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

[ccrain]

Completely off topic, but maybe you might have some info, as you seem soooo knowledgeable about Princess and Alaska....

 

Wondering if Capt. Bommarco has a good history of being able to navigate into Tracy Arm Fjord. I know that many times they say it is up to the conditions and the captain, as to how close they can get to the glacier. I have also heard that it sometimes is a matter of if they have allowed enough time for the transit as well.

 

it depends on the ice conditions and the glacier. We went deep into tracey arm to the sawyer glacier I believe. You really can't get that close to it because of the narrowness of the canyon and that particular glacier really calves BIG bergy bits.

 

The other larger glacier we went to in 2012 on the Diamond, we were just limited by all the bits in the water. if the glacier is actively calving, the bits will prevent getting close, but I have talked to crew whom have gotten quite close when calving is not that active and the water is clear.

 

I think it depends more on the conditions than the captain as I believe they are under pilot control at the time anyway. I know that's the case in Glacier Bay, just not too sure about Tracey Arm...

[caribill]

Just tried to send messages from the laptop to Judy's Ipad via the messenger function. Could not enter a valid To name. Tried all different combinations, but it kept giving me invalid user name errors.

 

Did Judy sign up for Princess@sea with her own unique name?

[RNGALNG]

Good to hear this! I'm on the Golden next week and I've signed up for this excursion - I ride a push bike at home so I'm really looking forward to getting on a bike in the glorious scenery, even if it's raining.

 

They provided rain pants and had some gloves to help out. The pants fit anyone a size 18-20 (woman size so maybe a large mens??) I wore jeans, my tennis shoes with wool socks, a long sleeve t-shirt, hoodie, and an LL Bean rain coat. Used my mittens. Also had a hat.

 

As I said, most was downhill. Almost too fast. Need to be careful not to break too hard or fast! They stopped at a couple places along the way and told us things about the history and area.

 

Once down at the bottom, we took a ride around to the grave yard to see the old graves and a waterfall. Then back to the bike shop. No time for water bottles along the way. Just plan on an adult beverage at a local place once you are back!

 

Have a great time! Way fun!!

[trbarton]

I'm planning a Slot Pull on my August 30th Alaska cruise and am looking for a meeting place outside the casino. What is the Meridian Bay? Would that be a good meeting place?

 

Tom:)

[IECalCruiser]

We had intended to go up the tram, but one look up showed fog and clouds around the first pylon and no sign of the terminal on the top. And it was pouring down rain. Not just a light shower, but a downpour. I looked around for an excursion booth, it was still only around 1600, but everyone had closed down. Even the Glacier Express busses were not running on a regular basis. In this kind of rain, we could not have walked out to Nugget falls anyway without getting very muddy and totally soaked. Today was the perfect day for Whale Watching, but we’d done that last time anyway, so we opted for an extended window and souvenir shopping trip into the various shops of Juneau. (Osterdam and Pacific Princess were in port with us.)

 

it took us three stops at Juneau before the weather was good enough the take the Tram up to the top of Mount Roberts. One trip we went to the Alaskan Brewery which was a nice diversion on a rainy, overcast day.

[IECalCruiser]

I'm planning a Slot Pull on my August 30th Alaska cruise and am looking for a meeting place outside the casino. What is the Meridian Bay? Would that be a good meeting place?

 

 

 

Tom:)

Meridian Bay is a shop. You could meet in the Promenade Lounge & Bar across the way.

[trbarton]

Meridian Bay is a shop. You could meet in the Promenade Lounge & Bar across the way.

 

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

Tom:D

[trbarton]

Which restaurant do they use for lunch on sea days?

 

Thanks!

 

Tom:)

[Belle]

Anytime dining room on 6th. Midship.

Just off the middle/center elevators.

Sorry forget the name at this moment.

 

Remember..Donatella Dining Room

Edited June 6, 2015 by Belle

[ccrain]

Icy straits, flat calm – so why was the captain using the thrusters at 0400 this morning? Or at least I’m pretty sure it was the thrusters cavitating this morning – he shouldn’t have been reversing! We pick up the rangers at 0600, 0800 is Queen Inlet, 0920 arrive Margerie, 1045 depart Margerie, 1130 arrive Lamplugh, 1200 depart Lamplugh, 1300 Ranger Presentation, 1500 rangers depart.

 

Yesterday was interesting in Skagway. The wind howled all day long – definitely living up to Skagway’s Tlingit nome de plume. Probably a good day for a train ride, but for hiking it was miserable. We ended up taking in the Days of 98 show, shopping for some South African ‘jerky’, wandering around town and having lunch. There were 3 other ships in port, the Pacific Princess, us, NCL’s Sun and Carnival’s Legend. Lots of people in port, lots of crowds.

 

We searched for, and found, the ports of call shop with racks of specialty items for crew members around the world. South African, British, Indian, Philippines, Chinese, Eastern Europe – a really neat store, but way, way expensive as all of this stuff is imported to Skagway via air freight. But a nice touch of home, I’m sure for a lot of people. Based on Melissa, Megan and Sioban’s recommendation we bought some Biltong and Wors – South African equivalent of jerky and Slim Jims. I was going to get some crème soda (a hangover cure I’m told), but at $2.50 a can, it was a bit steep.

 

The show was actually quite quaint and fun – and out of the howling wind. Interesting presentation of a con man, re 1890’s version of a consummate ‘politician’, in both a damning yet sympathetic point of view. Very cheesy, over the top, irreverent, yet, thoroughly enjoyable. We all enjoyed it – especially Ally. She’s been in theater in High School and is going to double degree in acting and Tourism Management. She was actually very interested in the actors whom had apparently just graduated from college and this was their first gig.

 

Lunch was completely forgettable, and I’ve forgotten the name already. Its north of the main drag and it has a Mexican/Italian/American menu – so if you see a large menu, run. (All of the well known shops on main street were SRO, so we opted for something less crowded.) Should have went to the Thai place on 5th street as recommended, or the Indian curry place on 4th. The only good thing was the halibut fish and chips – which I surrendered to Judy as her taco platter was not even Taco Bell quality. Ally’s fettucine was pretty tasteless as well, but the garlic toast was pretty good. Oh well, you live and learn.

 

Skagway is an interesting town to wander around in off main street. It’s so Alaska. No two houses look alike, all are patched, repatched and patched again. Blue tarp roofing materials. Although there are a lot of new builds across the river since we were here last. Included one on the bluff that overlooks the town and really stands out. Lots of glass – must cost a fortune to heat.

 

The sun did eventually come out, and it was actually quite warm, if you were standing out of the wind, so wandering around town was not wet as we were in Juneau.

 

Dinner was one of the Princess menus. I had the duck, which I did not like. It just did not taste like I remembered. Ally had the turkey pot pie, which according to Judy is NOT a pie as it does not have a bottom or side crust, only a top crust – and which Ally enjoyed. Judy had the cheeseburger, which she would have really enjoyed more had she not had tacos and fish and chips for lunch. It was pretty good as I had half of Judy’s burger rather than order something else. The highlight was the vodka lime sorbet for dessert. Really, really good, refreshing and light.

 

It was rock and roll night in explorers, preceded by some dancing with Lots of Fun and one of Jamie’s signature music trivias. He found original LP recordings of oldies and wanted the artist and song title of what he was playing – NOT a later re-re-remake. Even then, one team got 38 out of 40 – missing only one song and title that they attributed to a later version by the Drifters, not knowing the Drifter’s version was not the original. Jamie is a music aficionado and likes to throw curves at trivia buffs. Definitely a challenge.

 

With an 0500 alarm this morning, last night was not a night to stay out late. Glacier Bay, and Icy Straits preceding it, are a real treat to experience. So we have dragged Ally out of bed early to at least point her in the general direction. She still hasn’t woken up yet.

 

Not much happening today. Tonight is light as well. We are hitting Crown Grill at 1800 and will probably do Into The Woods on MUTS, but it’s going to be cold, cold, cold. There is music and dancing, Words and Music in Vista, Remember the Lyrics game show, David Klinkenberg is on in the theater, Princess Pop Star Heat 2 and So You Wanna Be a Rockstar.

 

Well, coffee is done. Off to get ready for a day of sight seeing.

 

Later…

[ccrain]

Did Judy sign up for Princess@sea with her own unique name?

 

Signed her up. Then tried to access her name, or have her access my name or all different manner of combinations.

 

Could not get the messenger to work.

 

And they claim messenger will work when device is in airplane mode! huh? What do they define as airplane mode?

[cougaraz]

Signed her up. Then tried to access her name, or have her access my name or all different manner of combinations.

 

Could not get the messenger to work.

 

And they claim messenger will work when device is in airplane mode! huh? What do they define as airplane mode?

When you are on the Golden Princess intranet page, go to My Account in the top left corner. Click My Contacts then Add Contact, in the box that appears, add the strange alpha numeric ID from the top right and you will be good to go, then names should appear on both devices.

[peety3]

And they claim messenger will work when device is in airplane mode! huh? What do they define as airplane mode?

Airplane mode on newer phones (or at least newer software) allows you to turn Wifi back on after turning everything off via airplane mode. Consider it a "Wifi override", necessary for those flying on places with Wifi. Kinda convenient for cruising too.

[bonandmick]

Thanks for all the awesome updates and info, sorry the weather has not been complying. Part of me wonders if it makes sense to wait to book excursions till you get to Alaska, so you don't get stuck having to spend big bucks doing a tour in horrible weather. Obviously, its a gamble.

[Bigfootthedog]

We are scheduled to go to the Lumber Jack show in Ketchikan. I hear they are doing something of the same sort on this cruise. Should a person still attend the Show or is the even on the ship good.

[ccrain]

We are scheduled to go to the Lumber Jack show in Ketchikan. I hear they are doing something of the same sort on this cruise. Should a person still attend the Show or is the even on the ship good.

 

The lumberjack show in Ketchikan is for real. Axes, saws, climbing, log rolling and a lot of fun. The show on the ship is a party in the piazza (dancing) and a sing a long/ music outside under the stars.

 

No comparison.

 

Do both...

[ccrain]

When you are on the Golden Princess intranet page, go to My Account in the top left corner. Click My Contacts then Add Contact, in the box that appears, add the strange alpha numeric ID from the top right and you will be good to go, then names should appear on both devices.

 

I'll let you know how it goes...

[ccrain]

Thanks for all the awesome updates and info, sorry the weather has not been complying. Part of me wonders if it makes sense to wait to book excursions till you get to Alaska, so you don't get stuck having to spend big bucks doing a tour in horrible weather. Obviously, its a gamble.

 

Most flightseeing tours have to be cancelled by the first day at sea. Meaning weather is still variable. But tours can be sold out as well. I haven't been paying attention to the sold out board, so I can't comment on that.

 

However, that being said, in 2001, we booked the heli-glacier walk in Juneau, and it was pouring down rain in Juneau, yet cleared out by the time we landed on the glacier and was beautifully clear on the flight back to the airport.

 

It is a gamble for sure.

 

I just got lucky this time...

[ar1950]

As previously mentioned, try to catch at least one of David Klinkenberg's shows. He is really good.

[ccrain]

Messenger frustrations. I’ve tried to get it to work, but it keeps giving me a User Not Found error. I made sure Judy’s pad and my laptop both are logged in, can access our user accounts, and have messenger IDs. But it just won’t work. This is just not intuitive. They need to work on this for sure. It probably has something to do with our B2B and messenger IDs not being carried across the changeover, but account access and internet access is working, so I don’t want to screw things up by changing log-ins. This should be much more intuitive or easy for people to message each other.

 

This morning is foggy, windy and rainy, once again. Really thick marine layer heading down the channel to Ketchikan. Looks like it will be wet going ashore. We dock at 0730 and all aboard is 0530. Not sure exactly what we are going to do. Ally has a lunch date with Megan at 1100 and I don’t think we are invited, so Judy and I might just be on our own. I think maybe some bargain shopping and walking around town is in order, if we can’t find an inexpensive last minute excursion on the dock.

 

Yesterday was Glacier Bay. Not a lot of wildlife. A couple of otters and seals, but no whales or seal pups that we saw like the last couple of times. Several mountain goats on the way end on the cliffs. The Glaciers (Margerie and Lamplugh) like the last time we saw it, under cloudy/rainy skies. Not a lot of calving either – or white thunder. It looked like several large sections had recently calved before we arrived. The captain held the ship in hover for about 30 minutes, then rotated 180D for another 30 minutes. Some Captains will make 2 or even 3 full rotations during the stay to give everyone a chance to catch a calving. We found a nice wind free place of the back deck near outriggers for most of the trip in, but then the wind shifted and we retreated to the balcony. The wind just cut right through you.

 

The ranger presentation has remained about the same since we first came up here in 2001. Quite frankly, it’s boring and geared to a low education audience. Most of us on this cruise are pretty well educated, and I would like a lot more detailed commentary on the way in. Like water depths and cliff heights, so that we could judge the depth of the glacier as we went up the fjord. More of the history of the area, like was it always that glaciated as when Vancouver found it, or was it just because of the cold spell in the 1400’s? There are also several really interesting rock formations on the way end that would have been neat to get a live explanation on so we could see the entire scene rather than just a single photograph on a projector.

 

Scale – One of the really unique things about the arctic regions is scale. I’ve been to Greenland and looked down at a fjord with three glaciers and thought, the shoreline’s about ½ mile away – only to find out the shoreline is over 3 miles away. We’ve been to Antarctica and looked UP at an iceberg going by the ship and wondering why are we so close to it, only to find out it was over a mile away! Glacier bay is no exception. The air is so clear and there are no common size references on a lot of the granite cliffs along the fjord, that it is hard to judge distance and scale. For example, we were tooling up the fjord with the granite cliffs to the starboard side, looking like maybe ½ mile away, and the ranger points out some Mountain Goats. So I’m looking, looking, looking, and see these little bitty white dots. Yep, those are the goats. They stand about 4 foot high. And they had to be close to 2 miles away. Just barely discernable in 10x binoculars as goats, much less with the bare Mark I eyeball! So keep in mind scale when traveling to Alaska and bring your largest telephoto lenses and binoculars!

 

Which Side of the Ship? A question that gets asked time and time again. And the answer is BOTH! You really need to be mobile or find a 180/360D viewpoint on the trip in and out. Bears showed up last cruise in Glacier Bay on the Port Side, while on this cruise the mountain goats were on the starboard side. Seals on the Port Side, Birds on the starboard side and the Glaciers can calve on either side at any minute. Now it was more difficult on this cruise because of the rain. Can’t stay mobile and dry for sure, but it’s worth a little wet and a hot shower is only steps away.

 

We went to Crown Grill last night. They do have specialty items for the Alaskan trip like salmon, steamer pots and venison. Because of the vouchers being given out, Crown Grill is booked early on – like fully booked all early days on embarkation day and all later times by the end of the first sea day. And in fact, for this cruise they actually booked our voucher at Sabatini’s automatically, so we had to cancel that one in favor of the one we made at the Crown Grill about an hour after we got on board during turn around day. (Yes, they book that fast.)

 

Anyway, I had the French Onion and Blue Cheese soup, the heirloom tomato and goat cheese salad and because I couldn’t make up my mind, she brought both lamp and veal chops. Judy had the tomato salad and the venison, Ally had the shrimp bisque and the 22 oz porterhouse steak. Service was exemplary, as usual. Even though the place filled to capacity by 1830. They had many, many more servers on staff than I’ve ever seen before. The onion soup was fantastic. Really, really good. The heirloom tomato salad really good as well. For me the veal chop was the highlight. Better than the lamb. Ally loved her porterhouse steak and almost completely demolished it. Judy did not care for the venison. I tried it and it was a bit dry and needed seasoning. I cook wild game at home all the time. Venison and elk require a sauce, or they need to be flash chicken fried, or stir fried. I usually do an pepper encrusted elk a’pou with a mushroom cream sauce, and the elk done medium rare. So Judy was a little disappointed. But I gave her one of my lamb chops and that made her very happy. But I really liked the veal chop. The demi-glace was great. We had the usual sides served family style – garlic fries, asparagus, mushrooms, creamed spinach – all really good.

 

The dinner was so good we just skipped dessert. They did have a peanut butter chocolate bar on the menus as part of their chocolate presentations, but none of us could do another bite without making ourselves miserable.

 

We were able to dance afterward in Explorers with Lots of Fun, but then had to run down to get a seat at the mid showing of Words and Music. The last cruise, Words and Music was in the theater. I like it much better in Vista. It’s even more personal and intimate. It’s really like a whole new show, especially up front like we were. I can’t get over how good this dance troupe is. They are spot on with only very minor glitches now and then. I also can’t get over how much older the girls look on stage, but how young they look in person. They remain one of the best troupes we’ve ever seen.

 

Judy and Ally still have their head colds – I call it a cruise cough or cruise cold – happens almost every time. Ally has run through our carry-on supply of Dayquil, so we will have to resupply at Ketchikan for sure. After the show I put them to bed with some Nyquil. In fact they are still sleeping, late this morning and I’m hoping that they can kick this before we get back.

 

From the looks of the weather, flight seeing is out of the question, and it’s still raining and looking quite wet. Not sure what we’re going to do in Ketchikan. Definitely pick up some more Dayquil!

 

So let’s look at the day’s patter. They are showing the NBA finals this afternoon in Explorers. Rob Ondras has a Neil Diamond tribute in Vista, Rollin Jay Moore is headlining in the theater and Country Western night is on in Explorer’s, followed by the Yes/No gameshow. We missed the Yes/No gameshow last cruise and don’t plan to miss it this time.

 

We lose that hour we gained tonight, but since tomorrow is a sea day, it’ll be ok.

 

That’s it from Ketchikan. More later as we head back to San Francisco…

[ccrain]

...and it is pouring down rain. Poor dock people look half drowned. Not sure if we're even going out in this stuff...

 

Might calm down a bit later...

[Colo Cruiser]

Hope the weather improves. :(

[Belle]

That's what is nice about a B2B.

The weather can change so fast.

With a B2B you have a chance of

good weather one out of the two days

in the same port.

 

Like you had.. 1st week you had nice weather,

second week not so much. Hope it improves

the rest of the week for you.

Edited June 7, 2015 by Belle

[ccrain]

That's what is nice about a B2B.

The weather can change so fast.

With a B2B you have a chance of

good weather one out of the two days

in the same port.

 

Like you had.. 1st week you had nice weather,

second week not so much. Hope it improves

the rest of the week for you.

 

Ketchikan Update -

 

Agreed, but I do feel for people who save for months for their dream vacation, seeing all the blue sky advertising videos, and then see rain day after day after day. Even with no rain in Skagway, the wind was pretty harsh.

 

This has been the worst weather on any of our previous Alaska cruises, and today was no exception. It poured and the wind blew. But I had to get off the ship and get some walking in. Even when we knew we were going to get wet. We went out looking for some more Dayquil, while we turned Ally loose to go shopping and have lunch with Megan of the cruise staff. The ship was docked in slip #4, and by the time we got to Tongass, we were soaked. Needed rain pants as well. The wind gusted enough to destroy any cheap travel umbrella. People standing in line to get onto busses or DUKWs or even queing back on the ship were soaked to the bone. However, most of the shops had raingear on sale!

 

We stopped by Bar Harbor for lunch, and to dry off. Its right off dock #4. Clam chowder, halibut fish and chips. Not bad. Service was good. The clam chowder needed a bit of seasoning, but not much. The halibut fish was fantastic. Judy had shrimp and chips and we swapped out. Fresh shrimp, fresh halibut, French fries. A pint of Alaskan amber. Good stuff!

 

Ally went to Annabelles and like it. Chicken nachos and the sampler king crab legs. Ally doesn't like fish, but liked the crab legs.

 

As expected the crowds were all in the stores. I was listening to one person selling tours talking about how it always rains more here in Ketchikan and it won't be raining as much to wherever the tour she was selling was going. Sounded like trying to sell ice to an Eskimo...

 

So that's it from Ketchikan. Will update in the morning...

[caribill]

Messenger frustrations. I’ve tried to get it to work, but it keeps giving me a User Not Found error. I made sure Judy’s pad and my laptop both are logged in, can access our user accounts, and have messenger IDs. But it just won’t work. This is just not intuitive. They need to work on this for sure. It probably has something to do with our B2B and messenger IDs not being carried across the changeover, but account access and internet access is working, so I don’t want to screw things up by changing log-ins. This should be much more intuitive or easy for people to message each other.

 

What has the Internet Manager said about this?