Post Cruise Wrap Up

We made it home from Toronto this morning.  The flight from Vancouver was smooth and we arrived at the hotel about 9:30pm. Rocky and Joan's plane was delayed two hours, so they didn't arrive until much later.  John and Ellen were going to Denver.

Our cruise ship was the 85,000 ton, 1868 passenger Holland America MS Zuiderdam. It was launched in December 2002. The ship has 924 staterooms spanning 6 decks. 165 staterooms have ocean views and 623 have balconies. The pool decks and promenade decks are covered in teak wood which gives the ship a rich, classy feeling. The forward pool area is like the Skydome as it has its own retractable roof.  This is a ''real'' promenade deck - one on which you can walk all the way around the ship.

Inside the atrium spans from Deck 1 to Deck 3 which are connected by a spiral staircase. There are multiple dining areas ranging from 5 course meals in the Vista Dining to a buffet on the Lido deck.  There were also a couple of speciality restaurants.  Of course there more bars than you can wave a stick at, most of which have some form of entertainment.  There is also a theatre where they have nightly cabaret type shows. The Crow's Nest Lounge is a glass enclosed bar which straddles the entire front of the ship and gives great views.

Our room which was called a "deluxe verandah" was the size of a modern day home's master bedroom with an ensuite tub and shower.  Our verandah was "L" shaped and faced the starboard side and the rear of the boat. Thank goodness Marg's dad shared the cost as we could not afford this on our own.

Marg made use of the Greenhouse Spa, twice,and just loved it.

Well so much for the tour of the ship, here is our opinion. 

We would not go on Holland America again. 

First our toilets did not function on at least 6 different occasions.  Once it did not work from 10pm until 7am.  It is very aggravating to have to get dress in the middle of the night and find a public washroom just to use the toilet.

On the second day there was a formal dinner.  We called at 8am to have our shirts pressed.  At 10am they still hadn't pick them up.  After a second call, someone came up an told us we were too late for same day delivery.  After I explained, in rather blunt language, that we had called in plenty of time but they had screwed up, they took the shirts.  It still took a call the head steward at 4pm to ensure we had they shirts in time for dinner.

In the dining room, the waiters forgot at least one item each night for our table.  The wine steward spilt the wine on more than one occasion or in some case forgot the order.  On our last night I had get up from our table, retrieve our wine and serve the wine to Marg and myself as he was not around to fill our glasses as his responsibility.  In comparison the staff on the Scenic Tours boat had to be asked to stop filling our glasses.  The busboys though nothing of just butting in and taking away the plates, instead of waiting for the appropriate time.  On a positive note the food in the Vista Dining Lounge was delicious.  The Lido Deck Buffet was very ordinary.

The nightly entertainment was average to extremely bad.  I can't believe that an entertainment director would think some of those shows were worth presenting.  I think our 6 year old granddaughter's dance recital was more entertaining than Nadia and the HALCats.

Our concierges were very professional and went out of their way to please us.

All in all the cruise was wonderful, our travel companions fantastic and the scenery incredible, just won't use Holland America again. 

Seventh Day of the Cruise

All hail the victorious AssieNuks.  We all joined together to form an invincible trivia challenge team.  While Europe battles for soccer supremacy, we took on all trivia challengers and decimated them. Only our sense of fair play and modesty prevented us from scoring a perfect game.  We received a bottle of champagne for our victory.

Today we headed south towards Vancouver through the inside passage.    Just after breakfast we passed a pod of Orca whales.  I suspect that they were at least 6 whales that came within several hundred meters of the ship.  We entered Canadian waters about midmorning and sailed south between the Queen Charlotte Islands and the BC mainland.

For lunch we joined the captain for a special lunch.  It was Indonesian food but most of it was too spicy for Marg and her dad.  Several off the staff wore traditional Indonesian clothing and it was very classy indeed.

Before dinner we all meet in our room to have some drinks and can-of-peas.  Wendy and John jammed with her harmonica and his spoons.  Wendy then played an original composition for us.  

Dinner was the usual cheerful time but tinged with a bit of sadness as the cruise is coming to an end and we be saying goodbye to John & Ellen until our trip down under, hopefully not too far in the future.

Sixth Day of the Cruise

As we started heading south, the sun rose a little later and set a little bit earlier.  At our northern most point in our journey sunrise was about 4:30 and sunset was a little after 11:00pm.

Today we entered the port city of Kitchikan on Revillagigedo Island.  Kitchikan is the fourth largest city in Alaska and has as its main industries logging, fishing and of course tourism.  Kitchikan proclaims itself to be the Salmon Capital of the World.  It has several fish packing factories.  Along the Tongass Narrows which leads into the harbour you can spot multiple bald eagles, which nest here because of the plentiful fish in the waters. It is also the rainiest city in North America with an annual rainfall in the 12 to 14 feet range.

Years ago it was mainly a male dominated city and had a thriving red light district along the creek. Now the brightly coloured brothels are boutiques. It is now one of the top tourist attractions in the city.

Marg, her dad and Wendy went on crab fishing boat.  It was one of the boats which was seen in the first season of the TV series “Deadliest Catch.”  The crew showed them how they prepared the traps for the crabs.  They caught block crabs, snow crabs, Alaskan King crabs and Dungeness crabs and a star fish which was about a foot long.  They then brought out an octopus that was 3 feet long and showed it crushing and then devouring a crab.  They also discussed how dangerous it was for the crew.  During one year 14 fishermen died during the crab season.  At the end they put out some crabs for the eagles and the boat was swarmed by these magnificent birds.  When they left the boat everyone shook the captains and first mate's hand, everyone except Marg's dad who want to shake the hand of the female members of the crew.  Still flirting at 90.  Marg, her dad and Wendy truly enjoyed the entire experience.

In the afternoon Rocky, Joan, John and Ellen attended a lumberjack show in town.  It sounded like it was fun as they divided up the audience into two sections and then had them cheering on a different team of lumberjacks as they went through their different competitions.

John, Ellen and myself went on a seaplane ride through the Misty Fjords National Monument.  The plane was a twin Otter and I was lucky enough to be able to sit in the co-pilots chair during the trip.  The plane flew over the rounded mountains and through the U shaped valleys, which had been sculpted by the glaciers 10,000’s of years ago.  The granite cliffs reach heights of over 3,000 feet.  The plane landed on one of the lakes and I was able to go out on the pontoon and take pictures.  It was a little scary standing on a narrow pontoon with 5 other people knowing that one misstep and it would be a very cold bath. One of the interesting features that you can see from the air are the “cirques” or amphitheaters cut into the rocks by the glaciers.  Under Jimmy Carter the area was designated a protected site so that no mining or lumbering is allowed.  The scenery was breathtaking.

During dinner at Sue from London’s request, Marg planted a wet kiss in John’s ear.  He was a little stunned at first but when we told where it came from he had a good laugh.  After dinner, went to a lounge to see a group call Nadia and the HALCats.  We all agreed that the female singer might be one of the worst performers we have ever seen.  It was if they had a Karaoke night and the worst singer became the lead singer for the band.

Fifth Day of the Cruise

Last night we travelled back up the Lynn Canal and turned north into the Icy Strait and then into Glacier Bay.  The entire bay was carved out by gigantic glaciers.  Glacier Bay was first visited by Captain George Vancouver two hundred years ago when the ice cover was within 25 miles of the mouth of the bay.  Now you have to travel 65 miles into the bay to see the tidewater glaciers.

Our room was the glacier viewing party room.  Everyone came over to get an uncrowded viewed of these monster ice packs.  Our first stop was at Margerie Glacier.  It was a blue ice monster, one mile wide and about 15 miles or more deep.  It is growing at a rate of 6 feet / day.  As the glacier pushes to the bay large chunks of ice fall off into the water.  This is called “calving” and it makes a noise like a shotgun, which echoes off the mountains.  We were lucky as the glacier was very active today.   We then left and travelled into the Johns Hopkins Inlet to view the Lamplugh Glacier. Rocky stated that this to him was the highlight of the trip.

The entire bay is surrounded by huge mountains in the 6,000 to 7,000 foot range.  Because this is an American National Park, we had narration supplied by a park ranger.  She told us how they can determine the depth of the original glacier, during the ice age, by the shape of the mountains.  If the mountain had a smooth rounded top it had been shaped by the erosion effect of the glacier.  If the mountain’s peak was sharp then it extended above the glacier.

During the trip through the bay we saw a bald eagle, a couple of whales and sea lions.

Margery Glacier

It was another formal night for dinner.  I think we all had surf and turf.  Rocky and Joan went to one the speciality restaurants.  After dinner we went to see James Cielen in the Vista Lounge.  He is very good magician who specializes in sleight of hand tricks.

After we has left Glacier Bay the boat travelled to the west of Sitka on the open ocean.   It was very rough going with huge swells that had the boat rocking and rolling all night.  It was very hard to walk back from the Lounge without bouncing into the walls.

Fourth Day of the Cruise

What a wonderful day we have had today.  Last night our ship went back up the Gastineau Channel and headed north along Lynn Canal to Skagway.  The Lynn Canel is a glacier carved fjord and is one of the longest in the world.  It has 21 foot tides. Skagway is protected from the Arctic weather by the 7,000 foot Coastal Mountains along the Canadian border 20 miles away and the Chilkoot mountains along the fjord.

Skagway is small village and has 800 inhabitants during the winter and about 2000 residents during the tourist season.  It was established in 1896, when it was used as the main arrival port for gold prospectors who were part of the Klondike gold rush.  During its height of popularity the town was home to 10,000 people.  The community has successfully maintained its gold rush architecture.  A lot of the buildings have been restored and the sidewalks are wooden boardwalks.

The White Pass railroad is still operating along the same route used by these prospectors and goes right to the Canadian border where you see the  RCMP outpost.  Joan and Rocky took that tour and just loved it, although the height of the trestle bridge scared Joan.  John and Ellen went on a river rafting expedition.

Wendy has been acting like a real cougar.  She has fallen madly in love with two of the shuttle bus drivers.  This morning we found a man’s coat in her room.  She claims it was mistakenly delivered by the laundry.

In the afternoon Marg and myself went on an excursion called “Mushers Camp” in the old ghost town of Dyea. This is a training camp for Alaskan Huskies that are used in the Iditarod dogsled race, held in Alaska each year.  The race course actually goes through this camp.  The Iditarod is over 1000 miles long and this team completed the course last year in 12 days.  The winner was able to do it just over 9 days.  The dogs run for 6 hours and then rest for 6 hours.  The musher and the dogs sleep in the open during the race. The musher that took our team around the course stated that the dogs actually look better and stronger at the end of the race, it is the human that can’t continue.

We traversed up the mountain in a 24 person ATV known as a Unimog.  As soon as we arrived at the camp, the dogs starting going crazy because they wanted to run and pull the sleds.  The team of 16 dogs pulled a six person golf cart at speeds up to 15 mph. After they had completed their training run, we were allowed to pet the dogs.  They were very gentle and loved having their ears scratched, but then what dog doesn’t like that.

Later we went down to the education centre where we got to hold 2 week old husky puppies.  They were so cute that I’m sure they could convince our grandson, Liam, to become a dog person.  Their puppy whimpers just melt your heart.  Unfortunately Marg wouldn’t let me take a puppy home. Many thanks to Marg’s nursing friends in St. Thomas who recommended this excursion.  It will be an experience we won’t soon forget.

The landscape around Dyea where the camp in located is spectacular.  Our guide told us that valley at the bottom of the camp is still rising at a rate of a foot a year as it recovers from the weight of the glacier 20,000 years ago.

At dinner Wendy received her lesson in Aussie lingo.  John explained the term “budgie smuggler” to her.  For an explanation, do a goggle image search.  He also told Rocky, how as young boy while leaving India on a boat for his new home in Australia, he meet the Bee Gees and taught them how to sing.  The reason they sing in such a high voice was because they copied him and he was only 3 at the time.  I think Rocky was falling for it until Ellen told him to consider the source.

After dinner we all went to the theater to see the dance and music special.  It wasn’t terrible but both John and Ellen fell asleep, Rocky dosed off and I think both Marg and myself were close to dreamland.

Third Day of the Cruise

This morning we arrived at Juneau.  The approach to Juneau was very picturesque.  We entered the Gastineau Channel which is a narrow straight, several kilometers long.  The channel is flanked on both sides by majestic mountains, which still have their winter snow.  The snow pack was extremely deep this year and is just starting to melt. The risk of an avalanche is high.

Juneau is the state capital of Alaska.  The town took off in the 1880’s when gold was discovered by a prospector named Joey Juneau, who is not to be confused with the former Ottawa Senator center.  It grew over the years and now has a population of 33,000 in town with a charter of 3,300 square miles. The town around the harbour seems to only extend about 5 or 6 blocks back from the harbour front.

This is a popular place for cruise ships.  Today there were 4 ships in port.  That means in excess of 10,000 tourists hitting the town at once.  The shopping area around the harbour is filled with jewellery shops and assorted souvenir stores.  Unfortunately I can’t say I saw any unique shops during our visit.

We took a tram up to the middle of Mount Roberts.  The tram stopped at a height of 3,000 feet.  From there we were provided with scenic views of the area.  We also saw several bald eagles nesting in the forest.  Because of the risk of an avalanche, they were advising people to stay off the nature trails.  Someone told Rocky that the snow pack was 24 feet deep this year.  That is a lot of snow.

Juneau from Mount Roberts

Marg, her dad and Wendy stopped at the heritage theater at the top of the tramway where they took in a concert by the Alaska Strings, which is a local family of musicians.  They thoroughly enjoyed the wide variety of music that they played.  I went to see a movie on the Tlingit tribe who have inhabited this area of North America since prehistoric times.  Their unique language has 27 different sounds than can’t be found in European languages, including 4 which are exclusive to their language only.

After dinner we went to this evening’s entertainment.  The first show was Dan Bennett, a comedian / juggler, who was very funny.  His dialogs reminded me a bit of Ron James from the CBC.  One of the few lines I can remember was “it is hard to solve crime in Arkansas because all DNA is the same.”  The second show was a variety and cultural show by the Indonesian crew of the ship.  Someone should tell the cruise director that although the effort was commendable, when the entertainment value is on par with a primary school concert it is an hour of everyone’s time that they will never get back.

Second Day of the Cruise

Today we sailed north along the BC coastal waters through the Inside Passage.  It was a little rough in the morning while we were in open waters, but as soon as we got in the channels the water became very calm.  Of course it could also have been the hangover from the night before.

The geography is spectacular.  The channels between the islands are narrow.  At times it seems that you are cruising through the 1000 Islands instead of the Pacific Ocean because the distance between the boat and island is so small.  The islands have steep snow covered mountains with the forests reaching right to the ocean shores.

During the morning the boat passed a pod of porpoises.  Someone said that they numbered about 150.  I don’t know how they came up with that figure, but I know I wasn’t going to do a count.  Later in the morning Marg saw our first whale of the trip.  She thinks it was an Orca.  The in room binoculars are wonderful for nature watching.

In the evening we had one of the planned highlights of the cruise.  Marg arranged to celebrate her dad’s 90th year during the first formal dinner.  We were all dressed up in our suits and evening dresses.  Marg’s dad was in his new suit and was one impressive looking dude.  John was in a tux and wore his military medals he earned while in the Australian navy.

We had everyone over for drinks before dinner.  Wendy told a joke about her uncle that had us laughing for several minutes.   At the dinner the staff sang a traditional Indonesian birthday song, after which John led us on a chorus of “For He’s Jolly Good Fellow.”

The staff then presented Marg's Dad with a cake to commemorate the occasion.  They also supplied Joan with a cake for her anniversary.  The funny thing was according to the cake it was only her anniversary  and not Rocky's.

After dinner we went to the disco, where Marg’s dad danced up a storm.  At one point he was dancing with four ladies.  One lady approached Marg and told her she had quite the livewire there.  When Marg explained that he was her dad, she had a smile from ear to ear, but she didn’t hit on Bob.