Did the Zuiderdam and Westerdam Paint signs on the rock wall in Skagway?

[LAFFNVEGAS]

The talk about raising taxes per passenger in Alaska got me thinking. This year was the first time we had been to Skagway and I was actually facinated by the rock wall of painted signs of all the ships and Captain's names that were painted there. In all the chat about Alaska on these boards over the years I had never seen this mentioned. We were told that when a ship arrives in Skagway for the first time it is a tradition for the crew to go up and paint a sign/logo of the ship and the Captain's name. It is said the higher up the sign is the more liked the Captain is. If it had not been so cold and windy in early May I would have spent a lot of time looking at the wall. We actually did try to see all the HAL ones. Anyway I got thinking this was the first year for both the Zuiderdam and the Westerdam to go to Alaska does anyone know if this was done?


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http://image38.webshots.com/38/2/51/45/2100251450028362306hbBKZs_ph.jpg (http://community.webshots.com/photo/550494819/2100251450028362306hbBKZs#)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Didn't walk down that way as the Statendam was docked at Broadway which is much closer to town.

[cruisequeen10]

The first time I was in Skagway was in July 1981 on the old Sun Princess. They had mentioned to us that in August of every year, there was a race between the crew from the cruise ships. I don't know if this still takes place. It is near the rock where all the pictures on the wall are. In 1981, we had docked right along side the wall and had to walk into town. Was a very long walk. There might have been shuttles, but we didn't see any.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

The day we were in Skagway it was rainy, windy and very cold and would you believe we walked back to the ship from town. I kept saying it did not look like it was that far:eek: it actually was a nice hike and would have been very enjoyable if not so darn windy. The Ryndam was the farthest out, but it did make for good exercise.;)

[Atomica]

I'll have to take a look when we go in September. I remember being fascinated by the rock wall when I first went to Skagway back in 1998. Since the Westerdam doesn't actually visit Skagway I doubt it would have a painting there, but I would suspect the Zuiderdam does. Hopefully the weather will cooperate long enough for me to walk over there.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

You are right Aaron, I forgot that the Westerdam was not going to Skagway but the Zuiderdam is. You will have to check that out for me if no one else reports if they saw it. Aaron remember we will be there to wave Bon Voyage to you:) Less than 7 weeks now:D

[Atomica]

Aaron remember we will be there to wave Bon Voyage to you:) Less than 7 weeks now:D

Thanks Lisa! :) It's getting close, that's for sure. I'm sure you and Tom are getting excited about your trip on the Veendam the next day.

I'm hoping to be able to take some pictures of 'The Rock' in Skagway, since we'll be in port pretty much all day.

[Tinknock50]

Hey Aaron,
I was on the Windward (now Norwegian Wind) in June of '98.
It was my first cruise and my first time to Alaska. I have been hooked on cruising ever since.:) Where was you cabin?

[Atomica]

Hey Aaron,
I was on the Windward (now Norwegian Wind) in June of '98.
It was my first cruise and my first time to Alaska. I have been hooked on cruising ever since.:) Where was you cabin?

My family and I were in 5059, an outside cabin on the Biscayne deck. When I think about it now, it's amazing that four people fit in there! Same thing here, first cruise, first time to Alaska - hooked in a big way.

I remember thinking how big the Norwegian Wind was. The ship was in great condition too, since it had just been lengthened. This past weekend, we saw it and the Infinity docked at Canada Place. Wow. The Infinity dwarfed the Wind.

[Grumpy1]

I cruised to Alaska with a port stop in Skagway in 1998 on Rhapsody of the Seas. That was the inaugural season for that ship. The ship name was quite prominent on the rock wall. It did not have the captain's name on it. I dug out the album from that trip and looked at those pictures. The Rotterdam, Sept '96, Capt Dijk, is visible along with three separate logos for Prinsendam. One was dated 1997 with Capt C A Wand, (i think) and one was dated 1997 with an unreadable captains name (looks like C. B. ??bbere), Chief officers name not readable, and Ch Engineer Aboot . One was dated 1976, Capt Westra and Capt Dammers, on one sign. There are quite a few other names of ships... Calypso I, Glacier Queen, Universe, Prince George, Xanadu, Galaxy, Fairsea, Pacific Princess and Sun Princess, are the most easily read.

It looks like there was one of the now retired HAL ships in port with us that day, along with a very new Princess and an older Celebrity.

It was a nice trip down memory lane to look through that album again.

As related by our tour guide, this originated back in the gold rush days. Skagway was "the end of the line" for the ships carring men and supplies to Alaska. With virtually no means of communications, and no port agent or authorities to keep track of the ships coming in and out of Skagway, the logo on the wall was a way to tell other captains that you had made it safely to that point and had headed back. Sometimes a new logo would be painted, other times just the date of arrival was changed. If a captain had left San Francisco, for instance, a week ahead of a friend and fellow captain, and that captain did not find the logo upon his arrival in Skagway, he would inform any other captains in port to watch carefully for any signs of a shipwreck or survivors on the return trip.

Modern communications has made the need to do this obsolete, but it is a nice tradition.

[KAYEF]

We cruised in 1987 and when we docked in Skagway the entire rock area was covered with ship logos, etc. and it seemed when we were there last year there were hardly any...............but, we were docked way over from the original area (much closer:o ) ...........didn't have to walk very far. This year I'm going to check more carefully! ( in just a few days);)

[barriesdad]

Sounds fascinating. We will have to look out for this rock wall when we visit next month.

Lloyd

[Tinknock50]

My family and I were in 5059, an outside cabin on the Biscayne deck. When I think about it now, it's amazing that four people fit in there! Same thing here, first cruise, first time to Alaska - hooked in a big way.

I remember thinking how big the Norwegian Wind was. The ship was in great condition too, since it had just been lengthened. This past weekend, we saw it and the Infinity docked at Canada Place. Wow. The Infinity dwarfed the Wind.

I just realized something.... It was actually '97 ...before the stretch so really small by todays standards. :)

We had a balcony cabin on that trip.:)