Westerdam July 17-25. Semi-live?

[tundra1]

Thanks for your updates!  I never knew that about the table!  That is so good to know!  We like to play cards, and that table will be perfect!

 

 

[rubytue]

53 minutes ago, catmink said:

1. any feedback  on the Neptune Lounge/Suites? 

2. How many formal levenings are there?

3. Is there an "orange party"?

4. Are the seas pretty calm?

1. I got nothing here. I’m a lowly balcony 😂

2. Two. First see day. And, Ketchikan. 
3. yes. It’s tonight (Wednesday, Hubbard)

4. They are fine to me. Tonight is rocking a bit. I am not a good judge. Famously, I took a ferry from Port Townsend to Victoria in December and was one of the 10% on the whole ferry not ill. But, I did just do a hallway ping pong. 

[Cruise Suzy]

51 minutes ago, catmink said:

I have more questions:

1. any feedback  on the Neptune Lounge/Suites? 

2. How many formal levenings are there?

3. Is there an "orange party"?

4. Are the seas pretty calm?

1 - Not in a Neptune, so can't answer

2 - Monday and Friday are Dressy Attire nights

3 - The Orange Party is tonight (Wednesday)

4 - While there haven't been any really "rough" seas, not all are what I'd call calm. 

[Cruise Suzy]

Duplicate, Sorry

Edited July 21, 2022 by Cruise Suzy

[rubytue]

30 minutes ago, tundra1 said:

I never knew that about the table!  That is so good to know!  We like to play cards, and that table will be perfect!

I wish I knew what I did for the trick. I’m sure the cabin steward can show you. There is a ring underneath the table top and, I did something to it and pulled up. 

[Cruise Suzy]

1 hour ago, rubytue said:

And the tray they bring fits perfectly on the oval coffee table (which, if you don’t know, lifts up to table height). When we are done, we put the tray outside (at the request of our room steward, we specific asked him what to do when we are done. And discussed trays in the hall and scooters. But this was what he wanted).  

 

We have a HEAVY glass coffee table - not one that adjusts. We got a Signature Suite because DD, DS and their spouses are with us and we wanted space for all to gather.

 

We were told to call to have the try picked up. Didn't ask stewards, asked the fellow who delivered the meal.

[rubytue]

If you like nayitr documentary shows, the BBC Alaska live is not to be missed. Excellent photography and there are 4 live performers (piano, 2 violins, and a cello. Maybe a violin and viola).

 

I can also recommend a couple of the EXC talks. Pacific Giants (whales), Ancestral Memories (native culture/language) were both excellent.

[rubytue]

1 minute ago, Cruise Suzy said:

We were told to call to have the try picked up. Didn't ask stewards, asked the fellow who delivered the meal.

Good to know. I forgot to ask when the first one was delivered. And Ajiz came but just afterward. He did mention only if he was on duty. So we just do it for the dinner tray bc we eat during his evening hours. 

[Cruise Suzy]

5 hours ago, rubytue said:

We traded places with a Celebrity boat who was coming out as we went in.

 

Thanks for the pix. I was in the assembly area (theater) for the small boat excursion and missed seeing the Celebrity ship.  We were allowed to get as close as 0.5 mile from the glacier. Saw lots of seals on the ice floes. There were several small calvings and a decent sized one just as we left. Can't help but be impressed by the width of it. From the small boat we could see Hubbard Glacier extends far back into the fjord (to the right facing Hubbard). DD and DS say they got photos of us at the glacier.

Edited July 21, 2022 by Cruise Suzy

[Euby]

The small boat excursion is my "splurge" excursion when I go in September.  I'm so glad that I booked it, especially after reading a few "live" reports from the Westerdam.

 

[celticGreen81]

Will be on the Westerdam September 11th - definitely appreciate the posts, and am enjoying following along with you 🍻

[friendswithdave]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. There are plenty of readers - but most are quietly admiring your trip!

[rubytue]

Good morning (or, afternoon on the east coast) from Sitka. Another overcast day, but it doesn’t appear to be spitting stuff from the sky. And the mist is super cool on the spruce. 
 

I’ve been chatting with my friend in Juneau about the weather. Another friend was asking about this trip because she wants to plan it for next year. I told her June > July, based on my n=2 sample size. So Juneau friend weighed in that the past few years have been even harder to predict. His advice constantly is “you should have been here a few weeks ago.” Which was the story of my day with him. We were between salmon runs. So no bears and no salmon in the creeks (just at the hatchery). The warms in June had the berries all full of sugar, but the rain plumped them up and washed out the sweetness. 
 

Oh man, so on the way back downtown, friend made an offhand mention that he is sorry the float plane didn’t work out. We were all “what?!” He didn’t tell us but his buddy was going to take us on a float plane trip, but the weather the day before canceled trips, so he was making up for it today. Sounds like he was more of a local pilot than a cruise excursion thing. I guess it’s a good thing we didn’t know about it til afterward, as that would have been disappointing. Friend said they didn’t really have a “good things to do with visitors” list bc, they haven’t really had visitors in their 15 years here. 

[31 cents]

On 7/20/2022 at 11:06 AM, rubytue said:

Last night, I got back to the ship at 6pm. Grabbed a plate from the lido (an okra curry-type thing. I love okra!). I crawled into bed at 7pm. And I didn’t leave it again until 7 this morning. My Apple Watch says we did 7 miles yesterday. And my body feels it today. When I got up, my first thought was “wow, I don’t have to wait for coffee and food!”  While I’m on the subject, the iced coffee caramel cream is superb. And HAL does such a good job with my usual cruise breakfast- eggs Florentine and chocolate croissants.  Today, I grabbed a little smoked salmon to top the eggs. Mmmmmmm

 

Yesterday, we didn’t Dive In just before we docked. We ordered on the app right when it opened. Food took about 20 minutes to come up, but was still plenty of time to get done before docking. Needless to say, everyone was crowded in the Lido 11:30-12:30 for a 1pm port. Which brings me to about the only thing I don’t like about HAL - the food operating times not taking port times into account, and the windows where nothing is available (8-10:30pm, before 7am). We once had a late night return from an excursions in San Juan, and I think the pizza place (Eurodam) was the only thing open. The wait was, unsurprisingly, and hour. It seems that could shift things a bit on the Lido for late ports. I had been concerned last night, but then friend ended up having an evening thing, so I’m glad he dropped us when he did. Both for food and for exhaustion. 

 

Today is rainy. Full on, can’t really be on outside decks rain. But we are offshore right now, hopefully we will sail out of it when we turn inside land. Visibility is far enough that we aren’t running the fog horn. But low enough that I wonder about those reports of being 2 miles off Hubbard. I think @Cruise Suzy is doing the small boat thing. So she should get a good view. 

Speaking of coffee cream.. a little random but we are cruising on Oct 2 out of Seattle to the Pacific Islands, Australia and then to New Zealand. Do they have French Vanilla coffee creamers?  I usually bring my own, but it would be nice not to.  Also  we are considering purchasing the unlimited internet package.  How well does it work?  Thanks.

[oaktreerb]

You must be in Sitka today.  Was there a shuttle operating from the visitor center to the Fortress of the Bears and the Raptor Center, like a hop on hop off for around $10?  Sitka is my favorite Alaska port. I hope you got good weather.

[Btimmer]

23 hours ago, rubytue said:

Checking in from Hubbard glacier. I spent about 2 hours with H on the bow. My feet gave out and I was cold. So I came back to the room to lay down while he is still out there. I am a very old 48. 😂

 

We were thinking the captain was a bit gun shy after the azipod issue and all the other ships hitting ice. But he is inching close in. I’m going to have to wait for the circle to see how close we made it. It seemed like we were sitting way out, but that was just to let the excursion boat board. Then we started moving again. I wish there was a TV channel where I could hear the naturalist narration. But, alas. Laying down is more important than that. This first picture was taken 2 minutes ago by my H. The burry gray thing in the middle is the excursion boat. They look like they are at the face! 
 

 

You were very fortunate to get that close to the Hubbard Glacier.  We were there 2 weeks ago on the Noordam and the closest our Captain would take the ship was many miles from the glacier face.  The smaller excursion ship went right up close.  But we also had many large chunks of glacier floating around us.

 

Thanks for your reports from the Westerdam.  We'll be on it in October for a long voyage.

[Cruise Suzy]

Today's Sitka excursion was Sea Otters and Wildlife Quest. We saw 2 pair of eagles and one nest with fledglings, Stellar sea lions, harbor seals and quite a few otters. Then we headed towards where a sister boat had seen whales. We were very lucky to stay in that area for the rest of our time. There were 3 whales that would surface, show humps for several minutes and then dive. We saw them do this 4 times and on the last all three showed their flukes.

[rubytue]

2 hours ago, oaktreerb said:

Was there a shuttle operating from the visitor center to the Fortress of the Bears and the Raptor Center, like a hop on hop off for around $10?

I wish I’d seen this before I got off the ship and I would have paid more attention. I saw a sign for a taxi tour to the bears and raptor center. We didn’t get to town until noon, so there was no one manning the sandwhich board. And I didn’t notice a price on it. 

[rubytue]

4 hours ago, 31 cents said:

Do they have French Vanilla coffee creamers? 

I have not seen that. I’ve been getting coffee from the explorers club coffee bar. I will check the lido in the morning. 

[rubytue]

This morning, we were off the boat early for “dry suit snorkeling.” In quotes because it is a bit of a misnomer. It was certainly different and something I can now check a box that I’ve done. Can’t say I will want to do it again, and snorkeling is one of our favorite things. Both of our suits leaked. Mine along an arm and one boot. My H’s - both boots to the point a large puddle of water came out when he took off the suit. We did, however, stay temperate. We did not bring a change of clothes, so we got back to the boat about 11, and came in for dry clothes, a quick shower, and lunch. 
 

after lunch, we took the bus downtown and walked down to the park. We were here in 2009 and I remembered that park as super peaceful. I turned on my watch to track it, and it was 1.07 miles from the back of the park to the shuttle bus stop/visitor center. We got there at 12:55 and there was a ranger led walked at 1. So we took that. The ranger talk was Sitka history involving the battle between the Russian and the Tlingit. And she took us to forage berries. 

[Hobby3333]

5 hours ago, 31 cents said:

Speaking of coffee cream.. a little random but we are cruising on Oct 2 out of Seattle to the Pacific Islands, Australia and then to New Zealand. Do they have French Vanilla coffee creamers?  I usually bring my own, but it would be nice not to.  Also  we are considering purchasing the unlimited internet package.  How well does it work?  Thanks.

Lol.   My wife always takes a box of French Vanilla Creamer. We just got off MSC Seashore and she had about 12 left.  Would be nice if Westerdam had the creamer.  Will follow.  We cruise at the end of September 

[BetsyS.]

On 7/20/2022 at 2:36 PM, rubytue said:

I talked to the naturalist (Russ - he is great!). He pulled out his crystal ball, based on spending every Wednesday there this summer, and he says that it almost always clears up once we enter the bay. 
 

And a 😘 to your DD. I’ve noticed masking going down as the trip goes on. Today, I would put is around 10%. Logically, the longer we are since we tested, the more likely to have airport germs incubating and becoming transmissible. Anyway, tell you DD there are a couple others still masking. We are also texting daily in our rooms. Still negative! But other than the MDR, we haven’t eaten in public. We do have pinnacle grill reservations on Friday. Which is my birthday!  
 

For those following along, we have snorkeling in Sitka and kayaking in Ketchikan coming up. I am excited and nervous for snorkeling. I have temp control issues and have had warm water hypothermia in the dry tortugas. But, my Juneau buddy (who is a marine biologist and is cold water scuba certified) assured me that the dry suit will be ok. 
 

Closing this morning with a photo of our very wet balcony. 

RubyTues - Thanks for your great reviews, attention to detail and beautiful pictures!

[whogo]

22 hours ago, rubytue said:

Seems I’m talking mostly to myself, and @Cruise Suzy, but I’m seeing the hearts, so I know someone is reading. 

I am reading, did not want to clutter up your thread with a lot of praise for your great blog. I'm loving it.

[BetsyS.]

3 hours ago, Cruise Suzy said:

Today's Sitka excursion was Sea Otters and Wildlife Quest. We saw 2 pair of eagles anI enjoy your reports. Thank you.d one nest with fledglings, Stellar sea lions, harbor seals and quite a few otters. Then we headed towards where a sister boat had seen whales. We were very lucky to stay in that area for the rest of our time. There were 3 whales that would surface, show humps for several minutes and then dive. We saw them do this 4 times and on the last all three showed their flukes.

Cruise Suzy - I enjoy your reports. Thank you.

[vino100]

I’m following along and loving your reports. Thanks for sharing.