Sapphire Princess June 3, 2006 The Odyssey

[alaswhales]

We brought our own packets of hot chocolate, and just either got some hot water in disposable cups from the horizon court and took it with us or wrote in "hot water for hot cocoa and 2 cups please" on the breakfast menu. Also, to save them from calling No problem. Bright and early, there would be our carafe of hot water and 2 cups. It was wonderful just sitting on the balcony sipping hot cocoa watching all of the humpbacks. Awesome experience. Oh, also, we DID see packets of hot cocoa at the hot water dispenser in the horizon court, and they were free!!!! Hope this info isn't too late. I just returned home after staying in Anchorage a few days after the cruise.

[pamwinn]

I wonder how many people cam e down with norwalk?

I escaped fortunately. On change on the 10th, we did a little walking around the ship and saw rooms were roped off and being fogged. We did not do a lot of that after discovering it for fear of catching it agoin so I don't know how widespread the fogging was. I am sorry you and your husband got ill. I did intend to call you but after the virus hit us, it was pretty much all over for that cruise.

Wow PAMWINN,

So many things were the same for us (imagine that! HAHA) You were right down the hall from us. I was hoping to hear from you so we could meet! Mark came down with the norovirus also, on Thursday morning. The only excursion he did was in Skagway (the White Pass Railroad) First he thought it was the chicken he had eaten the previous night, but I ate the same thing and was fine. Since he is prone to motion sickness, we thought it could be that also. When he was still sick the following day, I knew he was REALLY sick when he told me to call the Dr on board. He won't even see one at home!!!!! The nurse came and gave him a shot to stop the vomiting and told him to take the anti diarhea pills I had brought (just in case) She laughed at my "suitcase pharmacy", but I was prepared for anything!! LOL Even had the presription filled for Tamiflu in caase the Avian flu erupted (since Alsaka will be the first state it hits) Due to Mark being sick, we were told we could not take the train we paid for from Whittier to Anchorage. Now even though I understand the why of it, I am still very upset!!!! The nurse had told us that he would be quarantined for 24 hours (he was already sick for 24 before we called) No worries to other passengers though, as you said, with this virus you CAN'T get out of bed. He made it to the balcony for a couple of minutes to view the glaciers at Glacier Bay and that was it. Slept most of the 2 days. I went and played bingo for the jackpot (only needed three more numbers when the famous "BINGO" was loudly heard by all.:( I had called the medical office and asked for an explaination why we still could not board the train even though his time was up being held in the room. As it turned out, it would have been more of a fiasco the morning of disembarkation, since at 2 am, I awoke with the same thing. We were escorted off the ship by guys with walkie talkies and taken off the ship and put in a van. I have to talk to Princess yet on what happened when we arrived at "the" hotel they use and we were supposed to be taken care of. Yeah, right, we were dumped. I do not blame Princess for this. I blame the hotel for there behavior. I have to try to get our money back for the train. The number that was given to me is a fax number, so I must try again. I wanted to be taken off the ship in a wheelchair, and I am not a wus, but that thing kicks your BUTT big time!!!! The plus about being in the van was that we happened upon 2 moose (a mom and baby) right in front a a waterfall, so we pulled over, got out and took pictures. They were right at the road. I will try to post the picture if I figure out how to do it. Anyway, sorry we didn't get to meet. Would have been cool to meet someone else that lived in Daleville!!! More to follow later.

[alaswhales]

To PAMWINN,

I understand not calling after the sickness. I told Mark that I read that you know if there is sickness onboard if the salt/pepper shakers were not on the tables. I saw they were not for a few days, then they were. Mark thought I looked stupid wrapping my napkin around the salt shaker to use rather than just pick it up. I did see one guy that walked right past the lady standing at the sanitizer and he picked up a plate and went on about his merry way. I was so careful, I think the only reason I got it was from Mark. I was also very careful to not touch the handrails while using the stairs, which I did on a regular basis. I noticed Mark touching them, even after I kept reminding him that he shouldn't. How great that you got to see Glacier Bay twice and both days were nice. I actually got sunburned that day, staying on the balcony the entire day.

WOW, there sure were a LOT of whales upon leaving there. I missed the one you spoke of that breached all the way out of the water. Did you happen to get a picture of it????? I got one on video after leaving Juneau, that at 11 pm, I was taping how beautiful the moon was, when I turned my head and threw the camcorder around to catch him come 3/4 out of the water and do the fin in the air while splashing sideways thing. Then after that, he popped his whole head out of the water. Spectacular.

My whale watch was nothing to write home about.............very dissappointed..........next time, I would book through Capt. Larry. I didn't know that it wasn't through him until it was way too late to change. Live and learn, aye?

I had to laugh, because it seems you all arrived to the ship about the same time as our bus full of people. We may have crossed paths and not known it. Funny! I was very glad to see no lines per say other than security (customs, showing your documents)

Well, I look forward to reading more of your posts. They are great. I return to work tomorrow, but I will try to figure out how to post pictures.

[alaswhales]

By the way, I heard from the guy at Enterprise who picked us up for our rental as well as from my daughter later, that a ship in Alaska (while we were on ours) had to turn around and go back to port (not idea which one) due to about 150 people sick. I would love to know which ship it was. I also heard mention that more were sick than we realized. Who knows???

[nauticalnerd]

Is it just the passengers that have been affected by this illness?

I wonder if the crew have taken sick too.

 

Anyway, love reading your account Pamwinn

[pamwinn]

June 15, 2006, Ketchikan- Formal Night

 

It is pouring down rain and has been all day. This is a tender port on the southbound cruises so be prepared. Rex and I decided not to get off the ship due to the weather. Keith and Diane got off for a short time to grab a few souvenirs to take back to their girls. Then a wild party began on our balcony that for me lasted until round 4PM. I finally decided a nap was in order. Rex and Keith continued to drink for 4 more hours. I got up around 6 to be greeted by 2 snockered men….mine especially so. Diane seemed pretty good. There was no way I was going to endure the dining room under those conditions so we made plans for Keith and Diane to keep our reservations and I would try to sober Rex up.

 

We ordered lobster dinner for 6 to our cabin. I had 3 lobster tails and Rex had nine…no sides for either of us. So you can still order from the dinner menu to your cabin. After dinner, I convinced Rex to shower hoping he would be coherent. It did not sober him up a bit. They drank a liter of vodka, a bottle of wine, a bottle of baileys, half a bottle of Tia Maria, numerous beers and maybe other things I slept through. He got out of the shower and left the water running. The plan was to dress up, roam and have our pictures taken. Even though Rex was game, I wasn’t. He was stagger walking and slurmumble talking. Diane didn’t want to stay dressed up anyway. She was wearing a long pretty black dress and jacket but something went wrong with the black pantyhose. They only came up to just above her knees and she wore them that way. Maybe if you did not know her, you might think she just had a very odd walk…that looked like someone who had their knees tied together…but I know her and she definitely does not walk that way most of the time.

 

K and D came back from dinner and helped me get Rex in bed. We all retired soon after…with me watching TV until I fell asleep.

 

When Keith and Diane came back from dinner they told me of their little misadventure. Keith had already eaten a piece of pumpernickel bread and Diane wanted some. Her piece had 2 bites out of it (yucko). We have no other misadventures to speak of other than the itchy sun poisoning rash I developed after Yukon day…and that was through SPF 45.

 

June 16, 2006, At Sea- The Day of Dread

 

I can’t believe that after 2 weeks on the ship, I am still feeling like I don’t want to pack up and get off. We are spending three days post cruise in Vancouver…but it just isn’t the same when you have to go hunt down your dinner and do things for yourself. I envy the lifestyles of the rich and famous…but I’ve been rich and famous for a couple of weeks and I’ll have to be happy with that. My hair is getting weird again anyway. I miss my mother so it will be nice to get home in a few days. I love my bed. It is soft and comfortable. We have 2 foam pads on the bed in the cabin and it’s still a little hard for me, but I think most people would find it very comfortable.

 

Our friend who is caring for our 3 miniature pinschers emailed me. One of our dogs, Popi, became very ill…vomiting, diarrhea, eating grass. The vet says there is nothing wrong with her, she simply misses her mommy and it makes me sad. I love that little dog. She is getting special food and some pepto bismol for dogs. I miss my mommy too so it will be nice to get home in a few days. I love my bed. It is soft and comfortable. We have 2 foam pads on the bed in the cabin and it’s still a little hard for me.

 

The Sapphire is as lovely as ever. Food and service were great in every respect…except the bread with the bites taken out of it.

 

We still have a bottle of Stolie to polish off but I don’t think it is going to happen. We do have 3 more days in Vancouver so I guess we’ll have to lug it off the ship with us. We have all enjoyed the day, spending the majority of it on the balcony. The weather is beautiful and our cruise is coming to a peaceful end. We are all basically packed up. We made it painless and did it thoughout the day.

 

Though there were a few snags along the way, we enjoyed our cruise and intend to do it again ASAP. I will answer all questions that I have neglected thus far when we get home.

[CassCruise]

Thanks so much for sharing Pam - absolutely loved reading your adventures - can't wait for our turn to do the rich and famous thing!!!:D Please continue on with the tales of Vancouver!!!!

[alaswhales]

I tell you what.............You need to be a comedy writer or do stand up for a night. I almost fell out of my chair tonight reading the pantyhose escapade.........please email me at evilhousekeeper@yahoo.com and we can email pictures or I could let you know when I figure out how to post my pictures. I know what you mean about not wanting to leave. I also could have stayed MUCH longer:D , but Mark was more than ready to go home. This was the longest vacation we have ever taken. He freaked out when we were in Hawaii for 6 nights, this was 13 days!!!!!

[pamwinn]

June 17, 2006, Vancouver

 

They kicked us off the ship! Disembarking wasn’t too bad. We had breakfast with Keith and Diane and then waited for their number to be called. They left the ship around 8:15 and we went to Club Fusion to wait for the inevitable. We snagged a couple of couches and both fell fast asleep until our color was called. We took a Taxi to the Pacific Palisades hotel where they stored our luggage until the rooms were ready. Nancy and Virge did not eat breakfast on the ship so we walked down Robson and found a Greek Restaurant where they had Gyro’s. I love those and wished I was hungry for one, but I just couldn’t do it because my last cruise breakfast was a buffet on my table.

 

We finally received our rooms around 2PM. Our room is 704 and overlooks Robson. It is loud with the noise from this busy city street. The room is strange and though I would not choose to stay here again (a little too animal friendly for me) we are enjoying it. Rex and I spotted a little market across the street, The Cherry Market, and purchased a bag of cheeto’s, some peanuts, a pint of half and half for coffee, and a roll of paper towels (part of the sanitizing ritual). The total on that was over twelve bucks! Wow, how do people afford this place. Some things are really off the charts expensewise.

 

A giant seagull took up residence on our balcony and Rex spent quite some time talking to “Jonathan”. When we returned from the market, I saw Jonathan on the railing and decided to see if he wanted a cheeto. It scared him a little when I went out there and he flew off as I placed several bits of cheeto on the railing. Rex came out and said, “he’s waiting for me”. He thinks he has a special bound with all animals….like the bear on the Yukon Highway. “He won’t hurt me”, Rex said. “That’s right he won’t. But I will if you don’t take your hand off that door handle”. Anyway, Jonathan did settle in when Rex came out and then pooped the largest pile of bird dropping I have ever seen. Totally gross. Our suite has a kitchen so we filled up pots of hot water to sanitize the balcony.

 

The suite itself is kinda neat in a retro sort of way but it is not as unused looking as we prefer. It shows a little age and wear and that in itself makes it feel grungy though nothing appears to be particularly dirty. There is a small kitchen with a sink, stove and refrigerator a small eating area with a table and chairs for four, a living room, a separate bedroom with a closet and large window offering another view, and a water closet of course. The bathroom has the round vs. elongated bowl, which annoys men so I am told.

 

The balcony is quite large and allows a good view of the comings and goings on Robson Street. People who live in the tall apartment and condo buildings obviously are not concerned that others can see directly into their dwellings as they seem never to close the curtains….no matter what they happen to be doing.

 

Virge and Nancy napped the afternoon away while Rex and I strolled. We met up later and had dinner at a Korean restaurant near the hotel. This is not your Georgia Korean food. I found something on the menu that didn’t have eyes or suction cups and ordered it. It was a pork dish that was fire hot. I loved it but there will be a price to pay in the AM. The kimchee was wonderful and I had too much of that adding to the tally of tomorrow morning. After dinner we took a very short walk, stopped in a gelato shop and returned to our hotel for people watching and bedtime. Though it is noisy here, we had no problem falling into a deep sleep.

[Coolmama_1]

What a great account! I have loved every word! Thanks for sharing.

[pamwinn]

June 18, 2006, Vancouver

 

We had a slow start to the day…remember the chili pepper pork? I was afraid to get too far from our hotel room early on and Nancy and Virge were downright sick so we didn’t really venture out until 10:30 AM or so. We purchased our hop on hop off trolley passes today ($33 pp for 2 days) and made the loop. The entire circuit takes a couple of hours or so...depends on the driver I think. We spent the majority of the day on Granville Island. The weather was flawless. Granville is a great place to visit. We watched street musicians and a variety of other entertainers, had a couple of beers in a microbrewery (while Rex went in the train museum) watched artists of all kinds create their works and just strolled and window shopped. We bought some Mt. Ranier cherries at the market…not nearly as reasonably priced as they are in Seattle but delicious none the less. I'd like to go back tomorrow because we did not see it all. I think there is more than enough for a weekened there.

 

Tomorrow we intend to go to Chinatown and Gastown.

 

Virge and Nancy are napping again. The have not regained their land legs yet and are stagger-walking a little. I have some residual effects from the 2 weeks on the ship but it is mostly in the shower or small spaces that I feel it. Rex and I are people watching from our balcony at the moment, hoping we will be hungry enough for dinner after the great fish and chips we had in the public market on Granville Island.

 

Rex and I decided to give Hon’s on Robson a chance. We are such novices when it comes to ordering ethnic food that isn’t Americanized. Rex ended up with fried shrimp in a thick batter that tasted like it had been dipped in butter…rich, greasy…make you sick type food. I ended up with something I can only describe as deep fried bacon fat with surprise, crack a tooth, bones in it. The first bite being tasty but progressing to the same make you sick, greasy, richness as the shrimp. Better luck tomorrow if we can manage to eat at all. Rex wants to look for a fruit bar…like on the ship. I don’t think we will find that here though. The Asians next to us were eating a nice, light noodle soup accompanied by steamed vegetables that looked nutritious. I wish we had ordered that but I can’t read Chinese and when the English description is chopped, mixed seafood in a broth, I imagine octopus eyes.

 

We stayed out until almost midnight, then the crowds diminished and the streets became more ominous so we navigated back to our temporary inner city dwelling and called it a night.

[pamwinn]

June 19, 2006 Vancouver We want to go home

 

We are tired and want to go home. That means we had a full, satisfying vacation. We did the hop on hop off again. We will not do the tourist bus thing the next time we are in Vancouver. It takes way too long to get to where you want to go and by the time you get there, you almost don’t want to get off knowing what a nightmare it is to get on. The buses and trolleys are overloaded and the schedule is a farce. Figure out the public transportation system and use it.

 

We went to Chinatown and Gastown today. We saw the Coral Princess docked at Canada Place. Our favorite places in Vancouver so far are the Robson street area both where we are at Pacific Palisades and down near the Sutton Place, Stanley Park and Granville Island. If you are looking to shop the first two offer more than you can get to. If you are looking to play, try the later two. People watching is great everywhere.

 

We didn’t eat at all today until almost 5PM. It seems like we are so tired and indecisive that neither of us wants to be responsible for the next restaurant fiasco. We finally choose a Japanese restaurant across from the hotel. We ended up with food that was pretty good, especially the tempura. I ordered some kind of chicken, egg, rice, and noodle in a bowl thing because it said spicy on the menu. It was also good. I did not care much for the miso soup. The spring rolls were also pretty good. They looked like little pastry puffs. We are so clueless. Surrounded by all these ethnic restaurants, we do not have the slightest clue as to how to order this stuff. Everyone around us always has food that looks really good but if you ask what it is, they all say “cheekan noodle”. It can’t all be cheekan noodle because it all looks different. The restaurant workers are all friendly and try to be helpful but I think they are clueless as to how clueless we are.

 

We returned to the room, once again to pack. This time we unpacked everything and redistributed the weight in hopes of meeting Delta guidelines. We made a pact never to take this much again, but I doubt it’s any better than the pact we made after the last cruise and the one before it, and the one before it.

 

Later, sitting on the balcony watching the foot traffic I spotted Virge and Nancy dragging yet another suitcase along the sidewalk below. That would make 3 suitcases and a backpack they have purchased. “Quick! Grab the camera,” I yelled to Rex. We got a great picture. They came to our room and we all had a good laugh followed by bloody marys…had to finish off the booze. Virge and Nancy are lugging back six bottles that they had no problem declaring. That’s 4 bottles over the limit.

[CassCruise]

What a wonderful journal/journey - thanks again for sharing - safe trip home:)

[pamwinn]

June 20, 2006 Vancouver to Atlanta

 

There isn’t a lot to be said about a flight. Since we choose not to fly on a cruiseship day, lines at the airport were almost nonexistent. We arrived at the airport around 10 AM and were through immigration and at the gate waiting for our noon flight at 10:30.

 

We arrived in Atlanta round 7:30 and were home by 8:30. The dogs were insane. They sure know how to make you feel loved. The cell phone was on the coffee table and the cruise tickets were in the bag Rex emptied….mystery solved.

 

Having finally adjusted to Vancouver time, we stayed up until after 3AM and slept until 11 AM. Jet lagged again.

 

Thanks for reading my journal. Sorry it fizzled some the second week but once Keith and Diane boarded we were having so much fun I didn’t have time to keep anything but a cursory journal. Everyone wasd already having me download their camera cards to my laptop. I will start working on another degree next month and having received the class schedule, it looks like there will not be an opportunity to cruise next year…bummer…maybe four weeks in Alaska year after.

 

Until then…

 

Pam

:D

[Lynda90]

Pam, thank you so much for sharing your two+ weeks with us. I anxiously awaited each new installment as I did the last time you and Rex cruised. Too bad we will now have to wait for two years until next time. Maybe you can invent something and write about it.:D Anyway, thanks for your wonderful sense of humor.

[katisdale]

Thank you Pam for sharing with us. I really enjoyed your sense of humor.

[tapia]

Pam.......wow. That's all I can say. I had a great time reading your review. GREAT! I can't possibly say it enough--GREAT. Thank you so much! I'm sad & happy I didn't find this during the first day--sad because I didn't experience it with you and happy because I got to read the whole thing at once. WOW.

 

At several points, you had me laughing so hard I couldn't breathe--THANK YOU for that, I truly needed it!

 

I'm so glad Rex feels better --so sorry he was sick, but I'm glad it didn't ruin your vacation. You seem to be great people who take things in stride :-)

 

A couple questions for you, if you don't mind. At Café Crepes: do they serve crepes? (dessert ones?)

 

On the way back from buying shoes, you stopped at a restaurant with great Caesar Salad--DH is a HUGE fan--could you tell me where you went? I didn't see the name, but it's possible I overlooked it.......

 

Also, you said drive into the Yukon for the scenery & to see the history go on the train. Do you think the scenery isn't as good on the train-why?

 

Do you have pictures? (I know, I'm very needy!) I really really hope you do because I'd love to see the swimming Moosse!

 

I hope your dog Popi feels better by now having you back!

[pamwinn]

The name of the Italian place is Ciao Bella. It is located at 703 Denman Street. The salad was fantastic...mostly because the dressing itself was perfect. But like I mentioned, my sauce is better...the recipe comes from my Aunt Katie DiGeralimo. She was a fantastic sicilian cook.

 

Many people feel the scenery on the train is superior though for the life of me I don't know why...there is such a varied terrain along the Yukon Hwy and the scenery on the return view is different. I also enjoy being able to stop and get out when I like. If you see wild life on the train...it's like seeing a little brown dot off in the distance.

 

I'll have to work on sizing my images in Photoshop. They won't post straight off the camera. I did one....THE BEAR. This was how close he was...the image is not zoomed.

[labyrinthgal]

We are in C748 July 1-7 ... what a coincidence ... I love hearing that the view is great and that the balcony is not as cold because of the wind protection. Thanks for your great story!

[tapia]

I LOVE the picture of the bear--I CANNOT believe it was that close to you!!!!!

 

Would love to see the rest when you get a chance :-)

[mii]

Pam thanks alot for the review. You certainly do have a way with words and I was looking forward to each installment. We are taking our 4th cruise to Alaska next year and I always look so forward to it. Again thanks alot for the very informative review.

 

marilyn

[lkmamom]

Pam, as always, you never disappoint with your journals. I love reading each and every account. Are you sure that you and Rex cannot move to Columbus, Ohio we would love having great teachers as yourselves:D Better yet, I hope that we can cruise together sometime.

 

I have a question about the Westin in VanCouver. We also reserved our room through Priceline. You amazingly have the same "pre-sanitizing" rituals that I have(only my family makes fun of me:rolleyes: )was the room not clean?Any tips that you could offer about the hotel would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks again for sharing your journal. We love cruising to Alaska as well and I know that DH will love seeing your bear picture, absolutely amazing! You and Rex will have to do one of the European cruises someday, equally amazing. If it were not for the long ride "over the pond" I would do it again in a second! Thanks for all and hi to Rex!

Linda

[pamwinn]

Linda, I think we cruised with you on the Grand Princess a few years ago. I lost all my pictures from that cruise when my hard drive fried but I think I have (had) several of you.

 

The Westin was not dirty...just a little worn here and there...not too bad. It was the view that was horrible and they would not let us pay for an upgrade even though they were not full. I have read about other priceline people who ended up in better rooms though. I think the odds are better if you check in late...maybe they will run out of the priceline rooms and give you something better.

 

You will enjoy the easy access to Stanley Park and the Sea Wall. The location is beautiful but not in the center of the action and a pretty good hike to anywhere.

[lkmamom]

Thanks Pam........we are checking in late, so hope that you are right:) Although, I really do not care as much about the view as I do about the cleanliness (okay I admit it, I am a spas about that)

 

Sounds like I may need to do some shoe shopping as well! I am a little worried about the walking, just ahd foot surgery and am still not back to normal yet. Thanks for all of the tips.

Linda

[pamwinn]

We used 2 containers of sanitizing wipes on our trip....that's 500 wipes:D