Two ships passing in the...

[VintageGeo]

In June, 2019 we sailed the Oosterdam round trip Seattle Alaska cruise. After a sea day of watching a very foggy Vancouver Island shoreline go by, we awakened on the morning of the 10th to more of the same, fog and intermittent rain showers. As we sailed in through Stephen's Passage in the vicinity of Kake, a ship suddenly appeared out of the fog.

 

As we admired the view, we experienced the first break in the overcast that we had seen to that point. It was as if someone turned on the light, and we could tell that we were seeing a HAL ship.

 

Looking back, it seemed an almost mystical experience that we recall fondly. We have often wondered what ship we encountered that day. We believe it was one of the S class sisters, but never got a good enough look to identify.

 

If anyone could tell us which of the blue hulled beauties we saw heading toward Kake on the morning of June 10, 2019 we would appreciate it.

Thanks.

Lori & George

 

 

 

[YXU AC*SE]

Pretty sure that's ms Amsterdam.  Scott. 

[richwmn]

3 hours ago, VintageGeo said:

If anyone could tell us which of the blue hulled beauties we saw heading toward Kake on the morning of June 10, 2019 we would appreciate it

On June 11th Maasdam called on Kake, Alaska, after being in Juneau on the 10th.

Amsterdam was at Anchorage on the 10th and Homer on the 11th

Eurodam was transiting from Juneau (10th) to Sitka (12th).

 

Edited September 14, 2020 by richwmn

[VintageGeo]

7 minutes ago, richwmn said:

On June 11th Maasdam called on Kake, Alaska, after being in Juneau on the 10th.

Amsterdam was at Anchorage on the 10th and Homer on the 11th

Eurodam was transiting from Juneau (10th) to Sitka (12th).

 

Thanks, Rich. It was June 11th, not the 10th, so it was the Maasdam we saw. Other than encroaching age, cabin fever, lack of sleep, and general from-the-neck-up numbness, I can't think of a single reason to have messed up the date.....

[ShipsAreTheBest]

3 hours ago, VintageGeo said:

Thanks, Rich. It was June 11th, not the 10th, so it was the Maasdam we saw. Other than encroaching age, cabin fever, lack of sleep, and general from-the-neck-up numbness, I can't think of a single reason to have messed up the date.....

Definitely Maasdam.  I zoomed in in your photos (very ethereal - beautiful pics!) and the funnel is definitely an S-class ship.  Since there were only two S-class ships left in the fleet in 2019, and Veendam was in Europe and Maasdam in Alaska, it could only be Maasdam.

[Sir PMP]

Maasdam!!

[VintageGeo]

2 hours ago, ShipsAreTheBest said:

Definitely Maasdam.  I zoomed in in your photos (very ethereal - beautiful pics!) and the funnel is definitely an S-class ship.  Since there were only two S-class ships left in the fleet in 2019, and Veendam was in Europe and Maasdam in Alaska, it could only be Maasdam.

Thanks.

[oaktreerb]

14 hours ago, VintageGeo said:

In June, 2019 we sailed the Oosterdam round trip Seattle Alaska cruise. After a sea day of watching a very foggy Vancouver Island shoreline go by, we awakened on the morning of the 10th to more of the same, fog and intermittent rain showers. As we sailed in through Stephen's Passage in the vicinity of Kake, a ship suddenly appeared out of the fog.

 

As we admired the view, we experienced the first break in the overcast that we had seen to that point. It was as if someone turned on the light, and we could tell that we were seeing a HAL ship.

 

Looking back, it seemed an almost mystical experience that we recall fondly. We have often wondered what ship we encountered that day. We believe it was one of the S class sisters, but never got a good enough look to identify.

 

If anyone could tell us which of the blue hulled beauties we saw heading toward Kake on the morning of June 10, 2019 we would appreciate it.

Thanks.

Lori & George

 

 

 

We were on that ship.  It was the 21 day Alaska cruise out of San Francisco on the Maasdam.  One of the ports was Kake but in order to actually visit Kake we had to take an excursion called Alaska Native Village Cultural Celebration & Market.  The Maasdam sat in Fredrick Sound while we transferred directly to the St Nicholas expedition vessel which took us to Kake.  The other excursion group transferred to another expedition vessel searching for wildlife and whales.   The cruise was really special and I hope that HAL can return to some gentle expedition cruising in the future.  Our excursion was not full (which was too bad). It was a rainy day and the transfer was a choppy one but the crew was there to make the transfer a safe one.  The date was June 11th.

[St Pete Cruiser]

Oaktreerb, good for you.  We saw the Maasdam headed north in May, 2019, and our friends took the Maasdam from San Fransisco thru Japan in July.

[VintageGeo]

1 hour ago, oaktreerb said:

We were on that ship.  It was the 21 day Alaska cruise out of San Francisco on the Maasdam.  One of the ports was Kake but in order to actually visit Kake we had to take an excursion called Alaska Native Village Cultural Celebration & Market.  The Maasdam sat in Fredrick Sound while we transferred directly to the St Nicholas expedition vessel which took us to Kake.  The other excursion group transferred to another expedition vessel searching for wildlife and whales.   The cruise was really special and I hope that HAL can return to some gentle expedition cruising in the future.  Our excursion was not full (which was too bad). It was a rainy day and the transfer was a choppy one but the crew was there to make the transfer a safe one.  The date was June 11th.

 

The pictures look like you had a lovely visit, thanks for sharing them.

Not very far from where we saw your ship we saw the first whale of our cruise, so hopefully the other group had some good luck as well.

Glad you also enjoyed your cruise. It was nice to (almost) bump into you.

 

Lori & George

 

 

[rkacruiser]

I was aboard Rotterdam V sailing after a visit to an Alaska port.  It was foggy; the fog horn was active and I was comfortably seated, wrapped in a blanket, in a deck chair on the Promenade Deck.  A "ghost ship" slowly began to appear in the fog as we passed.  It was a Royal Caribbean ship, proceeding to where we had just left.  It was one of those "special" moments that one can only experience on a cruise.    

[Live4cruises]

I love reading these special Alaska memories.  Thank you.