Live from the Eclipse in Alaska Redux (7/31/22)

[abbydancer2003]

12 minutes ago, ShelbieE said:

Thank you for taking us along on your trip. We’ll be onboard on August 14, also in an S1 sky suite. Do you happen to have any photos of your cabin?

Not yet.  Tonight I'll take some and tomorrow, when presumably I have both wifi and cellular, I'll upload them.

 

If I can't I'll get them and do it when I get home.

[realnice46]

We’ll be on board Eclipse in September, I’m starting to get excited so it will be nice to follow along on you adventure.

[h20cruzer]

Enjoying your review, any pictures to post? Would love seeing your suite.

Norma

[boxkite]

18 hours ago, ShelbieE said:

Thank you for taking us along on your trip. We’ll be onboard on August 14, also in an S1 sky suite. Do you happen to have any photos of your cabin?

ShelbieE, we will also be on the August 14 Eclipse Alaska cruise. Feel free to join our small CruiseCritic roll call for this cruise.

[ShelbieE]

1 hour ago, boxkite said:

ShelbieE, we will also be on the August 14 Eclipse Alaska cruise. Feel free to join our small CruiseCritic roll call for this cruise.

Thanks, I believe I’m already on it. Looking forward to a great cruise. 

[abbydancer2003]

Day 4 - Sea Day 1

 

We decided to wake up in time for breakfast today, so set our alarm for 8am, which, because we moved the clocks back last night, was actually 9 am.  We woke up, and I called Jamal for some coffee and tea.  He brought that, plus some chocolate croissants and orange juice.  That was very nice.  So we leisurely got ready, and headed to our first Luminae breakfast of the cruise.  Mike said they’d just woken up so it was just us.

 

After that we thought maybe we’d go to Al Baccio, but got a text from M&K saying it was too crowded, and they were at Michaels Club.  As we walked by Al Baccio, we decided they were right, as there didn’t seem to be much seating, and there was a line of people ordering coffee.  

 

So we headed to Michaels for the rest of the morning, and just sat and chatted.

 

Just before one we headed to lunch.   We are seated at our usual table.  Ali made some recommendations, and we ordered.  I started with the boiled Feta salad, and then decided to have the petit filet.  It had au jus and some horseradish, and by mixing them I got a pretty good sauce out of it.

There was also a very yummy white chocolate mousse for desert.

 

After lunch, we went back to the room for me to work on the penultimate lab for my class.  Interent was slowish, but I got it done, or so I thought, as it was throwing errors. So I asked my instructor for a class extension.  

 

Tonight was actually the last class of the quarter, so I got ready for formal night just before 5 pm and then jumped on my class for a little while.

 

At 5:30 there was an officer meet and greet in Michael’s club.  I left class around 5:30 and headed down.  We found some seats and then Mike joined us so we went to a table for 4.  We met the captain, the hotel director, the revenue manager and the HR manager.    It was very pleasant and I did confirm that Captain Leo was in fact on the Eclipse when we went to Antarctica.  I learned on my 2010 cruise, that they always have two full captains on those cruises, because they need a captain on the bridge 24x7 while in Antarctic waters.

 

After that we wandered up to the sky lounge just to look at the views, and listen to the very dated ballroom music.  Then back to the room until dinner at 8:30.  As we left the room at about 8:15, we got a text saying they were there early.

 

We joined them, and got the nightly review of the menu from Ali.  He recommended the lobster salad and Jerusalem artichoke soup.  The main dining room and a watermelon salad, so I ordered that, and the soup.  For entree he recommended the Halibut or the Ribeye.  I got the Ribeye.

 

Apparently the lobster salad was excellent, because Kathy had a second.  I had the watermelon salad, which was good, but he didn’t bring the soup, which is OK, because I didn’t really need it.  I’ll try it next time. 

 

The ribeye came, and I keep forgetting it’s not a ribeye as I know it. It’s about at 2 inch thick round steak.  It’s good and has a lovely bernaise sauce, and baby veggies.  I don’t however like it as much as a normal ribeye.

 

For dessert I had marscapone cheesecake.  That was lovely.  Of note was the panna cotta, which was fruit and grape Jello.  Really!

 

We headed back to the room after dinner.  I figured out my lab error, turned it in and went to bed.  Tomorrow, Icy Straights, a new port for me.

[Norwaylady]

Love to follow your adventure @abbydancer

 

We will be on eclipse 11.september on the 11-nights Alaska sailing. Can't wait. We have moved this sailing several times..... So it's almost hard to belive, that we are actually so close to sail/departure time. 

 

Can I ask you a question. Please tell if they have the helipad open for visit, viewing point during your sailing. 

And how is the temperature now?

(we are used to colder climate and wear layers everyday most of the year..... as you can see, we are from Norway and one of us has been living in Spitzbergen for 2 years;) So the vikings goes on holiday in colder climate🤣🤣 

 

Safe travels onwards❤️

[abbydancer2003]

On 8/5/2022 at 1:51 AM, Norwaylady said:

Love to follow your adventure @abbydancer

 

We will be on eclipse 11.september on the 11-nights Alaska sailing. Can't wait. We have moved this sailing several times..... So it's almost hard to belive, that we are actually so close to sail/departure time. 

 

Can I ask you a question. Please tell if they have the helipad open for visit, viewing point during your sailing. 

And how is the temperature now?

(we are used to colder climate and wear layers everyday most of the year..... as you can see, we are from Norway and one of us has been living in Spitzbergen for 2 years;) So the vikings goes on holiday in colder climate🤣🤣 

 

Safe travels onwards❤️

We were on the helipad once, and that's in my next post.  The internet got pretty bad, but I am completing this.

 

The weather was in the 60s in the ports, but it can change.  I had a heavy hoodie,, and a down jacket (not a parka) and used one or the other in ports, both with a hat on glacier viewing days.

[abbydancer2003]

I'm home with good internet, so here's the next post:

 

Day 5R - Icy Straights.

 

We now have Jamal bringing us coffee and tea at 8 each morning, so that gets us up.  Today he brought two plain and two chocolate croissants, but no butter, just honey (which I assume was for the tea).

 

The views were spectacular, so we decided to go to breakfast in Blu, which has the best windows of any included restaurants.  It was great seeing Sein again and introducing her to my sister.  I also met a new waiter, Made’s brother.  We had a nice breakfast, but eventually decided they need their restaurant back.  We then went to Tuscan for the Elite breakfast, just for coffee and tea nd to continue to enjoy the view. 

 

We then heard from M&K that they were in Michael’s club, so we headed there for about an hour.  Apparently Kathy has a 2pm massage, so they’re going to go to Sushi on 5 for lunch.

 

We had an invite to watch the sail in from the helipad, so around 11:45 we headed to the room to put on slightly warmer clothes. At about 12:15 we headed to deck 6, where Mike was herding the guests to wait.  After about 5 minutes, we were ushered down the hall and onto the helipad.  It was somewhat windy and chilly, but not very cold, although after a while, blankets helped.

 

At about 1:05 we left as the ship was docking.  When we arrived, we saw the Royal Princess in the pier, but then it pulled away, and apparently commenced tendering.  What I think that was all about is that the Royal Class Princess ships can’t dock in Skagway, because of the landslide at the pier. 

 

We had a quick lunch in Luminae, and got a window table, since it was pretty deserted there.  Beth and I both started with the Bib lettuce salad.  The toasted pine nuts on it were great.  I opted for potato leek ravioli for a main, and finished with Vanilla poached pear.  About when we were finished Mike arrived ready to go out.  We headed back up, grabbed our stuff, and headed to the gangway.

 

On exiting the ship, we noticed the tender area for the Royal Princess across the way.   There was somewhat of a line for it.

 

We walked off the pier, and into the pier area.  There was a gift shop, an information booth and two gondolas.  We also noticed the X Millennium parked at a dock a bit away.  We wanted to get to Hoonah, so we asked at the information booth.  They said to take the gondola that goes to the other dock (where the Millie is, and you can either walk or take a shuttle.  The shuttle is 5.00 round trip.

 

The other gondola goes up the mountain where there’s stuff at the top, including hiking and access to the zip line down.  

 

We opted to do the free gondola to the main pier. As we got off there was a woman wearing her Princess medallion, asking how to get  back to her ship.  Apparently the gondola worker didn’t know, so I told her to take the gondola back, walk to the X Eclipse, and she’d see the tender line right there.  The work said thanks, good to know.  

 

We then walked to the main area where there were restaurants and lots of shops.  Someone told us to look for the shuttle ticket booth near the donut shop.  We walked through a large shopping building and found both the donut shop and the visitor information booth.

 

We asked about cost and whether we could walk one way and shuttle the other.  The guy thought you could do one way for about 3.00.

 

We got in line for the shuttle, but they said it would be about 40 minutes, so we decided to walk along the water.  It was about a mile and half, with helpful signs indicating distance.  There also were flags of all the military branches on benches along the walkway, as well as occasional story boards explaining things.  It was a nice and interesting walk, but we decided it wasn’t in Beth’s best interest to walk back, so we figured we’d see Hoonah and then take a shuttle back.  

 

Hoonah was nice little town, with some open gift shops and not much else besides residences and businesses, so we wandered into a gift shop (Beth thought they’d sponsored the military flags).  The owner is a veteran and was very friendly, so Beth bought some post cards, I bought a pin and Mike bought tee shirts.

 

We then asked where to pick up the shuttle, and people said to go down a side street.  There were people standing at spot by the public restrooms, and we asked them.  They said to go to the store a block away and you could get it there.  (They apparently were on a different shuttle).  We went to the store and there was a shuttle coming in 15 minutes.  So we bought our tickets, and waited.   The shuttle guy came at about 4:25 in a small shuttle.  He counted the people waiting, and realized they needed a bigger one.  There was a bigger one parked nearby and a few minutes later another guy came out and drove a bigger shuttle in and away we went.  When we arrived back in Icy Straight, we stopped at the donut store.  It turns out it was mini donuts and all money went back to the community, so we had some hot cider, and 4 flavors of donuts.  Turns out they were plain donuts dipped in powdered sugar that was flavored.  We opted for chocolate, maple, spiced cider and huckleberry.   Good but not great.  Then back across the gondola and back to the ship.  The Princess tender was still running, but no line for them.

 

We relaxed in the room until dinner time.  We met Mike for dinner, but Kathy was apparently relaxing from her massage earlier and decided not to come.  I ordered a Caesar salad for a starter, I think I had a steak for a main, and the pine nut flan for dessert.  While the pomegranate sorbet was good the flan was just odd, so I didn’t eat it.

 

After dinner, back to the room.

[abbydancer2003]

Day 6R - Hubbard Glacier

 

Woke up again to spectacular mountain views, so breakfast in Blu again.  We were first seated in the window section, but by the aisle.  One of the window tables opened up, and the people finishing up next to us said maybe we could move, but we’d already started, so passed, until Sein came by and told us she was moving us.  So we finished at the window.

 

After breakfast, we decided to hit the open decks for Hubbard Glacier.  We were heading in and noticed an ice flow moving right to left in front of us.  The the naturalist came on and said that there was a small island on our right and we were going behind it to get to the glacier.  That was fun and we got close.  Of course  the captain said it’s the closest, but I bet he says that every week.

 

Once the ship started turning, we went down to our balcony.  Eventually, of courser, we had a great view, and soon Mike joined us.  

 

Sometime between 1 and 1:30 the ship started out and we went to lunch.  I had the Cobb salad without the chicken as a starter, and the Luminae half burger.  For dessert, the Olive Oil pudding.  I don’t really taste olive oil, but it is good.

 

 

We wandered around some after lunch and then headed back up to the room.  We spent time here each day because Beth needs to rest her broken ankle (she actually is a trooper on this trip).  At some point I went to the lounge to make an appointment with a. Future cruse person.  We made an appointment for  10 am on Ketchikan day.

 

 

We headed to Michael’s club just before 8 for silent disco.  It was empty, just one of the regularly there couples in there.  The concierges had the equipment ready, so around 8pm we got our headphones.  At about 8:25, our butler, Jamal arrived, and, recongnising it was time to leave, walked out with him.  He actually escorted us all the way to the restaurant.  

 

We met Mike and Kathy there.  For dinner I had the Apple and Green salad, and the steak and chips from the main.  The steak was interesting as the chips were simply 4 strips of roasted potatoes.  Not really French fries.  That said, it was very good.  For dessert, I had an apple and blueberry Vacherin, which is sort of a meringue with fruit and I think a custard.

 

After dinner, back to the room and to bed, since we finish dinner close to 11.

 

 

 

[abbydancer2003]

Day 7R - Juneau

 

We started the day with breakfast in Luminae.  Our original plan was to have dinner in Blu that day, but since we did that the previous two days, we went back to Luminae.

 

Our tour was for 1pm - we’d booked, the 5 glacier floatplane and salmon lunch at the Taku Lodge.  We’d booked that directly with the company (Wings Airways) in 2019.  Each time the cruise cancelled, we kept moving the reservation.  When I was in Juneau in July, I did talk to them about Beth’s mobility, so they were prepared in case she needed help.  At about 11, we gathered our stuff and headed out.  We decided to do some exploring before our tour.  

 

We first turned right towards the other ships.  We visited the tram and Beth asked about it because she’s considering bringing her kids on it next month.  We then waked back towards the tour company on the shop side, and did a bit of shopping.  Beth bought some postcards.  We also ran into Mike who was waiting for a shuttle to take him to Mendenhall.

 

 It was around noon, so we stopped by Wing’s office and checked in.  Sam, who runs it welcomed me back, and told us that they’d just had two weeks where they couldn’t fly, so she was glad they were flying today.  She told us to come back at 12:45.

 

We then did a bit of in town shopping - we went to the Fudge company and I got Glen some of the clusters he likes.  Beth also bought candy for crew and for her family.  We also visited the same bookstore Glen and I did, but it’s not really a general bookstore.  While wandering about we found another general bookstore (as well as an ATM).

 

Next stop was an ATM for her and a drugstore, where she did find an ACE bandage.  (Turns out it was a single use one, but it did give her a day to air out her regular one).

 

We then found a cafe and stopped for coffee and tea while we waited for our arrival time.

 

At 12:45 we went back to Wings.  We were decided into groups and assigned a team.  We were in Grizzley Bear. At that time, they asked who wanted chicken.  (We did).  If you were a chicken person you got a poker chip to give them at serving time.   We were then told we had a bit of time, and could go use the restrooms in the building next door (a group of shops).  While going there, we found another bookstore, which we decided to visit after the tour.

 

We all lined up by the fence, and one by one the groups were called to go to their plane.  We were in the green plane with Bruce as our pilot.  There’s a ramp down to the planes, but Beth was able to do it.  We all boarded, and headed out to the ice field.  There is a recorded narration about the area, including the glaciers we fly over.  Bruce briefly interrupted to point out a waterfall.  After about 30 minutes we reach the hole in the wall glacier and the Taku Lodge.  Bruce suggested, as we left the plane that we stake a seat in the lodge and then see the grounds in the 30 minutes until lunch.  We wandered around, tried Cornball (didn’t do well at all). Eventually they rang a bell indicating the salmon was ready.  We lined up have lunch.  In addition to salmon there was coleslaw, baked beans, a cinnamon raison mix and two kinds of bread.  When we got to the front, and handed them our chips they took the plate into the kitchen and brought it out with a crispy baked chicken breast.  It was very, very good.

 

During lunch, one of the employees explained the history of the lodge, and also what happens during the off season.  Apparently the staff lives there during the summer, and then checks in during the winter.

 

For dessert there were spiced ginger cookies.  I could make a meal out of them, they were so good.

 

After lunch we took a guided walk around the property, as the guide pointed out some of the berry plants they have.  I tried a blueberry but it wasn’t quite ripe yet.  After that we headed to the gift shop.  We found the cook book, but it didn’t have the chicken recipe, and Beth didn’t want to buy it just for the cookies.  The staff told her it was OK to take a picture.

 

Around then, the planes started arriving back.  They were a bit early because ours was the the last of the day, so they didn’t have to load or unload passengers.  They said not to worry, we wouldn’t be leaving early.  We decided that since we’d walked everywhere, we’d find a bench near the planes and wait.  There were benches right there, and soon we were aboard and heading back to Juneau.  

 

On the way back, Bruce told me to ask for a frequent flier pin in the office.  Apparently, because this wasn’t my first trip with them, I can get one.  Once off the plane and up the ramp, I asked and I’m now the proud owner of a Taku Glacier Lodge pilot pin.

 

Following that we went to the bookstore near the office.  Beth bought some novels set in Alaska, and we had a nice conversation with the gentleman working there.  They talked about authors, and some who were not nice people.  He said about one “I’d take two cabs and a bus to avoid having to talk to him”.  I rather liked that, and may use it in the future.

 

We went back to the ship and stopped for coffee at al Baccio.  By mistake, the server brought two lattes, and we had her leave the second one because Mike had messaged that he was coming down, so we figured he’d like it.  He arrived and we were right.  We enjoyed our coffee, and then went back up to the room.  

 

Beth has to do a bone stimulation treatment twice a day, so she stared that, and Mike and Kathy came over to keep us company for a while.

 

Eventually we dressed for dinner, and met M&K at Michaels.  We chatted there for a bit, and then headed to our dinner at Murano.  I’d asked to be seated in Fernando’s section.  I don’t think that they remembered him very well though.  

 

The restaurant was packed.  Service started out slowly, and it took me about 15 minutes to get my water refilled.  By the time someone came and refilled it, I was very close to going to Michael’s Club to get a bigger glass of ice water from them.  That’s never happened before.

 

Eventually, though, they got it under control and the service was it’s usual great.  The amuse bouche was a shrimp cerviche, and since I like shrimp, I had it.  Beth eats nothing from the sea, so she refused it and they gave her a vegetarian thing.  For dinner I had the Anjou pear in philo, the veal tenderloin and grand marier soufflé.  All good, but I think the Chateaubriand for two is better.

 

Back to the room after dinner.

 

 

[abbydancer2003]

Day 8R Ketchikan

 

Today is Ketchikan, where we don’t arrive until around 2pm.  So time for breakfast and lunch.

 

We had breakfast, and while we were there, Mike retreat concierge came to see us.  We’d made an appointment with a future cruise rep, and apparently their system is down, so we rescheduled for tomorrow.  As we were leaving got a text from Mike that they were in the Elite breakfast in Tuscan.  So, we headed there and sat with them for a while.  

 

Following that, Kathy wanted to shop so we went to the stores.  I wandered around for a while, found Mike and Kathy who told me Beth was talking to some people in the perfume store.  I went over there, and it was a couple from Newfoundland, and they were talking about the people from there.  If you’ve seen Come From Away, that’s exactly who they are.  They said that if someone who’d lost their luggage went into a dress store, the owner would, when they found out, lend the person some clothes and invite them to dinner.  

 

We headed to Michael’s for a while, and then to lunch.  I had the now frequently appearing chicken Cobb salad sans chicken as an appetizers, and the butterflied Luminae burger with extra jam.  For dessert I had the olive oil pudding.  I still don’t taste olive oil.

 

By this time, we were pulling into Ketchikan.  We had booked a 3rd party tour of the town, and of the Saxman park.  Our tour was at 3:30, since the ship arrived at 2, 3:30 seemed safe.

 

We left the ship around 2:20.  Heading to the pier area we saw a bus for Sourdough tours, who is the provider for our tour.  While we were considering going there and figuring out where to go when our time came, we were waved over to their booth.  When they noticed the boot on Beth’s leg, they said that they’d reserve the front seat for us.   Then they asked if we wanted to go on the 2:30 tour.  We decided to do that, as it would give us some time afterwards.

 

We got seats near the front of the bus, but as we drove to our first stop Beth noticed one of the front rows was open.  In addition, the guys in the front on our side did offer to switch with us.  Our driver and guide was Ken, who was half Tlinget.  We noticed that the other side of the front row was empty, so with permission Beth moved over there.

 

First stop was a building in town to learn about totem carving from a hobbiest.  She was very clear that she was neither a native nor a master, but did give us lots of info.  She also had some taxidermy animals including a wolverine and bear.  She did tell a good story about a group from what was probably a Disney cruise, as there were lots of small children.  One 5 year asked her the names of the animals.  She said “Wolverine, mink …”.  The little girl stamped her foot and said “No I want their names”.  So she introduced us to Fluffy the wolverine, Sprinkles the bear, and Spreckles the wolf.  She also gave a sample of a simple smoked salmon dip.

 

Following that, we headed to the Salmon ladder.  Glen and I had been there before and it was just a salmon ladder to the side of a small waterfall.  However, August is spawning season, so lots of salmon there.  Some jump the waterfall under the road, and others use the ladder.  That was very cool.

 

Next stop was up river where there were fish doing their thing.

 

After that we went back through town towards the Saxman park.  Before that, we drove along the water and stopped at a couple locations to not see whales (sometimes you do, not this time).

 

Saxman park is a totem park south of town.  At this time, there’s a clan house, but it’s mostly a totem park, and possibly the largest in the area.  We started at a chief totem on it’s side.  Ken explained everything on it, and then we walked to the center area where we could see most of the other totems.  Some of the notable ones were the Seward totem, a caricature of Seward (as in Lincolns Secretary of State).  The Tlinglet’s gave him a gift and apparently he did not give one in return, something that is expected in Tlinget culture.  Another interesting one is the Lincoln one.  The pole celebrates a peace treaty between two rival tribes, and a US ship named Lincoln that was instrumental in the treaty.  To commemorate they took a picture of President Lincoln.  Since they only had a portrait from the waist up, the totem has very short legs.  The brochure from the park describes all their totems.  

 

After that, we went back to town and were dropped of at Creek street.  We decided to get dropped there, rather than back at the ship so we could shop and wander.  We stopped in an artist store there, and I got Glen some coffee and a small sticker for my laptop.

 

From there we found the Christmas store that Aurica had told us about.  Beth was looking for some ribbon, and I was sort of looking for a jacket like Glen got last time, but in a different color.  The Christmas store didn’t have any, but I did find a 7.00 white chocolate Huckleberry candy bar.  I hope it’s good.  

 

Next we went to the store where Glen got his jacket.  The only color they had that I liked was the one Glen got, and I didn’t want that.  The store next door to the Xmas store,  had one with a light blue green trim that I liked, so I went and got it while Beth browsed the store.

 

Once I headed back there, I found her in the jewelry shop next door, chatting with the worker, who is Israeli.  Apparently they’re in Ketchikan during the summer, and Mexico during the winter.  She had come in looking for ribbon, and bought a couple of small boxes to get it, but they did give us a couple of charms.  (We’d been collecting the Effy free charms, bu there were only 2 on this cruise).

 

After that we went back to the ship.   

 

We dropped our stuff and went to Al Baccio.  We then went back to the room, and I went onto the balcony to see if there were pier runners (there weren’t - we are apparently a very responsible group of passengers.  

 

Next stop, dinner - it was somewhat busy because of the late port time - I’ve noticed that before.

 

For dinner, I started with the yellow beet risotto - I’m not really a beet fan, but it was good - I think I like yellow ones, but not red ones particularly.  Since it was evening chic night, I had the rack of lamb, which was pretty good and then the Daniel Boulud Raspberry vacherin for dessert.  Someday, I’ll look up what a vacherin is.

 

Tomorrow is our last full day.

 

 

 

 

 

[abbydancer2003]

Day 9R sea day

 

Our last full day.  It started with our usual breakfast.  After breakfast, we had a little bit of time until our meeting with the future cruise person, so we checked out Tuscan, no M&K. 

 

We then went to the casino for a bit.

 

At 10:30, we met with the future cruise lady.  We said we wanted to find something short near the beginning of 2023.  There’s a story behind this.  Originally we’d booked a 10 day Caribbean on the Equinox for January of 2023.  A few months ago, we realized that we had a commitment in San Jose California through the 29th (We got season tickets to the US skating championships).  So we moved it to a January 2024, and then I realized I have a conflict, so we moved it to February.  We thought maybe we wouldn’t cruise in 2023, but I decided I wanted to. So we met with her.

 

First, we said we wanted a short cruise in 2024, and it didn’t matter what, since we were booking with a fully refundable deposit, and would move it some time.  She said they didn’t do that any more, since they have book later.  (This issue with that is that you have a month or two to make the booking.). We said we wanted to book something in early 2024 with a fully refundable deposit in the worst balcony possible (no point in taking a good room that someone else wants).

 

We then went on to finding a cruise.  We looked at short Caribbean or east coast, but finally settled on a 7 day Mexico on the Solstice.  It’s right after the US skating championships, so Beth will be in California anyway, so seemed like a good idea.

 

We went back to the Casino for a bit after that.  At 12:30 Mike texted about lunch so we decided to meet at Luminae for our last lunch at around 1.  

 

So we did. Mike joined us.  I started with a tomato/burrata salad, and then had the filet mignon with horseradish jus for my main (I’ve had a lot of steaks on this cruise).  I finished with a berry pavlova.

 

After lunch we decided to go to Michaels for a while.  Milos, the onboard naturalist would be there for a meet and greet/Q & A session, followed by afternoon tea, which we’d managed to miss every day so far.

 

At 3pm, Milos showed up followed by the tea.  He took a lot of questions about Alaska, the planets and other science type things.  Prior to this I’d seen some stuff of his in the gift shop.  Apparently, he was on the radio in Santa Cruz CA doing short since and astronomy spots for the local NPR/PBS radio station.  So he does actually have the background.  Midway through Mike text saying this guy isn’t Micky Live.  On our antarctic cruise in 2019, Micky Live was the enrichment speaker.  I believe his background is media.  At our chef’s table, there was an officer dining with us who was the Spanish translator for Mickey.  I asked how he was able to do that, and he said it was easy, since Mickey was just reading wikipedia on his topics (how do I get that job??).  Milos, however, has both the knowledge and the performance skill to handle the Alaska cruises. 

 

Following that we went back to the room and the balcony until dinner.  And of course started the worst thing on any cruise - packing.

 

And at dinner, we were all there.  I started with burrata cheese (I guess they load a lot of it) with an eggplant/olive/caper tapenade.  That was outstanding.  For my main, I had the chili braised short ribs, and while good, I think I prefer the main dining’s short rib preparation.  For dessert it was between the coconut cremeux, and  ricotta cheesecake.  Ali recommended the coconut, so that’s what I had.

 

And then, following dinner, back to the room to finish packing. When I put the bags out I alway put everything, including the clothes from the current day, into the suitcase.  So all we take off is toiletries and sleepwear.

 

So the bags went out.  When I took them out I noticed that M&K’s were out, and pretty much the same as mine except for color.  (Later Mike said ‘what a coincidence’ and I said not really because we’d all bought them at the same time. )

 

And then, our last sleep on the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[num1crewsfam]

On 8/5/2022 at 4:51 AM, Norwaylady said:

Love to follow your adventure @abbydancer

 

We will be on eclipse 11.september on the 11-nights Alaska sailing. Can't wait. We have moved this sailing several times..... So it's almost hard to belive, that we are actually so close to sail/departure time. 

 

Can I ask you a question. Please tell if they have the helipad open for visit, viewing point during your sailing. 

And how is the temperature now?

(we are used to colder climate and wear layers everyday most of the year..... as you can see, we are from Norway and one of us has been living in Spitzbergen for 2 years;) So the vikings goes on holiday in colder climate🤣🤣 

 

Safe travels onwards❤️

We are on this cruise as well…and we have also had to move it several times.  I wont believe it actually going to happen until I am on the deck, coffee in hand 😋

 

Edited August 20, 2022 by num1crewsfam

[abbydancer2003]

Day 10R go home

 

We had set our alarms for around 6:30, in order to have time to make sure we had everything out of the room.  

 

And of course we woke up to the sites of the Vancouver port area.  No coffee platter from Jamal today.

 

We did arrive in Lumanae around 7;30 and had our last breakfast.  I don’t think I have anything else booked on the Eclipse, so last time for the foreseeable future.  Maybe it will be updated by the next time, but as far as I know, the final revolutionizations of the ships are on hold, or at least not scheduled.

 

From there, we went to Michaels and met Mike and Kathy.  We all had late afternoon/evening flights, and they were concerned about having to hang out in an airport ahead of security for hours.  We’d decided to rent a car and go somewhere, but the only place we could get a car was at the airport.  Our original plan was to take the air train, but replanned to get a cab.  We’d also suggested they try to get on an earlier flight to LA, so they could sit in a lounge without their bags, rather than pre-security in Vancouver airport.

 

At about 9:20 they told us we had to leave.  Mike (concierge) led us out the back exit of the lounge, and we headed off the ship.  There wasn’t much of a line to get off or to go through immigration/customs, but there was quite a cab line.  We considered trying to get an Uber, but ultimately joined the cab line.  

 

I’d say it was close to a hour, all told.  When we got to the front, we decided to see if we could share a cab.  A hatchback cab pulled up, and the driver told us he could take all our bags.  And he did manage to fit them in, so off to the airport we went.

 

We had them drop us near Air Canada.  Mike and Kathy went to the Air Canada priority line, and I went to United to see if there was any chance of checking my bag 4+ hours early.  

 

There was a line, so I gave up that idea, since we could store the luggage in the car, and went back.  It looked like there was a line so Beth and I decided to go get the car, since our pick up time was an hour earlier.

 

We walked to the car rental area, which is a bit of a hike from the terminal.  There were no issues, and we loaded our luggage (my bag was very heavy, I guess it was the pound of coffee and pound of candy clusters I got Glen) and headed off.  Our plan was to go to Steveston, a “quaint fishing village” in Richmond BC.  Since the airport is also in Richmond, it was a good choice.  It took us about 15 minutes or so to drive there.

 

We then started looking for parking.  We found a parking lot that used an app to pay.  Beth was able to download it and give about 3.5 hours of parking, which would take us to 4:15, about when we wanted to head back to the airport.

 

Around then, Mike texted to say that AC had taken their bags, and they were having lunch at the Fairmont at the airport, and he didn’t really care what flight they were on since they’d dumped the bags.

 

We wandered along the water, and found the fish market, which was a pier with boats selling fresh fish (mostly salmon and shrimp) from the boat.  We did talk to one of the proprietors, who said they use another boat for the fishing and flash freeze them before selling here.  That’s probably true of all.

 

We thin walked some more, observing Canadians in their natural habitat.

 

We also perused some menus as we were planning to have lunch while we were there.  

 

While walking we found a mini donut shop, so we stopped there for coffee & tea and ordered a half dozen donuts to share.  They were better than the ones in Icy Straights.

 

After that, we decided to go to lunch.  We settled on a place called Catch because they had what looked like a good menu.  There was no wait, and we had a nice lunch.  Beth had a burger, and I had a beef dip sandwich. 

 

We’d thought we’d get ice cream after lunch, but decided instead that wanted coffee/tea.  We went to a local chain called Waves.  The coffee was good.  Apparently the owner liked Mohammund Ali’s wave somewhere, so hence them.

 

By the it was about 4pm so we headed back to the car.

 

As we started driving, I got another text from Mike saying that their flight was delayed an hour and three quarters, putting them with a very tight connection in Los Angeles.

 

There wasn’t anything I could do about that.  

 

When we got to the airport I dropped Beth and all the bags off at the terminal, so she wouldn’t have to walk back from rental car.  We moved the bags to the sidewalk and grabbed a luggage cart.  I took off as she loaded.  Driving back to rental car wasn’t terribly difficult, one loop around the airport was all it took.

 

I met Beth back in the terminal, and we went to United.  I checked my bag, but her flight was at 11:30 or so, so Jet Blue wasn’t open yet.  She asked if they knew where Jet Blue check in would be, but they didn’t.

 

Once I checked my bags, we said good bye, and see you in 3.5 weeks.  

 

I texted Mike and Kathy to see where they were, and they said outside the gate.  (Huh?  They get free lounge access).

 

I didn’t have TSA pre-check on the flight and the agent was unable add it, but I do have global entry and that should have been enough.  It was and I was able to use it for both security and customs.

 

After clearing customs I went over to the gate where I found Kathy.  Mike was off checking something.  After a few minutes I told her we were going to the lounge.  I grabbed Mike’s backpack and we headed off.  Turns out that’s where Mike was.  

 

So we sat in the lounge. At some point Frankie, (the agent) made an announcement that the plane for LA was in, and he would announce boarding.  He made that announcement a couple of times, but they left a bit before boarding started.

 

After that I chatted with Frankie.  He told me the lounge closes at 7:30, which was OK, because my flight was at 7:30 so I ‘d be gone by then anyway.

 

In the meantime, Beth let me know that she was at the Fairmont watching a baseball game and that her plane was also late.

 

Mine, however was a little early.  Glen picked me up and we went home.  We’re in the middle of remodeling our kitchen, and apparently the floor went down, but it was covered with butcher paper, so I’ll have to wait to see it.

 

And Mike and Kathy missed their connection by a few minutes, so United got them a car to take them home (they live about 90 minutes or so south of LAX).  Their bags didn’t make it, but they did pick them up Tuesday AM.

 

As for Beth, her flight left at 2:30 am, getting her back to New York around lunch time on Monday.

 

And that’s a wrap.  I’ll post some pictures of our room to close it out.

 

 

 

 

 

[abbydancer2003]

Edited August 20, 2022 by abbydancer

[abbydancer2003]

Above is bathroom.

Below, the view from the entrance to the room.

[abbydancer2003]

And the view from the couch area