Statendam Southbound Alaska, August 17-24, 2014

It's awfully early but I want to get this established before leaving home (early tomorrow). This cruise will be the 2nd of a B2B with Radiance of the Seas, and likely my only cruise on the Statendam. I will post my pre-HAL experiences here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2082097

as well as the entire trip on my usual blog:

http://getawaysfrom21044.wordpress.com

I might be back here to answer questions and if I see anything of interest here (eg passing a dam ship) but this thread may be pretty quiet for the next 10 days or so.

Roy

More than a "little" early---you have a typo on the year in your subject line.

If you see this in time, you can edit it by using the advanced feature in the edit options.

So happy to see another thread of your cruises. They are always a pleasure to read. Have a great time.

More than a "little" early---you have a typo on the year in your subject line.

If you see this in time, you can edit it by using the advanced feature in the edit options.

 

So happy to see another thread of your cruises. They are always a pleasure to read. Have a great time.

Thanks, RuthC. I had actually thought from prior experience that editing the title only worked for that post, but it looks like the correction did "Take" on the list of threads as well.

Roy

Bon voyage, looking forward to your review when you return. We will be spending 31 days on her this fall.

Have a great trip! Looking forward to your reports as always.

Hi Roy. Enjoy your time on the Statendam. Will be on her Sept.21/14. Would appreciate knowing who was entertaining in The Mix if they will be still be on in Sept. Thanks, Gail.:)

Have a great cruise, will follow along on your blog.

Looking forward to following your journey! Safe travels. :)

Roy,

I always enjoy your blogs. Have a great time!

Kathi

Have a wonderful time - I will be following your blog, and curious what you think of the Radiance. Once of RCI's nicer ships, I think.

Bon Voyage.

Will follow you on your travels.

Oh, goody! Looking forward to reading your observations both here and on the RCI board, as well as reading your blog. I thought you were already gone until I saw you coming out of the supermarket last night. Well, I guess you have left home by now, being the afternoon of 8/6/14.

Bon voyage!

Thanks all. buckirj1, was that Mars in Ellicott City.

I normally post once per day but this should be an exception. I may post again just before boarding, and a post tomorrow for the day’s activities.

I woke about 4:45 and walked the 3/4 mile to Canada Place an hour later. It was very quiet when I arrived but a freighter appeared about 6:15. The main walkway at Canada Place was gated, but the upper level was open and I was able to get to the far end of the dock. The Radiance appeared first around 6:35, followed by the Zaandam (I last sailed her 30 months ago) about 15 minutes later. The Radiance backed into the inland side of the pier while the Zaandam’s bow pulled up to the Convention Center side.

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/radiance1.jpg

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/radiance2.jpg

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/radiance3.jpg

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/zaandam2.jpg

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/zaandam3.jpg

Roy

"buckirj1, was that Mars in Ellicott City?"

Sure was. I was on my way home from church, and you appeared to be on your way from a scout meeting. Hope you're having a great cruise.

We did northbound on Statendam this past June. Great time! I wrote a review for CC.

Hello. I got off the Radiance this morning and will be picking up my reports. Before beginning, I do want to post a few pictures (You can click on the link to get the pictures).

The Zaandam left Vancouver ahead of us:

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/zdamdepaty.jpg

As the Zaandam was leaving a seaplane passed so close that from my vantage point on the Radiance I wasn’t sure if it would be in front of or behind the ship:

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/traffic.jpg

We moved into the channel just far enough to catch the Zaandam going under the Lions Gate Bridge:

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/zadamlgt.jpg

It looks like HAL has a ship in Haines every Wednesday. As I was leaving Skagway the Lynn Canal is quite wide around Haines so my view of the Oosterdam was quite distant:

http://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/haines.jpg

Roy

When the alarm went off at 5 we were sitting at the Seward dock in the rain with the Seven Seas Navigator on the opposite side of the pier. The display on the navigation screen said 1626 nautical miles sailed to date. There was time for a leisurely breakfast in the WJ before leaving the ship.

On my last Enchantment cruise the electronic signs gave an up to the minute account of the groups that had been called to disembark. At about 8:30 on the Radiance the display was showing groups through about 7:50 as “Already called”. Roger and Adrienne were in a group leaving at 9:40 while my tags were due to be called at 9AM. I asked the attendants at the Aurora Theater if disembarkation was really that far behind they said they were actually ahead. They also said it was fine if I waited for Rogers group to be called. He actually said my number had been called, and about a minute later Roger’s group was called. We were all in the terminal at 8:50.

When we got outside the terminal the taxi lane was empty, but the free shuttle was loading up. They said they went close to our hotel (Best Western Edgewater) so we loaded up. The shuttle was crowded for the short trip to the train station but there was lots of room the rest of the way to the Sea Life Center, where it was a 1 ½ block walk to the hotel.

Our rooms were not ready so they took our bags and when I asked where to find a Laundromat they said “downstairs”. I spent about an hour downstairs and then sent my laundry bags to the baggage room. Another ride on the shuttle took me to the hardware store and the shuttle, and then I got lunch at “Zudi’s place”, a small restaurant in the original train station. The tracks into downtown Seward were destroyed beyond repair in the 1964 earthquake, and the active station was relocated to the area of the cruise terminal.

The Seward Library/Museum had a 2PM film on the massive Good Friday earthquake of 1964 with incredible devastation. After the movie it was time to get settled into our rooms. We met again for dinner at Ray’s, a waterfront near the small boat harbor. We returned to the hotel about 7:30 and I walked down to the waterfront just after 8 to catch the Radiance on it’s way out of the harbor, passing below a glacier high up on a mountain. My last look at the passing Radiance came about 8:30.

Today’s parting shot will go back to the days when Enchantment of the Seas was based in Baltimore and my favorite RCI Captain was Gus Andersson. Captain Gus always closed his daily updates with “Words of Wisdom”. I brought along a little RCI nametag holder and notepad that is given out at Cruise Critic Meet and Mingles and found one of these sayings on the notepad: “The only people you should try to get even with are those who have helped you.”.

Roy

Thanks for your updates and photos.

Like that saying from Captain Andersson.

It's awfully early but I want to get this established before leaving home (early tomorrow). This cruise will be the 2nd of a B2B with Radiance of the Seas, and likely my only cruise on the Statendam. I will post my pre-HAL experiences here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2082097

 

as well as the entire trip on my usual blog:

 

http://getawaysfrom21044.wordpress.com

 

I might be back here to answer questions and if I see anything of interest here (eg passing a dam ship) but this thread may be pretty quiet for the next 10 days or so.

 

Roy

Have a great time!

Hi Roy. Enjoy your time on the Statendam. Will be on her Sept.21/14. Would appreciate knowing who was entertaining in The Mix if they will be still be on in Sept. Thanks, Gail.:)

Just the pianist or all the entertainers?

Roy

When my 5AM wakeup call came it was dark but I could tell it was raining. We had a boat tour booked for Kenai Fjords with a 7AM pickup, so we were down at the hotel’s breakfast soon after it opened at 6. As we left the hotel the weather forecast on the front desk indicated gale force winds.

Not surprisingly, when we arrived at the tour office we learned that out tour was cancelled. We were offered a couple of options. One was the same tour tomorrow. I COULD have done it, but would not have been back and able to board the Statendam until after 2, and it was impossible for Roger and Adrienne. The other option was a shorter tour which stayed within Resurrection Bay. We had some time to kill as that tour left at 9 rather than our planned 8AM departure. We boarded the Coastal Voyager at 8:30 and Captain Robert let the lines go just after 9. As we made our way out of the harbor we were treated to a breakfast of Cinnamon Rolls.

We made a brief stop at Fox Island (named for an early 20th century fox farm) where some people got off to spend the night at a resort and some others came aboard. We continued on to the mouth of the bay where we saw some nice waterfalls, some stellar sea lions (different from seals primarily because of large, articulated flippers which make them much more agile on land), and a nice view of a sea otter. There were also brief sightings of whales and mountain goats. The wind never materialized but it rained through most of the tour. We returned to the dock about 1PM.

Our return to land was marked by a brief respite from the rain and Adrienne and I walked back to the hotel, roughly 1 1/4 miles. Adrienne and Roger got some additional lunch and spent some time at the Sea Life Center while I relaxed a while in my room. A bit past 4 they came back to my room to pick up their luggage and catch the 4:30 shuttle to the train station, where they will continue to Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Denali. I got dinner at a nearby bistro (in the rain) and packed and updated my computer work in the evening. As I write this it is nearly 10PM and still not dark.

As today’s parting shot, August 16 seems to be a big day in my travels. In exactly 2 years I will be back to Seward, leaving on the Crystal Serenity for a Northwest passage cruise to New York. I am hoping for better weather in 2 years. Exactly 1 year ago, I was in Boston preparing to board the Veendam for my first experience on an S-Class ship. May the coming cruise be as nice as that one.

Roy

I got to the pier about 12:15 and was checked in very soon thereafter. I walked by the dining room and it seemed dead quiet, I don't think there's a Mariners Embarkation lunch today. When I visited Seward last year on a port call I stopped at an internet cafe Having a hotel with wifi this visit I hadn't returned there yet so I scanned the day's On Location (posted to getawaysfrom21044.wordpress.com) and took the free shuttle back into town and the Sea Bean cafe for lunch and wifi.

When I left the ship it did not appear that any luggage had been delivered yet. Gail, the pianist in the Mix is David Anthony, and the guitarist is Vince. I haven't seen them yet but will try to find out how long they are on. Muster is at 7:30, sailaway at 8, and the welcome show at 9:30.

Roy

Thanks Roy. David Anthony is excellent - we had him on the Volendam a few years ago.

Just the pianist or all the entertainers?

 

Roy

Just the Piano player will do. Didn't know they offered other entertainers. This will my first time on a HAL ship with The Mix. Continue to enjoy your cruise.:)

Enjoy your cruise Roy, I'll be anxious to hear your impression of the Stantendam as we will be on it for 30 days later this year.

Helen