LIVE (hopefully) from the Nieuw Amsterdam's 2nd Alsakan Sailing

[Brentt_M]

Hi everyone, inspired by Lisa @LAFFNVEGAS I am going to attempt a live report of my upcoming Alaskan cruise. How live it is will mostly depend on how well the internet cooperates.

 

A little background for everyone.  This will only be my 4th HAL cruise and my 5th cruise ever so I am just a lowly 2* mariner. However, this will be my 1^st cruise without my wife. She unfortunately passed away on March 14^th, 2020 onboard the Nieuw Statendam (unrelated to Covid). On a side note, HAL was amazing working with us during and after all this. It was truly appreciated and made me an even bigger fan of theirs.  After that happened the kids and I had a discussion and it was very clear that we all still very much wanted to continue taking cruises because it was something we all loved doing.  When bookings opened up for Alaska this year we jumped at the opportunity to get back on a ship and are so excited! My daughter, Kali (17), and son, Lawson (12), will be on this cruise with me and I am sure there will be a mix of emotions for all 3 of us as we board the ship.

 

We will fly out of Kansas City on Friday and will spend the night in a hotel near the airport before we had to the pier for boarding on Saturday.  We have an Aft Corner Neptune booked and are in boarding group A (Noon).  I plan on bringing a bottle of wine with me and also a 12-pack of Dr. Pepper.  We will see how that goes.

 

We have reservations for Tamarind the 1^st night, but no other set dinner plans.  We have a float trip excursion booked in Juneau and kayaking in Ketchikan, but nothing planned in ISP or Sitka yet. I have prepurchased a 7-day pass to the thermal suite as well. I am also sure you will find me at the craps table some as well as Billboard Onboard.

 

I will happily try to answer any questions anyone might have, but I am on vacation and don’t plan on going out of my way to find answers that don’t directly relate to my plans. I hope that does come across as rude just wanting to make sure I get the time to relax and enjoy my vacation too.

 

P.S. I think I am more excited than a kid on Christmas Eve!

[rafinmd]

I'm sorry about your loss but have a wonderful cruise.

 

Roy

[dobiemom]

I’m sorry for the loss of your DW. It’s great that you and the kids are still cruising. 
 

In ISP I think you should all do the ZipRider Adventure. From the videos it looks like they have at least 3 lines going at the same time. You could all race! 😄

[Mtn2Sea]

Looking forward to hearing about your cruise.  So sorry to hear about your DW.

[Brentt_M]

13 minutes ago, dobiemom said:

I’m sorry for the loss of your DW. It’s great that you and the kids are still cruising. 
 

In ISP I think you should all do the ZipRider Adventure. From the videos it looks like they have at least 3 lines going at the same time. You could all race! 😄

My son hates ziplines but my daughter loves them. She is a bit of an adrenaline junky. We are going skydiving for her 18th birthday later this year. However, when she learned this one is a seated line she said that's too boring so no zip rider for any of us.

[Lido deck main]

Sorry for your loss of your dear wife.  From the pictures other posters have posted looks like you and your children are in for some spectacular scenery.   Will be following your adventures.  Hope you all have a great cruise.  

[portofrome]

Sorry to heare about your wife. Have a great cruise!

[Boytjie]

I will be following your "live" posts too, as we wil be onboard two weeks after you.

 

Wishing you the best on this first cruise after your loss and that the family will have a good time together.

[mxschwartz]

3 hours ago, Brentt_M said:

Hi everyone, inspired by Lisa @LAFFNVEGAS I am going to attempt a live report of my upcoming Alaskan cruise. How live it is will mostly depend on how well the internet cooperates.

 

A little background for everyone.  This will only be my 4th HAL cruise and my 5th cruise ever so I am just a lowly 2* mariner. However, this will be my 1^st cruise without my wife. She unfortunately passed away on March 14^th, 2020 onboard the Nieuw Statendam (unrelated to Covid). On a side note, HAL was amazing working with us during and after all this. It was truly appreciated and made me an even bigger fan of theirs.  After that happened the kids and I had a discussion and it was very clear that we all still very much wanted to continue taking cruises because it was something we all loved doing.  When bookings opened up for Alaska this year we jumped at the opportunity to get back on a ship and are so excited! My daughter, Kali (17), and son, Lawson (12), will be on this cruise with me and I am sure there will be a mix of emotions for all 3 of us as we board the ship.

 

We will fly out of Kansas City on Friday and will spend the night in a hotel near the airport before we had to the pier for boarding on Saturday.  We have an Aft Corner Neptune booked and are in boarding group A (Noon).  I plan on bringing a bottle of wine with me and also a 12-pack of Dr. Pepper.  We will see how that goes.

 

We have reservations for Tamarind the 1^st night, but no other set dinner plans.  We have a float trip excursion booked in Juneau and kayaking in Ketchikan, but nothing planned in ISP or Sitka yet. I have prepurchased a 7-day pass to the thermal suite as well. I am also sure you will find me at the craps table some as well as Billboard Onboard.

 

I will happily try to answer any questions anyone might have, but I am on vacation and don’t plan on going out of my way to find answers that don’t directly relate to my plans. I hope that does come across as rude just wanting to make sure I get the time to relax and enjoy my vacation too.

 

P.S. I think I am more excited than a kid on Christmas Eve!

My son, Samuel (14) and I will be in Tamarind Night #1 as well. I'll try to find you and say HI although I don't know what you look like.....or your name. 🙂

 

I'll go off demographics of your dining party.

 

Michael

[0bnxshs]

Best wishes to you and your children on your return to cruising; I hope your excitement for a great time with them is exceeded by your experience.  Looking forward to reading your thread!

[ski ww]

Sorry for your loss. This cruise should bring back some great memories for all of you.

[kazu]

Looking forward to your Live thread and following along.  Sorry to hear of your wife’s passing.  Glad to hear that you and your family will enjoy cruising again.  Have fun 🙂 

[Brentt_M]

Nothing like waking up and seeing an Important Information about your upcoming cruise email from HAL... Basically had a mini heart attack thinking it was going to be something bad.  Nope, just a standard last minute reminder about things, not really an update.

 

Anyways, time to get up and around. Have to drop the dog off for boarding at 7am and then the 2hr drive to the airport starts!

[Brentt_M]

5 hours ago, mxschwartz said:

My son, Samuel (14) and I will be in Tamarind Night #1 as well. I'll try to find you and say HI although I don't know what you look like.....or your name. 🙂

I will keep my eyes open for you as well.  Our reservation is for 7:30 I believe.

[wdw1972]

Condolences on the loss of your wife.  Sounds like you & the kids will make some wonderful memories by continuing to cruise.  I'll look forward to your reports!

 

Sue/WDW1972

[Mr. Boston]

How fortunate for us to have another live from trip report to follow along with!  Sorry for the loss of your wife, it’s nice that you are traveling again.  Safe travels today.  We’ll all be nearby!

[aliaschief]

Condolences for your loss. Will be following closely as we board in eight days. Wishes for a great cruise, fair seas and skies.

[DaveOKC]

So sorry to hear about your wife.  Live is too short.

 

As to the cruise, thanks for doing a live posting.  Looking forward to it.

 

In ISP I recommend the whale watching tour (as long as you are not getting in too late in the day).  We have done at least 6 whale watching tours in various ports and this one was by far the best!  We even got to see 5 bubble feeding events (a first for us).  The zip line also looks good.

 

[MikeandBobNC]

Sorry for your loss, but I bet you will find many reasons to have fond memories.  I hope yo will be able to post some pictures of that aft Neptune.  We are booked in the same for a few upcoming cruises.

[Love the beach]

So sorry for your loss....treasure the memories. Looking forward to following along....thanks for doing this.

[Brentt_M]

So we dropped the dog off for boarding and she always looks at us with such a sad look it makes you feel really bad.  She actually hates when we bring out the suitcases and she will try hiding somewhere, but she isn't very good at hide and seek.

 

Drive to the airport was uneventful with very little traffic and there was absolutely no one in the security line at the airport. So we are now sitting around for 40mins or so waiting to board.

[Brentt_M]

[AncientWanderer]

Thank you for sharing your story with us.  I'm looking forward to following along here.  Wishing you and your family a wonderful cruise!

[ger_77]

I am adding my condolences to those already expressed, but cheer you and your children on as you work your way through the many “firsts” after a loss. 
 

Wishing you safe travels, and happy memories from this cruise.

 

Smooth Sailing! 🙂🙂🙂

[AKJonesy]

13 hours ago, Brentt_M said:

We have an Aft Corner Neptune booked and are in boarding group A (Noon).  I plan on bringing a bottle of wine with me and also a 12-pack of Dr. Pepper.  We will see how that goes.

 

Can you report back on this when you get a chance.  It would be helpful to others.  Even though there is written policy with regard to bringing on wine and soda, there seems to be many glitches right now.