Noordam LIVE: August Adventure in Alaska

I always love when others post LIVE threads, so I figured I should give one a try. I hope you will enjoy sailing with me on the Noordam!

Pre-cruise:

I had hoped to go to Alaska for our summer trip, but we went to the Caribbean with another cruise line in May due to the great price. This board really made me long for Alaska and HAL again! Yes, it is your fault, but only in the best possible way. We usually book cruises a year in advance, but over the last month, we checked the HAL website, watching for any openings. It was a bit frustrating to see cabin categories open, close, open again, and close before we could even book one. I will admit to checking almost hourly. Persistence paid off and I found a SS category cabin open on the Noordam. We snatched up this cruise about 25 days ago! Tomorrow morning, we fly to Seattle to board the ship! I’m so excited; I can’t wait to see this new ship and explore Alaska!

Becky

Looking forward to your "live from the Noordam" posts.

Have a great Alaskan cruise.

Becky... I'm so excited I think I will go with you:p (That's because I'm your mom!) Cindy

Purple Norway (Becky) and Lady Furn (Mom):

I enjoyed following along with you when you went on the Oosteram to the Mexican Riviera. You are going to LOVE the Noordam. Thanks so much for taking us with you on this cruise, too!:)

Karin

Becky and Cindy:

Just to let you know, there is major road work taking place right now on I-5, just south of downtown Seattle, and it will affect your ride into downtown from the airport. Three lanes will be closed to northbound traffic for the next few weeks. Here is a link from the Washington Department of Transportation. So just allow for some extra time getting to the pier from the airport. You arrive on Sunday, so that should help you.

Bon Voyage:)

Karin

Becky, you are going to love the Noordam, really:) She is right up there with the Oosterdam. I will look forward to hearing what you think and your live reports, I will be following behind you in just 4 more weeks and I can't wait.The knowing exactly how wonderful it is makes the wait that much harder.

I am looking forward to reading your LIVE thread on the Noordam. I love her. Enjoy your holiday.

I look forward to your LIVE reports. HAving just gotten back, I could use an Alaskan "fix" Have a wonderful trip--an SS balcony should be wonderful! Lucky for you in nabbing the cabin!

I am looking forward to reading your LIVE thread on the Noordam. I love her. Enjoy your holiday.

Hi, Becky. I'm so excited about your posts. I'll be looking for them each day. We are following your footsteps...Noordam on aught 26. I'm busy packing and going thru the usual "what to take" stress. If you have any hints, I'll be appreciative. We have scheduled float plane in Juneau and boat ride into Misty Fjords in Ketchikan.

Second trip to Alaska.

First time to cruise on HAL.

Have a great time!

GMom

Hi, Becky. I'm so excited about your posts. I'll be looking for them each day. We are following your footsteps...Noordam on aught 26. I'm busy packing and going thru the usual "what to take" stress. If you have any hints, I'll be appreciative. We have scheduled float plane in Juneau and boat ride into Misty Fjords in Ketchikan.

Second trip to Alaska.

First time to cruise on HAL.

Have a great time!

GMom

Hi GMom,

Just wondering if you would be interested in signing up on our roll call for this cruise. We have about 33 CCers in our group and will be having our Meet & Greet on the first sea day. :)

Good morning. Unfortunately, I was unable to sleep last night. I “woke up” before 3 am. Too much excitement I guess. Our flight to Chicago leaves at 6. There are some storms around here with lots of lightning. It has just begun to pour! Hopefully we will get out somewhat on time.

Thanks for the well-wishes and comments!

Enjoy!!

I took some lovely naps on the flights. We made it to Seattle only half an hour later than expected. The luggage took a long time to appear but our taxi ride was only around 10 minutes long since we breezed through the construction. Our driver said it will be worse in the coming weeks and the interstate will be closed, so plan accordingly if you will be driving to the port by yourself. Check-in at the cruise terminal took about 5 minutes. It probably took longer to walk the long gangway to the ship! Although cabins were not open yet, we stopped by ours. Our cabin steward introduced himself and said we could leave our carry-on bags inside. As we walked towards the stairwell an officer spotted us and said, “We are not open yet, it is dangerous to go through the doors!” After 5 minutes on board, we were already in trouble.

It was difficult to find a table at lunch. We ended up at the far side of the pool. The dessert man is a mind reader. He knew that I wanted the chocolate cake. I found the bread pudding at the end of the main buffet line, by the desserts. I crowned my bowl of that warm goodness with chocolate shavings from the ice cream topping station. Yum.

Our cabin is nice, but I think that because it has a connecting door to the room next door, we have been shorted a closet. We are having trouble finding places to put our clothing. I love having two sinks; the odd thing is that the hot water faucet turns the opposite way of the cold one. So far, whenever I have it on, I end up turning it on full blast when I really mean to turn it off. If I ever learn to turn it the correct way, it will be a miracle.

I went to the bow and “waved” to the Princess web cam. It was near 3:00. I doubt anyone was watching at that moment.

We sailed nearly an hour late due to a med evac.

Our dinner is at 7:45 on the lower level of the dining room, table 191. The upper level is supposed to be traditional dining, which we requested, so I’m not quite sure what we will be getting.

Gal to hear you're aboard! Have a Glorious week!

Thanks for reporting in, my guess on your dining they have extended the Traditional Dining to accommodate everyone down to the lower level. Sounds like this will be your table for the rest of the week. Looking forward to hearing more since we will be returning in just 4 weeks.

Thanks:)

I just got off the shop when you were coming on. Which level are you staying on? You'll have a blast.

I always love when others post LIVE threads, so I figured I should give one a try. I hope you will enjoy sailing with me on the Noordam!

 

Pre-cruise:

 

I had hoped to go to Alaska for our summer trip, but we went to the Caribbean with another cruise line in May due to the great price. This board really made me long for Alaska and HAL again! Yes, it is your fault, but only in the best possible way. We usually book cruises a year in advance, but over the last month, we checked the HAL website, watching for any openings. It was a bit frustrating to see cabin categories open, close, open again, and close before we could even book one. I will admit to checking almost hourly. Persistence paid off and I found a SS category cabin open on the Noordam. We snatched up this cruise about 25 days ago! Tomorrow morning, we fly to Seattle to board the ship! I’m so excited; I can’t wait to see this new ship and explore Alaska!

 

Becky

Have a great time! I was on board the Noordam yesterday for the day. Too bad I didn't run into you!

At Sea

At dinner last night, there was a line of people waiting for the open sitting, but we went past them to find our traditional dining table. Apparently there were more people than usual who wanted traditional, so they allowed some to be on the lower level. I saw a familiar face from the Oosterdam. He was not in uniform since he just came on, but it is Fabian, I think he is a head waiter. In one of Lisa’s Oosterdam albums, she has a photo of someone named Christian who looks like Fabian, so I would always call him Christian. I had to ask, “What is your real name?” Our waiter from the Zuiderdam is also here.

Our dining room table has three chairs and a couch. It is a great people watching spot and we can look out the windows if we sit on the chair side. Our waiters are Ucho (not sure about spelling) and Andie. The menus are different. They are two pages that open up instead of the usual one-pagers. I had the fantastic Kansas City steak soup and the turkey. So good! No one else joined our table, but we had plenty of head waiters come over to chat. While we ate, a golden mist settled where the water met the mountains. I wanted my camera, but was too tired to run back to the cabin. Then another ship, I think the NCL Pearl, was silhouetted in the sun. That was it; I had to get the camera. Of course it was not on our side, so by the time I made it to the Promenade, it was nearly gone. However, the clouds had changed into gorgeous colors! The pilot was disembarking and then we turned, so I ran over to the other side, took more photos, and went back to dinner. I’ve posted some photos in my Picasa account.

Breakfast was very slow. Some people next to us got quite upset. It sure tasted good though! I had the amazing Muesli and the Belgian Waffle. We then went immediately to the galley tour. Guess what? We saw Mr. Deering there! Actually it is his look-alike, Sam (see photo). He says he is often told that they look similar.

tv07, We are on Navigation deck, below the Lido. Heard some kids running and above, but still slept very very well as you can imagine!

shipcafe, yes too bad we didn't run into you!

It is almost lunch time. We'll go to the dining room. I saw the Thai chicken salad in the kitchen. Love that stuff!

In one of Lisa’s Oosterdam albums, she has a photo of someone named Christian who looks like Fabian, so I would always call him Christian. I had to ask, “What is your real name?”

Is this the gentleman who is on the Noordam with you?

click to enlarge

I later found out from Mr. Deering that I did have his name wrong so I am so sorry but if it is him I am so excited because I hope to see him when we are on the Noordam in 4 weeks. Hopefully he will remember us.:)

tv07, We are on Navigation deck, below the Lido. Heard some kids running and above, but still slept very very well as you can imagine!

 

shipcafe, yes too bad we didn't run into you!

 

It is almost lunch time. We'll go to the dining room. I saw the Thai chicken salad in the kitchen. Love that stuff!

You are a wonderful photographer! :o

Lisa, that is the photo I was thinking of, but it is not Fabian. I guess there are many look-alikes on board.

CrystalWater, thank you! I am trying again to post more photos, but Picasa is not connecting for some reason.

We just saw some whales!

I will try to post some photos, with the help of the internet manager. 1) Seattle 2) Turkey