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Journal Entries
HAL Westerdam, 2012
Saturday, June 30, 2012
1:28 pm (Pacific Daylight Time)
I just finished my first meal onboard ms Westerdam – five pieces of sushi, iced tea,
and the delicious bread pudding with vanilla sauce. To avoid the spread of illness,
the Lido stations are not self-
I had completely forgotten that we could have had lunch in the main dining room, as it is open to Mariners (members of Holland America Line’s repeaters program). Make mental note for next time.
4:10 pm
As we depart Seattle, I can’t help to think how wonderful it finally feels to be in the view of those living near the Sound, just as we, with an unobstructed view of Boston Harbor, watch the ships depart six months of the year.
7:25 pm
I’m sitting in the Crow’s Nest, Deck 10 forward. Several of us passengers are looking out the windows as a pilot boat pulls alongside an NCL ship. Golden Princess is to our starboard and pretty far back. It is overcast and I see mountains in the distance. The water is calm, yet I feel enough motion to let me know I’m on a ship, a feeling I enjoy.
Westerdam is our first Vista Class ship, and I am therefore getting accustomed to
her layout. One big difference between Westerdam and our previous HAL ships (the
smaller Maasdam, Ryndam, and Prinsendam) is that the Explorations Café and Library
are right next to the Crow’s Nest. I’m not fond of this placement. It is far too
noisy to properly enjoy the library. Perhaps it is quieter in the daytime. I will
need to be here often as I am on-
We had a nice dinner in the Vista Dining Room. I had a superb appetizer of tuna and
salmon tartare, followed by Caesar salad, rainbow trout, and red velvet cake. I was
anxious to try HAL’s newly expanded vegetarian menus, a development that was met
with great fanfare when it was announced in May 2012. The press release stated that
the vegetarian menu is available upon request—yet it did not state that orders need
to be placed now for tomorrow night. This may be fine for true vegetarians and vegans
(there were a couple of options on tonight’s general menu), yet not a great setup
for pescetarians, like me. To me, a full menu also includes fish, so I’d like to
see tomorrow’s fish options before making a decision. Not a big deal—I can ask to
see tomorrow night’s menu now, as well. Nonetheless, I am looking forward to the
cheese-
8:30 pm
We are in the Piano Bar listening to a wonderful entertainer named Glenn-
Sunday, July 1, 2012
8:36 am
Happy Canada Day!
This is on a sign that greeted us as we entered the main dining room a few minutes ago. We have just ordered our breakfast—I’m having half of a grapefruit and my first cruise morning tradition, Eggs Benedict (technically, Eggs Royale, which has smoked salmon in lieu of Canadian bacon). Our table is in the aft section of the lower level. We are now in the Pacific Ocean, having passed north of Vancouver overnight, and the view of the wake is lovely.
9:10 am
Wonderful breakfast! As I linger over my tea, I’ll jot down a few thoughts about the dining room this morning. Copies of the New York Times Digest were available at the entrance—a nice touch. The lower level of the dining room, which is used for flexible dining time in the evenings, is largely made up of tables for four. This likely caters to a passenger preference to not have their small party share a table with others. (Larger tables are also available.)
10:20 am
I am in the Explorations Café/Library reading my book and doing some people-
There are many shelves of books. Some of the categories are Leisure, Travel, New York Times Bestsellers, Classics, Foreign Language, and Fiction. In this large room are also a dozen or so Internet stations, a few laptop tables, chess board (an exciting game is transpiring between two teams of teens/young adults), a puzzle table (that I will check out later and hopefully help with a few pieces), and the Explorations Café, which offers a variety of coffee, latte, and tea.
So, this is not really the ideal place for a library as there are many distractions—yet this chair is so comfortable that I’m going to stay.
Overheard from the kids playing Life: “Are you going to college?” “Yes, I’m going to college as I want a good job.” And, “You have to get married.” “I wish I didn’t have to get married.”
11:30 pm (Alaska Daylight Time)
We just turned our clocks back one hour in anticipation of our arrival in Juneau tomorrow afternoon. One extra hour of sleep. Not that I need it, as I had a nice nap this afternoon.
This was a nice sea day filled with several activities. After the morning “North to Alaska” enrichment talk (wonderful!), we had lunch in the dining room. How I love dining room lunch!
On our way to lunch, we happened upon a game of BINGO that was about to start. It was called Express Jackpot BINGO as the games were short—four in twenty minutes. We didn’t win, but our son had fun.
At 3:00, we went our separate ways. Neil attended an Alaskan ale tasting that he had signed up for yesterday. It was $12.50 per person, and there were four ales from the Alaskan Brewing Company—white ale, pale ale, summer ale, and amber ale (which once won an award for the best beer in America).
Meanwhile, Marty and I went to Royal Dutch High Tea. There was no description as
there had been on an earlier cruise, yet I’d remembered that this is similar to a
British Afternoon Tea (snack) rather than British High Tea (a meal). I had smoked
salmon and a couple of cream-
As our dinner reservations were not until 8:00 pm, we took naps from about 4:30-
Upon arriving at the dining room at 7:55, we encountered a long line at the door designated for those passengers with dinner reservations. It moved at first, and then came to a stop at the party two ahead of us. They had some kind of issue with their reservation that held up everyone else. I couldn’t quite tell what was happening, yet it appeared that the number in their party was larger than the number they supplied when making their reservation. The staff should have taken them aside rather than make us all wait while they accommodated them.
We were eventually escorted to our table. When I made the reservation this morning,
I was told that the dining room was filled other than an 8-
Monday, July 2, 2012
9:22 am
What a beautiful scene now unfolds before me. I am in the Explorer’s Lounge, just
forward of the Vista Dining Room. Through the large windows facing starboard (as
we travel north) is a spectacular, snow-
Neil and Marty went to the Front Office to leave a note for the Restaurant Manager about the atypically slow service in the dining room. This continued this morning, when our breakfast order took nearly one hour to arrive. It wasn’t just us. The people at the next table complained to the waiter, who told them that the delay is due to the large number of omelets being ordered with only two chefs to prepare them. This didn’t seem right to us, so we decided to go to the top, politely.
I just saw some dolphins.
These waters are so calm, like being on a lake. Barely a ripple, other than those created by our cruise ship.
10:00 am
The best moment of the cruise so far—sitting in Explorer’s Lounge reading a book
while classical music is being piped in, looking out my window from a comfortable
chair, and taking in the breathtaking and serene view of snow-
10:55 pm
I love Juneau.
It was a perfect day for our visit. We docked around 1:00 pm and my family and I
left the ship shortly thereafter. We returned at around 4:30. We had not selected
an organized shore excursion, as we had done in 2008 (Mendenhall Glacier and Salmon
Bake). For today’s visit, my pre-
The Capitol was nice. Nondescript on the outside, it was beautiful inside, with a
lot of marble and limestone from Alaska and wood carvings by native Alaskans. Both
guided and self-
From there, we walked to view the outside of the Governor’s Mansion—a large white house in an area of private homes of various sizes, structures, and periods.
We continued on to the Alaska State Museum, which was founded in 1900 to preserve
Alaska’s history. This was well worth the $7 per-
Tonight, we dined in the Italian specialty restaurant, Canaletto. My seafood soup was superb—it was a perfect broth that had bits of salmon, squid, and other fish, including a mussel and clam still in the shells. Tortellini in olive oil was great. Neil had osso bucco and remarked with each bite how wonderful and tender it was.
There is a $10 per-
During our meal, the Restaurant Manager stopped by, obviously having tracked us down, to apologize for the conditions described in Neil’s note about the dining room service. He explained that there was an issue with the desalination system that caused the dishes and food to take on a salty taste—I didn’t quite catch the rest, but they had to use bottled water, which made everything take longer. It wasn’t an excuse—this was beyond their control—and his apology seemed sincere. He then asked if he could send a small culinary item to our cabin!
This is an example of why bringing an issue to the attention of the person ultimately responsible—while ON the ship—is so important. The issue was addressed, the customer is reassured that the line cares, and the cruise is not ruined. In fact, he thanked us for alerting us to these matters.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Margerie Glacier Johns Hopkins Glacier
8:37 am
We are enjoying breakfast in the main dining room as we cruise northward in Glacier Bay National Park. The waters are tinged with blue, and mountains with trees, rocks, and/or snow are outside the window. Waters are very calm. I just saw a frozen waterfall. We will be here most of the day, hopefully sailing up to Johns Hopkins Glacier at the northernmost point before reversing direction.
10:05 am
It’s a beautiful day for glacier viewing. I am on the bow on Deck 4 with about a hundred other passengers. There is now a lot more snow on the mountains and the water is crystal blue and calm. I am also enjoying a bowl of Dutch pea soup, a Holland America tradition in Alaska. We are approaching Russell Island. Our first tidewater glacier, Reid Glacier, will soon come on our port.
2:15 pm
I have just seen the most gorgeous land-
Margerie Glacier was stunning, as it was on our trip here in 2008. On that day, it
had been warm and there was a lot of calving of large pieces of ice. It is cool today,
around 45-
Holland America Line’s Zaandam was in our view for a short while when we passed Lamplugh Glacier earlier.
We are now in the last leg of our visit to Glacier Bay National Park as we head southeast toward the Visitor Center to disembark the Park Rangers who have been with us since 7:00 this morning. This should happen around 5:00 pm.
What a beautiful day this has been! Not much wildlife other than many birds and some mountain goats—but the scenery was so spectacular that it, alone, was all that was needed.
11:30 pm
After a nice dinner in the main dining room at 5:15 pm, we attended the production show in the main lounge. The show, which was outstanding, was called “Simply Broadway” and was just that—Broadway tunes presented in a very simple style by four singers. They sang live and were backed by a live band, the HALCats. Tunes ran the gamut, including a couple I did not know. My favorite of the evening was “Seasons of Love” from Rent. Four voices ably performed a song that was made for about a dozen.
Then, it was back to our usual hangout, the Piano Bar, where Glenn-
I had left dinner before dessert as I wasn’t feeling well. This may sound odd, yet it’s the truth—I got too much sun in Glacier Bay. I had spent nearly the whole day outdoors. Two Advil later, I was feeling fine, and still am.
One glitch tonight—the battery on our cabin door stopped working. Neither we nor
Security could get in using the key card. Opening the door required the use a traditional
key, which was retrieved by Security. Maintenance will be here tomorrow morning (while
we are ashore) to replace the battery. This isn’t a problem, as we had no plans to
leave the cabin tonight—and, if we did, we could have made another call. In any case,
we have a 5:30 am wake-
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
11:05 pm
What a marvelous day!
Our tour in Sitka was amazing. It was called, “Historic Russian America & Raptor
Center,” and included a bonus stop to look at totem poles at the Sitka National Historic
Park. Having met our tour in the Queen’s Lounge, our group tendered over together
in one of our ship’s lifeboats, an operation that took 5-
The Alaska Raptor Center was our first stop. It is renowned as a hospital and education
center for bald eagles and other raptors. Many are eventually released to the wild
after treatment and rehabilitation. Those who would not be able to survive remain
at the Center for the remainder of their lives as part of the educational program.
This is how we met HALi, a 3-
Next, it was back to town, where we visited the stunning St. Michael’s Cathedral
(the first Russian Orthodox cathedral in America) and, later, saw a performance of
the New Archangel Russian Dancers (an all-
Our final stop was the Sitka National Historic Park, where our guide showed us the totem poles outside its entrance. Totem poles tell stories through pictures and symbols, yet the true meaning is often known only to the carver and is open to interpretation. There are certain motifs that are often repeated—such as salmon and bears—and the meaning of each can vary depending on the tribe that created the pole.
After the tour, we had plenty of time to walk around and see some of the historic sites that had been pointed out to us from the bus. This included Castle Hill, the site of the October 18, 1867 transfer of Alaska to the United States (for $7.2 million, or 2 cents an acre). We also had lunch in town and walked up Lake Street to the Masonic Lodge for Neil’s customary photo.
Marty and I returned to the ship, and Neil stayed on for the Independence Day parade. He said it was great—participants included the Sitka Fire Department, the dancers we had seen earlier, the Coast Guard, and a supermarket that had its employees dance the parade route with shopping carts as lively music played.
Dinner tonight was in the Pinnacle Grill, HAL’s specialty restaurant. Originally
a steak house, its menu has expanded to include seafood and other items. My lobster
tail was wonderful! Our son ordered his usual lobster macaroni and cheese-
The evening show was comedian and magician Jeff Peterson. The magic was very good—audience
participation included the usual select-
I just realized that this was the first day in a long time that we took no meals in the main dining room!
Thursday, July 5, 2012
6:30 am
We are presently docking in Ketchikan, one of my favorite cities. Among other things—like being the “salmon capitol of the world” and boasting incredible scenery such as that of Misty Fjords National Monument—Ketchikan is also known for its significant rainfall, which averages roughly 150 inches, or 12.5 feet, per year. Average rainfall for July is 6.4 inches. As we approach today, I see blue skies poking out from behind a thin cloud cover. We have lucked out with the weather yet again.
12:50 pm
As the crew readies the ship for our 1:00 departure from Ketchikan, I sit in our cabin sipping a wonderful cup of white chocolate chai that I purchased from the Chocolate Seduction shop for a reasonable $2.35. It is delicious.
After reboarding our ship about 45 minutes ago, I walked about Decks 1, 2, and 3 to take photographs of the public rooms housed here.
ms Westerdam is a new class of ship for us, HAL’s Vista Class. She is the third to
debut (April 2004); the first was Zuiderdam in September 2002. The Vista ships are
significantly (33%) larger than the previous class—the R-
The ride has been exceptionally smooth. As I’ve written a few times, we have had clear and calm weather conditions. I’m still hoping for a bit of motion, as I like feeling that I am on a ship.
3:00 pm
My son and I are in the Vista Dining Room enjoying Indonesian Tea. Four kinds of tea are being offered—organic Indonesian classic, Indonesian green, Indonesian spice, and Indonesian Jasmine green. There are also two kinds of coffee—Sumatra and Celebes. I am about to try the Jasmine. It comes as leaves in a mesh bag. The menu indicates that these are available for purchase at www.shophollandamerica.com. I am also having cucumber and smoked salmon and scones with clotted cream. My son liked his chocolate mousse cake.
Wow! This tea is superb. Very smooth, not at all floral-
3:50 pm
I’m about to take a wellness seminar called, “10 Tips to a Better Sleep.” I really feel like taking a nap instead.
10:35 pm
This will likely be my last entry while on Alaska Daylight Time. Tomorrow is mostly a day at sea, with a quick port stop in Victoria in the evening (6:00 to midnight Pacific Daylight Time), and is also the last full day of the cruise. The following morning, we disembark from ms Westerdam in Seattle, where we met her nearly one week ago.
We are approaching the open Pacific, if we are not there already, and the ship is rocking mildly. I love it! We also saw a great sunset tonight.
It was a nice evening. We enjoyed a superb dinner in the Main Dining Room at 8:00.
We’re finally getting the hang of making reservations. It appears that the only times
to reserve are 5:30 pm and 8:00 pm, with a 15-
And, it was a spectacular day in Ketchikan. This was our second visit—the first was in 2008 on Ryndam when we also had fabulous weather. On that trip, we visited Misty Fjords National Monument by boat and then walked along Creek Street and saw many salmon swimming upstream.
This time, we opted for something a bit different. Through HAL, we purchased a shore
excursion called Alaska Rain Forest Sanctuary, Raptor Center & Totems that took up
most of our short port call. The Alaska Rain Forest Sanctuary is a 40-
Friday, July 6, 2012
11:05 am (Pacific Daylight Time)
We had a lovely breakfast in the Lido Restaurant. After we finished our light meal, we struck up a conversation with a family sitting at a nearby table and hung out for more than half an hour. While we were talking, a huge whale made its way past the ship. He dove a couple of times and, after the last one, disappeared under the surface with a wave of his tail.
11:35 am
We’re at the Mariners Brunch in the main dining room. My menu selections—apple & pear gazpacho with passion fruit sorbet, broccoli & cheddar quiche, and key lime & white chocolate tart. Other options are warm salmon & greens salad (appetizer), braised beef short ribs, and rainbow trout. After jotting all this down, I was told by the waiter that I may keep the menu. This will look great in a frame!
Neil just noted that it’s not very crowded in here—perhaps half of the lower level,
at most. Last year on Maasdam, the Mariners Brunch was packed, Neil recalls. Likely,
this is a ship that attracts first-
The gazpacho was marvelous!
2:35 pm
We are in the show lounge for the final time. Yet, as the saying goes, we have saved the best for last—comedian and juggler Dan Bennett, who we had seen previously on Diamond Princess in 2005. He had the great gimmick of mentioning his name as kind of a “darn it” when something didn’t go right. And, it worked, as I have remembered his name more than 7 years later.
6:50 pm
We just returned from our last dinner of the cruise. I had a variety of fish that
was new to me—it is called Swai. It was delectable and melt-
We docked in Victoria, British Columbia, about an hour ago. It is strange to have
a sea day followed by a post-
9:35 pm
We have now re-
We spent about 2 ½ hours off the ship. We took a taxi to town from the pier – CD$9 each way per taxi. (The shuttle was US$8 per person, so we came out a little ahead, other than tips.) Taxis were easy to find in both directions—at the pier, and in a queue across the street from the Empress Hotel for the return.
We started at the Empress Hotel, where we wandered about the adjacent garden and
saw absolutely gorgeous flowers. The rhododendrons were huge! We then walked over
to the Parliament buildings—stunning architecture. A statue of Queen Victoria welcomed
us to the plaza in front of the main building. We backtracked and walked up Government
Street as far as Chinatown. Along the way, we passed the former site of Fort Victoria
(1843-
Saturday, July 7, 2012
7:25 am
We are docked at Seattle’s Pier 91, our good friend and cruising companion Golden Princess beside us. It is disembarkation day—the day we say goodbye to our home of the past week. We are getting ready to go to breakfast, and we will then wait until our disembarkation time of 8:45. We have one more day in Seattle, the reason we opted for a late departure time. As we don’t have to get to the airport this morning, there is no need for us to rush off the ship and get in the way of those on a strict schedule.
8:20 am
Still onboard, having finished breakfast in the Lido. It is not crowded, as many have left the ship, so I will sit here for a bit and write.
This was a very nice cruise. I was somewhat apprehensive as no research went into
this booking—we had to cancel our original, 14-
There were many aspects of this cruise I loved—our comfortable cabin, the superb food, the service, and even the layout. Yes, this big ship grew on me. We found, as is typical, other great things to do. The rainforest tour in Ketchikan was wonderful, and a nice complement to the Misty Fjords Monument tour we did a few years ago. And, how many people go to Juneau and visit the Capitol Building? Loved it. Maybe we’ll do a whale watch someday, yet there’s so much to see. And Johns Hopkins Glacier—spectacular!
This was another great cruise from Holland America Line, and I wish I didn’t have to wait so long until the next one.
Lisa