresh mozzarella, extra virgin olive oil and fresh basil (I actually like this at Olivia’s at OKW better than here)

Pasta

Fettuccine Quattro Formaggi – complemented with 4 Italian cheeses

Penne alla Arrabbiata con Prosciutto – with prosciutto, spicy tomato sauce & basil

Linguine al Pesto con Gamberoni – with grilled prawns

Secondi Piatti

Scaloppine di Vitello – sauteed veal scaloppine with brown sauce, lemon, capers & Italian parsley, served with pasta

Costoletta di Vitello al Carbone – grilled veal chop flavored with sage & rosemary, served on sauteed eggplant & peppers, country mashed potatoes

Petto di Pollo Rustico – sauteed chicken breast with mushrooms, tomato concasee & gorgonzola white wine sauce, served with penne

Agnello Aromatico – roasted lamb loin with balsamic sauce, sauteed spinach & gnocchi

Filetto al Barolo – filet mignon with a mushroom and red wine sauce, asparagus & oven roasted rosemary potatoes

Grigliata di Mare – prawns, scallops, halibut presented on roasted peppers & onion

Pesce del Giorno – halibut (didn’t pay attention to the preparation)

Osso Buco alla Milanese – braised veal shank in tomato sauce with red wine, asparagus & saffron risotto

Pizza Marco – topped with goat cheese, mozzarella, mushrooms & fresh sliced prosciutto

Dolce

Zabaione – marsala wine sabayon served over fresh strawberries

Tiramisu – layers of espresso soaked ladyfingers and mascarpone cream

Tortino al Cioccolato Caldo – warm flourless chocolate cake on a raspberry coulis

Mousse al Cioccolato – bittersweet chocolate mousse served in almond basket with orange sauce (better than sex, and worth giving up your first born child for)

Panna Cotta alla Nocciola – hazelnut custard with melon balls on the side

Gran Finale Odissea – variety of 4 desserts

Formaggi Misti – assortment of cheeses with grapes, apple and warm crusty bread

DAY 3  SUNDAY JUNE 2, 2002 :

Plan:    Cruise Queen Charlotte Island , Formal night

Actual: 

With the ship rocking, it was perfect sleeping conditions – I’m pretty sure I was asleep shortly after my head hit the pillow around 11!  I’d hoped to wake up really early, but didn’t wake up until 6:30 .  We were cruising the Pacific Ocean and will be turning into Chatham Strait early this morning for real Alaska scenery.  Right now it looks like any Caribbean cruise I’ve been on – until you open the verandah door!  I cleaned up, dressed in long pants and a ¾ sleeve shirt, grabbed a light jacket and headed out to explore the ship some.  Other than at the Lido Restaurant, the ship seemed deserted, which is really nice.  I’d signed up for an introduction to yoga class this morning, but now plan to skip it.  The intro class is free but HAL has followed the lead of other lines and now charges for the classes (after the intro) and on principle I think that sucks.  A cruise is supposed to be all-inclusive, so they can keep their classes! 

I checked out the lunch menu at Odyssey, but it wasn’t nearly as appealing as the dinner menu.  Tonight’s dinner menu was posted at the main dining room and I was happy to see tonight’s the “Running of the Mousse”.  I’m not sure exactly what it is, except that it involves a chocolate mousse cake, but it’s supposed to be a sight to see!  Around 7:15 I headed to the Lower Promenade deck to meet the 7:30 Walk-a-Mile group.  People were already walking so I joined in and met Joanne & Tom from Ft Lauderdale – lots of people from Florida here!  They had already done a lap, and we did 8 more after I got there, finishing around 8am .  They invited me to join them for coffee, but I wanted to get Chris up!  I stopped off at the Ocean Spa to get the stamps in the Passport to Fitness for having done the walk, and crossed my name off the yoga list.  I found out they still have a limited supply of prize merchandise, so we may get something for our passport stamps after all – I brought 3 passports from our last cruise with us, saving the stamps for a better prize (like the jacket).  On thing I found interesting – the promenade deck on the Disney ships is 4 laps to equal 1 mile.  Here it’s 3.5 laps, so the ship is slightly larger.  Disney has 10 decks; this ship has 9 decks.  However, Disney crams 2400 passengers onto their ship, while HAL has a capacity of only 1380 on this ship.  That’s a lot more space per person, and is the reason the ship doesn’t feel as crowded.  Granted, without a zillion kids on board the Disney ships would seem even worse – at least the kids are usually off at the kids’ clubs.

Back at the stateroom I found Chris sleeping in MY bed!  When I’d come back earlier I’d left the verandah door open and I guess the cool air (51 degrees) woke him up.  I’d taken an extra blanket for my bed last night, and when he saw that he decided to move over!  I told him to get his lazy teen butt out of bed (does he think this is a vacation or something??? <g>) and we headed up to the Lido Restaurant for breakfast.  It was around 8:30 by now and we had no trouble finding a table by the window, and found no line of people waiting for the buffet.  They pretty much have food here at the Lido from 7am until mid afternoon, so there’s no rush to get breakfast eaten within a short time frame. 

Breakfast was delicious – I had a slice of French toast (excellent), piece of bacon (very good) and part of a chocolate croissant (just ok – won’t bother with it again).  Chris had the same as me PLUS scrambled eggs, a couple of mini danish, juice, chocolate milk, & a bowl of cereal.  He was going to get an omelet as well, but decided to skip it.  He watched the orange juice machine – the juice is fresh squeezed here.

After eating I showed him the gym at the Ocean Spa – it’s very large and very nice.  It’s run by Steiner (just like DCL and most other lines) but has a lot more equipment than the Disney ships.  From there we headed back to the Lido for the 9:45am men’s ping pong tournament.  We played before tournament time, along side a couple who were very serious about their game (she was excellent).  When 9:45 came there were no men who showed up for the tournament so the sports director gave us a couple of stamps for playing and then declared Chris the tournament winner, lol!  The price was a very attractive HAL keychain, which was a nice surprise.  We chatted with the guy briefly – turns out last week they had lots of rain during the cruise.

We stopped in the stateroom so I could grab a book and then stopped at the Jave Café so I could get a cappuccino before heading down to the lower promenade deck to sit on a lounge chair.  There are no styrofoam cups on HAL – if you want your beverage “for here” it’s served in a china cup & saucer.  If it’s “to go” it’s served in a corelle-type mug.  They’ve got all the toppings and sweeteners, and it’s all free unless you add alcohol.  They also keep chocolate chip cookies and macadamia nut cookies available for passengers to help themselves.  Out on deck it was pretty chilly, even covered up with a wool blanket!  Chris headed off exploring and I sat there reading for a while.  A steward came by with coffee and hot bouillon, which is a nice touch. 

Eventually Chris returned and we headed back to the Lido for the women’s ping pong tournament.  One other lady showed up, plus the expert from earlier.  Chris played with the expert while the other lady & I played a game – winner would then play the expert.  It was a great game – very close, and very long since we were rarely more than 2 points apart, but she won.  I did not mind, lol – I got my stamp in the passport and we were on our way.  We browsed through the shops and Chris bought a pair of sunglasses (the tour tomorrow recommends them).  We saw the brochure for our tour and it looks totally awesome!  We cannot wait!

Shortly before noon we went back to the Lido , where Chris got a big taco before joining the teens’ ping pong.  They have burgers, hot dogs, sausages, pizza & tacos available by the pool, and indoors they had a full buffet including a deli station, a wrap station, and a salad bar in addition to the regular food.  I can’t eat that much, so I skipped the food knowing dinner was going to be more than I really want anyway.  I went back to the stateroom to update the report and then went to the Solo Travelers’ Meet in the Crows Nest at 12:30 .  By now there was very thick fog – we had gone from sunny to cloudy, back to sunny, then completely foggy – all in about 2 hours or so.  It’s so strange to see people wearing hats, gloves, jackets, etc on a cruise! 

The Crows Nest had a decent number of people up there, and would be a fantastic place on a clear day.  It’s located on the top deck and is surrounded by windows.  I saw the solo travelers group, which consisted of the crew member and 2 women – both of whom were smoking!  Ugh – I continued walking through and out the door!  At this point I was free until it was time to shower & get ready for the evening – which actually only meant I had a couple of hours to fill since the champagne captain’s party started at 4:45 for us and I planned to do an activity at 3:30.  I retrieved my book and blanket from the stateroom (along with gloves this time), stopped at the Java Café for a latte this time, and headed back to a lounge chair on the promenade deck.  I could have lounged on my verandah, but felt like being up where I could watch other people <g>.  It was still foggy, so scenery wasn’t an option!  I haven’t seen any hunky male scenery either, but one can always hope there are a few hiding out there somewhere!

I ended up being the only person lounging on the deck, but a few hearty souls were out walking – some wrapped in blankets!  I finished my book, then walked a lap around the deck before going inside to warm up.  I stopped at the shop and found a really nice Alaska photo album that I’ll probably buy later and then returned to the stateroom for a nice hot shower.  It felt wonderful!  On The tv they were showing highlights of the excursions in Juneau , including ours – this is so unlike anything we’ve ever done before!

I completed the disembarkation questionnaire since it had to be dropped off by 6pm tonight.  This is a really good practice – HAL finds out what your post cruise plans are so they can assign you to the right group of people and then announce each group when it’s time for them to leave.  This beats most of the passengers creating a mob somewhere while they wait for the doors to open and all rush off the ship.  Since we have our separate plans to stay in Seattle for the weekend, we can choose what time we want to leave the ship – any time between 7 & 10 am .  We’ll probably choose for a late departure so we can sleep in a little bit, then have one last breakfast and leave the ship to go check in to our hotel.

I’d brought my Hot Pot to heat up water, so I made a cup of English toffee cappuccino and spent some time using the laptop to check the photos already on the digital camera so I could delete the ones not worth keeping.  Shortly before 3:30 I headed down to the lower promenade for the ladies’ golf putting tournament.  There were 8 women who showed up, and I made my friend Tom proud buy beating them all!  LOL, I was surrounded by people who really played golf but beginner’s luck prevailed.  The prize was one of those nice keychains Chris got this morning, plus a HAL luggage tag (and more stamps in the passport). 

I went searching for Chris since there was less than an hour until our champagne reception with the Captain, and found him with the teens making friendship bracelets.  That did not sound like his idea of fun, and in fact he’d turned his nose up at the idea when I read the activity list to him, but there he was working on a bracelet.  I wonder if the fact that he was surrounded by teen girls had anything to do with it (there were other guys there as well)!  He took his shower and we got ready for the first formal night.

The champagne was preceded by 3 separate photo opportunities – at the clock tower, with the Captain, and against a backdrop.  Finally we entered the Queen’s Lounge and were ushered to the next available seat, where a white gloved steward had a tray of complimentary drinks (orange juice, champagne, white wine or rose).  I took a glass of rose, but didn’t like it.  When someone else passed through I asked for a glass of champagne and he brought me 2!  We chatted with the people next to us, listened to the Amsterdam Orchestra, and just relaxed for the next ½ hour.  Stewards were also walking around with hors d’oeuvres,  but there wasn’t anything I liked (meatballs, shrimp cracker, coconut shrimp).  The Captain gave a welcoming speech and then introduced the senior management, and then it was time to head to the LaFontaine Dining Room. 

It was a few minutes early, but soon the steward played the chimes (on HAL you are summoned to dinner by a steward playing a song on a set of chimes) and the doors opened.  The dining room is gorgeous, and the atmosphere is elegant without being stuffy.  We found our table easily & were the first to arrive.  Soon a family of 3 arrived, with their teen son.  I had specifically requested a table with NO other kids, but figured I could live with a teen – and it turns out he & Chris knew each other.  The other 3 seats were then taken by a grandmother, mother & son group.  As soon as the person next to me sat down I had a big whiff of stale cigarette smoke – just lovely.  The mom looked amazing like an older heavier Tonya Harding (watch your knees, lol) and the grandmom did a good deal of hacking and coughing into her napkin – that delightful smoker’s cough.  The boy was a cute little boy, but I soon tired of watching his food roll around in his mouth as he chewed with his mouth open the entire meal!  I know the early seating is booked solid, with people on the wait list, so I guess we’re stuck with this group, which is a shame.  On cruises the right dinner companions are so important, and this is not what I had in mind.  Oh well, at least if I decide to skip the dining room some night(s) I won’t feel bad about missing their company, but don’t like that I would even consider missing dinner in the dining room!  The smoking, open mouth chewing family is eating at the Odyssey Restaurant tomorrow night, so it’ll just be us and the couple with the teen boy.  What I’ll do each morning is check the dinner menu and decide whether there’s food on there that we really want.  We may do a lunch at Odyssey on a day when I don’t like the dinner menu (Chris liked the lunch menu – I’d rather eat my main meal for lunch and skip dinner but will go with him to the Lido since he doesn’t know what it means to miss a meal <g>).

Chris claimed he wasn’t hungry due to eating lots of ice cream with the teens, but then he ordered 2 entrees – go figure!  We both skipped the appetizers (melon, shrimp cocktail, hazelnut crusted brie, & some other thing), and I ordered the French onion soup (the other choice was lobster bisque.  For salads Chris got the caesar and I got the house salad.  My entrée was the halibut with a baked potato.  I don’t even like seafood, but I was too full for the other heavier entrees.  I ate about ¼ of the fish – it was not fishy & really wasn’t bad at all.  Chris ordered the veal medallions topped with crabmeat & bearnaise sauce, and also the filet mignon.  I tried both – the veal was excellent, but the filet was just very good.  Last night’s filet was much better in my opinion.   With coffee they bring out plates of cookies – the macaroon was excellent.

Tonight was a special dessert – the Running of the Moose!  All the stewards wore a moose hat and carried a tray of these desserts, as people waved their napkins in the air (a la Disney) and music played.  The circled the top level, came down the stairs to circle the lower level and then went to their tables.  The dessert was so cute!  It was a small round chocolate mousse surrounded by chocolate & vanilla cake cut to ¼ inch thick.  On top they had 2 cookies for antlers and a different cookie to represent the nose, and 2 drops of something for the eyes.  It was served with a 3-berry sauce, and was just delicious!  I left the cake there – that was ordinary, but the mousse was wonderfully creamy and not overly sweet. 

After dinner we went back to the stateroom.  Chris changed out of his tux to go join the teens.  He was meeting a couple of the guys to play basketball and then at 9:30 all the teens were meeting for a movie.  I told him I didn’t care what time he came home, as long as he was up without complaining for the 7:30 walk a mile in the morning.  We turn the clocks back an hour tonight, so we actually gain an hour of sleep.  The steward had turned down our beds and had put my extra blanket on for me.  The usual 2 HAL tote bags were on the beds – every passenger receives a canvas tote bag on every cruise, delivered the night before the first port of call.  There was also a small vase of cut flowers on the table in front of the couch – a nice touch.  I updated the report and then it was time to head down to the Queen’s Lounge for the 8:15 show.  Tonight it’s Monte Carlo – “A Las Vegas Spectacular with a French Twist”.

I was able to get a seat in the front row of the balcony again, and was soon joined by 2 ladies traveling together.  They were very nice, and we chatted to pass the 10 minutes or so until the show started.  Generally I don't expect a whole lot from cruise ship shows, but this one was actually very good.  The sets, costumes, music & the cast were all excellent.  They had can-can dancers, James Bond songs, limited acrobatics, and even fireworks in the final number.  I know Chris would have hated it, but it’s geared toward the adults, and there were very few children in the audience.  The adults enjoyed it – particularly the men during the final number where the young women were basically wearing a sequined thong & bikini top along with a few feathers and strands of beads <g>. 

After the show I walked around the ship for a little while – if we weren’t in Alaska I’d be walking out on deck, but it’s far to cold for me to be doing that!  I was freezing in the theater even, lol!  Tonight the theme night in the Crows Nest is Baby Boomers (music from the 50’s to 80’s) starting at 11pm but I know I won’t be there.  I’d rather get into the flannel pj’s I brought, cover up with a bunch of blankets and read for a while, then go to bed fairly early so I can get up early tomorrow.  We should be seeing beautiful scenery by the time the sun rises tomorrow! 

There was a letter under our door advising they wanted to paint our verandah ceiling tomorrow at 1pm , giving us the option of choosing a different time if that was not convenient.  I have no idea how long it takes, but hopefully they’ll be gone by the time we return from our trek on the glacier! 

Before settling in for the night I went to the Ocean Bar and bought today’s cocktail – Bailey’s Irish cream, crème de banana, and colada mix.   I’m real picky when selecting my stateroom on a cruise, and this one has ended up being in the perfect location for us.  We’re very close to every place we tend to go, with the exception of the LaFontaine Dining Room (but we’ll probably make fewer trips there than anywhere else).  I got my drink and brought it back to the stateroom, then settled in to do a little reading.  It was after 10pm and it was still daylight outside, which made it feel like it was a lot earlier!  I turned the clock back another hour – we’ve gained 4 hours since Friday, lol!  I tried on one of the HAL bathrobes hanging in the closet and was shocked at how comfortable it is!  Of course it’s huge, but it’s a thin material rather than the big bulky stuff – and it’s really soft & warm.  I doubt I’d ever wear it at home, otherwise I’d buy one in the shop.

Today was a very relaxing day – but an unusual cruise day since the weather is so much colder than I’m used to.  Winning the golf tournament was a surprise, and I’m glad I got to see the Running of the Mousse I’d heard about!  Tomorrow – Juneau and hiking on the glacier!

DAY 4  MONDAY JUNE 3, 2002 :

Plan: Juneau , Helicopter Tour & Glacier Hike  

Actual:  

Eager to see Alaska , I was awake at 4am but fell back asleep until 6am .  Our side of the ship was pretty much fogged in, so there wasn’t much to see.  Chris had gotten in around midnight and wanted to stay in bed until it was time for the walk, so I got dressed and headed down to the promenade alone.  The other side of the ship had scenery – snow capped mountains, partly hidden by fog.  The air temperature is 48 degrees, and with the wind from the ship's movement feels much colder to me.  I’m planning on doubling up on my shirts today, but may wear pantyhose under my jeans for extra warmth as well.  I tried taking some pictures but the wind was blowing so hard it was impossible to hold the camera steady!

I stopped back down in the stateroom and heated water for my instant cappuccino, then took it down to the Ocean Bar and sat by the window watching the passing scenery until it was time to go rouse Chris at 7am .  There were a couple of ladies from Wisconsin & Kansas there, so the 3 of us chatted & enjoyed the view.  We saw several porpoises, including some who were swimming along with the ship right under my window – they looked a lot smaller than the dolphins we’re used to in Florida , but part of that might be because I was a few decks higher than them. 

At 7 Chris got up without any problem, took a quick shower and got ready to head down to the lower promenade.  Hehehe – wait until he feels he air temperature!  I wish it was a beautiful clear day instead of overcast & foggy, but I guess in Alaska you’re grateful for any moment that it’s not raining!  Suddenly I noticed from our verandah we now had snowy mountains passing by!!  Looking ahead, more were coming – it’s worth the extra expense of the verandah – this is so cool (literally – brrrr, lol).

We walked a couple of miles on deck, got our passport stamps, and then headed to the Lido Restaurant for breakfast.  Today there was a long line, since this was the only place open for breakfast (other than room service).  It moved quickly though, and we found a table without too much difficulty.  I really like their French toast, and most likely will eat that the entire cruise.  Chris had a pretty big breakfast, since he may not have the chance to eat (other than a granola bar) until 2 or 2:30 this afternoon.

During breakfast the naturalist was talking about what could be seen at that moment (broadcast all over the public areas and decks), including a humpback whale that was just in front of the ship.  We headed up there but did not see the whale – we saw bald eagles and several waterfalls from the snow melting off the mountains.  Today there will be 3 ships in Juneau , which isn’t too bad.  We arrive first & get the best location, followed by HAL’s Zaandam (the ship we were originally booked on) and one from Princess.  The weather was almost sunny for a while, then got cloudy again and a misty rain started.  I headed back up to the stateroom, figuring I could see just as well from my sheltered verandah <g>.  I needed to get ready for the excursion anyway. 

Just before 10 we got the “all clear” to head ashore – woohoo!  There was the expected mob scene at the gangway but soon we were on land and a HAL person directed us to our tour.  There were 7 of us from the ship, and a couple who were on a camping Alaska vacation.  I think the other 5 from the ship were traveling together and some of them were pretty obnoxious.  However, I just ignored them and didn’t let them ruin my excursion!  The camping couple were very nice, and the 2 guides we had were great also.

First we got loaded into a van for the 15 minute drive to the airport.  At the pier they’d taken our name, weight & shoe size, and when we got to the airport we found we each had a pile of gear with our name on it!  First we put on the mountaineering pants, and then the jacket.  One of the staff then put the harnesses on for us, pulling them tight so we wouldn’t slip out if they were needed.  After that we put on our hard-shell waterproof boots and were issued gloves and a pack.  Inside the pack was a bottle of water, package of kleenex, and one of those high-calorie energy bars.  The pack had room for our cameras & stuff, which was nice.  Once we were all dressed we got a safety briefing on the helicopter portion of the trip and then headed out to the 2 waiting helicopters.  They figure out where you sit based on your weight, and I figured I’d be stuck in the back since I was definitely the lightest person in the group, but they put me in the front next to the driver!  Chris was on the other side of me, and 3 people were behind us. 

The helicopter flight was so cool – perfectly smooth!  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but thought it would be a little bumpier than it was.  We flew over several glaciers and were wearing headphones with a microphone so we could all communicate – the pilot told us what we were seeing and answered any questions.  We probably flew for about 10-15 minutes or so, which is a pretty decent time for something like this.  We landed ON Mendenhall Glacier!  That was totally cool, too – we just set the choppers down on a fairly flat piece of the glacier and got out.  The weather ended up being gorgeous – it was cloudy but at times we had sun and at times we had misty rain.  They say it’s more beautiful when it’s cloudy because you can see the blue in the ice better.  The air temperature in Juneau was in the low 60’s, and it was about 10 degrees colder on the glacier - very comfortable considering we were going to be moving around.

Our guides met us on the ice, and put each of us into a pair of crampons and hooked an ice axe to the hook on our harness.  We also had to wear helmets – yuck!  We had another safety briefing on the glacier, and then began our hike.  I was expecting mostly flat walking with maybe a little climb for a thrill, but this was 2 hours of descending long steep walls only to climb up on the other side (perhaps jumping over a stream)!  The first time the guide said we were going to practice walking downhill we were on the top of a cliff that was probably 2 stories high at least, and I thought he was kidding!  We did it, though!  You have to kind of slam your crampons into the ice toes facing downhill, keeping bent at the knee to reduce the chance of falling forward, and use the ice axe as a pick so that between the axe and your 2 crampons you’ve always got 2 connections with the ice.  My only problem was where the ice was hard, I don’t have the weight to easily dig the crampons in, so I had to be sure my feet were anchored in there before taking any steps.  Everyone did great though, and nobody fell. 

One were down at the bottom of the ravine it was time for the lesson on climbing up!  Actually up is easier than down – we use the ice axe in front of us, and walk up using the spikes on the toe of the crampons.  We also learned how to walk along a slanted wall.  We saw a big mountain goat watching us – the guide said it was about 350 pounds!  The glacier was beautiful, and we took lots of pictures.  There were a few spots where the guides found a safe spot and then assisted us either up, down or over something.  I was surprised to see lots of streams running through the glacier, and pools of blue water.  We saw crevasses also, and a spot that was similar (just smaller) to what killed those hikers on Mt Hood last week.  At one crevasse that was about 100 feet deep the guides let us go up 1 at a time to look down into it - with them anchored to the ice and holding us firmly by the harness!

I did call work from the glacier – because they’d joked about if they needed me I’d be talking from a glacier, so it was goofy thing to do.  I’d already crossed whatever we were doing and had to wait for the rest of the group, so I made a quick call – ending it when they started to actually talk “work”, lol!  Eventually we were back at the helicopters, and flew back to the airport to get rid of all of our gear.  It was a fantastic excursion – expensive but worth the money.  Chris loved it and said it was so much better than he imagined it was going to be.  If you’ll be out here, the company is NorthStar Trekking (www.glaciertrekking.com).

We were driven back to the ship, where we dropped off our stuff and checked the dinner menu at the LaFontaine Dining Room for tonight.  I wasn’t overly excited, but Chris saw several things he wanted so we’ll have dinner there.  We headed back on land again – Chris called his dad & returned to the ship, while I looked through the shops.  I picked up a few little things, and the photo album I’d admired in the shop on the ship ($5 cheaper in Juneau ).  I was back on the ship by 4 and stopped by the Lido to get a delicious almond cookie since I was pretty hungry.  I’m pretty tired, too – I think I’ll sleep really well tonight after all that glacier trekking!

I showered and noticed my face had gotten a little sunburn on the glacier, lol!  We sure were lucky with the weather – I don’t expect to get any other sun this trip.  I wrote out some postcards and a letter (using the personalized stationery HAL provides in suites & mini-suites), and Chris came back from swimming.  They’re setting up a big barbecue thing by the Lido pool and now he wants to eat there rather than in the restaurant, so we’ll give it a try.  If it’s stuff I don’t want I can always go inside to the Lido Restaurant and find something there. 

We left the ship to drop the postcards & letter in a mailbox I’d found earlier.  By now it was raining pretty steadily, but I had an umbrella.  I don’t care if it rains tonight – I won’t be out in it, lol!  When we got back, Chris was out on the verandah watching the sea planes landing in the water.  Around 6 we headed up to the Lido for dinner – hoping I wouldn’t become the first passenger to starve on a cruise!

As it turns out, the dinner by the pool is the regular Lido dinner for tonight – just in a different location.  It didn’t start until 6:30 so we found a table and watched the sea planes take off and land.  Chris announced he wasn’t hungry after all due to the taco and cheeseburger he’d had earlier (I wanted to kill him at this point) so when it started I went up alone.  I felt like a carnivore – my plate consisted of a knockwurst and bbq pork spareribs, along with ½ of a baked potato.  The food all tasted fine, but I was probably hungry enough that anything would have tasted ok.  The stuff I didn’t take included prime rib, salmon, pasta, salad, fruit, rolls, potato salad & some kind of slaw.  All the meats were cooked on a big charcoal grill.  The dessert bar had apple cobbler (excellent), cheesecake, chocolate cake, some berries thing, and I forget what else.  I got a piece of the chocolate/cappuccino cheesecake, and it was excellent.  Chris ate the cobbler.  It was very busy – I don’t think many people ate in the dining room tonight!

When we finished the desserts we went down to the photo shop to check our pictures from last night but they were all pretty horrible.  That’s just as well – I don’t need someone else’s pictures when we’ve got the digital camera.  Chris headed off for the evening to go find the teens to hang around with.  There’s about 11 of them that do stuff – and most likely they’ll start on the sports deck playing extreme tennis.  I told him to be home around midnight and to be QUIET coming in, lol!

I went down to the lower promenade deck and walked a mile or so before returning to the stateroom to look at some of today’s pictures before I had to leave for the show.  Tonight the show is Tony Duncan, who holds the world record for some sort of juggling (7 balls perhaps).  His name and “advertisement” sound familiar, so it’s possible I saw him on the Ryndam a few years ago.  Hopefully I’ll stay awake for the show – all that trekking wore me out!

On the way to the show I ran into the sports director and stopped to talk about the glacier trek today.  He’s going to give us both stamps in our passport to fitness for it!  The show was excellent – comedy and juggling, with audience participation.  I had no trouble staying awake, but when it was finished I headed back to the stateroom to get ready for bed!  It’s raining pretty steadily still – we really lucked out having nice weather for our trek!  After finishing the report I read for a while, and then called it a night.  We’ll be leaving Juneau at 10:30 pm to head towards Yakutat Bay and Hubbard Glacier.

It was a fantastic day!  The glacier trek & helicopter ride were soooo much fun, and something we’ll always remember.  I’d been leery of signing up for it since it would fall towards the end of my cancer treatments, but with the doctors’ concurrence I decided to just go for it – and am glad I did!  Now we’ll see how many unused muscles make themselves known tomorrow, lol!

DAY 5  TUESDAY JUNE 4, 2002 :

Plan:    Hubbard Glacier

Actual:  

I woke up between 5 & 6 but didn’t get up until 6.  Sunrise was 4:15 and although it was very cloudy & foggy, it was still daylight.  On a cruise I never close the drapes, since sunrise acts like an alarm clock.  I got dressed & headed out to wander around the ship.  It’s so peaceful when I’m the only one out there other than a few crew members.  By 6:30 they had the continental breakfast set up in the Lido , so I grabbed a coffee cup & returned to the stateroom to get some of my cappuccino mix, then went back to the Lido to add hot water.  I picked up a small pecan pastry as well, then went to the Ocean Bar and sat by the window reading. 

Around 7 I dropped the coffee cup off in the stateroom and went down to the lower promenade deck to begin walking.  Dang, one of these days I’ll remember to bring gloves and kleenex when walking on deck – this isn’t the Caribbean !  I stopped briefly to watch a whale off the side of the ship, but he/she wasn’t really jumping far out of the water so it wasn’t particularly thrilling.  We may have better whale viewing on our wildlife quest in Sitka tomorrow.  I walked my 7 laps to equal 2 miles, got my stamps in the passport and then returned to the stateroom to grab the camera.  Chris stirred momentarily so I gave him the option of either having breakfast now or just before it ends – he chose to sleep longer & eat later <g>, which is fine with me.  I headed back out to take pictures of other areas of the ship.

Once the pictures were taken I got a latte from the Java Café and sat reading a magazine across from the Ocean Bar.  The fog was really thick – I could barely see the water, and any scenery off in the distance was completely hidden.  Around 9 I went up to wake up Chris and we headed to the Lido Restaurant for breakfast around 9:20 (it ends at 10 today).

We ran into Larry & Margot and had breakfast with them.  I guess since it’s a sea day people were eating later than usual – we had to stand in line again!  It moved pretty quickly though, and we had someone to talk to.  I got my usual; Chris got French toast, pancake, cream of wheat, bacon, potato & several juices.  I tried a little of the stuff that has yogurt, meusli & fruit, but it was premixed and pretty soggy – not good at all.  We enjoyed spending time with Larry & Margot, catching up on our cruise experiences thus far. 

At 10 Chris & I headed to the Lido deck to check out the “sale” that was going on, but it was very crowded and the merchandise was nothing special.  They also were setting up for the salmon bake they’re doing for lunch today.  I swear you could do nothing but eat from the time you get up until the time you go to bed, lol!  We walked around a little bit, then went to the ladies’ golf tournament.  This time I did not win, but it was still fun.  Chris took off to join the teens, with instructions to be in the stateroom to get ready for dinner by 5.  I went back to the stateroom and read my book for a while.  With the fog there is really nothing to see from either side of the ship, and it’s far too cold & raw to sit on the verandah or a deck!

Around noon we were entering Yakutat Bay , home of Hubbard Glacier.  I did move out onto the verandah with one of the blankets and got comfortable on the chaise lounge to watch the passing scenery.  Soon I could see snowy mountains and saw something floating in the water – chunks of ice!  The tops of the mountains were hidden by clouds but it was still beautiful.  From the verandah I could see we were approaching a large glacier – must be Hubbard!  The Celebrity Infinity passed us on its way out – I later found out they stopped 7 miles from the glacier for viewing.  Our captain took us to within 1 mile (last week they got 1.25 miles away)!  The naturalist joked that HAL was taking us beyond Infinity, lol!

I grabbed my camera and blanket and went out on the bow of the ship.  It was raining, and I can’t believe I actually stood in the damn rain for an hour, but I did.  We saw a lot of harbor seals on some of the flat pieces of ice, and some of them were intently watching us.  I guess this giant ship full of people is entertainment for them, lol!  Seal pups were recently born so we saw several mother & pup combinations.  They were so cute!  Eventually I’d had enough of the rain and I’d taken several pictures, so I headed back inside.  I ran up to the Lido and ended up getting a slice of pizza to bring back to the stateroom – it was not as good as the pizza on the Disney ships though.  I shot some video and took more pictures from my verandah, and the captain turned the ship so my side faced the glacier and then left it sitting still in that position for quite a while.  It was breathtaking, and would have been even prettier if the clouds weren’t hanging so low.  The wall of ice at the edge of the glacier is 350 feet, or the height of a 35-story building!  Lots of pieces of ice calved (broke off and fell into the water), making a popping noise followed by the thunderous splash into the water.  The bay was full of ice chunks, and when the ship would hit some of the larger ones you could actually hear & feel it!  To be considered an ice berg however, the ice must be 15 feet above the surface of the water – I’m not sure many of these ice chunks were that big.

I enjoyed looking at the glacier from the warmth of my stateroom, lol, and wondered if Chris was even noticing it.  He was still off with the teens – so I took a few pictures with his camera for him.   I went back outside for a while to look at the glacier using the binoculors.  Eventually the ship turned and Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas came by for their viewing.  It was so fortunate that our stateroom was on the side of the ship that faced Hubbard Glacier!  As the ship traveled through the chunks of ice I could hear the ice snapping and crackling – very cool!  Throughout our visit to Hubbard Glacier the naturalist talked over the public address system, broadcast into the public areas & also into staterooms if you turned on the intercom.  He said our trip to Sitka tomorrow would be the prettiest scenery of the cruise – hard to imagine anything prettier than what we’d seen yesterday and today, but I guess he knows what he’s talking about!

Chris came back around 5 – I’d already showered & dressed so he could have the bathroom to get ready for dinner.  As it turns out, the teens were out on the front of the ship where I was, but they were there as the ship was leaving.  He had a fun day, and will be going back to join the teens for Monte Carlo night later tonight.  Our tablemates with the teen won’t be joining us for dinner – according to Chris they (or at least the teen) weren’t in the mood to sit with hacking granny and the little open mouth chewer <g>.  At least with the empty chairs we can spread out a little bit so I don’t get that scent of “eau du ashtray” again.

With Chris in the shower, I headed down to get a cocktail.  The drink of the day was Icy Blue Ocean - vodka, blue curacao & colada mix, which sounded interesting enough.  I got the drink in the Rembrandt Lounge and sat reading my book by the window until it was time to get Chris for dinner.  Tonight is informal night, which for men is suit & tie but without the tie.  We headed to the LaFontaine Dining room, arriving just as they guy was ringing the chimes. 

We had a pleasant dinner and chatted with the other family.  For an appetizer I tried the spring rolls, which were pretty good.  They came with oriental noodles and a sauce – not something I’d order in a restaurant again but worth a try on a cruise.  Chris got the Alaskan delicacies sampler – a crab leg, jumbo shrimp, and salmon-wrapped scallop.  The various sauces decorated the plate so it looked really nice.  For a soup I tried the Santa Fe tomato soup, which was very spicy!  It was good – and would certainly clear out any sinus blockages!  Chris stuck with the smoked salmon chowder.  I skipped the salad course and Chris got a house salad.  For my meal I ordered the chicken breast in teriyaki sauce with green beans and wheatberry risotto.  The chicken was nice & moist, I of course wouldn’t touch a green bean to save my life, and the risotto was a disappointment.  It looked interesting, but I discovered wheatberrys have no flavor whatsoever and neither does risotto without adding a bunch of stuff to it!  Chris got the NY strip steak, which was very good. 

Dessert was the real reason for eating here tonight!  They had key lime pie, tiramasu, fruit tarts, ice cream, AND a warm flourless chocolate truffle with raspberry coulis and chocolate sauce!  Needless to say, we both ordered the chocolate!  It was very similar to the warm chocolate lava cake Disney prepares, but with the addition of the raspberry and a few pieces of white chocolate melted on top for color contrast.  It was delicious, but neither of us could finish it -–it was too big.  After dinner we returned to the stateroom and Chris changed into his daytime clothes to go join the teens for a game of Extreme Tennis up on the rainy sports deck.  We’ve got no visibility again – it’s too cloudy.

I decided to go watch the 7:30 “Who Wants to be Nowhere Near a Millionaire?” show in the Queen’s Lounge.  I know – I hate the tv show and Mary from the Comedy Warehouse certainly wasn’t going to pop up in any preshow, but what the hell – I decided to give it a try <g>!  It was actually kind of cute – they spoofed the show and didn’t take it seriously at all.  The “set” was a card table & 2 folding chairs, and the prizes were nothing with any real value.  Each correct question got the contestant a prize, and she got all 15 correct thanks to some luck and some unofficial help from the audience & the sound guy <g>.  Her prizes were things like a HAL luggage tag, HAL umbrella, bottle of champagne, HAL fanny pack, etc.  The big prize was the HAL tote bag – no trip to New York or $1,000,000! 

When the game ended I decided not to stick around for tonight’s show.  It’s called Romance on Broadway and is a compilation of Broadway’s most romantic music.  Bob Mackie did the costumes, so I’m sure they’ll be gorgeous – but I was afraid the romantic music would put me to sleep!  I checked out the pictures I took today and deleted a few that didn’t turn out due to raindrops on the lens!  I’m up to 120 pictures so far, lol!  Thank goodness for digital cameras!

I decided to go walk on the promenade deck for a while, hoping to walk off some of that chocolate truffle from dinner.  However, once out there I decided I really didn’t feel like putting up with the cold damp wind (it was 48 degrees outside still) so I quit before the first mile and wandered around inside before returning to the stateroom.  I filled out the room service order form for breakfast so we don’t have to put up with the line at the Lido or spend time sitting in LaFontaine, updated the report and was in the HAL bathrobe in bed to do some reading by 9-9:30.

Today was another good day – Hubbard Glacier was incredible, and maybe someday I’ll see it when it’s not cloudy & overcast <g>.  Seeing the thousands of chunks of ice and cruising right through some of them was amazing, and the harbor seals were really cute.  Chris is having a great time with the other teens and I’ve enjoyed doing so much relaxing on this vacation.

DAY 6  WEDNESDAY JUNE 5, 2002 :

Plan:    Sitka , Sea Otter & Wildlife Quest excursion

Actual:  

I was awake shortly after 4 (remember – sunrise, lol) but didn’t get up until almost 5.  It was very foggy again, otherwise I would have gotten up right away.  I showered & dressed, taking my time but the sky wasn’t clearing at all.  Around 6 I headed out to add hot water to my cappuccino mix and see if anything was visible from the other side of the ship.

Sitka appears to be surrounded by a bunch of small islands, and through the fog I could barely make out snowy mountains.   After making my cappuccino and grabbing one of the small raspberry danish pastries (excellent) I headed up to the Crows Nest to watch the ship pull in and anchor in the harbor.  The Statendam was already there, and RCL’s Vision of the Seas pulled in after us.

There were a half dozen or so people in the Crows Nest (thankfully nobody smoking) and once we were anchored I headed down to the lower promenade deck to begin walking since there was nothing else to see.  I’ll bet if the fog & clouds ever clear, this will be a very pretty place!  At 7 they made the announcement people could go ashore – although unless you’re on a tour this early I don’t imagine there’s much to do at this hour!  I walked – completing 12 laps before the fitness person came out around 7:30 , so I got 3 stamps for the 3 ½ miles walked.  The dinner menu wasn’t posted at the dining room yet (I like to see it so I can decide whether we’ll eat there or are free to make other plans).  I stopped up at the Lido for a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice for us to share, then returned to the stateroom around 7:45 . 

Our room service breakfast was due between 8:30 and 9:00 and arrived about 8:40 .  We had eggs, meats & fruit – and Chris had cereal as well.  They brought a pot of coffee even though I hadn’t ordered any, most likely assuming I’d just forgotten to ask for it.  We ate and left the stateroom shortly after 9 to get our tender ticket from the Queen’s Lounge. There turned out to be no wait at all so we didn’t need a ticket!  Soon we were ashore in cold rainy Sitka !

We stopped and called Chris’ dad – later in the day the phones will all be tied up by crew from the ships.  It’s hot in Florida , and it’s hard to believe 2 spots in the same country would have such different weather at any moment! 

We had about an hour so we browsed through the shops in downtown Sitka .  Downtown is about 4 blocks, so it doesn’t take very long <g>.  We picked up some sausage made with reindeer meat, which is pretty good.  I’m not sure it feels right to be eating Rudolph, though <g>.  At 10:45 we returned to the pier, and our excursion was being loaded onto the boat.  We did the Sea Otter & Wildlife Quest, which is a 3 hour boat trip where they guarantee you’ll see at least 2 species of wildlife.  The boat is like a pontoon, but with an open observation deck on the top and the bottom level is all enclosed so it’s warm.  They served complimentary drinks (coffee, tea, hot chocolate, juices, water) and snacks (pastry first, salmon spread on a cracker later).  Almost immediately we spotted a humpback whale, and later found 2 more.  The captain stopped the boat near the 2 whales so we could watch them, as the guide narrated information about the whales.  We could see them blow out their blowhole, and got a great view of their tails as they did their final deep dive each time.  Unfortunately, I missed the picture and then we continued on. 

Next we found a sea otter, who was seemingly oblivious to us for a long while.  He was flipping around in the water grooming himself, and was fun to watch.  After a long while he seemed startled by us and dove underwater and wasn’t seen again so we continued on our way.  We found some big harbor seals on some rocks, and they let us get surprisingly close.  These seals are about 6 feet long & weigh 180 pounds – pretty big! 

We went out to a certain rocky point that’s right on the edge of where the Pacific Ocean meets Sitka Sound since the weather was nice where we were (it was still cloudy in town).  There were hundreds of Steller sea lions on these rocks, all swarming around and enjoying laying in the sun.  I was shocked at how big they are – males are 1250 pounds & about 10 feet long, while the females are 8 feet and only weigh a dainty 600 pounds. 

At this point we were about 50 minutes from Sitka and time was running out so we had to head back – but did stop to see a bald eagles’ nest and some eagles flying around.  We have those in Florida , so that wasn’t much of a thrill.  The other wildlife was much more interesting!  Back at the dock we met one of Chris’ teen friends and took the tender back to the Amsterdam together.  The 3 of us checked the dining room menu for tonight – it’s the crappy Dutch Night menu that I hate!  Oh well, Chris was thrilled to learn we weren’t going to be eating there, lol!  The boys & I went up to the Lido , where the oriental lunch buffet was still open.  The boys got food, and I just tried a few bites of Chris’ peanut soup (kinda strange but pretty good – tastes & looks like the sauce on chicken satay).  I wanted something to eat, but wasn’t sure what – most likely ice cream.  The ice cream bar had cookies & cream and butter pecan – that would be a tough choice!  I decided to go put the laundry in and come back later.

The laundry room has washing machines that must hold the equivalent of a grocery store plastic bag full of laundry – they’re tiny!  Each machine costs $2, and I was able to cram our stuff into 2 machines and still leave room for the clothes to move.  The soap is automatically dispensed, and is included in the cost of the washers – dryers are free.  I headed back up for ice cream and saw the flavors had all changed and there was nothing I liked – grrr!  I asked the guy what happened to the cookies/cream and butter pecan – he just said “sorry ma’am”.  I was disgusted & left!  Chris & the other teen were in the Lido pool with some kids, but they didn’t see me.  I stopped at the Terrace Grill and got a cheeseburger and some cole slaw.  I cut about 1/3 of the burger to eat, and threw the rest away – Chris & I are planning to eat something somewhere tonight and I can’t see myself ever eating a whole burger anyway!  I brought it back to the stateroom, ate it while checking the pictures taken today, then went to transfer the laundry into the dryers.

I’m not downloading the pictures onto the laptop, but I use it to see them on a bigger screen and have been able to delete several that didn’t measure up in order to free up more memory.  I’ve taken 158 so far, and about 20 of those ended up being deleted.  When the clothes were dry I brought them back & put them away, and then went to wander around the ship.  While I was out I picked up a cappuccino and cookie from the Java Bar and sat out on my verandah to read.  It was actually really nice out there for a long while – snowy mountains in sight, calm water, pretty cruise ship (Vision of Seas) pulling away.  If there was any breeze, I was sheltered on the verandah.  I didn’t go back inside until after 5, and that was only because the people next door came outside and lit up a damn cigarette.  They’ve got dinner at 5:45 so then it’ll be my turn out there again! 

Chris came back from swimming to take a shower & eat the pizza he’d gotten.  I told him I’d probably just order something from room service – the Lido dinner didn’t look good to me either, and he was fine with that.  He & Zach want to order room service and eat outside on our verandah, so I told them they could as long as it was early enough that I wouldn’t be wanting to be laying in bed reading!  I’m planning to attend the show at 8:15 tonight, and will probably head to bed after that.

About 5:30 I headed out on deck to watch them prepare the ship for sailing.  I watched the last tender being lifted up and stored in position, as the Statendam sailed past us on her way to the next port.  Finally we were moving as well, pulling away from Sitka .  We’ll be cruising in the Pacific Ocean for about  4 hours, then will turn in to the Inside Passage to get to Ketchikan .  The coastline is on our side of the ship, so we’ve got the pretty view from the verandah.  I stopped by the dining room to ask about the only edible thing on the menu tonight – the Amsterdam Chocolate Tulip.  It’s rich chocolate mousse and sounds heavenly, and I wanted one even though I didn’t want anything else.  They told me at the dining room to give room service a call & they’d bring one to me.

Some of you may wonder – what is it about Dutch Night that makes me want to avoid it??  Well, first of all they expect all women to wear these stupid white hankie hat things – no freakin’ way do I want to sit at dinner looking like a total dork with a doily on my head!  Second, the menu is all Dutch foods – and I’m really thankful to live in the USA and not Holland , lol!  I look at each course and there is NOTHING I’d want (except chocolate mousse – how Dutch is that though??).  One of the appetizers is Hollandse Haring – which is imported Maatjes herring, rollmops & herring in sour cream with chopped red onions.  Now, I don’t care for fish and definitely don’t like herring, and have no idea or plans to ever eat anything called a “rollmop”!  The entrees are things like fried cod, boiled brisket of beef, corn & broccolie strudel, duck, halibut & top sirloin – all things I’d rather skip.  Dutch Night is a tradition on all HAL cruises, so for me it’s a night I’ll skip the dining room – ideally it would have been nice to have been back from the excursion early enough to have a nice lunch in the Odyssey, but that wasn’t possible today – maybe next cruise!

I returned to the stateroom to call, and found Chris & Zach watching tv.  I was going to call room service & order 3 of the tulips, but just then someone knocked on the door – it was room service delivering their dinner!  Chris got a burger & fries, Zach got the club sandwich, and they both got a piece of chocolate cake.  When the room service guy left I called room service again and ordered 3 of the tulips.  I left instructions for Chris to NOT eat mine and to put it in the refrigerator (mini-suites have a mini-bar refrigerator) and left the stateroom so they could have their dinner without a parent watching them <g>.  I ended up in the Ocean Bar and ordered a glass of a good sauvignon blanc, sitting by the window and reading my book.  I only like white wines, but don’t like some chardonnays I’ve tried.  They sell the Beringer white zinfandel, but I can buy that at Publix for cripes sakes <g> - no need to order it on a cruise ship!  I wish they had my favorite wine, but I’ll have to go to LeCellier or Palo to get that!  The waiter offered to get me some hors d’oeuvres so I asked to try the baked sausage roll – not bad but nothing I’d go out of my way to have again.  Around 7:30 I dropped my book off in the stateroom (all signs of the teens & their dinner had vanished, and my dessert was waiting for me) and then went to the Queen’s Lounge for the Newlywed Game. 

The game was really funny!  They had 4 couples who’d been married different lengths of time, from 3 days to almost 61 years.  The oldest couple were so cute – they were slender, spry, and obviously still smitten with each other after all those years – in great shape physically & mentally.  They were the audience favorite, and the winners!  About 5 minutes later the show started – tonight a comedian/singer named Elliot Maxx.  He’s been on many of the comedy cable channels and works as the opening act for serious stars like Ray Charles & Tony Bennett.  He was hysterical, and performed some silly songs he’d written – including one about his very first crush, called trailer trash woman that was really funny!  I was getting really tired, but enjoyed the show.  When it was finished I went back to the stateroom to finish up this report, eat my chocolate mousse (very good) and go to bed.

It was another great day – the excursion was fun and we were lucky to see so many animals up close like that.  We also got really lucky in terms of weather once again – let’s hope that luck holds for tomorrow, since Ketchikan is the rainiest port we’ll be visiting!  Just a point of interest – sunrise was 4:17am today, and sunset is 10:48pm !

DAY 7  THURSDAY JUNE 6, 2002 :

Plan:    Ketchikan , Formal night

Actual:  

This morning I woke up just before 1:30 and Chris wasn’t home yet – despite a curfew of 12:30 .  He strolled in right at 1:30 & when questioned said he thought it was only 12:30 now.  Hmmm – not sure if he’s too dumb to tell time or if he thinks I’m dumb, but the result will be the same – he’s not going to be going out late with his friends tonight!

I woke up for good just after 5 and saw something very strange – sunshine!  There were some clouds in the sky, but much of the sky was blue – and the sun was so bright!  It looks like a great day for Ketchikan !  We were pulling in to where we’d be docking in the next hour, cruising past houses & small boats.  I took a quick shower & got ready to head out – going to check the dinner menu, add water to make my cappuccino, and then sit in the Crows Nest to watch us dock.  Due to the sun, visibility wasn’t too good from the Crows Nest so after I drank my cappuccino and ate the small raspberry danish I headed down to the lower promenade deck.  I watched them dock the ship during my laps around the deck.  The Star Princess arrived after we did and took the dock ahead of us.  That is one massive ship – way too big for me to ever consider cruising on her.  I counted 8 decks of staterooms, and the ship was fatter than this one, so there’s got to be more than double the number of passengers on this ship – I just do not like the ships that carry 2000-3000 or more passengers!  That’s just one of the reasons I prefer to stick with HAL – they have stated publicly they will NOT be entering the mega-ship market, as that’s not what their customers want.

I’d finished my miles before the fitness person came out so I stopped at the front desk to see if I could find out if the Odyssey Restaurant would be open for lunch tomorrow.  We’d like to try their lunch, but not today since tonight is formal night and we’ll be eating dinner in the dining room.  Plus, tonight is the chocolate extravaganza at 10:30 – adding a nice lunch would be way too much food for me.  The front desk girl thought it would be, but said she’d double check later and call to let me know. 

I stopped by the stateroom and told Chris to get up & dressed so he’d be ready to go when I got back – then returned to do another lap on deck while waiting for the fitness person.  She came out shortly after 7:30 , I got my stamps for walking 3 miles, and I returned to the stateroom – to find Chris still in bed!  No doubt he was tired from being out so late, but since he was home later than he was supposed to be, I had no sympathy for him whatsoever!  I made him drag his butt out of bed & get dressed – with this massive Princess ship in port with us it made sense to do what we wanted to do (shopping) before everyone was awake & off both ships!  We went up to the Lido for a quick breakfast (same stuff we’ve eaten every day – I love their french toast) and then stopped at the stateroom to pick up Chris’ camera before heading ashore.

Ketchikan is an adorable little town – my favorite in terms of wandering around & browsing in shops.  I could easily just stay on the ship in Sitka & Juneau if I wasn’t doing an excursion.  We bought a couple bags full of stuff, basically Christmas shopping for my brother’s family and a few things for us.  There was a hotel at the top of a cliff and they had a skyride up there so we walked over and took the ride.  It was only $2/person but it was a waste of money, lol – there was nothing to do or see up there!  The Creek Street area was really cute – we discovered it by accident.  For those not familiar with Ketchikan , from 1902 to 1954 Creek Street was the red-light district here, with at least 30 “sporting houses” which are now converted into small shops & businesses.  Eventually we headed back towards the ship – now the Zaandam had arrived and was parked between us and the Star Princess. 

I’d seen an internet place right next to our ship, so we stopped in there to see if I could get online using my laptop.  It turned out to be the same place I used in St Thomas , and they said I could bring the laptop in.  We returned to the ship and I went back to the internet place with the laptop and got online to post the report so far and check email.  They charge $2.50 per 30 minutes, and I think I spent a couple of hours there.  A few friends were online and stopped to say hi, which was nice.  However, quite a few IM’d while auto aol was running and that blocks me from responding – so Larry & Tom, I’m sorry I couldn’t reply.  I tried hitting the escape key to stop it, but that didn’t work today.

After getting offline I wandered around a little in the opposite direction from where we’d gone this morning, and then returned to the ship.  It’s been sunny almost the entire time we’ve been here, which is unheard of!  I ran into Larry & Margot while shopping, and they told me they’d seen my stateroom # listed as the “lucky number” in one of the jewelry stores.  At that point I wasn’t interested in finding the store to see what I’d won – most likely a pair of stud earrings with some tiny speck of a gem <g>.  We chatted for a while then everyone returned to the ship.  I dropped my stuff off in the stateroom and went down to check the dinner menu for tonight.  They’ve got lobster tail, chateaubriand, salmon, halibut, and a few other choices.  The dessert is baked Alaska, which I hate – but that’s ok since the chocolate extravaganza is later tonight I really don’t need to be eating dessert!  Chris likes baked Alaska though.

I went up to the Lido Restaurant but didn’t see anything I wanted to eat there (this really is not a poor reflection on HAL – I’m extraordinarily picky and won’t eat unless it’s something I really want) – so I stopped at the ice cream bar & got a single scoop of rocky road ice cream, which I then covered with crushed up butterfinger pieces – yummmm!  I walked around seeing if I’d spot Chris but never found him or any of the teens.  I stopped at the Odyssey to confirm they’d be open for lunch tomorrow, and was dismayed to learn they would be closed!  Damn that twit at the front desk for not knowing what the hell she’s talking about (and NO, there wasn’t any message from her as promised).  I tell ya, HAL has been dropping the ball in ways I wouldn’t have believed in the past, and I’m hoping it’s just a fluke this trip.  The staff are friendly enough, they just can’t get it right!  I was looking forward to eating at Odyssey and made plans to skip it today knowing I’d eat there tomorrow, and now they’ve screwed that up and I won’t have the chance at all.  Grrr – it just pisses me off that they can’t get basic information right – it’s not like the open/closed hours change week to week, after all!

I stopped by the Java Bar and got a café mocha and chocolate chunk cookie – in retrospect I should have calmed down first because I was so steamed from the Odyssey mess that I forgot to order the drink with decaf.  So, now I’m a pissed person with an unexpected shot of caffeine, lol!  Perhaps I should have added a shot or 2 of Bailey’s or Kahlua <g>!

Back to the stateroom I went, updating the report and watching the Ketchikan activity.  Our stateroom is on the dock side, so I’ve got a perfect view of people wandering around and can look up the hill to a snowy mountain in the background (snow is a big deal to people who live in Florida ).  I’m toying with the idea of doing another Alaska cruise next June (Sheila – give it some thought for you & Colin) since it’s a dvc exchange and is actually priced better than the DCL cruise.  Plus, we missed Skagway and Glacier Bay this time, so I’d pick a cruise that had those 2 ports so it wouldn’t be the exact same cruise as this one.  I know the Amsterdam won’t be an option because she’ll be back to the World Voyage, but all of the HAL ships are nice.  I wouldn’t go for the verandah next time, but only because I’m pretty sure I’d keel over dead when DVC would tell me how many points that would cost, lol – I may live dangerously and ask anyway.  I survived cancer so surely I can survive dvc cruising <g>!  It’s still an idea at this point, but the thought of doing the cruise again for a $75 transfer fee plus airfare & incidental expenses is pretty damn appealing.  The only (BIG) negative is it’d take a week away from wdw and seeing Comedy Warehouse shows – Adie & Lisa are killing me reporting that they’ve seen really great shows there all this week (insert nasty name of your choice here – they’d do the same to me). 

At 2 I went downstairs for the golf putting practice (not a competition) and then found Chris & the teens at the Lido Bar.  Zach was there, and he & another boy showed me their t-shirts that said Ketchikan City Jail.  They all seem like nice kids on this cruise – at least the ones who hang out together seem nice!  The “all ashore” time is 2:30 , which coincides with the beginning of the Sail Away party on the lower promenade deck.  They’ve got a band setting up and a temporary bar selling a special drink and some beer, and they’ll have a party until 3:15 (we sail at 3:00 ).  Since it’s located 3 decks down from my verandah, I can choose to either go to the party or watch the sailing away from the privacy of my verandah! 

I chose to go down for the party, which was chilly but pretty nice.  They had waiters circulating with hors d’oeuvres (italian meatballs and breaded baked brie).  I grabbed a deck blanket and wrapped it around me to stay warm since I was wearing a lighter jacket.  It had started to rain, but nobody minded since we’d had such great weather while we were in port!  We were the first of the 3 ships to sail away, and it’s sad to realize we only have 1 more port (and 1 full day) left!

After the party I wandered around a bit.  The drink of the day sounds pretty good – it’s called the Klondike ’s Caper.  It’s vodka, coconut liqueur, pineapple juice, lemon juice & a dash of grenadine.  The hors d’oeuvres during cocktail hour tonight are vegetable spring rolls and chicken sate with peanut sauce.  LOL, I could easily make a meal out of that, but I have to go to the dining room tonight.  Depending on what the menu looks like tomorrow, I may just do a cocktail or wine plus hors d’oeuvres tomorrow – I can find the dining room steward at some point to bring him his tip (even though we ate there only 3 times <g>).

I read some mail, then got dressed for dinner.  Unfortunately I discovered I should have packed a slip to wear under my long dress, so I’ll just have to look like super slut for the evening <g>.  Hey – I’ll never see these people again!  I guess when you pack a new dress for a cruise it makes sense to do a dress rehearsal at home, lol!  Chris came back & got in the shower, so I headed up to the Ocean Bar with my book for a cocktail & hors d’oeuvres.  The appetizers at dinner tonight don’t appeal to me, and I’m hungry now! 

The band was playing and a few couples were dancing.  The waiter brought me a plate of the hors d’oeuvres – they were very good – and I ordered the drink of the day.  This drink wasn’t frozen like the previous ones, which is good because it’s less filling!  I went back to the stateroom to collect Chris around 5:30 or so.  On our way to dinner we ran into Joanne & Tom (couple I met the first morning walking, and kept running into during the week) and talked to them for a while.  Joanne took pictures of us all dressed up, using my camera. 

We got to the dining room after it opened – the chimes guy was working his way along the deck past the lounges to let people know it was time for dinner.  The other teen (Nick) switched his seat so he was seated next to Chris – they both looked nice in their tuxedos.  It was funny that Nick wore a tux but his dad just wore a suit.  Nick’s a handsome kid, but spends most of his time looking down at his plate as if it’s a big imposition to have to be somewhere with his parents, lol!  The little boy is 7 years old and adorable – he looked cute in a nice dark suit, white shirt and tie.  I commented to the mom/grandmom how well-behaved he was and how great he did sitting through these long dinners. He’s cruised before, so evidently he’s used to it. 

Dinner was good, although I feel like I ate too much!  Chris had steamed mussels for his appetizer and some sort of seafood soup from San Francisco for his soup course.  I skipped these 2 courses.  Chris had the caesar and I had the house salad.  For an entrée everyone but me had the New England lobster tail (proclaiming it excellent) and I had the turkey scallopine with potato gnoche.  The turkey was very good, and the potato thing (like a potato dumpling with pesto) was unusual but not bad). 

After dinner they brought out trays of delicious Italian cookies and candies, and then we sat around waiting & waiting for the slow folks to finish eating their dinner so they could do the baked Alaska thing.  The table next to us had people who arrived to dinner late every night, and then ate slower than anyone I’d ever seen.  Normally it wouldn’t matter, except on a night where the entire dining room is timed to the slowest person.   We had almost 30 minutes between when we finished our dinner and when the baked Alaska started!  At the risk of being catty (but hell, it’s fun to be catty <g>) perhaps the woman over there had to chew slowly in order to not mess up her latest face lift – although maybe if she did her eyebrows would return to their original place instead of ½ way up her forehead!  I know, I’m awful <g>. She was with a hubby who looked like he had to be 95 years old, lol – and she was his trophy even though she was not young.

Finally the baked Alaska parade began, with the lights dimmed and sparklers lit.  I didn’t get any of it, so the waiter brought over the French pastry tray and I selected a small chocolate mousse thing.  I was surprised to see them offer an alternative – glad they did, although in my case I wish they hadn’t, lol! 

We returned to the stateroom and Chris changed clothes to go play tennis.  He’ll be returning after the game to put the tux back on for the teen group photo.  They’re going to the chocolate extravaganza together and then seeing a movie, and he’s been warned if delays his return to the stateroom by so much as a minute after the movie ends he’ll be spending all day tomorrow with his Mommy!  We lose an hour tonight, too – changing time zones back to Pacific time. 

On one of the beds was an invitation to the Mariner’s Society Reception (repeat HAL cruisers) at 11:30 tomorrow, and 2 beautiful tiles!  The tiles can be used as trivets and are given by HAL to Mariner Society members to commemorate the cruise.  Each tile is different and has the Amsterdam on there – they’re very pretty.  Some repeat cruisers have collected enough they’ve tiled part of their kitchen wall above the counter with them!

I decided to skip the show tonight (Jazz-ma-tazz) and instead went to the movie theater to see Kate & Leopold figuring if it sucked I could always leave.  I rarely think to go to the movies and never rent them or watch them on tv, so I’ve seen NOTHING in years!  This one is supposed to be a romantic comedy though, and comedies are the only movies I’d even consider seeing.  I liked the movie!  The Wajang Theater on the HAL ships is much smaller than the movie theater on the DCL ships, with much more comfortable seats.  Free popcorn is provided, but I had no desire to be eating again so soon.  There were probably 30 people or so who went to the movie.

It ended at 10 and I stopped in the stateroom briefly until it was time to head up to the Lido Restaurant for the chocolate extravaganza.  Even if I don’t have room to eat much, this display is usually spectacular and deserves to be photographed!  I got up there about 10 minutes early and photographed the entire 1 side (both sides are the same), one frame at a time, lol!  At 10:30 they let people go through but only eat from the 2^nd half – the 1^st half was held back for “looking” but the same items were found on both halves.  Like in the past, appearance is unfortunately better than the actual taste, so I showed considerable restraint in making my selections <g>.  I got a chocolate dipped strawberry, tiny cheesecake square and a few bites of a pretty ordinary chocolate cake.  The guy gave me the chocolate swan head off one of the cakes – that was good!  I took my desserts down to the stateroom and got ready for bed (translation – into the HAL bathrobe again) and finished the report for the day before reading a few more digests from Fortress (a group of chatty internet friends).

You’re probably sick of hearing this by now, but today was another great day <g>!  The fact that it was sunny almost the entire time we were in Ketchikan is downright amazing – that is so rare!  Formal night was fun – it was nice seeing everyone all dressed up (and still dressed up at the chocolate extravaganza and at the movies.  I was glad I had the time to get online today, too – and the place was so convenient to the ship it made it very easy!

DAY 8  FRIDAY JUNE 7, 2002 :

Plan:    Cruising, Evening in Victoria BC

Actual:  

I got up around 5:30 , showered & dressed, and started packing up the items that go into the garment bag suitcase.  I grabbed a coffee cup with cappuccino mix and went upstairs to the Lido to add hot water.  The continental breakfast wasn’t starting until 7 this morning, so no little danish today!  I went down to the lower promenade deck and walked the 10.5 laps to equal 3 miles, and got my stamps in the passport.  With the stamps saved from a prior cruise we’ve got 110 stamps to redeem for Passport to Fitness merchandise.  Amazingly, last cruise I’d saved the stamps rather than redeeming them because the prize I wanted was the jacket, which cost 100 or 110 stamps.  Now since the program has been discontinued the jackets remaining are 40 stamps!  The sports director had said they only have large sizes left, but in the program for today it’s listing “s,l,xl” so I’m hoping they’ll have a small when we get there (and hope I still like the jacket, lol)!

After walking I returned to the stateroom and looked over my preliminary bill.  I read some of the downloaded messages for a while, letting Chris sleep a bit later today.  I finished packing the garment bag, did some reading, and then woke Chris up around 8:30 .  After he showered & dressed we headed up to the Lido for breakfast.  I forgot to mention earlier, when I was walking this morning there was a great big rainbow visible from the back of the ship – very pretty!  It’s a sunny day today, with puffy white clouds – particularly over the mountains.  Breakfast was good – I’ll miss the French toast after the cruise! 

After breakfast we checked for the dinner menu, but it still wasn’t posted yet.  Chris headed back up on deck to look for teens, and I sat on deck covered in a blanket to read a while.  Before 10:30 I stopped up on the Lido to see the Alaska foods for sale and found Chris in the pool with one of the teen girls.  I decided not to bother buying any salmon – I don’t like it, and we’ve barely got room to add anything more in the luggage anyway!  I talked to Chris for a few minutes and then went to the stateroom to watch the disembarkation talk on tv.  The talk lasted 25 minutes and had the typical funny stories of stupid things passengers do or ask, an explanation of the disembarkation process, explanation of the HAL comment card forms, and then they brought out representatives from all of the different departments.  They explained that “tipping not required” does not mean “tipping not permitted” and said that although tipping is a universal practice HAL policy prohibits any employee from soliciting a tip or suggesting how much a person should tip.  It’s a bit nicer than being told by the cruise line how much to tip and who to tip – and hopefully the people working here receive just as much (or more) as people on other lines.  At the end of the talk they brought out the entertainment cast to sing a farewell song – so sad!

Later I checked the photo gallery but did not like any of our pictures, and stopped at the front desk to get cash and envelopes for tips.  At 11:30 the Mariner’s Society Reception began in the Queen’s Lounge.  This is a private party, but on HAL I swear most passengers are members because they have a very loyal following!  On this cruise there were 400 alumni, which is about 1/3 of the guests.  Margot & I attended the reception together – I had a glass of champagne and a delicious chicken finger (they also had fried shrimp and a fried meatball thing).  Everyone was recognized based on the # of days they’ve sailed HAL so far, with medallions being awarded to people reaching the 100, 200, 300 & 500 levels.  There was 1 couple who’d already had their 500 days medallion – and nobody on board who qualified for 750 days.  It was a nice reception, and Margot & I hung around chatting for a while when it was done.  Unfortunately we’ve both seen signs that things are slipping on HAL this cruise, and considering we’re on the flagship that’s especially shocking.  We’ve both got a few stories to relate on the comment card <g> and although cruising is still great we hope the downward slide doesn’t continue.

I checked the stateroom – Chris had changed back into his clothes, and the steward had dropped off our disembarkation package & comment card.  I took the comment card and headed up to the Lido deck to see what was going on up there.  I found Chris & the teens playing volleyball so I sat on a lounge chair in the sun to fill out the comment card and finish my magazine.  Lunch didn’t look terribly appealing and I wasn’t very hungry anyway – they had prime rib, fish, pork loin, the deli bar, pasta bar, salad bar, etc.  I was going to get pasta but they seem to only know how to make 1 size – huge, so I decided to just get a salad.  I put some iceberg lettuce in a bowl, added a cucumber slice (pathetic salad, lol) and put some asian sesame ginger salad dressing on it thinking it would taste good.  I took my tray to a table by the Lido pool and took a bite – yuck!  LOL, turns out I do not like that kind of salad dressing <g>.  I ate the roll and left the salad, then got a scoop of vanilla ice cream with chocolate fudge sauce and had that instead!  They rotate ice cream flavors so often here – I can walk through and 15 minutes later some of them will be changed to something else.  If you’re an ice cream lover you could probably spend your day eating different ice creams and not much of anything else!

I walked around out on deck for a while, then stopped by the Java Bar for a café mocha to take back to the stateroom.  I updated the report and relaxed reading on the verandah for a while – fortunately my side was the warmer side of the ship since the wind was blowing from the other side!  Packing was a chore – I guess they really expect us to leave the ship tomorrow!  All day the water has been dotted with whitecaps.  The waves are small, but it’s windy.  The captain turned on the stabilizers, which he said reduces the ship’s rolling by 80%.  It’s a very smooth ride – you’d barely notice the movement at all.  We’ve got mountains off our side of the ship, some with snow but many are just green.  There were people sunbathing at the pool today, which made me laugh!  Unlike the previous several days when it’s been 48.2 degrees outside, today it’s a balmy 50!  I seriously doubt anyone is getting off this ship with a tan, lol!

Around 3:30 I went walking around the ship – I’m not sure how to handle all of this relaxing, and I feel like I ought to be “doing” something!  I found Chris in the Lido with the teens and reminded him to meet me at the Ocean Spa at 5:10 to redeem our passport to fitness stamps.  I took a couple more pictures outside, walked the deck, then got a latte to bring back to the stateroom.  I sat out on the verandah and read some more – I think I’m using this verandah more than the balcony on my last Disney cruise!  Of course, the HAL verandahs are so much nicer, it’s no wonder.

At 5:15 Chris called – he was at the Ocean Spa wondering where I was, lol!  I ran up there with the passports and joined the line.  Unfortunately they had no jackets in the small, so I got 2 of them in the size large, plus the socks/wristband/headband set, a tee shirt and baseball cap.  Actually the girl threw in the baseball cap – I only had enough stamps for the rest of the stuff.  The jackets are really nice – they sold for $99 and seem very well made. 

Chris went to go swimming and I dropped the stuff off in the stateroom and went down to the Ocean Bar for my dinner <g>.  I got another glass of the sauvignon blanc from the other day, and the waiter brought me a plate of hors d’oeuvres.  Tonight they were mini pork ribs and those yummy chicken fingers.  He remembered from the other night that I didn’t want the veggies – which was nice. 

I sat there in the lounge waiting for Chris to show up, but he was at the pool without his room key, calling the stateroom to see if I was home.  Finally I went to the stateroom and saw he hadn’t been there so I headed up to the pool to drag him away.  He got changed and while I brought his swimsuit to the dryers in the laundry room he brought the tips down to our dining room steward and assistant.  Chris claimed he wasn’t hungry yet when he called room service he ordered both the club sandwich with potato salad AND the burger & fries!  He also ordered 2 of the chocolate desserts from the dining room tonight – that was the only thing on the menu that appealed to me tonight!

We waited for room service as we approached Victoria , British Columbia .  Dinner arrived around 7:30 , and Chris’ sandwiches were both excellent.  The chocolate dessert – to die for!  Oh my, this one has to be my favorite!  I forget what it’s called – something like chocolate pot, and it’s a bowl of chocolate stuff that’s not a mousse but not pudding either.  It’s delicious, whatever it is!

Our verandah overlooks the dock, and we waited while they tied the ship up and immigration did their thing before we were allowed to go ashore.  It was extremely slow getting off the ship, since they’re only allowed to use 1 gangway.  Chris’ friend Zach came on the tour with us – the amphibious vehicle was waiting at the dock.  Our tour was an hour or so spent in this vehicle that drives on the road and then splashes into the water and floats like a boat.  It’s open air, but with a roof, and each seat had a big thick waterproof blanket.  Since it was chilly, we used it to cover our legs!  After touring on land for a little while, we approached the ramp to the water.  The captain asked if we wanted to go really fast & splash in or take it slow – the vote was slightly in favor of fast, so off we went!  I ducked under the blanket and stayed dry, lol, but Chris only pulled it up to his chest so his shoulders & head got pretty soaked!  He noticed it was salt water, too – yuck!  It was so much fun though, and Victoria is a gorgeous city.  Everything we saw was so pretty and so civilized, and the guide talked pretty much the entire time, telling us interesting stories about what we were seeing.  We all enjoyed this tour very much – I’d definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Victoria !

When it ended they dropped us off at the ship.  The boys went on board to meet the other teens and I stopped in the shop.  I bought some Canadian cookies & candy, an Alaska picture book, and an assortment of interesting teas from the area for a friend who likes tea – with the exchange rate it was all really affordable!  I went back on the ship and put the packed luggage outside the door, then packed the last bag to go out.  I no sooner put it out there and someone whisked it away!  We have to have it all out by 2am , which is nice to not have to have it out there before you’re ready to turn in for the night. 

We’re in Victoria until midnight , then sail to Seattle where we have to leave the ship.  I’ve gotten quite comfortable here, and even though there are some things that I feel aren’t up to the standards HAL has set in the past, I’m still very happy to be here!

It was after 11 by the time I finished packing & checking the pictures, so I checked the late night snack but there was a long line so I just grabbed a cookie off the ice cream bar and went back to the stateroom.  Chris will be out late – since it’s the last night the teens are hanging out one last time.

It was a very relaxing day – spent doing not much of anything!  The excursion tonight was a lot of fun – much better than I’d thought it would be.  I’d gladly visit Victoria again!

DAY 9  SATURDAY JUNE 8, 2002 :

Plan:    Disembark, Check in to Best Western, Woodland Park Zoo

Actual:  

I woke up around 5 but was tired and had nowhere to go, so I set the alarm for 6:30 and went back to sleep!  When I got up then we were back in Seattle .  I showered & dressed, then headed up to the Lido for hot water for my cappuccino.  I walked around the lower promenade deck briefly before returning to the stateroom to wake up Chris.  Brrrr – it’s freezing out there!  It feels colder than Alaska did, lol!

Chris got up & dressed and we headed to the Lido Restaurant for breakfast around 7:45 .  On HAL they do the Lido plus the dining room for breakfast every morning, including the last day.  Unlike DCL, guests don’t have to drag their luggage with them to breakfast – thank goodness!  Also there won’t be any huge mob of people congregating in the lobby or any other area – people can leave from their staterooms if they leave before 9, or from any public area if they’re not disembarking until after 9.  The cabin steward came by to say thank you – we’d left his tip in an envelope on Chris’ bed for him last night.  He was great – we never saw him but every time we left the stateroom he zipped in there & cleaned it up. 

Breakfast was good – my last French toast, lol!  We ate a big breakfast figuring we wouldn’t have to bother with lunch today.  It’ll be a shock to have to start paying for meals – I’ve gotten used to there not being a check presented at the end of the meal!  While we were at breakfast they started calling the disembarkation numbers – we’re #24.  I’d indicated we didn’t need to leave until 9:30 , so we ended up with a higher number.  In retrospect I should have said we wanted to be off at 8, but we’re really not in any rush.  We hung out in the stateroom for a little while, then went to wander around the ship until our number was called.

We saw Debra outside the Ocean Bar so stopped & talked to her until her disembarkation number was called.  She said it worked out well having the full suite since she was traveling with 2 other adults!  When she left we stayed there, and eventually Margot came over and stayed until our number was called.  I was so glad we met her & Larry – I enjoyed sharing some meals with them and meeting up now & then. 

We were off the ship at 9:45 and had no trouble finding our luggage.  I had a minor heart attack at Immigration though, as they wanted to see a passport or photo id plus birth certificate and our birth certificates were in our luggage – Immigration was before the luggage room!  Luckily the guy believed we were US citizens – he asked us where we were born and probably had that information in the computer from when we boarded.  Once we had our luggage it was a long tedious wait at Customs.  Why they couldn’t just collect the forms and hurry people through is beyond me!  We got outside and there was a long line of taxis waiting, so we got in the first one and headed to the Best Western Executive Inn.

Of course, once we got in the taxi and started the meter, a huge long stupid train came by, so we sat there watching the fare increase without being able to freakin’ move!  I was getting pretty irritated by then – not that anyone was at fault.  We made it to the hotel – the fare was $7.40 so I gave the driver $10 assuming that was appropriate.  The hotel is nothing special, but it’s very convenient to Seattle Center and it’s not a motel!  I got an internet rate of $89 plus the zillion percent taxes added here, and while I’m sure the room won’t be worth that much, that’s the best I could find since this is considered “downtown”.

The room was not ready, but we did leave the luggage and were free to go out.  The people at the desk had no clue about bus transportation at all so we were kind of lost.  They suggested we take the monorail from Seattle Center to Westlake Center since that’s a transportation hub, and that made sense to me.  The walk to Seattle Center is only a couple of blocks (you can’t miss it thanks to the giant Space Needle) but it was a cold, rainy, windy walk – pretty nasty!  We dressed for weather in the mid 60’s or so, and it was barely 50.  Our warmer clothing was all locked into suitcases back at the hotel’s closet. 

It was nice being back at Seattle Center again after several years, and we found the monorail without any trouble.  We bought round-trip tickets for $2.50 per person and waited for it to arrive.  The ride itself is only about 2 miles, so it’s really quick!  Westlake Center is a downtown shopping mall, with not too many shops but it’s really pretty.  A big Nordstroms and a Bon Marche are nearby, and most of the top (4^th) floor is a food court with a wider variety of international places than any mall I’ve ever seen!  I was impressed, lol!  We found the Metro Tunnel down on the bottom level, and a large wall of bus schedules. 

We saw that today marks the first day of several revised schedules, and there must have been hundreds of different brochures for the different routes.  I couldn’t make any sense of it at all – we wanted to get to Woodland Park Zoo from our hotel but it was looking like that wasn’t going to happen!  Finally Chris found a route that mentioned the zoo, and it also went to downtown.  I was able to find the bus stop outside Westlake Center that bus would stop at and we waited there.  As it arrived, some religious freak (no offense to the politely religious people) started jabbering at me about being saved or something – he continued even after I told him “no thank you”.  Guess he’s a regular – the bus driver made a comment about him!  I’d read enough about the Metro to know heading out of town you pay when you get off the bus, and when heading in you pay getting on.  Also, there’s an all day ticket available on weekends for $2.50/person so that’s what we ended up buying just in case we wanted to go anywhere else today (yeah, lol – as if we could find our way anywhere else). 

At Woodland Park Zoo we bought paid our admission and entered.  It’s supposed to be one of the better zoos, and I’m sure it’s really nice, but today was just not our day to be here!  We were underdressed, cold & miserable, the trails & signage were really hard to follow (plus there was a detour to the gorillas), and Chris really didn’t want to be there.  We found the gorillas and saw a couple of families each in a separate habitat behind glass.  One was a baby born about 18 months ago – very cute!  I was somewhat shocked at how LOUD the other visitors were – I’m hoping the glass must be soundproof for the gorillas, but these humans were shouting & calling to them (& were ignored).  Some bozo was smoking, so I moved out of that area pretty quickly.  I took some pictures, and then we left – we were too cold to consider staying to see anything else.  We stopped at the Zoo Store on the way out, then headed to the bus stop for the bus ride back to Westlake Center .

By now downtown was quite a bit busier, with people demonstrating against the US providing aid to Israel , and some other group had some issue about women in black – I wasn’t curious enough to see what that was about.  Several musicians or (in some cases) street bums were out looking for donations – I hate that part of being in a city!  We went into the mall and since Chris was hungry we headed to the food court.  I wasn’t hungry enough to eat the big portions at the interesting places myself, and Chris only wanted McDonald’s or pizza – grrr!  We ended up at McDonalds and I ate a few bites of his Big & Tasty burger (what a let down after being on a cruise, lol).  We wandered around the mall and got a couple of chocolate dipped coconut macaroons in Godiva and picked up a couple of small things in the Made in Washington store. 

We went down to the Metro Tunnel to search for bus information that would link our hotel to the waterfront, but wasn’t as lucky this time.  Frustrated, we gave up and rode the monorail back to Seattle Center.  This area was busy now also – I think some festival was going on because they had food vendors outside and a concert or something starting on a stage.  We watched the people riding the carnival type rides (think Chester’s & Hester’s at AK only much tackier), checked out the food court, walked by the Science Center, and then went to the Space Needle.  To ride the elevator to the observation deck it’s $12/person, but if you eat in the expensive restaurant there you don’t need the $12/ticket.  We went inside to check the menu, but unfortunately on Saturday & Sunday they don’t do breakfast or lunch – just brunch.  Brunch is $34 or 36 per person and of the list of items available I think there was 1 thing I’d eat – so we won’t do that.  The dinner menu didn’t look a whole lot better, and frankly I don’t want a $100 dinner with my teen – a special dinner with a date or a friend would be fine, but not this trip.  We looked in the shop and I bought myself a Seattle tee shirt, then we walked back to the hotel.

The room was ready, so we got our luggage and went upstairs.  We’re on the top floor, non-smoking room, and I was thrilled to see we’ve got a perfect view of the Space Needle!  There’s no point in unpacking, but I did put a few things away, and looked over the information in the room.  It says from Seattle Center to the Waterfront it’s 1 mile, so we’ll get to the waterfront on foot!  I got online to update the report and start downloading messages, while Chris fell asleep watching tv.  Assuming he wakes up (or I wake him up) early enough, maybe we’ll walk to the Waterfront tonight and find dinner somewhere down there.  Our bus pass for today includes the Waterfront Street Car if I’m not mistaken, and I know Chris wants to ride that.

I woke him up around 5:45, needing to get moving if we’re going to get somewhere & be back before it’s dark (& cold).  The rain stopped this afternoon and it got partly sunny, but it still feels cool to me.  Sunday is supposed to be sunnier & 65-70, so that will be nicer!  The monorail goes by right outside our window also – this room has a great location.

We left the hotel unsure of exactly where we’d end up, but headed in the direction of the waterfront.  Chris was dragging along several yards behind me – saying he was tired.  If I walked more slowly, so did he – so I soon just walked a normal pace which forced him to keep up!  We ended up in a neighborhood that must be called Belltown, because everything had that in the name!  We passed an interesting brick building containing the Belltown Pub & Café and as we walked by I spotted a sign on the glass door saying it was totally smoke-free!  Wow – a pub without smoking!  I needed a drink at that point, after being followed at a distance by the sleepy teen zombie!  The menu looked decent, and I forced Chris out of his coma long enough to make sure there was something he’d eat, then we went inside.

It’s a small place – a bar and not too many tables scattered around.  They’ve got lots of different beers and microbrew offerings, and seems to be popular with men in their 20’s & early 30’s (straight – not gay).  It’s a real comfortable place, with what looked like a nice clientele – I was happy to have stumbled upon it!  I ordered a glass of sauvignon blanc and the caprese appetizer (fresh mozzarella, tomato slices), while Chris got a coke and the bacon cheeseburger.  He wasn’t thrilled with the burger – the bacon was some thick peppered type of bacon strips and he didn’t particularly like that.  It came with their homemade chips, which I thought were good but Chris thought they were so-so.  My caprese salad was excellent, and came with good sourbough bread.  It was a nice dinner, and with tax & tip was around $28.

Chris wanted to go right back to the hotel, but not me.  Since he hadn’t paid attention to the streets like I’d told him to, he had no idea how to get back to the hotel so he couldn’t go back without me.  I guess when you’re moping down the street you miss the street signs and landmarks <g>.  We continued our parade towards the waterfront, and got right to the edge of it and decided rather than descending the last big hill we’d save it for tomorrow.  As it was, we had 1 hill to climb to get back to the hotel.  Chris did a little better keeping up on the way back, but we overshot how far we needed to go and ended up on the other side of the hotel.  When we turned to go back we overshot it in another direction, lol!  Finally we had closed in on the hotel and actually got there!

I finished up the report & posted it, while Chris watched tv (suddenly not so tired).  It’s been a long day, and although it’s nice to be on vacation in Seattle it really sucks that we’re not still on the Amsterdam.  I’m glad we had the time we did, but dang it – I want more <g>!

DAY 10  SUNDAY JUNE 9, 2002:

Plan:    Pike Place Market, Seattle Center

Actual:  

Last night I watched the sun set behind the Space Needle – a very pretty sight!  We both slept well (like logs, most likely and although I woke up with the sun I didn’t actually get up until almost 7.  After showering & getting dressed I made a cup of hot chocolate and went online, figuring Chris could sleep most of the morning.  Right now it’s only 48 degrees and I want it to warm up more before we go out anywhere so we’re not overdressed later.

I turned the heat on to get the chill out of the room – never thought I’d be doing that in June, lol!  Most years I don’t turn it on at home at all even during winter.  Around 9:30 I woke Chris up.  After he showered & dressed I gave him money to find breakfast at the nearby McDonald’s.  I was surprised to find a Sunday newspaper at the door – nice touch!  Had I known it was out there I might have read it earlier instead of whining to Kathy about being bored <g>.  Oh well, she’s used to me! 

Chris came back saying it was really nice outside – it certainly looks gorgeous, and is 59 degrees now.  He got the pancake & sausage breakfast plus a bacon, egg & cheese biscuit (I ate ½ the biscuit sandwich).  It was a cheap meal – under $5!  I’d given him a $10 bill and the register said his change was $5.43.  The cashier took his money, put it in the drawer, and then gave him $10.43 change!  I asked Chris what he did – and was glad to hear he told the guy about the mistake and gave the $10 back to be exchanged for a $5.  Thankfully, except for when he’s telling me whether he has homework or not, he’s always been a very honest kid!

I’d made hot chocolate for Chris and cappuccino for myself, so we had our breakfast and then got ready to head down to the waterfront.  It was an easy walk since it’s all downhill, and we saw NCL’s Norwegian Sky was docked at the cruise ship terminal today.  It’s a pretty ship – all white.  I actually think the all white ships are prettier than those that are dark blue & white (like HAL), but I guess it’s how the ship looks on the inside that matters most!  I cruised NCL once many years ago and was not impressed at all.  This ship looks nicer than what I’m used to from them, so perhaps it’s relatively new.  I won’t be signing up for a cruise though!  The verandahs appear to be narrow, with no room for a chaise lounge, and on each there is just a skinny glass door and a round glass porthole.  I much prefer the solid wall of glass that we had (floor to ceiling, wall to wall).  It makes no sense to pay the $$ for a verandah stateroom and have walls blocking most of your view!  I also noticed a deck that was not beautiful teak wood like I’m used to – it was some crappy blue floorcovering.  It’s possible that might have been some sort of crew deck and maybe there was a passenger promenade that I just couldn’t see, but it confused me.  Their dining room is down low in the ship & only has porthole windows, so there won’t be much (if any) view from there for most passengers.  I’d have loved to have been able to get onboard and walk around looking at the ship, but of course that’s not allowed.

We went to Pike Place Market next.  I know last weekend I said it sucked and now I didn’t have to waste time going back there this weekend, but a nagging thought in the back of my head had me thinking maybe I just never found the right part of the market.  Sure enough, what we found today I loved!  It was horribly crowded, but that just seemed to add to the atmosphere.  There were people selling artwork and crafty things on the street, and then we got to the indoor section.  We passed merchandise first, then got into food.  There were lots of fresh produce stands and I saw vegetables I’d never seen before, lol!  The fruit looked wonderful and was reasonably priced for the most part.  There was a long section where they sold fresh cut flower arrangements and it smelled so great there!  The flowers were gorgeous, too.  Next up was all the seafood stuff, which was pretty stinky.  It wasn’t turning bad or anything – I just don’t like the smell of the sea!  There were huge crabs, giant shrimp, and lots of big fish.  The fish markets were mobbed, with lots of yelling back & forth – fun!

We saw many yummy things at bakeries but Chris didn’t want to get anything for breakfast tomorrow (guess he likes McDonalds) so I didn’t buy anything.  I did get a couple of bags of flavored almonds – a pound of cinnamon and a pound of raspberry honey – both excellent!  They were actually from California but I didn’t care.  We found Leesa’s favorite place – the Crumpet Shop, but they’re not open on Sundays.  All in all I really enjoyed Pike Place Market today and will definitely return whenever I’m in Seattle again.  

Today was the perfect day for being outside, too.  It was sunny and warm – just a gorgeous day.  We walked down to the waterfront and bought all day passes for the Waterfront Streetcar ($2.50/each) and hopped on for a ride.  We were almost at the end so we took it to the end and then rode it all the way back to the other end before getting off.  There are a total of 9 stops along the line.  People can buy a $1.25 ticket that’s good for 90 minutes, or do the all-day thing.  We were now at the end of the line closest to our hotel, so we walked along the waterfront away from that point.  We passed the NCL ship at the terminal and considered eating at Anthony’s there, but it seemed like everyone had baskets of fried food and that’s not what I really had in mind.  Chris was claiming he wasn’t hungry, even though it was around 1pm by now. 

We stopped at the IMAX place but Chris didn’t want to see the movies so we skipped that.  Wherever there were shops we sorta browsed through and ended up buying a few little things.  He got his dad some “Ass Kickin’ Ketchup” and some “Wimp Ass BBQ Sauce”.  The ketchup’s supposed to be hot, but not the bbq sauce.  We eventually came to the pier with the Red Robin restaurant and I decided that’s where we were going to eat!  We’d eaten there last time we were in Seattle with our friend Robin, and really enjoyed it.  This time we weren’t able to get an outside table (without waiting) so we ate inside.  It’s got a very varied menu and is a fun, casual place with good food & huge portions.

Chris ordered a soda and I got glass of white zinfandel.  He was still saying he wasn’t hungry, but that was good – we could share a meal!  I ordered the crispy chicken strip salad (thinking of Darla, my chicken finger loving friend) and told the waitress we’d be sharing it.  Chris spotted milkshakes on the menu and ordered a banana milkshake.  It sounded strange to me, but I swear that was the best-tasting milkshake I’ve ever tried!  The kitchen separated the salad into 2 portions, and I had to ask the waitress if these were really ½ salads in front of us!  She said they were – the original salad is huge!  It came with delicious honey mustard poppy seed dressing, and great garlic bread.  Everything about it was wonderful!  We enjoyed the meal and will definitely be back on our next visit.  The check was only around $22 plus tip, which is quite reasonable.

After lunch we continued walking the waterfront and looking in the shops.  We took one more long ride on the Waterfront Streetcar to get back to the other end of the line and then walked uphill to get back to our hotel.  It’s not terribly far, but the uphill part is a killer!  At least we didn’t need crampons and an ice axe for this hill though ;-)  We got back to the hotel around 4:30 and checked on airport transportation for tomorrow.  They arranged a limo that’ll pick us up at 10am for our noon flight.  That should be long enough to be hanging around the airport! 

Chris went to check out the fitness room (small – nothing special) and then returned to watch tv.  I updated the report and got online, figuring we’d relax for a while and maybe go back to Seattle Center tonight.  The only disappointment was Mount Ranier never came out today, but at least I got a “fair” picture of it last weekend.  I’m not thrilled with all the vagrants or homeless people either, but I guess that’s life in a big city, and for the most part they aren’t bothering anyone.  It’s just depressing to see people like that, particularly when in many cases it’s due to choices they’ve made rather than circumstances beyond their control.  It certainly reminds us of how fortunate we are.

Around 7 we headed out to find dinner since Chris was hungry again.  He wanted to go to the food court at Seattle Center, and since it’s so close I said fine.  We walked the couple of blocks to get there and found the food court all closed up except for a pizza place and a Starbucks with a huge line.  I guess on Sunday stuff closes early here!  I hadn’t seen anything nearby other than the McDonalds, but that’s what he wanted so we walked over there (it’s located between our hotel and Seattle Center). 

The McDonald’s was a zoo – 1 guy working the cash register and a line of at least 20 people at all times!  If there had been somewhere else within a short walking distance we would have left, but we didn’t know what we’d find.  I certainly never planned to be at McDonald’s for 3 meals on vacation, lol!  Chris got his Big & Tasty burger and I ordered the new Grilled Chicken Flatbread sandwich.  I’d never heard of it before, but it looked good in the picture and ended up tasting great.  It’s a warm pita/flatbread with grilled chicken, grilled onions, lettuce, tomato, & pepperjack cheese, and costs $2.99.  Our dinner was under $5.  Chris liked the chicken thing also – I let him finish it for me.  We were going to get another burger for him and an ice cream cone for me, but the line never subsided and it wasn’t worth the wait! 

We walked back to the hotel and settled in for the night.  I’d been packing off & on today, trying to get everything to fit into the same suitcases we brought, and I’m not quite sure it’s going to work!  I’m used to driving on most of my trips (dvc), so I ended up buying stuff without regard for how I’d be getting it home <g>! 

Today was a wonderful day – a perfect summer day in the beautiful Pacific Northwest (which is like a beautiful Florida winter day).  We had a great time at the Pike Place Market and along the waterfront, and enjoyed our lunch at Red Robin.  Tomorrow we head to the airport at 10am to fly back home, unfortunately! 

DAY 11  MONDAY JUNE 10, 2002:

Plan:    Fly home

Actual:  

Today is a gloomy cloudy Seattle day – which makes leaving definitely less painful <g>!  I got up around 6:30 or so to shower & get dressed, then made some cappuccino and got online.  We don’t have any breakfast food in the room, so I ate some mint chocolate truffle bar when I got hungry (breakfast of champions, lol).  Chris slept until I woke him up around 9, then we finished getting everything together.

I guess this hotel doesn’t do express checkout, which seems strange – so we checked out at the front desk when we went down to wait for the limo at 10.  The guy came in an older white stretch limo with burgundy leather interior – I felt like a lady of the evening being driven around by my “agent”, lol!  It was tacky compared to the newer limos but this guy at least didn’t drive 80mph while taking phone call after phone call!  It was a nice easy ride to the airport.  He dropped us off at American Airlines and I was pleased to see the lines weren’t bad at all.  A Seattle resident in line in front of us was staying that 6am is when the airport is really awful, so we lucked out choosing the noon flight rather than the morning one!  We got through security without any beeps or wands <g>.

Chris got us seats near our gate and I went over to Starbucks to get us some of those yummy frozen things he & Tim had gotten in Ft Myers last week!  I got the chocolate brownie frappuccino for Chris, and I got the coconut mocha version.  WOW are these delicious – and probably not more than 2-3 days worth of calories, lol! 

We had about an hour to wait, so I got to thinking about cruising Alaska again next year <g>.  I don’t want to know the exact cost of this trip, but it’s got to be around $6,500 – which is a lot for a single income family, so I can’t do that again next year!  However, using dvc points and skipping most of the expensive excursions I should be able to do it for under $2000, which is much more reasonable for an unplanned trip.  Now we’ll have to see what HAL and DVC do for 2003 to see whether it’s going to happen for us or not! 

The plane was full, including a handful of screaming infants who fortunately (for us) were seated far enough away that they were only a little annoying.  I felt bad for their mothers, and of course for people seated in the rows close to them!  We had a “snack” on the flight, which is really a meal to me.  There was a pretty good turkey & cheese sandwich, lemon cookie & bag of chips, all served in a little plastic shopping bag.  It was a pretty long flight – we passed part of the time looking at the pictures on the digital camera.

Once in St Louis the nightmare began.  We arrived 18 minutes early, and another plane was at our gate so we sat for about 20 minutes before being sent to another gate.  We were due to fly out on C25 so we went there and did not see our flight listed.  I checked the monitors – we were now C12.  We walked all the way down to C12 and did not see our flight so I asked the gate guy if this was the place for Ft Myers.  He said as of right now it was.  I checked the monitors not 5 minutes later and we were now C16.  We walked down to C16 and did not find our flight, so I checked the monitors & saw we were now C29!  I’m sure glad I don’t have mobility problems (or low stamina, lol)!  Finally at gate C29 we had a plane there and it ended up being the one we got put on.  It turns out our plane was still in Minnesota somewhere, grounded by some storms and they “found” us this plane.  I didn’t care – I just wanted to get home!  We were delayed leaving 45 minutes, but only arrived 20-25 minutes late. 

Tim picked us up and drove us home – he’d taken my car while we were away and had some nice looking pinstriping done, and some routine other work so I didn’t have to sit at Saturn!  We emptied the suitcases so I could give Chris all of his stuff – he’ll have to do his laundry tomorrow and pack again since he’s leaving for 8 days in Boston the next day!  Crap is laying around everywhere – I figure I’ll sort it out & put it away while photos are being uploaded the next few nights.

SUMMARY:

 In some ways this trip was like a dream, since cruising to Alaska was something I figured I wouldn’t get to do until I was older (than I am), so when it all came together for us to cruise this year it was very exciting.  Receiving a cancer diagnosis in March caused barely a moment of concern – at that point there was no way I’d consider missing the cruise and I was glad there wasn’t any pressure from any doctors to postpone or cancel the trip.  Unless I felt there was a 100% chance of something bad happening, I wouldn’t have canceled even if it had been suggested!  If nothing else, the cancer simply reaffirms my belief that we need to be living for today and make the most of each day we have.  Ok, enough sermonizing & philosophizing!

The Amsterdam is a beautiful ship, and very comfortable for cruising.  Our stateroom had a stale cigarette smell when we first entered, but leaving the verandah door open for the rest of the day took care of it and we never smelled it again.  We would not have been so fortunate if we didn't have the verandah though!  HAL is one of the many lines that permit smoking in staterooms, and they do not have any dedicated non-smoking staterooms.  I’m not sure why they don’t, since hotels are able to manage this, but it seems cruise lines don’t want to be bothered.  All dining rooms & show lounges are completely non-smoking, thank goodness!  The other lounges have designated smoking & no-smoking areas inside each one, and I was amazed that when I was in a no-smoking section I could not smell a thing from the smokers in the smoking section!  I could see them puffing away, but the rooms are laid out & ventilated such that the offensive odor does not come near the no-smoking section!  On the Lido deck the restaurant is all no-smoking, and the tables by the pool on one side are smoking.  Those tables are clearly marked with a “designated smoking area” sign plus an ashtray.  Non smokers have the tables on the other side of the pool.  Smoking is not permitted walking around the ship, except out on an outside deck.  Smoking is permitted in the casino, and that place reeked.  I’m not a gambler so I never went inside when it was open, but the stench carried out into the hallway & shop across from the casino.

Our stateroom (6120) was perfectly located for us – right by the stairs and a deck away from the Ocean Bar, 2 decks away from the Java Bar, and 2 decks away from the Lido.  I really could not have picked a better spot!  The cabin steward did a great job – we never saw him but we never needed to since he’d already taken care of doing what he’s supposed to do!  There are no towel animals on HAL like you see on DCL, though.

Food is always a highlight on any cruise and our past experiences with HAL were better than what we found this week – with the exception of that excellent meal at the Odyssey Restaurant!  It’s not that the food was bad or poorly prepared, I just didn’t always find items that really caught my eye (understanding I’m a real picky eater).  We’ve never skipped dinners in the dining room on a cruise before, but did more than once this trip!  Part of that was my own preference to not feel like a stuffed pig from eating more than usual <g>, part was due to our dinner companions not being what we’d hoped for, and to a lesser degree the menu was a factor.  I did have some great desserts – all chocolate, of course <g>!

It was frustrating to be given incorrect information, which resulted in our missing the only opportunity we had to have lunch in the Odyssey Restaurant.  In my opinion that’s inexcusable from front office staff, and it was noted on my comment card.  It didn’t ruin my cruise of course, but it shouldn’t have happened.  HAL has always prided itself on extraordinary service, but it didn’t seem to be consistently at the same level as our previous HAL cruises.  Many staff were absolutely wonderful, but then there were some who just went about their business without greeting passengers as they walked by – not even a smile. 

The cruise was very relaxing, and I had lots of time to catch up on some reading and get a decent amount of sleep at night!  I’ve tired of the traditional cruise musical entertainment, but did enjoy the 1 show I attended (skipped the other 2) and enjoyed the comedian and the comedian/juggler. 

Usually I don’t care about ports on a cruise, but this time I was eager to see each one.  Hubbard Glacier was awesome, and hard to describe unless you’ve been there to see it yourself.  Next time I’ll want to see Glacier Bay, to see how it’s different.  Sitka was my least favorite port, but the Sea Otter & Wildlife Quest excursion was excellent.  Since this was our first Alaska cruise I spent a lot of money on excursions – if we do this more often, that won’t be the case!  I didn’t find Sitka worth a trip off the ship if not for the excursion.  Ketchikan was the most fun port to wander around in, and there’s plenty to explore on my next visit as well.  I’m still shocked we had a sunny day – a friend wrote and told me they had 22 sunny days there all last year!  Juneau is a great port, and I strongly recommend that excursion we did to anyone capable of trekking for 2 hours on the glacier.  It’s an experience we’ll always remember!  Victoria was a very pleasant surprise – I’d love to come back and spend a couple of days here but I’m not sure when that’ll happen.

Seattle was a pleasant end to the trip, although I was a bit distracted by having to go straight from a long day of travel to getting up early for work the next morning!  Unfortunately we’ve got a quality review starting the day I get back and I need to be there for the initial meeting with the reviewers at 8:30 (which will feel like 5:30 to me still, lol). 

I wish I had another cruise booked at this point, but unfortunately I do not.  Depending on what HAL & DVC work out for 2003 we may be back cruising Alaska again next June.  Returning to DCL anytime soon does not look likely – Chris clearly prefers HAL and so do I, and I won’t cruise DCL while they’re so overpriced (my opinion). 

My next trip is this weekend – a quick trip to WDW with my friend Kathy.  The purpose of the trip is to see Fairy Tales (the show directed by Greg at the Comedy Warehouse, with Jen B & Layden both in the cast) again, since Kathy missed it last time.  We’re spending Friday & Saturday nights at Coronado Springs so we’re not exhausted traveling, and will see the show with Adie & Lisa and Leesa.  After that I’ve got a longer trip with Larry from Scotland & family in mid-July!

Thanks for reading and I hope this report helps you with your own Alaska cruise plans some day!

More on this cruise

Sue's Pictures - part 1
 

          Sue's Pictures - part 2