Live From - 5/22 and 6/1/15 Golden Alaska

05-21-2015

Almost “Live From”. Flew in a day early, as we typically do, and are staying at the Hilton in Union Square. This will be our 5th and 6th time in Alaska, as we are also doing the 6/1/15 as a B2B. The main difference is that this cruise goes to Haines and Tracy Fjord, while the 6/1 cruise goes to Skagway and Glacier Bay.

This is going to be quite a different cruise for us. We have Ally (Allyson) our granddaughter with us whom just graduated from high school yesterday and intends on embarking on a Tourism Management career this fall in college – she wants to be a cruise director – after hearing so much about our cruises and the cruise staff that we meet. So we thought we’d give her a taste of all the different roles and job opportunities there are out there. Alaska was convenient for this time of year and there is a variety of things she can see that are related to her chosen field – from Billy London, the CD on this cruise, to the cruise staff, to the shore excursion people, to the guides on the various excursions, to the MC at the Lumberjack show in Ketchikan – and all the variety of positions in between.

It also give us a chance to relive our teenage years with her, as we intend to embarrass her daily, and exhaust her nightly. We want to show her the shows from 3rd row center, comedians from the front row, dance class, Zumba, lectures, a whole lot of excursions and just the beauty of Alaska. There’s a lot of opportunities in the world and we want to give her a little incentive to work hard.

For those of you who have read my prior Live From’s, welcome back, for those of you that are new, we’re Charles and Judy from Colorado. (And yes, our Avatar is us in a real shot from the aft suite balcony on the night of our 30th anniversary cruise after our renewal of vows – that’s how much we love cruising.) As you can see from our history, we do a lot of cruising – and we love it. We typically have started doing DIY excursions, but with Ally with us, I want her to experience as much as possible, so we’ll be flightseeing, river boating, kayaking, whale watching, cheering on the lumberjacks and walking around Victoria. On the ship we intend to dance our food off, watch MUTS, see the shows, walk around San Fran, then get back on the ship and do it all over again.

I’ll try and provide daily updates, internet gods willing, on what’s going on, what we’re doing and what else is going on. Since we are early in the season and a lot of people are doing Alaska this year, I will try and scan the patters in when we get home for my fellow OCPD (Obsessive Cruise Planning Disorder) sufferers. I’ll also try and provide Ally’s perspective as well. We’ve probably seen all of the shows they will have on the ship, but Ally’s never seen them before, so I’ll get her perspective on the shows, the activities, the excursions. She’s already gotten an eye opening experience in San Francisco – having never been to the ‘big city’ before, so it is kind of neat to see the light in her eyes as she experiences new sights, sounds, tastes.

We’ve already gotten the email that the Golden, like the Star, has a severe Noro outbreak, so they will do a full sanitize tomorrow and delay boarding until after 3PM tomorrow. At least we should still be able to go under the Golden Gate before sunset. Haven’t planned what to do tomorrow. We have a late checkout, but not late enough.

We’re meeting my godmother for dinner tonight at John’s Grill. My godmother has finally retired after a long and successful career in San Francisco real estate, but I want to introduce Ally to a successful business woman as well. I’ve introduced her to the women in my office, but I also want her to meet and talk to others that I know from all over the country – both in-laws and outlaws!

Besides, the more successful she is – and say she gets to be that Cruise Director in the future – I’ll remind her who took her on her first cruise! (She’ll owe us! – Umm, we’ll have the owner’s suite please!)

I’ll use the first patter tomorrow to preview the entire cruise for everyone, then try and do at least a daily update. Some days might be short as I have excursions planned in every port and a lot of just wandering around showing her the sights – along with some absolute must do’s like Taku smoked fish and Alaskan Ale, Sprite for Ally, at Twisted Fish in Juneau – topped off with some Fudge and Divinity from the Alaskan Fudge Company. Ride the tram, hike to nugget falls, wander around Ketchikan, Christmas shop, get all the coupon freebies, you know, the usual….

So stand by, let’s have some fun…..

Thanks for doing another live Charles. :)

Seems like you only just got back from the last one. :D

Looking forward to it.

Bon Voyage!

I've enjoyed many of your "live from" and this one could not come at a better time! We've never been to Alaska... through a stroke of luck, we were able to switch our cruise from Tracy Arm in August to the one with Glacier Bay in June.

Enjoy your time with your granddaughter!

Traveling with Ally is a bit different than Judy and I traveling together. Instead of our normal king bed, we got a twin double at the Hilton. It’s been a long time since we slept in that small a bed. And of course I'm now competing with two women for bathroom space. Actually its not a competition at all, I just do what I'm told...

We went to John’s Grill for dinner. Easy walking distance from the hotel. It’s a very old establishment. To start Ally’s culinary adventure I order the Escargot, and Feta Cheese appetizers. She did not care for the Escargot, but liked the Feta Cheese and Calimata Olives. I thought the escargot was pretty good, especially to dip San Francisco sourdough in. No other sourdough in the world tastes quite like this.

I had Chicken Jerusalem, Ally had the Fisherman’s Seafood, Judy had Calves Liver and Aldena had the Seafood Cannelloni. The dishes were all very good, not spectacular WOW, but very good and different, service was prompt and efficient. I think the main detraction was the table spacing and the uncomfortable chairs. Diners are sitting practically on top of each other. Although the acoustics were good enough to be able to carry on a decent conversation without shouting, they really need to remove one 4 top and space the others so that you’re not bumping heads with the person sitting at the table behind you…

San Francisco sure has changed in the past couple of years since we stayed downtown. You can’t walk 10 feet without someone asking for money, help, or a scam. It was constant and worse than any city we’ve been to in the past several years. It just detracts from the whole ‘enjoy the city’ experience. We had one drunk, high, ???, individual come up to our table in Subway talking about spiders/monsters/sandwiches – not in a frightening manner, but completely unexpected and the owner/manager had to ask him to leave. Not exactly a great tourist advertisement for San Francisco. While we do like sailing out of the Golden Gate, we probably will stay in the burbs around the airport next time and avoid the downtown area completely.

Now of course Ally is literally just soaking this all in. From a two story Walgreen’s, with security guards, to the variety of panhandling techniques, although one guy was really tempting as he was singing about the change I was about to give him…it was pretty unique and inventive…She liked the food, really enjoyed meeting my godmother and I hope liked the family stories we told about Aldena’s Dad and my grandfather, who immigrated to the US in the 20’s with nothing but their clothes on their backs. Aldena’s dad went on to become a very successful rancher and dairy farmer, in the Salinas Valley near Monterey, CA. My grandfather worked as a construction laborer most of his life, saving money for retirement, then passed 6 months after he retired. But both formed the amalgamation of cultures and people that would spawn the Greatest Generation. It’s a very interesting history.

Sun’s rising over the hills, traffic is a mess, as usual, sirens blaring, but the Golden isn’t in port yet according to the bridge cam. Interesting that there was a late boarding for Noro announcement yesterday. I wonder….

Anyway, e’ya all later…

Sounds like a great dinner. Too bad about the vagrants. We have had a similar experience in Seattle. Had a talk with a couple of officers on bikes there and they say its a hands off policy by the city gov't. they are frustrated. It was really bad around Pikes Market. My son lives there as well and he hates the atmosphere they create. :( Its the new attitude in many places. :rolleyes:

Well have a great embarkation day.

Looking forward to your installments! Thank you for sharing your journey with us.

Melissa

:D Oh MY I have that...... enjoy we board July 1st

Charles, great to see you cruising again.

I'm coming along for the ride!

Norris

Looking forward to following along. I have enjoyed your previous "Live Froms" very much.

Judy

I am also one of those following your experiences.

Seems like its already gotten off to a colorful experience! :D

Please continue as DH and I will once again be on the Golden in August out of San Francisco heading to Alaska.

It will be great to hear what your experience are!

Thanks!! :)

Looking forward to reading all about your cruise. We will be going to Alaska for our first time in June!

I'm aboard for the ride here too. Went to Alaska last year for the second time, Seattle round trip.

SF is my home town. I was last there in January of 2014. Maybe because it was winter, there wasn't as much pan handling then? My next trip home is this summer. Plan on showing my d-i-l some of my favorite haunts.

Have a great time showing your granddaughter the ropes!

Can't wait to read all about it... See you on the 1st :) Brenda from Colo Spgs now living in California

How was the boarding with the delay? Are they still cleaning the ship? Can you serve yourself in the buffet?

Looking forward to photos of the work done during the dry dock.

Thanks for all of your answers.

Tom:)

How was the boarding with the delay? Are they still cleaning the ship? Can you serve yourself in the buffet?

 

Looking forward to photos of the work done during the dry dock.

 

Thanks for all of your answers.

 

Tom:)

Tom,

Sorry that your BVE plans were messed up! Total Bummer as I know you were looking forward to it!

Mark

Tom,

 

Sorry that your BVE plans were messed up! Total Bummer as I know you were looking forward to it!

 

Mark

No problem. I'm signed up for June 11 and perhaps we'll have warmer weather. I'll be posting my photos of the work that was done during the dry dock.

Tom:D

We board Golden in July so I am excited about your trip report. Have a great cruise!

Well we made it on board. Actually very smooth except for the delay. Really like the new terminal. It’s clean, fresh, modern, really “blue” tinted (windows), not a lot of plywood exposed and you don’t have to dodge forklifts and trucks getting around. But we really didn’t spend a lot of time in there. The advertised a 1500 start, but we really went in about 1400 and zipped right through all the lines right onto the ship. Since we had dropped our luggage off about 1300, it arrived about 1500 and we were set. I’d forgotten how nice and big mini’s were. Lots of room for all 3 of us.

So let’s go through the cruise basics first. This is the 10 day roundtrip out of SFO that does Tracy Arm and Haines. So the itin is:

EMBARK, AT SEA, AT SEA (Formal), Tracy Arm, Haines, Juneau (tender), Ketchikan (tender), AT SEA (formal), Victoria, AT SEA, DISEMBARK – Note to 6/1/15 rollcall people – We should not have to tender anywhere on that cruise.

The crew and staff in the EMBARKATION Patter is:

Capt Nicolo Bommarco, Hotel General Manager MartinMay, Matre’ De Luigi Moretti, Executive Chef Antonio Constantino. Billy London is not the CD – he’s off to the annual Princess CD Confab this week. Maties Chimicx is taking over for him.

The exciting news for us is that Jamie (the one Judy threw Sam’s panties at on the Ruby Cruise during the crew talent show in late 2013) and Sam (the Junior ACD that choreographed our flash mob on that same cruise and Jamie’s significant other) is on this ship. How cool! We got to catch up with Jamie early in the evening and it is pretty obvious that Jamie is arranging the playlists for most of the public venues – old school 50’s – 70’s Rock and Roll!

OK, so let’s preview the cruise from the Embarkation patter. We have comedian Rollin Jay Moore as the headliner talent, with Hypnotist Mathew Fallon, Impressionist Michael Wilson, Ventriloquist Dan Horn and Vocalist Jesse Hamilton. We have Phoenix Rising in the wheelhouse, Lots of Fun in Explorer’s (they were really good last night), Robert Ondras (solo guitarist) in the Promenade Lounge (Crooners?).

Looks like the production shows Stardust, British Invasion, Words and Music and since the Golden has Vista – Motor City! We’ve seen them all, but Motor City and British Invasion are two of our favorites. Theme nights look to be Rock and Roll Night, and Country Western night. Game shows and major activities are Princess Pop Starts, Karaoke Power Hour, Majority Rules, Yes/No, Liars Club, Marriage match game, and Pop Choir. MUTS has Into the Woods, McFarland USA, The Imitation Game, The Rewrite, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and The Theory of Everything. Birdman as playing in Vista last night as well, so they will be having movie nights.

Alright, got all the basics out of the way. So after getting on-board and unpacking, we hit the teen center and got Ally registered just in case she wants to ditch us for a while or we want to ‘send her to the movies’ during our ‘power naps’. (I have to admit it’s a bit strange having to think about clothing, speaking, bodily noise making and not scratching etiquette in my own cabin!) Sure glad she’s a grandkid as we can send her back to her mother when we are done absolutely spoiling her.

After that it was the burger and pizza lunch. The margarita pizza was, as usual, fantastic, and a new flavor – prosciutto ala funghi – ham and fungus/mushrooms – that was not that good due to a soggy crust. Burger was ok – reheated patty – needed a bit more sear, but we were pretty hungry and not picky at all. We did get Ally an Ultimate Kids Beverage Package, so she tried a Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri and a Hawaiian Cooler later.

Checked out the new Horizon Court Layout. The main area has not changed that much. They have added the dessert bar area outside the main area like the Ruby and Emerald. It does ease congestion a bit inside the main area. They have installed a bunch of new tile flooring and taken out the carpet, changed out the chairs and tables completely and added a bunch of lighter colors which lightens the entire area up.

After muster was sailaway under the Golden Gate, one of the more spectacular sailaway ports in the US. Going under that bridge is always a thrill. (No sailaway party on the deck.) We hit the elite lounge for a couple of drinks and snacks – but the snacks never arrived. The ship is still on Code Red. No condiments out, no drink menus, everything hand delivered – didn’t stop to see if they were letting people serve themselves in horizon. Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t the early season Alaska cruises always plagued with an increase in Noro cases? Much more than tropical, sunny Caribbean cruises? Wonder if the colder temperatures and more clothing have anything to do with it?

Since there was no snacks in the Elite Lounge, we hit the IC for a light snack. They actually had three salads with no mayonnaise that Judy could eat. I had a Cuban sandwich and we all shared a pot of Ginger Twist tea. We’ve got 5 ½ coffee cards from prior cruises in which we traded in our mini-bar!

‘

We tracked Jamie down in a trivia game (music) in Explorer’s and then stayed through to Lot’s of Fun, the R&R band. Lead female singer, great range, great sound – this is going to be a good band. We were only able to dance a couple of dances, including a really fast foxtrot to a country song that really deserved a two step, and a couple of line dances in which I attempted to step on Ally’s toes but she’s got the reflexes of the young and got away – NO POINTS FOR ME!

After that we hit the Welcome Aboard Show and then we all mutually decided we had hit the wall. So it was off to bed. Ally’s sleeping on the sleeper sofa, not the bunk. Princess now has wedge pillows for GERD and reflux sufferers, so we put the wedge under Judy’s mattress and I used a couple of life jackets on mine. Way too cold for the door to be open to hear the water, but we tried and I ended up closing it around 0100 this morning.

Ally is like a kid in a candy store, just soaking in everything. Gave her one of our cameras and she’s everywhere taking pictures – we look around and she’s wandered off with the camera somewhere. Things that we now take for granted are all new to her and I get to take a step back and look at these things from a fresh perspective – a newbie perspective. Sort of takes us back to our first couple of cruises in 2001 and 2002.

She is really enjoying interacting with staff and crew as I am introducing her to all the variety of things she can do on a ship. We’re pointing out all the support functions, pursers, cleaning crew, Imam our steward, the wait staff. She is marveling over how pretty all the girls are and how cute all the guys are. (Down Ally, down!) How polite everyone is. (Ally does work at a Waffle House, so she is familiar with the service industry, but the typical US service industry is nothing like the staff on a Princess ship!)

She loved San Francisco. Even the E ticket cab ride to the port from the hotel! She is pinging off of walls seeing one new thing after another – from a simple Pelican, to the Coast Guard boats, to the sailboats to the ferries, to Alcatraz, to the Marin Headlands to the bridge – all things she’s read about and seen on tv, but not in real life. It’s very exciting to Judy and I to give her this opportunity to see just a small fraction of what her future could be like.

So for me this morning, it’s a latte and the blog with Zumba at 0900. With Zumba, dancing and running Ally ragged, hopefully I won’t put on too much weight. Been able to keep it even or within just a few pounds on the last few cruises.

So let’s look at today’s patter for the schedule. We have Zumba at 0900, Line dance at 1000, ballroom dance class at 1400. There are basic digital photography classes, casino intro, ping pong, shuffleboard, detox for weight loss (on a cruise ship?), BINGO, box making, the ART AUCTION (oh boy…), penny whistle music class, bridge – the card game, Vodka tasting, watch sale and scotch tasting – interesting combination for sure.

We have the typical port and shopping lectures and the naturalist lectures. We have Donald Hellstern aboard with a Glaciology lecture this morning and a book singing by Rachael of the Alaskan Cruise Companion. Now on our first Alaskan cruise, in 2001, the Alaskan Cruise Companion was written by a guy who spent a year in the inside passage on an island. Apparently they have written another edition with a different author who will lecture this afternoon and then do a book signing later. Interesting.

We also have a couple of trivia’s, some health seminars, happy hour at the wheelhouse from 3 to 4 (BOGO), a couple of group get togethers as well as a couple of new game shows like Human Slot Machine and 60 second frenzy.

Wow, just absolutely nothing to do today is there….

For tonight we have booked the Crab Shack at 1800. Found out yesterday that Ally can’t go to Chef’s Table. Have to be 21. So we won’t be doing Chef’s table. Crab shack on this cruise, Crown Grill on next cruise. Motor City has 3 showing tonight and we’ll definitely make one. The hypnotist is in the theater and we will not make his show – just don’t care for hypnotist’s shows. Happy Hour in skywalkers from 10 to 11 (BOGO). Animal Planet trivia (Discovery at Sea co-sponsored event). MUTS is the Rewrite. Lots of Fun in Explorers, Phoenix Rising in the Wheelhouse, Casual portraits, just going to be a very busy evening as well. Not sure if we’ll even get that power nap today or not!

That’s it from the Golden for this morning. I’ll update as I get the chance!

Later!

Ccrain- Thank you for this review. This is my first Princess cruise and it's to Alaska July 1 on the Golden. This is our third cruise overall, the other two were on Oceana's Riveria. This will really help me understand the Princess experience before I get on board and hopefully, you will let us know how the weather is. Enjoy Virginia

Sounds like a great first day! :)

Ccrain- One more question, how is the internet on the ship? I want to get a package so that I can keep limited communication with family. I have heard it's slow, but you seem to be able to access it well enough to write these posts.

Thanks again Virginia

Hi Charles.

I got off the ship yesterday. I hope all will be well with you!

I was upset that there were no rolls, butter, salt and pepper in the MDR, but it was all self serve in the buffet.

Sally

Charles, Thanks for your "Live From". Our first Princess Cruise was on the Golden, we have sailed on her for 42 days and she is still one of our favorites. Enjoy you cruise on her because we will losing her to Australia after this Alaskan season [emoji27]

Charles,

There's nothing better that seeing someone experience their first cruise, especially since it's your Granddaughter!!

We are doing our second cruise to Alaska in August on the Golden so I will be reading and taking notes on everything.

Could you tell me when the formal nights are on the Golden. We are celebrating our 50th anniversary on June 26, but couldn't plan this cruise until August. I'm thinking of possibly renewing our vowels ( haven't told Hubby yet ...maybe I'll surprise him) anyhow since the two of you renewed your vowels on a cruise do you have any suggestions.

Thanks for taking us all along on your cruise

Hi Charles, this is a great "live from". Bob and I love Alaska and we have a B2B booked for July on the Crown out of Seattle. This will be my 7th and 8th cruise up there and Bob's 5th & 6th. Very slow roll calls, so I'm not even bothering. It's fun reading about your GD's first impressions on her big trip. Enjoy! Meredith