Alaska--June 2012 ON SHIP

 Howard retired on June 15, and on June 24th we started our Alaska adventure. 

I'll divide this into sections, first with info on our experiences on board ship.  Then I'll tell about our visits to Ketchkan, Juneau, Skaguay, and Seward, and then our land trip north to Denali.  I took too many photos so I hope I can finish the blogs before the fall!

We flew to Vancouver, BC, took 1.5 hours to clear customs, take a bus through town, and get to the harbor when we could board our ship.  It had been close to 20 years since I had been in Vancouver, and I was really surprised by the enormous growth in the center of town.  Only 1 building remains from the World's Fair in 1986 in what had been a run-down part of town.  Instead, many (very expensive) high-rise condos have sprung up, all in the past 20 years.    As we sailed out of Vancouver, we passed by part of Stanley Park and under the Lion's Gate Bridge.

Port (white area) and high rise condos

Harbor Police escorting us out

We are on the Holland America line ship the Zaandam. We are on the 3^rd floor, really close to an exit to the promenade deck outside where we can walk around the entire ship.  4 laps equal one mile. There are comfortable wooden lounge chairs outside with blankets available to use.  

We have a nice ocean view—with the deck between our window and the ocean.  Our bathroom is about 3 feet wider than the one on Carnival cruise  I was on with Timna and boys last December  and it has a full bathtub!  One disappointment—we have no refrigerator.  

We took the stairs a lot and especially enjoyed the Escher copies in the staircase we used the most.

This seahorse statue was our reminder that our room was nearby.

We are traveling with Marsha and Marty, whom we have gotten to know through our synagogue and empty nesters' group.  Marsha found out a few days before the trip that Ruthie Maslan Sassoon and her brother Fred Maslan would also be traveling with us.  Ruthie taught me music at Herzl religious school (in 2nd grade??) and I remember doing Israeli folk dancing with Fred at the Seattle Center when I was 18 or 19.

We often ate dinner with the four of them in the formal dining room (Rotterdam).  I was delighted to find the separate vegetarian menu.  We had to order a day in advance, and I did so several times.  each night there was also usually good fish options as well as some good vegetarian dishes....all clearly marked.  The food was really delicious.  One could order more than one entree, etc.

The first night was confusing and there were lines for dinner.  We decided that we didn't want to eat at the same time daily with the same people at the same table.  So we chose to go to the 4th floor (not the 5th) and take our chances with getting in.  We found out afterwards that we could make reservations up to 3 days in advance.  That really helped to know.  

We usually had breakfast and lunch in the Lido restaurant on the 8th floor, with buffet services.  Soda pop was part of the "bar" service and it cost money....which I thought was a great idea!  We could eat more quickly there and have a fantastic view.  But dinner was leisurely and often led to a lot of laughter!  And lattes were free in that dining room!

The first 48 hours we were served, to limit the spread of any infectious disease as several other ships had that problem.  We did not. YAY!  The food  both looked great as tasted fantastic!

Vegetarian Curry

Mushroom Strudel

Chocolate Nut Tort

The staff was all incredibly nice.  Many were from Indonesia, but I did chat with a food server from Bogota.  Most of the stewards were married.  Ours was named Haris.  He was 35, but looked younger and had a 4 and 2 year old back home.  He traveled/worked for 9 months and then had 3 months off with him family.  All worked 7 days a week...or was it 8?

The ship had 8 floors and had a small but nice gym a good heated swimming pool and 2 hot tubs, a library with chess boards and puzzles in progress, a theater with very up-to-date movies, flat screen TVs in the rooms (Howard enjoyed ours and I could have easily done without it) and a great variety of programs in the evening.  Howard usually called it a night after dinner but the rest of us went to hear the Adagio String quartet, an ensemble that played great dance music, a fantastic piano player, who played Gershwin one evening and the Beatles another, etc.  By the pool there was also a super-sized chess board and ping pong, and elsewhere there was shuffleboard, a tennis court/basketball court, etc. 

 We sometimes sat in the Crow's Nest on the top floor in front for the fabulous view.  The gym was just below that and also had a great view.

The mats in the elevators changed daily to remind us of the day of the week.

One employee was in charge of the floral arrangements, and he did an amazing job.  The flowers were all over--dining rooms, public bath rooms, lounges, etc. and they always looked very fresh.

Orchids in a restroom

Orchids in buffet area

Howard especially liked standing on the back of the ship, a more protected area, watching the wake and seeing any wildlife in the area.  We did spot dolphins, whales, and a variety of birds.

Wake from back of ship

I treated myself to two massages and felt a lot better after both.

The stores on board were small.  Ditto for the casino.  Smoking was allowed in the casino and on the deck.  There were smokers...but not overwhelmingly so.  

Every night, when the steward turned down our bed, he also made us towel animals.  I really enjoyed them!

Towel Squid

Towel Froggie

Towel Elephant & Doggie

Towel Chimp and me--Chimp is on right

The last day on board, several stewards gave a demonstration on how to make these towel animals, and Marty and I both went.  Most of the animals could be made in under a minute!  The demo was a lot of fun, and I bought the book--it was better written than the one from the cruise I went on with Timna.

Swans for newlyweds or on anniversaries

Towel menagerie

I met some fascinating people including a mother and 2 daughters.  The mother, Ruth, was a retired nurse.  One daughter and the son-in-law were college profs and the other daughter Emma lives in Okinawa and works for the military.  She was studying Hebrew with the local (Sephardic rabbi) until he left.  

There were children on the cruise, but not a lot.  There was also fewer singles between 25 and 40.

The second to last night was the 2nd formal dinner.  Two of our guys were sent back to their cabins to put on long sleeved shirts!  Marty went from a nice button-down short -sleeved shirt to a flannel long sleeved shirt--rather funny.  That night at 10:30 was a fantastic dessert extravaganza.  To me the setup was more amazing that the desserts themselves, though I did enjoy a mild cappuchino cheese cake.

Several carved watermelons adorned the set up.

Later used in the Lido buffet

A horse--my favorite

Bouquet from Turnips, carrots, radishes, & tomatoes

Fruit dipped in Chocolate

I've written a lot about food, but I managed to stay away from the desserts but they were a lot of fun to look at!  We really had a lovely time in the ship.  The weather held and we only had one really bad rainy day--in Ketchkan.  The people were very  nice..the cruise relaxing.  The first day at 5, Marsha and I went to a beginning Tai Chi class.  The first thing we had to do was repeat several times:  I AM ON VACATION!  and that has become my mantra for the voyage.

One more nice thing:  Holland America is into conservation. There are recycling cans in key areas.  There are no paper towles--just cloth ones.  We are urged to reuse our bath towels too.

I wouldn't consider myself a cruise person, but this trip was very pleasant and a great way to get an intro to many sites in Alaska that are only reachable by sea or air.  If we do go on another cruise, however, we won't pay the regular price.  I'll definitely check out Vacations to Go, for example.

BTW, there were a number of Israelis on board, some of whom now live in the US but others who came specifically from Israel for the cruise.  Fred led Shabbat evening services, and we had about 18 people participate, half of whom were Israeli.  The ship did provide challah, gefilte fish, and kosher wine!  BTW, kosher meals are also available...but may need to be ordered in advance.

More on the sites to come.  It is a lot faster to take photos than to edit and then write a blog!