Ira's Off to Alaska: HAL and Princess

Hi All,

on Sunday, my Lady Wife and I shall be taking the Oosterdam from Vancouver to Seward. This will be followed by a Princess Land/Cruise tour back to Vancouver.

I hope to send back live updates on both HAL and Princess boards.

Ciao for now.

Looking forward to your Live reports.

Bon Voyage!!

Have a great trip!!!

Look forward to your reports!

Denise:)

Have a great trip. Please post a link to your Princess thread if you think of it.

Looking forward to hearing all about it.

Enjoy! looking forward to hearing all about it. Just booked Oosterdam for Feb...first time on her...

Looking forward to your reports. I'll be on the next sailing on the Oosterdam out of Vancouver (Aug 16th). Getting excited here.

Reporting from the top deck, oops, floor of the Mark Spencer hotel in Portland.

The flight in from ATL was uneventful.

We went slowly, so that by the time we got to the taxi stand, there was a cab waiting for us.

The ride in from the airport is supposed to be a flat $31, but our cabbie put theflag down on his meter.

I paid the few dollars extra fare and told him that that was his tip. He took itwithgood grace, ie, I am still alive.

Checked our luggage in at the hotel and took a short walk to Clyde Common for a light lunch. Good beer and wine. The salads were nice, $40 w/tyip. More than we are used to at home.

Our room was ready when we got back. It is a junior suite. Rooms are small, but it is nice to have separate living rm/kitchen and bedroom.

The hotel offers a "name your price" deal, so we got this for a very nice rate, considering prices out here.

Tomorrow is spent in Portland, and then we take the Amtrak to Vancouver.

The hotel is offering tea and cookies from 3-5 and wine reception from 5-7.

Portland is hotter today than Atlanta and is expected to be even hotter (100 F) tomorrow.

More to come.

Ira

Wishing you fabulous cruises.

We sailed the Lady O in 2010 and have sailed mostly Princess ships since. Saturday we embark on her sister Noordam for our just our third HAL cruise. I look forward to your perspective as I develop my own in parallel. Bon voyage!

Have a great time ..

Amtrak is a wonderful way to "start" your cruise. I took that train ride many years ago and the scenery is spectacular in many stretches. Hopefully the lovely parts haven't changed. Once in Vancouver, the station is in a pretty sketchy part of town. How are you getting to the port? Does HAL have a mini bus pick you up? There are cabs, of course. They are the best option if you are in late at night or you have a lot of luggage or mobility challenges. Otherwise, the sky train is right there at the main intersection (no pun intended, its Main and Terminal). The sky train takes you directly to waterfront but see everyone else's comments about that long walk! Enjoy the train! I look forward to your post!

Hi Chef,

Amtrak gets in late.

We are planning on taking a cab to the Days Inn for a short overnight before boarding on Sunday.

Thanx for the info.

Ira

It's only a 1-block walk to Jake's Famous Crawfish.

I know -- tourist trap.

Sometimes there are reasons that tourists flock to some places.

In this case- Halibut Cheeks -- the ones from the head of the fish.

Described by our server as having "the texture of crab and the taste of halibut" they were delicious.

My Lady Wife, Roberts, had the grilled salmon and declared it excellent.

A dozen oysters from various locales (a real treat- the Alaska Goldens were tops), a pleasant bottle of Oregon Pinot Gris and a small creme brulee (quite good) finished a very pleasant meal.

Excellent service, very good food, a quaint decor - slightly above reasonable prices.

The Mark Spencer has a 24/7 coffee machine in the breakfast nook.

You can have latte, mocha, cappucino, Americano, espresso, hot chocolate, Chai latte and steamed milk. -- hot or cold, regular or decaf, whole milk or skimmed, medium or large,single, double or triple shot. It is a marvel of Italian engineering.

The machine is labeled "Concordia".

Very happy, so far.

More to come.

Ira

Reporting from the top deck, oops, floor of the Mark Spencer hotel in Portland.

 

The flight in from ATL was uneventful.

 

We went slowly, so that by the time we got to the taxi stand, there was a cab waiting for us.

 

The ride in from the airport is supposed to be a flat $31, but our cabbie put theflag down on his meter.

 

I paid the few dollars extra fare and told him that that was his tip. He took itwithgood grace, ie, I am still alive.

 

Checked our luggage in at the hotel and took a short walk to Clyde Common for a light lunch. Good beer and wine. The salads were nice, $40 w/tyip. More than we are used to at home.

 

Our room was ready when we got back. It is a junior suite. Rooms are small, but it is nice to have separate living rm/kitchen and bedroom.

 

The hotel offers a "name your price" deal, so we got this for a very nice rate, considering prices out here.

 

Tomorrow is spent in Portland, and then we take the Amtrak to Vancouver.

 

The hotel is offering tea and cookies from 3-5 and wine reception from 5-7.

 

Portland is hotter today than Atlanta and is expected to be even hotter (100 F) tomorrow.

 

More to come.

 

Ira

Tea, cookies, wine -- sounds great.

It's only a 1-block walk to Jake's Famous Crawfish.

 

I know -- tourist trap.

 

Sometimes there are reasons that tourists flock to some places.

 

In this case- Halibut Cheeks -- the ones from the head of the fish.

 

Described by our server as having "the texture of crab and the taste of halibut" they were delicious.

 

My Lady Wife, Roberts, had the grilled salmon and declared it excellent.

 

A dozen oysters from various locales (a real treat- the Alaska Goldens were tops), a pleasant bottle of Oregon Pinot Gris and a small creme brulee (quite good) finished a very pleasant meal.

 

Excellent service, very good food, a quaint decor - slightly above reasonable prices.

 

The Mark Spencer has a 24/7 coffee machine in the breakfast nook.

 

You can have latte, mocha, cappucino, Americano, espresso, hot chocolate, Chai latte and steamed milk. -- hot or cold, regular or decaf, whole milk or skimmed, medium or large,single, double or triple shot. It is a marvel of Italian engineering.

 

The machine is labeled "Concordia".

 

Very happy, so far.

 

More to come.

 

Ira

Sounds like a wonderful pre-cruise experience.

Glad you made it to Jakes, it is a Portland landmark and for all the good reasons !

Sounds like fun, and thanks for posting!

Portland Calling:

Yesterday opened hot and sunny and got hotter, and hotter.

We went off to visit the Lang Shu Chinese Gardens.

The garden is a reproduction of an old, pavilion-style mansion. Quite lovely. Very pleasant. Guided tours every hour or so. Many varieties of tea in the tea house. Lovely way to beat the heat.

Caution: If you are a Type A traveler- don't go. You will be bored silly.

After the gardens, we hopped a tram to the Portland Art Museum.

It was nice and cool.

It seems that these folks came late to the museum scene. Many middling works by major artists and many middling works by middling artists.

It was nice and cool.

Tram back to hotel. Rested. Changed.

Did I mention how hot it was?

Dinner at Andina. We had 7:30 reservations.

Arrived at 7:30. Seated immediately. Quite unusual.

The bar area is very noisy. The dining room is not.

The menu offers Andean, Spanish and European/Peruvian fusion. There are small, medium and large plates for sharing, as well as main courses.

Tortilla de Patate and a grilled octopus to start. Diver's scallops on Quinoa cakes and a braised veal shank.

Nice Oregon Pinot Grise, very good cocktails and a bottle of Xingu black beer - excellent.

Top notch service.

Very highly recommended.

Returned by tram.

And so to bed.

Ira

I have a confession to make.

We rode the light-rail, buses and trams without paying.

The first two times because the light-rail came before I could buy tickets. The next time because the ticket machine was out-of-order, and the last time because I had fallen into the dark pit of immorality.

Another wonderful pre cruise day.

Up bright and early (my Lady Wife does that) to catch the 14:50 Amtrak to Vancouver.

We took this train because my researches had indicated that this was one of the most scenic routes in North America.

It did not live up to the hype.

Additionally the train was delayed, and delayed and delayed.

We got to Vancouver late, and didn't get to bed until 02:00.

Grumpy.

The Day's Inn Downtown is a 1918 property that has been newly renovated. Very small (but well-formed) rooms, comfy beds, all of the mod cons, helpful staff and WiFi.

There is a basement cafe for bkfst.

10CAD cab ride from the Amtrak station. It's a 15-min, downhill walk to Canada Place.

I can easily recommend the hotel.

Ira

Oh, sorry to hear about the delays! I do remember the train ride being scenic but that was decades ago. Perhaps it is over built now. I hope everything else goes according to plan so all you have left to do is enjoy! I am enjoying your posts

quick update courtesy of the kindness of strangers.

oosterdam is ship-shape and in Bristol fashion. no complaints about her.

very disappointed in the food. with the exception of sabbatini's, it's like being in a denny's in nebraska.

pizza is terrible. hot dogs and fries are good.

am now in seward mrs soos bnb is very good.

more later

ira

Enjoying your thread/updates. Thanks for posting.

Love your updates.

Sorry about the train delays.