Ken the cruiser

I remember on the cruise from BA to Santiago just before we boarded her on Jan 20 seeing on Cruise Mapper where it was dead in the water for a couple of hours on the way from BA to the Falkland Islands. Don’t know what the issue was, but she ran great the entire 30 days we were onboard after particular cruise. Someone on the Jan 4 Sapphire Roll Call might have a better idea what happened.

We had an awesome time at the Culinary Demonstration this morning in the theater, and as usual couldn’t stop laughing. But if you plan to come to one of these, definitely come 10-20 minutes early if you want to get a good seat. But I have to say the Director of Restaurant Operations Jean Paul Musiu and the Executive Chef Johan Antes had to be the funniest combination we’ve seen at one of these Culinary Demonstrations Then the bakery chef came out and Jean Paul and the head Bakery Chef decided to have a competition to see who could make the best Black Forest Cake! Then they closed with a crew member singing Sweet Caroline and one other song before much of the audience headed off to the galley tour, which we passed on as we’ve seen it many times before. When we got back to the cabin, we saw mountains again! And the sun was starting to break through. 😁 So I took another peak at Cruise Master to see where we were Based on our current location, I guess I’ll be sitting on the balcony this afternoon until 3:30 pm absorbing what there is to see once we enter Prince William Sound until it’s time to watch a matinee production show.

Good morning from somewhere in the Pacific Ocean around 9 am as we head towards College Fjord for a scheduled 6 pm arrival, which is just north of Whittier, Alaska (our turnaround port tomorrow), and the “cloud” forecast is still projecting clear skies for both our arrival and the potential for a “clear sky” viewing of the Northern Lights later on around midnight! 🤞🤞

Yes, especially when we’re trying to get from the theater to the Vista Lounge after the early show. But you get used to it. But at the same time, we spend a lot of time on the balcony or in our cabin during our downtimes while at sea. Now, if you liked to be out and about around people and sit in the public areas, then you might have to develop a strategy because the seating in those areas fills up rather fast from what I can tell.

Thanks for keeping me straight. We just turned Elite prior to our Antarctica cruise in January and haven’t yet dropped our Plus packages until our July cruise, so still learning. As far as the number of items in the mini bar setup, 10 sounds good! I always forget to count the 2 beers in the fridge when I swap the alcohol for Heineken beer.

We just made Elite, and really enjoy the free laundry, 10% discount on excursions (which we use to help pay the daily gratuity charge), and the one free stocking of the mini-fridge with 9 alcohol and 9 nonalcoholic beverages (which we convert to 9 bottles of beer and 9 bottles of water). It is also no longer cost-effective for us to book cruises with the Princess Plus package since we (1) get unlimited internet at 50% off, (2) the 10% in OBC we get from booking excursions helps pay the daily gratuity charges, and (3) the beer and water we get from the one free stocking of the mini-fridge goes a long way to satisfy my minimum alcohol drinking needs. We can also buy 12 bottles of water for $7.09 once onboard, which is all my DW drinks. So making Elite has definitely been worth it for us. 😁

We’ve done 3 Alaska cruises before this, and the other night was the first for us too! We just got super lucky this time around plus the fact we’ll be cruising around up here for 22 days in early May also helped increase our odds. There is no way we could even dream about seeing them in the summer when the sun just dips below the horizon and then pops back up!

Day 15 - May 14 - College Fjord (Cruise Only) And hopefully for the first time this entire cruise, there won’t be a cloud in the sky! 😁

Tonight after our Formal Night surf and turf dinner, we headed to the theater to watch the production show Born to Dance! FWIW we have really enjoyed all three of the new production shows we’ve seen now twice on our cruise so far! 😁 After the show, we were off to the Vista Lounge to watch another new Laugh Lounge comedian, Todd Parker, who was hilarious!! 😂

BTW the potential for seeing the Northern Lights just after we arrive at Whittier, Alaska around midnight tomorrow night is looking pretty good! The sky around Whittier is also currently forecasted to be free of clouds tomorrow evening, especially to the east! And with the Whittier sunset around 10:32, hopefully we’ll have quite the light show to watch after we dock around midnight! 🤞

We just received our In Transit information for when arrive at Whittier day after tomorrow. The bottom line is there is no US Customs to deal, so we can stay on the ship until just before noon when we meet to go on our 26-Glacier boat tour! Yay!

This afternoon we went to another North to Alaska presentation provided by Nick Jans about the star of the book he wrote. Romeo, the friendliest wolf you would ever have the pleasure of meeting. And then we were off. Next stop College Fjord tomorrow morning!

As far as we’ve been able to tell, all is in great shape and we have no complaints so far. The couches and chairs are comfortable, not a lot of rust, and most importantly the food is quite tasty, both in the dining room and up at the buffet, when on occasion we’ve had to eat lunch up there on port days. 😁

Here’s a map of Glacier Bay. The glaciers we will visit are in the two inlets at the top of the map. Here are some photos as we headed down the Johns Hopkins Inlet. Lamplugh Glacier Johns Hopkins Glacier. We couldn’t get any closer due to the Harbor Seals are raising their pups near the glacier. My harbor seal iceberg! 😂

Here is some of the scenery we passed along the way to the Margerie and Grand Pacific Glaciers. A couple of harbor seals hanging out on a small iceberg. Small chunks of ice from the Margerie Glacier. The continually receding Grand Pacific Glacier where only a big rock wall remains along the water line. A few photos of the Margerie Glacier. I was lucky enough this time to take a photo when the glacier was calving! 😁 Lunchtime for the Black-legged Kittiwakes!! 😂 Now off we go to the Johns Hopkins and Lamplugh Glaciers.

We have arrived at Glacier Bay! Lamplugh Glacier, as we were cruising by on the way to Margerie and Grand Pacific Glaciers.

Cool! That would make an awesome photo, but my DW won’t let me feed the birds! 😂

Day 14 - May 13 - Glacier Bay, Alaska Definitely not the fastest speeds cruising through the fjords. But at the same time, I was able to upload photos and text to my thread. 😁 This is the Northern Lights forecast for the next two nights. But I think we’ll be out of luck seeing them because of the clouds overhead.

Tonight after dinner, we headed to first watch magician Jason Bird, who was very entertaining! We then went over to the Vista Lounge to watch A Night at the Klondike which featured the combination of a country western band mixed and the production cast dancers and entertainment staff initially performing and then inviting folks in the audience to come up and dance with them. It was a lot of fun and definitely recommend checking it out! Then we headed over to the Piazza to watch Reuben DotDotDot from Australia perform on a pole, which was pretty cool! Then as we were heading back to the cabin around 9:15 pm, we noticed we hadn’t left at our scheduled 8:30 pm departure time. Apparently there was a medical evacuation in which the patient needed to be flown to Juneau. In this particular situation, the ship wasn’t allowed to leave until the plane had arrived and they subsequently received word the patient was safely on the plane heading to Juneau. We finally set sail around 9:30 pm with our next stop being Glacier Bay early tomorrow morning.

Funny you should mention “A Night at the Klondike.” We will be going it this evening in the Vista Lounge after the early show in the theater. I’ll let you know what it’s about after we get back to the cabin, as we are curious too. As far as a Sail Away Party, the only reference I’m seeing on embarkation day is this one, which we did not pass through. Sorry.

I’ve been waiting all day for the mountain tops on the Chilkat Range behind Haines to be clear of clouds. Finally, around 5 pm they started to finally appeared! This photo was taken at 3 pm. This one at 5 pm. Then finally my final effort at 6 pm, right after dinner! 😁 I know, I’m easily amused! 😂

Since the afternoon turned out to be a relaxing one in the cabin, I decided to ask Windy what the “cloud” forecast was for the rest of our cruise. Right now, the forecast is for the clouds to disappear midday on May 14 (College Fjord) and be totally gone May 15 (Whittier). The sky is also forecasted to be pretty clear on May 16 (Hubbard Glacier) and May 17 (Glacier Bay). However, the clouds are forecasted to reappear on May 18 (Skagway) and May 19 (Juneau). But then start to clear up again the rest of the way back to Vancouver! But if we can just get 4 clear days in a row starting on May 14 (College Fjord), that would we awesome! 🥳 BTW rain was forecasted for the entire day in Haines today. But it turned out to be a pretty nice day other than being in the 40s with a constant 10+ mph breeze. 🥶

Day 13 - May 12 (modified) - Haines, Alaska While we were relaxing in our cabin, we noticed a Golden Eagle soaring around behind the ship just passing the time enjoying the scenery like we have been! 😁

After a relaxing breakfast, we noticed the sun was trying to briefly come out and the rain had stopped, so we decided to go for a walk around the local area. We saw on the map where there were a few totem poles close by, so we headed off to find them, and we did! 😁 We then came across the remnants one of the Fort Seward barracks built back in 1903. We’re figuring the fort was built to help keep order up in Alaska once gold was discovered in 1898. This tree was just starting to form its fruiting buds. No idea what type of tree it was though, but I’m sure the fruit will be tasty! A crow, which there were plenty of, taking off from the top of a tree. And the crows are quite the bullies too! Someone left some corn out for the birds to feast on. Of course, once again the elusive Haines Pigeons get no respect, even among the other birds. I know, it’s quite sad! 😂 Deciding not to deal with the attitude, off the pigeons went. But my guess is, they will be back as that corn looks pretty tasty! 😁 Then it started to rain, so back to the ship we went. I imagine on a clear day, the mountains in the background behind Haines look pretty awesome!

We have arrived in Haines, Alaska rather than Skagway, as was originally planned. Apparently we were scheduled to dock at the Broadway pier rather than where we were docked last week along the mountain side. However, due the potential maneuvering issues with a nearby construction vessel and the current 25 mph winds, we were diverted to Haines for the day. That maneuvering issue was why the NCL Spirit and Carnival Luminosa were allowed to dock in Skagway and we were not. We even had a Bald Eagle stop by to welcome us to Haines! 😂