Maybe live from the Nieuw Amsterdam's fourth Alaska cruise, 2021

[Missheo]

Hopefully we will be cruising with you this Saturday. My test is tonight, keeping my figure cross for a negative. None of us are sick, but these test sometime could be false positive.

[flyrobinfly]

2 minutes ago, Missheo said:

Hopefully we will be cruising with you this Saturday. My test is tonight, keeping my figure cross for a negative. None of us are sick, but these test sometime could be false positive.

 

That's my biggest worry about the test, that we'd be grounded for a false positive. 😐

 

Here's hoping that all the CC members' tests go well and have a wonderful cruise! Thank you for doing this thread. 

[Missheo]

1 minute ago, flyrobinfly said:

 

That's my biggest worry about the test, that we'd be grounded for a false positive. 😐

 

Here's hoping that all the CC members' tests go well and have a wonderful cruise! Thank you for doing this thread. 

That is my worry too. We have never been tested before, because there was no reason for it until now with the new requirement.

[cruisegirl]

18 hours ago, Boytjie said:

With the wifi seemingly iffy on the ship, who knows how "live" it might be.

 

We left a hot and humid New York City Tuesday morning. JFK's jetBlue terminal was very busy but thanks to TSA Pre ✅ we were through the security checkpoint in no time. We boarded around 9 am for a 9:30 departure, and then we waited and waited . For catering services to deliver the drinks and snacks for the flight - and more importantly the ice (according to our friend John in Seattle that worked for a few airlines on the ground). We departed an hour late. Surprisingly, nobody acted up and the flight was uneventful, except for the woman next to us that talked for three hours non-stop to her new friend across the aisle. She eventually fell asleep.

 

We had great views of Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens (I believe) in the distance.

 

We arrived at SeaTac about 30 minutes late and the rental car pickup as quick. We were able to check in and get to our room at the Mediterranean Inn in the Queen Ann District and unpacked before our friend John picked us up for a drive around tour of parts of the city. We ended up at Duke's Seafood on Union Lake for drinks and early snacks/dinner and then John dropped us off at the hotel.

 

We ended up watching the sunset from the hotel's roof deck and it was a lovely (early) end of a long day for the New Yorkers.

 

Tomorrow we will get our covid tests in Bellevue with some sightseeing there and also along the waterfront.

 

Hot weather will be with us the next few days: 85F on Wednesday, 94F on Thursday, 99F on Friday 😮 and 91F on Saturday.

 

For the Seattle locals: any suggestions for what to do on  those hot days? Head out of the city (Mt. Rainier, Bainbridge Island and further west?)

 

Now I need to get to bed; Richard is fast asleep.

 

 

 

 

 

That looks like a delightful hotel. 

[Boytjie]

2 hours ago, atexsix said:

I've found with Alaska, going from the Glacier Bay area down to Sitka as being the most rocky, I love it!

 

That was also our experience 14 years ago, but then I was not affected much by it: benadryl and red wine nocked me out! I heard it was rough. I went to bed early and woe up at 4 am. I wandered the ship and saw an amazing early morning sail through the little islands into Sitka,

[Boytjie]

Day Two in Seattle.

 

At 5:00 AM I woke up from some loud noise in the area, it sounded like construction more than garbage collection but it soon went away and we got some more sleep.(I vaguely remember something similar form our previous stay!)

 

We had some yogurt and fruit for breakfast in our room and then headed out on foot to Olympic Sculpture Park near Pier 70. From there we walked along the waterfront past Pier 66 to Pike Place Market. The market was not as busy as usual but there were a good number of visitors there.

 

14 years ago people boarded the Amsterdam with bunches of flowers from there and would like to do the same. Does anyone have experience with that? Could we ask our steward for a vase? My mother loved - and grew dahlias - so it would be nice to have some onboard.

 

We walked back to the Mediterranean Inn to get the car and headed out to Bellevue College for our covid tests. It ended up being a drive-through site and we were there way early. We looked for a lunch spot in Old Bellevue but parking was a pain, so we grabbed some tacos to go. Back to BC and we got in the testing line. It took about 20 minutes to get through the whole process in one of the college's parking garages. We will be called if we test positive or we can check it online in 24 hours.

 

From there we drove up to Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park but it was starting to get very hot. We did a short hike to a view point which did not have the greatest views of Sammamish Lake. The drive up the mountain took us spast some spectacular houses... big bucks rule here!

 

We then drove through Lake Sammamish State Park but could not get any good views of the lake and since it was really hot, we fled back to the A/C at our hotel. We are planning to pick up dinner from Shota Nakajima's Taku (he was runner up in Top Chef Portland) and enjoy dinner on the roof deck with a bottle of Walla Walla rose wine. Dessert will be figs we picked up at Pike Place Market.

 

After 15K steps and some driving, we will have had a long day!

 

We 

[woodworker&knitter]

On our 2019 cruise out of Seattle we actually brought 2 bouquets of flowers for our cabin, and did get a vase from our steward. Flowers certainly brighten up a cabin especially since we had one of the large insides. 
Thank you for posting your beautiful pictures 

Edited August 12, 2021 by woodworker&knitter

[aliaschief]

A tip of the day. If you wear glasses/sunglasses purchase some anti fog wipes/spray for your eye ware. With this cooler damp weather when wearing a mask it has been a problem.

[zgscl]

Can't wait to see everyone onboard this Saturday!

[zgscl]

3 hours ago, aliaschief said:

A tip of the day. If you wear glasses/sunglasses purchase some anti fog wipes/spray for your eye ware. With this cooler damp weather when wearing a mask it has been a problem.

Great tip, thank you! I will make sure to pick some up before leaving. 

[zgscl]

17 hours ago, bluesplayer said:

Following along..  thank you for another “Almost live”  You may try an Argosy cruise from Lake Union  the dinner and brunch cruises the food is good..or a ferry ride across the sound to Baimbridge Island.  Once off the ferry easy walk to a cute small town.  If you need A/C  the Art museum or the Chuily glass museum.  

  Enjoy your cruise!!!  Look forward to reports.  

I will echo this! 

Argosy unfortunately no longer offers the lunch/dinner/brunch cruises however their Locks cruise from Lake Union to Pier 55 (or the other way) is a fantastic 2 hour tour and a nice way to see the city as well as a much more affordable way to travel through locks than the Panama Canal. 

[Vict0riann]

Thank you, @Boytjie, for another Live From - no Maybe about it!  I will enjoy sailing along with you vicariously.  And learning as you go - as I imagine a lot of the new protocols will be the same in Europe.

[aliaschief]

The salmon are running at Creek Street in Ketchikan.catch them at high tide when the seals start after them.

[cal56girl]

51 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

The salmon are running at Creek Street in Ketchikan.catch them at high tide when the seals start after them.

How long is their season? We will be there mid September

 

[Oceansaway17]

19 hours ago, woodworker&knitter said:

On our 2019 cruise out of Seattle we actually brought 2 bouquets of flowers for our cabin, and did get a vase from our steward. Flowers certainly brighten up a cabin especially since we had one of the large insides. 
Thank you for posting your beautiful pictures 

I am surprised you were able to bring flowers on board that you might have bought at the market.

[woodworker&knitter]

10 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

I am surprised you were able to bring flowers on board that you might have bought at the market.

It was a 35 day cruise and I even bought fresh flowers at a market in Panama City Panama. No problem, they but them in a bin and through the scanner

Edited August 12, 2021 by woodworker&knitter

[zelker]

6 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

I am surprised you were able to bring flowers on board that you might have bought at the market.

We've never had an issue bringing fresh flowers onboard from any port (including Seattle more than once).  We even bought flowers at a market across from where the ship docked in Suva, Fiji and had no problem bringing them on. 🌻  We always ask and have never been denied.

[Oceansaway17]

29 minutes ago, zelker said:

We've never had an issue bringing fresh flowers onboard from any port (including Seattle more than once).  We even bought flowers at a market across from where the ship docked in Suva, Fiji and had no problem bringing them on. 🌻  We always ask and have never been denied.

aw ok must the rule in reverse,  not taking live plants off the ship like no fruits or veggies with.

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, Oceansaway17 said:

aw ok must the rule in reverse,  not taking live plants off the ship like no fruits or veggies with.

Yes, bringing flowers off the ship in the US, and many (if not most? all?) other places, is against the rules. 
Bringing them on the ship is allowed. 

[amando]

Hello,

Interested to know are you only allowed off board if you are doing HAL excursions? Wanting to know for future reference.

[Boytjie]

1 hour ago, amando said:

Hello,

Interested to know are you only allowed off board if you are doing HAL excursions? Wanting to know for future reference.

I have not seen anything that stated you cannot go out on your own. We have an independent excursion booked for next Monday in Juneau. 

[zelker]

1 hour ago, amando said:

Hello,

Interested to know are you only allowed off board if you are doing HAL excursions? Wanting to know for future reference.

From HAL’s website, dated August 4th -

 

Can I explore the destinations independently?

Sailing from the U.S.:
Shore excursions offered by Holland America Line are strongly encouraged as local officials oversee health and safety standards for these guides. Independent tours or on-your-own exploration are currently permitted by local authorities.  While on shore, guests are required to follow local health and safety direction and requirements as advised by tour operators which currently include masks, physical distancing and enhanced sanitation guidelines.  Guests are advised that shore excursion operations are subject to change on short notice due to revisions in local health restrictions. 

[Boytjie]

Day Three in Seattle.

 

With a very hot day in the forecast, we woke up early and hit the road to go to Mt. Rainier. Reading up on it, it seemed a good idea to start early and from the eastern side so here are less crowds and the light is good.

 

Well, there were lass crowds for sure but there was also a lot of haze from wildfires. Before reaching MRNP we stopped and a beautiful lookout (I forgot the name) with a fast running river, tall trees and cool morning air; tainted with the faint smell of smoke.

 

We drove to the Sunrise Visitor Center (which was closed, as was the snack bar and all facilities except bathrooms. By now it was getting quite hot and with the smoke in the air, we opted against taking a hike. That did not stop many others. We walked around a bit, drove around a bit and took some pictures and decided to call it a day at the mountain. It was still quite enjoyable. (Apparently yesterday it was clear, but we had covid tests to get done).

 

On the way back to Seattle around lunchtime, we decided to do a detour via Bainbridge Island; it was only 30 minutes longer than the drive to our hotel. It was still very hazy and getting hotter. We finally reached PoulsBo, a Scandinavian looking town near Bainbridge Island. During the early lockdown one of my younger coworkers moved back home to Poulsbo and via our Zoom meetings  I was introduced to it, and piqued my interest enough to want to visit.

 

It is quite a lovely little town and we popped into Sluys’ Poulsbo Bakery and picked up some pastries for breakfast. After walking around and overheating, we opted to head to the ferry. We drove around the area by the ferry which had many restaurants and shops, but we opted to jump on the next ferry over. I have never driven a car into a ferry, so this was cool!

 

Once we were underway, it cooled down nicely out on the water. The views of Seattle from the ferry was too hazy to get any nice pictures. We also saw Ovation of the Seas at anchor; she should be sailing to Alaska for the first time tomorrow.

 

Surprise, surprise! Dinner was once again take-out on the hotel's roof deck at sunset with a bottle of local wine. Tonight's meal was a falafel salad and kebab combo plate. Delicious. We can get comfortable with a routine... a few years ago when in Madrid we ended up being at a roof deck bar every night, sometimes having tapas for dinner in the market below. Since we will be having sit-down dinners on the ship, we are enjoying these al fresco dinners on the beautiful evenings.

 

Tomorrow we are off to wine tastings...

[amando]

3 hours ago, zelker said:

From HAL’s website, dated August 4th -

 

Can I explore the destinations independently?

Sailing from the U.S.:
Shore excursions offered by Holland America Line are strongly encouraged as local officials oversee health and safety standards for these guides. Independent tours or on-your-own exploration are currently permitted by local authorities.  While on shore, guests are required to follow local health and safety direction and requirements as advised by tour operators which currently include masks, physical distancing and enhanced sanitation guidelines.  Guests are advised that shore excursion operations are subject to change on short notice due to revisions in local health restrictions. 

Thanks for that

[erewhon]

@Boytjie Enjoying reading your reports, thank you.

Bon Voyage.