LIVE from the Edge - Alaska Dawes Glacier B2Bs May 24-June 7

[Georgia_Peaches]

3 minutes ago, ScottC4746 said:

That is really disappointing there is no sail away nor is there any big production show on the first night.

Last night I was watching a documentary on the Norwegian Joy's trip to Alaska.  Same itin as ours.  They showed clips of their sail away party up on the pool deck.  Looked like a lot of fun!  One thing I noticed was the weather appeared to be warmer and nicer...looked like it was a late summer time frame and people were in the pool and in summer attire.  Maybe a sail away party on our cruise is weather permitting?

[ScottC4746]

2 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Last night I was watching a documentary on the Norwegian Joy's trip to Alaska.  Same itin as ours.  They showed clips of their sail away party up on the pool deck.  Looked like a lot of fun!  One thing I noticed was the weather appeared to be warmer and nicer...looked like it was a late summer time frame and people were in the pool and in summer attire.  Maybe a sail away party on our cruise is weather permitting?

This thread has the schedule posted for the first night.  No sail away listed AND no big production number the first night, just a comedian.  I hope it just might be a first week thing and couldn't get the performers to the ship in time thing.

[RK-NC]

11 hours ago, SerraG said:

I think this was supposed to be a riff on carrot cake, but it was a bit strange.

 

I agree, very strange 🤨 That's why we only had dinner at Luminae one night...it all seemed strange to us. Here is carrot cake from Cosmopolitan - I thought it was so pretty and DH said it was the best carrot cake he ever tasted!

[ScottC4746]

2 minutes ago, RK-NC said:

 

I agree, very strange 🤨 That's why we only had dinner at Luminae one night...it all seemed strange to us. Here is carrot cake from Cosmopolitan - I thought it was so pretty and DH said it was the best carrot cake he ever tasted!

Bleh, I don't mind carrots as a vegetable but when you turn them into a desert, yugh!  LOL

Seriously, I am not a fan because I worked 10 years in a hotel/casino in Vegas and the employee dining room our choice of desert was carrot cake yes or no.

How was it?

 

[Stem to Stern]

12 hours ago, SerraG said:

Ketchikan was sooo rainy

Music to @Georgia_Peaches ‘ ears.🤣

[Stem to Stern]

13 hours ago, SerraG said:

We flagged our server down. (No small feat in the extremely busy cafe.)  She was sufficiently horrified on our behalf and quickly took the drink away and replaced it with a fresh one.  

LOL!!!😂 

I am so sorry this happened to you both, but at least the server was sufficiently horrified on your behalf?!?

Is it just me or did the interrogation chair cushion look a bit tatty?

Edited May 29 by Stem to Stern

[tulsamomof2]

Thank you so much for this live update! We are on Edge beginning June 7.

Can you give some details of clothing being seen on board & in MDR? I’ve heard it’s pretty relaxed…I’m just stressing on how much clothes to pack! Thx!

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

5 hours ago, ScottC4746 said:

This thread has the schedule posted for the first night.  No sail away listed AND no big production number the first night, just a comedian.  I hope it just might be a first week thing and couldn't get the performers to the ship in time thing.

The only ships I've ever been on with a big production sail away show (and show the first night) is Disney.

 

Others might have had a DJ or a band, but no show for sail away.

[ScottC4746]

43 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

The only ships I've ever been on with a big production sail away show (and show the first night) is Disney.

 

Others might have had a DJ or a band, but no show for sail away.

Well, I guess what I have as a reference is at least on Solstice in September 2022 they had something in the daily schedule along the lines of, "come to the pool deck for tunes and join your fellow travelers as we depart from Seattle for Alaska." 

[SerraG]

 

 

We woke up in Ketchikan.  It was a little foggy and rainy.

 

 

We headed for the Spa Cafe for a self serve breakfast before heading out to explore the town.

 

 

 

 

This is a good place to go for a breakfast that leans towards the healthy side.  I had a piece of multi-grain bread which had avocado and grated egg on top.

 

 

The smoothies are _not_sweet.  They definitely have more of a “for your health” flavor.   I got the Detox Smoothie which is made from kale, coconut water, mango, mint, parsley, celery and chia seeds.

 

The weather forecast indicated a break in the ran so we headed out.

 

There was not really a break in the rain.

 

 

 

This Eagle Statue is one of the first things you see as you head into town.

 

 

View of the first street near the pier.

 

 

There were seven (7!) ships in port today and it was unpleasantly crowded.   There were streams of people trying to pass each other everywhere.

 

We didn’t have an excursion booked for today so we just explored Ketchikan on our own.  We found Creek Street and a stranger helped us by taking our picture.

 

 

 

There is a lookout where you can view the creek.  I think there was supposed to be a salmon statue on the pedestal on the right, but it appeared to be missing.

 

 

We decided to hike up the stairs that led off of Married Man’s trail (so named because it used to lead to the brothels).

 

 

 

I would probably tell you not to bother with the stairs unless you want to eat a pizza at The Eagle’s Nest pizza place.  There appeared to be a Civic Center which was closed and hotel.   Maybe I missed something? This was the view from the top.   We could hear the crowd from the lumberjack show up here and they seemed to be having a really good time.  Maybe we should do that next week?

 

 

 

We trekked back down and made our way to the Tongass Historical Museum.

 

 

 

 

 

Entry was about $6 each and it was a nice little museum full of artifacts and exhibits about salmon and the history of Ketchikan.

 

 

This basket was woven from salmon skin!

 

We found this unassuming picture that just looks like some cute boys standing on the dock, until you look closer and see the youngest appears to be holding a chainsaw.  Hmmmm....

 

 

We wondered around the shops for a bit and found a store selling a variety of canned salmon and other seafood products.

 

 

 

After I took this photo, Ross pointed out a sign on the door that said, “No Photographs”.   Oops.  Maybe they don’t want people comparing prices?

 

 

 

Across from that shop, was and an ice cream and coffee shop called Polar Treats.

 

We split a smoked salmon bagel which was absolutely delisious.  The bagel was warm and perfectly toasted.  We expected it to have cold smoked lox style salmon, but it was filled with more of a salmon salad instead.  We loved it.

 

 

Let me also take this moment to recommend bringing waterproof over-pants (sometimes called Frog Tongs) to Alaska.  We saw people whose jeans and leggings were completely soaked.  We stayed almost completely try in our rain gear.  In addition, we were able to sit down on wet surfaces that would have been cold and miserable if we hadn’t had them.

 

It was getting close to time to head back to the ship and we were freezing.

 

 

 

When we got back into the cabin, we hung our wet clothes up on the Command Strip hooks we had stuck to our cabin wall earlier.  I highly recommend bringing command strips to help with cabin organization.  I also like hang up an over-the-door shoe holder on the wall to collect the odds and ends that end up strewn about the cabin otherwise.

 

 

 

Outside our balcony, we could see the Aleutian Ballad, the boat used for the crab fishermen’s tour.  We took that tour the last time we were in Alaska and enjoyed it.  It was especially a hit with our kiddo.

 

 

We changed for the rest of the afternoon / evening (Dress Code: Smart Casual) and snapped a selfie in the mirror of the elevator.

 

Tea time in the retreat!

 

 

Ross ordered a Copperhead (Buffalo Trace, Drambuie, amontillado, sherry, orange bitters)., which tasted a little like an Old Fashioned.  It had a good amount of sweetness for me.  Not amazing. The Retreat (the first drink on the menu) was maybe a little better.  [Cocktail Rating: 5.5/10]

 

 

As evening approached, The Retreat started getting a little crowded for our tastes so we headed to the Solarium for some reading and cruising critic writing.

 

 

 

Photo of Cafe al Bacio display for day.  🙂

 

 

 

[SerraG]

Celebrity Today and Daily Schedule for Day 2 - Seattle, Washington
 

 

 

 

 

 

[SerraG]

12 hours ago, RK-NC said:

Here is carrot cake from Cosmopolitan - I thought it was so pretty and DH said it was the best carrot cake he ever tasted!

Well that looks like a delicious carrot cake!  I’m jealous!  Maybe we’ll visit Cosmopolitan next week!  

[SerraG]

11 hours ago, Stem to Stern said:

Is it just me or did the interrogation chair cushion look a bit tatty?

Yes.  There is defiantly a bit of wear and tear on some of the furniture.   

[SerraG]

 

 

A duck was hidden.

 

 

The game show “Guess It!” involves team captains selecting a category and then being presented with 16-20 different letters.  Team members yell out guesses as to what the letters might stand for, but it only counts if the team captain is the one who actually says the correct answer.

 

 

 

 

The game did not run smoothly.  The biggest problem was that the person in charge of marking the correct answers did not speak English well enough to do the job.  So, at the end of the round, when the correct answers were revealed, many of the answers had, in fact, been said out loud by the captain.  Quite a bit of time was spent rescoring each round.

The second issue was that the team captain could not hear the answers that team members were shouting, especially if those team members were on the upstairs level.  This led to a lot of frustration when answers were revealed and people saying, "I said that!".  We actually left about half way through and just headed to dinner.

 

 

 

 

Drink of the evening was a Fresh From Tokyo, which was sort of like if a margarita was from Japan instead of Mexico.  It was sweet and citrusy.  We liked it a lot  Ross gave it an 8/10.

 

 

Our amuse bouche was a beet root tartar with smoked trout and a wedge of lime.   Ross’s serving was good.  My lime wedge was quite large so the whole thing was very very sour.

 

 

 

Scallop Crudo with creamy almond and citrus sauce, cucumber and green apple salsa:

 

 

 

We loved this, but be advised the scallop is mostly raw.   I’m not sure if there was any green apple on it, but it had a lovely fresh taste that went surprisingly well with the creamy sauce.

 

Braised Short Ribs with Parsnips and Pomegranate Seeds:

 

 

This was another winner.  The short ribs were extremely tender and the pomegranate seeds added an unexpected tartness.  Great!

 

Veal Cannelloni with Chestnuts, Pecorino and Madeira Sauce:

 

 

This was mediocre, but not bad.  Ross said it was “heavy and unrefined”.  The pasta was a bit overcooked for our taste.

 

I had the Pepper Crusted Duck with Sweet Potato Mille Feuille and Mole Sauce.

 

 

The duck was good and the sweet potato stack was fun.  There are a lot of brown sauces being served in Luminae that all taste a bit the same, though.

Time for dessert!

 

 

 

Chocolate Napoleon with Raspberry Ganache and Walnut Crémeux:

 

 

Uhm… this isn’t a Napoleon, is it?  We’ve had and liked the Napoleon served at Luminae previously.  That version had actual pastry layers.  This was just a soft rectangle of overly-rich chocolate.   Not great.

 

Citrus, Orange Blossom Sponge with Lime Sorbet:

 

 

 

This was delicious.  The bread-like item was a light and airy cake.  The citrus cream was rich and the lime sorbet delivered a cold sweet and sour brightness to everything.  Yum!

 

We hit the martini bar to try again for a lavender lemon drop martini.  Success!  They had it!  Ross thought it tasted like soap.

 

 

I love lavender flavor so I was a big fan.  It was a far better drink (in my opinion) when it contained all the ingredients.

 

I 

 

We took my martini to the adults-only show with comic Frances Dilorinzo.

 

 

 

We both thought she was much better in an adults-only format, but would have been even better if there was a livelier crowd.  She seemed to like reverse-heckling, but our group was too tired (or polite?  No, probably just tired. lol) to talk back to her.  At one point she told us we were like “an audience in training”.

 

Goodnight!

 

Edited May 30 by SerraG

[SerraG]

12 hours ago, tulsamomof2 said:

 

Can you give some details of clothing being seen on board & in MDR? I’ve heard it’s pretty relaxed…I’m just stressing on how much clothes to pack! Thx!

 

It is fairly relaxed.  Tonight was Chic Night and there were a lot of skirts and dresses on woman, and khakis and button down shirts for men.  Some glittery dresses and sports coats, but very few suits.  I will try to pay more attention to the next casual night.  

 

Here is a couple photos of people out and about tonight. Again note that this was an Evening Chic Night. 

 

I’ll try to pay more attention to the next smart casual night and let you know, if I remember. 

Edited May 30 by SerraG

[Lena11033]

You are right a napoleon or mille-feuille is supposed to have pastry (the French means thousand sheets)

[alsleeper]

On 5/26/2024 at 8:21 PM, SerraG said:

 

That is a bummer!  We saw someone in a Mahomes shirt last night and were so excited.  Ross walked up and said, "Oh!  Are you from Kansas City?"  The guy said, "No."  Ross said, "Oh, I just thought because of your shirt..” and pointed at it.  The guy just shook his head no.  It was like he didn't realize he had on a Kansas City shirt.  Alrighty then! lol. 

 

We live in Kansas City half of the year and Orlando the other half.  It used to be if you saw someone in a Chiefs shirt or hat - probably pre-2020 - they were from KC or the region.  Definitely not the case anymore!  My husband always says, though, you can't say the same for Royal's gear, and anyone sporting that is more than likely from KC!

[SerraG]

Celebrity Today and Daily Schedule for Day 4 - Dawes Glacier and Juneau

 

Sorry, I apparently didn't take picture of page 1 of this Celebrity Today and can no longer find it.  Also, I mislabeled post #86 which is actually the printed schedule for Day 3 - Ketchikan.  Not being able to go back and edit my posts after 30 minutes makes it impossible to correct typos and errors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SerraG]

We set our alarms early this morning so we could be up on The Retreat sundeck to see the glacier at 6:30am.  I woke up before the alarm, and seeing how light it was out, assumed it was about time to start getting ready, but when I checked my alarm it was only 4:30am!   I was too excited to go back to sleep though so I started getting ready for the day.

 

Look at this beautiful view from our balcony.  The water was so smooth!

 

 

 

Eventually it was time to head up for the glacier viewing so we bundled up and made our way upstairs.

 

 

 

I have already mentioned how much I recommend waterproof pants for Alaska, right?  I was able to set on wet cushions and watch the glacier without getting my rear end wet.  It was cold, but not miserable.  There was  a spread of hot coffee, cocoa and pastries provided at the Retreat Pool Bar to enjoy during the viewing.

 

 

The scenery was amazing.   If you sit inside, you could hear the naturalist narrate as we approached, but they do not broadcast it outside so as not to disturb the wildlife.

 

 

A close up shot of the glacier:

 

 

 

People with spa passes were allowed to view from the deck in front of the fitness center.

 

 

After a while, we had had enough of the outdoors and went down to the retreat lounge.  They had some light breakfast items available.

 

 

 

 

 

The views were still stunning from indoors.

 

 

 

[cruisebeachgirl703]

Enjoying your review very much. We are onboard July 5th and you are helping us enormously!

Thanks.

[Jim_Iain]

Really enjoying the review and the wonderful pictures.  

[SerraG]

 

 

For our third breakfast 😂 we went to Luminae.

 

 

We had a brief meeting with @mick70.  It was nice to meet you!  🙂

 

Luminae has famously delicious flavored croissants.  We split a caramel one.

 

 

I tried to order just the Amarena cherries with Greek yogurt, but our waiter said it was too small of a serving and insisted that I order something else to go with it, so I also ended up with poached eggs and veggies.

 

 

The cherries and yogurt were great, but they were served parfait style, layered with granola.  I was really hoping for just yogurt and cherries.

 

 

The eggs were a little too done for me, not even quite jammy all the way through.  The tomatoes were good, but the mushrooms were undercooked.

 

Ross got the smoked salmon platter which was good.

 

 

He also got Eggs Benedict which he described as “terrible”.

 

 

The eggs were overcooked. The hollandaise sauce  was bland and there wasn’t enough of it.  The English muffins were chewy.   Not a good review.

 

After our early morning, we wanted to take a nap but I was excited about Movie Poster Trivia which the app showed was supposed to start at 10:45 am, so we headed to The Club to wait for it to start.

 

When 10:45am rolled around, we discovered that the trivia was “Fun with Flags” instead.   We knew that wouldn’t keep us awake so nap time! 😴

 

We did enjoy the beautiful view from our balcony for a bit first though.  It was not too cold to hang out there for a little while.

 

 

 

Later we headed back to The retreat for some reading and blogging.  We’d skipped lunch so of course we had a quick bite to eat at The Retreat’s tea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 31 by SerraG

[SerraG]

 

 

We had a “Small Group Juneau Food Tour” excursion booked for the evening.   When we left the ship, we were delighted to find the weather was much better than it had been in Ketchikan. It was a bit cool, but pleasant enough with a jacket and mercifully dry.

 

 

 

 

 

Our tour was supposed to have 8 people but only 6 showed up.  Our group hit it off immediately, probably because we all love food.  There was much discussion of Philly Cheese Steaks, BBQ and Old Bay Seasoning.

 

We were picked up in a small van on the dock and driven a few minutes to downtown.  Our tour guide gave us bright orange bags with a few advertisements, a pen, and a box of Alaskan fudge.

 

Our first stop was at the Fisherman’s Memorial, where our tour guide talked about how important fishing was to Juneau and we had a quiet moment of contemplation remembering those who had lost their lives.

 

 

 

Our first food stop was at the fish processing company Taku and its store.

 

 

 

In the store, they had a closed circuit TV showing workers filleting salmon which would presumably make its way into the products they sold there.

 

We were able to sample hunks of smoked king salmon on crackers, which was delicious!  Salty and rich.

 

 

As we walked to our next stop, our guide told us about various points of interest on the way.  She showed us her favorite totem pole.

 

This is not just any totem pole.  It is a “Shame” pole.  Apparently this pole shows a military officer who kept needing asking for (and receiving) from the Thunderbird clan.  This officer never fully repaid his debt and so they clan commissioned this totem pole which represents him asking for handouts.

 

\

 

 

If the officer or his family would be able to repay the debt, the totem pole would be taken down and burned.  However, this particular officer’s family line died so it will likely stand for a very long time.

 

Our next visit was to the very famous Tracy’s Crab Shack.  Ross and I ate here on our first visit to Alaska over 10 years ago and it has grown in both size and popularity since then.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The line was very long, but we did not have to wait because our food tour got their own covered table where we could stand and eat our samples.

 

We received a small bowl of crab bisque and a crab cake with sauce and a roll.

 

 

The bisque was good with giant chunks of crab, although it had a slightly more sour (lemon?) flavor than I would have preferred.  The crab cake was pretty tasty, although I maybe would consider it more of a fritter.

 

It was nice to get to try these and if I was at Tracy’s ordering crab legs, they would help fill me up for a lower cost than an extra pound of straight crab.

 

After Tracy’s, we stopped by a statue that memorialized a dog named Patsy Ann who was renowned for greeting every ship that visited the docks of Juneau.  She was named the “Official Greeter of Juneau, Alaska” and was the only dog who had special dispensation not to wear a collar in town.  Rubbing the statue’s nose is supposed to confer good luck.  What a good girl!

 

 

 

Our next stop was at the Juneau Food Tours store.  The owner greeted us and explained that during Covid, when people stopped visiting, they started boxing up local foods to ship around the world.

 

 

We were able to sample a salmon spread, smoked salmon roe (fish eggs) and kelp salsa.

 

The salmon spread was good, but a little too salty for me.  The smoked salmon fish roe was great.  (Much better than the kind I’ve had from the grocery store back home!)  And the kelp salsa was surprisingly good.  We even bought a jar of salmon roe and kelp salsa to bring back home.

 

 

We learned about a local  Alaskan plant called Devil’s Club that has many spiky needles along the stem (it reminds me a little bit of a gooseberry bush).  It is supposed to have healing properties, and you can buy salves and creams made from it.

 

 

Our next stop was Harbor Tea & Spice, where were served Ice Cave Blue tea and cookies.

 

 

 

 

The tea contains several ingredients including butterfly pea flower, which gives it its lovely blue color, licorice root and devil’s club (seasonally).  It was very tasty, especially if you like herbal teas. Several people asked for second cups.

 

Last, we went to The Crystal Saloon where we were served halibut ceviche, smoked salmon on toast and a couple of alcoholic drinks.

 

 

The ceviche was the star of this sampling.  Everyone in our group loved it and we completely finished the generous bowl.

 

 

 

The smoked salmon was okay, but I didn’t care for the thick dry toast it was served on.  It was hard to taste the salmon.

 

 

I preferred the fruity red drink which sort of tasted like punch.  Everyone else in the group liked the clear spirits which tasted more of alcohol.

 

Our tour guide gave us slightly awkward request for tips (“If you don’t have cash, I take Venmo.”)  and then left us on our own to finish our drinks.  It is easier to tip a bus driver or tour guide when they stand at the bottom of the bus stairs or the exit to a building and shake your hand the way out.  I’m not sure if she could have been any smoother since she left us while we were all still seated around a table.

 

I would recommend this tour with the caveat that you need to realize you will be getting samples of food.  If you sat down and ate all the samples at once, it would probably even be a reasonable sized meal.  However, since the tour takes place over a couple of hours and you are walking across Juneau during it…  well, we definitely needed more food before we went to bed.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 31 by SerraG

[catsandcruises1973]

Thank you so much for your honest reviews of the ship and the ports! Our family is going on the June 14th Alaska cruise on the Edge, and we all appreciate your pictures and tips!

[Georgia_Peaches]

Happy turn around day!  Bet it feels great to turn around and walk right back on. 😊. See you soon!