Life and live from Nieuw Amsterdam up north to Alaska

[Copper10-8]

5 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Bon Voyage!  Will you be doing the Allen Marine tour to Tracy Arm or are you headed straight to Juneau?

 

Roy

 

Howdy Roy; Straight to Joe's town at 1:00 PM and then on a private whale watch tour with Marv & Harv 

[Copper10-8]

5 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

Wonderful.  We're on board 13 Sep.  How long did it take to get through the check in process?  We're also in Pan Pacific and trying to figure out should we go early or just hang out at the hotel to  maybe 1330.

 

It looked worse than it turned out to be; the ship check-in process was a snap but then again, we had Neptune Suite priority. The serpentine for shore-side security looked like an hour's wait, but turned out to move constantly (they were doing the zig-zagging to avoid a backup at the metal detector and X-Ray machines.)

 

As far as the U.S. CBP screening, they use the Automated Passport Control (ACP) kiosks, similar to what Canadian CBSA uses upon arrival at YVR and what you now find at most U.S. airports when returning from and international flight (no more stamping of passports.) If they - the kiosks - get too crowded, they will direct you straight to the CBP officers inside their booths, which is what happened to us. That process (the CBP officer scanning your passport) took less than a minute.

I'd say the entire process from check-in to the 'welcome aboard' pic took 20-25 min. We arrived at the bag drop-off at approx. 12:20 PM after receiving an e-mail from HAL that Nieuw A was conducting a "staggered" boarding process.  

[ski ww]

Enjoy reading your posts, Bon Voyage fair winds & smooth seas.

[kazu]

3 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

I'd say the entire process from check-in to the 'welcome aboard' pic took 20-25 min. We arrived at the bag drop-off at approx. 12:20 PM after receiving an e-mail from HAL that Nieuw A was conducting a "staggered" boarding process. 

 

Sounds like the Vancouver check in was pretty good considering the Customs requirement and 4 ships in port.

 

enjoying your posts as always and following along.

 

Hope you have a lovely cruise 🙂 

[jbhcw]

Thanks for doing a live thread!  Following...we sailed her several years ago on a thanksgiving cruise with the whole family...loving the pictures...bringing back memories!

[nw gardener]

Following,  we loved our cruise in May on the NA. Looks like you should have good weather this week,  enjoy, and thank you for taking the time to do a live post.

[SilvertoGold]

Would like to know where exactly you dropped off your luggage.  We had a nice trip to the basement parking garage (a first).  The proper escalator/elevator was not working so we had a long line up alongside the bus area to access the one elevator down to the garage.  The whole process was a big zigzag!  

[Love the beach]

Have a fabulous time!

[puppycanducruise]

This is great!

Thank you so much for taking us along.

Have a great cruise.

[415wcl]

Great write up and photos! I'm looking forward to more updates!

 

I was also on the same cruise back in June! Hope you have as good a time as I did. 

[Copper10-8]

2 hours ago, SilvertoGold said:

Would like to know where exactly you dropped off your luggage.  We had a nice trip to the basement parking garage (a first).  The proper escalator/elevator was not working so we had a long line up alongside the bus area to access the one elevator down to the garage.  The whole process was a big zigzag!  

 

The best way to describe it is, as you come out of the Pan Pacific cruise ship level elevator, you're on the south-west side of the subterranean Canada Place parking lot. You will see the buses ahead and slightly to the left. You follow the sidewalk and pass in front of those buses. The luggage cages being filled by the longshoremen are in the north-west corner (you have to make a slight right turn on that same sidewalk to get there. It takes around five minutes unless your Usain "Lightning" Bolt. 

[SilvertoGold]

18 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

The best way to describe it is, as you come out of the Pan Pacific cruise ship level elevator, you're on the south-west side of the subterranean Canada Place parking lot. You will see the buses ahead and slightly to the left. You follow the sidewalk and pass in front of those buses. The luggage cages being filled by the longshoremen are in the north-west corner (you have to make a slight right turn on that same sidewalk to get there. It takes around five minutes unless your Usain "Lightning" Bolt. 

 

Ah ha!  That helps. The same as in June.  Not as user-friendly as in the past, but we know the route (and that makes a difference).  Your info is much appreciated!

[dchip]

Thanks so much for taking us along. We had the best cruise ever on the Maasdam in June. Three heavenly weeks. 

 

Cheers, Denise 

[nutensteve]

Great review Copper. We sure enjoyed the NA.

[Sir PMP]

Let's hope you have a lot of sleet and snow instead of a heatwave..

[Himself]

John have a great day in Juneau.  If you happen to meander into the Juneau Alaska Fudge store near the dock and ask for Scott.  Tell him Fr. McGeean says hello.  Thanks

 

[Copper10-8]

Day 2 - 08/11/2019; At Sea heading for Juneau, AK. So, during Sat evening and into early Sunday morning, Nieuw Amsterdam chugged along the Strait of Georgia on a northerly course between the Canadian mainland and Vancouver Island, timing her speed and course carefully in order to arrive at Seymour Narrows bright and early at 0200 hours during slack tide (the moment the current goes from Ebbing to Flooding or vice versa).

 

Seymour Narrows is a 3.1-mile section of the Discovery Passage in British Columbia, known for strong tidal currents as well as dangerous conditions such as whirlpools and overfalls. Discovery Passage lies between Vancouver Island at Menzies Bay and Quadra Island except at its northern end where the eastern shoreline is Sonra Island. The section known as Seymour Narrows begins about 11 miles from the south end of Discovery Passage where it enters the Strait of Georgia near Cape Mudge and the community of Campbell River. For most of the length of the narrows, the channel is about 820 yards wide. Through this narrow channel, currents can reach 15 knots or 17 miles per hour. Canadian pilots are mandatory to be present on the bridge.

 

Seymour Narrows was described by Captain George Vancouver, an English officer of the Royal Navy who explored this region of the northwestern North America Pacific Coast during his 1791–95 expedition, as "one of the vilest stretches of water in the world. Even after Ripple Rock (a submerged twin-peak mountain that lay just nine feet beneath the surface of Seymour Narrows. It was a serious hazard to shipping, sinking 119 vessels and taking 114 lives) was removed, it remains a challenging route. In March 1981, the freighter Star Philippine ran aground in the narrows so there is no doubt that the navigation of Seymour Narrows requires skill and technical accomplishment.

 

After Nieuw A’s bridge team successfully transited Seymour Narrows and Discovery Passage, Chatham Point and its 90 degree turn, Race Passage, Johnstone Strait, Blackney Passage (another 90 degree turn), and Blackfish Sound were entered and followed, passing Port Hardy. She then sailed via Queen Charlotte Strait into the open (Pacific) ocean arm of Queen Charlotte Sound, keeping the Haida Gwaii Islands (formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands) to our west and dropping off the two BC pilots at Triple Island (just outside Prince Rupert, BC). Although it is considered inland waters, the Sound is more than 25 miles wide at places. Next up was Hecate Strait to enter U.S waters west bound at the Dixon Entrance.

 

There were Humpback whale sightings this morning, never boring! Breakfast for us was in the Pinnacle Grill, a perk for Neptune suite bookings. The atmosphere in there is always quit and relaxing which makes for a nice breakfast.

 

We did pretty much entirely nada for the remainder of the day, had a salad bowl, well not the bowl itself, but the greens that were in it, for lunch in the Lido and waited for the first (of two) Gala evenings. I always bring a suit, shirt and tie, since HAL went from formal to gala night. Tonite however, I decided to wear slacks and a colored shirt for the first time, and I was not in the minority! Very few suits, some sports coats with or without ties, and lots of slacks and colored shirts; the times, they are a changing on cruise ships, even on Holland America Line! Yes, we did see the occasional t-shirt ad shorts and they were summarily dealt with!

 

Dinner for us was a 7:30 reservation in the Tamarind Asian-fusion restaurant located mid-ships (facing aft) on Deck 11. The service by the Indonesian and Thai ladies in there is always gracious. Maria had the Seabass and I chose the Wasabi crusted tenderloin. The food in Tamarind never disappoints us, Enak Sekali!

 

After dinner, we walked to the Main Stage for the 9:30 performance by illusionist Leon Etienne. If you like “girl in the box” being sawed or stabbed in half by saw blades and steel swords, you came to the right place! Of course, an illusionist is always looking for volunteers from the audience, so the house lights are turned on and most everyone is suddenly looking everywhere but at the illusionist who, by now, is walking among us looking for victims. I learned a long time ago from personal experience not to look at the floor or my shoes but straight in his eyes with eyes like daggers that say, “I dare you to pick me.” Tonight, that trick worked! I must say, Leon and his two lovely assistants were good and some of ticks elicited the response “How’d he do that?”

 

We once again finished up the night by attending the third and final set of the BB King band, they had the dance floor full, and then by listening to Ivy and Jonathan in Billboard Onboard who, we felt, were not as good as the first night. Also ran into, and said hi, to Nieuw A’s Staff Captain Martijn who I had worked a full contract with a couple of years ago on Zuiderdam. Good times!

 

Tomorrow is our first port of call, Alaska’s State Capital and Joe’s town, Juneau. See ya’ll then!

 

Pic is the nice model of Nieuw Amsterdam II, the “Darling of the Dutch” which is located inside the Neptune Lounge

 

[Copper10-8]

Breakfast in the Pinnacle; always a relaxing experience! Third pic is of Nieuw A's Deck 1 Atrium; No "Rijksmuseum at Sea" 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Headin' north in Queen Charlotte Sound and, it appears, a penguin made it onboard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Nieuw Amsterdam's mid-ship Lido Pool on a sea day

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Explorations Central (EXC) in the Crow's Nest

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Explorations Central (EXC) in the Crow's Nest II

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Explorations Central (EXC) in the Crow's Nest III - combo Crow's Nest Bar/Explorations Cafe

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Dinner in the Tamarind; always a nice and gracious (service by Dhana and Sarah) experience! 

 

 

 

 

The incredible expanding (when wet) hand towel

 

 

Soy Sauce, sweet Thai, mild green stuff and Sambal (but cooked, so no tears generator!) to be used along with the Krupuk 

 

 

Krupuk! 

 

 

The "Far East Legacy" Tasty! 

Edited August 13, 2019 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

 

The Satay (or Sate) sampler; Indonesian-spiced chicken, Thai-spiced beef, Malaysian-spiced lamb, Chinese pork and Vietnamese shrimp; comes with peanut sauce and sweet Thai for dipping purposes 

 

 

Wasabi and Soy crusted oak planked beef tenderloin along with tempura of onion rings; the green palm tree leaf is extra

 

 

Mango cloud, a light egg white souffle served with a mango sorbet

 

 

Tamarind Chocolate shell; the "ular" (snake) is edible