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Cast of Characters
Me, Bryan – 44
Elizabeth – my wife
Kevin – my son, age 15
Jeffrey – my son, age 13
Day One
(and before) – Saturday, July 24, 2004
Anticipation has been
building for this cruise - our third overall and our first on Holland America.
Last Friday, July 16, Beci, our travel agent, left a message on my e-mail asking
where she could get a hold of me because she had news – I sent her the number at
home and she called shortly. The first news was that our itinerary had changed
slightly – we were to be a little longer in Juneau. The better news was that
the upgrade fairy had smiled upon us – we were being upgraded from a Cat B to a
Category S deluxe verandah suite! I was so excited and decided to keep it a
surprise. As it turned out, I couldn’t keep it a surprise until we got to the
room, because when we checked in it was obvious it was into a suite. E, K & J
were so excited when they found out.
We took a taxi from our
home in Sammamish, a Seattle suburb, at 10:30. The driver was a very nice Hungarian. We gave our luggage to be
checked-in ourselves, since the porters didn’t seem to be interested in our
business. There was not a long wait at suite check-in and just a few people
waiting in the standard line for regular checkin. In fact, we might have gone
through faster in the other line. The checkin agent took our pictures and gave
us all our documentation and ID cards and put a gold sticker on us. I can’t
remember if it said “Holland America” or
“Oosterdam”. I wasn’t sure what the purpose of the sticker was at the time. We
then proceeded to the security check and stopped by the table where they were
selling the unlimited drink cards. We bought three, as I was planning on only
drinking water. I don’t think these charges ever showed up on our bill. Then
we headed to the gangway. HAL & Princess share a common entrance to the gangway
until you get close to the ship where the gangway splits – left for HAL and
right for Princess. At this point it seemed clear to me that the sticker was so
that the agents on the gangway could ensure that boarding passengers headed
toward the correct ship. The photographer was there on the gangway just before
we went on the ship, to get boarding pictures. We saw the photographer and
videographer a lot during the cruise, but it didn’t really bother us except
once. After we passed the onboard security check we were greeted by a
white-gloved crewman. The color of our card, a pale green, signaled that we
were to be escorted to the Neptune Lounge. He took us up there, where we met
Amber, one of the concierges, who persuaded us to make reservations at the
Pinnacle grill, chose Dutch night (also
Sitka night) because that’s the
least interesting menu, from a lo-carb point of view. We grabbed a few nummy
appetizers while we were in the lounge. There was always something good to eat
in there. All the little sandwiches were open faced. Amber told us they used
to be true sandwhiches with bread on both sides but that many people like us ate
the filling and threw away the bread. So HAL decided it was easier to leave the
sandwhiches open faced. In the mornings there was always cereal and fruit, plus
coffee and juice and at tea time there was appropriate fare, including one day
strawberries dipped in white or milk chocolate. Speaking of strawberries, we
thought it strange that we didn’t see any until several days into the cruise.
We had hoped that there would be some at the buffet for breakfast and lunch.
Since it was too early to
go to our suite, we ate lunch in the Lido buffet. Since we were all
carrying our handheld luggage I staked out a table with our affairs while the
others went in search of food. When Jeffrey came back, I took my turn to find
something to eat. I had ham & smoked turkey salad, tomato & onion salad, roast
beef with broccoli, and some assorted cheese. We were sitting in the port side
of the Lido so I didn’t notice the little Chinese food station on the starboard side
where today’s offering was curry chicken. I did partake later in the cruise,
and fortunately at this station they have a little bowl of hot pepper sauce so
you can spice up your food a little. If you like your food more than bland,
this is an important consideration. We found the food during the cruise to be
mostly underseasoned.
We toured the upper decks
on our own but could not enter the spa until 2pm. Since it was nearing 1:30 we
went to the stateroom – a beautiful suite with a welcome bottle of champagne
compliments of Captain Mercer and the hotel Manager, Mr. Pells. There was a
small fruit basket, an Alaska-themed coffee/hot chocolate/tea gift from Beci, an
invitation to Suite reception in the Neptune lounge, and, on the desk, another
gift from Beci (photo credit).
The suite is beautiful.
There is a large verandah with two rattan chaises longues and a table with 4
rattan chairs. The suite is bordered by a see-through railing. Apparently the
stateroom we were normally assigned (4155) had a solid railing. I need to
remember to ask about then in future verandah bookings because it’s so much
pleasant when you can see the ocean while sitting down. Inside there was a
large sitting area with long sofa and coffee table, a wonderful desk, plush beds
with deluxe linens and duvet. The coffee table had a lovely little flower
arrangement on it. The bathroom had a vestibule\makeup table, and a separate
shower & bath. There were several closets and lots of drawer space.
At 2pm we toured the spa,
beautiful facilities, of course, but expensive treatments – much more than on
the Disney Magic two years ago. I volunteered for the float bed, presented by
Simon, with seaweed wrap, float & massage. There is a spacious forward-looking
gym with Cybex workout equipment, bikes, treadmill, elliptical trainers, stair
climbers, free weights and so forth. I usually work out at 3:30 or 4 every day,
a time at which, an attendant informed me, the spa is fortunately uncrowded.
We’ll be able to work out 4 or 5 days on the cruise, I think.
Darmawqn is our steward
(You can call me Darma). Since we don’t drink, we offered him the champagne.
Unfortunately, kidney stones prevent him from indulging.
We went to the crow’s nest
at 3 to meet for a tour of the ship. A young man from Portaland, OR was giving
the tour – his first. He wasn’t very good – didn’t speak loud enough and gave
no interesting information. “This is the pool”, “This is the buffet”, “These
are the elevators”, etc. We went by the adults only pool and there were several
kids were in it. There was a sign or two informing users that this was not
allowed but I understand Disney is the only one doing a good job of enforcing
these rules. We dropped out of the tour halfway through after talking with a
German man and his wife from San Diego – San Diego has gone downhill
apparently. It’s very hot here today (upper 90’s) and I think they brought the
heat with them. We went back down to the room, then to the concierge lounge to
get the list of suite amenities, back to the room, where I read. Darma came by
and introduced himself. I asked him to separate the beds, ensure there were
more grapes in the daily fruit bowl and that there should be ice morning and
evening. It wasn’t necessary for him to bring any from 1:30 to 5, when he’s
off, even though he asked if he should , and the grapes could start tomorrow,
today wasn’t necessary. Very nice and pleasant, in addition to the automatic
tip, I slipped him 4 or 5 dollars to start and gave him a 5 to 10 dollars every
time I saw him. This in addition to the automatic tip. We called room service
to see if they had any grapes, but they were unable to oblige
The luggage was all
delivered by 3:45.
We prepared for the life
boat drill at 4:15. By now the sun was shining
onto the promenade at station B10 and it felt more like a drill in Florida than
in Seattle (did I mention that is was record heat today?), sail away party at
4:30, sailaway at 5pm. We went to the top deck on the starboard side for the
sail away. The Diamond Princess, our companion vessel for much of the cruise,
had already slipped away. Nevertheless, by next morning we had passed her. The
same thing happened on the race from Ketchikan to Victoria. Captain Mercer
informed us that he liked to beat her to port, even when she left before us, so
that we could get our 1900 passengers of the ship before Diamond’s 3200 created
a lot of long lines. The breeze was nice as we started northward until we
passed Seattle and got in the middle of Puget Sound where the temperature seemed
to suddenly drop by 20 degrees. We stayed out just a little more, visiting with
other passengers and then decided it was time to go inside.
I forgot my walking shoes
and Alaska guidebook. We went to the shops – very nice, with a large selection
of high quality items of all kinds, including all kinds of clothing for those
who forgot stuff for formal night. No shoes for men, though, but I did buy a
guidebook to replace the one I left at home. I went back to cabin to shower and
shave. We then went to the Captain’s reception at the Neptune lounge, had some
tasty appetizers and met the hotel manager and Captain Mercer
Went to dinner through the
photo studio – found our boarding picture already – and while we were there the
steward came through with the chimes announcing that dinner was ready, so made
our way to the lovely dining room where we soon met our tablemates - two couples
from New York, one of them very opinionated about France. He started talking
politics right away, a dangerous thing to do if you don’t know who you’re with
and started ragging on France and the French, how he would never visit there or
buy any French products, etc. My wife informed him that she was French (from
Marseille) and his wife started telling him to shut up, kicking him in the legs,
etc. Still, the rest of the meal went pleasantly. Every night there were
so-called lo-carb options on the menu – I Ate Cilantro cured salmon with avocado
and Pico de gallo salsa, baby spinach with white mushrooms, oven-roasted tomato,
crisp bacon bits & blue cheese crumbles, Chicken Cordon bleu with arugula, red
radish and broccoli salad. All very tasty and reasonable portions. However, I
don’t know what HAL’s definition of lo-carb was because on several evenings
there were decidedly non-lo-carb stuff in those options, including rice,
carrots, beets, etc.
We went back to the cabin
to relax before going to the Welcome Aboard show. Neither of the boys decided
to go to the Club HAL introduction. We went to the Vista Lounge where Jason,
the assistant cruise director, introduced the staff. The Oosterdam dancers put
on a lively and well performed show on a very sophisticated stage. Sam Powers,
an illusionist/magician, performed a few effective tricks but had a hard time
getting the audience aroused. I met him in the gym on the last day or two of
the cruise where I told him the crowd didn’t seem to appreciate his efforts. He
said “You were at the late show, weren’t you. It’s always that way after second
seating.” We were sleepy by this time and went to bed after.
Day Two
– Sunday, July25 - At Sea
I arose at 6:30 – all the
others were still sleeping so I got dressed, and being unsure of the weather I
wore jeans, but I think as long as I’m not topside, I’ll be OK in shorts. I went
up to the Lido with my novel. Out of the bay windows in the
Lido I saw Diamond Princess at our port aft
quarter, Oosterdam having overtaken and passed her during the night. I chatted
for a while with a couple from Oklahoma here with a group from their Southern
Baptist Church, and had some bacon and scrambled eggs because I was hungry.
After I finished that I went through the Lido pool area, up the circular
staircase and on to the observation deck where it was cold and windy, to the
Crow’s Nest, perched myself in a recliner at the bow and read. That was quite
pleasant, relaxing in the recliner, reading and watching the sea. At 8 I went
to the cabin to wake the gang, stopping by Neptune Lounge to request laundry
bags as I couldn’t find any in the suite. The concierge said she would send
some right over – we intend to take full advantage of the free laundry. At the
stateroom, Elizabeth was already up and I opened the curtains to wake the boys
as breakfast will be arriving soon. We had ordered a full breakfast from the
room service menu last night for delivery between 8:15 and 8:30. I sat down to
a second (lo-carb) breakfast of ham & cheese omelet, sausage and bacon. I had
a headache since before I got up so I took some Tylenol.
After breakfast we walked 3
times around the promenade deck (1 mile), which was very nice – the rear of the
promenade deck is open to the aft of ship, unlike on the Disney Magic. There
are water fountains arranged along the promenade but several of them don’t
work. Then Elizabeth and I went to the Ocean Bar to read, laying on a sofa.
The starboard Ocean Bar has smokers in it, which bothered us and we didn’t
realize that the port bar on the other side of the atrium is non-smoking. I
ordered a club soda and then decided I would get the soft drink card after all,
since even though I would rarely be ordering Diet Cokes and didn’t want sugary
drinks, I could order club sodas, which would be a change from ordinary water.
I stopped drinking diet sodas a few weeks ago since I was on a plateau in the
Atkins diet and realized the aspartame was preventing me from losing more
weight. As soon as I stopped the diet sodas, I started losing again so in the
month before the cruise I lost 10 more pounds (down 45 so far and feeling
great!). At 10 when we toured the Pinnacle Grille and the Galley. While we
were in the galley, the videographer had us wave at her camera. She caught us
three or four more times on the cruise and sure enough, all of the takes ended
up in the souvenir video.
After the tour we looked at the menu at the Vista Dining Room for lunch on the
way out then went back to the Ocean Bar to read. Jeffrey went to the Club HAL
Ping Pong activity at 11 but there was no one there close to his age so he came
back. At 12:15 we went to the photo shop to see our pictures, gave back the
ones in the life jackets (no good – I’m sure every one looks their best in a
life jacket) then headed up to the Lido buffet. The selection was good enough that we stayed. It was fairly
hard to find a table. I had beef rouladen, green beans, cantaloupe, mango and
cheese, and cheese crab chowder. Jeffrey came back with only pasta and then
went out again but the lines were too long. After lunch we attempted to attend
the naturalist’s talk on Alaskan wildlife in the Queen’s lounge but the sight
lines are so bad that we wouldn’t have been able to see any of the slides so we
left. I went back to the room to work on the trip report and to relax and
read. I went out on the verandah with a couple of blankets to enjoy the sea
air. A small cabinet next to the verandah door contained 5 or 6 of the red
plaid blankets you see all over the ship on the
Alaska cruise and they sure come in handy. I
assume that all staterooms with verandahs must need these.
After a while I came back inside and did push ups, sit ups and stretching prior
to a 3 mile run on the promenade deck with Kevin, who kept up all the way and
Jeffrey, who tried valiantly to do so. Then we swung by the suite to get
Elizabeth and headed to the spa, where we had a good workout on the Cybex
equipment. After our workout we came back to the suite to get ready for formal
night. I think I’ll miss the full wrap-around promenade on the Mercury next
February. We have second seating, which I prefer because our afternoon was not
rushed for an early dinner and we had time to enjoy the gym when it was
uncrowded.
I had rented tuxes for me &
Kevin, so this is Kevin’s first tuxedo. I helped him put it on as he was unsure
what to do with the cummerbund, the studs, the cufflinks and the bow tie. We
went to have formal portraits taken and dropped by the art gallery to enquire
about a painting we were interested in by Tomasz Rut – but it comes in at 2140
plus 15% - maybe next time, LOL A kind woman took our picture on the circular
stair in the atrium with the Waterford crystal globe as background. We saw her
taking a lot of other folks’ pictures, too. Then it was time to head to the
Vista Dining Room for dinner – our table mates were no shows – maybe it’s
because Elizabeth is French. I ordered the foie gras, lobster bisque (2
servings – love that bisque!), House salad, chateaubriand and sugar free jello
with strawberries. Our server tracked down some heavy cream for me to put on
the dessert. I made sure I tipped the servers extra a couple of times during
the cruise.
After dinner, we dropped by
the room to drop off cameras and stuff before heading to the show. It’s this
cast’s last week before their contract is up. Found a HAL tote bag on the bed
plus info for tomorrow, including a notice that the clocks will all be turned
back tonight. Incidentally, I don’t know if I already mentioned that each
morning that evening’s dinner and dessert menu is left at the suite.
In the Vista Lounge we saw
“Rockin’ Road” by the Oosterdam Singers and Dancers. It was their last
performance of this show as they are at the end of their contract and will all
be going their separate ways at the end of this week. There was a lot of energy
both from them and from the audience and they really gave a fantastic show –
excellent dancing, wonderful singing and a great show. At the end they were
crying and Fred, one of the male dancers, was crying so much he couldn’t sing.
I have one complaint about
the Vista Lounge – the seating in there, especially the red bench seating with
the tall backs, seems very uncomfortable to me, although the staff I spoke with
about said they had had no complaints. I prefer the Walt Disney Theater on the
Magic.
Day
Three – Monday, July 26, 2004 – Juneau
Even with the time change
(you gain an hour going into Alaska) I woke up at 6:30 and rose ahead of
everyone else. I forgot to get up at 5:30 to watch the whale pod that the
captain announced yesterday we’d be passing through. After I was ready, I went
up through the Lido pool area to deck 11 by the spiral staircase. First, though
I swung by the buffet and swiped some cold cuts to tide me over until
breakfast. The buffet was already bustling. Then I headed topsides. It was
cold up there and I chatted with a lady who suggested that I would be sorry if I
had not brought warm clothing, and that I should dress in layers. We did bring
such clothing, especially because we’re going to be out on the water today on
our wildlife excursion. I went to the Crow’s Nest to read but ended up
spending the time chatting with a nice lady from Houston about this and that,
including about what we should see in Galveston when we go through there on our
Holiday cruise on the Galaxy in December 2005. Her sister arrived at about
7:45 and invited me to join them for
breakfast, but I thanked them and declined. I felt I had better go down and
awaken the family so we could have breakfast, and pack up the laundry for
cleaning today. At the suite, they were all sleeping so I opened the curtains
wide. I prepared the laundry and gave it to Darma then we went up to the Lido, had breakfast and ate it by the
Lido pool. For the most part, they have the same thing everyday in the
Lido for breakfast. At one
station the sign says “Fried and Scrambled Eggs” but I heard one woman ask for
fried eggs and she was told they couldn’t make any for her. We went back down
to the room to prepare for our day. The boys and I went out to the verandah to
watch the docking procedure. We heard something that sounded like a gun shot
and it turned out to be when they shot the first guy rope for the moorage ropes
and watched the ship sidle up to the dock and the dock workers attach the ship.
All the rest of the big ropes in the front were attached by strings to the first
rope, so there was no more shooting. In fact, although we observed them tying
up the ship both in Ketchikan and Victoria, this was the only time they used the
pneumatic gun.
There was a huge line to
disembark the ship and all were leaving by the midship hatch. Finally a crewman
guided some of us another way to the aft hatch so we could disembark sooner. We
stepped out into the cool Juneau air and there were numerous people holding
signs for various shore excursions. We showed one of them our tickets and they
pointed us to the bus we should board. We took the bus on a long ride through
town to Allen Marine, and boarded the St Nicholas for a 3-hour tour (shades of
Gilligan’s Island). Binoculars were provided but we brought our own so we
wouldn’t have to share. The whole thing was done in a very professional manor
with a naturalist providing narration, and background information and helping us
to spot the animals. Snacks and drinks were provided. There were lots of
hunchback whales surfacing spouting, showing flukes, etc. We must have seen
nine or ten pods. Several times saw the rare bubble-net hunting technique of
the whales. The naturalist told us that only about 10% of viewers get to see
that. We also saw a bald eagle in a tree feeding its young in its huge nest and
saw sea lions on a buoy.
At last, the boat returned
and we boarded the bus for the Mendenhall Glacier. When we arrived we walked
the main trail and toured the Visitors
Center but didn’t see the film. It was a good day to see the glacier since it
was overcast. Apparently on days like this the blues stand out more. The lake
in front of the glacier was full of floating blue and white ice, apparently from
calving. At the appointed time we waited in the area where the bus was
supposed to pick us up, but it was late due to the excessive crowding. We
boarded the bus for an uneventful ride back to the dock. On the way back
several folks asked the driver if he could drop us off in town, but no dice.
The bus returned us to the dock where Jeffrey boarded the ship and the rest of
us took a shuttle ($2) back to Juneau.
It was a short ride to the bottom of the Mount Roberts Tramway where we got off
and looked for something to eat, since we had no lunch (it’s almost 5). The
Zaadam, Diamond Princess and Radiance of the seas towered over the town and were
docked very conveniently so that no additional transport was required.
The tour was originally
scheduled for 1:30 or so but the ship’s
schedule changed and we got in around 10, so no lunch. We found a litte
restaurant called Pizza Verona. Good service, good food, generous portions. I
had chicken Caesar salad, E had greek salad, K had a Britain Burger. We stopped
at a store which had post cards @ 6/$1 and then looked around. We were tired
and most of the stores had the same thing as every other port of call (Columbian
Emeralds, Little Switzerland, Diamonds International, Del Sol T-Shirts, etc) or
as Seattle (Northwestern Native American art) so we walked back to the tramway
and boarded the shuttle for the ship.
I scanned the menus and the
New York Times Summary that are delivered daily each morning and then prepared
for dinner, although we had just eaten. It was casual night. I ordered:
Sweet Tomato with Fresh Mozzarella
Calironian Gourmet Greens with garlic herbed courotns, toasted nuts and orange
segments
Double Venison Loin with Gooseberry Confit
Vanilla Crème de Pot with strawberry compot
Our table mates were again
no shows. Was it something we said?
The ship left port just as
we started dinner. I gave Davis (pronounced “Dah-fees”) and Alit a cash tip to
continue to encourage their excellent service. On the way out after dinner I
succumbed to the charms of the YumYum guy and tried a candied ginger. Yummy!
This was to become a habit for the rest of the cruise.
We stopped by the
photographer, bought the formal night portraits, and threw away the embarkation
photos because my face was half hidden.
E stayed in cabin to read
while we went to see Lee Bayless – he was funny but I couldn’t stay awake due to
the time change. Also, we stayed after for the Indonesian Crew Show, which was
good but I was sleepy since the show started at
11:30. I apologize to them
because I dozed off a couple of times during this show as well. These poor guys
did a good job but it must have been a sacrifice for them since they work such
long hours. Still, they are happy to share their culture and are pleased by the
interest of the passengers who come to the show. Apparently, they perform every
other week. The other times, it’s the Pilipino crew show.
Tuesday, 27 July 2004 –
Cruising Yakutat Bay & Hubbard Glacier
The seas are rough today –
the ship’s been rocking for hours but fortunately I’ve got my sea legs. I was
up at around 8:30 – I have to get up to put laundry out before 9am. The gray
and foggy weather this morning is bad for wildlife viewing and the verandah is
wet near the edges because it’s been raining.
We decided to eat in the
Vista dining room for breakfast – I ordered corned beef hash with a poached
egg and tomato sauce and also eggs benedict but didn’t eat the English muffins.
I nibbled just a little on the forbidden pastries (muffins and a donut). We
headed back to the room to take our vitamins and brush our teeth before going
topsides to look at the scenery. Too bad it’s both foggy and raining, because
it’s almost impossible to see anything. We passed an RCI ship going the other
way.
We went up to Lido Pool but
too much rain and fog to see much. The viewing windows are all fogged over and
we stole a blue napkin from one of the tables to wipe the window. There were so
many water droplets on the other side of the window, though, that visibility was
still poor. They were serving pea soup here, but no one offered me any. I
tried to get the eye of a waiter but the ones coming by only had empty bowls.
As I saw we were now approaching the glacier, I went back down to the room to
get the umbrella, binoculars and camera and went out on the bow. Lots of people
were there but fewer and fewer stayed over time, perhaps due to the rain. Big
umbrellas were often blocking the blocking view, even borne by people wearing
hats or hoods, who technically didn’t need their umbrellas in the light rain.
We saw a little calving at first, then more and more bigger ones, including ones
as large as great buildings. One particular one we wanted to fall was just
huge, perhaps 30 or 40 stories, from top to bottom with a great crevasse behind
it. Finally ice shot out of the crevasse a couple of times and then the whole
thing, hundreds of feet wide and high fell outward and down into the water and
created such a wave that it rocked the ship. The videographer was there and
took my picture once again, as did the ship’s photographer. Right about now,
the pea soup would be pretty good. This was the highlight of the cruise for me –
so wild and remote, with the 5-mile-wide, 300-500 ft tall glacier before,
creaking and groaning, the occasional gunshot ringing out and small to enormous
pieces of ice falling into the sea.
I ran into an old friend,
Brad Christensen from Novell, while glacier watching on the bow. I recognized
his voice but didn’t ask if it was him until someone called his name. Back at
the Neptune lounge I asked the concierge to look him up and connect us. I talked
to him and he said he and his wife Kim would meet us for lunch around the Lido
pool. We caught up to to date and then invited them down to our suite, of which
they were extremely jealous After they left I did my push ups and sit ups and
was going to go out and run but when we got down to the promenade deck there was
pouring down rain and wind that knocked over all the art when I tried to open
the outside doors. So we went to the gym instead and did 50 minutes on the
treadmill, visiting with a woman from Florida, Judy, who works for Remax and
does Disney timeshare resales. So does her husband, and their kids are in real
estate, too. It’s hard to stay on the treadmill when the ships moving and I
had to have my hands out to steady myself and grab the handles when the ships
motion was trying to throw me off. Then I worked out on all the cybex machines,
returned to the cabin, showered, read and dressed for dinner. Our laundry
hadn’t returned so I called the concierge, Darma came by and then checked the
laundry and came back and told us it wasn’t ready. I told him I needed the pants
for informal night, so he went back and brought back what was ready. They can’t
find some underwear but everything else was ready.
On and off during the
cruise, Pete, the Bingo Dingo (one of the assistant cruise directors) made
ship-wide bingo announcements. I found this very annoying.
E & I went to the captains’
reception for suites in the Northern Lights Disco, visited with the head of
housekeeping and some folks from Bothell, WA (close to where we live), one of
which is an 83 year old man who’s going to do the India to Africa section of the
Prinsendam around-the-world-cruise. We headed for dinner via the Photo shop
where we saw my bow glacier watching picture, which was pretty good. At dinner
our tablemates were again no shows. I had carpaccio of beef, Ketchikan smoked
salmon chowder (quite good), sweet tomato, red onion and basil chiffonade salad,
and a little osso bucco and Indian spiced lamb loin chops. I tasted Kevin’s
watermelon sorbet (yummy) and the Yukon sourdough bread pudding. I’m doing some
cheating on this cruise, but I take CarbBlockers when I do. The net result is
that I lost two pounds on the cruise.
After dinner we stopped at
the Yum Yum guy. Earlier, Elizabeth had to stop exercising because the rocking
of the ship was making her sick, so she went down an took some Bonine. After
dinner the Ym Yum guy’s candied ginger made her feel a lot better. The boys,
who met us at the Vista Dining Room, were present at its opening tonight and
told us they like the chimes that call you to dinner.
We returned to the suite to
update this report and then went to see male a cappella group “The Mikes”. They
were great and have been performing on the O for several months now. They are
all from New Brunswick and the lead, “Tony” proposed to his girlfriend during
last week’s performance. Jeffrey bought their CD for sale in the lobby. We kept
on running into them, especially Brett, throughout the cruise, where they
explained they’re going to renew their contract. They love this cruise life,
are treated as passengers (they have regular cabins and the run of the ship) and
only have to perform once or twice a week. Sweet!
Wednesday, 28 July 2004
– Sitka
We were at anchor early.
We got up around 8 and went to breakfast in the Lido. After breakfast we got
ready and went to tender around 9 or 9:30. Since we were suite passengers we
didn’t need to pick up tender tickets in the Queen’s Lounge. We just got in
line. We tendered in to the O’Connell bridge and did our own walking tour of
this quaint and picturesque little town. The shopping was more interesting and
laid back here than in Juneau – not so many “port-of-call” stores – so we
actually bought something here, including shirts for the boys, plus a lacquered
Russian box and a small bottle of birch syrup for our neighbors. Plus, of
course, we bought post cards at 5 for a dollar. We saw the Alaska Pioneers Home
and garden (very well maintained and pretty), the fortress (nice views), and
walked to the raptor center, which was a huge disappointment at $12 each,
although the walk through town, across the waterfront and the park was pretty.
I guess you get the guided tour only if you come on a ship excursion. We got
back to the ship around 1:30 for lunch in the Lido then the boys went to play
ping pong and Elizabeth and I went for a drink and to read in the Ocean Bar –
this time on the non-smoking side. The waitress remembered us from before. We
were there for a good 90 minutes. We decided we liked having a little time to
ourselves so we changed the Pinnacle Grill reservation to just the two of us.
Then we went back up and changed for exercise. Kevin & I ran three miles on the
promenade deck while Elizabeth used the bikes in the gym, then we went up to
the gym to do abs and check out the stair climbers. We told the boys they were
on their own for dinner – they didn’t seem too disappointed and took it well.
Then the boys and I went out to the verandah and watched them bring in the
tenders. One of the tenders was hoisted up right under the verandah, so we got
a close up view.
The boys ended up not
eating together – Kevin went to the Lido and Jeffrey went by himself to the
Vista Dining Room because he didn’t want to miss Dutch night and wanted to see
what the hats were all about. He sat all by himself at our big table
L
but Davis and Alit took good care of him and kept him entertained. Elizabeth and
I ate at the Pinnacle Grill – I had chicken Thai soup and duck, filet mignon
with béarnaise sauce, asparagus with béarnaise sauce, grilled mushrooms, and we
shared chocolate volcano cake and vanilla, coffee and chocolate crème brulee.
The service was very nice. I dressed up a little and wore my sport coat, even
though it was casual night. We went by the room afterwards to change into
something more casual before heading to Sam Powers’ magician act. It was the
best saw-a-woman-in-half act I’ve seen and some other amazing illusions.
However, the audience didn’t seem to rise to the occasion, which Sam told me is
typical for second seating.
Thursday, 29 July 2004 –
Ketchikan and Sea Day
We got up early this
morning, around 6 so we could eat before the rush to get offshore for our shore
excursion to see the Great Alaska Lumberjack Show at 8:30. The Diamond Princess
is next to us on the dock and the Coral Princess is off our starboard side,
tendering in. We ate in the Lido and then disembarked around
7:45. As you disembark the ship, there’s a nice store off to the left, so we
looked around in there a little. Then we asked one of the guides hanging around
outside where we were to meet for the excursion. She explained that we should
just walk there, and showed us the way on the map. Ketchikan is a pretty town,
but full of the typical shops. We walked over to the Great Alaska Lumberjack
show, just a little ways from the ship, next to the water and on the way to
Creek Street, our next destination. This is a great and fun show and the
mistress of ceremonies really got the crowd worked into a frenzy. We were on
the American side (Timber Beasts, Spruce Mill) and Brad Christensen’s (the
friend I ran into while glacier watching – did I mention his parents bought the
cruise for him and all his brothers and sisters and their spouses – 14 in all?)
family was on the Canadian’s Dawson Creek (Wood Bulls). We won most of the
competitions but they won the match because of the 3 point relay at the end.
For the relay they pick one volunteer from each viewing section. On our side,
an old man named Mike, really hammed it up on the way down to the front, using a
cane and pretending to need a walker. Then he got up and threw an ax right into
the bull’s eye!
After the show we look
around the adjacent shop, lots of cute stuff and then walked to Creek Street and
toured Molly’s House and bought some copper bracelets and a very sturdy ice
cream paddle. Molly’s House is a former brothel. The hostesses hang around out
front in their slink turn of the century dresses and garters, looking like
‘working girls’ from a hundred years ago. Creek Street is quite charming and
the shops there are more interesting than those in town. We walked back through
the town, peeking into various shops, mailing some postcards and gawking at the
enormous cruise ships towering over the little buildings. We arrived back at
the ship around 11:30 to beat the rush for boarding and lunch. For once we got
a windowside view table in the Lido – then E & I went to read in the Ocean Bar.
While we were in the bar, the ship set sail for Victoria and another HAL ship
was right behind us to take our place. An RCI ship passed us to take the place
of the Diamond Princess, which had left just a few moments before.
I decided I wanted a HAL
fleece so we went to the ship’s shopping arcade to see if we could find one. I
didn’t find exactly what I wanted so we just bought an Alaska Calendar for E’s
parents. At 3 K & I went running on the promenade 3 miles plus 1 mile walk to
cool down then headed up the gym to do upper body workout on the Cybex and
abdominals. I love taking advantage of the gym. Brent, from the Mikes was in
the gym and told us there would be a bonus show tomorrow at 2:30. Showtime is
early tonight, before dinner, since we lose an hour going back to Pacific time.
We saw “Escape” which was a lot of fun, with good singing and dancing, beautiful
sets and lavish costumes. We visited with companions Bill & Adam from Fort
Lauderdale and San Diego, who cruise 4 or 5 times a year and seem to be groupies
of the show performers, especially of “The Mikes”. Bill doesn’t like the Vista class ships as much as the smaller ones, think the food and
service and entertainment are not as good and
says that the O is the biggest money maker for HAL, especially from the bars and
casino. I ran into Jason, the Cruise Directory, after the show, and told him I
didn’t think they needed to move up the show, but he assured me that on this
night, because of the time change, if they didn’t, they’d only have 35 people in
the audience for the late show.
Since the show got out at
7:15 we hung out in the piano bar and had hors d’oeuvres and nuts listening to
the pianist while waiting for dinner time. At dinner, our new table mates
showed up – we didn’t know we had any. It turns out after the New Yorkers left
to get their own table, this family was assigned to join us but ate in the
buffet all week because of their kids. We’re sorry they didn’t join us earlier
because we got along really well with them and would have enjoyed their
company. They’re both from Houston but she was originally from Mexico City and
he from Lebanon. They had an 11 year old girl and 14 year old son who were both
polite and interesting. He wants to hire me as a freelance programmer to do his
website for his diamond business and invited us to see them in Houston after our
Holiday cruise out of Galveston
next year. We failed, however, to exchange numbers or e-mail.
I ate “melon medley”
sprinkled with port wine (couldn’t taste the wine) and escargots bourguignons,
cream of green asparagus soup, two lobster tails (and they will plate stuff up
on demand – no rice as I asked and two tails instead of filet mignon and tail).
No dessert.
Went to the shop and bought
a nice HAL logo sweatshirt at ½ price and Jeffrey bought a stuffed moose which
he named Chocolate. E bought some silver jewelry, also half price. We then
spent a few minutes listening to the ensemble in the Ocean Bar. Set clocks
forward 1 hour tonight. In our mail slot we found an invitation to a suite
brunch with Captain Mercer and the Hotel Manager Pells in the Crow’s Nest at
12:30 tomorrow.
Friday, July 30, 2004 –
Sea Day and Victoria
We woke up around 8 to a
bright and sunny morning, the first such weather in days. We got ready, got the
laundry ready, then I read yesterday’s USA Today and my novel on the verandah
for a while until all were ready for breakfast. We ate breakfast by the Lido pool again, then bought some half-price logo shirts at the sale by the
Lido pool before coming down to work on my trip report. The ship news said
the sale would begin at 9am but they only
just started setting up at 9. The sunshine has disappeared as we turn into the
straits and it’s now overcast and foggy. At 10:30 E & I went to the
debarkation talk and crew farewell. After that we went to the Ocean Bar to
read. While we were there they conducted the trivia contest, which, had I
entered I would have done pretty well on, but not won. At 12:30 we went up to
the Crow’s Nest for the suite brunch, stopping at the suite to drop off our
books. The suite brunch was very nicely done. I had some caviar, surprisingly
good (just tasted like salt, really, plus all the stuff you eat with it helps,
such as onion, egg yolk, sour cream, etc.) and lots of other good food, well
served, with a lovely ice sculpture of a swan in the center. After that we
headed down to the Vista Lounge for the behind the scenes tour and to meet the
cast. However, they didn’t really demonstrate the capabilities of the stage
because they had to put up the Rockin’ Road sets because tomorrow morning early
the new Oosterdam cast is coming aboard to rehearse for their first real show.
The stage technicians each talked about themselves and their jobs and some of
the Oosterdam crew did the same and then answered questions. Around 2pm I went
up to get the boys while E saved seats for the 2:30 “The Mikes” encore. The
Mikes were wonderful and Jeffrey got them all to sign his CD that he had bought
after their first performance the other night Then all four of us went to work
out. K & I walked 1 mile and ran three on the promenade then went to the Ocean
Spa to work out our legs on the Cybex machine and do abs. Sam Powers, the
magician, was there with an assistant he was training in dance moves and Chris,
one of the Oosterdam Cast lead singers was there with headphones running through
his dance moves. He’s staying on board to work with the new cast. We were very
close to Victoria now and when we came back to the room, the ship was docking.
We watched that process and then I took a shower and got dressed for dinner.
We’ve been here before so we’re probably not going to disembark.
They have a lovely greeting
for the ship here. At the bottom of the gangway there is a Victorian streetlamp
with flower baskets hanging from it and several men and women dressed in
Victorian garb passing out tourist literature and greeting visitors. From the
verandah we could see a line of surreys and flower-bedecked horse drawn trolleys
waiting to take visitors across Stanley
Park and into town. Captain
Mercer made sure that we arrived ahead of the Diamond Princess’ 3000 passengers
so that those who desired could get through Canadian Customs without a huge
line. Sure enough, soon after the Diamond docked, there was a long line backing
out of the customs building in the port. I read my novel on the verandah for a
while then got ready for dinner. In Victoria, 1st & 2nd
seating is moved up to 5pm and 3rd & 4th
seating to 7pm so we had an “early” dinner. I had Portabella and Ricotta
Crostini w\ smoked chicken breast, Crab & Artichoke dip with foccacia, cream of
white mushroom soup and Mustard and Onion Grilled Chicken breast. The chicken
with its accompanying polenta was tasteless. IMHO, much of the food on this
cruise is fairly bland and underseasoned. I finished with Linzer Torte with
whipped cream, one of the “no sugar added” options. The Indonesian Servers all
gathered on the stairs in the dining room to sing a traditional Indonesian song
of farewell. It was quite charming. Our new tables mates did not show up, but
we knew that they had wanted to get off the ship, so were not surprised.
We made one last stop to
see the Yum Yum Guy and then E & I went to the Crow’s Nest to listen to music
and read, and watch the sunset, and then down to the Explorer’s Lounge to listen
to the pianist, who was quiet good. So many people have gotten off in Victoria
that the ship is fairly quiet. We ordered breakfast room service to be
delivered tomorrow morning between 7:45 and 8 so we could avoid the rush in the
Lido and then read in bed until about
11:30. Darma had already picked up the rental tuxes when we got back. We did
not put out our luggage since it was small roll away luggage that we could
easily take off the ship ourselves. That made life so much simpler.
Saturday, July 31, 2004
– Debarkation
We are not in any hurry to
get off the ship this morning as we live near Seattle, so I got up about 6:30,
cleaned myself up and went out on the verandah to read until
7:30. Of course, we are already
in port. I woke up the gang at 7:30 and breakfast, still warm,
was delivered promptly at 7:45. While packing up I checked the drawer beside my
bed and found socks and underwear belong to previous passengers – I took them to
Darma. Then we just packed up in a leisurely fashion until all was ready,
carefully checking everywhere to make sure that we left nothing behind. From
time to time Jason made announcements over the intercom and channel 39 about
which priority numbers or letters were being let off the ship. Ours, ‘S’, was
first, which really meant that we could get off any time. This disembarkation
is much better than on Disney. Everyone is assigned a number, unless you’re in
the suites, in which case you’re assigned S and may disembark at any time. You
may stay in your stateroom until your number is called. Around 10 or so we were
finished and schlepped our belongings down to deck 2 (I think, or is it 4?) and
off the ship. The longest wait was to get through immigration, where we
breezed through, and then through customs, no problems there. Of course, we
avoided the whole luggage pick up area. In front of the building we found a
taxi, who was surprised to take us home, instead of to the airport. This driver
seemed rather familiar though, like Mr.
New York, going on and on about
politics with people he didn’t even know. We listened politely, even though we
didn’t agree with him about some of the positions he was taking.
Summary
This was a wonderful
cruise. Of course, the suite upgrade was fantastic, the suite large and nicely
furnished, the service excellent. The free laundry was a nice perk and we made
good use of it. I’m not sure I could afford a suite again, but I’d sure like
to try!
The food was abundant and
there was quite a variety but it was mostly underseasoned, to my taste, and
sometimes served not as hot as it could be. The portions were small, which I
like, since it discourages overeating and waste and you can always order more if
you’re hungry. The dining room servers and sommelier were attentive and
friendly. We had a window seat in the dining room which was nice, since we
could look out and see the ocean.
The kids never used the
pool or Club HAL but did make some use of the video arcade on deck 10. There is
also an arcade on deck 1 at the entrance to the Vista Lounge but when we found
it there was some creepy guy in there who looked at us like “What do you want?”
I didn’t feel good sending my kids down there since I felt that it was remote
and out of the way and something nasty could happen. Still, they had a good
time and enjoyed the shows and the cruise over all.
The entertainment was
varied, somewhat typical (comedian, illusionist, production show) but well-done
I think. The Mikes were unique and we enjoyed them the most. We liked the
shows, but others might disagree. Holland America has invested a lot in the
Vista Lounge, in any case. I found the seating spread out, which was nice, but
somewhat uncomfortable.
The ports were
interesting. Obviously we would do different things the next time. Elizabeth
and I would like to come back on our own and do some of the pricier excursions,
such as the glacier helicopter flights or Misty Ford Flightseeing. I’d like a
cruise that combines Skagway, which wasn’t on this itinerary, with the Hubbard
Glacier again.
The ship was beautiful and
well maintained. Of course, there was a little wear and tear, but that’s to be
expected. The colors are more harmonious than on the Zuiderdam and there is
lots of different art displayed everywhere. It didn’t take me long to find my
way around the ship. We’d like to try the Amsterdam next time, though, to
experience the classic HAL cruise.
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