News from Noordam in Alaska Inside Passage

[Crew News]

Sailing to Vancouver began with yet another day of bright sunshine and a sprinkling of clouds. Room Service breakfast appeared at exactly 8:00 AM. With a pending Mariner's Brunch at 11:00 AM, less was ordered for our first meal of the day.

 

There was a Mariner's Society medallion presentation before the Mariner's lunch. It was reported that the ship's Captain was in the Shops looking at jewelry when a member of his staff pointed at the very long line waiting for him to start autographing their Alaska guidebooks. It was with a sheepish grin that he admitted that he had forgotten and began his signing a bit late. Only 15 minutes late to our ceremony, he presented fellow CC member Dobiemom with her Bronze Medallion today witnessed by nearly 30 of her Medallion peers. The Captain refused to shake her hand but did share a hug with her. Standing in the rear of the room with ship's staff members, I heard all of them whisper that they had just witnessed the Captain's first hug. A fist bump followed.

 

The Captain told all present that a surcharge would be added to each passengers hotal account because of the excellent weather the Noordam had enjoyed during the cruise. After a brief gasp, all of the Medallion-holders laughed.

 

Mark, Cruise Director, and I had a good discussion where I learned that our CD next week will be Jeremy (not sure how to spend his last name) as Mark moves to the Prinzendam.

 

The Mariner's Brunch followed in the Deck 2 Dining Room with only 25% of the room being occupied.

 

The Shop's were filled with passengers selecting last-minute souvenirs and the line at the Front Desk was its usual end-of-cruise 20+ guests.

 

Laundry service continued its amazing performance with a five-hour turnaround today.

 

Thanks to Glenn and Corina in the Neptune Lounge, I now have all of the kid's activities for the Noordam as well as all of the MDR and Lido Restaurant menus for the future Noordam Alaskan season. I plan to have them available this coming week. The International Menu was not served on this cruise nor will be on future Noordam cruises in Alaska.

 

The free Pinnacle Grill Explore4 dinner was another chance to enjoy their excellent service. There is a new Pinnacle Grill menu as well as a new Le Cirque wine menu that will be available next week on my website.

 

The crew members and fellow passengers visiting our stateroom continue to give a big thumbs up to our wireless doorbell that gets our attention even on our verandah.

 

B2B processing for four CC members starts tomorrow at 10:30 AM at the Front Desk for our escorted Canadian Customs processing after last week's problems.

 

As I close this report, the hallway is now being filled with passenger's suitcases.

 

More tomorrow.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Another day on the Noordam began with a chill and a bright sun. Room Service breakfast arrived at the stroke of 8:00 AM. Over the previous days, we could count on our door bell ringing within one minute of our request time.

 

With cell phone access in Ketchikan, I had a chance to process email and post on CC. As mya float plane excursion to a crab feast neared, the temperature pushed well into the 60-degree range The angle of the gangway was quite steep even though we disembarked from the Atrium.

 

Our sixty-passenger bus picked up 12 of us for the Crab Feast and the Klingit driver tried to teach us some basic Klingit phrases. I missed all of the potholes on the way to George's Inlet as the road is now paved. The included smoked salmon appetizer were a nice start to ur meal. All manner of eating dungeness crab was on display, from aggressively smashing the legs to using a fork to patiently remove the crab meat.

With crab residue plates overflowing, we were brought a large slice of cheesecake with blueberry topping. Most managed only a few bites after a solid hour of gluttony.

 

Two float planes arrived to drop off some incoming diners and to pick us up for the flight-seeing trip back to Ketchikan. The cloudless skies allowed an amazing view of the mountain tops and enabled the lucky lady in the copilots seat to make some great videos.

 

The evening was Formal Night and my appetite was not into eating a single bite of food but one should never turn down lobster. My waiter encouraged me to have at least two lobster tails but I could only tolerate a small salad and one lobster tail. No soup, no bread, and no dessert for me. My waiter chuckled as I touched the playback button on my camera to show him a foot-tall pile of crab residue. I promised to have at least two lobster tails next week.

 

With the clocks jumping ahead the next day and with internet access, the incredible HAL bed found me sleeping soundly before 10:30 PM.

 

 

I'll bet the lobster on your excursion was better than the ship's lobster.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Sailing to Vancouver began with yet another day of bright sunshine and a sprinkling of clouds. Room Service breakfast appeared at exactly 8:00 AM. With a pending Mariner's Brunch at 11:00 AM, less was ordered for our first meal of the day.

 

There was a Mariner's Society medallion presentation before the Mariner's lunch. It was reported that the ship's Captain was in the Shops looking at jewelry when a member of his staff pointed at the very long line waiting for him to start autographing their Alaska guidebooks. It was with a sheepish grin that he admitted that he had forgotten and began his signing a bit late. Only 15 minutes late to our ceremony, he presented fellow CC member Dobiemom with her Bronze Medallion today witnessed by nearly 30 of her Medallion peers. The Captain refused to shake her hand but did share a hug with her. Standing in the rear of the room with ship's staff members, I heard all of them whisper that they had just witnessed the Captain's first hug. A fist bump followed.

 

The Captain told all present that a surcharge would be added to each passengers hotal account because of the excellent weather the Noordam had enjoyed during the cruise. After a brief gasp, all of the Medallion-holders laughed.

 

Mark, Cruise Director, and I had a good discussion where I learned that our CD next week will be Jeremy (not sure how to spend his last name) as Mark moves to the Prinzendam.

 

The Mariner's Brunch followed in the Deck 2 Dining Room with only 25% of the room being occupied.

 

The Shop's were filled with passengers selecting last-minute souvenirs and the line at the Front Desk was its usual end-of-cruise 20+ guests.

 

Laundry service continued its amazing performance with a five-hour turnaround today.

 

Thanks to Glenn and Corina in the Neptune Lounge, I now have all of the kid's activities for the Noordam as well as all of the MDR and Lido Restaurant menus for the future Noordam Alaskan season. I plan to have them available this coming week. The International Menu was not served on this cruise nor will be on future Noordam cruises in Alaska.

 

The free Pinnacle Grill Explore4 dinner was another chance to enjoy their excellent service. There is a new Pinnacle Grill menu as well as a new Le Cirque wine menu that will be available next week on my website.

 

The crew members and fellow passengers visiting our stateroom continue to give a big thumbs up to our wireless doorbell that gets our attention even on our verandah.

 

B2B processing for four CC members starts tomorrow at 10:30 AM at the Front Desk for our escorted Canadian Customs processing after last week's problems.

 

As I close this report, the hallway is now being filled with passenger's suitcases.

 

More tomorrow.

 

 

Looking forward to your report on the Canadian Customs after the mess you had last week.

[sail7seas]

Where is your turnaround day tomorrow?

 

[Crew News]

For a change, the day in Vancouver opened with overcast skies. A second change was Room Service did not appear at the stroke of 8:00 AM. The 20-minute deviation from the earliest time on our Room Service Breakfast card was due to the departing passengers opting out of the Lido Restaurant for breakfast.

 

Yesterday, the Neptune Lounge contacted four CC B2B members to instruct us to meet at the Front Desk at 10:30. Plans changed today when Corina, Neptune Lounge concierge, asked us to meet at the Neptune Lounge to be escorted from the ship and guided through Canadian Immigration.

 

Under the watchful guidance of Corina, we arrived at the Front Desk and joined the Captain's family, service workers, and a tour guide. At 10:45, about 14 folks were led through a maze of rooms and stanchions to the front of the Canadian Immigration line. Our agent remembered Joanie from the previous week and welcomed us back to Canada. When the four CC members completed processing, we were directed to follow the "Crew" signs to reboard the Noordam. I looked at my watch and noted the time of 11:03 when I held my stateroom card to be scanned back on the ship. This was a huge improvement over the gaggle of the previous week.

 

All of the in-transit CC members met at the Terrace Bar for an evaluation of the previous week aboard the Noordam and our efforts to take full advantage of our Explore4 beverage packages.

 

As the Lido Restaurant began filling, the Taco Bar avoided the interest of the new passengers and presented a chance for a good nachos lunch.

I was able to finally take photographs of both the hydrotherapy pool and the Digital Workshop to complete my photographic tour of the Noordam. There were a number of opportunities to help new passengers get their bearings while I returned to our stateroom.

 

The safety drill was quick and efficient even though five staterooms failed to appear at our Station 16 lifeboat.

 

Taking advantage of my free Canaletto meal, I enjoyed the Canaletto blue-cheese salad, savored the full flavor of the seafood soup, and loved the lemony sauce of the veal picatta. My attempt to order a Perrier water was denied since I had only the $50 soda card for this week.

 

We now have two bottles of sparking wine and three bodies of wine from our wine package that need a good home.

 

I spoke with the Culinary Operations Manager today at the Suites' Reception. He is discussing another chocolate bomb dessert on Le Cirque night this week with him in attendance to share the chocolate bomb. Only one diner at our previous chocolate bomb sampling was able to finish all of that chocolate.

 

My second trip to Alaska aboard the Noordam ended with a chocolate chip cookie, completing this report, and enjoying the sunset with only partly-cloudy skies.

 

Tomorrow will be the eighth straight sunny day aboard the Noordam with sunshine and warm temps in the forecast for the rest of the week ahead.

[Crew News]

I'll bet the lobster on your excursion was better than the ship's lobster.

 

The crab was indeed better than the lobster on Formal Night but the lobster tail required far less physical activity prior to tasting it.

[luvcruisn']

Thanks for your ongoing reports, Crew News. I have cruised to Alaska twice, but have not done the interesting excursions that you have taken.

[Krazy Kruizers]

For a change, the day in Vancouver opened with overcast skies. A second change was Room Service did not appear at the stroke of 8:00 AM. The 20-minute deviation from the earliest time on our Room Service Breakfast card was due to the departing passengers opting out of the Lido Restaurant for breakfast.

 

Yesterday, the Neptune Lounge contacted four CC B2B members to instruct us to meet at the Front Desk at 10:30. Plans changed today when Corina, Neptune Lounge concierge, asked us to meet at the Neptune Lounge to be escorted from the ship and guided through Canadian Immigration.

 

Under the watchful guidance of Corina, we arrived at the Front Desk and joined the Captain's family, service workers, and a tour guide. At 10:45, about 14 folks were led through a maze of rooms and stanchions to the front of the Canadian Immigration line. Our agent remembered Joanie from the previous week and welcomed us back to Canada. When the four CC members completed processing, we were directed to follow the "Crew" signs to reboard the Noordam. I looked at my watch and noted the time of 11:03 when I held my stateroom card to be scanned back on the ship. This was a huge improvement over the gaggle of the previous week.

 

All of the in-transit CC members met at the Terrace Bar for an evaluation of the previous week aboard the Noordam and our efforts to take full advantage of our Explore4 beverage packages.

 

As the Lido Restaurant began filling, the Taco Bar avoided the interest of the new passengers and presented a chance for a good nachos lunch.

I was able to finally take photographs of both the hydrotherapy pool and the Digital Workshop to complete my photographic tour of the Noordam. There were a number of opportunities to help new passengers get their bearings while I returned to our stateroom.

 

The safety drill was quick and efficient even though five staterooms failed to appear at our Station 16 lifeboat.

 

Taking advantage of my free Canaletto meal, I enjoyed the Canaletto blue-cheese salad, savored the full flavor of the seafood soup, and loved the lemony sauce of the veal picatta. My attempt to order a Perrier water was denied since I had only the $50 soda card for this week.

 

We now have two bottles of sparking wine and three bodies of wine from our wine package that need a good home.

 

I spoke with the Culinary Operations Manager today at the Suites' Reception. He is discussing another chocolate bomb dessert on Le Cirque night this week with him in attendance to share the chocolate bomb. Only one diner at our previous chocolate bomb sampling was able to finish all of that chocolate.

 

My second trip to Alaska aboard the Noordam ended with a chocolate chip cookie, completing this report, and enjoying the sunset with only partly-cloudy skies.

 

Tomorrow will be the eighth straight sunny day aboard the Noordam with sunshine and warm temps in the forecast for the rest of the week ahead.

 

 

Glad this immigration went better than last weeks.

[Krazy Kruizers]

The crab was indeed better than the lobster on Formal Night but the lobster tail required far less physical activity prior to tasting it.

 

 

When I got the huge Crab legs in the Pinnacle on the Noordam, they were easy to pop out of their shells.

[Crew News]

When I got the huge Crab legs in the Pinnacle on the Noordam, they were easy to pop out of their shells.

 

Unfortunately, the change to the PG menu has deleted crab legs. Hope to have new menu on my website this week.

[cruisn71]

Hi Joannie and Roger,

 

It was a pleasure meeting you. Thanks for your awesome hospitality, and for arranging the Chocolate Melting Bombs. That was quite a memorable dessert!

 

In the caramel vs chocolate sauce debate, I would have to go with caramel. I tried both and the caramel ended up making a delightful chocolate toffee. I managed to finish the whole thing amongst a lot of other dishes that night.

 

Enjoy your second leg! I hope the weather was as nice as the first leg.

 

Nils

[cruisn71]

I managed to get through 5 half crabs. I just shelled and shelled till I ran out of time. I don't know how anyone could eat much more than that. I was stuffed! Thankfully we had the flight first and a bus ride after the feast.

[Crew News]

I managed to get through 5 half crabs. I just shelled and shelled till I ran out of time. I don't know how anyone could eat much more than that. I was stuffed! Thankfully we had the flight first and a bus ride after the feast.

 

I completed four half crabs and my MDR waiter wanted to know why all that i wanted for Formal Night dinner was one lobster tail and a small salad. Only one bite of cheese cake for me.

[Crew News]

Hi Joannie and Roger,

 

It was a pleasure meeting you. Thanks for your awesome hospitality, and for arranging the Chocolate Melting Bombs. That was quite a memorable dessert!

 

In the caramel vs chocolate sauce debate, I would have to go with caramel. I tried both and the caramel ended up making a delightful chocolate toffee. I managed to finish the whole thing amongst a lot of other dishes that night.

 

Enjoy your second leg! I hope the weather was as nice as the first leg.

 

Nils

 

Glad we could be helpful. That is the purpose of CC.

 

Please contact me via the Contact form on my website and I will send you your picture as you both disembarked the floatplane as well as the short dessert video that I made (still need to fix the white balance first).

 

The Noordam staff is still talking about that chocolate bomb.

 

Hope to see you on a future cruise --- Alaska 2016 on the NA??

Edited May 17, 2015 by Crew News

[cruisn71]

We signed up for the NA Panama Canal transit in 2016. I think I may reach my limit of shipboard life after 20 days :). Are you going to be boarding in SD again?

 

Glad we could be helpful. That is the purpose of CC.

 

Please contact me via the Contact form on my website and I will send you your picture as you both disembarked the floatplane as well as the short dessert video that I made (still need to fix the white balance first).

 

The Noordam staff is still talking about that chocolate bomb.

 

Hope to see you on a future cruise --- Alaska 2016 on the NA??

[qsuzi]

Still following your updates. Thanks for the wonderfully descriptive narrative.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Unfortunately, the change to the PG menu has deleted crab legs. Hope to have new menu on my website this week.

 

 

On our recent Zuiderdam cruises, the King Crab Legs were still listed but the Pinnacle chef would not serve them as they were very tiny.

[Crew News]

We signed up for the NA Panama Canal transit in 2016. I think I may reach my limit of shipboard life after 20 days :). Are you going to be boarding in SD again?

 

That is under serious consideration.

[Crew News]

Day 01 aboard the Noordam heading for Alaska started with heavy, overcast, skies. The reality of an impending end to this cruise appeared in our mail box in the form of our disembarkation request papers. Room Service breakfast appeared at the stroke of 8:00 AM to maintain their exceptional record of service.

 

Being a sea day, it was an opportunity to catch up on CC posting and screening nearly 2000 Alaska photographs for retention. Lunch was a salmon bake on the Aft Lido deck. As the previous week, the event was not well-publicized and most passengers queued in the Lido Restaurant for lunch. The Caesar salad with optional extra cheese was tasty and the grilled salmon was perfectly cooked.

 

I shared my Skagway dogsled videos with Glenn and Corina in the Neptune Lounge.

 

Joanie is in the process of coordinating another chocolate bomb dessert for Le Cirque night with an option of chocolate purses for those wishing less chocolate.

 

From my location in the MDR, I spotted only one tuxedo on Formal Night. The rack of men's jackets at the MDR door was soon emptied as a number of diners were accommodated. My beef tenderloin was perfectly cooked to medium rare.

 

The Recycled Percussion show was fabulous. Specializing in drumming, including a single guitar player, the group brought back true rock and roll favorites. Even though quite loud, the group left the crowd on their feet and cheering their performance. The group remained after the show to sign their memorabilia to support their anti-bullying charity.

 

The day ended with bright sunshine and partly cloudy skies over the Noordam as we sail to Juneau.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for the report.

I keep wondering why HAL is booking so many loud shows -- i.e. -- BB King -- and now the Recycled Percussion show.

[Crew News]

I opened my verandah curtains to bright sunshine for yet another day in Alaska. Room Service breakfast arrived again at the stroke of 8:00 AM. We did a write-in of waffles with blueberry compote. At 7:54, we received a call from Room Service asking if we would accept strawberry compote as they did not have blueberry. Six minutes later, breakfast with waffles smothered in strawberry compote arrived at our stateroom door.

Lunch was a salad and some of the daily-appetizer chicken wings saved in our minibar.

 

This second week in Juneau had the Noordam parked at the least-favored farthest dock from downtown Juneau. Bus service was available for $3 for all day use. Many opted to take the more than one mile hike to downtown.

 

Today was a whale-watching day and everyone on our excursion was wowed with two solid hours of breeching baby whales, adult fluke pictures, and even "logging" by two adult humpback whales, occuring simultaneously on each side of the boat. The time was very well spent getting the true flavor of Alaska. According to my cellphone app, the temp in Juneau today was 74 degrees. Keeping our fingers crossed has become a recognized condition for most passengers enjoying the great weather.

 

The halibut with quinoa and asparagus in the sparesly-occupied MDR for dinner was excellent.

 

Rumors heard today:

Canaletto, PG, and Dive In items will soon be available via Room Service.

Nieuw Amsterdam will be first to have touch-screen TVs for billing, menus, and ordering movies. A new Room Service menu is in the works.

 

We shall see.

 

I am closing this daily report while I still have hotspot access with my ATT phone. Tomorrow is Skagway.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for the update.

Expanded room service -- Interactive TV's -- getting better -- but it will take time to get it on all the ships.

[qsuzi]

Another day, another nice update. Thanks!

[canadianbear]

Loving your updates! What a day whale watching-sounds fabulous. I think next year I must get my hubby to do another Alaska cruise-I miss it.

[lukydog]

Crew News, may I ask which whale watching excursion you went on? We will be making our first trip to Alaska in 2016 and really looking forward to it!