Live and life from Nieuw Amsterdam's third Alaska sailing

[TiogaCruiser]

@Copper10-8

That’s funny. Poking up through the brush.

 

[Copper10-8]

Wednesday - Sitka, AK

 

Our route from ICP last night took us via Icy Strait and then Cross Sound into the Gulf of Alaska/Pacific Ocean. We then paralleled the west coasts on Yakobi Island, Chichagof Island and, finally, Kruzof Island and rounded Cape Edgecumbe, entering Sitka Sound around 0700 hrs under cloudy/overcast conditions 

 

Now Sitka, for years was a tender port where cruise ships would anchor at one of three anchorages. The ship’s tenders were “splashed” and off we used to go to one of two tender docks; the O’Connell Bridge tender dock or the Crescent Harbor tender dock. That all changed when in 2013, an entrepreneur built himself a private dock plus terminal building on Halibut Road, about 10-15 minutes north of downtown Sitka. This is called the ‘Old Sitka Dock’ and cruise ships have been calling there on a regular basis now for over seven years. Holland America Line joined the club five year ago, so that’s where we were heading today. Pretty sure that entrepreneur already got his investment money back, and then some. The American dream is still alive!

 

Since my last time in Sitka in 2017, more money has been invested in the Old Sitka Dock which has now been extended to hold two large cruise ships side-by-side -RCI's Serenade of the Seas would be joining us a bit later. In addition, the entry into the terminal building has been improved, as has the building itself. Very impressive!  

 

The City and Borough of Sitka, formerly New Archangel/Novoarkhangelsk while under Russian rule is a unified city-borough located on Baranof Island and the southern half of Chichagof Island in the Alexander Archipelago of the Pacific Ocean part of the Alaska Panhandle. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,881. It is the largest city-borough in the U.S., with a land area of 2,870.3 square miles and a total area (including water area) of 4,811.4 square miles. Urban Sitka, the part that is usually thought of as the "city" of Sitka, is situated on the west side of Baranof Island. The current name "Sitka" (derived from Sheet’ká, a contraction of the Tlingit Shee At'iká) means "People on the Outside of Baranof Island", whose Tlingit name is Sheet’-ká X'áat'l.

 

Our excursion today was called "Birds, Bears and Barnacles" and would take us to the Sitka Raptor Center, the Fortress of the Bear, and the Sitka Sound Science Center. The first two locations, both non-profit facilities, are there to rehabilitate raptors (mostly American Bald Eagles, various species of Hawks and Owls) and orphaned bear cubs. The Sitka Sound Science Center is dedicated to increasing understanding and awareness of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems of Alaska through education and research. We enjoyed visiting all three, especially the first two.

 

Our initial plan was to have lunch in Sitka but discovered that both our planned locations (we had a plan B), the Sitka Hotel restaurant, and Agave restaurant had unfortunately closed down for business due to Covid. So we wound up taking a shuttle back to Halibut Point and broke bread in the Lido.

 

All Aboard was at 4:30 PM and, with everything cleaned up and brought back onboard, Captain Baijens took her out at 5:00 pm, destination Ketchikan, AK.

 

We had a 7:30 PM appointment at Canaletto and had a nice meal in there - see pics! The main entertainment tonight was by magician and illusionist Joseph Reohm, pronounced superbly by Inspecteur Jacques Clouseau of the Surete as in "Do you have a reum?" 

 

 

[zgscl]

47 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

You're kidding me? What a coincidence! I was biting my lip but wound up listening to the child bride who has much more common sense than I will ever have.........;) 

Thank you for taking him on your cruise this week so we don't have to deal with him next week. I am sure e will have someone else, there seems to be one in every crowd

[Copper10-8]

Sitka (con't)

 

Fortress of the Bear - Yogi, Booboo and friends were pretty active

Never knew they liked oranges

Their pond is filled with salmon and two of them kept trying to catch fish

If these bears, when they were cubs, were not brought to the Fortress, they would have been euthanized 

[Boytjie]

8 minutes ago, zgscl said:

Thank you for taking him on your cruise this week so we don't have to deal with him next week. I am sure e will have someone else, there seems to be one in every crowd

 

Unless he is on a B2B! 😮

 

[zgscl]

14 minutes ago, Boytjie said:

 

Unless he is on a B2B! 😮

 

Oh dear, I didn't even think of a B2B given it is the same itinerary. We may have to ensure someone misses the boat if that is the case...

[Himself]

6 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

Wednesday - Sitka, AK

 

Our route from ICP last night took us via Icy Strait and then Cross Sound into the Gulf of Alaska/Pacific Ocean. We then paralleled the west coasts on Yakobi Island, Chichagof Island and, finally, Kruzof Island and rounded Cape Edgecumbe, entering Sitka Sound around 0700 hrs under cloudy/overcast conditions 

 

Now Sitka, for years was a tender port where cruise ships would anchor at one of three anchorages. The ship’s tenders were “splashed” and off we used to go to one of two tender docks; the O’Connell Bridge tender dock or the Crescent Harbor tender dock. That all changed when in 2013, an entrepreneur built himself a private dock plus terminal building on Halibut Road, about 10-15 minutes north of downtown Sitka. This is called the ‘Old Sitka Dock’ and cruise ships have been calling there on a regular basis now for over seven years. Holland America Line joined the club five year ago, so that’s where we were heading today. Pretty sure that entrepreneur already got his investment money back, and then some. The American dream is still alive!

 

Since my last time in Sitka in 2017, more money has been invested in the Old Sitka Dock which has now been extended to hold two large cruise ships side-by-side -RCI's Serenade of the Seas would be joining us a bit later. In addition, the entry into the terminal building has been improved, as has the building itself. Very impressive!  

 

The City and Borough of Sitka, formerly New Archangel/Novoarkhangelsk while under Russian rule is a unified city-borough located on Baranof Island and the southern half of Chichagof Island in the Alexander Archipelago of the Pacific Ocean part of the Alaska Panhandle. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,881. It is the largest city-borough in the U.S., with a land area of 2,870.3 square miles and a total area (including water area) of 4,811.4 square miles. Urban Sitka, the part that is usually thought of as the "city" of Sitka, is situated on the west side of Baranof Island. The current name "Sitka" (derived from Sheet’ká, a contraction of the Tlingit Shee At'iká) means "People on the Outside of Baranof Island", whose Tlingit name is Sheet’-ká X'áat'l.

 

Our excursion today was called "Birds, Bears and Barnacles" and would take us to the Sitka Raptor Center, the Fortress of the Bear, and the Sitka Sound Science Center. The first two locations, both non-profit facilities, are there to rehabilitate raptors (mostly American Bald Eagles, various species of Hawks and Owls) and orphaned bear cubs. The Sitka Sound Science Center is dedicated to increasing understanding and awareness of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems of Alaska through education and research. We enjoyed visiting all three, especially the first two.

 

Our initial plan was to have lunch in Sitka but discovered that both our planned locations (we had a plan B), the Sitka Hotel restaurant, and Agave restaurant had unfortunately closed down for business due to Covid. So we wound up taking a shuttle back to Halibut Point and broke bread in the Lido.

 

All Aboard was at 4:30 PM and, with everything cleaned up and brought back onboard, Captain Baijens took her out at 5:00 pm, destination Ketchikan, AK.

 

We had a 7:30 PM appointment at Canaletto and had a nice meal in there - see pics! The main entertainment tonight was by magician and illusionist Joseph Reohm, pronounced superbly by Inspecteur Jacques Clouseau of the Surete as in "Do you have a reum?" 

 

 

 

 

 I have been to the Raptor  Center  several times.    They do a nice job.

[Himself]

6 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

Sitka (con't)

 

Fortress of the Bear - Yogi, Booboo and friends were pretty active

Never knew they liked oranges

Their pond is filled with salmon and two of them kept trying to catch fish

If these bears, when they were cubs, were not brought to the Fortress, they would have been euthanized 

 

 

 

I have been here too.  Thanks for the pictures.

[puppycanducruise]

Great info and pictures.  Thank you.

Keep up the good work.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Great pictures ...

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

We've visited the Fortresses of the Bears a couple of times and the Raptor Center several times.  Both do a great job of saving bears and birds.  The eagle in the talk looked like Volta, but then it's hard to know for sure.  It is Volta's face on the I Am Smiling t-shirts in the gift shop.

 

In 2015, on her last call to Sitka, Statendam docked at the Old Sitka Dock.  My guess is this was the first HAL ship to dock there.

 

Lenda

 

 

[Traveling Dot]

Love the pictures of the bears.  You got some good shots.  Especially like the one where the bear looks like he is sticking his tongue out at you. 😛

[rwmiller]

We did the same Sitka tour on our 7/24 cruise and ended up “adopting” Luci, one of the bald eagles. We now have a certificate and pictures of her and are helping the Raptor Center save more birds. 
 

Bob

[Copper10-8]

1 hour ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

We've visited the Fortresses of the Bears a couple of times and the Raptor Center several times.  Both do a great job of saving bears and birds.  The eagle in the talk looked like Volta, but then it's hard to know for sure.  It is Volta's face on the I Am Smiling t-shirts in the gift shop.

 

In 2015, on her last call to Sitka, Statendam docked at the Old Sitka Dock.  My guess is this was the first HAL ship to dock there.

 

Lenda

 

 

 

The bald eagle they brought in was Ginger. The one we saw outside was Sunset. We adopted/sponsored her several years ago. She's a keeper

[summer slope]

The one that was there when we went several years ago was Lady Baltimore.

[zelker]

@Copper10-8  John, would you be so kind as to ask the NL Concierge if he has a sheet with the current pricing for the internet (the ones I've been given in the past break it out by daily cost up to and through 31+ days and shows it for all 3 levels) ... and if you are able to get it, can you please post it! 

 

Thank you!  And enjoy your last day on board.

 

[canadianbear]

24 minutes ago, summer slope said:

The one that was there when we went several years ago was Lady Baltimore.

Lady Baltimore (in Juneau, at top of Mt Roberts)is currently not there but due to come back next season.  I contacted them to see if she was still alive.  

[summer slope]

13 minutes ago, canadianbear said:

Lady Baltimore (in Juneau, at top of Mt Roberts)is currently not there but due to come back next season.  I contacted them to see if she was still alive.  

Thank you. Get confused easily. 

[canadianbear]

Just now, summer slope said:

Thank you. Get confused easily.    I was worried about her when another member didn’t see her.  I have a cousin who lives in Juneau but she didn’t know so I contacted Mt Roberts directly.  

[canadianbear]

@summer slope

sorry I messed up my reply. Having an off day here.  

[Copper10-8]

1 hour ago, summer slope said:

The one that was there when we went several years ago was Lady Baltimore.

 

She's been in Juneau atop Mount Roberts for several years now. They built a new mew for her up there but there were some issues with permits. In the meantime Lady Baltimore is home at the Juneau Raptor Center

[Copper10-8]

Today is Friday the 13th which happens to be our wedding anniversary (it was a lucky day for us 😉) so I would like to wish a Happy Anniversary to my beautiful wife, my rock, Maria 😍

[lindaler]

Happy anniversary. The pictures are so special. I hope you have a wonderful day. 

[XBGuy]

Ww took the Bear Search excursion out of Hoonah a few years ago.  One of the most interesting excursions we have ever enjoyed.  We did see bears.  From the third viewing platform.

 

 

Our excursion guide was an absolutely charming lady.  It was apparent to me that she worked very hard on making her presentation interesting and entertaining.  After seeing no bears at the first two viewing platforms, she was really excited when we reached the third one and spotted this guy.  Sorry, my little point-and-shoot camera does not have much in the way of zoom capability.

 

I don't know if your bus driver/guide pointed it out to you, @Copper10-8, but the road does cross over the river.  On our way back to Hoonah there were numerous vehicles parked at the bridge.  Sure enough, there was a bear.  We stopped and several people left the bus to get pics.  I was too lazy and just took a few shots from the bus.

 

 

Edit a few minutes later.  Let me add my congratulations on your anniversary.

Edited August 13, 2021 by XBGuy

[BrownieCruises]

Happy Anniversary!  I’ve been enjoying your posts!