Norwaylady goes b2b Alaska+Hawaii on Eclipse

[Norwaylady]

At 13.00 we left on our kayak tour. We were picked up on the pier by a boat. It took us to Siginaka island. Here we geared up and off in tandem kayaks we paddled. 

It was grey, low skyline and drizzle in the morning. 

When we pushed out on the water, it all cleared up and the sun came out😎 

Good timing🤩

We paddled 4km around the islands.( see the map from my Suunto:) 

 

It was a great time on the ocean. We had a 🦭 seal close to our kayak after 10.mins out on the tour. It was checking us out🤓

 

We saw 5 bold eagles 🦅 in the trees during our round and a eagle nest. 

After 3/4 of our kayak adventure we were so lucky to have a larger group of harbour whale’s/ harbour porpoise surrounding us. It was all you could ask for and more🤩🐳🐳🐳🐳

Unfortunately I hadn’t packed the good camera for the tour, only the iPhone. (But it’s cheaper to drown the phone;) 

 

We had hot chocolate and biscuits when we returned to the kayak storage. Then we returned by boat back to ship. 

 

We had a great day I Sitka and we managed to see a lot. 

After returning to the ship, we went straight to the jacuzzi on pool deck. 

[Norwaylady]

Map of kayak tour

[Jim_Iain]

On 9/10/2022 at 10:13 PM, Redking said:

Following along. Great photos. Found the answer to my @Jim_Iainlive withdrawal symptoms🤣 We sail on the Eclipse in January out of Auckland, so please take good care of her as she starts the journey "downunder". Enjoy!

Me too..    LOL

[Norwaylady]

After a jacuzzi session, it was time for show+dinner. 

We attended the 19.00 show. It was the celebrity orchestra & Tommy Proulx. 

He is a very talented saxophone player. So if you are into saxophone, he’s the good guy🎶🎶🎶

We had a great time and really enjoyed the show. 

 

After the show we walked to Blu for dinner. We were handed a beeper. When we arrived and got the beeper, one of the servers went down. She did a flying duck fall❤️ We really hope she’s okay😘 it didn’t look good at all❤️ 

 

We went to ensemble lounge for a pre dinner drink. 

It was very crowded, so by the time we got our drinks, the beeper went off. 

We walked back and was seated. 

Somalier service was excellent. 

 

The service tonight felt very rushed from our main server. We had just left the cutlery on the plate before it was taken AND the next plate was delivered in the same operation. Very stressful for me, I like to have the peace and calm when eating. 

Assistant waitress was great and extremely more “ connected” to our needs and wishes for speed at dinner service. 

 

Mr Norwaylady was hungry after running town+ kayak tour. ( no lunch today, unless you count the Bloody Mary in the jacuzzi) 

We ordered for stater:  Brie, (sorry, forgot the picture) grilled asparagus, watercress salad and chilled lobster salad

Main course: short ribs

Dessert: cherry jubilee and lava cake. Coffee & Samboca. 

Starters and mains was good. Today both of the desserts are “winner” desserts we love. But Mr Norwaylady was a bit 😕 the lava cake was cold…. So it was not a hot sizzling lava😜 banana was tasty but a bit let down…

 

The night before, we had dinner at Made tables. It was very good and perfectly timed. 

Tonight he stopped by to say hello, even if we were not by his tables. Extremely nice and it’s a pleasure for us. I will ask to be seated at his tables for later. Tonight’s zone was to fast for my taste. 

 

Tomorrow we are cruising Hubbard Glacier. 
 

Cruise compass for Hubbard glacier is posted. 

 

[Norwaylady]

The WiFi is extremely slow and our stateroom is partly a “dead” spot. So you must stay just inside the entrance door to be able to download or upload….in our stateroom🤪 So a bit unpractical🥸

 

[JeanieC,Aston]

Hi

Loving your review…

I was on a cruise to your beautiful country Norway last week.

Unbelievable weather,,,Bergen the wettest city in Europe was a balmy 24deg and sunshine,,,,,,but the price  of a beer in Flam turned me into a teetotaller 🙀

[sdnich]

I am enjoying your trip review and pictures . We will be on Eclipse in March of next year in Aqua class .I am watching a webinar now and Captain Leo is talking about Hawaii to Australia/New Zealand .

[Provence55always]

I feel for you…..we just hate to have our dinner rushed weather in MDR or BLU. We also like to have the same team serving us each evening. Hopefully things will improve. Loving your review.

[Provence55always]

should read “whether”!!

[abbydancer2003]

The baked Brie in Blu is one of my very favorite things ever on a cruise.

[Shimsdan]

Loving your review and your pictures!!!  Thank you for taking the time to bring us along with you.  Sue Denning rocks (and maneuvers on those high heels so well!).

[Redking]

2 hours ago, Provence55always said:

I feel for you…..we just hate to have our dinner rushed weather in MDR or BLU. We also like to have the same team serving us each evening. Hopefully things will improve. Loving your review.

My husband gets very worked up about being rushed. I recently found that letting the Maitre'd know our preference to linger really helped. I was told that other people get annoyed if food isn't served fast enough. No idea that was a thing! Anyway it might help to  mention it to them and your preferred seating area. Great photos!

[LouisV]

I'm loving your post!! I'm sailing Hawaii to Vancouver in 2023. 

 

[Norwaylady]

So today is Hubbard Glacier day🤩😎🥳

 

o’boi are we looking forward. 

Remember, we come from a land of many glaciers🇳🇴 And we have a large glacier pretty close to our family cabin up north….🧊🧊🧊 Svartisen Glacier.  
And at Svalbard/Spitsbergen we have several to visit by boat and we love to kayak in front of them🧊🧊🧊 

We started the day easy, breakfast delivered to our room and enjoyed the view from our balcony. 
Around 09.00 we got dressed for 🥶🥶🥶🌤🌦❄️💦☔️ 4-seasons. It was drizzling and a bit foggy. 

We went up to deck 15 front. It was not really crowded and you could see the glaciers looking forward. 
We were working our way to go closer to the glaciers. The sky cleared up and it was chilly, but dry and a small stripe of sun😎

Milos came on the speaker and told us the “plan” of todays conditions. 
We were going closer and in a short time, the tender for booked passengers on the small vessel would be picked up.
We would during this process slow down and turn the ship a bit to the side, to ease  the wind for the tender operation. 
 

After they were dropped off, we would speed up again and go as close as possible. When we were as close as possible, the ship would turn 360 for viewing. 
 

Milos also made it clear that you needed to dress up, it’s cool and windy outside. AND if your already on the helipad🤩, GET OFf😂😂😂 you will turn 🥶🥶🥶 long before we have arrived🤣🤣🤣

 

We cruised closer and we could see seals 🦭 on the ice flakes. They were taking a nap. 
We passed a colony of sea lions. They were enjoying life. 
The weather was good and clear when we arrived at the glaciers. 
We were very close to the glaciers. 
You could hear the ice crack and see it falling into the ocean. We were very close and it was a magical view. 
 

When we arrived the foggy weather was returning from the back of the ship going front, to the glacier. 
It stated to ☔️. The majority run inside. We had dressed for all events, so we stayed.
It’s something magical to see and hear how the ice is “singing” 

The captain did a 360 spin and we started to slowly sail away from the glaciers.  

We went down to change into our swimsuits. The rest of the ship was in the buffet😊

So it was perfect to enjoy the hut tub in the solarium alone. Sailing out of the fjord filled of 🧊🧊🧊 ice. 

[Norwaylady]

[AndyCapn]

The tip of your nose

Is as pink as your clothes!

[theopup]

Looks like you are both having another wonderful day today, thanks once again for sharing

[Norwaylady]

After a defrost session in the jacuzzi, we picked up some lunch at Spa café. 

The view from the jacuzzi was perfect. 

As we were leaving the fjord, HAL was sailing in. 

 

We had a relaxing afternoon, staying in our cabin, watching the view outside and just listening to the ocean. 

 

We took a little trip down to al bacio around 16.00. It was seating available by the window. So we decided to have coffee and a fruit tart on site. 

The sky cleared up to blue sky and partly clouds. So beautiful outside, but not Caribbean temperature😝 

 

Clothing today: 

So close to glaciers, you have a micro climate. So it can be very different from further away and it can change quickly. Today was a excellent example of this. 

We had everything except for snow. 

 

To be able to stay outside for a longer time  in the wind on transit to/from the glaciers, you need wind proof clothing and you need to be warm. Since it changes quickly from sun to rain, it’s best to have waterproof and wind proof clothing. 

 

We had: 

1.base layer thin wool, pants+sweater 

2.daily medium wool sweater+ hiking pants, partly water/wind proof. 

3.down west

4.wind/waterproof jacket

5.buff for nech/ gloves/ hat

[CTSandy]

Loving your report - thank you so much for sharing!

[Norwaylady]

Tonight we decided that Sky Lounge was the best place for a pre-show cocktail 🍸 

Beautiful view and weather🤩 What more to ask for? 

 

Tonight’s show was The Cover Girls. 

Great song’s and humour. The celebrity orchestra was backing. Easy entertainment. 

 

Dinner was at Made’s tables. Great service. All food was excellent.

We had for starters: crab martini, Quail and the fennel citrus salad. 

Main course: duck and tuna

Dessert: Tiramisu and ice cream. Coffee and sambuca. 

 

Tomorrow it’s Juneau. We have a bike & brew tour booked. 

[Norwaylady]

[Norwaylady]

Rise & Shine

 

Juneau calling⚓️

So we are heading out to town for a walk before our Bike & Brew tour. 

It was partly clouded and some sun when we docked this morning. 

But, you know…. The Alaska weather is just like the Norwegian weather. It changed to a shower drizzle and cloudy. 

 

As the normal procedure of the morning, we had ordered breakfast to the room and Norwaylady is picking up coffee at Al Bacio. (Don’t say we don’t have a routine😆) 

 

It’s always fun to open the napkins and see what type of cutlery 🍴 we receive. They must use the leftover cutlery, to make sure someone doesn’t take home a souvenir😂😂

We have everything from butter knife, fruit knives to regular dinner knives. And worm out knives that you can’t cut anything🤣🤣

[Norwaylady]

We left the ship around 10.00. It was a little drizzle when we left. But nothing bad. 

We are in town together by Viking and HAL. ( NCL arrived at some point during our tour) 

 

We took a grand walk of the city. (And had a planned shopping stop at the Quilt store) The weather cleared up during our walk. 

So we walked to the end of the pier on both side. Visited the whale 🐳 monument, walked thru the shopping streets, passing ALL the jewellery shop… (it felt like a Caribbean port of call😂😂😂) walked up to the Russian church and back to the pier for our tour.

[Norwaylady]

Back to the shore excursion😎 

Tour left from the pier 12.30. 

Meeting time was 12.15. 

We were 12 people. 

The tour was Bike & Brew🍺 (so you get the point, Mr Norwaylady is a happy camper) 

 

The tour started by a 15.min drive to the starting point of our 🚴 tour. We were biking towards Mendenhall glacier visitor centre and around the water. The trip went on forest trail and on the road. 

Guide was 👍🏻 he heard us talking in Norwegian and he had to ask if we were from Norway. It turns out, our guide has been living in Bergen for 3 years🤩 So he could speak Norwegian😁

The weather really went out and out for us. During our tour it was blue sky, sunny and good temperature. So it was a beautiful day😎

 

The view to the Mendenhall glacier and Nuggets falls was beautiful from around the water. Last stop and pick up was the glacier visitor centre. 

We cycled 13km on the tour. The bikes were quality bikes. 

After returning the bikes, we were driving back to downtown Juneau.

It was time for a beer or two🍺🍺🍺🍺

 

Now the fun part begins for Mr Norwaylady😝 It was a beer tasting of 4 different beers from Alaskan. (That’s 8 1/4pints for Mr Norwaylady🤪😝) 

He enjoyed the beer and was happy for my selection of tour🤩🥳😍 

The favourite was Alaskan Amber🍺

 

After finishing up the beer, it was time to walk back to the ship🙃 We were back onboard around 17.10. 

Had a little stop at Al Bacio to pick up some coffee and a pice of pound cake to Mr🍺😂😝 

All-in-all a great day in Juneau. 

[Norwaylady]

Tonight’s plan is show+dinner. 

It’s a production show, Broadway Cabaret. 

It will be a good evening after a day out👍🏻

 

Wow, the vocal cast of the entertainment/dance/vocal group are strong. 

They really put on a show tonight. 

Great evening and good choice of songs. 

 

We were handed a beeper for dinner. It’s really not a problem for us. Then we have time for a pre-dinner cocktail and we are not bothered at all. 

Dinner tonight was good service. 

Starters: Trout, salmon, summer roll and chilled pea soup 

Main: veal and ravioli 

Dessert: crème brûlée and apple tart tatin 

 

The chilled pea soup was special, Mr Norwaylady said: hmmm, is it a lobster based soup blended by sweet peas? Really special….😝

 

The rest of the starters was 😋

Main course was excellent😌

Dessert was not bad, not a winner🙃 The apple tart is good, but skip that caramel sauce on everything😝 

Mr Norwaylady had crème brûlée, it’s his ultimate go-to dessert😋😋😋 unfortunately this crème brûlée had been a bit to much 🔥🔥🔥🔥 so it was beyond caramelised, it was burned on top. 

So the pudding was good, but the glacé was just to lift off😅

 

After dinner we returned to our home-away-from-home. 

We had a great stop in Juneau🥰 Time to charge the battery for new adventure in Skagway😌