When I saw that there was a place in Victoria called “Abkhazi Gardens” I had to learn more. Abkhazia is a region of the Republic of Georgia that was invaded and is occupied by the Russians. I advised a radio … Continue reading Georgia in Victoria
Sept 1, 2024 I woke up this morning with a fever. I suspect it was a reaction to having gotten two shots yesterday, flu and COVID. So it was a slow start. The Norwegian line berths its ships right in … Continue reading And We’re Off!
View Post We are off again on a 53 day cruise from Seattle to Seattle via Alaska, Japan and Hawaii. The map, below, is updated from the one I first posted. 240830 How We Almost Outsmarted Ourselves. 240831 The Colonial … Continue reading Westerdam 2024 Legendary Japan.
Alaskan’s have a love hate relationship with Seattle. It is often the place we are medevacked to when we have an emergency. When we arrive, we feel like crap, but we leave healed. It is the home of Costco (well … Continue reading The Colonial Office
It’s common wisdom to arrive at your cruise port a day or two early. Our Japan cruise starts Sept 1, so we had planned to arrive Aug. 31 but after some fog in Southeast Alaska and what looked like a … Continue reading How We Almost Outsmarted Ourselves.
I used to transit Peril Strait a lot. When I was chair of the Alaska Public Radio Network, I went back and forth to Juneau to lobby the state legislature frequently. I loved sitting in the solarium of the ferry, … Continue reading Noting Changes on a Dynamic Coastline.
The Chichagof Dream started its life in Jeffersonville Indiana in 1984, launched as the Spirit of Nantucket for Clipper Cruise Lines. She cruised the Canadian Maritimes, the East Coast’s Intercoastal Waterway, and the Great Lakes. Cruise West bought her and … Continue reading Chichagof Dream
Suzi and I were offered berths on the MV Chichagof for a two night “Shakedown Cruise” over Memorial Day Weekend. We took the opportunity. We were the “Guinea Pigs” for Alaska Dream Cruises as they broke in a new crew … Continue reading Memorial Day Shakedown Cruise.
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
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.