Jackets and Shoes for Alaska

[NHCruisr]

Just back from the Coral Princess, June 5-12. We had wonderful weather, lots of sun and no rain until the very end of the cruise. We were comfortable in jeans/slacks, tee shirts and a light fleece most days on board and in port. We were glad to have a windbloc fleece and rain jacket, gloves and a hat for the glaciers. We brought one formal outfit each and wore it both formal nights with different accessories. We took almost 600 pictures with our two cameras, so plan your memory cards and batteries accordingly. We went to the Kenai after the cruise and then had some time for Anchorage. Kenai was gorgeous, we loved it!

 

My best advice is to pace yourselves. It is daylight almost 24 hours a day and it's easy to get overtired. We wanted to do everything and see everything and as a result got little sleep. It was worth it, though, we can always sleep now that we're back!

[suelars]

Thanks for all the info, Scrumpy! I owned the flower shop in Idaho Springs until last fall. Georgetown is 14 miles further west and 1000 feet higher and MUCH cooler! Kudos to your DH on his ride, a friend of mine rides that often - crazy legs!!!

 

I did read your reviews on the restaurants, thanks!! We're not meat eaters, we're hoping to get our fill of salmon and other assorted seafood!! I think we're headed to a good place to do that!! A good friend from 30 years back has recently moved to Whidbey Island and we're planning on spending Friday with them doing the underground, duck and lunch at the space needle. Glad to know you enjoyed the lunch there! Looks like the Seattle card is the way to do some of those and the Argosy lake tours, tourist things. We can buy it by the 1, 2 or 3 day, but they run consequtively, so trying to book our kayaking, etc., not included for the days before we get the card. Looks like such a fun town!! So much to do!!

 

We're staying at the Inn at Queen Anne, in the lower Queen Anne district. HAL is putting us up at the Fairmont on Saturday, looks like it's about 2 1/2 miles south of the Queen Anne and I think the Fairmont is downtown. I love to walk and the extra oxygen will be different! I'm originally from southern California, 24 years ago, and sometimes I really crave the ocean, although I LOVE Georgetown and Colorado and these mountains!!

 

I just booked the duck tour in Ketchikan, thanks to whoever reviewed that!! (this board has jumbled into fun and friends :) )

 

Looks like there's some bus that goes from the airport to downtown hotels for $10.00 or so, and our flight is very early so we'll take that as far north as we can and then punt . . .

 

I have Merrills in all colors and styles, but I don't think they'll work for dress shoes!! I may take a pair instead of tennies, but I'll have to figure it out later. I did try on the pantsuit and it still fits, thankfully!! Now I can go to Formal night in the DR. Is that also lobster night?

 

Thanks!

Sue

[Scrumpy]

Sue - you're in a great location. We went somewhere off a road up behind Idaho Springs to look at a log home (checking out the builder) a few years ago. It's a beautiful area!!! :) DH's race Saturday was his warm-up run for the Pikes Peak Ascent. His brother is coming over from NZ and they were going to do it together. Entries for the Ascent filled within HOURS, so his brother is stuck doing the full marathon. DH did the marathon a few years ago; I worried the whole time! He's been doing marathons since he was 17, but there is something about Pikes Peak that just gives me the willies - maybe it's the people covered in blood (from slipping) at the finish!!! I've tried to get him to cross-train on a bike, but he won't go for it. He runs... until he's injured...then will do a little weight-lifting or stationary bike. Oh well... Barring injury, he'll be running a marathon in Chicago sometime this fall. October maybe? It's still a long time - and a lot of house guests - away for me.

 

They had a couple different kinds of salmon on the ship every night on Oosterdam; probably the same on Westerdam. I had it 2 or 3 times. If you want seafood, we ate at the Fish Club in the Marriott Waterfront in Seattle - partly because we were staying there and had already had enough of the street people - some of them were very aggressive. Anyway, the hotel and restaurant are across the street and maybe a block from the Aquarium; it's directly across from a small marina. Fish Club is reputed to be good, but it is not fabulous. My meal was okay and DH's was very good. He loved his meal. If you're in the area, you might pop in and check it out. I couldn't give it a bad rating, but I wouldn't rave over it either. (Food is so subjective anyway). http://www.fishclubseattle.com/... We didn't eat dinner at Cutter's Bayfront, but if their meals are anything like their crab/artichoke dip, they must be good. It is to die for!!! I love shrimp/artichoke, crab/artichoke, etc. dip. Eat it whenever available! Don't have a link for Cutter's Bayfront, but it's only a few blocks away from the water - up the hill - from Fish Club. We also went to Fado Irish Pub. Didn't eat there, but if you like beer or cider, it's a good place to relax and people-watch. They may have food, too. Don't know :o

 

The second formal night we had lobster - surf and turf, actually, but you can have them leave off the steak! I think it is normal tradition for HAL for it to be second formal night. It was like that on Zui last year, too, but you might verify that on the HAL board - or just be sure to show up both formal nights! My lobster was very good :D I hope you enjoy yours!!! If you like shrimp, you should get the shrimp cocktail from room service. It's those tasty, tiny little shrimp. So good!!! We have that every afternoon we are not on an excursion, starting with sailaway. Bet we have it 5 days out of 7. Love it! If you like escargot (I don't; yuck!), DH and everyone at our table - and quite a few people on the HAL board - say that it is awesome. Some say it is their favorite food served on the ship. I'd call that a recommendation. (I cannot remember what I ate on the first formal night. Possibly prime rib, which won't help you. DH had duck once and lamb once. I *think* they were both good).

 

Let me know how the Inn at Queen Anne works for you. We walked right past it on our way to the Space Needle! You really won't be that far from waterfront area and Pike Market; I'm gonna bet you'll be able to walk it from the hotel in less than 30 minutes. I totally lost my sense of north and south in Seattle. I'm too used to having the mountains to help me navigate, LOL! If I see mountains here, I know that is WEST :D So, I don't know which directions things are, but I know that we did a LOT of walking and didn't get lost!

 

See ya!

[suelars]

That's so funny about direction! I grew up in Southern California, and never did know my directions - I was always meant to live here! I look for mountains and go home! haha

 

I just booked Kayak trips - Glacier Kayaking in Juneau, I didn't use the cruise line and I feel very brave! shees, I do live on the edge! Also, we're kayaking on Lake Union, thru the locks! that sounds like a hoot! a little nervewracking, but fun fun! Like we think we're a real boat! HA!! The man I spoke with at Moss Bay Kayaking said the weather is great so they're getting very busy! He said to hope for shorts and t - shirt!

 

Booked the Duck tour and lunch at the needle on the 7th, while friends are with us, also will do the Underground Tour that day.

 

Thanks for the heads up on the shrimp cocktail!! We love that!! And do NOT want to miss the lobster!! I think we'll probably eat in the DR most nights as this is a cruise based on speakers we love, and it will be fun to mingle with others that love them. Sounds like we are only assigned our seating the first night, then we're grouped together and "turned loose" to eat - wonder how that works when you've requested "fish eating vegetarians" hehe, we'll see - It's all got to be way better than working!!!

 

All the reviews I read on Queen Anne sounded kind of funky and fun - should be entertaining for a couple of young-at-heart ole farts! Will let you know!

[Scrumpy]

Sue - Lake Union is really pretty. We stayed at the Residence Inn Lake Union the night before our cruise. If our plane hadn't been late arriving (delayed, ugh), we'd have gone to one of the restaurants by the water there. Andy ran around Lake Union on Saturday morning before the cruise. He enjoyed it a lot. I think you'll have a ball kayaking out there and through the locks!:D

 

In the Caribbean, we booked all our excursions independently and everything worked out fine. For Alaska, we were lazy and booked everything through HAL this time. Last time, we picked up one tour at the dock and it worked out great. As long as you keep the port times in mind, there aren't any problems doing stuff on your own or with other vendors. You'll be fine and have tons of fun!

 

Is yours the PHC cruise? A charter? Or, is there a large group onboard a regular cruise? I've never heard of it being open seating after the first night; that's why I'm asking :)

 

What we did for sailaway was get a couple of the shrimp cocktail and a cheese and cracker plate. We were already underway (we'd had to switch cabins), but settled down while Seattle was still in sight. It is a great way to begin a cruise! Ours started on my birthday, so we had champagne and our nibbles; it was very nice.

 

I like to eat in the DR every night. The only night we didn't was when we were in Victoria. We went to a couple of pubs with our tablemates! We didn't know them before the cruise, but we got along with them well and had a lot of fun. The Sticky Wicket pub in the Stradmore (or something like that) hotel has a really nice fondue. We got the fondue, which was cheesy, and it came with fruit - think apples and grapes, then some kind of bread, and broccoli and cauliflower, IIRC. It was yummy! (And, meat-free, but couldn't vouch for the kind of cheese in the fondue). I have a friend who is *almost* vegan, so have heard a lot of waiters quizzed about what exactly is in certain dishes. Anyway, I recommend that fondue if you don't have plans in Victoria...

 

Yeah, since I moved here, I have lost my sense of direction. I lived in Dallas and the surrounding area over 20 years and there weren't many places I couldn't find. Here, I have no idea and just try to stay out of the car as much as possible! The traffic is getting nearly as bad as where I left and once I lose sight of the mountains, I get turned around. People here are always surprised when they mention a street or an area right in Colorado Springs and I don't know where it is, LOL!!! Oh, you're lucky it doesn't get hot where you are. It has been in the high 80's and 90's almost every day since we got home. In the upper 40's a few nights, but hot during the day and we don't have a/c in this house. Gets right toasty! It is much cooler today and threatening to rain. Empty threat, I'm sure. It does this almost every day...and then when it does rain, it rains in town or north of us, but not here at our place. I want some rain; so do the horses. All our grass is pretty much dead already and it's only June... I like Southern California. When we decided to move, it was either San Diego or here. Saw the housing prices in San Diego and it was a no-brainer, LOL!!! I think we made a good choice. Your area up there is gorgeous. So many nice places in Colorado. I used to tell everyone. Our area is getting so over-developed that I hate to encourage anyone to move here any more. We'll end up running out of water!

 

Okay, back on-topic, I hope you'll come back and tell us about your time in Seattle and the cruise. I would especially like to hear about the duck tours because I love those and we haven't done one in Alaska. Always done the wildlife/animal stuff - done van tours, boat tours, etc., so we have missed out on my beloved ducks. And, we didn't do it in Seattle either, so I'm curious about that one.

 

Nice chatting with you. Happy packing - not long now :D

[suelars]

Our cruise is an "Abraham-Hicks" group - I heard about them from Wayne Dyer when he was in Denver November, 04 and have been listening to them ever since. It is spiritual and hysterical! A fantastic combination for DH and me!!! The Vista lounge holds 800, I think. The HAL (Westerdam) cruise itself is sold out - 18?? passengers, I don't know if the Seminar is sold out as well, but there should be lots of like minded folks aboard!! I bought a cd on EBAY and the gal I bought it from will be onboard and she's from Ireland, that will be fun to meet her - we've been emailing ever since!!

 

The more I read the boards, the more ideas I get - we got so addicted to fish and chips in NZ!! OMG, nothing compares!!! So, I heard about one hole in the wall place in Ketchikan with fantastic fish and chips - I've booked the duck tour and we're getting hungry thinking about the divey restaurant afterward!!

 

You're in Black Forest? I thought it was named that from all the rain, made your soil, etc., different than the rest of the area?? We had a little rain this afternoon, it's 70 - nice!!! I work mostly at home, but a few days a week in Cherry Creek - it has been SOO HOT some days.

 

So, for the sailaway, were you in your cabin? Is that best, or out on the deck with all the people??

 

I know it's going to go way too fast, so I'm trying to extend it from this end!!

 

Thanks!!!

Sue

[Scrumpy]

Hi Sue - You're welcome. If you have any questions, I am happy to help. I don't have the experience many, many other folks have, but I'll do my best. It looks like you have a large group there! I will probably look it up at some point and find out more, but hopefully you'll come back and tell us all about it anyway! I'm sure you'll enjoy meeting your Irish friend. Sounds like fun!

 

I have no idea about the soil here; my mom is the gardener in our family and I'm hopeless about that kind of thing. Have only 2 living house plants if that tells you anything, LOL! I thought it was called Black Forest because of all the trees! What we have is a combination of very small rock and sand. There are some areas that have nice-looking darker soil, but most of it is pretty sandy. It's heavily treed, but it's dry. We get more snow in the winter, but seem to get less rain in the summer. We've only been in this location a year, but our horses were boarded nearby for a year before that and that is what I've observed so far. I believe we may be classified as alpine desert. I know our land in Penrose is definitely alpine desert. We have cactus there, but I don't think we have any here. The vegetation is similar otherwise. It is a pretty area and I love all the trees. I see the trees that were planted here that aren't native and most of them are dead or dying. We have a few that we need to pull up - pine or spruce; I can't recall which one specifically. We had a couple of them in town before we moved here and they don't seem to like this area very much; one of them really struggled. White pine don't grow well either; we lost one in town, replaced it and the second one died, too. We have a small group of aspen and they are growing like weeds. They're in a low spot by the culvert under the driveway and get more moisture. I love the aspen. I like the sound the leaves make :) I think most of our trees are pinyon pine. There are so many that the Natural Resources Conservation guy said we needed to have an arborist out and cut some down before they choke each other out. I think he said the density should be about 70 per acre max and we have areas that are over-crowded and probably have almost twice that many.

 

For sailaway, we were on our veranda. It all depends on your personality, tolerances and preferences. We are a pretty quiet, shy couple (believe it or not) and we like the seclusion and space on the veranda. We wanted an aft veranda cabin to take photos this trip. Last time we went to Alaska, we didn't have a balcony so we were out on deck for sailaway by default and it wasn't bad. The crowds on the decks are a little overwhelming for me, so I use a veranda a lot and don't go on deck much. If you're really social and don't get over-stimulated, then you'll probably love it out on deck. I'm not saying that it is unpleasantly crowded at all. Just more than I can personally handle. (The people onboard are generally very nice folks and many are friendly. I met some nice people on our cruise and enjoyed some pleasant conversations with them. I did it in the lounges and bars during quiet periods during the day and not out on deck). But anyway, if you want to order the food, you'll need to be in your cabin. You could go on deck for a while, then come back for nibbles if you want or see what is offered on deck. I believe they have various snacks on deck and then there will be warm appetizers in the lounges at some point. I think that starts around 5pm or so. I'm not sure what the official cocktail hours are, but they offer hors de oeuvres (which I can never spell right) during that time period. You don't have to drink to be offered the food. There's a wine and cheese sailaway from one of the ports, too. Can't remember which one, but our tablemates went to it. Also, there are a couple of cook-out type deals on deck. I've never been, but have heard that the food is good. One features salmon. I'm sorry I missed out on that!

 

I'm glad you're having such nice weather. It has been cooler the past few days. 60's and 70's. Very nice. Had a few raindrops, but nothing much. It starts to storm, but all we get is thunder and lightning. The break has been nice and I don't think it will be very warm again until next week. Nothing above the low 80's from what I can tell, which is excellent!!! One summer a few years back I did not wear shorts all year. I remember because it hit 100 the end of May, but then it didn't get hot again the whole rest of the summer. The day it hit 100 I had to have my a/c repaired, but then we didn't hardly use it at all.

 

We went to an Irish pub in Juneau that we liked a lot. Not touristy at all and unfortunately don't offer food beyond potato chips and nuts. Sat there talking to a local lady for a couple of hours. It was interesting; I believe she was around 80 years old - full of stories. Two of her adult children came by, too. I like some of the touristy stuff, but I also like to talk to people who live in the places I visit. And I love talking to the older folks. Have a great-great aunt who turns 104 this year. Oh, the things she's seen... I hope you enjoy that restaurant in Ketchikan! Please tell us how it goes - and the name of it! Can't find good fish n chips around here and I would file that info away in the hopes we'll be back up in Alaska to try it personally.

 

Great chatting with you! Hope all your trip preparation is going smoothly!