Muse Alaska 5/27 - 6/6

[milepig]

In Alaska?

[RetiredandTravel]

Yes we are in Alaska.

[Will Work for Tiramisu]

We're in beautiful downtown Anchorage, tomorrow we get shuttled from our hotel (Mariott) to the train station, thence on to the ship in Seward by scenic train, to board.  Then 14 days down and back from Vancouver back to Seward. We had dinner last night at Orso, seriously good, 3 blocks away.  Waiter grabbed wrong bottle of wine, was a red not a white; I thought, don't be hard on the lad, we'll roll with it.  But then I looked the wine up and it was the most expensive on the wine list - 2019 Tignanello ($200).  Was very good, he copped to his error, I handed him a $50 bill, and they only charged the $45 cost of originally intended bottle.  Food top notch.  Ended with house made limoncello &, of course, Tiramisu.  This morning, walked a block to Fire Island Bakery, a wonderful crowded place full of locals with SERIOUS bakery full of bread, sweet and savory items, coffee bar, juice & smoothy bar, small grocery & wine shop.  Most excellent, almost reason to stay in that overpriced hotel, just to be near those two establishments.  Anchorage a bit faded from glory days in 1970's - 80's, but lots of downtowns have been rendered irrelevant.  We did visit the Anchorage Museum, which was excellent, ESPECIALLY the Smithsonian affiliated area on native Alaskan culture. A must see when in in ANC.  

[RetiredandTravel]

I think the Tignanello is $135 on the ship.  Enjoy your cruise.

[Port Power]

21 hours ago, milepig said:

In Alaska?

Perhaps you are confusing Alaska with expedition cruising? The latter don’t have formal nights.

[milepig]

3 hours ago, Port Power said:

Perhaps you are confusing Alaska with expedition cruising? The latter don’t have formal nights.

No. My question was clear and the answer was emphatic. No formal nights on your cruise in Alaska.  BTW when do they show up, we sail in a week and no nights are yet flagged. 

[RetiredandTravel]

We had formal nights day 2 + day 7 on a 10 day cruise.

 

A jacket (no tie) was the minimum.

 

 

[RetiredandTravel]

Final Review

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=716209

[taxatty]

2 hours ago, RetiredandTravel said:

Final Review

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=716209

Well done, balanced review.

[highplanesdrifters]

Thanks for the info and review R&T.  I'm so pleased you and the little lady had an excellent trip and the Osso Bucco problem was solved. 😃

The TV issues is a much bigger one.  With any luckmp its a it's a fleet wide upgrade.

Hope springs eternal for the future of luxury cruising!

[RetiredandTravel]

3 hours ago, highplanesdrifters said:

Thanks for the info and review R&T.  I'm so pleased you and the little lady had an excellent trip and the Osso Bucco problem was solved. 😃

The TV issues is a much bigger one.  With any luckmp its a it's a fleet wide upgrade.

Hope springs eternal for the future of luxury cruising!

 

Thanks HPD.  We are more "urban" vacationers but enjoyed Alaska and the cruise very much.  I think we'll leave the expedition ships up to you, we do have that fabulous safari on our radar.  I haven't had a chance to read your thread on your new adventure.  Having Fun?

 

I'm sure standards have slipped on luxury cruising over the years but its currently the only game in town if you want to cruise.

 

Yes the TVs were working much better with the new system.  Not a high bar.  We couldn't get the sound to work.  I'm not sure if that was the system or user error but we only had one day left so we let it go.

 

Is it me or does the market always rally when you are on vacation.

 

Enjoy!!

 

 

[Lois R]

Glad you had a great cruise😃. Very well done review😃

[dawntrdr]

Funny, we were on the Muse right after the OP and our TV sound didn't work either!  We had dinner with one of the front end officers and was told that Muse is going in for refurb next year and the word is that they are getting rid of the mirror tv's.

Edited June 14 by dawntrdr
Punctuation

[highplanesdrifters]

19 hours ago, RetiredandTravel said:

 

Thanks HPD.  We are more "urban" vacationers but enjoyed Alaska and the cruise very much.  I think we'll leave the expedition ships up to you, we do have that fabulous safari on our radar.  I haven't had a chance to read your thread on your new adventure.  Having Fun?

 

I'm sure standards have slipped on luxury cruising over the years but its currently the only game in town if you want to cruise.

 

Yes the TVs were working much better with the new system.  Not a high bar.  We couldn't get the sound to work.  I'm not sure if that was the system or user error but we only had one day left so we let it go.

 

Is it me or does the market always rally when you are on vacation.

 

Enjoy!!

 

 

 

Yes, Luxury cruising is still the only game on town, and it's a tough game to play...ha ha.  Seriously though, such a mixed bag out there, you never know what you're going to get.  Had a great time on our trip but it was really more of a hybrid expedition/ocean. Not that there is anything wrong with that, and in fact could be perfect for certain areas and couples where one is more active than the other.  It was the pricing, eye watering for the most part especially when excursions are generally included on expeditions and no heads up was given at booking.  Although Seabourn has always charged for kayak and submarine, $375 for a beach trek, c'mon.

 

It's not hard to be on holiday when the market is rallying these days. 😃  Makes up for that bad call in the 10 year. 😂

 

Keep us posted on the safari hunt. We might need to slip another one in.

 

Fair winds,

HPD

 

 

[RetiredandTravel]

6 hours ago, highplanesdrifters said:

 

 

It's not hard to be on holiday when the market is rallying these days. 😃  Makes up for that bad call in the 10 year. 😂

 

 

 

 

 

Great inflation numbers but theres just a lot of supply.  Janet Yellen told CNBC this week that the  federal debt is in a reasonable place.  huh

 

Interesting Barron's article. NVDA 32% of the S&P return this year

 

https://www.barrons.com/articles/mag-seven-nvdia-tesla-microsoft-apple-stocks-18f0dc4c?mod=past_editions

 

[Will Work for Tiramisu]

My DW & I are on day 10 of two week Alaska cruise (Seward-Vancouver-Seward) on Muse.  We were on in her inaugural year back in the day, now back for another go.  The old tub is in pretty good shape - well maintained.  TV's are getting some attention - just replaced the main one in our Deluxe Veranda, new system, seems to work better.  Staff is uniformly nice as can be, eager to please.  Of course, I decided to tip from day one this time, thinking better than wait for end, and hand out dollar coins to every barista and wine-refiller and plate clearer, to say nothing of larger denominations to room steward & butler every couple days, also to bartenders and waitstaff.  Much bowing and scraping ensues, and we almost have to beat the butler off with a stick - a steady stream of canapés and caviar and cooler restocking.  We're impressed that laundry equipment is same as we have at home - Miele's "Little Giants" pair - the gold standard. We chose room a few doors away - good move.  

 

Food - what can I say, it is like good cafeteria, mostly.  Lots of effort to hype the experience, but we cancelled the second Kazeiki reservation, and wouldn't go back to La Dame. ($60/ea on Muse)  The best things I've found are ones that someone in the kitchen maybe knows how to make - congee, spiced lentils, curried chicken, Indian eggplant & taters.  Bread is OK, pasta is good, the Grill was quite decent, though simple - the fillet I had was a seriously good piece of beef.  Basic wine pours are acceptable, but I limit self to 5 glasses with dinner.  (It's like the old Yiddish joke: "The food is horrible, and such small portions!")  The Alaska scenery does not disappoint. All provisions for SS ships doing the Alaska up and down are loaded on in Vancouver - nothing is taken on in Alaska (too expensive).  So things are less fresh the longer you are from there.  A barge came alongside in Vancouver for bunkering, various big hoses were connected to ship labeled "Waste, Potable Water, Diesel, Cheap White Wine...).  We talk with the restaurant manager every day - he is friendly, and I think maybe values our input.  We're only doing the Skagway train excursion, otherwise only going to local museums and walking the towns.  Today was Ketchikan, visited their nice little City Museum.  Disney ship pulled up after we arrived, discharging legions - boy I'm glad I'm not on that!  Altogether, we feel we're getting value for $ spent.  Wish they brought on board a couple of Portland food carts with Mexican, Thai, Caribbean, other spicier ethnic foods.  My kingdom for a face-melting stir fry!   Sadly, I think they have to keep everything here pretty bland, or old folks will send it back.  The pizza was a big disappointment, though the dough looked good.  Undercooked, tomato sauce with no discernible spices, sorry, not like Naples.  Some nice passengers along with us, from UK, Australia, US.  Weather has been mostly wonderful, little rain, cool mornings, sun.  And sightings of dolphins playing and jumping around the bow.  Nice! 

[drron29]

If you really want spicier food they will do it for you in Indochine. We were on in March/April and I would ask the waiter to make certain dishes spicier. They obliged and would also bring a small bowl of chilli if i thought it wasn't enough.

[RetiredandTravel]

6 hours ago, drron29 said:

If you really want spicier food they will do it for you in Indochine. We were on in March/April and I would ask the waiter to make certain dishes spicier. They obliged and would also bring a small bowl of chilli if i thought it wasn't enough.

 

 

I love spicey food but now have GERD (occupational hazard).  So spice , like many things, is a thing of the past.

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

3 hours ago, RetiredandTravel said:

I love spicey food but now have GERD (occupational hazard).  So spice , like many things, is a thing of the past.

Or, Protonix and back to life’s pleasures 😀

[RetiredandTravel]

32 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Or, Protonix and back to life’s pleasures 😀

 

Nope.  I've tried them all my friend.  Currently on max Nexium in the AM and Pepcid PM.  I also have a esophageal condition which complicates matters.  All under control now and I can eat spice just not SPICE!!

 

[milepig]

On 6/6/2024 at 3:08 PM, RetiredandTravel said:

We had formal nights day 2 + day 7 on a 10 day cruise.

 

A jacket (no tie) was the minimum.

 

 

I can confirm that the muse has no formal night. every day is Elegant Casual. No jacket except in La dame. Ever.  Most men wear a sweater, it’s cold. 

[milepig]

On 5/28/2024 at 3:05 PM, drron29 said:

The osso buco has been poor in La terraza since October last year on the Muse. My wife had it then and it was basically inedible. We asked a few folk on our March/April cruise on the Muse and their experience was the same.

but they did do an Osso buco in Indochine which was much better.

A companion liked the Osso bucco in Indochine, but I didn’t dare try. 

[RetiredandTravel]

From the SS website 

 

"The number of formal evenings depends on the length of the voyage. A guideline for reference is below:

• On sailings of 7 days or fewer, Elegant Casual nights throughout.
• On sailings of 8-14 days, expect between 1 to 2 Formal Optional nights.
• On sailings of 15 days or more, expect 2 or more Formal Optional nights."

 

[Maggie 1008]

Looking at Alaska cruise for 2025. What are the differences between Muse and Nova ?

[Port Power]

4 hours ago, Maggie 1008 said:

Looking at Alaska cruise for 2025. What are the differences between Muse and Nova ?

100 or so passengers and an entirely different deck layout.