"Live" from Westerdam Alaska Sept 21-27, 2013

Ok so we are here!! Short post with some pics....

We have an aft balcony and it is huge! We knew it would be though. Already smell a cigar while we are sittin out here it figured that would happen. We can just move to the "back" balcony instead of the "side" balcony until the person is done though.

The room is smaller than the Neptune suite we had on the side of the ship last year when we went to Hawaii but its still big. Have a separate shower and tub.

The skyline of Seattle is beautiful from our balcony. The sun is shining and it's beautiful!

The pics aren't workin to upload from he cruise critic app but ill paste some in later.

Bon voyage everyone!

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Really enjoying your report... We will be doing Alaska on the Westerdam next June , so reading with great interest!

Bon Voyage Sue and family!!

Reports will come later, but we just heard that we will be totally changing our schedule because of weather. We will be going to Keetchikan tomorrow (Monday) instead of Juneau. Then Glacier Bay, then skipping Sitka, then Juneau. I guess it IS just about winter up here. I heard that in 2011 and 2012 the last 2 cruises in Sept had to skip Sitka as well so it's not totally surprising. Oh well, at least I'm on vacation right?!? lol

More later...

Sorry to hear about your itinerary changes, but YES, you're on vacation, so enjoy the most of it. I am sure you will have a great time.

Please continue to post when you can.

Totally enjoying your "dual" posts......

Hope you have a great trip...!!

Reports will come later, but we just heard that we will be totally changing our schedule because of weather. We will be going to Keetchikan tomorrow (Monday) instead of Juneau. Then Glacier Bay, then skipping Sitka, then Juneau. I guess it IS just about winter up here. I heard that in 2011 and 2012 the last 2 cruises in Sept had to skip Sitka as well so it's not totally surprising. Oh well, at least I'm on vacation right?!? lol

 

More later...

Sorry to hear that weather is changing your plans.

Right -- you are on vacation!! You are not cooking or making the beds or cleaning or doing laundry.

Oh , so sorry about Sitka . It is the main reason ( together with Glacier Bay) I chose the Westerdam rather than another ship.

I am sure your cruise will be amaZing no matter what!

This change of itinerary just means you are destined to return for another Alaska cruise in the future. I like how you are able to roll with the punches. Enjoy!

Saturday-SHIP TIME!

I woke up way too early this morning, I guess because my body was still on Texas time, but it allowed me to get up and grade some papers for my online class that I teach as well as to just chill. I also took the time to take a long bath in the HUGE tub in the suite that we were in. Nice!

We also took a walk up to Safeway to get some last minute items. It was a nice walk, not too hot, not too cold and it wasn’t raining. Only came across two homeless people, one sleeping in a doorway and the other begging for money when we came out of Safeway.

We also took the time to grab two geocaches while we were out and about. One was at the Holland America building we visited yesterday when we met Lori. I didn’t know that it was there yesterday! It’s hidden on the big Veendam anchor outside the building.

This is me and hubby hear the anchor where the geocache was.

And here is a picture of the TINY geocache that is under the anchor...see it?

We then met my dad for breakfast at the hotel and then had some time to kill before we left for the ship. I took a nap. :) Gotta love being on vacation.

We took a taxi to the ship at pier 91. My dad had no idea there WAS a pier 91, which made me laugh because he was flabbergasted that he didn’t know there was a pier 91! It cost about $12 from the hotel, with tip. Not too bad and at the very least it was convenient. We left the hotel around 1130 and got to the pier around 1145-1150am. It was pretty crazy, but the lines moved pretty quickly. We overheard one of the pier workers telling a cruiser “Sir, I’m not allowed to argue with the passengers, but they will not let you drop off your bag without a luggage tag”. Lol. At least he was being honest. We dropped off our bags (we didn’t drop off the 12 pack of coke like we could last year in San Diego, we just carried it on ourselves).

We got through security, my dad almost left his ticket and passport at security. WHOOPS! Luckily he was slow in getting himself repacked after going through security and was still standing there when they started asking if everyone had their passport (um….why didn’t they LOOK at the picture/name to see who’s it was rather than yelling out if someone left it? Lol)

There weren’t too many people there yet. The longest line was for the non-Americans for checkin. We went to the line and asked the lady if there was a “suite” line checkin, she asked what kind of suite. I didn’t take offense because a lot of rooms are called suites now a days. We were able to go to the special suite check in line, and went right up to the counter (although honestly we probably would have done the same with the “regular” line). Had no issues checking in and we headed to the ship right afterwards. They had just started letting people on so we didn’t even have to wait in the lobby.

We found the rooms and hopefully my dad was suitably impressed with his. The room is smaller than our Neptune Suite room last year on our cruise to Hawaii. We had a room in the “middle” of the ship near the Neptune Lounge. But of course the balcony is huge and a wrap around. We didn’t bring the power strip and we should have. There are only like 3 plugs in the entire room.

Neptune Lounge

My dad's balcony (7142)

Our room--7151

Our balcony with my dad and hubby

We went up and ate lunch right away in the Lido because we knew the later it got the more crowded it would get. We found a seat right away and had a nice lunch (except the ranch dressing is yucky. I think it’s the fat-free type so it’s gross. Hopefully when they stop serving us they will bring the full on fat ranch back. It’s much better).

We then gave my dad a tour of the ship. We started at the top and worked our way down. He was sad that there was no “real” poker tables. He said that he won’t play “electronic” poker. He’s afraid that the computer will “cheat”. He did show some interest in playing in a texas hold ‘em poker tournament tonight, and I saw that there are 3 tournaments tomorrow. I’m sure he will play a game or two while he’s here. :)

We saw this on our tour. Loved it! It's called "The Bait"

We checked out the Neptune Lounge (I don’t remember the one last year having to use our key card to get into, but the one on this ship you have to). We made reservations for the Pinnacle Grill tomorrow night (Formal night) and for the open seating. We have never eaten at open seating before in all of our cruises. We have always gotten a table for 6 at the early dining, so it will be an experience. We made reservations for tonight at 715pm.

We saw a few dolphins while we were leaving Seattle. They weren’t jumping or anything fun, but they were there! Our first (and hopefully not last) wildlife viewing.

My dad’s story of the lifeboat drill is interesting. He was on the opposite of the ship from us on a different lifeboat. We tried to tell him what to expect. He doesn’t hear that well so we knew with all the people he would have a hard time hearing his room number called. He said he went to the back of the people and stood and he said that he never heard his room number called out and never heard anyone calling his name. He said that he kept waiting to hear his name over the loudspeaker. Who knows. He swears that he didn’t check in at all. Interesting. Maybe one of the people taking roll call recognized him somehow?

Us before the life boat drill

Life boat drill crowds.

The weirdest thing happened to us tonight…never in my life has this happened before. When we were in the hotel this morning we were walking towards the elevator and we heard someone sneeze inside their room (their door was shut). They just happened to sneeze as we were walking by. We laughed and said “Bless you”. Then tonight while walking back to the room after buying Internet minutes we passed one room and someone sneezed. Amazing! Twice in one day that happened to us. Then about 40 rooms down it happened AGAIN! That was three times in one day that we just happened to be walking by a closed door to someone’s room when they sneezed! Weird!

So we went down for dinner and there was a line. We got in the line and waited for about 5 minutes and we didn’t get very far. I started to wonder….so I took a walk to the front of the line and realized that there were TWO lines. One for people who had made reservations and one for those people that were “dropping in”. So we got out of line and went to the side that had no line…NICE! We got a nice table with just us. Service was a bit slower and I have to admit that I like having the dining room stewards. Makes the whole experience more “fun” somehow.

So as I have mentioned before, I have 8 year old taste buds, so I asked for a kids menu. When they guy brought it to me he didn’t even pause when he handed it to me and asked with a straight face “Would you like a crayon with that menu?” ha! I laughed hard and he cracked a smile. Funny. I ordered mac and cheese while my dad got prime rib and hubby got the salmon. My dad liked the meat (thank goodness). He also got red velvet cake for desert but said that it was a bit dry (it LOOKED dry!)

We walked to the casino and checked out the poker tournament. Dad wasn’t impressed with the electronic poker, but we might be able to get him to try at some point during the cruise. We will see. He said that if he was going to play with the cards on a tablet (electronically) he might as well play on his computer up in his room. Lol.

We checked out the animal that dad got on his bed….looked like a worm with eyes? Lol We had a crab. The chocolates on our bed were “plain” as others have said, but ya know what? They tasted yummy as usual! We made plans to meet at 830 in the morning for breakfast. Hubby tracked the boat with our GPS and his mapping software and we hit the hay. Getting up at 5 in the morning is tiring! Lol

Yes I ordered from the kids menu tonight. I have the mac and cheese. Yum!

me and hubby on the balcony

The view from our room.

And some random pics...

(I told my dad to write up his thoughts, I don't have them, but will post them when he gets them to me/when I can).

I think these chairs look like swordfish, but of course they are ships...they are kinda ugly huh?

Statues lying down...ok, they aren't, They are upright and I am below them taking the picture looking up, but it's a cool angle huh?

The ship at Pier 91 in Seattle with the Star Princess next to us.

The bathroom

The menu from Chocolate Seduction. When we went by there today the lady said that the only thing they had was the "regular". Boring. What is the good of advertising a yummy peanut butter chocolate hot chocolate when they only have chocolate. Bummer.

Thanks for the continuing great reports, and a big thanks for taking the time for posting the pictures as well. They really make for a great review.

Ohhh now I got even more excited about your report! Our stateroom is 7151 too. Wonderful!! Can't wait to follow you along and hear all the details.

What a wonderful thread. :)

I am so enjoying it and thank you for sharing your wonderful stories with us.

Hope you have the Best time. We loved our Oosterdam cruise from Seattle last June. :) And, enjoyed Westerdam in November/December.

Thanks for posting the kids menu.

awww you pics really made me homesick for the Westerdam. Our cabin was 8147, the aft wrap directly above you. I hope to sail in one of those cabins again.

I hope the sneezes you kept hearing aren't indicative that the ship is going to be sick with the cold.

Look for a drink called the frosty chocolatey buzz. It was soooo good! I had it in the Queens Lounge and in the Oceans Bar. It tastes like a starbucks mocha frappachino, but patched a vodka punch and one drink left me buzzed.

Is this " Chocolate Seduction" a venue on the ship?

Yes the chocolate seduction shop is on either deck 3 or 4 tucked away somewhere. Sells hot chocolate and chocolate drinks with alcohol in them. But again wen I asked about the PB and chocolate drink the lady said they only had chocolate and not any of the fancy drinks.

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Yes the chocolate seduction shop is on either deck 3 or 4 tucked away somewhere. Sells hot chocolate and chocolate drinks with alcohol in them. But again wen I asked about the PB and chocolate drink the lady said they only had chocolate and not any of the fancy drinks.

 

 

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Oh the PB and Chocolate sounds delish. Hope it appears later on your cruise. Will have look for it next year. :)

Loving your review.

We found the Chocolate Seduction Bar to be a BIG disappointment.

They can't even make Chocolate Martini's there. The drinks you see on what Sue posted is it!!!

I took some other pictures of the Chocolate Seduction area and prices of the chocolates.

The place was mostly empty for our 20 days.

Originally this area was to have been the Java café like we had on the S and R class ships for free coffee. But it never opened as HAL decided to install the Explorations Café on all the ships.