Onboard to Alaska, Day 1: Fearful of the 3 hour lineups at port security and customs, we headed early morning via a friendly Uber ride (half the price of the reserved one we cancelled… no problem getting one spontaneously) and we’re dropped underground at the port, most handy if you had luggage to check in, but as we only had carryon, we had to retrace to the surface through the miles of concrete floored conference centre. Luckily, there were only two ships in, our Holland America Koningsdam and the smaller Grand Princess, though still probably 6000 people shuffling through.
In our priority boarding area was a younger woman on crutches after a sprained ankle the day prior, who I’d greet as “the Stalker” after bumping into her at different landmarks, even ending up at our breakfast table. Carrie told us her fascinating job checking the legality of gambling machines in Nevada! Her office had bulletproof glass in case any disgruntled gamblers came by. She described the guns she grew up with and the conferences she attended to test out new machines.
We were onboard by 11:15, two hours earlier than told to arrive. The Lido buffet was its usual chaos so we opted for the main dining room which became our usual venue, consistently good and offered our favourite waiter, Andi, whose tables we were often sat, aft sea view.
Our cabin 4042 was ready by noon. We’d booked just more than a month prior so there was little cabin choice, however, we were pleased with the unusual shape of this one with the extra large offside verandah, giving us additional light of an extra full length window. To avoid claustrophobia if quarantined with any virus, we wanted a balcony so this obstructed deck offered a large savings. The lifeboats were below the sightline. Our new friends from Ottawa, in the next cabin, also irregularly shaped, had more space to move but had the higher pulleys in their view. Turned out to be a much quieter room than expected despite being at the elevator area entrance and above the MainStage… no complaints for noise! However, leaving your room, you’d often catch smoke drifting up from the Casino.. a HUGE design flaw in all the HAL ships and my biggest peeve with the smoking allowed mid ship.
Of course, we taste-tested the Grand Dutch cafe, a very pretty seating area... regrets that I didn’t try more. It’s all about lineups, timing and stomach room!
Gorgeous sail away in warm sun. We sailed under Lions Gate bridge. In pictures, that’s not a cloud on the horizon but the ghostly image of Mt. Baker over 100 kms from the city.
We finally tore ourselves away from the views for our reserved dinner in the specialty restaurant, Tamarind, to celebrate our anniversary. Bob enjoyed it though it didn’t live up to my memories on previous voyages. We never did eat the cupcake in our room or the cake they wrapped for our takeaway but their lovely thought to recognize our celebration.
In our priority boarding area was a younger woman on crutches after a sprained ankle the day prior, who I’d greet as “the Stalker” after bumping into her at different landmarks, even ending up at our breakfast table. Carrie told us her fascinating job checking the legality of gambling machines in Nevada! Her office had bulletproof glass in case any disgruntled gamblers came by. She described the guns she grew up with and the conferences she attended to test out new machines.
We were onboard by 11:15, two hours earlier than told to arrive. The Lido buffet was its usual chaos so we opted for the main dining room which became our usual venue, consistently good and offered our favourite waiter, Andi, whose tables we were often sat, aft sea view.
Our cabin 4042 was ready by noon. We’d booked just more than a month prior so there was little cabin choice, however, we were pleased with the unusual shape of this one with the extra large offside verandah, giving us additional light of an extra full length window. To avoid claustrophobia if quarantined with any virus, we wanted a balcony so this obstructed deck offered a large savings. The lifeboats were below the sightline. Our new friends from Ottawa, in the next cabin, also irregularly shaped, had more space to move but had the higher pulleys in their view. Turned out to be a much quieter room than expected despite being at the elevator area entrance and above the MainStage… no complaints for noise! However, leaving your room, you’d often catch smoke drifting up from the Casino.. a HUGE design flaw in all the HAL ships and my biggest peeve with the smoking allowed mid ship.
Of course, we taste-tested the Grand Dutch cafe, a very pretty seating area... regrets that I didn’t try more. It’s all about lineups, timing and stomach room!
Gorgeous sail away in warm sun. We sailed under Lions Gate bridge. In pictures, that’s not a cloud on the horizon but the ghostly image of Mt. Baker over 100 kms from the city.
We finally tore ourselves away from the views for our reserved dinner in the specialty restaurant, Tamarind, to celebrate our anniversary. Bob enjoyed it though it didn’t live up to my memories on previous voyages. We never did eat the cupcake in our room or the cake they wrapped for our takeaway but their lovely thought to recognize our celebration.
