Live from the Golden 05/30

[Momma Mojito]

Keith,

If they have the Farfalle Alla Rustica on the menu order a side dish, if you haven't tried it, you are in for a treat. It to me has to be one of the best pasta dishes I have tasted. I ordered a side dish to go along with my dinner, but after tasting it, I asked our waiter to bring it as my main course. Thanks again for taking the time to givie us details of your cruise, you are doing a great job!!! Can't wait to see what you have tonight for dinner.

[Colo Cruiser]

Keith,

If they have the Farfalle Alla Rustica on the menu order a side dish, if you haven't tried it, you are in for a treat. It to me has to be one of the best pasta dishes I have tasted. I ordered a side dish to go along with my dinner, but after tasting it, I asked our waiter to bring it as my main course. Thanks again for taking the time to givie us details of your cruise, you are doing a great job!!! Can't wait to see what you have tonight for dinner.

 

 

I have seen it in the past but never tried it....

I will have to check it out, thanks. :)

[Colo Cruiser]

Still slowly making our way into the Juneau area.

 

Captain made an announcement earlier requesting anyone with a blood donor card (A+) for an ongoing emergency. We hope the person recovers from whatever happened.

 

I forgot to mention I have been posting from the cabin via my laptop with a full signal. very nice not having to go to the IC all the time. :D

[NancyIL]

Thanks for your live report. We got off the Golden on the 30th, and our best weather was in Seattle 3 days pre-cruise and 1 day post-cruise. It was overcast in Juneau - but it didn't rain, as was predicted. It rained in Skagway, but most of the time we were on a rail/bus excursion to the Yukon and missed the bad weather - until we drove back to Skagway mid-afternoon. It was a bit drizzly in Tracy Arm, and we turned around about 10 miles from the glacier - according to the naturalist. I was prepared to not see the glacier, but had my hopes raised by reports that the first 2 cruises did get all the way into the Fjord. It was beautiful, and I would gladly sail on a ship that goes to Tracy Arm again. The sun came out for awhile in Ketchican - which was the first time I'd seen it there in 3 cruises! Victoria had warm, sunny weather - but alas it was too windy to dock. :( I knew something was up when we sailed past where I guessed Ogden Point was, and they put away the security machines on the ship! According to our room steward, there was also a lot of wind the previous week, and the ship was blown into a concrete retaining wall when it docked. (Can any of you on the May 16 cruise confirm?) I imagine that would make the captain rather skittish about smudging the fresh paint again if that story is true!

 

Deck 6 was still closed for our cruise, so I'm glad the work on the new cabins, restaurant, and offices is finished. I LOVED the International Cafe, and we ate lunch there almost every day. Great shrimp salad and tomato/basil/mozzarella sandwiches! The afternoon milk and cookies were appreciated, too. :)

 

We arrived at the pier just before 10:30 a.m., and our taxi sat motionless for several minutes while waiting for oncoming traffic. As the price on the meter increased, our driver suggested we get out of the cab and walk the rest of the way - which we did. Once we were inside the terminal, there was no wait to check-in. We sat for a little over an hour and read while waiting to board the ship. We did the self disembark, but were delayed almost 45 minutes due to a code red (illness affecting a number of people) on HAL Amsterdam, and they wanted the sick people to get off their ship before others disembarked. We had no trouble getting a taxi, and we took it to the 4th Street Budget car rental office, rather than the 7th Street one that has a free shuttle. We were the only ones at Budget, and were soon on our way out of Seattle to enjoy the afternoon at Snoqualmie Falls and Issaquah.

[Westie1]

Thanks for taking the time to do this. We have 4 family members on board, love the updates. Enjoy the sun!!!

[mii]

Keith now that is weird about the blood donor. On our may 16th cruise the Captain also came on and asked for blood donors with a B positive or A negative. 40 people volunteered but could only use 7 of them as they had their certified blood donor card. In all of my cruise we have had emergencies but that was the first time there was a request for blood. The Capt. did come on the next day and said that the person was well and was put in a hospital in ketchikan where we were. Hope eveyrthing is o.k,.

 

As for nancy's quesiton about docking at Victoria. We did dock in Victoria and there was no wind and as far as I know we did not slam into the concrete wall. At least I did not feel anything out of ordinary.

 

Marilyn

[emmysmom]

Thanks so much for posting your live updates! Makes the wait for our cruise in August a little more bearable! ;)

Hope you have a great cruise! :D

[vickie_bernie]

Captain made an announcement earlier requesting anyone with a blood donor card (A+) for an ongoing emergency. We hope the person recovers from whatever happened.

 

 

We had a blood request on our cruise too... happy to report that a lot of people came forward with the rare blood type request and the person disembarked in Ketchikan and was doing well. That was the May 16 to 23rd trip.

 

Hope the patient on your cruise is doing well.

[vickie_bernie]

Victoria had warm, sunny weather - but alas it was too windy to dock. :( I knew something was up when we sailed past where I guessed Ogden Point was, and they put away the security machines on the ship! According to our room steward, there was also a lot of wind the previous week, and the ship was blown into a concrete retaining wall when it docked. (Can any of you on the May 16 cruise confirm?) I imagine that would make the captain rather skittish about smudging the fresh paint again if that story is true! .

 

 

I was on the May 16th cruise and we docked in Victoria and there was absolutely no wind.... it was very hot. don't recall any issues with docking. We also spoke with some of the officers that night in Victoria and they did not mention anything about it. So not sure what steward was referring to.

[Pia1913]

Interesting, that again on the Golden there's a call for blood. Only ship we've ever had that announcement, was the Golden. And for those who are eligible to donate, you MUST have a donor card with you, because without it they can't take a chance and use your blood.

 

Still cruising along with you Keith. Would you please have some French onion soup for me; xtra cheese. :)

[chamima]

Interesting, that again on the Golden there's a call for blood. Only ship we've ever had that announcement, was the Golden. And for those who are eligible to donate, you MUST have a donor card with you, because without it they can't take a chance and use your blood.

 

Still cruising along with you Keith. Would you please have some French onion soup for me; xtra cheese. :)

 

 

Is it possible that it's a staff member?

[wizard-of-roz]

Thank you for sharing your cruise with us.....we'll be going to Alaska in September....and, you've helped to make the wait more fun!

Have a wonderful and restful cruise!

[crafticruiser]

Interesting about the many calls for blood. We had one on our 4/19 Ruby Transatlantic. Good advice for cruisers to take their blood donor cards.

 

Marcia in CT

[Westie1]

Just talked to my family on this cruise. My brother in law went to donate and they told him they had enough. Nice of all the cruisers to pitch in.

[49er]

Hello Kieth,

Thanks again for the "You Are There" updates from the Golden. Glad to hear the WiFi is working:-) If, in your meetings with ship's staff, could you ask what's up with the Bridge Cam? It looks like they have put a sheet of wax paper over the lens. Does it look like that on the cabin's TV as well? Trivial stuff I know but inquiring minds want to know:-) Continue to have a great voyage.

 

49er

[Colo Cruiser]

Have not heard anyword on the person needing the blood yet.

we just came back onboard after walking the town, man I would say it is at least 78 today. I have shorts on and a t-shirt. Too hot to sit on the balcony. Unbelievable!

 

Ships in port Amsterdam/Millenium/and Zuiderdam which is docked at the fuel farm in front of us.

 

Went and got a free ice cream cone, it is more the "ice" rather then cream.

I would prefer the real ice cream but it will do.

 

Pia the soup is a go. :D

 

I will check in later.

[mii]

Hello Kieth,

Thanks again for the "You Are There" updates from the Golden. Glad to hear the WiFi is working:-) If, in your meetings with ship's staff, could you ask what's up with the Bridge Cam? It looks like they have put a sheet of wax paper over the lens. Does it look like that on the cabin's TV as well? Trivial stuff I know but inquiring minds want to know:-) Continue to have a great voyage.

 

49er

 

When i was on board May 16-23 I happen to mention to someone(I forgot who) that the web cam had a awful lot of brightness. during the cruise I noticed that it went away. After coming home I have also noticed that the pics were getting better and better. I think what you are seeing now is that the lens is dirty. They did have some rain so we will see if it improves. Hope it does anyway.

 

Marilyn

[donscomp]

Interesting, that again on the Golden there's a call for blood. Only ship we've ever had that announcement, was the Golden. And for those who are eligible to donate, you MUST have a donor card with you, because without it they can't take a chance and use your blood.

We heard one callout on the 07 Hawaii cruise we were all on, on Diamond. We were in HC when we heard it.

[vannagreen]

Thanks for posting!! Im going to be on this cruise in July with a large group.

 

If you are saving the Daily Princess Patter's...would you mind sharing them when you return if possible.

 

Thanks a bunch and enjoy your vacation.

[kimchee1212]

Thanks for posting!! Im going to be on this cruise in July with a large group.

 

If you are saving the Daily Princess Patter's...would you mind sharing them when you return if possible.

 

Thanks a bunch and enjoy your vacation.

 

Yes, if you can, please do

 

Thanks :D

[JSWalk]

Thanks so much for sharing your cruise with all of us. It will make the time for our cruise seem like it is going faster.:)

[wizard-of-roz]

Can someone be more specific about the "Ice" cream. Are they serving cones (free), at the Ice Cream station or in HC?

Sorry, my DH is bugging me about his ice cream "fix" while onboard the Golden! :rolleyes:

[Colo Cruiser]

Can someone be more specific about the "Ice" cream. Are they serving cones (free), at the Ice Cream station or in HC?

 

Sorry, my DH is bugging me about his ice cream "fix" while onboard the Golden! :rolleyes:

 

No ice cream in the HC, just the soft serve at the "sundaes" ice cream bar. Cones or in a bowl and it is more of the Ice variety rather then cream.

Still available in the dining room. ;)

[Colo Cruiser]

Good morning from Skagway. We arrived at 6:15 am. It’s a clear day with an expected high of 78!

I am sunburned a little from yesterday. It was a beautiful sail away from Juneau at 10:00 pm and light until about 10:30. We ate in the dining room. I had the Surf/Turf, shrimp and a beef filet type medallion. Our head waiter Mossimo made us a special appetizer, spaghetti with marinara/tomato/basil sauce.

Crème Brule for dessert. It was excellent. Did not see any shows just walked around and hit the cabin around 11:30.

Tonight is the Crown Grill, looking forward to another excellent meal.

No tours planned today so we will walk into town for awhile and take it easy again.

I forgot to mention the new flat screens are at least 24-26 inches (Viewsonic). The style of the back to back TV area here on the Golden is quite spacious compared to the newer ships. Lots of shelf space around the TV, with good access to the audio jacks and 110 plugs.

Later.

[wizard-of-roz]

No ice cream in the HC, just the soft serve at the "sundaes" ice cream bar. Cones or in a bowl and it is more of the Ice variety rather then cream.

Still available in the dining room. ;)

 

"Ice" is fine......He'll be so happy! Thank you!