News from Noordam in Alaska Inside Passage

[qsuzi]

Day 2 aboard the Noordam began with heavy, overcast skies and moderate sea swells. Breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill was flavorful and served quickly.

 

The Captain announced that due to our late departure from Vancouver the ship missed the tides and so slow speed of 10 knots was necessary through the narrow channel. Today brought a jump to more than double that speed in an effort to catch-up with our Juneau docking schedule tomorrow.

 

Thanks to Ken, ur Meet & Greet attracted around 16 CC members. It was good to put faces to screen names and share our cruising experiences. My day continued with a cooking demo in the Culinary Arts Center of bruscetta, crab cakes, and creme brulee. Lunch was grilled salmon served with a Caesar salad out on the Aft Lido Deck. With a light sprinkling of rain, there was no waiting line for a serving. Seeing Santosh, Culinary Operations Manager behind the cooking grills, I thanked him n behalf of the happy CC members who loved the chocolate purses. There was a special Mother's Day menu served for lunch in the MDR.

 

Entertaining fellow cruise members and completing my photojournal of the Noordam filled my afternoon. Two CC members had their luggage taken to the "Naughty Room" on Embarkation Day for having powerstrips inside. Both bags were retrieved without having to open them and surrender the power strips. Each bag and a yellow "disembarkation" tag containing the words "power strip" were on each bag. I would recommend future travelers carry their non-surge-protected" strips in carry-on luggage.

 

The Shops are now filled with Alaskan goods and the bars are serving Alaskan beers.

 

Seated, facing the MDR door on Formal Night, I took an informal note of the number of tuxedos during my early dining (5:45 PM). My count reached only five before the doors were closed at 6:10 PM. The yellowsole was delicious and my special request for sorbet was filled with a delightfully tart lime ice.

 

The Dining Room Manager stopped me in the hallway to reconfirm that he will be providing me with both the 10- and 14-day MDR menus for this Alaska season.

 

As I prepare this daily report, the clouds are now nearly void of clouds and the sun is warming the verandah cushions. My sunset photographs should be amazing.

 

Forgive my not posting photograph but the internet speed is too slow to accommodate the upload time.

 

Enjoyed your day 2 report. continue to enjoy your wonderful time in Alaska.

[qsuzi]

I'm not sure that this applies on all ships. I also had a good view of the doors to the MDR on the Westerdam, and they would be closed after about 15 minutes, but people still came in. We also had many more tuxes worn on formal night, and people really did dress to the occasion.

I've often read and also experienced more casual dress while on an Alaskan Cruise (e.g., fewer tuxes on formal night). This portion is also a 7-day cruise (but he is doing the 14 day back-to-back) vs longer which some say is another factor that changes things.

Edited May 11, 2015 by qsuzi

[CowPrincess]

So you will post photos when you are finished with the cruise? :D I'm anxiously awaiting. Thanks so much for your report!!

 

I think it is safe to say that Crew News will be posting links to any pictures he takes.

[IRL_Joanie]

Crew News said that the doors to the dining room closed at 6:10 meaning that no one else was to enter the dining room for the early fixed dining. Thus late comers would have to go elsewhere to eat.

 

You got it right there KK:)

 

There is a 15 minute "Grace Period" given for fixed dining. After that 15 minute Grace period the Dining Staff then will seat diners with Any Time or As You Wish Dining (For those sticklers to the words) at those tables not occupied by their regular occupants.

 

In other words, if you are more than 15 minutes late getting to your assigned table, do not rant and rave if you find someone sitting there in your spot.

 

EDITED To Answer: Originally Posted by CStorm

So you will post photos when you are finished with the cruise? I'm anxiously awaiting. Thanks so much for your report!!

 

Correct:) Definitely after the cruise, BUT.......He is going to try to upload while in Port with his cell phone, which should be much faster than the Noordam's wifi.

 

 

Joanie

Edited May 11, 2015 by IRL_Joanie

[qsuzi]

Thanks for clarifying the dining room closed door issue IRL_Joanie! Hope you spot some whales and other wild life!

[hugoal]

Just a bit confused about the dining time. Thought the early dining is 5:30. Did HAL just change that to 5:45? Or is it just for Alaska cruise?

[Crew News]

So you will post photos when you are finished with the cruise? :D I'm anxiously awaiting. Thanks so much for your report!!

 

Here is a link to my previous Alaska trips to Juneau but I will be adding more as soon as I convert the current Camera Raw images to jpgs for my website:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/place/alaska-2/juneau/

 

My website will also be updated to include a photographic tour of the Noordam.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I'm not sure that this applies on all ships. I also had a good view of the doors to the MDR on the Westerdam, and they would be closed after about 15 minutes, but people still came in. We also had many more tuxes worn on formal night, and people really did dress to the occasion.

 

 

We have had that happen on some ships as well.

Even though the doors were closed, some people would still come in for dinner. And we have seen some arrive 30 minutes late.

One time a couple at a table for 2 were surprised when they came in late and found another couple sitting at their table. Often Open seating people are brought upstairs to sit at unoccupied tables.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Just a bit confused about the dining time. Thought the early dining is 5:30. Did HAL just change that to 5:45? Or is it just for Alaska cruise?

 

 

HAL is all over the place with sit dining times. Some ships have early dining times of 5:15 -- Ryndam was one this past winter. Others have dinner times of 5:30 and 5:45.

In Alaska we have experienced dinner times of 5:30 and 5:45.

No consistency.

[hugoal]

HAL is all over the place with sit dining times. Some ships have early dining times of 5:15 -- Ryndam was one this past winter. Others have dinner times of 5:30 and 5:45.

In Alaska we have experienced dinner times of 5:30 and 5:45.

No consistency.

 

 

I see.

Not a huge difference but 5:45 is a lot more reasonable IMHO.

Thx!

[Crew News]

Day 02 on the Noordam in Alaska started with bright sunshine with some clouds. As we neared Juneau, the clouds thickened and thoughts of a drizzle emerged. An hour later, the clouds thinned and an incredibly warm day in Juneau was realized.

 

The Dining Room Manager stopped me in the hallway to chat. I posed an ongoing CC question to him: If one arrives late to the MDR while the ship is docked in port, will the MDR doors be closed? I was told that early fixed diners would be welcome to eat as long as they can finish before the next seating at 8:00 PM.

 

Before docking kn Juneau, I ventured to the Lido Restaurant for a quick lunch. What a surprise I discovered at the mass of humanity. Every table was occupied and each serving station had what seemed like at least 20 queued passengers. The Taco Bar had no line so Joanie received her nachos and I made a salad which I paired with my stash of snacks to make a lunch.

 

Due to the late departure from Vancouver, and despite efforts to make up the time, the Noordam arrived 25 minutes late at the dock. We disembarked from both Decks 2 and 3 with no issues.

 

My excursion was the Taku Lodge Salmon Bake. With only 20 passengers n our bus, it was easy to hear the driver declare that this was his first excursions since arriving from Phoenix. Our guide described how he should drive to the float plane office. The office was just a few yards from the Juneau Library. Ten passengers for each of our two Havilland Beaver aircraft allowed each their own window, One passenger was invited to sit in the copilot's seat. Our flight over two glaciers lasted about 45 minutes and provided awesome views of the ice fields. As I remembered from previous flights, the water takeoff and landing was much smoother than on a large jet aircraft.

 

Three other aircraft brought their passengers to the Taku Lodge meaning 50 people sat down to a honey-glazed salmon, baked beans, cole slaw, sauted apples, and ginger cookies. With the lodge just across the river from the Taku Glacier provided some very nice photographic opportunities. Sadly, no bears appeared but their vicinity was evident.

 

The flight back to Juneau allowed the passengers on our plane to see/phograph those views they missed on the flight to the lodge. It was a nice walk back to the ship with a sort stop at the Glacier Smoothie Soap shop to arrange for my selections to be mailed home.

 

My late dinner in the Lido Restaurant was a prime rib and small salad snack. It was a perfectly slice of prime rib that was far better than what was served in the MDR on our first night,

It was nice to connect our cell phones and especially hotspot them for fast internet.

 

The Noordam will be departing soon so this report is shortened to make sure that it is posted through our cell phone hotspot. More tomorrow in Skagway.

[hugoal]

Thanks a lot for the update and wish you a wonderful day at Skagway!

[sapper1]

Mr Jett, perhaps you could be kind enough to answer a question.

When we were on the Westerdam last month we could buy an unlimited internet package for the length of voyage. I was wondering if that option is available on the Noordam. It may be just an experiment on one ship or it may be going fleet wide. That is what I am curious about.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I see.

Not a huge difference but 5:45 is a lot more reasonable IMHO.

Thx!

You are welcome.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Mr Jett, perhaps you could be kind enough to answer a question.

When we were on the Westerdam last month we could buy an unlimited internet package for the length of voyage. I was wondering if that option is available on the Noordam. It may be just an experiment on one ship or it may be going fleet wide. That is what I am curious about.

 

 

We had the unlimited internet package on the Zuiderdam in February/March. For the 11 day cruise it was $149 and for the 10 day cruise it was $149.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Day 02 on the Noordam in Alaska started with bright sunshine with some clouds. As we neared Juneau, the clouds thickened and thoughts of a drizzle emerged. An hour later, the clouds thinned and an incredibly warm day in Juneau was realized.

 

The Dining Room Manager stopped me in the hallway to chat. I posed an ongoing CC question to him: If one arrives late to the MDR while the ship is docked in port, will the MDR doors be closed? I was told that early fixed diners would be welcome to eat as long as they can finish before the next seating at 8:00 PM.

 

Before docking kn Juneau, I ventured to the Lido Restaurant for a quick lunch. What a surprise I discovered at the mass of humanity. Every table was occupied and each serving station had what seemed like at least 20 queued passengers. The Taco Bar had no line so Joanie received her nachos and I made a salad which I paired with my stash of snacks to make a lunch.

 

Due to the late departure from Vancouver, and despite efforts to make up the time, the Noordam arrived 25 minutes late at the dock. We disembarked from both Decks 2 and 3 with no issues.

 

My excursion was the Taku Lodge Salmon Bake. With only 20 passengers n our bus, it was easy to hear the driver declare that this was his first excursions since arriving from Phoenix. Our guide described how he should drive to the float plane office. The office was just a few yards from the Juneau Library. Ten passengers for each of our two Havilland Beaver aircraft allowed each their own window, One passenger was invited to sit in the copilot's seat. Our flight over two glaciers lasted about 45 minutes and provided awesome views of the ice fields. As I remembered from previous flights, the water takeoff and landing was much smoother than on a large jet aircraft.

 

Three other aircraft brought their passengers to the Taku Lodge meaning 50 people sat down to a honey-glazed salmon, baked beans, cole slaw, sauted apples, and ginger cookies. With the lodge just across the river from the Taku Glacier provided some very nice photographic opportunities. Sadly, no bears appeared but their vicinity was evident.

 

The flight back to Juneau allowed the passengers on our plane to see/phograph those views they missed on the flight to the lodge. It was a nice walk back to the ship with a sort stop at the Glacier Smoothie Soap shop to arrange for my selections to be mailed home.

 

My late dinner in the Lido Restaurant was a prime rib and small salad snack. It was a perfectly slice of prime rib that was far better than what was served in the MDR on our first night,

It was nice to connect our cell phones and especially hotspot them for fast internet.

 

The Noordam will be departing soon so this report is shortened to make sure that it is posted through our cell phone hotspot. More tomorrow in Skagway.

 

 

 

Sounds like you had a wonderful day.

Honey glazed salmon sounds wonderful.

[qsuzi]

Day 02 on the Noordam in Alaska started with bright sunshine with some clouds. As we neared Juneau, the clouds thickened and thoughts of a drizzle emerged. An hour later, the clouds thinned and an incredibly warm day in Juneau was realized.

 

The Dining Room Manager stopped me in the hallway to chat. I posed an ongoing CC question to him: If one arrives late to the MDR while the ship is docked in port, will the MDR doors be closed? I was told that early fixed diners would be welcome to eat as long as they can finish before the next seating at 8:00 PM.

 

Before docking kn Juneau, I ventured to the Lido Restaurant for a quick lunch. What a surprise I discovered at the mass of humanity. Every table was occupied and each serving station had what seemed like at least 20 queued passengers. The Taco Bar had no line so Joanie received her nachos and I made a salad which I paired with my stash of snacks to make a lunch.

 

Due to the late departure from Vancouver, and despite efforts to make up the time, the Noordam arrived 25 minutes late at the dock. We disembarked from both Decks 2 and 3 with no issues.

 

My excursion was the Taku Lodge Salmon Bake. With only 20 passengers n our bus, it was easy to hear the driver declare that this was his first excursions since arriving from Phoenix. Our guide described how he should drive to the float plane office. The office was just a few yards from the Juneau Library. Ten passengers for each of our two Havilland Beaver aircraft allowed each their own window, One passenger was invited to sit in the copilot's seat. Our flight over two glaciers lasted about 45 minutes and provided awesome views of the ice fields. As I remembered from previous flights, the water takeoff and landing was much smoother than on a large jet aircraft.

 

Three other aircraft brought their passengers to the Taku Lodge meaning 50 people sat down to a honey-glazed salmon, baked beans, cole slaw, sauted apples, and ginger cookies. With the lodge just across the river from the Taku Glacier provided some very nice photographic opportunities. Sadly, no bears appeared but their vicinity was evident.

 

The flight back to Juneau allowed the passengers on our plane to see/phograph those views they missed on the flight to the lodge. It was a nice walk back to the ship with a sort stop at the Glacier Smoothie Soap shop to arrange for my selections to be mailed home.

 

My late dinner in the Lido Restaurant was a prime rib and small salad snack. It was a perfectly slice of prime rib that was far better than what was served in the MDR on our first night,

It was nice to connect our cell phones and especially hotspot them for fast internet.

 

The Noordam will be departing soon so this report is shortened to make sure that it is posted through our cell phone hotspot. More tomorrow in Skagway.

 

We are thinking about doing the Taku Lodge on our cruise. Is it true they have chicken for those who do not like Salmon?

[IRL_Joanie]

Mr Jett, perhaps you could be kind enough to answer a question.

When we were on the Westerdam last month we could buy an unlimited internet package for the length of voyage. I was wondering if that option is available on the Noordam. It may be just an experiment on one ship or it may be going fleet wide. That is what I am curious about.

 

Not Mr. Jett but hope the Mrs will do?:D

 

Simple answer is unfortunately No:(

 

Apparently they are testing at various times on various ships. Hubby has bought 2 different packages of I believe 250 minutes for the Pacific Coastal leg and this, our first Alaska week.

 

Being able to use our cell phones as hot spots in US ports will keep us with enough time left for turn around day on Saturday.

 

Joanie

[Crew News]

We are thinking about doing the Taku Lodge on our cruise. Is it true they have chicken for those who do not like Salmon?

 

Yes they do, We were asked before boarding the floatplane if anyone would like chicken. There were a few in the lodge that did eat chicken,

 

FWIW small glasses of wine were available for $7 CASH ONLY. The staff asked how we liked our iced tea and lemonade, They then told us that all of the ice for drinks and refrigeration is taken from the glacier ice floating down the river and was probably 100,000 years old. The king salmon was caught rhe day before we arrived by a fisherman 12 miles from the lodge.

 

The return flight made a pass over the ship so that we could take pictures. As a photographer, the panoramic views of the glaciers and mountains were spectacular. My camera raw images will be posted after I have processed them through Adobe Lightroom.

[vino100]

The Noordam has been blessed with perfect weather. We are docked in Skagway,but won't get off until 10:00 since we are going horseback riding .

 

The M&G was very nice. It is always fun to put faces to names. Enjoyed finally meeting Joanie. :)

 

we have had dinner at the Pinacle Grill and it was excellent. The 2 girl servers did an outstanding job. We are a party of 6 and all the different entrees were excellent.

 

Yesterday,in Juneau ,we went whale watching with Harv and Marv. No words to describe the whales that we saw. We were on a boat for 6 so did not have any blocked views. The captain ,Liz ,buzzed around the bay so we could see humps and Orcas . This was my 4th time viewing whales in Auke Bay,but the first time seeing Orcas. We saw a large pod of about 6. Mamas and babies. The Orcas entertained us with a full breach,just amazing. We also saw something called spy hopping. The orca would shoot straigt up ,but only half way out of the water and take a look around. Our on board naturalist explained that this is a rare occurrence. How lucky were we? :D

 

My husband went fly fishing with Bear Creek Outfitters. He took a float plane to a creek .He was a happy fly fisher as he caught about 14 Dolly Varden.

 

So as you can see,we are having a wonderful Alaskan cruise.

 

Hope Crew News is okay with me adding my thoughts to his blog. :D

[Crew News]

 

Hope Crew News is okay with me adding my thoughts to his blog. :D

 

It was good to meet you at the M&G.

 

The news is reported by many so that a complete picture is provided. Glad to have you participate in this thread since our daily activities are not the same.

 

While you are horseback riding, I will be dogsled riding up on the glacier.

 

High temps predicted today will be upper 60's and sunny.

[qsuzi]

Yes they do, We were asked before boarding the floatplane if anyone would like chicken. There were a few in the lodge that did eat chicken,

 

FWIW small glasses of wine were available for $7 CASH ONLY. The staff asked how we liked our iced tea and lemonade, They then told us that all of the ice for drinks and refrigeration is taken from the glacier ice floating down the river and was probably 100,000 years old. The king salmon was caught rhe day before we arrived by a fisherman 12 miles from the lodge.

 

The return flight made a pass over the ship so that we could take pictures. As a photographer, the panoramic views of the glaciers and mountains were spectacular. My camera raw images will be posted after I have processed them through Adobe Lightroom.

Sounds awesome. Thanks for answering my question. Our friend Steve who is cruising with us has done this excursion before and said it was spectacular. You two are filling your action packed cruise with some great excursions! Enjoy.

Edited May 12, 2015 by qsuzi

[qsuzi]

It was good to meet you at the M&G.

 

The news is reported by many so that a complete picture is provided. Glad to have you participate in this thread since our daily activities are not the same.

 

While you are horseback riding, I will be dogsled riding up on the glacier.

 

High temps predicted today will be upper 60's and sunny.

 

Please report back on the dog sledding. :)

[qsuzi]

The Noordam has been blessed with perfect weather. We are docked in Skagway,but won't get off until 10:00 since we are going horseback riding .

 

The M&G was very nice. It is always fun to put faces to names. Enjoyed finally meeting Joanie. :)

 

we have had dinner at the Pinacle Grill and it was excellent. The 2 girl servers did an outstanding job. We are a party of 6 and all the different entrees were excellent.

 

Yesterday,in Juneau ,we went whale watching with Harv and Marv. No words to describe the whales that we saw. We were on a boat for 6 so did not have any blocked views. The captain ,Liz ,buzzed around the bay so we could see humps and Orcas . This was my 4th time viewing whales in Auke Bay,but the first time seeing Orcas. We saw a large pod of about 6. Mamas and babies. The Orcas entertained us with a full breach,just amazing. We also saw something called spy hopping. The orca would shoot straigt up ,but only half way out of the water and take a look around. Our on board naturalist explained that this is a rare occurrence. How lucky were we? :D

 

My husband went fly fishing with Bear Creek Outfitters. He took a float plane to a creek .He was a happy fly fisher as he caught about 14 Dolly Varden.

 

So as you can see,we are having a wonderful Alaskan cruise.

 

Hope Crew News is okay with me adding my thoughts to his blog. :D

Sounds like you guys are having the time of your life. Alaska inspires!

[rjrpar]

Great review. A quick question if you have the time. Do they sell cigarettes on board and what is the price? Thanks in advance