Getting to Sitka from the inside passage you either need to sail around the North of Chichagof Island, through Icy Strait and Cross Sound, or south around Cape Ommany on the southern tip of Baranof Island, unless you go through … Continue reading Peril Strait Sunset
In a way it was like riding the state ferry, only with much better food, more luxurious accommodations and a ship that stops for whales. Alaskan Dream Cruises invited a group of Sitkans to take a Memorial Day “shakedown” cruise … Continue reading Shakedown Cruise
As Sitka waited for the dark, (as dark as it ever gets in May) we watched our glorious blue skies fade to dusk and clouds began to form. The forecast was for cloudy skies after sunset. Sunset is just after … Continue reading A Global Moment of Wonder
In an early blog post on this cruise, I wrote about how many of our boarding cruise mates thought of this as a “long cruise,” 22 days. We thought of it as a short cruise, 22 days. At the end … Continue reading Coda, I think this really is my final post on this cruise.
On the ship you can’t help but hear people talking about the changes in cruising since the pandemic, cost cutting and upsells, to make lines more profitable, or perhaps to help them pay off the debts they encountered while not … Continue reading The Art of the Upsell
In 2015 we were on the Circle South America cruise on Prinsendam, a Holland America ship that carried around 800 passengers. HAL presented a slide show about its new ship, Koningsdam, carrying 2650 passengers, coming next year. Koningsdam would carry … Continue reading Is it the “Monsterdam?”
Normally I can’t wait to get off in port, but by the time we hit Victoria, at 1 Friday afternoon I decided I needed a nap more than a visit to Victoria (it’s in the neighborhood and we’ve been there … Continue reading … and it always ends with the Milk Run.
240424 The Promenade Deck One of the things that Holland America cruisers like abut the line is that all of their ships have a Promenade Deck, Deck 3, that wraps around the ship. You can walk outside. On Koningsdam three … Continue reading Deck 3
I was sleeping when I heard the dings and an announcement asking the medical team to report to a stateroom on Deck 6. A couple of hours later the captain came on the PA system and apologized for the early … Continue reading A Course Diversion
The text and the pictures on this post are a complete disconnect. The pictures are from all of our stops in Hawaii. I had no other way to put them into the context of past blog posts, so here they … Continue reading Leaving Hawaii With Memories and a New Captain.
Near the port of Hilo, where the ship docks, there are some formal Japanese Gardens. Their streams and ponds replenished twice daily by the tides that flow over the black lava rock beach. Queen Lili’uokani built the gardens in 1917 … Continue reading Hilo’s Lili’uokani Japanese Gardens.
Our tour bus driver and guide in Hilo, Jessica, made it a point that she was Jess, and if we called her Jesse she would throw us into a Volcano Caldera as a sacrifice to Pele, the Hawaiian Goddess of … Continue reading Don’t Make Pele Mad (Volcanoes National Park)
The lecturers on the ship spoke about how the mainland became interested, perhaps even obsessed with Hawaii. They mention Elvis and the movie “Blue Hawaii” where Elvis wore Aloha shirts and a Lei while playing a Ukulele. Of course there … Continue reading Hawai’i Calling (Waikiki)
As an Alaskan I have been asked that question by visitors from cruise ships more times than I can remember. I tried hard not to eye roll, and at one point carried novelty 22-dollar bills printed by an Alaska character … Continue reading Do You Take American Dollars?
240418 19 Aloha Honululu (Hello/Good by) The Captain told us it would be an early sail in to Honolulu. I looked at the map and the sight I wanted to see was on the starboard, we are on port, so … Continue reading Aloha Honolulu
For being so different in climate, location, and population Alaska and Hawaii have a lot in common. After all, Hawaii is one of the most isolated island groups in the world and the closest land to Hawaii is Alaska. We … Continue reading Snowbirding Railway Cars.
The captain told us he was opening the bow at sunrise so we could watch the scenic sail in at Nawiliwili bay. Looking at a map I saw that the best views would be on the port side, where we … Continue reading Kauai Sail in and Sail Out.
The last time we were on the Kona Coast on the big island of Hawai’i, 45 years ago, most of the development was south of Kona airport. We rented a condo South of the airport and explored the coast with … Continue reading Pu’uhonua, Place of Refuge
Kona is a tender port, and it is also the port for re-entry into the United States. That means that everyone must have a “face to face” meeting with immigrations officials. The officials are shuttled to the ship and set … Continue reading Kona’s Painted Church
Back in 1999 we took my mother on a Mediterranean cruise on Norwegian America’s Vistafjord, part of the Cunard group. Before Pop died, they had cruised a few times on Norwegian American and mom was invited to a ceremony where … Continue reading Gold Medal Tourists
Holland America used to be known for its evening classical music. On every cruise I’ve been on there has either been a group branded “adagio” that plays light classics (high class Central European Grand Café music) in the Explorer lounge, … Continue reading A Sea Interlude (Musical Decks)
We arrived in Mazatlan at 7 AM the day after the eclipse. Suzi and I didn’t get off the ship until close to noon. The night before I had two zoom meetings, one with the Raven Board and one of … Continue reading Everything is Beautiful — Mazatlan
After my eclipse post several people asked where we were when we took the pictures. I gave a general answer but yesterday the chief navigation officer came up to the “Crow’s Nest” and marked on a paper chart exactly where … Continue reading Eclipse Redux
When I started posting the 2024 Koningsdam Eclipse and Repositioning Cruise blog I got several questions from people asking how we finally ended up with our insurance claims from the 2023 Grand World Cruise. I also got questions about my … Continue reading The Final Cruise Coda of the Final Cruise Coda of the Final Cruise Coda for 2023. Honest.