raadsel
September 6th, 2006, 10:14 PM
I seem to have a fear that I’ll leave things out, yet I also fear that this will end up being far too long. First, this was a trip to celebrate my father’s birthday, so there were 16 of us total. Only my 17 year old daughter and I from my family were able to make it. Including my daughter, we had 4 teenage girls in our group, two boys that are Club HAL Tween age (9-12), and one 7 year old girl.
I started my trip on Thursday, 24 Aug by flying to Seattle and rented a car through Thrifty. After meeting up with the family that arrived in Seattle at the same general time I did, I ended up spending the afternoon just enjoying downtown Seattle and around the piers. For dinner we had fish and chips, as well as some salmon chowder, right on the waterfront.
Friday we made our way to Terminal 30, dropped our luggage, and then I returned the car to Thrifty. I was rather upset with Thrifty; while the return process for the car was fine their shuttles back were completely unorganized. One problem was some people just returning from a cruise, they had camped out in one of the vans until they had their car rented so that they could unload directly from the van into the rental car – it basically tied up that shuttle van for 30 minutes. It was an hour before Thrifty finally got us back to Terminal 30.
The check in process went smoothly, the staff seemed very professional and proficient. Upon boarding the Zaandam we were immediately taken to the Lido for lunch. As I mentioned to Middle Aged Mom (who was on the Zaandam the week prior), talking to the crew that first day they mentioned how beautiful the weather had been the week before and that hopefully it would be that good again.
After eating, we went down and checked out the room, arriving exactly the same time our luggage did (and I met my room steward, Agus). Agus did an excellent job in keeping the room spotless, he also made us towel animals 5 of the nights. We unpacked, explored the ship a bit, and then went to muster drill. We had beautiful weather for sail away, I was able to get some great shots of Seattle from Elliott Bay.
We were assigned Early Lower dining (6 p.m.) which worked wonderfully for us, our assignment was two tables in the center of the room. So, shortly after leaving Seattle we went to the dining room for the first time and met Suparta and Andie. They did a fabulous job for us all week, not just anticipating our needs but completely spoiling us. I found the food to be quite good and often excellent. I think some of my family fell in love with the chilled fruit soups. The children enjoyed the children’s menu and the teen girls even ordered from it a couple of nights along with appetizers from the main menu.
I went to the show for a few minutes the first night, while I didn’t think it was terrible it also didn’t impress me. I ended up not attending any shows, though I did spend time most nights in the Explorers Lounge listening to the Elegance Strings. My daughter spent most evenings with her cousins, often in the Loft. She really enjoyed the friends and activities up there, she typically stayed until it closed at midnight. My youngest niece loved Club HAL, she also spent her evenings there (unless we were in port). My younger nephew would have loved Club HAL except for his 12 year old brother -- who felt he should have Teen status and be with the older group in the Loft.
Saturday, a sea day, I went on the Galley Tour in the morning. I was quite disappointed in it as before taking us to the tour they gave each of us a sheet that explained the galley areas and then just walked us through. We had no real opportunity to read the sheet before we went in and we did not stop at any of the various stations – just walked straight through. I can understand with the size of the group how difficult trying to explain things to everyone would have been, but it would have been nice if they could have at least allowed us to walk through.
What I did like is that the deposited us right in front of the Culinary Arts Center (Wajang Theater) in time for the cooking demonstration. It was presented by Rob, the Head Chef of the Pinnacle Grill. He demonstrated making the Grand Marnier Chocolate Volcano Cake and Grilled Prawn Bruschetta with Primavera Sauce, with samples of the Bruschetta given out afterwards.
Around lunch time the ship started rolling much more and a few in our group became seasick. The seas weren’t bad but we were feeling a lot of motion. I spent the afternoon with my sister and her kids, the kids went swimming in the Lido pool – which for this afternoon was a wave pool as the water kept being tossed from one end to the other. You can imagine how the kids loved it, they spent the entire afternoon there. That evening was our first formal dinner (our documents had told us 5 casual nights and 2 formal). The King Crab legs were quite good.
Sunday dawned gray, wet and cold. Sailing into Juneau the land looked a dark grayish-green, it was hard to make out details through the mist. One thing I missed (only noticed it after) was that at Lunchtime (11-12:30) there was a Curry Buffet by the Lido pool. It’s something I don’t recall having heard mentioned on this board before and I would have been interested to try it.
In Juneau we went to the Mendenhall glacier and did some hiking. The glacier was incredible to see, the clouds had risen enough that we had good views of the glacier and lake (we did get a little wet, though). We saw sockeye salmon spawning in the streams around the glacier, I was amazed at their reddish color. We also saw a small black bear on our hike, it was trying to sleep high in a tree. We also had a short tour of Juneau, which I fell in love with. As dark and gray as it was, we decided the Tram wasn’t worth the money. We ended up eating dinner back on the ship, then walked around the city and shopped until it was time to be back on the ship.
Monday, by contrast, was a beautiful day in Glacier Bay. We had sunshine, partly cloudy skies; the ranger said it was the first time in three weeks she’d seen Mt. Fairweather. Margerie Glacier was beautiful and calved twice while we were there, though both were small. The pea soup was quite enjoyable, as well; I think most of us on the Promenade were served the soup.
John Hopkins Glacier was my personal favorite, though we could not get very close as the channel was full of ice. We were amazed at the scenery around Glacier Bay, I don’t feel any description of mine can do it justice. Watching the Park Rangers leave was also interesting; I would imagine climbing down that ladder onto a small boat while both ships are moving is quite an experience.
Monday evening we had the Dessert Extravaganza. The desserts were beautiful but the Lido was terribly crowded, so I didn’t bother staying to taste them. We were also invited to a reception with the Captain in the Explorers Lounge. It was an enjoyable experience and gave us a chance to speak with several of the ships officers. I’m still wondering how they got the whale show up so we could see him out the Lounge windows. ;)
Tuesday was Sitka and we had an early morning Sea Otter & Raptor Center tour. The weather was wet and light rain but without the low clouds we had in Juneau – not bad overall. The Sea Otter tour was quite good as we saw an Eagle’s nest (and other birds), sea otters, sea lions, about seven humpback whales and (something of a rarity, from what I understand) a group of 4 orcas. The Raptor Center was interesting and I particularly enjoyed some of the various birds including a Cooper’s Hawk and the Screech Owl. The afternoon was again spent walking around the city, including visiting the cathedral and looking at the Russian souvenirs. The hot chocolate at the pier where you got off/on the tenders was a nice touch.
Tuesday evening was the Master Chef’s Dinner. I could tell that our servers didn’t care for doing the show but were not willing to complain about it, to them it was just another part of the job and making their tables happy. It was somewhat fun to watch (and I did notice that the dancers and singers from the shows were the leaders of the various routines) but I don’t need to see it again and would have been equally happy if they didn’t have it. I stopped in to see the Magician, Harry Maurer, he appeared to be a good entertainer. There were no empty seats that night that I could see.
Thursday morning was Ketchikan. Aside from my older sister, who took the Totems and Town tour, we walked around town. Creek Street was rather smelly, you could see several of the salmon that had completed their life cycle in the creek, as well as others that were spawning. The rain forest around Ketchikan – actually all the rain forest in Southeast Alaska – was beautiful. While it seemed we didn’t have enough time in any of the cities, 7 to noon in Ketchikan was not nearly long enough. The weather was again beautiful in Ketchikan, it was in the 60s (maybe even low 70s) and not a cloud in the sky – at least until we left. When we were leaving Ketchikan it was feeling cooler and you could see a storm starting to roll in.
Lunch had the salmon bake by the Lido pool, the salmon was excellent. After lunch there was another Culinary demonstration, this time with the Executive Chef, Marcus Jenni. He did a great job entertaining us, as well as making Alaskan Crab Puffs and Pan-fried Alaskan Salmon and Halibut with Honeyed Apples. For the tasting sample they had cups of Sourdough Bread Pudding and, while it wasn’t demonstrated, we also were given the recipe for it. From what I can tell, there were no Culinary Classes on this sailing. After was the Indonesian Crew show, again to a packed house. This was also our other Formal night for the Farewell Dinner. I enjoyed the Escargot, the prime rib was quite good, but I was disappointed in the lobster (though I did eat two extra).
Thursday morning started with On Deck for the Cure. About 10 of our group joined the walk, there were 40 or 50 people total. I won’t bore you with the details of my day or the disembarkation talk, we’ll just say I largely spent the day relaxing after a busy week, not to mention packing. Dinner was pushed forward an hour because of Victoria, where we stayed from 8 to midnight. Because of being in port at night and having limited time, we simply went to the downtown area and walked around.
Of course, all good things come to an end. Disembarking went smoothly. My parents, daughter, and I ended up doing one of HAL’s tours to Pike Place market and then the transfer to the airport. We decided that would be best as it would be easiest, my parents wouldn’t have to worry about carrying or storing their luggage. The only downfall to the plan was at the airport, it turns out my parents had to go to the far side of the airport to check in at Delta. It was much easier for me, my airline had a spot to check in where the bus dropped us.
Overall it was a wonderful week. I don’t think we could have expected nicer weather. There were things that could have gone better. One, the toilet in my sister’s room (with her husband and two of her children in it) was not working properly until Monday; so they went nearly half the cruise without a working toilet in their room.
We were also victim to some of the communications problems. We were given some perks because of our group and from our travel agent, they had no record of them on the ship. We didn’t ask about them until Saturday, the ship couldn’t find out what we were supposed to have until business hours on Monday. Because of this we didn’t get soda cards until Monday at dinner (part of why I used so few punches). We also had a credit for dinner in the Pinnacle but could not use them, by the time we were given them the Pinnacle was completely booked (including the wait list) for the remainder of the cruise. I think the credit came to $38 on the final bill for my daughter and I, I’m not sure why $38 instead of $40 and I didn’t care enough to ask.
Overall, we had a great time and made the best of whatever problems. We had a wonderful trip, it was a beautiful ship, and we have memories as a family that will last us a lifetime. I'm sure there is plenty I've forgotten, so feel free to ask questions.
I started my trip on Thursday, 24 Aug by flying to Seattle and rented a car through Thrifty. After meeting up with the family that arrived in Seattle at the same general time I did, I ended up spending the afternoon just enjoying downtown Seattle and around the piers. For dinner we had fish and chips, as well as some salmon chowder, right on the waterfront.
Friday we made our way to Terminal 30, dropped our luggage, and then I returned the car to Thrifty. I was rather upset with Thrifty; while the return process for the car was fine their shuttles back were completely unorganized. One problem was some people just returning from a cruise, they had camped out in one of the vans until they had their car rented so that they could unload directly from the van into the rental car – it basically tied up that shuttle van for 30 minutes. It was an hour before Thrifty finally got us back to Terminal 30.
The check in process went smoothly, the staff seemed very professional and proficient. Upon boarding the Zaandam we were immediately taken to the Lido for lunch. As I mentioned to Middle Aged Mom (who was on the Zaandam the week prior), talking to the crew that first day they mentioned how beautiful the weather had been the week before and that hopefully it would be that good again.
After eating, we went down and checked out the room, arriving exactly the same time our luggage did (and I met my room steward, Agus). Agus did an excellent job in keeping the room spotless, he also made us towel animals 5 of the nights. We unpacked, explored the ship a bit, and then went to muster drill. We had beautiful weather for sail away, I was able to get some great shots of Seattle from Elliott Bay.
We were assigned Early Lower dining (6 p.m.) which worked wonderfully for us, our assignment was two tables in the center of the room. So, shortly after leaving Seattle we went to the dining room for the first time and met Suparta and Andie. They did a fabulous job for us all week, not just anticipating our needs but completely spoiling us. I found the food to be quite good and often excellent. I think some of my family fell in love with the chilled fruit soups. The children enjoyed the children’s menu and the teen girls even ordered from it a couple of nights along with appetizers from the main menu.
I went to the show for a few minutes the first night, while I didn’t think it was terrible it also didn’t impress me. I ended up not attending any shows, though I did spend time most nights in the Explorers Lounge listening to the Elegance Strings. My daughter spent most evenings with her cousins, often in the Loft. She really enjoyed the friends and activities up there, she typically stayed until it closed at midnight. My youngest niece loved Club HAL, she also spent her evenings there (unless we were in port). My younger nephew would have loved Club HAL except for his 12 year old brother -- who felt he should have Teen status and be with the older group in the Loft.
Saturday, a sea day, I went on the Galley Tour in the morning. I was quite disappointed in it as before taking us to the tour they gave each of us a sheet that explained the galley areas and then just walked us through. We had no real opportunity to read the sheet before we went in and we did not stop at any of the various stations – just walked straight through. I can understand with the size of the group how difficult trying to explain things to everyone would have been, but it would have been nice if they could have at least allowed us to walk through.
What I did like is that the deposited us right in front of the Culinary Arts Center (Wajang Theater) in time for the cooking demonstration. It was presented by Rob, the Head Chef of the Pinnacle Grill. He demonstrated making the Grand Marnier Chocolate Volcano Cake and Grilled Prawn Bruschetta with Primavera Sauce, with samples of the Bruschetta given out afterwards.
Around lunch time the ship started rolling much more and a few in our group became seasick. The seas weren’t bad but we were feeling a lot of motion. I spent the afternoon with my sister and her kids, the kids went swimming in the Lido pool – which for this afternoon was a wave pool as the water kept being tossed from one end to the other. You can imagine how the kids loved it, they spent the entire afternoon there. That evening was our first formal dinner (our documents had told us 5 casual nights and 2 formal). The King Crab legs were quite good.
Sunday dawned gray, wet and cold. Sailing into Juneau the land looked a dark grayish-green, it was hard to make out details through the mist. One thing I missed (only noticed it after) was that at Lunchtime (11-12:30) there was a Curry Buffet by the Lido pool. It’s something I don’t recall having heard mentioned on this board before and I would have been interested to try it.
In Juneau we went to the Mendenhall glacier and did some hiking. The glacier was incredible to see, the clouds had risen enough that we had good views of the glacier and lake (we did get a little wet, though). We saw sockeye salmon spawning in the streams around the glacier, I was amazed at their reddish color. We also saw a small black bear on our hike, it was trying to sleep high in a tree. We also had a short tour of Juneau, which I fell in love with. As dark and gray as it was, we decided the Tram wasn’t worth the money. We ended up eating dinner back on the ship, then walked around the city and shopped until it was time to be back on the ship.
Monday, by contrast, was a beautiful day in Glacier Bay. We had sunshine, partly cloudy skies; the ranger said it was the first time in three weeks she’d seen Mt. Fairweather. Margerie Glacier was beautiful and calved twice while we were there, though both were small. The pea soup was quite enjoyable, as well; I think most of us on the Promenade were served the soup.
John Hopkins Glacier was my personal favorite, though we could not get very close as the channel was full of ice. We were amazed at the scenery around Glacier Bay, I don’t feel any description of mine can do it justice. Watching the Park Rangers leave was also interesting; I would imagine climbing down that ladder onto a small boat while both ships are moving is quite an experience.
Monday evening we had the Dessert Extravaganza. The desserts were beautiful but the Lido was terribly crowded, so I didn’t bother staying to taste them. We were also invited to a reception with the Captain in the Explorers Lounge. It was an enjoyable experience and gave us a chance to speak with several of the ships officers. I’m still wondering how they got the whale show up so we could see him out the Lounge windows. ;)
Tuesday was Sitka and we had an early morning Sea Otter & Raptor Center tour. The weather was wet and light rain but without the low clouds we had in Juneau – not bad overall. The Sea Otter tour was quite good as we saw an Eagle’s nest (and other birds), sea otters, sea lions, about seven humpback whales and (something of a rarity, from what I understand) a group of 4 orcas. The Raptor Center was interesting and I particularly enjoyed some of the various birds including a Cooper’s Hawk and the Screech Owl. The afternoon was again spent walking around the city, including visiting the cathedral and looking at the Russian souvenirs. The hot chocolate at the pier where you got off/on the tenders was a nice touch.
Tuesday evening was the Master Chef’s Dinner. I could tell that our servers didn’t care for doing the show but were not willing to complain about it, to them it was just another part of the job and making their tables happy. It was somewhat fun to watch (and I did notice that the dancers and singers from the shows were the leaders of the various routines) but I don’t need to see it again and would have been equally happy if they didn’t have it. I stopped in to see the Magician, Harry Maurer, he appeared to be a good entertainer. There were no empty seats that night that I could see.
Thursday morning was Ketchikan. Aside from my older sister, who took the Totems and Town tour, we walked around town. Creek Street was rather smelly, you could see several of the salmon that had completed their life cycle in the creek, as well as others that were spawning. The rain forest around Ketchikan – actually all the rain forest in Southeast Alaska – was beautiful. While it seemed we didn’t have enough time in any of the cities, 7 to noon in Ketchikan was not nearly long enough. The weather was again beautiful in Ketchikan, it was in the 60s (maybe even low 70s) and not a cloud in the sky – at least until we left. When we were leaving Ketchikan it was feeling cooler and you could see a storm starting to roll in.
Lunch had the salmon bake by the Lido pool, the salmon was excellent. After lunch there was another Culinary demonstration, this time with the Executive Chef, Marcus Jenni. He did a great job entertaining us, as well as making Alaskan Crab Puffs and Pan-fried Alaskan Salmon and Halibut with Honeyed Apples. For the tasting sample they had cups of Sourdough Bread Pudding and, while it wasn’t demonstrated, we also were given the recipe for it. From what I can tell, there were no Culinary Classes on this sailing. After was the Indonesian Crew show, again to a packed house. This was also our other Formal night for the Farewell Dinner. I enjoyed the Escargot, the prime rib was quite good, but I was disappointed in the lobster (though I did eat two extra).
Thursday morning started with On Deck for the Cure. About 10 of our group joined the walk, there were 40 or 50 people total. I won’t bore you with the details of my day or the disembarkation talk, we’ll just say I largely spent the day relaxing after a busy week, not to mention packing. Dinner was pushed forward an hour because of Victoria, where we stayed from 8 to midnight. Because of being in port at night and having limited time, we simply went to the downtown area and walked around.
Of course, all good things come to an end. Disembarking went smoothly. My parents, daughter, and I ended up doing one of HAL’s tours to Pike Place market and then the transfer to the airport. We decided that would be best as it would be easiest, my parents wouldn’t have to worry about carrying or storing their luggage. The only downfall to the plan was at the airport, it turns out my parents had to go to the far side of the airport to check in at Delta. It was much easier for me, my airline had a spot to check in where the bus dropped us.
Overall it was a wonderful week. I don’t think we could have expected nicer weather. There were things that could have gone better. One, the toilet in my sister’s room (with her husband and two of her children in it) was not working properly until Monday; so they went nearly half the cruise without a working toilet in their room.
We were also victim to some of the communications problems. We were given some perks because of our group and from our travel agent, they had no record of them on the ship. We didn’t ask about them until Saturday, the ship couldn’t find out what we were supposed to have until business hours on Monday. Because of this we didn’t get soda cards until Monday at dinner (part of why I used so few punches). We also had a credit for dinner in the Pinnacle but could not use them, by the time we were given them the Pinnacle was completely booked (including the wait list) for the remainder of the cruise. I think the credit came to $38 on the final bill for my daughter and I, I’m not sure why $38 instead of $40 and I didn’t care enough to ask.
Overall, we had a great time and made the best of whatever problems. We had a wonderful trip, it was a beautiful ship, and we have memories as a family that will last us a lifetime. I'm sure there is plenty I've forgotten, so feel free to ask questions.