North to Alaska - South to Hawaii & Tahiti with Bill & Mary Ann - 42 days - Statendam

Report # 1 Getting Ready to Go September 20, 2014 Saturday Still warm temps in the high 80's

Where has this summer gone??? We have been busy non-stop with numerous household projects since coming back from the 2014 world cruise last May. It seemed like we would never conquer the over-grown weed problem and get those vegetable gardens going. Good thing we got the tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, and cucumbers plants in late May, because it took until now for them to produce and ripen in time. Just in time to be canning every day for weeks now. The next time we see sliced tomatoes and sauted zucchini will be while on the ship. And the best thing about that, is someone else has prepared and cooked it for us. Hurray!

The summer was a very pleasant one, despite the fact we are in a drought. Hardly a day went by that we were not in the pool in the hot afternoon......much appreciated after pruning trees, stacking wood, painting eaves, taking care of the animals, and gardening. No rest for the wicked, we say. Thank goodness we took time to enjoy many BBQ's with the kids and grandkids, and meeting family and friends for breakfast and lunch as often as we could. Like we said, the summer flew by all too quickly.

Our next adventure will take us to Vancouver, where we fly on Sunday morning. We will board the Statendam, a Holland America ship, and sail to Alaska on a seven day inland passage itinerary. Yes, we have done this trip more than a few times, but we are really looking forward to seeing the ports again. We are not sure what kind of weather to expect this late in the season, so we are taking the raincoats and umbrellas. In the past, we have been quite fortunate to have had mild weather wth little rain, but in this part of the world the weather can turn on a dime.

On September 28th, we return to Vancouver, and set sail for the west coast of the USA to San Diego. From there, we head across the vast Pacific Ocean to the islands of Hawaii. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the hurricanes stay away.

Continuing south, we head across the Equator towards French Polynesia, where we will hit several exotic ports of call. Our final stop will be in Nuka Hiva before heading towards San Diego on November 2nd, and finally back home.

Just about all of the last minute stuff has been done, which is always a headache, but necessary. Like packing, for instance. Following a strict list, we have tried to keep our luggage at three bags and carryons. Hopefully, they do not weigh a ton. We have got one more day to get it right.

Since we have this old computer, we will continue posting, as long as it works. Still doing our research on getting a new one before next year.

Stay tuned...........

Bill & Mary Ann

Looking forward to your latest adventures. Enjoy!

We always enjoy your postings and are anxious to hear about the Statendam as we will be on her in Nov.14.:)

We are looking forward to meeting you in Oct. 15 on the 45 day Tales of the Pacific Cruise.:cool:

Looking forward to read about your new adventure. Loved doing the Hawaii/Tahiti cruise. We had an awesome time on the Statendam last fall, hope your trip goes as well.:)

Can't wait to see your postings. They are always so interesting.

We have done the FP itinerary so many times. I am sure you will love it.

We will be on the Statendam following your cruise for 31 days in SA. Very anxious to hear your opinion of the state of the ship.

Love following your adventures.

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Always enjoy following your travels.

Have a fabulous 42 days on board the Statendam.

Yahoo! We don't have to wait for the WC!

Thanks for taking us along.

Looking forward to your reports, will your son be posting photos like he did on your last cruise?

Sounds wonderful.

Have a great cruise..

We are with you for the first seven days on the Statendam. Feel free to attend the informal M&G 10:30am tomorrow in the Crows Nest. Enjoy your extended cruise and I look forward to your reports. -Cliff

Looking forward to more.

I love to read of your adventures and will be following along on this one as well.

Bon Voyage!

Terri

Looking forward to your next adventure. Have a great trip!

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Can't wait to read about your cruise!

Bon voyage!! Love following your wonderful cruises:):):)

Have a wonderful cruise. We'll we reading your posts until we join you 10/3 in San Diego!

Have a wonderful cruise! We have enjoyed reading all about your adventures and look forward to joining you on the Statendam as we set sail for Hawaii and French Polynesia in just over a week from now.

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Bon Voyage, I did not know you did a cruise this short :D.

Through following/enjoying your world cruise blogs in recent years, 2 friends and myself sailed on the Statendam in February to the Pacific Islands as you are about to do. We had such a great time, we are joining this lovely, old ship in January and coming through the Panama Canal - followed by a trip on the Eurodam around the Caribbean. Look forward to reading your comments again and thanks for the work you must put into your blogs!

Report # 2 The Longest Day San Francisco to Vancouver September 21, 2014 Sunday Sunny & 80 degrees

If anyone asked us what we like about the traveling day of a cruise, we would have to say........NOTHING! Well, yes, of course, getting to your final destination, which for us, was the Statendam in Vancouver. That was the frosting on the cake, but the journey was tedious, to say the least.

The adventure began when we had to get up around 3am Sunday morning to be ready for our pre-arranged pickup with a local shuttle service. Our flight out of San Francisco was scheduled for 8am, so that meant we needed to be there to check in 2 hours prior. That is the suggested minimum time for an international flight. Normally our son drives us, and always gets us there with time to spare. Since it was a precious weekend, we did not want to bother him today. Shuttle services are different in that the ride is usually shared with others, which was the case today. Since they lived further away from the city than us, they were collected first.

We were waiting just like we promised well before 4:45am, our assigned time. But the minutes ticked by, and when it got closer to 5am, we began to stress about the delay. Now the good thing, was that today was Sunday, and the traffic should be light. When you have to think of other alternatives at that time of the morning, well, that just aren't any. We never had to think beyond that, because the driver pulled in the driveway, and we were off in a flash. And as promised, we were at the airport with at least 2 minutes to spare.

This time we flew with West Jet, part of the American Air family. Check in was a breeze, and our 2 pieces of luggage were free, included in our fare. Our third bag was a grand total of $18.08, go figure? In hind site, we should have brought our small foldable duffel bag, and we would have not had to leave a pile of clothing at home. You think by now, we should have this down to a science, but every trip is different.

The flight was fine, and we even got biscotti cookies and a half glass of soda on the way. On flights under 2.5 hours, there is no food service offered. If things worked out right, we should have time to make it to the Mariner Society lunch in the Rotterdam dining room between noon and 1:30pm. We have yet to take advantage of this new perk, since for one reason or another, we always seem to miss it. And today was no exception. We missed it. Darn.

We arrived to the lovely Canadian city of Vancouver shortly after 10am. The customs line did weave back and forth, but it moved swiftly since we all had filled out the forms on the plane. The Canadian customs line did weave back and forth, but having filled out the form on the plane, it did move quickly. We saw some HAL reps, who directed us to their desk inside the airport. Our luggage was taken, and was promised to be in our room by 5pm. Perfect. From there, we exited and waited for the bus to arrive for our prepaid transfer to the pier. And we waited, and waited. By the time the driver arrived, 2 hours had elasped since we touched down. We learned that there were three ships at the pier, and all of us were being shuttled together. The largest of the ships was the Golden Princess, a vessel around 100,000 gross tons and what seemed like a gazillion people.

The ride through town was delightful, with a driver who doubled as a real tour guide. We were stuck in a whole lot of traffic on the way, so he kindly pointed out all of the highlights of the city. The weather, by the way, was so nice, we should have worn shorts. Expecting cold and rain, it was much the same as the weather we left at home. Can this possibly last for a week? Rather doubt it. He got us to the pier around 1pm, but kept us on the bus for a while to get instructions from the HAL rep waiting for us.

We lost another hour waiting in a snake-like line attending the US Customs and Border control station. Today they were processing around 6000 passengers between the three ships, a necessary task, but oh so tedious for all of us. By the time we got through this mess, we joined the line for the Statendam embarkation process, which did move a lot more efficiently. We were onboard with working room keys (ours did not work on the last cruise), and went directly to our waiting cabin on deck A. We are situated in the same area that we prefer while on the world cruise, low and between the front and center, the better ride we think.

Waiting for us, were gifts from our travel agency of shipboard credit and a lovely bottle of red wine, Reynvaan Syrah 2010 from Walla Walla Washington, a gift from Captain Smit and Hotel Manager Bart G., a longtime friend of ours. Yep, things are looking better after such a long morning. The luggage had not shown up yet, but all of our pre-requests had been taken care of. We had the refrigerator, fan, extra toweling, and lotions. The bed was made with the duvet as well, and extra wire hangars were in the closet already. Our room steward, Hardi, appeared, and asked if we needed anything else. No, we were happy campers.

After unloading the carryons, we headed for food in the Lido. The sandwich bar was not too busy, and we soon had ham, cheese, and roast beef sandwiches on cibatta rolls with chips. That would fortify us to unpack when the luggage did arrive. Oh yeah, that and a few slices of cheese pizza, which happened to be pretty fresh and appealing. Will have to watch this, because it can become a bad habit with way too many calories. Did we mention we had to try out the ice cream? The rocky road was creamy and rich, while the lime sherbet was refreshing. So much for counting calories.......

The mandatory muster drill was supposed to be at 3:30pm. We were due to leave the port at 4pm. Something must have happened to delay a group of passengers, because it was announced that the drill would be at 4:15pm instead. Fine with us since the bags arrived and we in the middle of unpacking. We noticed that one of the TSA locks was missing from one of the bags. There was no doubt in our mind that we had locked all of the bags, so it must have been searched. Yep, upon opening the bag, there was a slip from security stating the the bag was routinely checked at the San Francisco airport. We know what triggered this.........the plug strip and an extension cord, which was deliberately left on top for them to see. We do not mind our luggage being inspected, but what annoys the heck out of us, is that the lock was missing. Sometimes they put it back in the luggage, but they must have broken it, and it was gone. Well that will give us something to shop for in Alaska.

The drill began promptly at 4:15pm, and we can verify that the room stewards go into each and every room to make sure you are gone. We were a bit late in leaving, and the fellows just pop in unannounced and remind you to go. No problem, because safety is number one on their list and ours too. The actual drill lasted for well over half an hour. Our boat station, # 6, is directly across from the gangway, so we saw the large number of passengers joining us as the drill was in process. There is no way this ship is leaving by 5pm as planned.

Heading for the aft pool deck with cameras in hand, we waited for the sailaway, which did not begin until 5:30pm. The sailaway from port and this beautiful harbor was really nice and relaxing. One of us pulled a lounge chair to the railing at watched from a reclining position as we slowly went under the green bridge. It had been downright hot while we were docked, but once we got into more open waters, it cooled off dramatically. To keep us fueled up, waiters were passing around salmon fingers, crab turnovers, and smoked sausages. They were also pushing the special drink of the day.......Gold Diggers Punch and Yukon Jack Margaritas. There were many takers, since this cruise offered the Explore4 package where you get $100. worth of beverages a day per 2 person cabins. That can add up to a whole lot of booze. Originally we had taken this package on the 42 day trip, but once the offer expired, the actual price of the cruise went down.....way down. Like we saved $2220 by dropping the package. We can buy our own drinks, for as much as we drink, for a lot less. They were offering a special that could be bought onboard, but we'll get into that tomorrow.

Dinnertime came in a flash, and we found that our table was 65, the same as the one we had last year. We have chosen the fixed late seating, upstairs at 8pm. The room was pretty full for the first evening too. We were joined by two couples and one single lady, all very nice folks. There were two seats empty, and if they remain that way, we will ask for them to be removed, as it is hard to hear everyone talk unless you close the circle. We had such a nice time getting to know each other, we did not leave the dining room until almost 10:30pm. Showtime in the lounge was at 9:30pm, and was Listen to the Music with the entertainment team. So there was no rush to leave.

We walked the promenade deck briefly after dinner to work off the conservative servings of salad, soup, and entrees of sweet and sour pork. Thank goodness the serving portions have gotten smaller. Saved a smidgen of room for the hot fudge sundaes we had.

Time to turn in for the night. Trying to begin this blog at 11pm turned out to be futile, because we got the dreaded "blue screen" shutting us down. Just as well, with such a grueling day, sleep was really needed. So much for the Longest Day. In the log run, it turned out good.

Bill & Mary Ann

You're brave, flying in the same day of the cruise. Glad everything worked ok for you. Thx for the update.

Thanks for a great report. Vancouver is much cooler today!

Enjoying following along. Thank you once again for taking the time to regale us with your adventures!

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