DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH - From Host C Aboard Diamond Princess

[Host Caroline]

Can I just say the internet's so slow I"m not hunting for my other post.. I did see a thread "Diamond in Tracy Arm" and all I can say is we brought the weather to Seattle and we're keepin' it... 76 and sunny in Juneau,75 in Skagway and now it's shorts weather. We got an awesome view of BOTH Sawyer Glaciers and naturalist says probably northern lights tonight (yes, the naturalist said it, NOT me ).

The virus seems to have calmed down and there are 3,500 of the cleanest pairs of hands in the world here now.

The ship was late (again) to Juneau and Capt Larry at Orca won't book anymore Diamond passengers before 3:00... we are apparently only ship that cannot make it in on time although our weather was lovely ... and I guess my luck is continuing bec. in 6 Alaska cruises have had 3 days when it rained total... my group sort of believes in my Irish luck.

Whale watching we saw pods of orcas, yes orcas, playing everywhere around us.. on our boat (Orca Express) and around Larry.. it was 45 minutes and amazing. I have seen a couple of digital shots and will hopefully post some.. the pilots said it's a once a year experience so we feel so lucky. They arranged ALL the tours for everyone in my group even though we were so late and no one missed a thing although ship tours were cancelled (about 6-8).

Went up into the Yukon yesterday for buns and dogs... Michelle at Pristine Kennels has her sled dogs (and pups) at Caribou Crossing.. she does the Yukon Quest and highly recommend this esp. with children. Children in group are lovin' the kids program and menu BTW.

I'm going to let this take 10 minutes or so to post and try again tomorrow.. time to catch some rays and some whales (hoping...) .. they have been seeing humpbacks off the stern.

[Coral]

I hope you continue to have a great cruise!

I have friends on both the Coral and Island and I hope they are having excellent weather also!

[sunprincess]

Caroline, You are so very lucky. I have never had such great weather in my 2 Alaska cruises. Hurray for you. Do enjoy the rest of your cruise.
Should you happen to pass by Crooners please say hello to Carlos for me.
ENJOY !!

[carma7007]

Carolyn,
Thank you so much for the live posts from the Diamond. We are sailing June 25 and hope we will be as blessed as you have been with the trip.

[Host Caroline]

I don't know about rest of itinerary but Coral was with us in Skagway yesterday so unless headed north is probably sunny today It's cool "at sea" but sunny.

Ship itself is lovely IMHO.. I wasn't sure I'd like it as much as I do. Food is excellent and to be honest with you, haven't heard much grumbling about the dining change at all. They had serious dining traffic jam Juneau night and needed to open two sides of buffet. I don't think they should keep Stirlilng Steakhouse were it is.

We have inside cabin and it's very roomy, lots of storage. Definitely would NOT want balcony on Dolphin on this itin.. today it was sunny so it was fine being exposed with no "roof" in Tracy Arm but if it was a drizzly week the balcony woudl be useless .. except having door for window. I know I'd only book balcony on Rivieria (which Carib P has), Aloha or Baja.

Sapphire was exiting Tracy A as we entered and didn't get to glacier .. that early morning transit is just too foggy on some days too according to naturalist who BTW is excellent

Internet access not available in Skagway and very very slow. If you aren't "Platinum" past pax like we are it would cost you a fortune.

Hopefully Ketchikan will not be rainy... so far looks like it will Not Be!

[Sheebah]

Glad you got into Tracy Arm to the glaciers!
We had bad internet in the middle of the cruise too. It should get better for you very soon.
Have a marvelous second half of your cruise!!

Originally Posted by Host Caroline

I don't know about rest of itinerary but Coral was with us in Skagway yesterday so unless headed north is probably sunny today It's cool "at sea" but sunny.

Ship itself is lovely IMHO.. I wasn't sure I'd like it as much as I do. Food is excellent and to be honest with you, haven't heard much grumbling about the dining change at all. They had serious dining traffic jam Juneau night and needed to open two sides of buffet. I don't think they should keep Stirlilng Steakhouse were it is.

We have inside cabin and it's very roomy, lots of storage. Definitely would NOT want balcony on Dolphin on this itin.. today it was sunny so it was fine being exposed with no "roof" in Tracy Arm but if it was a drizzly week the balcony woudl be useless .. except having door for window. I know I'd only book balcony on Rivieria (which Carib P has), Aloha or Baja.

Sapphire was exiting Tracy A as we entered and didn't get to glacier .. that early morning transit is just too foggy on some days too according to naturalist who BTW is excellent

Internet access not available in Skagway and very very slow. If you aren't "Platinum" past pax like we are it would cost you a fortune.

Hopefully Ketchikan will not be rainy... so far looks like it will Not Be!

[stazerd]

Caroline, I've been reading about the coffee onboard. What do you think? The comments I've read compare it to sludge.

[Host Caroline]

Coffee is sludge? hmm... I'm not a fan of strong coffee and we've been remarking how good the coffee is compared to other cruises. Coffee bar (which is hidden in internet cafe) has great lattes and coffee up and down stairs has been quite good IMHO only

And it's now day 6 of our non-rain cruise.. another picture for the album of the sunny Ketchikan rain gauge.. very cloudy early and cooler than all week today but now as we cruise south it's partly sunny out ..

.... so when I do my next Alaska group in '07 and tell everyone that it still hasn't rained on me in 6 Alaska cruises I'll really have to sweat it, huh???

P.S.: we are well here now.. no more "crew-serving" from the buffet. .they had a group come on with virus and it's been well over 48 hrs with no new cases so those of you comin' next week will just have a really really clean ship

BTW with the new dining there hasn't been too much problem getting into Anytime restaurant without a reservation but I will recommend one especially if you do NOT plan to eat in buffet on Juneau night... heard it was a zoo down there! We made for Sat/Sun/Wed/Thursday and got same dining room each night but tonight (formal).. and the crab legs on Wednesday.. were, well, meager? I wouldn't go into dining room just for them unless you simply can't get at home.. they were good just not plentiful. Tablemates have loved the cold soups every evening we've been in there..

[LARGIN]

Caroline.. Been on 5 Alaska cruises. Rain only one day

[imacruizer]

Hi Caroline,
Thanks so much for taking time from your cruise to post!! So glad you are having good weather.

How late did you arrive in Juneau?

What type of dress are you seeing on both the casual and the formal nights?

How long will the current naturalist remain on board?

Beth in Tennessee

[taxatty]

We actually LOVED the Dolphin mini-suite open balcony in Alaska, but we also had hot, sunny weather. If you want a mini-suite--you're stuck with an open balcony unless you can snag one of the few on Emerald.

Les

[mike2000]

Hi Caroline,glad you are having a good time. You and Randy talked me into being group leader next year but no one seems to be interested in going next year. Mike

[dprcan]

Originally Posted by Host Caroline

Coffee is sludge? hmm...
.... so when I do my next Alaska group in '07 and tell everyone that it still hasn't rained on me in 6 Alaska cruises I'll really have to sweat it, huh???

..

Caroline, Francisco here. I am glad having a great cruise. My DW and I are planning to go for an Alaska cruise on 2007, we would be interested on joining your group. I would like to talk about it when we meet in September, if you do not mind.

Have a great day

[ripleysmom]

Caroline is the Yukon Quest expedition offered by the cruise line? If so is it the "Experience the Yukon" excursion?